Bathrooms are DONE!

 Jim is the KING of the bathroom

installations!

We now have a grab bar!

(We were going to have the

toilet paper holder, but I bought

some that weren't big enough for

our large Sams toilet paper rolls...)

Gotta return those and get

bigger ones on Tuesday.

The half bath is all finished!

Looks good, eh?

It's a little.... bland.

So we will be looking for a 

colorful picture for the wall

next to the toilet.

He got the sink and faucets and

mirror in the master bath as well,

but was READY to come home

and didn't take a picture.

The fridge was installed and plugged in,

but there's no power to that wall right

now, since we needed to wire in the

stove hood. Since there are bare wires

hanging out, that breaker is off.

Looks good though!

Meanwhile, Kyle was down in the garden

hooking up the new hard line for the

sprinklers in the pumpkin patch.

It's an experiment, a lot of work,

and more $$ than I want to spend

for ALL the rows.

So we are going with this one row

with hard pipe and leaving the rest

of them using hose for this year.

We'll see how it goes.

We might change the whole thing

for next year.

You never know.

The orange okra is doing GREAT!

We even have some buds starting!

Maybe we'll have okra in a few weeks!

(Good thing too, I think I'm OUT

of okra from last year...)

I'm excited for this new okra.

Hope it's good!

Speaking of the pumpkin patch,

they are growing!

It's a little more than a "patch".

It's like half an acre or something.

We have several sugar baby watermelon

coming along!

And on the opposite side of the

tunnel we have cantaloupe.

And beans on both sides....

lots of flowers, no beans yet...

but you know beans.

One day there's nothing and suddenly

you are DROWNING in beans.

And a beautiful volunteer sunflower!

Some of our cantaloupe are already

getting their netting!

Not nearly ripe yet, but getting there!

Even the weeds were pretty today!

Plus Kyle and I cut,

blanched and bagged up

17 quarts of carrots.

All ready for the freezer.

We will harvest the other 2 rows

next week and get them in the

freezer too.

(But I saved a hand full to make

some carrot salad!)

I'll take a picture when I do.

But when I got home,

Sabrina was elbow deep in

baking.

Garden City & Carpet

 Rod and I drove down south to the

booming metropolis of Garden City.

Where they have REAL STORES.

(Like TARGET, and LOWES, and SAMS!)

But first we went to see his eye doctor.

His glaucoma pressures looked good,

so next appointment is in May.

(Our Doctor is also in the State Legislature,

so he's going to be in session through April.)

In the meantime, he wants us to get

an appointment with the local optomotrist

(he knows and recommends her)

in case we need anything.

Also, he is retiring in 4 more years,

so... there's that.

Anyhow.

It was a good visit.

Then to Taco Bell (I know, right?) 

but it's good, and it's on the way.

And then Sams.

Where we bought lots of fun stuff.

Like flour and sugar (25# so lots more

and WAAAAAY cheaper) and chocolate

chips, and raisins, and brown sugar,

(and a big jug of peanut M&M's, cuz...

why not???)

AND we got an EXCELLENT price on

some really beefy shelves to put in the prep room!

I'm SUPER excited about that!!!

We also bought the silver metal
one next to it...

Then next door to Home Depot cuz the

boys texted and needed a couple peices

of pvc to finish installing the kitchen sink.

Isn't technology great?

And then the long (2 hour) drive back home.

If you zoom in, that road goes 

straight, all the way to the horizon!

(and beyond...)

Meanwhile.....

We have carpet in the office!!!

(OK, this is the pad... lol)

This one is the carpet.

Not finished yet, but getting there...

Anyhow.

Tomorrow Kyle and I head to Salina to

pick up the fridge (and return the

kitchen faucet I changed my mind on...)

And then this weekend I'm teaching 

the Louisiana class.

As always, our thoughts and prayers

turn to Mom and Dad and all the

Tucson family constantly.

We love you.

I Feel Like Bugs Bunny!!!!

 Today, Kyle and I harvested

CARROTS!!!!!

Is that not a thing of beauty???

(It's a stripe of sunshine, NOT

an actual stripe...)

His patio is SO perfect for 

cleaning up the harvest.

We filled TWO milk crates

with carrots and then took

them up to his house,

sat in the shade (and lovely breeze)

and washed them all.

Tomorrow (hopefully) we will

run then through our chopper and

turn them into nickels and blanch

and freeze for this winter.

We were SO excited to see them

as they came out of the garden!

We have tried and tried and tried!

FINALLY some that look

(and taste) great!

This is maybe 2/3 of them.

We left 2 smaller rows still in the ground

because we aren't sure if we might

pull them Friday, leave the tops on,

and take them to the market.

But I'm teaching this weekend,

so we'll have to see...

Meanwhile.....

Rod and Jim were super busy!

There is now a toilet and vanity

in the half bath!

A new shower head AND curtain rod

in the master bath.

AND a toilet with a LOT of room 

next to it for a trash can and

a laundry hamper!

Also Jim got the hot water heater

all installed and ready to fill with 

water.

Also ALL the lights are now wired 

up. When I went up to say bye,

all the lights were on in the house

and it looked AWESOME!

Tomorrow for Hays Day we are

dragging the stock trailer and

picking up the carpets for the

master, office & closet.

Rod and I have to drive south 2 hours

on Wednesday to Garden City

for his glaucoma checkup.

While we are gone, hopefully

Jim and Kyle will be able to work

on the carpet........

And then Thursday Kyle and I will

run to Salina to pick up the fridge.

Kitchen

 Here's a peak at our new kitchen.

Not DONE, but getting close!

A view from the mud room hallway

as you enter the house proper.

Today I'll be painting the rest

of the cabinets under the

island.

Kyle will build the support

the the top, it's thinner than

we thought it was.

Needs a big ol' hunk of

plywood under there.

Also it's time to harvest and process

the carrots.

I plan to pick them and then take

them up to Kyle's house where

he has a chopper to slice them

in nice nickels and then

they get blanched, ice bathed,

and bagged up for the freezer.

And then we clean up their bed and

plant MORE for our fall harvest.

Meanwhile, the guys are 

going to work on plumbing today.

Hooking up sinks, toilets, etc.

Cabinets AND Bread Baking!

 Yesterday was a big day........

Rod and I got up "early" and

headed into Hays to Home Depot

to pickup the LAST cabinet!

(We also went to Bomgaars and looked

at the carpet and make sure he is

ok with the color/texture/price.)

Then straight up to the farm to

paint the final cabinets!

And get them installed!!!!

The layout for the master bath.

Without paint.

Part of what the island will look like.

A close up of the Acacia wood we are

using for the island counter top.

It has shrink wrap on it, so it is hard

to see the actual color.

But trust me,

it's GORGEOUS!

Once it was all painted,

Rod set up his handy laser

and they got to work!

How many Buffaloes does it take

to hang a cabinet?

(all of them....

1 to hold it

1 to screw it to the wall

1 to supervise and run the laser

and 1 to photo document!)

The laser made it much easier!

Just needed to locate the stud

and screw it in place!

(It was still heavy though...)

Then, this morning, Rod, Jim and I

drove Rod's truck 

***** which, I forgot to mention,

now has ICE COLD AIR CONDITIONING!

It went out last year and poor Rod

suffered through much of the summer

without any AC and one window that 

would go down but not back up.......

Anyhow.

Yesterday he took the bull by the horns

and went to get a part to fix it.

And come to find out the part was

still under warranty for

ONE MORE WEEK.

So he got the whole assembly

FOR FREE!

(He bought another warranty, so

I marked in my phone when the

warranty is due to expire so he

won't forget if it breaks again...)

Anyhow.

We drove the nicely cold truck

back into Hays to pickup some of the

VERY LAST STUFF.

(as if)

We got the 2 toilets and all the

hoses, etc to install those as well

as the hoses to install the sinks and

the hot water heater.

And the chord for the new stove.

(Because WHY would they want to

include such a silly thing?)

Also the carpet tape we need to

install the new carpet in the bedroom,

office and master closet.

And then on to Walmart for things like

a shower curtain rod,

toilet paper holder,

hooks for towels....

that sort of thing.

It's getting SOOOO close!

When we got home, Sabrina was 

just getting off work (half days on

Fridays, yea!) and we all went to the

County Fair and watched the FFA

(Future Farmers of America)

kids show and auction their animals.

It is always fun.

(But I forgot to take pictures.)

The auctioneer knows and works with

them all, so he bantered back and forth

with the kids to help them with nerves

and did a really good job getting

lots of money for their efforts.

(The guy sitting next to us bought a cake.

For $320.00)

For real.

Anyhow.

After that we headed back to the house.

Jim and Sabrina went to the courthouse

to get the final license plates for their vehicle.

Rod went to Hoxie (45 minutes west) to

get new blades and belts for the 

big zero-turn lawnmower.

And I went through and got the stuff

organized for the farmers markets tomorrow.

And then.......

Sabrina and Jim started BAKING!

(While Rod and Kyle headed to the

stockcar races... I'm sitting in my office

with the windows closed and I can 

HEAR them racing!)

Hard at work making bread!

LOTS of bread!

It's her happy place.

Where's Waldo (Pig Version)

 I drove from Kyle's house,

down to the farm,

and as I passed by Pig World,

I glanced over and couldn't find Fred!

Can you?

Little silly!

He LOVES his mud wallow.

We got LOTS accomplished yesterday.

First we went to the farm and did some

more weeding (getting the rows ready for more okra)

and harvested the rest of the onions.

We started processing them in Kyle's shed

since there's air conditioning...

but that many onions in a closed space

was PAINFUL!

So we moved the operation out to his porch.

Jim and I chose to wear gloves, because... ONION!

Kyle said "Now THIS is Homesteading.

Family all sitting on the porch together,

processing the harvest."

We cut the green tops off the onions,

as well as the root beards,

and put them in the wagon.

We FILLED the wagon,

2 milk crates AND a 5 gallon bucket!

It was shady and a nice breeze.

Actually REALLY nice!

Next job is to wash and clean them up.

We will probably sell some of them,

but most of them will get preserved.

We don't have a cold room,

so they will either get chopped or sliced and

frozen in vacuum sealed bags,

or some will get freeze dried.

And some will get caramelized and then either

freeze dried or canned.

We probably will not need to grow onions

next year. (Except a few for fresh eating...)

And then we headed into town.

Found some carpet for the office, bedroom and closet.

(Didn't buy it yet, not ready...)

Picked up some more kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

There is still ONE missing, I'm hoping they have it

tomorrow in the store (they didn't yesterday, but there

was a truck in the loading bay, so ... maybe???)

And some stuff to try to get a handle on the

squash bugs that would really like to eat

the zucchini, delicata, spaghetti and honey baby

squash we have growing.

And we went to Taco Bell.

And then grocery shopping.

We also bought a gazillion hoses and some of

those birdie type sprinkler heads that go

around and around in a circle.

This morning Kyle got them set up in the

"upper" garden where we are "growing" corn

and just planted more pumpkins.

It worked MOSTLY great!!!

We will need to make a few modifications,

but for the most part, it was a WIN!

He and I finished weeding one of the onion rows

getting ready to plant our fall carrots.

And then up to the house where Jim got the

rest of the ceiling fans (minus one still missing)

in the kitchen, bedroom and prep room,

installing the light in the master bathroom

and working on getting all the light switches

hooked up.

(Rod has been on forced REST,

he's doing too much and his back has

been hurting lately, so I made him stay home

for a few days to try to give it a break...

He did head into town tonight for Mutual though.)

About 3:00 we needed to leave so I could

get ready to teach tonight.

And Jim washed all the red onions.

There's only about half a bucket.

But they sure are pretty!

And now....

dinner, an episode or 2 of House on Prime TV

and then bed.

Mostly Gardening Today

 We were SO focused on the house

that we fell a little behind on the garden.

Had to rectify that.

I spent the morning weeding the okra

bed that I TOTALLY let go.

(After 2 hours I went up to the house

to check on Rod and Kyle finished it up.)

Meanwhile, Kyle and Jim re-tilled the

rows for the cucumbers and got 

those all planted.

I think they are trying 5 or 6 new types

this year. Well, that includes the

Marketmores that we grow every year.

But there were some new ones too.

Some slicers and some picklers.

We'll see how they do!

Jim also picked 20 zucchini!

They look really nice!

We should be ready to replant the okra

in the newly weeded bed tomorrow.

The orange okra suddenly took off

and are looking pretty good.

Hopefully they will produce well

and be tasty!

I headed into town to teach,

and Rod and Jim worked in the house

for a little longer.

When I started teaching, I got a text

from Kyle.

He harvested the onions.

Actually this is NOT all of them.

It's just all that his wagon would hold.

He still has 2 more rows to pick!

We will hang some to dry for storage,

clean some to sell,

and freeze some in slices and chunks

for us to use over the winter.

That is a LOT of onions!!!!

Gratuitous fireworks picture.

We drove to a hill outside town

and watched.

There were fireworks across the entire 

town! Just not at the moment I snapped

the picture.

It was fun to watch!

Sabrina stayed home with their dog who

is NOT a fan of fireworks.

Our frenchies didn't care at all.

Ok, just finished teaching and doing all

the paperwork for last week.

I can smell dinner....

I'm OUT!