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.)