Hi folks! I wear more than one hat in this day to day existence...I've been given the chance to exercise my artistic skills in design and conversation by becoming a Co-Team member for the EAA 675 Facebook page staff this past September.
My husband Corey and fellow EAA 675 member Lorin Miller need a little help once in awhile to get the news delivered for the club.
I want to share one of my favorite Youtube music video productions showcasing the musical talents of saxophonist Kenny G. in the classic song of the ages Auld Lang Syne. Here's wishing each of you a Happy New Year from our Timber Life Family. May the days ahead be filled with learning and expectations.
God Bless and Have a Great Day!
A couple of days ago I was talking about signs. Here are a few more to get us going in the right direction.
After being on the road for what seemed like 8 hours.Well... actually, it was 8 hours from the time we left home until we reached the Colorado State Line on our September excursion.
The sign was a blur as we passed in a hurry but I know you get the the idea.
Sitting for so long was beginning to put me to sleep even though I had my camera in hand.
You know how it is when you see some promising information to take a break from the ribbon of highway that you've been following since before the sun came up. You begin to watch the mile markers to maybe hurry things up a little bit...One can hope, can't they?
Across the street from the Welcome to Julesburg sign we found a place to get some fuel and get our bearings as to where we could go to enjoy one of our picnic lunches that we had packed.
This Colorado Welcome Center/Rest Area was a tribute to the Pony Express Riders of the Plains. Between April 1860 and October 1861 the Pony Express was the main connection for getting communications from the East to the West.
Many individuals pass this way every year...I would like to add my digital image to document our visit to the Pony Express RV Park and Rest Area at the Exit # 180 on the I-76.
Looking up the Native American history of the Julesburg area has certainly given me a different perspective than I had originally thought.
In honor of the Cheyenne and Arapaho who were nomadic,following the buffalo herds, these tipi and buffalo facsimiles introduced us to the lifestyle.
In all honesty we didn't take time to go into the building to view the information. We needed to spend as much daylight time at our evening destination as possible.
We re-entered the traffic lanes once more to catch our last glimpses of the Julesburg,CO Welcome Center that gave us a few minutes to refuel/refresh our bodies and minds.
Our next destination, an over-night stay in Estes Park. However, you aren't going to get off so easy. I've got more pictures from here to there along our way.
How wonderful it is to come to another Advent Season! To Celebrate what was heralded long ago on the hills surrounding the Little Town of Bethlehem. It is with my simple offering of written word that I join in sharing with the Angel's Herald song to announce the anniversary of the birth of our Risen Savior Jesus Christ,our Lord.
Luke 2:1-20
1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Glory in the Highest
8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely[d] known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.
(NKJV)
Corey,Sadie Sioux and I,the Timber Life Family ask God to Bless you and your families today and always...
We often find our way around this world by signs...These are some of the signs in Nebraska that made concrete by their words and designs the message they wanted to convey.
There seems to be so many destinations that we haven't had the opportunity to visit yet... Today, is a little wordless,and things aren't necessarily in the order we saw them, but I definitely see a message to start the bucket list once again. Have a Great Day!
Today, I've decided to fill with pictures of some vanishing farm history found along the I-80 corridor through Nebraska.
As you've gathered I was concentrating on a few varied objects while we traveled. I kept a vigilant eye out for windmills,which seemed to be in operation for grazing animals more than what I've seen around us in our home state, barns or buildings with a country orientation and of course deer stands of many different designs. I'm always imagining what kind of wildlife traffic is available in such a highly trafficked area. It was quite an eye opener in June 2015 when we saw several flocks of turkeys and random sightings of deer along the Nebraska river corridors while en-route to our Colorado destination.
By the end of our total mileage during our September trip this year , I had witnessed the similar architecture of the two red barns with common roof design and painted crisscross patterns, both here in Nebraska and South Dakota. I've looked back at the Pioneer history to try to unravel which group of European Settlers that might have added their old world design to the early landscapes and came up with the possibilities of many peoples including German,Swedish,and Norwegian...
I hope you too can enjoy this random sampling of what keeps my mind and eyes on the move to polish my ability to take pictures on the go.
The next post will include attention getting roadside signs.
Thanks again for being apart of our skip across the state of Nebraska...One more post and we'll make it to Colorado. 😀
Good Day All! Time for me to start filling in more information and pictures to bring us up to speed on our fall trip to celebrate a special occasion for me.
As we traveled between Omaha and Aurora,NE. there were so many things that caught my photographer's eyes. Of course I can't share all of them at once... So, I'll just get going and see what we can get accomplished today.
I caught a low-flying airborne object glinting in the sun headed over Eastbound Interstate 80 traffic several times ,east of Aurora. When it became apparent that it was a plane, it began cutting north to make it's circle to drop what we believe was seed in the practice of Aerial Seedingfor cover crops.
Taking pictures out the passenger side window I followed him as his path went away and returned at least four times until we caught up to him.
This was the last pass as we drove out of camera range.
There are eleven westbound Rest Areas scattered along the 455 mile Interstate 80 system through the State.
This particular Rest Area introduced us to the upcoming Great American Desert , which was located 50 miles to our west.Please click here to find out facts about the desert.
This Great Platte River Road Archway Monument , an oasis that has been photographed by many a traveler - the challenge will be repeated by many more as others enjoy their travels through Nebraska .
The day was bright and clear...
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post my photographer's eyes kept scanning the roadway and fields.
Look what we SAW!
Does anyone remember who this famous British cartoon character's name might be?
If I'm not mistaken,given a few years of exposure by our grandchildren and nephews , it would be Thomas the Tank Engine getting a lift to his next destination!
Ending the post on a cheery note! I'll be working on more pictures and thoughts to share.
Glad you are riding along to catch the views. Have a Great Day!
Today is a Mile Marking Birthday for me. I'm adding a Zero to the sum total of all the time I've been a citizen of this planet.
Thank you God for the years you've given me to be a light to someone elses path.I have to thank my husband Corey for sharing this vocal artist and his songs of praise early in our relationship. They meet my needs at different stages in my life.
Thank you for joining me today to celebrate my birthday!
A week ago Corey and I had one of the greatest opportunities of our lifetime together.
Along with many other die-hard astronomy hobbyist we ventured to a point in the United States easily accessible to us and other family members.
Our trek took us to Kirksville,Mo. on Sunday afternoon. A way point between where we could decide early the next morning,August 21st, what direction to go to find the clearest sky.
All weather reports at 4:00 A.M. on Monday had rain in the western section of the Eclipse Path in Missouri...So, we headed off towards two other potential locations in the St. Louis area to get as much sun - camera exposure as possible.
At Columbia, where cloud cover was encircling our travel corridor we headed East towards our destination of Washington,Mo. to meet family, before deciding whether to seek the first planned destination at Saint Clair, to get an additional 11 seconds added to our documentation experience.
The State of Missouri prepared those who may not been aware already of the heavenly changes about to take place during the daytime travel time.
We came across this warning twice from Columbia to Warrenton.
It truly would be a shock if the skies grew dark at noon.Which they did!
I'm hiding in plain sight to the back left by the open car door.
One of our candid family moments at the Waters/Yoest home as we chose to stay with our larger family group for the total Eclipse.
It definitely was a blessing to witness one of God's magnificent natural events with others who waited expectantly for the appointed time....
Corey was able to get some fantastic eclipse stages starting at the right and working your way to the left. We had both Corey's camera and my camera in operation with Corey manning them both...His brother Bryan was able to coach him into great results with a 5-minute primer on my camera settings.
Here's a Great Big Thank You for Family, Food, and Fellowship!
The morning came early for me, so I bided my time by checking the weather, and watching conditions out the backdoor as the sun rose.
The plans to attend the Iowa Falls July 4th Fly-in were in a brief holding pattern due to developing fog in the area. Pulling up the AWC Aviation weather we plotted our course for ground travel since the Voisin 35 is still in the shop .
The wind generators along HWY 65 were shrouded with fog on our way north.
There were two planes that stopped the show for me...
The Jet in center stage is called the Milleneum Phenom, made alot of us take time to snap some pictures.
Interesting to know that it hails from Mason City. Awesome Plane!!!
Then the second plane that made waves for me was the amphibian version of the Cessna 182T plane,also flying in from Mason City.
Due to the weather there wasn't a large number of aircraft while we were at the airport, but I've shared the ones that caught my eye. A few even attended the EAA 675 Fly-in on September 16,2016 Checkout my Facebook page to see my collection there...please click here
We found ourselves back in river country to celebrate our Anniversary...
The Saylorville Dam park system is a favorite spot for almost any special occasion in our book. They have some really nice shelters that provide grills on the inside, put a fire in the Barbecue for ambiance on a cool day, or if you like the outdoor grilling experience you can find that too.
Eyes to the Sky were key words for the after barbecue festivities.We kept our eyes scanning all sides of the river and the airspace around us...
Blue Herons - Photo by Corey Butcher
Blue Heron - Photo by Dianna Butcher
Blue Heron - Photo by Dianna Butcher
If it isn't one kind of bird it's another! Photo by Dianna Butcher
We found ourselves beginning to have some competition with strong breezes and developing clouds. It was a surprise to see this little Cirrus circling Ankeny airspace in the pattern it had chosen.
Photo by Dianna Butcher
If you've reached some years of life experiences,do you ever go back to see your first home? Whether it be where you
lived as a child growing up, or maybe after the schooling and onto the
becoming Man and Wife part of life.
You've heard the word "We" used multiple times in this post; of course that was the subject for the day.
We decided to check-out our humble beginning.
As a young married couple we lived south of Faith Baptist Bible College and Theological Seminary. We didn't attend but had the opportunity to meet some fine individuals that were apart of the Music Ministry studies at the time. I was invited to play their piano that occupied a great deal of space within their apartment. My knowledge of the keyboard wasn't as great as theirs but was told my sight reading ability was good. I smiled and said "Thank you"...
Well, it's time to close this little post and wish everyone a "Have a Great Day!"
What a Wonderful day the Lord gave us to become Manand Wife! On June 28,1975, at Noble Center United Methodist Church, we stood before God,our officiating Pastor ,friends and family.
We shared our vows 42 years ago with the people that were/are important to us in our lives. Our paths with some haven't been crossed since that time. However, the memories still remain.
Our family is grown now...We have just experienced the High School Graduation of our oldest Grandchild. All of our life events continue to add to our relationship.
I'm honored to share with you and to still call him my Husband and Helpmate given to me by God...Corey Butcher.
Corey has completed his work on theReplica Fighter Association's 2017 Pre-Oshkosh Airventure magazine. Now that it has been finished, and we've celebrated our oldest Grandson's Graduation, more time will be focused on working on our Voisin 3\5 rebuild.
Sunday evening we brought the fuselage up the drive to get the rigging started for the wings... We did a little maneuvering to move the fuselage into the shop, removing both sliding glass doors and taking off the radiator made everything workout as planned. Next step after that will be fabric application. We keep moving bit by bit closer to the goal of getting the Voisin 3\5 air bound.
Corey gave me a smile before he got back to rigging the bottom right wing this evening.
Corey was making everything look real easy as I watched him thread the steel cable into his modified strut attachments.
Please forgive me if I don't have the proper name for the thingy-ma-jigs. All I know at the moment is that Everything is looking GooD!
Corey shared that his goal for this evening was to get the center
section attached so he could lift the top wing into place and get that
rigged as well.
Before I left the shop I wanted to get a view from the fuselage, and the length of the new wing.
I can only imagine how it will allow for faster travels and maybe a little more stability in winds up to 20 mph. Corey has always been a safe flyer and due to his experiences knows the limits of his craft.
We've shared this picture below before on the Voisin 3/5 website...I snapped the picture of The Last Flight of 2007 from our grass strip in November. The weather was getting to cold for the Voisin 3/5 open cockpit flights so after it's return, things were prepped for winter storage.
It is our hope that Corey will be able to get some aerial photographs yet this year.
All four wings are ready for final cleanup and cover. Hope to start on that sometime in June.
Here are some photos of the top center section. I thought I had it
ready to go, but I decided to make a slight change. I don't like the
center compression plate with separate halves. (This is not the way the
plans are. It is a left over from the prototype.)
You can see it in the
third photo. So I am going to do a little bit more modification here.
I'll detail it later.
Thank you for stopping by Timber Life, more Voisin 35 updates on the way.
Thank you Whitetail Institute of North America Staff for doing an impromtu picture at theIowa Deer Classic 2017!
It had been some years back that I purchased some seed samples for mini-plots at another Iowa Deer Classic. You can find my growth results written here on September 2, 2010.
I'd done some research on the Whitetail Institute website about their soil sampling kits...Since I've not personally had our soils tested here at Timber Life, I wanted to verify some information I had classified by reading. So, this year instead of buying the tests online I found the booth...I bought two of their limited supply.
The tendency of our Timber soils indicated to me a sour disposition with all the vegetation pointing in that direction. Makes sense,right?!? I had an idea of how negative the pH balance was by the specific plants that were flourishing, but to provide the proper environment to unlock the nutrients for a balanced diet for Man and Beast, I needed to do the soil test,to have my own results.
I sent in soil samples from two different spots on our property to get an idea of the pH range I could expect to modify.
To find specific results some preliminary seed possibilities, just to get an idea of what would be needed was required.
Weed populations have increased over time on my plot...They are being addressed.
Purple Top Turnips, used for human consumption was also implemented for Whitetail Deer and Turkey here in the past. The produce became sweet after the frost and a well consumed food source. You could say they, cleared the patch,eating it down to ground level.
The annual seeds shown are those I might consider for planting for a fall crop after the weed population is under control. Then it will open up the potential for a perennial crop to be planted next spring, or the chance for double cropping. Keep those Deer happy is my goal!
Thanks for stopping by Timber Life today....I like talking Deer.
On March 29,2017, I began more refined fabric and tape removal from a wing section Corey brought up from the Hangar.
I proceeded onto the tail section on April 3,2017, to remove fabric; providing time support. My efforts will allow Corey to focus on wing modifications.
I found a weakness to pierce the fabric as I followed along the hollow just under the frame.
As you can see I was able to loosen the tail covering in it's entirety - to
preserve for Corey's personal archives the N# flown by his initial proto-type...renewing it for modification number two.
A cleaned frame ready for a fresh application of fabric.
Time to get this tail in order.
Each section became a little easier to clean, because I developed a method of my own.
I didn't need to strip it in a bunch of tiny pieces, but managed to pull off entire sections with well placed cuts and a bit of opposing power.
Next came the upper and lower left ailerons ,with both the upper and lower right ailerons to follow at a later date.
Due to my skill level I've pretty much accomplished all I'll be able to do alone for now.
Corey has ordered some stainless steel cable, 3M Fastbond Contact Adhesive 30NF Green Glue and Aircraft Spruce has come through with some smaller parts for the Voisin 35 at the present time.
We will be getting the order in for fabric and looking for a re-drive to to get the Geo Engine placed back in position to power-up.
Next post will show a few pictures of Corey's reworking of the wings...
