Fun Tree!

 On the way into Hays,

along Highway I-70,

there is a hill.

And on top of the hill,

there is a tree.

It is a VERY large tree!

And it looks, for all the world,

like a buffalo!

Isn't that the coolest???

Since I first saw this one,

I've been noticing lots of trees around

that kind of look like that.

Rod and I saw one waaaaaay off in the

distance on our way to the butcher yesterday.

It was too far away to get a good picture of though.

Also, speaking of plants.

Last year I "chaos" planted the flower bed.

All that means is I dumped all the seeds

from the various seed packets into a bowl

and then sprinkled them liberally on the dirt.

There was this one plant that came up.

The leaves kind of looked like a squash.

And since we had random squash coming up all

over the yard (remember the spaghetti and

zucchini from the chickens?) we just let it

grow, not knowing what it would be.

Well, it turned out to be nothing.

And when I cleaned out the bed last fall,

it was still green, so I left it.

This spring it was still alive and started to

grow and then got these big buds on it.

Kyle and I decided it was likely some sort

of weed and considered pulling it.

But I didn't. No reason. Just didn't.

And it's a good thing!

It turned out to be a DEEP purple hollyhock!

There's another tucked in the bachelor buttons,

it has buds, but since it is so shaded, I don't know

if it will do anything.

We think that's why last year it didn't bloom.

It was buried deep under the zinnias.

But this year it got a head start!

Pretty, eh?

I also tucked some tiny little pansies under the

bachelor buttons hoping they will shade them and

keep them cool enough they can continue to bloom.

So far it's working.

I forgot to take a picture and I just watered out

there, so everything is wet.

Anyhow.

I'm nearly finished with my computer tasks this 

morning, (bill paying, ordered new garments,

some phone calls... that sort of thing) and now

I'm going to get dressed and head to the farm

to do some more weeding (shocked, I know...)

before it gets too warm.

PORK!

 Today Rod and I drove back over to

the butcher's and picked up our pork.

There was a LOT of it!

Between the two pigs we had 

436 pounds of "hanging weight"

which is what they weigh once they

have removed all the extra stuff like

head, legs, skin, innards...

All of it is cut and wrapped in white

butcher paper.

We got TWO boxes of bacon!!!

YEA!

Once we got back to the farm, we loaded

it all into the giant freezer.

Yes, those are "chicken paws"... dog treats.

Good thing we got an extra large one!

It's FULL!

The plan is to wait until we move and have

cleaned out the garage in town.

Then Jim can move all his motorcycles out

of Rod's shop and into the garage and

we can move the 2nd chest freezer in there.

Then we can get everything out of the boxes

and into milk crates so we can see what we

have and keep a good inventory.

(And know when we are running low!)

But for now, I'm just happy to have it all there!

Food security!

(On the far side, under the sliding tray,

there are still a BUNCH of packages of

frozen chicken I did in the fall...)

Meanwhile, the guys were busy at the house.

Working on putting in a backer board so we can

hang a grab bar in the bathroom (other side

of the wall he is working on...)

They got the entire breaker panel all wired

and everything clearly labeled!

And then they drywalled around it

And got the panel door on!

Rod is working away getting a plastic

panel installed above the shower.

Kyle was supervising.

Hahahaha.

I spent 2 hours in the garden weeding the onions.

Story of my life these days.

I'm on the final row.

But the arthritis in my right hand doesn't

let me do more than about 2 hours a day.

And then I had to run home for a zoom meeting

with my boss about the next big bonus contest.

The house is coming along.

The garden is starting to produce!

And life is GOOD.

BONUS POST!!!!

 So much to tell and so little time 

to tell it in! 

(grin)

So......

This morning (after a BUSY day yesterday)

after we picked up Fred, 

we headed into Hays to do the shopping,

and then I took Jim and Kyle out for

a late lunch for their birthdays.

(It was YUMMY!!!!!)

Then home for dinner.

Except we were FULL.

So Sabrina made some mac & cheese

for her and Rod to share.

Also oatmeal raisin cookies because

they are Jim and Kyle's faves!

Anyhow.

This morning Rod and I were on the road

by a little after 7:00, headed to Wichita.

Tuesday night there was a ROWDY storm.

We were on the Veeeeeeeery edge of it,

so heading back from Hays it was pretty windy!

There was a truck pulling a 5th wheel trailer

we were SURE was going over.

That trailer was wagging more than the tail

on a really happy dog.

But to the east of us, Salina got SLAMMED.

115+ mph straight line winds.

About 60% or more of the signs along the

highway looked like this.

(I had Rod take some pictures, but he's at Mutual

and didn't text them to me yet.... so I grabbed this

one from facebook...)

Most of the city was without power.

Those guys have it figured out though!

On the way to Wichita, we saw LOTS of twisted signs

on the side of the highway.

Just a short 3 hours later, on the way back,

ALL the signs between Salina and Wichita

were fixed already!

There were still some down on I-70 West of Salina,

but it was lunch break.

(grin)

I just pulled up Salina Weather on Facebook to

snag pictures, and looks like they are under

a tornado watch this evening.

Glad we chose to live in the north west of Kansas.

We don't typically get the rowdy weather they

do further east of us.

(Plus WAAAAAY less snow in the winter!)

Anyhow.

We drove down to Wichita for Rod's 

6-month checkup.

The doctor was VERY impressed with his progress

and lifted ALL restrictions.

Said he can do anything he wants (as long as he

uses common sense.... bungie jumping would

probably be a NO.)

We were BOTH very happy!

(And wind blown!)

He said the only way you could TOTALLY

be sure the bone was growing back was to

do a CT scan, but based on these x-rays

he was confident we were well on our way.

He said it helped that his bones were

super healthy to start with.

So, YEA!!!!!

We've gotten a little rain over the past 2 weeks,

and look how BEAUTIFUL Kansas is!

Amazing what a little water will do.

We stopped in Hays at Tractor Supply and got a couple

black rubber water troughs for the pigs

(they love to play in / with them, and they

are pretty indestructible...) 

and then Rod took them to the farm and I 

started teaching.

Rod went to Mutual to teach the boys about

basic vehicle maintenance.

Checking oil, tire pressure, washer fluid,

that sort of basic stuff.

And now we are all home and it's time 

for some dinner.

So happy about Rod's great dr visit.

We were confident it was going to be 

good, but it's always a relief to hear it

"from the horse's mouth".

Thank you for everybody's continued prayers!

Quick Update! And an INTRO...

 Introducing Kyle's newest pig!!!

Introducing FRED!

He will be the new hubby for Wilma

(nee Penelope)

He's not really Kyle's, but since it

WAS Kyle's birthday...

We spent the morning running up to

8 miles shy of Nebraska to pick up

this lovely registered Berkshire boar.

He's only 5 months old, so needs to stay

in his own pasture for 2 more months

until he and Wilma can share the honeymoon

suite for a month or so.

And then it's back to separate quarters.

Took a minute for the dogs to warm up.

But they got it all figured out.

He was REALLY hot from the ride,

so the first order of business was to

fill his wallow.

He was very very happy.

Just like a pig in mud.

Hahahahaha.

OK.

Class is filling up,

better run.

I'll update on Rod's dr visit etc after class.

So you MIGHT get a bonus post ....

watch for it!

Busy Monday.....

 I spent the weekend "in" Louisiana,

I had 36 students!

A big class, with lots of attentive

students who actually participated.

And then Kyle came over and Jim

made us some yummy burgers

for dinner.

(Sabrina made pizza Saturday night...)

I'm REALLY looking forward to

moving to the new house.

But I will MISS my in-house chefs!

(grin)

Anyhow.

This morning we got up and headed into

town to get some essentials we need to

move this build forward.

(MORE mud for the drywall,

the exterior lights for the porches,

that kind of super exciting stuff...)

When we got home, Rod loaded it all in

the back of his truck and headed to the farm,

with a quick stop at the auto parts store for

something or other for working on 

cleaning the carb in the dump truck so we 

can take all the construction trash to the dump.

He called and said it was a good thing

he didn't go straight to the farm,

because his truck was maxing out at

ONE MILE PER HOUR.

Sheesh.

So he limped home and parked in the back

yard (instead of on the street in front of the

house where he usually parks)

loaded everything BACK in the car

and headed out to the farm to get the

stuff to the guys.

Jim said they planted nearly 10,000 corn seeds

today!!! 29 rows of sweet corn!

Hopefully we get a BUMPER crop!

(That's what he is planning to sell...

that, and the acre of pumpkins they will

be planting here in a few more weeks.)

Anyhow.

I started teaching,

and when the guys got home,

Jim jumped on his favorite AI site and

figured out it was just a blown fuse.

So the truck is fixed.

And now, I can hear them making dinner....

We have a VERY busy week coming up.

Tomorrow is KYLE'S BIRTHDAY!

(A couple packages showed up here today!

Thank you!!!)

We are going into Hays to do the usual,

but we are also heading about an hour north

of the farm to get a little something special.

(Cliff Hanger!)

Then Wednesday is Rod's 6 month check up

at the spine doctor's.

Thursday we go to the butcher's to pick

up the pork.

(It's ready now, but I just don't have

time to run get it...)

So....

LOTS of stuff happening around here!

Zucchini!!!

 It's always SO exciting to see

SOMETHING finally producing

in the garden...

Today Kyle and I found a couple

zucchini plants with little baby zukes!

Thank goodness...

there's that little nagging voice in the 

background that says this is NOT going

to work, but maybe NEXT year....

So when we see signs of life,

it's such a relief!

We had to replant the beans, since a rabbit

(or something) ate them ALL.

Kyle's pretty sure he got the offending rabbit.

He shot (and fed to the big dogs) 4 or 5

down there in the garden, and he's pretty sure

he got the bad guys since we haven't seen any

more of our tomatoes being eaten.

(We don't know about the beans since

they are already gone...)

Jim replanted the beans on Wednesday afternoon

and then we got 1.5 inches of RAIN that night.

Today we are seeing little tiny bean plants

starting to just barely poke through the ground.

AND the potatoes have flowers!!!

Also, he picked a tiny carrot.

So.... there's SOMETHING happening

down there.

I spent nearly 2 hours weeding onions

again this afternoon.

Got a later start than I intended,

but had a good (2 hour) chat with Soni

on the phone.

And then I had to head home to teach.

Jim met Sabrina in town (she only works

until noon on Fridays) and they worked on

getting drivers licenses and license plates

for their vehicles.

SUCH a process.

And Kyle finished mudding and taping

(round 1) the prep room, and Rod finished

up the mud room (front hallway)...

Also, I got overheated and headed up to the

house and sat in the A/C!!!!!

(It was actually tooooo cold for me...

but the guys were enjoying it while working hard.)

And now....

off to do dinner and get ready to teach

this weekend.

Hope you are enjoying your start to summer!

(There was supposed to be stock car races

tonight and tomorrow night, but they cancelled

because of all the rain we got... the in field and

the pits are MUDDY... they had people driving

from over 10 hours away to participate and didn't

want to chance it.)

Bummer.

BIG Milestone!!!!

 This has been a LONG time coming.

And a LOT of work!!!

Yesterday they got the platform built.

The outside unit is ready to go.

Today they got the wires run to the outside unit.

And the inside hooked to the breaker.

(Well, except 2 wires, they'll connect those

tomorrow....)

But LOOK!!!!!

We have A/C!!!!!!!!!

SOOOOOOOOO exciting!

I'm amazed at these guys!

And now.... dinner.

And BED.

I'm sure they are exhausted.

It was a lot of brain power.