2010 Fowkes

Monday, January 18, 2010

NEW YEAR!!!

So here we are in 2010. We are hoping that this year will be better than the last 2 combined. Fingers are crossed.



So...Iowa is still a fun place to be. Even though there is snow and the high is low 30's, it still has amazing beauty. Lately there have been thick fog in the area, so in the morning all the trees have frost on them and they are white.


Around Thanksgiving I got a craving for sewing. Which is sooo not like me. But I wanted to make some rag quilts for people. Rag quilts are made with the seams on the outside, so when you wash it...it frays. If you use flannel, it makes a nice warm, soft quilt. I made one for Lindsey for Christmas. I didn't want her to know it was for her, so I told her it was for some little girl who would be cold this Christmas. She was so surprised when she opened it up Christmas morning. I have since made one for the cartaker here at the farm. He, Harold, has been really good to us. He answers all our many questions about Iowa and weather and farming. So I wanted to do something special for him and his family. I made his quilt with horses. I put it in a box with popcorn, and the LDS movie "Legacy". Legacy was filmed in Nauvoo, Ill. Harold was an extra in the film and he once told me he never has seen it. So I got him the movie and I also included a Book of Mormon with my testimony. I hope he reads it someday.


This last Saturday we did something we have never done before. We went ice fishing! Kevin's boss is part of a club called "Cedar Valley Walleye Club". They sponser fishing a couple times a year. So he invited to the lake in town to fish. They had a truck come in and stock the lake. We got there as the pipe the fish were coming down opened up and fish spewed everywhere on the ice. So what do my kids do....start fishing with their hands! There was a reporter from the local paper standing next to us. So she put us in her article. Now, you have to understand that I was in such an awe state watching these people put these fish in this lake through a hole in the ice, and fish spewing everywhere and kids going crazy. It was such a site to see. So some of my quotes may not be the best english in the world. Here is the article:


CEDAR FALLS - No reel was needed for the first catch of the day Saturday.
Families gathered around for this year's trout stocking as a crew dragged a hose from a Department of Natural Resources truck.
The Cedar Valley Walleye Club, along with the Iowa DNR, Cedar Falls Parks Department and City Council, was set to pump 1,650 trout through a hole carved into 15 inches of ice sealing North Prairie Lake.
The walleye club was hosting its sixth annual fishing day at the lake.
"The fish will come right down this tube and swim right over to your hook," club secretary Darrell Kinkade told anxious youngsters inching their way closer to the action. "That's the plan, anyway."
Then it happened.
First, a squirt near the middle of the hose. Seconds later, a clamp broke, spraying water and trout across the snow.
"We have a breach!" someone yelled.
But the accident quickly became the day's highlight as bundled-up kids scrambled to herd the fish toward the water.
"I got one," said Hunter Fowkes, 12, grinning with a fish sandwiched between his gloves.
"That's how we fish," his mom, Laura, said, laughing. "We don't need no fishing poles. We grab with our hands."
Hunter's younger brother, Hayden, 10, and sister, Lindsey, 8, followed his lead.
"She's not afraid of bugs, fish and whatever else," Laura Fowkes said, snapping pictures with her camera. "She's my boy with a pink twist. This is a crack up."
This was the first time Kevin and Laura Fowkes brought their kids to the event.
As trout continued to pump into the lake, kids grabbed their reels and ran to their fishing holes.
"They're here, they're here," squealed Brandon Eberhard, 4, of Waterloo as the water bubbled below. "Mom! Fishies!"
His mom, Lori Eberhard, park manager at George Wyth Memorial State Park in Waterloo, hardly had time to bait the hook.
A giddy Brandon clapped his hands and peered down into the water. The two had had a couple of nibbles and barely reeled one out of the water before it fell back in. Matt Vlasak offered his fish finder and tips on how to jiggle the line.
"We need to catch some," Brandon said. "Watch out. They're going to come in a minute."
Lori Eberhard said this was their first time ice fishing. Her dad had taken her fishing as a kid, and she was loving the chance to share the experience with her son.
"They get so excited over the littlest things," she said.
A little while later, they finally got a bite. Lori flung the line out of the water, and the fish landed on the seat of Brandon's Spongebob folding chair.
"Yes, we got one!" Brandon cheered. "Put him in the bucket! Put him in the bucket!"
Brandon talked to the fish on his way to the club tent to claim his prize: a new ice fishing rod. Participants could choose from hats, rods and reels, tackle boxes and lures donated by area businesses.
More than 100 kids attended this year's event, up from 63 in 2009, according to club member Milo Gadow. About 64 tents dotted the lake. The nearly 30-degree temperature topped last year's wind chill of 30 degrees below zero with whiteout conditions.
"This is going to be our biggest turnout we've ever had," he said. "It seems to grow every year."
"This is just a great start for the kids to learn how to fish," added club president Doug Bonwell. "It's an easy opportunity for them to catch fish and just to get them outside."
Another fishing day is planned for April.





Lindsey was the first one of us to catch a fish....but she was so excited that the fish fell back into the ice. Hayden caught one too...but his did the same thing. So I told them they could make the fish in their story really big as it was the "one who got away." It was cold and finally their wet gloves got to be too much and we packed it up without a fish. Which in all honesty is fine by me...as I wasn't going to be the one to gut it and clean them and cook them.



























So life on the farm continues. Hayden is starting city league basketball this week. So that should keep us busy for awhile.


We hope your New Year has started off well and pray it continues to be a good one!

1 comment:

The Garbison family said...

Hey! That's a hidden talent that you should show more often! What awesome quilts.

Love all the snow and ice pics :-)