RAIN!!!

 We love rain.

All farmers love rain.

Some of them aren't jazzed about the timing....

we are mid wheat harvest here in Kansas

and getting a big rainstorm overnight puts

a bit of a kink in their plans for today's harvest.

But there was no hail.

(There WAS some hefty wind though...)

Anyhow.

I went out to the farm to help Kyle hang the first

of the onion harvest. 

This is about 1/4 of the eventual harvest.

These are just the ones that their necks had bent and the greens

had flopped over on them.

Then there's another bunch (about 2/3 more) that aren't ready yet.

And then there's ANOTHER we grew from seed that won't

be ready for a couple months.

Hoping for a good total harvest!

We eat a lot of onion...

And then Kyle pointed to our "pond".

She's FULL and overflowed the bank!

We only got 2.7" of rain, but all the water from

the hills also run down into her.

I wish it always looked like that.....

but it will be dry again in a few days.

Ultimately, Kyle will fill it back in.

No need to have a big dry hole in the ground.

Also our "basement" is full.

Hahahaha.

We have changed plans (again) and are doing away 

with the basement idea.

Long story and I'll explain it as we go along

(with pictures)

because even I don't fully understand.

But the short answer is, no basement and Kyle is filling

in this hole as well (after some cement posts, etc...)

mostly to avoid THIS.....

Anyhow.

It was a productive and fun day.

This morning ROD slept in until 9!!!

That hasn't happened since........ ever.

And then we replaced the ceiling fan above our bed

with one that doesn't sound like it's going to 

come crashing down at any moment.

(It came with the house...)

And then I went to the farm and he went to visit

the Sister Sisters and help with some repairs

they needed help with.

And I taught tonight's class.

Now?

Dinner and TV and bed.

Tomorrow is HAYS DAYS.

(Which just means Kyle and I are driving into Hays

to get our shopping done, but it sounds more fun

when you say it like that.... haha.)

Random Ramblings

 Happy Sunday!

There is a building on the road into Hays.

Yes, it's a grain silo.

But when the sun hits it just right and it's

shining white.... it looks to me like

the Nauvoo or Kirtland Temple.

We are in the middle of a 4.5 hour circle.

Denver Temple, Kansas City Temple,

Winter Quarters Temple (Nebraska) and

the upcoming Wichita Temple.

Each of them are 4.5 hours from us.

So getting to the temple isn't something we

are able to do on a regular basis.

But seeing this "temple" (grin) is something

I look forward to on each trip into 

the "big" city.

*********************************************

You know how they say if you are hot in your

bed at night, stick a leg out from under the covers.

Bear has perfected the OPPOSITE.

He puts one leg IN his bed.

Kyle said he sleeps like that most nights.

Which is fine, except then he snores.

REALLY loud.

(And since he is now sleeping in Kyle's room,

that gets a little disruptive...)

He's a very silly puppy.

********************************************************

Happy Sunday!

(Watching a zoom on finding lost sheep through the stake...)

Happy Anniversary!!! - UPDATE

 Happy Anniversary to US!!!!!

44 years and counting!

I just finished teaching the morning class.

Now we are heading to a new little

lunch place called Table 529.

And then we might need to run into Hays if

our Walmart delivery is ready.

And then back to teach the night class.

Then all of us are going to the stockcar races!

(Kyle and Rod will go over around 7 and 

I'll join then when I get off work at 9...)

So...

That's the plan for celebrating 44 years together

with my darling husband!!!

LOVE YOU!!!

Also my garden brings me great joy.

Look at all the snap dragons!

And bachelor buttons.

And zinnia.

And other random stuff I have no idea what it is.....

Chaos gardening at its best.

Update.....

the food was EXCELLENT!

Rod had a cheeseburger on a handmade roll

and I had pork belly sandwich on the same.

DELICIOUS!

We had them cut in two so we could share.

Ran into the Mayor and the First Husband (lol).

He recommended the pork belly.

I love living in a little town!

Catching Up

Yesterday was a busy day.

We started earlier (while it was cooler)

and Rod and I went for our walk.

We stayed in town this time and checked out the park

where we are having this year's FIRST Farmers Market

this weekend!

(And although I'm ready.... I just got reminded we have

mandatory training Saturday morning on zoom since

I didn't drive to Florida for a 4 hour training a few

months ago.... lol.)

So. I'll just start next weekend.

But in the meantime, after a nice chat with Mom,

Kyle and I headed into town.

Stopped at the bank to open a new checking account.

(And if you do a direct deposit, they put a bonus $300

in your account for you....)

Then to a couple different stores to return some tools

Rod didn't need while working on the Trooper,

and look for some stuff to fix our OOOOLD little

wagon we have had since the boys were  little

at our first house in Palm Bay. It's finally falling

apart and Kyle uses it daily at the farm.

Gonna need some welding.

And then to WalMart to do the grocery shopping.

Then home for a nap.

And dinner.

Etc.

This morning I got up and jumped on the computer

to teach the morning class.

Then there's some stuff I need to get done around the house.

Like sweep and mop the floors.

I love our new floors, but white floors get DIRTY!

(Especially with 2 dogs...)

You have to look close.

See the gremlin?

Hahahaha.

Bye dude. You're CREEPY!

Went to the farm last night,

I don't know if we will be able to harvest these cabbages,

but in the meantime, they are sure beautiful.

 Beau has finally consented to allow Bear to

sleep on HIS bed with him.

Usually he jumps up there and then rolls around

to scratch his back, which is Bear's invitation to

jump up and chew on him.

Which results in barking and biting and mayhem.

But then they both just conked out.

(Beau is in the back, they look SO much alike now!)

For awhile yet, Beau is still beefier. 

Bear is still just a puppy so no muscle yet...

but it's coming.

Oops!!! - UPDATE

 I kind of forgot we had radishes in one of my 

garden beds, in there with the potatoes,

and between the peas that are getting TALL

and covered in peas.....

Looks more like a BEET!

(And I got another the same size today...)

I can TOTALLY recommend growing radishes.

Even if you don't think you like them.

Because if you slice them up, spray them with a little

avocado (or olive) oil, and season them with

a little salt and pepper and then roast them at

400 for about 20 minutes

(I used my air fryer)

They are SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!

Kind of like Lays potato chips.

You can't eat just one.

And then you are really glad it was HUGE.

And kind of can't wait to grow more.

******************************************

UPDATE

Speaking of beets, look what Kyle just brought

home from our farm garden!

Our first beet!

Thanks Nanc for introducing me to these beauties!!

It's in the air fryer as we speak.....

Also, back in the "saddle".

Walked 2 miles today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROZANN!!!!!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY FROZIE ROZIE!!!!

Whew!

Just squeaked it in before the day was over.....

(Darn these all day teaching things...)

I love that you are so quietly caring.

No big splashy stuff... just swoop in

and take care of what needs to be taken care of.

Whether that's getting a landline in 2025 when

nobody even knows what those are anymore,

or fixing / updating / replacing computers,

printers, phones.....

Keeping the "home" stocked with puzzles.

Or just quietly sitting and visiting.

You are such an example to me.

Running a business.

Running a family.

Keeping it all straight.

AND working hard to stay healthy and happy.

(Not to mention having a new puppy and we

KNOW what a challenge that can be! hahahaha.)

Happiest of birthdays my little sister!

I love you!

Teachin' in the Bayou.... lol

Today was a Louisiana class.... 

I had 51 students registered, but yesterday I sent

an email reminding them that they HAVE to be

ON TIME or they won't get credit.

So I had 14 students, but they were the 

cream of the crop.

Last month I had people wandering in 2 hours late,

sticking around for a bit, and then wandering

back out again, only to come back after a bit...

and angry they didn't get credit.

(Attendance was a NIGHTMARE! Took me nearly

2.5 hours on Monday to get it all straight...)

So this time... nope.

And it was MUCH MUCH better.

Unfortunately, I missed some good stuff today though.

There was a Primary activity this morning,

they were doing "pioneer" stuff to prepare for

our annual Pioneer Day Picnic on the 26th here

in WaKeeney.

Then right after that there was a goodbye party

for the exiting Bishop and his family.

(deploying to Hawaii to finish his final 2 years..

he's medical...)

His oldest daughter was our YW class President,

his middle daughter was our Secretary,

and his younger just turned 12 and joined us.

They are all amazing young women and we will miss them.

And then tonight was our stake's turn to clean the temple

from 9:30 to 11 (or whenever...)

But it's about a 4.5 hour drive and if we left

RIGHT THIS MINUTE we MIGHT make it.

So we didn't sign up.

And I teach again tomorrow.

Our first time meeting as a Relief Society with our

new presidency.

Darn.

But, it was a good class.

Yes, those are salt & vinegar pringles.... gotta have a snack during break... lol

A more manageable size group.

They learned a lot, and had some fun along the way.

Hopefully they will come back tomorrow....... lol.

(I'm always SO nervous they won't!)

Ok, so I'm tired of sitting in this chair.

I'm OUTTA HERE!

Cute Shirt!

 Rod got a fun package the other day...

Thanks Jim and Sabrina!

(gift giving really IS your super power!!! You

even spelled it correctly!)

He's going to be SO popular at the NOEL picnic

on Wednesday night!!!

I'm doing a double today and gearing up for

another Louisiana class tomorrow and Sunday.

Yesterday was a presidency meeting (2 hours)

(40 minutes from my house)

and then a trip to the store to get some last

minute stuff 

and then home to cook chicken tacos for the

4 missionaries in our ward.

And then.... BED!

So... lunch? And then maybe a nap, and then

back to work.

(I got up at 6:30 with the dogs and so I took

Beau and we went for a short, 15 minute

walk up and around the park / swimming pool)

It was nice and "cool" at 75 degrees this morning.

Predicting over 100 today.

I know, you folks in AZ are laughing at me.

Luckily they fixed the AC though.

That's warm.

Rest Day!

 I took a rest day.

Rod spent the day yesterday UNDER the Isuzu,

working on fixing a .... mechanical thing.

So he was tired and had a sore back.

Kyle spent the late afternoon Monday

weeding a LONG row of carrots that was FULL of weeds,

and the tops of his knees were FRIED.

So he hung around until later than usual.

And I.......... read a book.

The whole thing.

It was LOVELY!

Monday it was pretty warm here...

and the AC quit again.

So this morning the AC guys came and fixed

the leak (under warranty) and it's all  better now.

(They set it to 68 while they were working

on it.... Kyle and I nearly DIED! LOL)

Anyhow.

Tomorrow we have our first RS Pres mtg at the

President's house, so I'll be driving into Hays again.

(Rod is there tonight for Mutual....)

We're going to have zoom meetings going forward,

because I just can't drive into Hays every day.

(Tues - groceries, etc.

Wed - Mutual

Thurs - Pres Mtg

Sun - church)

NOPE.

Anyhow.

Friday is both the Pres and the Secty's birthday,

so I'm thinking about bringing fresh strawberries

and whipped cream, but we'll see.

I'm also having the Elders over for dinner that night.

Hahahaha.

Anyhow.

Gratuitous picture of setting up the zoom for Sac Mtg.

Cuz I got nothing.

Hahaha.

Annnnnnnnnd ANOTHER NEW CALLING!

 I'm beginning to wonder....

NOBODY wants me?

or EVERYBODY wants me?

Hahahahaha.

(just kidding)

(but not really)

Anyhow.

Saturday we had an interview with the Bishop.

He's new.

Only been in for 3 weeks.

And his wife was the RS President.

So we KNEW that was going to need to change.

Luckily I have an "insider" so I knew I wasn't

being tagged as President.

And after that, any calling was ok with me.

So...

Introducing the new RS 2nd Counselor!

I'll be over activities and Temple & Family History.

Luckily, the old presidency (our new Pres was 1st C 

in the old presidency, so she has a good handle)

had JUST revamped all the ministering assignments.

So we don't need to tackle that for a while.

That makes 4 callings in the year we've been here.

Started as a Primary teacher.

Then 1st C in YW.

Then Secty in YW.

Now 2nd C in RS.

That just leaves SS...... wonder when I can

expect THAT calling? Hahaha.

These are all excellent women and I'm looking

forward to serving with them.

(Although I would have loved to be secty, we are

keeping the old one, she was only called about

3 months ago and she's a really great lady!)

(Lives in WaKeeney so that automatically makes

her awesome, right? Just retired from our local school.)

So.

Other than that, we had a nice Father's Day.

I led the singing in Sac Mtg.

Haven't done that in DECADES.

(And totally messed up the Sac hymn, luckily

nobody looks at the chorister... lol)

Then the YW handed out the cookies to the men.

And we had an excellent Gospel Doctrine lesson.

And then, as 2nd C in the Bishopric,

Rod got to set me apart.

That was really special.

It was a nice day.

Rod had lots of meetings after, so Kyle and I

headed home for some lunch and then out to

the farm to water his raised beds.

The stupid cows got out again.

They were in his yard sometime in the last day.

Tramped all through his nice new grass growing

over his septic system.

Now there are 10" deep hoof holes all over

his yard that WAS nice and smooth.

But at least they didn't EAT everything.

I only got one picture though, my battery died as soon as

I took this picture.

His oats are heading out and looking really good!

And his wheat, what little there is, the heads are getting

plump and looking awesome.

His mustard has gone to seed... guess we need to do

some research and figure out what to do with it exactly.

He just planted it for fun, and because it's good for

"fixing" the soil.

Then down to the main garden where everything is

LOVING the heat.

Well, not EVERYTHING, the broccoli is done.

And looks like the cabbage won't ever really head out.

But we will start more here in a few weeks for a 

fall crop. Once the tomatoes are done, we will

swap them out for a huge planting of peas.

*************************************

Quick interruption... just got a call from a 

young lady from the local Catholic Parrish office.

I ordered 4 boxes of peaches and 1 box of pears.

"They" say Colorado peaches are better than Georgia.

We'll see... but since we can't really get

Georgia peaches out here, I hope they are right!

But we won't get them until August.

************************************

Ok.

Back to my regular post.

We have SNAPDRAGONS!!!

(And some eggs I just gathered...)

With more to come...

I'm so excited!

I haven't had snapdragons since Calgary!

(Our sad little bean patch in the background....

Kyle ordered new seeds, should be here later

this week and we will replant... these seeds were

just too old.)

Flowers!!!

 Flowers take SOOOOOO LONG to grow!!!

For the longest time, our flower bed was just dirt

with TEEEEEEEENY TINY little green dots.

Now they are finally big enough I could put down some shavings

to help protect them and keep the moisture in.

But LOOK!

We have FLOWERS!

Little, teeny tiny things.

But still...

They are flowers!!!

And the snap dragons are looking promising!

I love snap dragons!

We planted a bunch but only a few of them actually came up.

So I put 4 in my garden and Kyle put 4 in his.

And then the rat ate them.

And then he killed the rat.

And they started to come back.

And the rabbit discovered he could climb up the stairs

and then hop over into his raised beds.

GRRRRRRR!

There you can see his stairs better.

And then, yesterday, a DEER stomped around in his

strawberry raised bed!

BIG giant foot holes in the dirt and several of

the strawberry plants either got munched or pulled

up by the roots.

Farming.

Anyhow.

We also bought some cute little colorful pots (plastic) from Hobby Lobby.

These are in my kitchen window.

(We have the Trooper on the driveway right now, waiting for parts.

It needs brakes and ... something mechanical...)

Anyhow.

My marigolds, basil, spring onions are coming up.

I saw a TEENY little parsley this morning.

Still waiting on the chives and rosemary.

Kyle put flowers in 4 of his and herbs in the other 4.

(I only planted 6 of mine, the other two are white and cream

and I wanted COLOR in my kitchen...)

Anyhow.

Today I went around and opened all the windows.

We've had several open for a couple weeks,

but I opened the ones in the office & kitchen today.

And tomorrow I'll probably close them and 

turn on the AC.

It was 95 today and pretty warm, even with the breeze.

But it was nice while it lasted.

(Last year I opened the windows in the evening

and then around noon the next day closed them all

and turned on the AC [once we got it replaced] so

I'll probably do the same this year...)

Another Fun Day!

 Yesterday, for Kyle's birthday,

we went for a nice LONG walk.

There was a lovely smelling field of yellow flowers.

We took "H" Road out west of town.

This is looking east towards town.

And from the same point looking west we walked

to the top of the next hill.

We took it at a nice, leisurely 2 mph pace.

It was a nice walk.

Our feet were tired by the time we got home.

They Kyle headed out to the farm to water the garden

and do some mowing (ie: more walking... lol).

I taught class and then we BBQed some steaks

and made mashed potatoes for dinner.

This morning after a nice phone visit with Mom,

Kyle and I headed in to town to do the shopping.

We stopped at the local greenhouse and bought a

green table grape plant, a yellow raspberry, 2 apple mint plants,

some geraniums, and... a honeydew melon plant.

(Everything was 20-50% off since it's late in the season.)

Then into Home Depot for some potting soil,

and some buckets to plant in.

Then to WalMart for the weekly groceries, etc.

On the way home, I got a phone call from one of

the sisters I minister to in WaKeeney.

She tripped over a chord in her backyard, 

fell, and broke her arm.

I had her call Rod and he went and picked her up

and took her to the hospital, where they were met

by one of the other families in the ward who also

live in our little town.

(She rents her house from them...)

We had a nice visit with them (she's my hairdresser,

I'm also her ministering sister and her husband is 

our ministering brother... so we killed several birds

with one stone...)

Once Dinah was all slinged up (no cast until the

ortho looks at it in the next few days), I drove her

home (my car is easiest for her to get in/out of)

and we all headed to their house to help her sister

take care of their rabbits who were over heating

in the shed they have them in.

Rod and I ran to Subway and got them some dinner.

And then we headed home to sit in the backyard

for an hour in the evening.

(We got home about 8 pm)

It's now 9:30. The sun has just gone done.

Rod is working on his computer.

I'm writing a blog.

Kyle is making some ravioli for dinner.

Oh yeah!

And Sunday Kyle and I took the dogs for a late

evening walk to tire them out.

Met one of the locals.

Biggest fox I've ever seen!

And the first I've seen in the wild.

Alice and Dinah said it has a den under the large

pine tree behind their house. Which is why they put

their rabbits in the shed...

We chose to turn around.

Anyhow.

It was a busy day!

But all's well.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!

 He never reads my blog.

Hahahahaha.

But Happy Birthday Anyway!

Oops, No Picture.....

 Yesterday the three of us went out to the farm.

And put a new, thick, black tarp over the trusses.

(There was a blue tarp until it finally fell apart...)

This one is better since it's black and not

quite such an eyesore as you drive up the road.

But also it's a better grade of tarp, so should last

until we are ready to take it off and put the trusses

on the new house.

(Which, hopefully, won't be too much longer...)

Anyhow.

But instead of just draping it over and calling

it good, we used some of the left over wood

we used for the concrete foundation forms

and screwed them to the base on the front and

the back, and then put little strips of wood along

the top edges to minimize the blowing (and rubbing)

to hopefully preserve it for longer than the last one.

It looks so much better.

But I forgot to take a picture.

I'll try to remember to take one another day.

Not today.

I'm teaching another double.

Just finished the morning class.

A whopping 3 students.

(the last one showed up with 20 minutes left, 

but he's going to attend tonight's class and then

pick up what he missed next week...)

Anyhow.

After we worked on the tarp,

we headed down to the garden.

We are eating radishes every day.

They are YUMMY!

The beets are finally starting to form,

still about the size of a large pea, but at least

they are STARTING!

(And I pick a random leaf here and there and

pop it in my mouth... yum!)

Can't wait for fresh beet greens with vinegar!

It's been DECADES!

Everything else is looking good.

Except the corn.

Sigh.

We didn't get a really high germination.

And what did come up, the deer are topping.

Not all, but here and there.

One day we will fence in the garden

AND have guardian dogs which will limit the deer's

access to the garden.

But for now, I'm willing to share the corn as long

as they don't eat the other stuff.

(And so far, they aren't bothering anything else...)

So.

That's what life looks like here, this week.

Everything has kind of settled down a little.

The garden just requires watering and weeding.

But we have REAL water, and we just weed a little

at a time - plus when it dries up a little more,

we have those stirrup hoes we bought last year.

Kyle will sharpen them, and they make weeding easy.

The guys are working on a new business plan

which I'll share when it's more firm.

But for now,

I'm teaching, reading, and eating radishes.

(hahahaha)

Life is good.