Kyle's New Adventure

That guy just never stops!

This week he has a NEW toy.

(Thank goodness for rental companies!)

Yup, that's Kyle, up in a cherry picker.

He is trimming all the (200+) palm trees

on the city farm.

It goes REAAALLLY high!

That's pretty much the whole farm!

The little shed is the new feed shed.

Behind and to the left is the small

cattle working facility he built.

Behind the shed and to the right

is the pond.

It looks MUCH smaller from up there!

Until it starts really raining (or hurricaning)

it kind of IS small...

The sides are a gentle slope and it can almost

double in size when its full.

He took me up, but I wouldn't let him

take me very high.

I'm not a height person.

The ground was far enough away...

There's a LOT of dirt on the property right now.

Once he gets this done

(And Linda gets back with the implements he needs next)

he's going to finish prepping all the dirt

and then they will get some seed in the ground.

Hopefully in 3 or 4 months they will have

LOTS of thick, lush, beautiful grass.

Or at least not pastures full of dirt.

It's raining right now, but the radar says it

will be done for the day in another 45 minutes or so.

And then he'll get back at it.

(His wrists/arms are SORE today - holding that

chain saw outstretched for hours at a time

is really exhausting!)

He's not sad to see the rain.

But he only has the machine until May 5.

Catch 22.

Nightmare (and Blog) Fodder

Today, one of Kyle's and my 

WORST NIGHTMARES

came true!

Yes, friends, that IS a snake.

In the house.

In the office.

In a room where it is impossible to

get in front of the thing without

scaring it under one of the freezers

or into one of the myriad piles of stuff

where it could hide and then

slither out in the dead of night and

right up into our beds.

Because you KNOW that's what it wants to do.

Thankfully Kyle was home.

(And saw it!)

And was brave enough to go out and

grab the garden hoe,

stand OUTSIDE of the room,

AROUND THE CORNER,

S T R E T C H  into the room with the hoe

and SLICE it in half.

Sorry dude.

We don't kill you when you are in YOUR habitat,

(well, I don't... Kyle? Another story...)

but all's fair when you slither into ours.

I spared you the "after" photo.

He left me to deal with it.

It was just a tiny garter snake.

And I'm sorry we had to dispatch it.

But.

SEE ABOVE PARAGRAPH!

I leave you (and me) with a better picture.

A pallet cleanser if you will.

We've been having several overcast / rainy days

so this was the first sunset in a couple of days.

And it was a doozy!

(And yes, the patio doors are still open.

And yes, we DID have a serious talking to

with the dogs - LOUSY GUARD DOGS!)

(They were laying on the patio when the

intruder just slithered on past them...)

One of these days we are planning to screen in the

patio. Not THIS day... but SOON.

VERY SOON.

Cowboy FUN!

Kyle called me yesterday and said

they were going to castrate a little 

bull calf at the city farm.

Did I want to come?

YES!

(I missed when they did it up at

the ranch and he said it was the

most fun he's had in a long time!)

So...

I got to the farm a couple of minutes

before Mason showed up.

He didn't bring his horse.

So it was Linda, me, Mason, Kyle and

Kyle's FAST side-by-side and

Linda's SLOW side-by-side.

And a bucket of feed.

Hahahahahaha

You know where this is going, right?

Yeah.

She has two cow/calf pairs right now.

One heifer and one bull calf.

We JUST needed the little bull calf.

She said until 3 days ago he wanted to

be her best friend. Came up and let her

pet him, licked her legs, etc...

And then 3 days ago he turned into a 

teenager and wants NOTHING to do with her.

The guys TRIED and TRIED to catch him.

Mason roped and missed a couple time,

Kyle nearly tackled him and missed by an inch...

So we decided to move them into another

pasture and try to get them into the "facility".

But they decided to run into a different pasture.

Kyle chased 'em down with his FAST side-by-side

and got them into a skinny ally.

Then Linda held the others at one end

and the guys caught the little guy and threw

him on the ground.

And then they realized they didn't have

enough hands.

So they recruited me to come kneel on his

neck and hold his front legs.

Kyle held his back legs stretched way out.

And Mason did the deed.

Kyle's right.

It was FUN!

Then we had to get them BACK into the

original pasture.

Mason backed his truck and stock trailer

into the other end of the skinny ally

and "Donna" and her little heifer calf

hopped right on in the trailer.

But "Margo" and her little bull calf were

having NONE of it!

We chased her over to the trailer and she

got half in and then turned and bolted 

to the other end of the alley.

We walked down and herded her back to

the trailer. She got half in and turned and

bolted to the other end of the alley.

We walked down and herded her back to

the trailer. She got half in and turned and

bolted to the other end of the alley,

But then she RIPPED THE CHAIN OFF THAT

WAS HOLDING THE GATE CLOSED

 and took off into the big pasture.

Stupid cow.

(grin)

(I was a little freaked out because I was last

one through that gate - did I forget to close it???)

But when I walked down there, she

pulled the fence staple right out of the wood.

(Plus she tried really hard to run Mason down...)

She was MOTIVATED!

Kyle got back in his FAST side-by-side

and rounded her up and herded her back 

to the gate to get to the original pasture.

But she decided she wasn't going to cooperate

with the humans any more today.

So she turned and took off.

Leaving her little calf.

Mason and Kyle worked for a couple of

minutes and finally tackled him.

Mason grabbed him by one hind leg

and DRAGGED him towards the gate.

Meanwhile the little calf was hollaring.

And Margo was mooing.

And then she came a'runnin'...

We were a little worried for Mason.

But he dragged the little calf up to the gate

and then let him go and he and Margo

ran right on into the original pasture.

And then we backed the trailer with the

other 2 in it over there and they hopped out.

Whew!

I didn't get any pictures.

Hahaha

But I DID take a picture of the nearly finished

pond - it just needs to be sodded and then

add some pond lilies and maybe some fish...

It's going to be beautiful and peaceful

when its all finished!

Slow DOWN!

This pandemic time is supposed to be an opportunity

for all of us to slow down a bit, take time to breathe

and enjoy what's around us.

I just got off the phone with Sondra and instead of

going to her office for 90 minutes of intense yoga,

she's "strolling" around her neighborhood and

taking in the sights and sounds.

I, on the other hand, am going FULL TILT.

(At least it feels like it...)

I taught another class last night.

I had 11 students, 4 of them were really engaged

and using the chat feature to ask questions

and answer my questions, etc.

The rest were just names in the o-zone.

My boss stopped in for about 15 minutes

and complimented me before me left.

That's always nice.

(But STILL after 20 years, freaks me out!)

Hahahaha

I'm still learning more and more about Zoom.

Mostly I'm just late to the party.

But hey, I'm learning!

I was training a new instructor, but she is

having insurmountable difficulties, so we

"benched" her until the next round and I

took over again.

I guess I was still wound up, because

I just could NOT get to sleep.

I tossed and turned and tossed and turned

and changed the channel and tossed...

so I got up.

And ate half a bag of salt & vinegar crackers.

And woke up at 3:30.

(And headed to bed...)

This morning I got up, visited with Kyle for

a minute or two and then headed out to care

for the animals.

I found some zip ties and zip tied the cow

manger to the fence. I'm tired of them dragging

it all over the pasture and then I have to chase

it down when I want to feed them.

I tied it to the fence with baling twine,

but it wasn't strong enough.

So this time I used plastic zip ties.

Been meaning to do it for weeks.

And now its done.

Whew!

Then Kyle came out and we hooked up the

new bottle of natural bug killer to the hose

and sprayed the entire garden.

It has rosemary, garlic, clove, and cinnamon

(among other things)

so my whole garden smells like an Italian

dinner that went off the rails somewhere...

That cinnamon really doesn't fit!

Hopefully it works!

Then I went inside and found Rod's staple gun

and tightened up a little gap in the chicken wire

so the rabbits don't have a window to sneak in through.

Ta Da!

Then we cut 3 more roses off his bushes

(we got the first yellow rose!)

And then went out on the driveway and pruned the

hibiscus plants that are there.

They are all leggy and terrible looking.

Now they are all short and terrible looking.

But it can't be WORSE... 

One more thing off my list...

Anyhow.

Now I'm in the house, eating my late breakfast 

and found this on Steven Sharp Nelson (Piano Guy) facebook.

He has taken to writing a blog.

It's good and something to think about...

The fermata.

One of my favorite music symbols.

When I was a teenager I was in a string quartet 

called the "four matas".

No one got it.

We were always asked, "What's a mata?" 

To which I couldn't stop myself from responding,

 "Nothin' what's the mata with you?"

Ya. That's didn't go over that great either.

In Italian, fermata meas "stop". 

But its so much more than that.

A fermata is a moment. A held moment when a musician, 

without the dictates and confines of time signatures, 

tempo, or imposed rhythms, is free to be fearlessly authentic.

Free to let go and experience the music 

rather than just play the notes.

Free to hold back what comes next

 just long enough to breathe in meaning, 

and breathe out all that keeps us 

from enjoying the music.

I feel like right now we're living in a fermata. 

A protracted moment. 

An opportunity to "hold the music" 

long enough to better enjoy it, 

to breathe in who is around us, 

what we have, what we've been given,

 and to breathe out what's keeping us from giving back.

It's been said that music is the space between the notes.

Maybe life is the space between our expectations.

The music of authentic experience and fearless joy.

Busy Tuesday! (LONG post)

Get comfy, this is a LONG one... (grin)

It's Tuesday.

And apparently that's my shopping day.

At least these days...

Anyhow.

I was up and at the store by 7:30.

(Yes, I know Rod & Rozann, you've been at work for

at least 30 minutes and probably an hour+

by now, but this is EARLY for me... lol)

There weren't many people in the store.

Which is always nice.

I gloved and masked, as always.
I needed dog food, as always.
And I got us lots of "not beef" meat.
We have LOTS of beef.
But man (women) can live on beef alone.

AND I got two semi-cute "house dresses".
Something just below the knee with
t-shirt sleeves and nice and flowy...
They were inexpensive and fit the criteria.
So I got two.
One in each color.
Hahaha.

Anyhow.

When I got home, Kyle was up!
That's unusual!
It was only 8:30!
He's pretty sure he has a pinched nerve again,
so he hasn't been sleeping very well lately.
Anyhow, he was up.
We toured the garden together,
strung up another pole bean,
planted 3 rows of kale
and 6 replacement yellow squash plants.
Oh yeah, I texted people, but didn't mention it here.

When we sprayed the entire garden with
fish emulsion (VERY diluted) the ENTIRE
garden went nuts - the okra literally grew
2" overnight!
Except the yellow squash.
It killed them.
Not ALL the way dead, just nearly dead.
(Princess Bride)\(well, loosely...)
Anyhow.
They "might" come back, in that they are
squashes and are pretty hardy,
but on the off chance they die all the way,
we stuck the last 6 seeds in the ground
in the failed pea row.
And, as mentioned, 3 short-ish rows of kale.

None of us know if we like kale.
But what the heck.
It grows in the heat.
And if we DON'T like it, I'll be willing
to bet the rabbits will.

Anyhow.

Then he had to head to work.
And I headed out to mow.
Moved all the vehicles so I could mow under
them (Kyle put his big trailer and Cat out back
where they belong now that he's done with this
current project at Linda's...)
It always looks better after a good mow.

I locked the horses in the back back pasture
and mowed the middle back (cow) pasture.
The grass is FINALLY starting to grow, what
with the lovely rain we've been getting,
but the weeds were growing faster still,
so I wanted to top those and give the grass
a fighting chance.

I learned a few things.

1. DO NOT mow UNDER the giant willow tree
(with LOW hanging branches) when the big
roll bar thingie is up on the back of the mower.
It will catch on the aforementioned low hanging
branches and you will very nearly get bucked off.

2. It is VERY satisfying to mow over giant ant hills.

3. When you mow out by the road and decide to check
the mailbox on the off-chance you got a check from
the IRS but instead only find junk mail and stick
it under your butt so you don't lose it,
you will lose it anyway. And walk all over the
entire property and NEVER find it.
Good thing it wasn't a check from the IRS!

4. You should NOT bring a carbonated drink
on the lawnmower with you to keep you
hydrated. (I stopped at Sonic for a
Super Sonic Breakfast Burrito after shopping
as a reward for braving Walmart amid Covid-19)
Carbonated drinks do not love to ride on
lawnmowers - it makes them VERY bubbly
and your straw raises up out of the cup
and then ALL the bubbles go FLAT.
Eeeeeuuuuuwww.

Anyhow.

Once I was finished mowing (and searching for the
aforementioned hunk of junk mail...)
I traded the lawnmower for the wheelbarrow and
some clippers, a half bag of potting soil and a
gazillion empty plant pots.

Headed out to the willow with low hanging branches
and clipped off a bunch of them.
Then brought them into the barn (in the shade)
where there is a chair...
trimmed all the leaves off,
dipped the ends in water and rooting hormone
and stuck them in the plant pots with
the potting soil.

We now have a whole row of little sticks in pots.
(And an empty, dog chewed water bottle... how
did I not see that until just NOW???)
Hopefully at least SOME of them will decide
they want to grow up to be nice big willow trees!

We also have a bunch of pots that will hopefully some day
be lovely big moringa trees!
And 3 egg cartons with flower seeds in them.

The garden this morning
(complete with the sad looking squash plants - mid picture
on the right, then the top of the picture - the
2nd half of the row are the zucchini plants.
They LOVE fish emulsion!)
The furthest away row is watermelon,
pole beans and tomatoes.
The row on the left of the picture are the
peppers and broccoli at the front
and a rectangle of okra plants with
(hopefully) carrots in the center.
(but mostly weeds right now...)
And at the far left we have onions!
And something else... peppers?

We actually have a couple of BEANS
on our pole beans!
We are so excited!

This particular bean plant is going NUTS!
All the way up the string and then wrapped
itself around the wood beam at the top!
He also has a bean!
Too small to see in the camera though... I tried!

We cut 2 of Kyle's roses and brought them in.

They smell HEAVENLY!

My view while I do a sink full of dishes.

(Which is good for getting all the potting

soil out from under your fingernails...)

And now it's time to get cleaned up,

try on one of my new house dresses,

and get ready for yet ANOTHER zoom meeting!

I'm feeling pretty productive today!

And YOU should too!

(if you made it this far... lol)

Zoomed Out!

I finished my two week shift.

This morning I was handing the baton

to the newest instructor.

But NOTHING went as planned.

She couldn't get the meeting to open correctly.

I couldn't sign in at all.

I finally had her end the meeting and I restarted it.

And then made her the host.

But then her computer was all wonky with

black and orange lines all over it!

So I took over sharing the presentation from

my computer and writing notes on the screen

for the students while she taught.

But THEN there was a TORNADO hit

in her county which knocked out her power!

Suffice it to say...

I'm zoomed out.

So I'm going to sit on my couch with

a nice bowl of homemade macaroni salad.

And do NOTHING with my brain.

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh.

Visitor

We have an old "Topsy Turvy"

tomato planter hanging from our patio roof.

We grew cherry tomatoes in it last year.

Not very successfully though.

And then, like everything you see everyday,

I kind of forgot it was there.

This morning Rod and I were sitting out

on the patio, we actually did the dog's toe nails.

Kyle came out and decided to take it down.

Dad said he saw a little bird sitting on it

the other day.

I saw a bird flying in and out with nest

making material a couple of weeks ago,

but Kyle went out and started working on the

dump truck, complete with banging and

welding etc and the bird didn't come back.

Anyhow, before Kyle took it down,

he lifted the lid to look inside.

And looked, and looked, and just as

he was giving up, a little bird came 

ROCKETING out!

Startled us ALL!

Hahaha

Anyhow, she flew away and then, because we

were all sitting right there on her patio,

she flitted around from the trailer,

to the light pole in the yard,

to the roof,

wishing we would GO AWAY

so she could get back in her little house.

Kyle and I decided to go out to the garden to give

everything a good feeding with some fish emulsion

and give her some space.

When we were done, I headed in to the house

to wash (and wash, and wash, and wash!) my hands.

*REMEMBER TO WEAR GLOVES NEXT TIME!

I heard a noise in the office.

And there she was, sitting on the printer!

Silly bird!

She flew around and around in there!

Rod said she got in yesterday too, but flew in and turned

around and flew right out again.

This time she flew into the office and couldn't

figure out why she couldn't just fly out the

big windows!

Kyle went outside and opened the window for her.

(It's HEAVY and hard to open from inside...

no screens - we NEVER open them anymore...)

Anyhow.

She safely got out.

Phew!

Kyle's rose yesterday.

Kyle's rose today.

Beautiful! 

April Showers... FINALLY!

We are getting more lovely rain!

WITH LIGHTNING!

Yea!!!!

Kyle and I dashed out to the garden

(we have a little garden table now!)

and planted a bunch of new lavender,

chamomile and ... something I can't remember

the real name of but we call them

feather dusters...

from seed!

We used 3 of our gazillions of egg cartons.

Poked a drain hole in the bottom

(with an ice pick)

and filled them with potting soil.

These seeds make YEAST look big!

"Plant 3 seeds in each hole".

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

We want to have flowers all around

the edges of the garden.

Beauty and to attract pollinators.

Jim stopped by yesterday after work

and toured the garden.

We decided to pick the (3) lemons

off the lemon tree to give it a better 

chance to grow this year.

And we are debating whether to do the

same with the orange tree. (8)

We walked out and took a look at the mango tree.

I got it from a co-worker - 7 or 8 years ago.

It's been through several hurricanes,

eaten by several cows,

but this year (finally) we have.... oh, approximately...

9,847,386 mangos.

I don't actually like mangos.

Jim said... huh. I don't either.

But then I've never had one fresh right off

the tree - probably a whole different fruit!

Anyhow.

Rod worked this morning but he is home now.

It's nice to have him here!

We'll probably sit on the couch together and

take a nap.

Have a beautiful Saturday!

First bud on Kyle's rose bush after the 

"Great Cow Escape"

Just Change my name to Coach Collette

I feel like I'm living on Zoom!

Between teaching my class last night,

participating on company calls / zooms

(I'm on a conference call now - Zzzzzzz)

and training the "2nd Team" who are

taking over the review classes starting

next week...

I am attached to my computer!

My boss teamed me as instructor mentor

to a darling instructor (who I originally trained)

to hold her hand and help her get up and

running to teach the reviews starting

on Monday morning.

Whew!

She doesn't have much tech experience.

And her hardware is pretty old.

(And her internet isn't up to par either...)

I spent 30 minutes with her after my class

last night walking her through the "end" process

and another 2 hours today helping her

figure out how to make what she has, work.

(We aren't there yet...)

She's sure trying though!

It's windy and "cold" (70) and looks like

it wants to rain.(UPDATE - raining now!) 

It's been in the 90's lately!

So I have all the doors and windows open.

And I'm wearing a sweat shirt!

(And makeup and earrings... ahem ... Zoom...)

Yesterday, between all the other stuff,

I got 26 little moringa seeds planted in pots

and put out in the garden.

These are trees (if you aren't familiar with them)

that are considered a "superfood".

And they grow like MAD.

You can harvest the leaves, dry and crush them

and they are super healthy.

But they are also excellent rabbit / cow feed.

Which is why I planted so many.

Once they come up, I'm going to transplant them

along one of the fence lines (outside of the pastures)

and plan to harvest regularly to supplement 

the critter feed.

The garden is looking awesome!

The squashes are COVERED in flowers and

baby squashes.

We have something like 10 baby watermelons!

Hope they will make it.

Last time we grew watermelon, we only got ONE

that made it to full, ripe, ready to eat state.

And Buddy reached through the fence and ate it.

(Which is ONE of the many reasons THIS garden

is fully fenced with both field fence AND chicken wire...)

Farmer McGreggor does NOT want to share.

(Call us cranky... lol)

Kyle's roses have recovered from the great 

Cow Escape - they have about a foot of new growth

and 5-10 buds, so maybe one of these days he'll

get the roses he loves so much.

And today they are getting some nice, steady rain.

Amazing how much better the garden looks after a rain.

Even though we run the sprinkler every night for 2 - 3 hours.

There's just something about RAIN water.

(And the nitrogen lightning brings! We're hoping for a little

of that during Sunday's forecasted storms...)

Ok, enough rambling.

Back to work!

Love y'all!

(my conference call is with a bunch of 

good ol' Georgia boys... I'll be drawling for hours!)

Family Zoom

We had such a fun Family Zoom last night!

It was great to see all the faces!

And all the pets! 

(grin)

Technology is such a wonderful thing!

And now, this morning I gloved and masked up

and did the social distancing thing at WalMart 

and at Sams.

Needed (mostly) dog food.

And Kyle was out of chocolate milk mix

and since that's his breakfast every day.....

it was kind of essential.

Now I'm home, the groceries are put away

the animals are fed,

Kyle has gone to work,

I'm going to make some breakfast (yes, it's 11:30 am)

and do a workout.

Then I'm going to make a big batch of

egg salad for Rod (had to BUY eggs at Sams)

and maybe a couple loaves of sprouted bread.

*eggs: I caught the raven/crow red "beaked" who

has been sneaking into the coop as soon as I let

the girls out for the afternoon and stealing my eggs!

The other night I closed the coop, but when I came

out the next morning the door was open.

(It's just held closed by a hunk of wood on a single

screw - you just turn it to block the door... must have

not turned it far enough... it was a WINDY night...)

Anyhow, the girls were all out.

But that's ok, they stay close to home

and all return to the nest boxes to lay.

But when I went out later to collect eggs

there weren't ANY!

So the next day when I let the girls out

(and collected the eggs)

I hid in the barn and watched.

Sure enough - here he came.

Sat on the top of the roof ladder,

then the other leg of the roof ladder,

then the edge of the roof (over the horse trough)

then onto the pasture gate,

then on the fence post next to the coop,

then ... zoop! Into the coop!

Stinker!!!

So I have to be more vigilant about gathering

my eggs before I let the girls out.

Anyhow.

I lost 7 eggs that day.

Saturday I only got 5

and yesterday I only got 6 (1 was broken in the nest).

And Rod had a guy at work who has REALLY

been waiting a long time for eggs,

so we sold him 2 dozen on Friday.

Which meant I was nearly out.

But selling all those eggs paid for the round roll

of hay for the cows for this 2 weeks.

So it's a fair trade-off.

*I can buy eggs WAY cheaper than what

we sell them for...

They are generally $.98 at Aldi.

I paid $1.50 for 18 today.

They don't taste as good, but when you are

just going to smother them in mayo and make

egg salad out of them, it doesn't matter.

OK.

GET TO WORK COLLETTE!

Have a lovely day!

Make Time to Sit

Happy Easter!

We just finished "home church".

Rod and another brother went down to the

mobile home community in our ward boundaries

to provide sacrament to them.

They are all elderly and not going out these days.

We watched an excellent old conference

talk (Pres Uchdorf) from Oct 2010

called Of Things That Matter Most.

All about slowing down in times of stess.

So appropriate for this time.

Meanwhile...

Yesterday Rod spent the morning cleaning

out the shed, Kyle pressure washed the

front sidewalk and fence boards,

I deep cleaned the bathroom and kitchen.

(Deep cleaned being a relative term...)

Then we spent the afternoon in the garden.

Rod put up a second trellis (puppet string thing)

since what we THOUGHT were bush beans

turned out to also be pole beans!

They needed something to climb!

We are going to have a LOT of beans!

(YEA!)

(I can hear my 9 year old self GROANING...)

But my 60 year old self is super excited!

WE HAVE A ZUCCHINI!

And several yellow squashes!

Tiny yet, but at least they are starting!

Then we brought our chairs up onto the

patio under the ceiling fan and had a sandwich

and some (keto) carrot cake I baked up earlier.

YUM.

Then Rod got a wild hair and decided to 

build a bench out of the trees he and Kyle

took down several years ago.

Remember?

They cut them into planks with their

Alaskan chain saw mill.

From this...

to this...

To this...

Rod enjoyed his breakfast out there this morning!

The back is the perfect height and angle.

It's really comfortable!

We haven't decided where we are going

to put it yet.

Next to the garden?

Next to the cows?

Horses?

Fruit trees?

It's moveable!

Maybe all of the above!!!

Anyhow.

That's what we've been up to this Easter weekend.

See y'all tonight on the GIANT FAMILY ZOOM!

Garden Update

Our garden is growing!

Ok, the GARDEN is staying the same size.

But the PLANTS are growing!

That first row are beans.

Lots and lots and lots of beans.

And 6-8 cherry tomato plants to the far left.

There are also more pole beans all along

that fence but they are growing a little slower.

Kyle also has 4 lavender, a rosemary, 

a garden sage and a little chamomile that 

keeps getting stepped on.

(It's in a bad spot...)

Then there is a dud row of peas.

We are going to over plant it with onions.

Or something.

It's too late in the season to plant more peas.

(Yes, April is TOO LATE... crazy, eh?)

The next row is zucchini and yellow squash.

We will have enough to feed the world.

But we LIKE eating zucchini and yellow squash.

I usually buy 4-6 each week (and Kyle buys

another 3 or 4) so I don't think we will have

much trouble using them up.

And we'll freeze the rest.

And then we have the row of bell peppers, okra,

and a few carrots.

I inherited Dad's carrot "bad juju".

And passed it down to Kyle.

We don't seem to be getting much growth there.

And we have planted them TWICE.

Whatever.

Meanwhile...

I spent some time last night in Buddy's stall

with my fancy shedding gloves.

There's half a horse there!

This morning I put Andy out in the sunshine

in the back pasture and spent about 20 minutes

on him. His hair is FINALLY releasing!

Just walked by the barn after checking on

the garden. The pasture has a good number

of various birds gathering horse hair to 

line their spring nests.

I love how Mother Nature works!

Masks Etc

I ventured out for my first 

SENIOR shopping trip at Walmart.

(Our's opens 6-7 am for 60+)

(I needed my thyroid refill. And dog food.)

I was appropriately gloved and masked up.

We have a box of N95 masks the church

issued the guys when they were doing

hurricane clean-up in Key West.

Wow.

It added yet another reason to be in awe of

our amazing health care professionals.

These are AWFUL!

I'm NOT a mouth breather.

But the whole time I was wearing this

thing I kept finding myself breathing

through my mouth - which I hate.

It's not healthy to breathe through your mouth.

(That's why HF put all those nifty filters

in your nasal passages!)

AND I couldn't keep my darn glasses on!

Anyhow.

I got in, got what I needed, and got out.

Meanwhile,

Rod had an appointment with his eye doctor.

He had laser surgery on his glaucoma eye

six weeks ago and it was time to check to see

if it worked.

They called and cancelled because its not an emergency.

But I think his eye looks WAAAY worse.

It looks like a balloon that is over-inflated.

So I called and got him another appointment.

He went in this morning.

Before his surgery his pressure was 16.

This morning is was TEN!

The Dr. said his eye looks great (all considered)

and the reason it looks bad is the other eye lid

is starting to droop quite a bit so it looks bigger...

He is VERY BLESSED!

We started with this beautiful full moon.

Pretty enough to warrant TWO pictures.

Also... please note the dump truck is NOT

on the back patio!

Kyle got it all finished up yesterday!!!!

YEAAAAAA!!!!!!

It's going back to the farm today.

Stay healthy.

Stay positive.

Stay strong.

This just popped up on my "Nextdoor Neighborhood" page.
I guess it could be worse...

And Sam just shared this on my FB page...

Hahahahahahaha!!!

Zoom Master (HA!)

I have been shut up in my "office"

Ok, Jim's bedroom...

for the past YEAR.

Ok, 2 days.

Or is it 3???

Anyhow.

I hosted my first live webinar on

Friday morning and actually had 19

students show up for class!

Not bad for 4 hours of insurance stuff...

Then last night I co-hosted Lawrence's webinar.

Good thing I was there, his screen froze and I

had to take over for a couple of minutes...

And then this morning I popped into our

Spanish instructor's class just to observe

and she was doing it DIFFERENT!

She had her iPad hooked up along with her

laptop, so she could show the presentation on

her iPad (which is WAY easier to write on...)

and had her Q&A and Chat windows open on

her laptop so she could teach AND answer 

questions at the same time!

Brilliant!!!

(Plus the iPad has a better White Board than

Zoom does - and I already have saved stuff

that I can use...)

As soon as I saw that, I jumped on with my other

instructor / friend Lillian, and we set up a practice

webinar and tried it out!

WE LOVE IT!

(Rod had to come close my door because we were

squealing... lol)

So.....

Tonight at 6:00 I'll be hosting my 2nd Zoom webinar.

and I'm going to try it the way she did it.

(Fingers Crossed!!!)

This is NOT me, obviously.

This is Lawrence, and what I was looking

at on my screen last night.

Well, I was also an "attendee" on my phone so I

could raise my hand when he asked questions

(he only had 4 students and only 1 was participating)

All those other names on the participant screen

are other instructors - most logged in and wandered off...

I was also following along on MY presentation

on my iPad.

So I had 3 different devices open.

Plus Lillian kept texting me (she was watching too)

and then my boss Dan popped in and started texting

me, so I was trying to flip back and forth between

texting and raising my hand ... sometimes I wasn't

fast enough and he got a bit discouraged that there

wasn't more participation.

But I tried!

(grin)

I slept WELL last night!

I had a large morning class, but honestly am not

expecting a huge class this evening.

People have better things to do on a Saturday evening. 

Probably. 

Maybe. 

Anyhow.

That (hopefully) explains the radio silence.

I'm not teaching again until Wed evening...

so I promise to check back in on Monday.

Or even Sunday.

We'll see...

Caught the last 20 minutes of the morning session.

It was good!