Author Janet Dailey visit

Saturday, September 7 was a very special days for some of us Sac County librarians and fellow book lovers - especially if those who have enjoyed reading any of the 100 plus books written by the native Iowa author, Janet Dailey. The hot and muggy weather didn't keep 90 some people from attending this special "meet and greet" event. No one was disappoinated in the author's presentation.  She gave a brief history of how she began her writing career and then explained the reasoning behind some of the particular books she has written. She has been to every state in the United States for representation and when asked her worst and favorite she claimed Texas as the one with most material to keep her motivated and that Delaware was the hardest which is why that particular book became one of her more humorous books. I personally have enjoyed her books with a western theme so when she mentioned she is thinking of a future book with a theme around Arabian horses, I had to personally encourage her to keep that future plan in place!!

The author spoke and took questions for a good hour and a half and then allowed for one on one book signings for anyone who had brought books along for that purpose. Lots of sweet goodies were available thanks to the county librarians and either their board members or library friends. It was definitely a pleasant and welcome event.

Back Hoe "visitor"

The finale event for this summer's reading program was a visit from a city backhoe.  Two city employees drove the backhoe to the library and let the children climb up in the machine before showing off some of the different ways it can be used.  One of the impressive moves was just the process of extending the "balance legs
before anything else could be done.  The children got to see it extend up as high as the trees or use the scoop for clearing off debris in the street.  This event also included a special "dirt cake" for an edible treat as well as the awarding of various prizes to winners for their reading efforts during the summer.

Succulent Plants

I have become totally "addicted" to succulent plants this year!! Maybe because they represent the kind of plants that survive best in dry, desert climates.  Since I miss living in the southwest I am bringing a little of the southwest to my home and garden here in Iowa.  I have a few more such plants not pictured here and once Iowa's winter weather arrives, I will have to have all my succulents moved safely indoors.  Will then have to take a "group picture" of them I guess to share with interested people. Had to also include this lovely picture of my precious granddaughter from Florida who blessed me with a short visit earlier this summer.

Summer Posters -2013

Here are pictured some of the 2013 summer readers who completed their personalized poster of some of their favorite things. Upon completion of their poster they get to choose from two possible prizes -a colorful "porcupine pen" or a special "dinosaur egg".  This latter prize is definitely the most popular prize so the pens may become prizes later in the summer for other options. There are still a few more weeks of the summer program for participants to continue reading and accumulating points toward the end of summer awards/prizes. A special visitor is scheduled to attend the August 12 "awards day" so I'm hoping we have a good turnout of kids.  That is the week that school starts so most kids should be through with their summer vacation plans.

Biking across America

This is Jeremy Pokela from Minneapolis.  He is riding his bike across the U.S. He stopped in at the Lake View Library to buy a used book on July 10, 2013, and planned to camp at Lake View's 30 Acre Campground for the night.  He left Cape Disappointment State Park in southern Washington state and is riding from coast to coast and planning to end up at Coney Island in New York. He said he loves visiting libraries as he travels, buying a book and leaving a book he has read. 

Growing up he read about folks going on adventures like this and decided that if he was going to do it, ---this was the summer!  He plans to be back to work in Minneapolis on September 1st.

"archeologists" at the library

Representatives from the Sanford Museum from Cherokee, Iowa, again provided an educational program for this summer's reading program theme.  With the theme of "dig into reading" these ladies had the children learn about fossils and being "archeologists".  Fortunately our unusually "monsoon" season wasn't in affect on this day so they could go outside for most of the activities. Homemade chocolate cookies were provided by one of the parents and lemonade was also provided when they returned inside.  A final activity was an added "treat" provided by the museum in that the children had to practice using a sifter to sift real dirt that also had small tootsie roll candies.  After sifting out the dirt, the children got to keep what was left in the sifter ---the candy TOOTSIE ROLLS!!

First skier, May 2013

 Finally getting to see some activity from my lake front view! The month of May, 2013 is almost over and the weather being so unseasonably cold or wet has kept a lot of people off the lake.  Fortunately all the rain has helped to raise the level of the lake which I'm sure has also helped in bringing out this first skier of the season.  There was actually a boat out earlier this morning pulling two people on one of those two seater tubes. Notice how green the grass is also, thanks to all the rain -  and the weather forecast predicts at least 6 more days of potential rain.  Today's sunshine will be greatly enjoyed by many I'm sure.