They Did It!

 Those men are amazing.

This is the LONG line of pipe

running the length of the garden.

It's going to be wonderful to have

a frost free hydrant at both ends

of the garden.

Waaaaaaaaaay less hose dragging.

And now the excavator magician

is filling the trenches.

And we have water!

Both to the garden,

and to the house, once we are ready.

Eventually they will build a

pump house to protect the well

and the pressure tank and pipes.

But for now....

WE HAVE WATER!

Getting Closer to WATER

 The guys got most of the pipe

laid yesterday and then

discovered this morning that the

connectors weren't designed for

high pressure (like water....).

So, I jumped in the car and did

a quick trip to Home Depot to buy

some more connectors.

(Luckily they hadn't glued ALL of

the wrong ones in so we will be 

able to return them...)

Anyhow.

I also got 10 dozen eggs prepped for

the freeze dryer.

And then the adult son of a local friend

called and said he had just returned

from Missouri where he picked a 

bunch of morel mushrooms from a

"crick" bottom.

He has purchased lots of fun

freeze dried things from me at

the farmer's market and wondered

if I would be interested in trying

to freeze dry some of these...

I'm always up for a challenge!

So he brought them over and we

put them all spread out on the trays

and popped them into the machine.

Usually I pre-freeze everything, but they are

already pretty "dry" so they didn't

need to be pre-frozen.

(Even the Harvest Right App says

they only need a few hours of pre-freeze

and it's just as easy to do it in the machine.)

Anyhow.

I should have taken a picture,

but I was hurrying to get the eggs into

the freezer so they will be ready when

the mushrooms come out.

I want them all done before I have to

leave town on Friday.

Don't want Rod to have to deal with them.

Anyhow.

I'll snap a picture when they are done.

I needed to clean out the freezer though,

since I wasn't sure if I was going to

pre-freeze or not,

and there was half a bag of

Rhodes rolls.

Put them in pans and set them to rising.

During my final break I put them in the

oven with instructions for Rod to take

them out when it dinged.

That last hour of teaching was

TORTURE!!!

The rolls smelled so good!!!

I'm going to run make some alfredo

and we'll have nice warm rolls with it.

Anyhow.

The guys got the well pump moved from the

stock tank well over to the house well.

They didn't run any water through it though.

They'll do that tomorrow.

Wanted to make sure all the pipes glue

was fully cured.

So, hopefully tomorrow is the BIG day

for water!

It will be so good to just be able to

turn it on down at the garden and not 

need to mess with the generator anymore.

We've been doing that dance for 2 years.

OK,

I'm off to make some dinner.

Have a GREAT night!

New Project

 Interiors for the house are on hold

for a little bit, because 

WATER is important!

We got a "little" rain yesterday.

But not enough to make a dent.

So having water for the garden

is essential.

This is our third garden at the farm,

and bringing water in by trailer

is NO FUN.

Last year Rod and Kyle bought a pump

for the well (instead of the solar one that

just could NOT put out enough water...)

and that was a HUGE upgrade.

Except we don't have electricity all the

way out there at the well.

In case it's been awhile since you've seen

the property, the well is a LONG way

from the road, and a LONG way

from the garden.

They ran a LOT of pipe from the well

down to the garden, 

but we still have to run a generator

to get any water.

And gas isn't cheap these days.

So...........

Enter Kyle and the Cat Excavator!

Through the trees and down to the garden!

(Waaaaaaaaay up on the top of the hill

if you squint you can see the pig barn.)

Over on the right.

Kind of by the tree.

Only more to the right.

Yeah, there.

They even got some of the pipe run!

(He needs a ladder to get in and out 

of the trench, it's 4 feet deep!

Gotta stay below the frost line...)

It also goes from the well

(inside the Menard's tube...

we stuck that on it so nobody would

accidentally back into / over it!)

to the house.

Gotta have water there too!

Anyhow.

Pretty good for one day's work!

Tomorrow is Hays Day.

And then Wednesday they'll be back at it.

Hopefully we'll have water by Thursday,

because Friday Kyle and I head to

Wichita so he can jump on a plane to Orlando.

($65 one-way ticket... he's a little

worried they are going to strap him

on the WING!)

I'm continually amazed at what these guys

can accomplish when they put 

their minds to it.

Moving the Transplants

 Kyle and I (ok, mostly Kyle)

worked hard yesterday and got

ALL of the tomatoes transplanted

and about half of the peppers.

This is what happens when you start 

your tomatoes WAAAAAAAY

too early.

But the peppers look pretty good!

There were plants on the front seat too.

Anyhow.

I didn't take a picture because by the time we were

done, the wind was blowing about a gazillion

miles an hour, I was SUNBURNED,

and I was TIRED.

(And they are tiny up against their trellis

and you probably couldn't see them anyway.)

We had to stop about 4 so we could

run the sprinklers for 2 hours.

And then after the sprinkler did its thing,

I came behind with a water wand and

hand watered in them all.

It was actually pretty easy and efficient

and didn't take nearly 2 hours.

I might do more of that..... we'll see.

**********************************************

In OTHER news, it looks like Jim sold

his car!!!

(An important step in moving...)

Marketing is half the battle!

(And the fact that it's a good car,

low mileage, and he's taken care of it...)

But a good photo doesn't hurt!

One guy wanted to make a trade.

Tempting.

But.... Kansas.

Dirt, farm roads.

And... CASH is King.

**************************************

In OTHER OTHER news,

Sabrina has a couple of virtual

job interviews today.....

FINGERS CROSSED!!!!

They are all going to love her

and there will be a bidding war.

I'm confident.

Things are getting REAL around here!

More planting on tap for today.

We want to get the rest of the peppers

in the ground and also the seeds

for the rest of the garden.

There are a LOT of them.

But we can do it!

They are forecasting rain for tomorrow

and Sunday.

We'll see if it actually happens,

but if it does, it would be a good start

for our new babies.

LOVELY Visit!

 We had a REALLY good time!

This morning Kyle came over and

we headed into Hays to go to the

Sternberg Museum of Natural History.

I couldn't decide which version I liked better.

They were both cute!

We even got a picture with Kyle in it!

We saw lots of interesting things, 

spent a couple of hours wandering around

and learning lots about the Natural History

of the state of Kansas.

Lots of fossils.

(Yes Kyle. Including US.... lol.)

We did a LOT of laughing.

Then we drove over to the Fort Hays

State University's bison herd!

There were a bunch of buffaloes looking 

at a bunch of buffalos.

They have a nice little herd.

2 traditionally colored,

1 half and half

and the one white one...

It was a really nice day.

Not tooooo hot and pretty windy

so kept the temperature down

as well as the flies... lol.

Drove them around the university

campus a little and then to Walmart

so they could pick up some bottles

of water and iced tea for the rest

of their trip...

and then home so they could pack

up and head to Utah next.

Our front porch.

It was pretty windy!

(Rod was trying to escape before MORE pictures...)

All in all, it was a nice visit

and we were sorry to see them leave.

Bye guys!

Until next time!

(They are headed to Moab, want to do

the Arches and then up to Boise to spend

a day or two with some old friends from

our Provo / Rocky Mountain Helicopter days

and then Yellowstone and home again

via the northern route.)

Safe travels!!!

Scott & Janis Visiting!

 We have been having a great

visit with Scott and Janis!

Scott might be happier than

I've ever known him to be!

And I've known him for 46 years.

Retirement suits them both!

The gazebo at City Park, Hill City

No idea what I was doing.....

Checking out Kyle's house

They were really impressed with all

he built, especially by himself!

I stayed up at Kyle's with the dog

and Kyle drove them around the property.

Ending with a tour of the new

house build.

No trip to WaKeeney is complete without

a stop at the North Pole and a picture

with Santa!

Last night we went to dinner at

the Brazin' Bull and had yummy

Taco Tuesday stuff (and hamburgers

and the BEST corn fritters and

fried okra) and then home to sit

in the living room and tell stories.

Today we are going into Hays to

tour the Stenberg Museum.

I have to teach tonight and Rod has

Mutual, I'm not sure what else the

evening will bring, but today will

be lots of fun!

Blast From the Past

 It's been a CRAZY day.

We were expecting Scott and Janis to

come visit some time this week.

Not necessarily TODAY..... lol.

So instead of planting the garden,

I did a deep clean of the house and

then Kyle and I ran into Hays to get 

some groceries.

They arrived while I was teaching my

first hour, so I went outside and visited

with them for a minute during breaks

and then they went out for dinner

at the little Prairie Rose Bar & Grille.

They said it was delicious!

I'll take some pictures tomorrow when

we take them out to see the new house

and the farm.

(Wish there was more to see.....)

But in the meantime,

this popped up on my timeline.

2011!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Wonder if he will revert back to that

once he's living out here in the

backwoods of Kansas???