Finished and On the Way Home

 I'm sitting here in my office,

teaching my class on my laptop,

following along as a student on my iPad

and have another monitor for my notes,

AND my phone is open,

following Kyle's progress on Google Locate.

LOL.

Good thing I know my material, because I'm

not really paying attention.

I'm busy watching Kyle's little red dot travel east.

He mowed the 40 acres.

Being Kyle, as soon as he got there, he unloaded

and got right to work.

He said one pass from the front to the back of

the property took him 8 minutes.

And his mower is only 6 feet wide.

So that's a LOT of trips back and forth.

Of course all the rain made the ground a bit soft.

He didn't get stuck, but he DID make a few ruts.

It'll all even out over time though.

I talked with him a bit last night.

He had about 30 minutes of mowing left,

but we were chatting and he had to stop working

because his tractor is LOUD.

And then he had a visitor!

Actually he had a couple over on our side, 

headed over to the water trough to get a drink,

but before he could take a picture something

spooked them and they took off.

But there were a few more across the street on the

neighbor's field, so he took a picture of them.

This was pretty zoomed in, but it looks like a 

nice young buck.

He saw LOTS and lots of rabbits.

And he said our 40 acre was FULL of coyote dens.

(And there were certainly lots of coyotes

howling during the night while he was "sleeping"

in his new tent...)

He didn't ever see any though.

(or he didn't choose to tell me about it if he did...)

Anyhow.

He got it finished up this morning and then

I think he built himself a driveway to where

he wants to put his house.

And then he drove into town and put his

tractor in the storage building we are renting.

And then he hit the road.

He won't be home until late Sunday, probably...

but will make it back in time for Rod's 

birthday on Monday.

We'll be glad to see him!

And all the drone footage he shot of the property.

Drive carefully!!!!!

He Made It!

 Kyle MADE it to the property.

It was a nice drive along the way...

He stopped at our favorite italian place in Missouri.

There used to be one in town here, but 

they pulled out of Florida.

Got to drive a LONG, SKINNY bridge

that was down to one lane because of construction.

That's always fun when pulling a load.

Some fog...

And pretty skies.

But mostly lots and lots of highway.

(although gps took him a back way and

he spent a good bit of Day 2 on smaller,

2-lane, windy, hilly roads. He was glad it

wasn't dark!)

This morning he MADE it to the property.

And was VERY gratified to see GREEN!

Looks a LOT better than last year.

And now....

unload that tractor and get to mowing the 40 acres.

There's very little cell service on the ranch.

You can usually get a signal on the hill

at the back of the property.

So I hope for more pictures later today.

Meanwhile,

whew!

Kansas Trip #1

 Kyle left this morning on his

trip to Kansas #1.

On this trip he is taking the Kubota tractor

and all its implements out to the ranch.

He's got the bushhog and the box blade loaded up

behind the tractor.

And the big box on the bed of his truck

holds his giant Yetti cooler full of water.

His suitcase, tent, blow-up mattress and a bunch

of other necessary stuff is also in there.

The front passenger seat (since I'm not going) is

loaded up with food and snacks and other 

random stuff he might need on the road.

He kept the backseat free of stuff so he 

can sleep back there comfortably.

It's quite a large, comfy couch-ish backseat.

And he'll be "happier" there where he can feel

if anybody tries to mess with his stuff during stops.

He will keep me posted.

So I'll keep you posted.

Beau Voyage Kyle!

Weird Fruit Trees

 Our fruit trees are so weird.

All of a sudden this peach tree has decided to throw blossoms!

In August!

WHAT????

Maybe it got the idea from the cherry tree???

We also have THREE stalks of bananas in different

stages on the banana grove.

With more to come!

We won't likely get any peaches OR cherries,

but they are pretty and fun to look at.

But I do see lots of bananas heading to the

freeze drier in the next few months.

YUM!

Bye Bye Beach!

 Kyle is getting ready to head out to Kansas.

Not permanently yet... but it's getting closer!

Today after spending the morning at the

Bishop's Storehouse (and filling a BUNCH

of fairly large orders...) we headed to the beach.

The water was a wonderful temperature

and the bottom was SO FLAT he was able

to walk WAAAAAAAY out there and still

only be in water up to his knees.

(Until that wave behind him snuck up and

got him a little wetter than he hoped...)

It was so beautiful!

I got in for a bit as well, but I was wearing

jean shorts and those take FOREVER to dry

so I tried not to get "too" wet.

It sure was nice though!

And then home to teach my evening class.

And now......... BED!

(Well, pizza, and then some TV and then a rocket,

and THEN bed....)

New View

 For 4 months, when we looked out the

patio doors, all we could see 

was a big white truck up on blocks.

And then Rod got it FINISHED!

(He's actually driving it today!)

We drove it to church yesterday.

NICE TRUCK!

It was wonderful to look out the 

patio doors and see the garden.

For a minute.

Then Kyle used his Cat and started stacking his house.

(See him in the background...)

He lifts it with the foks, but also has it strapped

to his Cat with serious yellow straps.

Of course, now the arms are still up in the air

because the straps are hooked to them.

So I got to come out and unhook him so he

could get his front door open and get out!

We have had a LOT of rain this month,

so his wood is looking a little weathered.

He brought out the shopvac and sucked out

all the water. Left it in the sun for a day

(fingers crossed for no rain)

and then tarped it all.

He'll spray it all good with a bleach solution

when he moves it to the ranch and kill

all the mildew spores.

No point in doing it yet though...

And this is our current view.

Likely for a month.

Or so.

That's a LOT of house!

Once he gets it all piled on the trailer it will

be about 12 feet tall (including the trailer)

but will still fit under the bridges on the highway.

Oh! And Rod got an amazing deal (free!) on a new

topper for the new white truck.

That will keep the dogs (etc) safe and dry 

on the trip.

(And be good for trips into the "big" city in the future...)

Things are moving forward!

What a Week!

 I can't even.

It's been a BUSY week.

Between teaching in Tampa

and doing RS stuff 

and working at the town a billion extra hours

and working at the storehouse...

it's been a BUSY week.

Oh wait, I already said that.

Speaking of working at the storehouse...

they tasked us with cleaning the floor

in the walk-in fridge.

Before and mid-way.

I think we did a fine job!

We used some spray de-greaser and 

long-handled scrub brushes.

(My arms are just today un-stiff enough that

I can do stuff with them... lol)

Everyone was duly impressed when we were done.

It was a lot of work - a little over 2 hours.

But worth it.

It looked really good.

And it was fun!

(Although cold... we were in training

for winter in Kansas...)

It was 34 degrees in there.

And we did fine, until the giant compressor

above our heads kicked in and then it

blew cold air all over the place.

But other than that, we did fine.

(We had coats...)

You can't really see the dirt for all the foam,

but trust me, there was a LOT of dirt.

It was the first afternoon in quite awhile we didn't

get a thunder storm, so we headed to the beach

to thaw out and collect some shells.

We need to take some Florida beach sand

and shells with us to Kansas!

The rest of the week has been a blur.

Lots to do.

But we're getting it done.

Got the tag for the new truck today, so Rod

should be able to start driving it tomorrow.

He got a replacement driver's seat so he'll

put that in tomorrow (if it isn't pouring rain...)

and the guys that did the alignment today said

there is one more part he should order and fix...

but it's ok to drive in the meantime.

We bought it in March while I was in Tucson,

so it has been a long road with a LOT of work.

But it's basically a new truck now, so it

should last us for EVER.

GOOD JOB ROD!

(I would take a picture, but its raining.

Again.)