A/C

 Yesterday was our hottest day of the year so far.

I know.....

You Arizonians are laughing at me right now.

But 107 is still pretty hot.

When we went to the farm, we left the AC on 84

so Beau would be ok.

(I don't usually turn it on until about 4:30 

when the house finally starts getting sun

through the front window and it gets hot...)

It was nice to come back to a cool house.

And then it died.

Started making a funny noise and stopped 

cooling the air in the house.

So I jumped online and submitted a service request

with our home warranty company.

Got a quick phone call back from the AC guy who

said he doesn't service WaKeeney.

Sigh.

The disadvantage of a small town.

Anyhow.

This morning he called me again and started with

"We never spoke". (grin)

He said he is the only AC guy in our neck of the woods

and I am nearly 2 hours from him so he just can't.

But I need to call the company and tell them it's an

emergency situation. I'm ... whatever.

Sick, Old, whatever.

So I did.

And they said they would do their best to find

me a contractor.

He said, they will try for 48 hours and then they

have to give up and I then find my own.

The guy I hire has to get an authorization from the

insurance company and then he bills me and I

get reimbursed from the insurance company.

Sounds like a pain in the neck.

BUT.

The contract says they HAVE to repair it.

And if they can't they HAVE to REPLACE it.

So I'm willing to go through the gymnastics.

But in the meantime, its a little toasty.

Beau and I have been wearing damp kitchen towels

all day - he let me put it on him like a cape

and wore it happily nearly all day.

Then when Kyle got home he moved the new

window shaker from the garage into my office

so I could teach this evening.

It's LOUD.

But cool.

Meanwhile, this morning while it was still

only 67 degrees out (and in)

I processed the mangos.

I now have 6 large bags of mangos in the deep freeze.

Waiting for winter.

It's too hot in the garage to run the freeze dryer.

(which is why we bought the AC unit, but there is no

insulation in the roof or the garage door and it just

couldn't do the job....)

Kyle priced it out and it would be $1200 to fix up the

garage the right way.

So maybe in the future... but definitely NOT now.

New Gate

 We got a LITTLE rain overnight.

And today it was SUPER windy.

So this morning we hung around until

our electrician came and put in a different

plug for my freeze dryer and also fixed

the 220 outlet he put in for Kyle's welder.

And then we went out to the farm

and put in a new gate!

We had an old barbed wire gate.

You know the ones, where you have to pull it up

to the post and them put another wire around the

post to hold it up.

It was hard to do and not a lot of fun.

Kyle hooked up his digger and dug two holes.

One for the post to chain it to when its closed.

And one for the post to chain it to when its open.

(since it's pretty windy....)

I'm SO EXCITED!

Also we picked 4 more really nice zucchini.

And there are several yellow squash that will be ready

a little later in the week.

And then we came home and we both ended

up taking a nap - and then I taught and he

went into Hays to do some shopping.

Now I'm done teaching and it's time for a

bite of dinner and some TV before bed.

NIGHT!!!

Well.....

Yesterday we had our FIRST Farmer's Market.

We didn't have much to sell. 

But we brought what we had.

And we sold 11 zucchini and all 2 yellow squash.

So it was a good day.

There were several people and most

at least chatted and several bought something.

It's not a "huge" market.

There were 6 or 7 vendors.

The man that is kind of "in charge" has a 

good following and so lots of people pulled 

in, went straight to his table and bought what

they needed and left again.

But as we build up our produce and get

a little more known, I'm confident we will

also build a customer base.

Anyhow.

After the market, we went home and grabbed

a bite to eat and then headed out to the farm

to see if there was anything we needed to pick.

But also, on Friday I had to teach a double,

so Kyle went to the farm by himself.

He did TONS of weeding and hoe-ing

and then came home and picked up his 

lawn mower and went back and mowed

in between all the rows and along all the edges.

So I was anxious to get out there and see

how good it looked.

Here's what it looked like earlier in the week.

And here is what it looked like on Saturday.

Notice anything missing?

It's hard to tell, in fact I didn't notice it

at first either.

Yes, the grass is gone.

But so is ALL THE CORN.

The neighbor's cows got out sometime between

Friday evening when Kyle left and Saturday

afternoon when we came out.

There were cow tracks everywhere.

And NO corn.

They ate every single stalk.

Right down to the ground.

So.... yeah.

At least that relieves us of making the decision to

focus on watering what IS growing and just

letting the corn do its thing or trying to 

keep watering it at the expense of everything else.

I'm kind of sad, we are pretty sure it wasn't

going to do anything, but there was that little chance.

But on the other hand,

everything is very nice and neat now.

And they didn't mess with anything except the corn

and all the grass around the garden.

(And they bit one zucchini in half but I guess

it's not their favorite flavor because they left

the other half on the plant...)

So.

We will just focus our efforts on the squash

(which is looking really good)

and the okra (which is coming along)

and the beans (which the grasshoppers appear

to really love to eat).

Meanwhile.

I got called to teach the 5-6 year olds in Primary.

And Kyle got called to teach the 4-5s.

(It's an all boy class, they already have 2 Dads

in there, but they wanted another man...)

This afternoon we are just going to relax.

Maybe take a nap.

Tomorrow I have the electrician coming to fix

the plug so I can use my freeze dryer.

(Oh, we also picked that up from storage on 

Saturday and brought it here, but I can't use it

yet because the plug is wrong...)

He's also going to see what's wrong with the wiring

and plug he installed for Kyle's welder.

It isn't drawing enough power to run his welder.

He still had to pull out the dryer and plug it

in there when he was doing some repairs a couple

of weeks ago.

So.

That's the plan.

Have a LOVELY Sunday!

Oops! Yup, He's HERE!

 And we are BUSY!

He got home about 8:45 Wed night.

We chatted, ate some food and hit the bed.

Then Thursday morning I made him get up

"early" and we went out to the farm to

let him check it out.

We did a BUNCH of weeding and hoeing.

He had a new old fashioned reel mower delivered.

(remember those? Not electric, it just has

a metal blade that whirs around and makes a

very distinctive sound while it cuts grass.)

We played with it in the backyard.

And then took it to the farm.

Where it was overwhelmed by the weeds.

It will be a perfect "maintenance" tool...

but he is bringing home his big trailer today

and going back with his riding mower

(it stays here at the house) and giving everything

a good haircut. Then we can use the little

guy to keep it looking good.

Also he will pick some more zucchini and

I think there are 3 or 4 yellow squash.

We picked 3 more nice looking ones yesterday.

I had to teach this morning and again this evening.

Anyhow.

After the farm we came home for a BLT and a nap

for both of us... (he was exhausted after his drive)

which went REALLY WELL thank you everybody!

His little VW gets 47.8 mpg!

So he only stopped for fuel 4 times.

However, sleeping in the hatchback was not

a super fun activity.

Oh, and, the AC quit several years ago.

So it was HOT!

(And his left arm and left side of his face

are SUNBURNED.)

So.... a nice cool shower and a nap was in order.

Then a run into Hays to WalMart because he

forgot the MOST IMPORTANT THING.

His Nestle Quik Chocolate Milk mix.

Can't have THAT!

But he also brought me a box of about 20 mangos

from our tree!

They are almost ripe.

I'm keeping a close eye on them, and as soon

as they are ready I'll chop them up and put

them on trays in the freezer and then we 

will run to Hill City and get the freeze dryer.

So.......

I'm just now finished teaching for this morning.

I'm going to make me some lunch and then

I think I'll run to our little grocery store and

get a jug of bleach so I can clean out his

little chest freezer (it's in the garage but has been

in the tack room in Florida and then in storage in Hill

for a LONG time - he bought it when he lived in Logan)

so it needs a good cleaning.

And then I'll get ready to teach again tonight.

Have a LOVELY weekend!

Stay cool!

(It's in the 90's today but heading to the triple

digits next week - welcome to August!)

Our little house stays pretty nice until late afternoon...

and then I turn on the AC.

Coming Home

 Kyle is coming home today.

So I decided I had better get 

his artwork hung.

He let me pick three of his favorites.

Bought some frames.

They were the easiest frames I've ever used!

(Except for the stupid sticker they put

on the front. They were wrapped in plastic,

you'd think they would put it there!)

And it's not glass, it's plastic.

But that just means when they fall off

the wall they won't break.

That's good....

It will give me something fun to look

at while I'm teaching.

But now, I need to eat my breakfast and get

out to the farm and get some water on

the cucumbers.

We are getting some flowers on them!

And on the beans.

Something, a rabbit? Or the deer? or a bug?

Anyhow, something is eating the bean plants,

but they are soldiering on and were covered in 

blossoms yesterday, so we should have beans

in another couple of days.

I'm looking forward to that!

Sunday Talk, Calling, Etc

 My talk went well.

There was a youth speaker before me.

They announced him and nothing happened.

And nothing happened.

And finally he walked to the stand and

leaned into the Bishop and said

"I've got nothing. I forgot!"

So, of course, the Bishop suggested he

simply share his testimony.

So that took about a minute and a half.

Luckily I had simply planned to introduce

us and then tell Rhoda Chase's story.

And a story can be as long or as short

as your audience is engaged in it.

I spoke for, probably 20 minutes or so.

The congregation was engaged,

the Spirit was there.

There were tears.

(Aren't there always?)

And then Sister Moore and her son

sang "Whenever I Hear the Song of a Bird".

Which made me cry again.

(She is the Gospel Doctrine teacher and is moving

this week to Denver.)

I kind of was thinking they might call me to replace her.

And then another brother from WaKeeney spoke.

He started by calling out numbers 1 thru 4.

As he called a number, a voice in the congregation

said loudly "I believe in God, the Eternal Father,

in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

I AM a child of God."

It was really powerful.

(He's a high councilman, so after he told me its

not "traditional" to have congregation participation,

but he gets away with stuff cuz he's 

high council. Hahahaha.)

Anyhow.

Then we went to Sunday School.

And during class the 1st C in the Bishopric

called me out to extend a calling.

I was wrong.

I'm a Primary worker.

Next week after I'm sustained I'll spend 2nd

hour doing some training and learning 

about my class.

Little kids are not my jam.

But we grow where we are planted.

After church the "Sister Sisters" came by to visit.

Dina has allergies to fragrances, so we sat

on the front step. (It's been gorgeous weather all 

week, so it was still nice and cool-ish.)

We had a nice visit.

And then I went in to bake some raisin bread.

Anyhow.

I'm heading out to the farm.

Not sure how much I'll get done today.

It's heavy overcast again, so that means

the solar pump on the well won't be

working today.

But I'll at least get 2 tanks. Maybe 3.

Which is all I do anyway.

And then I need to teach tonight.

I think Kyle might be heading this way today.

He'll be driving his VW Golf.

It's old.

So again, I'm asking for prayers.

I'll keep you posted on his progress.

(He turned his battery on "saver" mode,

so it doesn't update as often on Google Locator.

BUMMER.)

First Harvest

 Last night we got a little rain here at the house

while I was teaching, but I turned on the radar and

kept an eye on the farm.

Looked like we got some good rain!

So this morning I got up and headed to Hill City

for their farmers market. (I need eggs and

cucumbers...) 

It's overcast and chilly today.

It's 11:30 and only 70 outside right now.

It's kind of lovely!

Anyhow, it was slim pickings there.

There were only 3 vendors, the egg

lady didn't show up.

So I bought a couple of cucumbers and

a small jar of homemade dill pickles.

And then I headed to our farm.

And we had our first harvest!!!

(I stole the bucket that Kyle's screws came in...)

When I got there, it had between a quarter and a 

half inch of RAIN WATER in it!

YEA!!!

Anyhow.

We got five nice zucchini. 

There are several more coming on, might be ready

to harvest on Monday.

And I found our first baby yellow squash!

LOTS of flowers on the yellow squash plants.

The cucumbers are still tiny plants.

Nothing yet.

But I think I might have seen some flower

buds coming on a bean plant.

And the okra... well, that's always slow to start.

Anyhow.

I'm excited to see signs of life.

(I have been weeding the rows, but left the stuff

growing in the walkways for the most part.)

We need a weed whacker or lawnmower or 

something to knock it down.

I'm hoping that the rain will get the 

sunflowers starting.

I'd love to have a big field of them!

Friday

 Got to talk to Soni for a minute and a half 

(Literally) I was teaching and she called while

I was finishing up my break.

Unfortunately I couldn't fudge it, because I'm

now using a "count down clock" on the screen

so my students know what time break is over.

(I was having a hard time translating to Florida time... lol)

Anyhow.

I taught a sub class this morning, now I'm going

to run into Hays and return some stuff at

Tractor Supply and WalMart.

(I refuse to drive into town on Saturday

unless I have NO CHOICE...)

and then if I have time when I get home

I need to mow the yard.

And then it's back to teaching this evening.

Beau is enjoying his new bed in my office.

It's a lovely "cool" day here today.

Nice and windy.

With a chance of rain this evening.

We'll see.

Tomorrow I plan to drive into Hill City

(just 10 minutes north of the farm) and go

to their farmer's market and check them out

now that it has been going for a few weeks.

And buy some eggs.

And maybe a cucumber.

And then I'll swing by the farm and if ready,

I'll harvest the zucchini that are growing there.

And then home to finish writing my talk

for Sacrament Meeting on Sunday.

Thank you Mom for the extra genealogy information!

It came in the mail yesterday and I really

enjoyed reading it!

Also, I think I forgot to thank you for the July 4th

gift!  It's hanging on my calendar in my office

and I look at it every day!

Also notice the little dude hanging on

my closet door.

I'm getting a fun collection of Mom's ditties!

(The butterfly lives in my truck.)

Mulch

 We got a little rain again last night.

So this morning instead of watering,

I started moving that big pile of cut grass

(hay) from the back of the garden onto

the rows.

And while I was working, there was a big ol' fat

bumblebee doing his job pollinating the squash blooms.

We have lots of flowers.

And now there is some hay around each

of these plants to help hold in the moisture.

I still need to do the cucumbers as well

as the beans and okra, but it was a LOT of work.

I pitchforked (that's a technical term) from

the pile (which was not loose but well packed

and kind of all stuck together and also had a LOT

of dirt in it) into a wagon and then 

dragged it over to the row I was working on

and then picked it up by hand and tucked it around

the base of each plant.

(I sprayed REALLY well for ticks first!)

After about 5 hours I had all the squash done.

And then I loaded up the gas cans and

went to the service station in town and got

some gas for the generator and diesel for

the tractor (neither are OUT, but I want to

have some on hand...) and then I went

to the house and took a nice cool shower

and took a NAP.

(I have been taking a lunch in my little

insulated lunch bag - today I had a ham and

cheese sandwich, some baby carrots and

a fruit snack.)

Anyhow.

I just finished teaching tonight's class.

Half way through I forgot I raised up my

chair and when I went to stand up,

my armrest got caught under the desk

and flipped my 2nd computer monitor onto the floor.

I got it all hooked up again, but it wouldn't

show my presentation, so I had to sort of

fumble my way through the final 2 hours.

Grrrrrrrrr.

But we got it done.

And everybody was nice about it.

And now....

I'm off to bed.

Tomorrow it's back to watering again,

but I'll probably keep moving hay while

the water  is going on a different part of the garden.

Gotta get it all done, since they aren't

predicting any rain again until the weekend.

And even then, its hit or miss.

July and Aug are NOT big rain event months usually.

(Unlike you AZ guys who are mid-monsoon season...)

Tuesday - ONE WEEK

 It's been a week since Kyle left.

And I'm doing OK.

I think I've got the farm stuff mostly figured out.

Yesterday the tractor did a "regen" (which is when

you turn the revs WAAAAY up and let it burn off

all the carbon build up.)

Suddenly all kinds of lights start blinking

on the dash - I was pretty sure I broke something.

But a quick call to Kyle (and noticing the sign

that is RIGHT THERE that explains it and what to do...)

it was simple.

Last night, well, this morning about 2:30 I was

woken by 2 sonic booms - except I'm not in

Florida where that is common - it just means a

rocket is coming in to land.

I realized it was actually thunder,

so I pulled up my weather app and saw that it 

was raining out at the farm too.

Which means I turned off my alarm and slept in.

It was nice! (I was really tired...)

It was lovely, cool, and overcast this morning.

(Expected high only 91!)

I puttered around until about 9:00.

*We have a solar pump on the well out there

and it doesn't do much when its overcast...

Yesterday it was 105 out there.

Probably why I was so tired last night.

(I kept just closing my eyes while I was teaching...

good thing I didn't nod off!)

This morning I finally got out there around 9:30.

It was lovely out there! 

The neighbor was harvesting his wheat.

I forgot to take a picture.

I did some more weeding and watering.

I only ran 2 tanks of water.

The ground was nice and moist and I had

other stuff I needed to do.

As I was leaving, I noticed the neighbor's

calves were out on the road.

The Moms were all in their pasture, keeping an eye on them.

I called the guy who used to rent our pasture,

he said they belonged to Troy and he'd come get them.

About the time I was leaving, I saw him pull up on

his side-by-side and they herded right up.

I didn't stick around.

And when I pulled into WaKeeney there was a rogue

calf on the wrong side of HIS fence as well!

Calves. They are so silly.

Anyhow.

Also yesterday, the county came by and grated

our farm road. That was MUCH appreciated!

There were lots of rain ruts.

It's nice and smooth now and my tractor

is much happier.

(Looking at that picture of our road

reminded me...)\

Anyhow (again).

I got home, brought in the trash can,

tossed my new shorts (Amazon delivery) in the 

washing machine, 

updated the home owner's insurance 

(new roof = lower premium!)

and installed my printer.

Finally figured out why it hadn't been working,

and it's all good now.

So I printed Rhoda Chase's life story for my

talk this weekend.

And now...

I think I'll eat an ice cream sandwich.

Oh.

And while I was working at the farm,

a guy showed up and put a for sale sign

directly across the road.

Tempting.

But I think we probably have enough land.

For now.

OH OH OH!!!

How could I forget????

Yesterday, I found our FIRST ZUCCHINI!

It's still just a baby, but I'm so excited!

Good to know we can grow SOMETHING here.

(Besides weeds. We are expert at that...)

He even has a buddy!

Roses

 I planted a little rose bush we bought

at Home Depot a week or so ago.

And it bloomed!

No idea what kind they are.

But they were pretty!

They are gone now.

I need to deadhead the bush.

And MAYBE it will give us some more.

I planted them in the corner by the front steps.

The crimson clover is coming up in the raised garden

in the back yard.

And we have some baby watermelons coming up too.

And out at the farm we have our FIRST squash blossom!

I have no idea what kind of squash it is.

But I guess we will find out!

It's just barely sunrise, I've had breakfast,

done the banking, made my lunch and water jugs...

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

It's supposed to be 106 degrees today, so I want

to get out there early so I can come home before

somebody turns on the furnace out there.

SO happy to hear Mom is doing well!

Sheesh.

Take care of yourself Mom!

Thank you Nancy (and Reid and Rozann and Greg)

for watching over her and taking such good care.

MUCH Better

 First off.... I realized I didn't update Kyle's trip.

Obviously he made it to Florida.

Got there around midnight Wed night.

It's a FASTER trip when you aren't weighed

down with an old lady and a dog.

(grin)

It wasn't without its adventure though.

Wednesday morning he got a flat on the uHaul trailer.

Luckily we listened to the "little voice" and got the

insurance, so they sent someone out and had

it fixed in about 15 minutes.

(If there had been a spare Kyle said it would

have been done in 5. lol)

Grateful he wasn't out in the middle of nowhere

when it happened!

Anyhow. Other than that, and a chip in his

windshield, it went well.

And yesterday he sold the truck.

So the trip was a success.

He'll likely stay for awhile and help Rod.

And maybe work with Jim for a bit.

Or jump in his Golf and come back.

Who knows.

It's Kyle.

Anyhow.

We are grateful for prayers for a safe journey.

This morning I mowed the backyard.

(The front didn't need it...)

And then I cleaned out the truck.

This is what happens when you take the dog with 

you to the farm and he runs around in the mud

and then jumps in the truck when you aren't looking.

Don't have heart failure Sweetheart.

I fixed it.

Its not perfect, but good enough for today.

Next trip into town I'll pick up some

upholstery cleaner for the cloth seats.

I

But for now it's better.

(Towels because I get in and I'm also pretty dirty

after a day at the farm.

And also those seats get HOT!)

And now I have a few "around town" errands

to do this morning. (Need a cucumber and some

milk from the grocery store and some fuel so I 

can make it into town tomorrow for church...)

Make it a great day!