Good morning!

 Good morning!!!

Happy Holy Week!

I'm so enjoying reading all about

this week and what was happening.

And, of course, it's SPRING!

Hard to not be happy and cheerful

on a day like this one.

It was a little cloudy and drizzly

yesterday, kind of cold and not beautiful.

But April Showers!!!

I swear my flower bed grew 2 inches overnight.

There's something about rain.

Even if it's just a little...

Our Gala apple tree (still in a bucket until we move

and transplant it to its permanent home) is covered

in blossoms.

Unfortunately I don't know if we will get any fruit.

The Honeycrisp is just now popping leaves.

No blossoms yet.

The Gala is supposed to pollenate it.

But by the time it finally gets flowers

those galas will likely be gone.

Sigh.

Come on Mother Nature.... 

check your calendar!

However a walk out to the back alley

revealed some ALMOST there lilacs!

And, of course my kitchen table is

bursting with fun.

I brought in my rhubarb for the cold

nights coming.

Then the silk sunflowers that bring a smile

every day of the year.

And Tuesday I bought a mini daffodil for $4.

It's enjoying the morning sunshine

next to the basil and apple mint I managed

to not kill over the winter....

lol.

I can't WAIT for the entire town to be

full of flowers.

Everybody (except me) has giant flowerbeds

in their front yards and there are gorgeous

blooms everywhere.

It's so much fun to walk around and enjoy

them all!

Another couple weeks and we'll be there!

In the meantime, I'm enjoying my little

guys on my table.

(I also got a hyacinth for my kitchen

window... it smells up the entire house!)

But I forgot to take a picture of it and

I don't want to walk "all the way" to 

the kitchen.

(I'm avoiding the kitchen this morning...

Ward Council is doing a Fast today for

ideas to foster Ward Unity...)

I think Kyle and I are going into town

today to buy some DRY WALL!

We want to at least get some up in the

office since there's nothing else that

needs to go up in those walls.

We might do the master bedroom and

closet too...... we'll see.

It will be so much fun to see it start

to take shape!

If we get anything done today, I'll be sure

to put some pictures on tomorrow's blog.

But for now... I'm going to go take

a shower and get ready for the day.

Had a lovely phone chat with Soni.

Rod left for the house to do the plumbing

in the master bath.

Enjoy your Thursday!

April Fools!!!

 I know.

We are adults.

We don't DO April Fools.....

but I TOTALLY spaced and didn't

call Mom yesterday.

(We were trying to get the stupid bank

to let us buy our new AC unit....

but the limit on our card is $5000 per day

and it costs $5443. GEEZ. It's my money.

CASH even.)

Anyhow.

The "other" bank (the local, in town one)

said, sure! Let me make a call.

Whew!

And then I did a T-Tapp and before I

got cleaned up, Kyle showed up.

EARLY.

(He usually gets to our place around noon

on Tuesdays, but the Circles app started going

nuts about 7:30 because that's when everybody

got the news about the new Sunday School schedule.)

(He's in the Sunday School Presidency)

Anyhow.

Since he was awake, he got up, fed, and headed

into town.

So.......... long excuse.

I called Mom and said HAPPY TUESDAY!

She said... it's NOT Tuesday.

I said, yeah, April Fools.

Lame, I know.

We had a nice visit.

And meanwhile, Rod headed to the house

to do more plumbing.

Got everything all hooked up for

behind the washing machine.

I think all that's left is the master bath!

Yippeeeeeeee!

He'll be SO happy to be done with plumbing.

He also was digging around in the garage and

found the box that has the weather vane

Tim and Angie gave us as a moving gift.

Cool, eh?

Since Rod is NOT ALLOWED on any roof anymore....

Kyle will have to put it on the shop roof

one of these days when he has a minute.

It probably should go on the house roof,

but then we can't see it,

and what's the point of having a weather vane

if you can't look out the window and figure

out what direction the wind is blowing?

Anyhow.

I started teaching and then the students and I

took a quick 5 minute break while we all

watched Artimis II take off and take 4

astronauts to a fly-by of the moon!!!

SOOOO EXCITING!

(Jim and Sabrina watched from their

front porch...)

Rod watched with me on YouTube and then

he headed into town to Mutual and then to

Home Depot for, you guessed it,

more PVC plumbing fittings.

He should be home in a few, so I'm going

to head into the kitchen to reheat the

burger patties I made last night so we

can eat some dinner.

Hope you have a fun day!!!!!

Happy Monday Y'all!

 Rod spent the morning on the phone

with a million different providers

and FINALLY found the AC unit

we need for the new house!

Whew!

Who knew it could be so hard?

Hopefully installation will be easier...

(The manual is 66 pages...)

Anyhow.

He is heading to the house to take

more measurements to make sure

we order the right length of hoses.

And I'm going to get ready to teach tonight.

I taught over the weekend.

Had some actually fun students for a change!

It was a good class.

And yesterday when Kyle came over for

dinner, we went out back and were

checking on our "chaos" flower garden

that is self-seeding from last year.

We did stick a few bulbs in last fall.

I have 2 hyacinth coming up!

And a volunteer tulip in the corner

next to one of my rhubarb...

These little grape hyacinth are left over

from the previous tenants.

They come up on their own every spring

and boy they smell wonderful!!!

The lilacs are getting leaves and I even

found some tiny blossoms!

These are OLD trees so the flowers aren't

awesome, but at least there are some.

The little lilac sticks (one day trees???)

that Kyle and I bought in March of 2024

and drove back to Florida with us,

and then back to Kansas,

and then back to Florida again

and then back to Kansas to FINALLY

stick in the ground.....

(sheesh)

are NOT dead and are actually 

getting some leaves as well.

I'm going to dig them both up and transplant

them at the new house.

Found a rabbit eating the grass on my

walk to the alley to check on the lilacs.

He didn't even look up when I walked by.

The town rabbits are pretty brave.

(He, or a friend, was in my flower bed

this morning! I chased him away...)

Eat what you want, but stay OUT of the

garden beds!!!

And a peek at my beautiful eggs.

I cracked and stirred up 18 eggs for each of

5 freeze dryer trays last night after school.

Got them in the deep freezer.

I'll probably put them in the freeze dryer

tomorrow morning.

Want to make sure they are REALLY

frozen - they make a mess in your machine

if they aren't good and solid.

OH!

And Saturday after school we used the last

of the Subway Gift Card Rozann and Greg sent

us for Christmas.

We each got a 12" sub.

Ate half for dinner and saved the other

half for lunch on Sunday.

Thanks guys!

We got THREE meals out of that card!

It was a nice treat.

We don't eat out often.

Too easy to cook at home.

And not much choice here in our little town.

(Actually, there are several nice places,

but DANG eating out is pricey!!!)

So we don't bother.

Hard to justify when you have LOTS of

food right there in the fridge/freezer.

But sometimes it is just nice to go for

the convenient option.

WINDY Saturday

Once again we are having

a pretty windy day.

It was really nice yesterday.

A little breezy, but not bad.

But today we have wind and fire

advisories - 27mph which doesn't

sound like much.

Especially for we "hurricane" folks.

But dude!

You get that puppy screaming

across the plains with nothing to

slow it down and it's RIPPING.

So.....

Rod decided not to work on the plumbing.

Sitting under the house

at ground level

you kind of get sand blasted when its windy.

I totally get that.

I taught the Louisiana class today.

We had a good group of students.

Some of them were actually participating!

I got a "chat" message this afternoon.

"I'm 23 weeks pregnant, my baby just starting

kicking like crazy.... I guess he likes your voice!" 

Hahahaha.

Anyhow.

I don't have any pictures for you.

I was going to do the eggs,

but it's too windy to carry a tray of

beaten eggs out to the garage.

I'll wait and do them tomorrow after school.

The wind should be better by then.

But as I look out my office window

there are some teeny tiny buds starting

to pop out on our tree!

Some of the trees in town are flowering.

It's SO PRETTY!

You'll just have to take my word

for it though.

I'm heading to my chair to sit.

(I know, I've been sitting all day...

but this chair is NOT NEARLY

as comfy as my recliner...)

In case you're wondering,

that's dandelion tea.

And a good book.

Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh

It Must Be Spring

 It must be spring.

The chickens are laying like crazy.

And we are going to start getting

more and more in the coming days

since the little black stars are just

getting started.

(Yes, we bought a LOT of Vital Farm

eggs over the winter....)

Kyle has been collecting eggs

and today I went and grabbed them all.

Next I'm going to crack 18 into

the food processor and then pour them

onto a freeze dryer tray.

I have 5 trays.

So 8 dozen should work.

(I have another dozen but they

were in an ugly Walmart carton.)

Once they are frozen solid,

they are going into the freeze dryer.

Should take 24 - 36 hours.

And then into mason jars to get

vacuum sealed.

Next winter when the girls aren't

laying much, it will be nice to have

farm fresh eggs available!

Happy Birthday Bean!

 Happy Birthday Bean!

(But he doesn't read my blog...)

Anyhow.

It's another SCORCHER again

today. It's currently 4:42 in the afternoon

and it's 95 degrees outside.

On March 25.

Tomorrow is going to be WINDY

with a high in the 80's.

And then it drops back into the 60's.

So we will keep the tomatoes inside

for another week to make sure

they won't freeze.

I think we have 2 more chilly nights.

Random gratuitous picture of two of

two of the guys in our ward.

One holding his little baby girl

and the other holding his grandson.

I just thought it was cute!

(The baptism was standing room only

so they were out in the hall...)

This afternoon I went out to the farm

to check on Rod, pick up some frozen

okra and some chicken quarters,

and check on our little onions.

Rod is working on the PVC

under the house for the half bath.

Kyle is running all the pex waterlines.

Kyle was running the sprinkler

down in the garden.

The onions are looking good,

starting to see some little green sprouts!

However, we lost ALL our peas.

SOOOO SAD!

Tomorrow morning we are running

Beau into the vet in Hays.

He hasn't been eating since Monday.

Today he is drinking LOTS of water

and then going outside and throwing up.

Then he comes in, lays on the floor

for a while, and then starts over.

Poor little guy.

No idea what's wrong with him.

Hopefully they can figure it out.

Catching Up "Again"

 First off....

So happy to hear all is well in Tucson.

We had a scare with Dad.

And then Mom got sick.

Can't wait to chat with her in 

the morning and make sure she is

all better again!

Whew!

In the meantime,

it has been a BUSY few days here.

Starting with Wednesday.

Kyle started the reconstruction of the

chicken coop by dropping 4 posts in

the ground and then putting posts

ON the ground for the walls to sit on.

Then he picked up the back wall and

put it on its base and secured it in place.

Got the roost bars in place.

Then it was time for the front wall.

Had to do them out of order, 

because that's the order they fell in...

Had to pick it up with the excavator

and get it all hooked up with a chain.

Had to get it spun around so it was

facing the right direction.

It was a pretty windy afternoon,

so it took some talent!

The wind was helping / not helping...

depended on the moment.

But he persevered.

Slid that puppy into place,

like it was no big deal.

The man is a MAESTRO!

Not bad for a day's work.

I had to leave to go teach,

he got the two end walls reconstructed

(they were pretty torn up... but he got

them put back together.)

And called it a day.

The next day he picked up that roof you

see still on the ground and got it all

together so the chickens had someplace

to sleep!

He put it up against the fence in the 

alleyway leading into the pig barn.

Cut a hole and connected the fence

to the coop.

The roof looks a little "ruffled".

(No idea what his hand is doing...

probably holding some screws?)

Got the door all installed.

Meanwhile, a ward member was there

harvesting two of our pigs in the next 

pasture. It was extremely distracting!

There was ONE casualty we couldn't salvage.

Poor little ladder.

But now the coop is on the ground and

we don't NEED the ladder to get in and out

anymore. I'm VERY happy about that!

Friday he hooked up the tiller on the

tractor and we got the rows all prepped

for the next planting.

He added some sand (from the "pond" he dug)

and some coconut coir to the first three rows.

I added some 10-10-10 fertilizer and he

planted 4 rows of carrots in each of the

three 50' rows.

One row of red, one of yellow and one of orange.

We hope to have LOTS of carrots!

Then we put in 3 rows of onion sets!

Fingers crossed!

Saturday morning we headed into town early

to meet up with some other members to 

clean the church. 

Then to the store to get more onions to plant,

and then to WalMart to get some cookies,

and then to Wendy's for lunch.

It was a SCORCHER out there!

Yes.

It's MARCH.

(I talked to Jim, it was 72 in Florida!!!)

Back to the church for a baptism for

the wife of a long time member.

It was a really nice meeting.

I expected maybe 8 or 9 people to attend.

It's 2:00 on a Saturday afternoon.

We had 37 people.

Standing room only in the Relief Society

Room and the little tiny font room.

(I bought 36 cookies..... lol.)

The temperature on the way home.

Yikes!!!!!

We stopped at the house to change clothes

and then ran out to the farm to take some

measurements and drop off some stuff.

 

On the ride home.....

There was a LARGE fire just outside town.

That's our Chief of Police's farmstead.

It came close to his home, but they were

able to get it under control.

Lucky it was Saturday and not Friday!

Friday there were extremely high winds.

As you can see from the picture, on Saturday

there was almost no wind.

The smoke was going straight up.

It still burned a good amount of pasture land.

But his cattle were in another part of the property,

and between the fire trucks, 

a plane borrowed from the state

and lots of local farmers using their

equipment to cut fire breaks around the

burned areas, they were able to 

contain it to only a few hundred acres.

Looked like someone tossed a cigarette

butt out their window. The burned area

started right at the edge of the highway,

and burned a good area.

There were LOTS of people concentrating

on protecting the Chief's place, but

also the OIL WELL right there by the highway.

The police drove up and down the streets

in North WaKeeney letting us know about

the fire (like you couldn't see / smell it)

and asking us to put sprinklers on our yards

and prepare for an evacuation order if the

winds picked up.

After the major fires last week in Nebraska,

everyone was a little extra on edge.

But it turned out well and we were

all thankful for the efforts of those

who worked so quickly and efficiently

to get it put out before anything more than

grass land was lost.

It was nice to have a relatively quiet Sunday.

We went in early so Rod could attend

his 7:30 Bishopric meeting.

Then we both went to the 8:30

Ward Council meeting.

Then church at 10:00.

Relief Society at 11:00.

Meetings until nearly 2:00.

And finally HOME.

Kyle came over for some pork ribs

for dinner and then we were all happy

to head off to bed.

Which is where I'm headed NOW.