I live on an acreage with my husband where I raise perennial flowers. I have about 150 different kinds in beds, borders and gardens. Hostas are a special love of mine and I have a collection of about 70 varieties.

I belong to Hawkeye Area Grand Gaelic Isles Society (HAGGIS), our local Scottish club. I recently retired as the Secretary and newsletter editor, after many years, but I remain the webmaster of our club's webpage.  Our purpose is to educate our children and the public about our Scottish heritage, and to promote cultural events in the local area, such as our annual "Burns Supper", which celebrates the life of Robert Burns, Scotland's most famous poet.  During the supper we always read Burns' poem, "Address to a Haggis".  I might add that I have prepared haggis for 100 people at a time...if anyone who knows what haggis is, and STILL wants the recipe for 100 servings, let me know!  Besides our more scholarly purposes, HAGGIS tries to have a lot of fun and laughs, and we usually succeed.   We also put on a Celtic Fest yearly; a lot of work to organize, but always a wonderful event.

My sister and I have developed "The Odebolt History Pages", a history web site about our home town.  I am also the webmaster for the City of Odebolt and some other sites.

My husband and I had a bluegrass band for about 10 years. He sang lead and played banjo and guitar, and I also sang some lead, but mostly harmony, and played upright bass. We still love to listen to bluegrass and go to bluegrass festivals when we have a chance. Since my husband retired we have taken up playing again with one of our original guitar players and a new mandolin player.  I believe music is good for the soul, calms stress, and can be healing - in short, it is good for you!  I also play and sing in my church band "Steeplechase", both in our own church and in churches around the area. 

A recent interest is helping to develop a History Center and Historical Archives for the town of Ely, Iowa and the surrounding rural area.  This area was heavily settled by Czech immigrants starting in the 1850's, and we are working to preserve their history as well as other settlers.

Of course there are other interests, but I really do not want to bore you, so I'll stop with that. Thanks for passing by!