Chatbug Karen

I was pleasantly surprised to find that my fish wall hanging was included in an Etsy treasury.

A commenter posted this song, which shall be, forever embedded in my thoughts.

Home for Me! In Indiana
Back Home Again In Indiana, by Ballard MacDonald

Back home again in Indiana
And it seems that I can see
A gleaming candlelight
Still shining bright
Through the sycamores, for me

The new-mown hay
Sends all its fragrance
From the fields I used to roam
When I dream about the moonlight
On the Wabash
Then I long for my Indiana home.

This song gives me goosebumps, especially when sung by Jim Nabors. He sings this song each year before the start of the Indy 500. This arrangement would be awesome if it could be reworked with an audio mixer to tweak the missed audible dynamics. Oh well, it is what it is and with the combined excitement of the race, it is enjoyable.

Yesterday, in an effort to avoid yard work, my husband decided we would hit the road. He only planned to go down highway 29. We invited both of our moms to go and they enthusiastically accepted the invite. They always love it when they can ride without having to decide what time to be somewhere and how to get there. I do too!

We were told there would be a test. We had to remember the names of all the little towns we went through. Ha! I don’t think my husband could remember the names himself. It was fun looking at the beautiful farmhouses. The flower beds are at their peak right now and have beautiful blooms and huge sunflowers.

One sight that we happened upon that surprised us was hundreds of cigars with fans that were popping out of the ground near Reynolds, Indiana. I am not exaggerating when I say there were hundreds of windmills all across the country side. As far as our eyes could see, there were these majestic towers with their huge blades turning in the wind. They produce electricity.

I read in our local paper just last week, farmers in our area are being approached to see if they would agree to have windmills placed on their land. There are pros and cons to having these giant monstrosities placed near ones home. I have heard that they are loud but then other people who have them near their homes say they are not noticeable. I think we will see more of them across the flat land here in Indiana. Do you have them where you live?

I just read in our local paper that nearly 40 percent of Indiana’s mortgage brokerages lost their licensing because on Wednesday because they have not complied with a “new” law aimed at raising the standards of the industry in a state with one of the nations highest foreclosure rates.

While I am glad they are making changes, I am mad that it took drastic measures to get these changes made. I could see the writing on the wall as far back as a few years ago. I read about the mortgages that people were getting and wondered myself how they were going to make the payment when the interest rate increased. I feel as though they took advantage of people. We trust lending institutions to not loan us money when they feel we are at risk. Isn’t that they way you understand the lending business to be? Are there not check offs they use to see if giving a person a loan is a good idea?

To be sure I was clear on my understanding of what a mortgage broker does, I looked up what Wikipedia gave as the role of a mortgage broker.

A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who sources mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses.

Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have distributed their own products. However as markets for mortgages have become more competitive, the role of the mortgage broker has become more popular. Today in most developed mortgage markets (especially the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Spain and Canada) mortgage brokers are the largest distributors of mortgage products for lenders.

The majority of mortgage brokers are regulated to ensure compliance with banking and or finance laws in the jurisdiction of the consumer; however, the extent of the regulation depends on the jurisdiction. Only one state within the U.S. has no laws that govern mortgage lending.

By the way, the law the brokerage firms are not complying with went into effect in 2007. It requires that each brokerage firm shall name a principal broker with at least three years experience who has passed a state exam and will oversee his company’s business affairs. Maybe no one wants to be in charge.

While mom and I were sewing, we sent Greg to pick up tenderloins for dinner. The Lions Club was holding a fundraiser and had their trailer set up in town. Usually we can only get tenderloins from the Lions Club during the county fair so it was a treat to munch on them in May. They were scrumptious although, they didn’t include a bun in the to go box. I thought that was strange since we usually eat breaded tenderloins as a sandwich.

I began wondering if breaded tenderloins were a food item reserved for the midwest. I don’t remember eating tenderloin sandwiches before I moved to Indiana. Are they a regular on the menu where you live?

While sewing at my moms house on Saturday we saw a huge bird in the field behind her house. Mom got her binoculars and looked closer to see what kind of bird it was. I think it was a wild turkey. It is not often that we see wild turkeys. Mom lives in a small subdivision that is out in the country. My husband said that a few wild turkeys were released in Indiana a few years ago and they have been multiplying. This picture most resembles the bird we saw;

I received permission to use this photograph from Marie Read. You may see more of her beautiful photographs on her website at, www.marieread.com.

I found the following information on the DNR website;

From 1956 to 2004, 185 releases totaling
2,795 wild turkeys were conducted in Indiana, with the
majority of birds being restocked during the 1980s
(Backs 1995, Backs 2004). Today, there are an estimated
125,000 wild turkey in Indiana, and spring harvest levels
now exceed 10,000 birds annually.

I also read that wild turkeys readily feed on Japanese beetles
during outbreaks in July of each year. I think I love wild turkeys.