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4 Fun Things to Do with Dad

- Ann 1 Comment

Looking for something to do with your favorite guy this weekend? Celebrate Father’s Day with one of these fun activities you can share.

1. Ride the River. This fun bike ride on Sunday not only takes you on a tour of the Quad Cities, you get to cross the river on the Celebration Belle. Winding through Davenport, Bettendorf, Moline, East Moline and Rock Island, returning via the Centennial Bridge, this is a great way to see your community up close. Because of expected flooding this year, some of the route will be changed but will still start from the Union Station in Davenport. Be sure to wear your helmet!

2. Go the All-American route and take in a baseball game. The Quad City River Bandits will be playing the Beloit Snappers this Sunday at 1pm, weather and field conditions permitting. Treat Dad to a hot dog and watch the home runs fly.

3. Prefer to stay indoors? Check out the DVD collection at the Davenport Library and pick out a movie (maybe one featuring a superhero to watch with your own hero!) Just add popcorn and soda for your own private screening.

4. Take Dad fishing. West Lake Park just outside of Davenport offers four lakes to fish for bluegill, crappie and largemouth bass. The park also has hiking trails, campgrounds, picnic tables and boat rentals.

Share a memory – they’re ten times better than a tie!

The Armchair Traveler Goes to Russia

- Ann Leave a comment

Russia, that great giant that straddles both the West and the East, has a long and often bloody history, a unique culture and a diverse people. Many great classics have been written by Russians but what to read after War and Peace? (You have read War and Peace, right?!) Try these for more insight (and a decidedly quicker read) into the Russian soul.

The Dog Who Bit a Policeman by Stuart Kaminsky

Twelfth in the series, this follows one-legged Moscow cop Porfiry Rostnikov in a post-Soviet Russia that is rife with corruption. Among other things, Porfiry deals with an illegal dogfighting ring, the Moscow Mafia, murders, and various personal problems. This is engrossing storytelling at its best.

Russka by Edward Rutherford

Presenting a sweeping historical overview of Russia in the style of James Michener, Rutherford delivers an epic story focusing on how historical events affect the common person through the generations.

The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander

A fictional retelling of the final days of Czar Nicholas II and his family as witnessed by a young kitchen boy who has kept what he saw secret. Now an old man and about to die, he’s ready to tell the truth. Filled with historically accurate details, this is a beautifully written novel with a surprise ending.

The Industry of Souls by Martin Booth

Mistaken for a spy, British citizen Alexander Bayliss spends 25 years in a Soviet gulag and the next 20 in a Russian village. When his family discovers he is still alive, he must decide whether to stay or return to England. This amazing novel reveals the human side of gulag life, how the collapse of the Soviet Union affected her people and the strength of the common man.

Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith

Introducing Inspector Arkady Renko, this modern classic is the must read novel of Soviet Russia. Cynical, honest, brilliant, Renko investigates a triple murder where the victims fingers and faces are missing. Intelligent writing, complex mysteries, dark humor and real tension combine to make this one of the best mysteries ever written. Future installments, which follow Renko thru post-Soviet Union turmoil, are also highly recommended.

Check Out These Magazines and Save Some Money

- Lynn 1 Comment

Looking for ways to economize? FIrst, check out magazines instead of buying them. Second, find out how to save money when investing, traveling, sewing, and working on do-it-yourself projects.

Smart Money and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

These magazines cover retirement, college planning, taxes, health and consumer issues. The current issue lists the ways you can lower you car insurance premium.

Sew News

Learn tips and techniques to sew clothes, gifts and home decorating projects. Learn how to sew the latest fashions, bath mats, totes, raincoats, and how to start a business

Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel

Find out about travel deals and tips for families and singles. Get an evaluation of a hotels, tourist destinations and airlines before it’s too late.

Threads:For People Who Love to Sew

Learn “quick to make” summer projects including how to make purses for yourself or as gifts (an online special).

Make:Technology on Your Time

Make “unites, inspires and informs …people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages.” In the current issue, learn about the stars of “The Junk Brothers”

Other magazines with lots of good money saving tips: Parents, Parenting, Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day and Cookies. All magazines check out from the library for one week.

Iowa Wildflowers

- Ann 1 Comment

Iowa\'s Wild PlacesAt one time, Iowa had more prairie for it’s size than any other state in the union. Within ten years of the arrival of the pioneers (mid-1800s) nearly all of it was gone. Less than one tenth of one percent remains. Fortunately, there has been a movement lately to not only preserve what is left, but to restore unused land to native prairie.

Prairies are a diverse and complex ecosystem, supporting a wide range of birds and wildlife. They are also very beautiful, ranging from spring ephermals to an explosion of summer color to the drama of the tall grasses (growing taller than a man)

One of the best places to see prairie being restored is at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa (just this side of Des Moines) They have an excellent, kid-friendly museum and interpretive center, walking trails, and a driving tour. As well as the amazing number of grasses and wildflowers that are being restored, there is an elk herd and a buffalo herd. Several native birds that were believed shooting star wildflowerto be extinct or rarely seen in Iowa have again been sighted here.

Closer to home, Rochester Cemetery near Tipton, Iowa offers a unique and memorable experience. Tucked between farms on a hilly site, it is considered one of the best examples of Oak Savanna in the Midwest and is known for it’s huge white oaks and it’s wildflowers. Growing on land that has never been disturbed, the variety and sheer quantity of flowers is astounding, especially in the spring. Especially the shooting stars. There are, literally, thousands of them, blanketing the ground in every direction, an amazing sight. (Please note: if you do visit, remember that this is still an active cemetery; please be respectful of the gravesites and stay on the mown paths)

For a beautiful guide to the prairies and wildflowers of Iowa, take a look at Iowa’s Wild Places by Carl Kurtz, or visit the Iowa Prairie Network for a listing of the remaining Iowa prairies, information on prairies, a calendar of events and volunteer opportunities. Help keep Iowa’s wild places wild.

Bike to Work Week

- Ann Leave a comment

Miles from NowhereGas prices making you cringe? Gained a few pounds over the winter? Try riding your bike to work. It’s a great way to get and stay in shape, requires no expensive trips to the gas station and it’s better for the environment. Plus, biking is fun! We’re lucky to have one of the best recreational trail systems in the country right here in Davenport and the Quad Cities. In addition, all Citibuses have bike racks; there is no extra fee to use them and they can expand your options for getting around on two wheels.

Bike to Work Week is May 10-16 to both encourage people to commute to work and to raise awareness of bicycles on the road. Bike Iowa can give you lots of tips on how to commute and lots of reasons why it’s a good idea.

Need a little inspiration? Miles From Nowhere by Barbara Savage is about the round-the-world bicycle trip Savage and her husband made. This is a great book – funny, exciting, sometimes tense (attacked by rock throwing men in Egypt), always interesting, Savage and her husband quit their jobs and spent two years on their adventure. Their story makes for can’t-put-down reading and may inspire you to dust off your own bike for a trip around the neighborhood.

Let the Shopping Begin!

- IT 4 Comments

Farmer’s Market season is upon us! Despite the flood, The Davenport Freight House Farmer’s Market will be open bright and early Saturday morning. Check out the Radish for a comprehensive list of all the area markets. Besides the great produce, there well be other fun events in which to partake while shopping. The Davenport Public Library will be there for storytelling on the third Wednesday of each month. Cooking demonstrations are scheduled later in the season. Support our local farmers and feel good about helping to reduce the amount of fossil fuelPlenty it takes to get produce from field to fork. Here are a couple of books that helped inspire me to be a locavore.

In Plenty: One Man, One Woman, and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, a Vancouver couple recount their experiment of living on a diet of foods grown within 100 miles of their home. They went so far as to not use salt or oil since these staples were not locally produced. They also experience the joys of growing some of their own food as well as getting to know local producers of the items they purchase. The authors learn a lot about nutrition, uncommon varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs, as well as share their experiences in canning tomatoes and making jam. While not everyone will want to take such a radical approach to being a locavore, this book offers an eye-opening account of what it means to step outside Animal, Vegetable, Miracleof the industrial food system.

Well known novelist, Barbara Kingsolver also took a year to drop out of the industrial food pipeline. In Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, she chronicles her family’s move to rural Virginia where they vow to buy only food raised in their own neighborhood, grow it themselves, or learn to live without it. The Kingsolver’s plant a huge garden and spend considerable time making pickles, canning tomatoes, and even making mozzarella. They even abandon their previous vegetarian ways and discover the pleasures of conscientious carnivory as they raise chickens and turkeys.

How Does Your Building Grow?

- Ann Leave a comment

Green Roofs and Living WallsWith the growing concern for the environment and its health, the relatively new (to the United States) practice of installing plants on roofs and walls is beginning to take off. Called green roofs, they provide several environmental benefits including:

-reducing pollution and water run-off

-insulating against heat and cold

-reducing the maintenance needs of buildings

You can see examples of green roofs in action right here in Davenport, including the new Davenport Police Department and and a demonstration garden on the roof of the pump station (located near the fountain) at Vander Veer Botanical Park. Pictures and descriptions of these roofs and others throughout Iowa can be found at Iowa Life Changing, a division of the Iowa Department of Economic Development.

To read up on how to add a green roof to your property, including how to install it and what to plant as well as lots of examples of successful green roofs, check out Planting Green Roofs and Living Walls by Nigel Dunnett, and Noel Kingsbury.

National Hanging Out Day

- Ann 3 Comments

The Clothesline

clothes·line [ klṓz ln, klṓz ln ]
noun (plural clothes·lines)
Definition: line for hanging laundry: a cord on which clean laundry is hung to dry,usually outdoors.
 

It is a simple word that is causing much discussion these days. The act of hanging out clothes in the fresh air brings back many memories for me. Days with my grandmother and mother, the smell of fresh sheets on the bed at night. I still hang out my clothes, rarely using a dryer. I read an article in the New York Times about a year ago about clotheslines and how some areas, mostly new house subdivisions, have banned the use of clotheslines. The article led me to Project Laundry List where founder Alexander Lee gives the top reasons why you should hang out your clothes, the first and foremost being to save money – about $100 per year on electricity for most households. The organization has designated April 19th as National Hanging Out Day to encourage everyone to hang out their laundry and save energy.

There is a beautiful book on the subject, The Clothesline by Irene Rawlings and Andrea VanSteenhouse, which discusses the history of drying laundry, types of clotheslines, laundry rooms, laundry collectibles and clotheslines as art. The illustrations alone make it worth a look.

Knitalong by Larissa Brown

- Ann Leave a comment

Knitalong by Larissa BrownMost everyone that knits learned the skill from someone – a grandmother or beloved aunt, a friend or a helpful clerk at the local yarn store. Knitting seems to invite gathering together. Knitalong: celebrating the tradition of knitting together by Larissa Brown shows the many ways that knitters (and crocheters and spinners) connect from meeting at a local coffee shop for an hour to creating lively online communities.

(And by the way, if you’re a knitter (or crocheter or spinner) and you’re not on Ravelry yet, why? Stop whatever you’re doing right now and get your name on the invitation list. It’s an amazing database/community/resource for fiber enthusiasts. If you’re already a member, you understand my enthusiasm)

Some of the wide-ranging examples of community knitting shown in Knitalong include the Knitting Olympics, an online knitting challenge held during the Winter Olympics, knit cafes (cafes that encourage people to bring their knitting), Stitch n’ Pitch, where knitters knit during major league baseball games (the White Sox host knitters on August 6, the Cardinals on May 28), World Wide Knit in Public Day which is just what it sounds like (and is on June 14 this year) and knitting for charities (afghans for Afghans is just one example). Knitalongs also take the form of a group of people knitting the same pattern (called KALs); everyone shares tips and progress reports and cheer you along. The internet has been a boon to this simple craft; besides the phenomenon of Ravelry, there has been an explosion of knitting blogs where people share their craft and develop friendships from around the world.

Interested in joining other knitters for camaraderie and encouragement? Local knitters meet every Tuesday evening at 6:30pm at the Fairmount Street Library, next to the fireplace. Newcomers are always welcome!

April Showers Bring …. ??

- Ann 1 Comment

umbrellaWell, of course, they bring May flowers, or we hope they will anyway! But April is also a popular month for other kinds of showers — particularly wedding and baby showers. Since June is still a favorite time for many North American weddings, April is the perfect choice — not too close to the wedding date, and yet not too early. As for baby showers, they can be anytime, but springtime seems an especially appropriate time to celebrate new life.

If you’re thinking about hosting a shower, you might want to check out some of our library books on the subject. One title I found especially appealing was Simple Stunning Wedding Showers by Karen Bussen. Beautifully photographed, the book not only has many theme ideas, but easy, elegant recipes and thoughtful planning and organizational suggestions. And as all of you Martha Stewart wannabees already know, early preparation and planning is key to any successful party.

Speaking of Martha Stewart, Baby Showers: Ideas & Recipes for the Perfect Party was written by two former editors for Martha Stewart Living, Gia Russo and Michele Adams. They obviously learned well under her tutelage (though they don’t mention if they worked for her before or after her prison stint) as this book also has inviting photographs and clever decorating ideas. I recently gave a baby shower and used some of their ideas from the “Daisy Brunch” chapter. They recommended cutting the stems off and setting the daisy tops all around the buffet table. I adapted this idea by simply putting daisies (plus a few other small flowers) in small votive candle jars all around the house. This served a dual-purpose –they made for relatively inexpensive decorations, but they also served as favors for the guests to take home at the end of the party.

Games are something else you might want to consider for your shower. In the past, some games got a bad rap for being too cutesy or boring, but they can serve an important function by involving your guests and making them feel important. One game that works for both kinds of showers is bingo. Simply print out blank cards available online for free. Have guests fill in the empty blanks with the names of gifts they think the bride or mother-to-be will receive. As she opens her presents, they can cross off any applicable items. This helps everyone pay attention, plus they just might get a chance to open a gift of their own!

Besides the bingo website, preggiepeggy.com is another one I found that had a wealth of ideas for baby showers. Giving a shower can be fun, but it’s also a great way to show someone special that you care.