Working Hard

 It's a LOT of work.

But the drip line seems to be working well.

He has to drag the watering trailer all the way 

down the road to the well.

Fill it up and drive it back and set it up.

But it seems to be getting water where we need it.

During his "down time" he mowed the area in the valley where the 

grass was SUPER tall...

Remember this?

It was EVEN TALLER.

He ran the bush hog behind his tractor.

And then he pitchforked it onto his big trailer.

I forgot to take a picture, but the entire thing

was stacked 3 feet high in grass!

You can see some of it in the bottom right of this picture.

He has been covering the rows to help much and

keep the moisture in.

Yesterday I taught the morning class (8-12) and

then ran into Hays to the Kubota dealer to pick

up some filters etc for the tractor.

Then to Home Depot for some things for the

watering system.

Then out to the farm to deliver the roof sealer

I bought the day before and the new stuff

and check on his progress.

Then back into town to teach the night

class (5-9). I kind of love being an hour

behind Florida... its nice to be finished teaching

and the sun hasn't even gone down yet!

Anyhow.

Last night we got a little gentle rain at the house,

but according to the radar we got some of

the good "yellow" rain out at the farm.

This morning we have some house projects

I need Kyle's help with and then we will

head out there to check everything out.

We are putting a LOT of miles on the vehicles.

But eventually he will be living out there

and won't have to make the drive in and out

every single day.

I'll miss having him here!

But he's looking forward to living in his house!

Exciting Amazon Delivery

 I wasn't expecting this until next Monday!

I found this on Amazon.

Yes, its made in China.

But considering it was under $300.00

and Kyle paid over $700 for his...

And I've been sitting on a camp chair

with a box to put my feet on since we moved...

I'm pretty excited!!!

So yea for a comfy chair I can lean back in

and raise up my feet after a long day.

(Once Rod gets here, we will put this one

in the bedroom and probably borrow

Reid's brilliant idea of down-sizing the leather sofa

we have now to a loveseat size...)

Anyhow.

Welcome new chair!

Drip Line

 It is just TOO WINDY to run a sprinkler

effectively out at the farm.

The water just blows away.

So Kyle ordered a big ol' drip line kit.

And it came with everything we needed.

So yesterday that was our project.

Step one, lay out the feeder line.

There is a Y splitter in the middle.

Each side has 18 rows.

Each row is 165 feet long.

50', then an alley big enough for the tractor,

then a 30' row, then another alley, and then

another 50' row.

At least that's what I think it is.... lol.

Anyhow.

We got it all staked down with staples and then

put in the holes and nipples.

Then Kyle ran the actual drip tape.

We had a couple of 1000' rolls.

Those were awesome.

The kit came with one 4000' roll.

That thing was a BEAST!

We ended up laying it flat at one end of the row

and I fed tape while Kyle walked it to the other

end of the row, then I untwisted all the knots

and he walked back and staked it down.

Got the first 18 row section finished.

We were SUNBURNED, tired, hot (it was 96 degrees), and

I had to get back to town to teach a class.

But we have DRIP!

AND

Beans

Squash

Okra all popped up!

(The top 1/4 inch of dirt is dry, but if you

dig down, this soil does a really good

job of holding moisture.)

Kyle stayed and did some watering.

And he's back there again this morning.

While the drip does its job, he is going

to keep working inside his house.

I was supposed to have an all-day training

meeting on Zoom, but the presenter woke up

"extremely ill" so cancelled at the last minute.

So instead I'm heading into Hays to 

do the weekly grocery shopping and buy some

stuff for Kyle's house.

Life on the farm!

He Has Windows!!!

 And they were HEAVY!

Lol.

When we got here, it was all boarded up.

Yesterday we went to the storage unit and

got all his windows.

Loaded them in the bed of his truck

and took them out to the farm.

(This is actually upstairs...)

He put the door in by himself on Monday.

Then we ran out of zip tape (flashing tape) 

to put around the window openings...

So we had to "run" into Hays to Home Depot to get more.

(It's an hour away from the farm...)

As long as we were in town, we treated ourselves

to a burrito from Taco Bell.

Right back to the farm again to finish installation.

Before....

Every time we unboarded a window it let in SO MUCH light.

Where he is standing is going to be his bedroom.

He is putting a wall in the middle of the floor 

so he can put his bed against it and look out

at that gorgeous view in the mornings and evenings.

The windows are tinted so it cuts the light a little,

but also it was incredible the difference in the

heat coming through before and after.

I think he will be VERY happy with these windows.

Despite all the adventures getting to this point.

(Remember, he got here and discovered that NONE

of the windows in Kansas would fit the holes he

built into the shell - these are FLORIDA only windows.

Who Knew???)

So he had to come back to Florida and buy them all

and then we brought them down with us in October

when we thought we were moving.

They have been in storage ever since.

And.... let's not forget.

They are HEAVY!

So getting them up his stairs

(with a 90 degree turn in the middle)

was entertaining. 

Since his partner is a fat little old lady.

But we got it done!!!

Front.

His view is his 40 acres and WAAAAAAY in the distance,

the neighbor's wheat fields.

(The one that is still boarded up is going to be a door

to the balcony instead of a window. But we don't have

the balcony yet... obviously...)

Back.

Those big windows overlook the garden.

And the back windows overlook what will

one day be the orchard.

He planted the trees on Monday.

Give 'em some time and it will be glorious!

I'm beyond impressed with the work he has done.

It's incredible he built this home all by himself.

I'm the only other person who has even been

on the 2nd floor. When he built it in Florida

he built the floor, but then he took it down and

built the walls on the first floor.

AND it withstood it's first winter and some

pretty rowdy storms in fine shape.

Inside there is no mold, mildew, animals...

(his 3 biggest worries beyond it just falling over...)

Onward!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

 

Yesterday was Kyle's birthday.

I made him some french toast  with the

cinnamon raisin bread I baked on Saturday.

And then we headed into Hays for church.

There was a baptism and also a couple of families

were having a family reunion - when we got there

the parking lot was FULL! We had to park 

along the side.

(The clerk said there were 166 people in Sacrament Mtg.)

Anyhow.

The talks were excellent.

And then we split for RS and EQ.

It was a really good meeting - the lesson ended

about 15 minutes early so we spent the final time

talking about blessings and tender mercies.

It was really enjoyable.

These are good people.

There was a Linger Longer after church.

The theme was salad.

We stayed for a bit and visited,

complimented the speakers on their remarks,

and then we headed home for some real food.

(Kyle really wanted nachos for his birthday lunch...)

Saturday we went out to the farm to check

on the garden - nothing coming up yet, but it

is still early days.

And then we drove around the property for a

bit. It's funny that there are still parts of the 

property we haven't even been on yet!

We gathered some beautiful wild flowers

and made a bouquet in my water cup.

And then he took me over to see the

Wild Horse Lake Park.

It's just a few miles up the road from the farm.

It is kind of long and skinny.

It snakes around over 5 or so acres.

And on a really wet year it empties out into a

little creek that actually runs through our property.

At least in theory.

I don't know if we've ever gotten any water on our property from it,

but it's something to look forward to...

We found some mulberry bushes that were absolutely LOADED!

We picked a couple.

They have a very mild, sweet flavor.

The seeds aren't nearly as pronounced as in a blackberry.

We got some good rain Friday and Saturday nights.

Lots of things were in bloom.

It will all die back and be brown eventually,

but right now it is so beautiful and green.

The flowers are still looking pretty.

And this morning the town sent around a crew of guys

to gather up the tree debris from the storm Friday night.

My neighbor, Christa, came over last night to let

us know to pile it up by the curb.

(We had it out in the alley where they usually pick

up the compost - but we don't have one of those bins yet...)

She said they don't always do it, but her Mom has

an in with the people at the top and told her

they were coming around today.

That was nice!

Kyle is out at the farm planting fruit trees.

And I'm puttering around here doing stuff,

putting off calling all the students on my list

I'm supposed to phone today.

And then I teach tonight.

We are settling in.

Getting to Know Kansas and More New Stuff

 We are having so much fun getting to

know our new home!

Thursday Kyle had planned to put in

a new little fence in the backyard so

we can let the dog out and not worry

about him wandering off.

(He LOVES the neighbor's front

yard - they have skinny grass!)

Anyhow.

The ground in our backyard is ROCK HARD!

He has a gas powered auger.

But was only able to dig an inch or so.

Added water.

Another inch.

More water.

Another inch.

He only needs to put in a few posts,

but then we need to fence in the garden.

And that is a LOT of posts.

So.....

off to Hays to Tractor Supply for the next thing.

(We knew we needed it, just hadn't planned

on getting it quite yet...)

Introducing the new post hole digger!

When we got home from Hays and pulled into

the backyard, we were pretty sure we could

hear CAR RACING!

(There is a track on the main road into town...)

So after putting away our purchases,

we drove over to check it out.

They were racing the first in a series.

$15/person and they planned to race until

around 10:00. (It was around 8, but the sun

stays up here until after 9...)

So, we dashed home and got some cash

(THANKS MOM & DAD!)

and went to the races!

It's a 3/8 mile dirt track.

Those boys (AND girls) throw those cars into the corners!

The racing was wild and crazy!

And SO MUCH FUN!!!!

This one was the "Wild and Wacky Cruisers" class.

Old Lincolns and Buicks and the like.

Kyle can see himself and Dad doing this!

About 9:30-ish they lost the lights in turns 3 and 4,

so they had to red flag the race for a bit while

they fixed the problem.

And I hopped in the car and ran to the house and

got us each a jacket and a blanket.

When the sun goes down it gets chilly quick!

(We are still not quite used to that... in Florida it's still

80 degrees at midnight!)

By the end of the night we were pretty

sure we would be able to grow carrots

in our EYES. It was REALLY dirty.

Those cars kick up a lot of dirt and then the

wind carried it right over and dumped it on us.

(We saw little kids wearing swimming goggle,

ski goggles, and safety glasses... the adults

just drank beer. hahahaha.)

Anyhow, the last race finished up about 11:30.

It was a blast and something we look forward to

doing again - next race is next month during the

Trego County Free Fair.

July 9 - 13.

Marking our calendars!

Anyhow.

Friday morning dawned bright and clear.

Kyle headed to the farm to set up the new

sprinkler we bought (it has a lower profile - the

other one shoots too high in the air and most of

the water just blows away in the wind...)

And, of course, he set up the new post hold digger

and even planted one of our trees.

Did I ever mention the trees?

I don't remember.

We found a GREAT sale on fruit trees at Tractor Supply.

$5.00 each!!! They were supposed to be $15.

Not sure how many will actually grow,

but we were willing to take the gamble.

We have honey crisp, red delicious and one golden delicious apples.

8 or 9 peaches

and 8 or 9 plums.

Even if only some of them grow, it will still be cheaper than

buying single trees at the full regular price.

(You have to pay nearly $50/tree for ones that

already have leaves on them....)

Anyhow. We'll keep an eye on them and keep you posted.

When he got home, we ate some early dinner.

He went out into the yard to finish the fence and I

went into the zoom room to teach.

I came out after 2nd break and we have a FENCE!

He did a great job!

And the digger was amazing!

Popped those holes in the ground

like it was nothing. It was LIKE BUTTAH!

I wanted to see it work, so he dug a little hole

behind the fence and I planted my rhubarb.

Hahahahaha.

He mentioned we were under a severe thunderstorm warning.

The clouds looked SO COOL!

But I had to get back inside. 

Break is only 10 minutes.

On the next break, the clouds were looking a little

more like they meant business.

During the final hour, I turned off my zoom camera

and turned on my radar on my phone.

Propped it up on my desk and taught while

watching the storms roll in, over and through.

Looks like we got some good rain at the farm

and missed all the hail.  (Whew!) None of the

crops are up yet, but still... hail isn't ever great.

It RAINED. Like TONS and TONS of rain.

And then the sky did THIS!

It rained a couple more times during the night, 

but all the wild, rowdy stuff was finished.

This morning on my walk with Beau we saw

a few limbs down, but nothing big.

Amazing what a little rain will do!

(We scalped the lawn where it was only 

woody weeds, so there are some big brown

patches. We bought some grass seed, so 

hopefully it will look better soon...)

Just need to put in a short run of fence between

the corner of the house and the corner of

the garage so Beau has a complete fenced

in dog yard.

And we want to run to the farm, drop off the

tractor and check out how everything faired.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

(Fingers crossed for the Open House today.)

Another Tender Mercy

 I didn't want to tell the story until

it had a happy ending...

Last Thursday as we were driving

across Arkansas, we stopped for fuel.

Then 3 hours later we stopped again.

And that is when I discovered that I

couldn't find my wallet.

I had been wearing some loose fitting

cloth pants to drive in. 

(All about comfort...)

And after we fueled up, I drove over to

the side of the lot by the grass to let

Beau out and give him some water.

In all the moving about, my little

wallet must have fallen out of my pocket.

I immediately jumped online to lock

my credit cards, but I couldn't get on the

site because I was using my hotspot and 

it isn't secure enough for them.

So I called Rod and had him do it for me.

Then he looked up the phone number for

the truck stop we were at.

I gave them a call and they said 

YES, someone turned it in!

They would be happy to mail it to me.

I have been on pins and needles for a week

waiting for it to arrive.

I finally called on Wed. and they said they

just shipped it UPS that day and gave

me a tracking number.

UPS just dropped off the box.

And everything is here, safe and sound!

(Mostly I was worried about my

drivers license - it's hard to get anything

done in a new town without ID!)

But all's well that ends well.

YEA!!!!!