The Neighborhood

Things have finally settled down around here. Although we were sad that our high school softball team lost out at the state tournament. The girls did have a great season. We're proud of them all but especially this gal:

Signs on the side of the road.

The high school season is officially over and now our summer season will begin. Lots more softball to come for us!
It's been nice to be home. I thought maybe I should check out the neighborhood since I haven't been around much. Make sure nothing had changed and things were right where I left them. ha.
I started out on a nice walk and walked right past my garden. I didn't want to see this:

Those are my poor green beans. Some japanese speaking bug got to them. Won't leave them alone. I'm going to have to do something about it. I'm going after the japanese beetles now. Gosh.
I better check out C.B.'s beans next. They're right on my way.

Just look at that. You can actually tell where the rows are. They'll be nice and green in another few days! I decided to keep on walking. The sun was shining and although warm it was a nice day. There were things I needed to check on.. and do. I needed another wheat picture. Hadn't taken one in awhile.

It's looking pretty good. It's all headed out and started to change color. Soon it will be the golden wheat that is so famous. Another month or so and this farmer will be harvesting! About this time a neighbor was driving by on the gravel road I was on. We visited for a couple minutes. Then away he went. I kept right on walking. A little further down the road I ran into some more neighbors out on their ranger checking cattle. I stopped and visited with them for quite awhile. It was fun. As we parted ways I found their cattle.

See that big bull there in front. Yeah, he kinda scared me. That little barbed wire between him and me didn't make me feel any better. Cattle are a curious bunch and as Waylon and I went walking by they followed as far as they could and then they stood in the corner of the pasture and stared at us.

A little further down the road I started smelling something really good. It was a very nice fragrance. I kept going but kept smelling it so I decided to investigate. Finally I found this along side the road:

It's a country rose. A wild rose of sorts. There are pink ones and white ones and lots of them in the ditches along side the road. The smell absolutely wonderful. I'm not the only one to think so.....

It was time to start home. It was getting hot and humid. You could just see the humidity hanging in the air...

Kansas is a crazy place. We've had a fairly cool spring and then you wake up one day and it's summer out. Whew. Well the neighborhood checked out. The neighbors are good and the hood is too. lol. The weather is hot and windy and it's not a good hair day. I'm glad to be home. School is out and summer has officially begun. Let the fun begin! ....

Farm Updates

It's times for a few farm updates. An overview of farm happenings. There's been lots going on. First of all.. sprouts have been spotted!

There they are. Bean sprouts. I'm lucky to have found them. I only go by the field a couple times a day. I might have missed them if I wasn't watching close. Actually Country Boy reports to me so I can report to you. He's the head honcho for bean spotting around here. hehe. It's exciting. It's really happening.

They're so cute. There's just something about a sprout. Since the beans are popping - I decided to take my chances and check on the asparagus that I have now planted 3 times. The poor things. First their roots flap in the breeze like little flags, then the roots get covered, then I realize they're upside down and so they've been through a lot. I've been walking by the asparagus bed and not looking at it. Who wants to look at failure directly? I dared it though and saw this:

Yay! An asparagus plant! It's not a complete fail. It's only a 13/14th fail. Only one plant out of 14 came up. Is that a 98% fail? No wait.. it's only a 92.85% fail. whew. I think I might give it some more time though. Maybe some other ones will pop up after they've been rained on for awhile. You know, the almost 3.5 in. we've had over the last week might not have been enough to rejuvenate roots that have flapping in the wind.
Well, I have another sprout that has grown.

This is my baby. I looked the other way for just a moment and when I looked back she's graduating from 8th grade. I'm very proud of her. Her birthday is next week. Gosh, how can I handle so many things at once? I still think she should be going to grade school with her sister........

Well I can dream. We had a nice family gathering for her big days. Lots of cake, ice cream and visiting happened. It was fun.

I had to clean out the garage and charge admission too. lol. I didn't really charge admission. I had to pay them all for coming. Okay, okay.. they all came willingly and it was a very nice evening. My oldest child is having a big week too.

She's headed to the 4A high school state softball tournament today. She's done well and so have her teammates. It's very exciting! I am very proud of her also.
I am so tired. Growing stuff and following stuff and having stuff really takes it out of a person. It's nice to know though that we are surrounded by wonderful family and friends. They really make everything that much better. Thanks everybody!

Requirements

It's another rainy day in Kansas. Good thing the farmin' is done for now. That's why we can talk about farm requirements. The things that are required to make your farm a farm. I have a top 5 list of requirements. Here they are:
1. Porches
2. Front Porch
3. Back Porch
4. Screened in Porch
5. Any Porch

You see, you just can't have a farm without a porch. It's a requirement. It's needed for lots of things. Now each porch has its own job. Here are the job descriptions:
Front Porch: This is used for welcoming. Mostly just for welcoming people to your home. Sometimes some decorating happens here. Or maybe sitting on the step. But mostly the front porch just welcomes.

Back porch/deck: This space is used for cooking, BBQ, eating, lounging, resting, gathering and occasionally working. You might have to clean some vegetables from the garden here. You might not.

Screened in Porch: This is the special place. It's almost sacred. This is where the porch swing is located which you should always read the mail and the newspaper in. Also, there are some wicker chairs here. Mostly used for coffee drinkin', bird watchin' and relaxin'. When there's a slight breeze and you might be just a bit sleepy, be careful. You might fall asleep on the screened in porch.
I like to go out on the screened in porch at night. It's real dark at first. Then you can see the stars and sometimes even the moon. If you sit back in your chair and get real comfy, you can hear all kinds of things. Why are the night bugs louder than the day bugs? Anyway, you can hear the frogs and bullfrogs, crickets rubbing their legs together and the owls hooting in the creek. Every once in awhile you can hear the coyotes howling too. There's usually a soft glowing light coming from the house and a t.v. playing softly in the background. It's a magical kingdom!
A couple nights ago I was out there and I could see lightning from a far off storm. I also saw a few lighting bugs! Or fireflys, or blinkerbugs... what do you call them? They're a sure sign of summertime.
During a regular farm day, the porch is used for hollering at kids, shaking rugs and looking for C.B. Country Boy is always out in the yard or in the shed and I always need to look for him from the porch. I just can't get a good view from in the house.
So that's it. You gotta have a porch on the farm. It's a popular place. A real crowd pleaser. A requirement!

Plantin'

So yesterday turned out just as busy as any other day. I had to rush home to get this picture.

That's the guy planting our beans. He didn't want me to mention him. So I'm not going to say that he's a member of the family or that he's planting straight rows and that kind of stuff. He's just going to be known as the bean planter for now. lol.

I got lots of pictures of his equipment too. It was all so exciting. The planting was getting done and the hay was being baled all at the same time. I don't know why, but C.B. didn't wait for me to get home to start the baling. I mean, he knew I wanted to get his picture and that there was weather coming... he could have waited for me..  geez.

 By the time I got out there the only thing I saw was this:

Yep.. that's a big round bale. I think there was more than one but this is the only one I saw. Have you ever had one of those days when you felt like you had to be in 3 different places at once? That was definitely me. I didn't want to miss anything. So I raced out to the field again on the four wheeler because I was feeling left out.

There was planting going on you know.. there was even some visiting happening....

I think that some of the visiting turned into a discussion....

Even Waylon got in on the conversation. I think they were talking about the dirt. The ground and how things grow. About how deep to plant and how it was suppose to rain. Farmer stuff. They could have been talking about the kids and what was for supper. I was too far away to hear them. haha.
All in all it was a good day. The rain we got this morning is going to make those beans happy. I think C.B. was happy that everything was planted and the hay was finally all picked up. Mr. Bean planter has more to do though. He's a busy guy.
The Weather Service is calling for bad weather including tornadoes for our area today. How am I suppose to take a picture of all that? I'm usually the chicken that's hiding in the basement. For some reason though the last few storms I've been really brave. I'm going to get a picture of something this time. It might be of the floor because I drop the camera and run to the basement but then I'll have another story to tell .......................

Rake day

So yesterday was the day to rake hay. There was a nice stiff breeze among us. These flowers were actually losing some petals! Anyway, with the sunshine and the wind blowing that's the signal to rake hay. So start up the tractor and get to it.

Well, the hay did get rained on. Doggone it anyway. C.B. says the first cutting usually isn't the best cutting. I guess it was the one to get rained on then if it had to. Well.... It's the one I picking so it can't rain on any other cuttings then right?! Yeah, me and mother nature are pretty close. ha. I might be close to her but she doesn't listen to me. Sounds like a typical mother/kid relationship I guess.

Just look at those hay rows, or are they piles? Or are they bunches? I don't know, but we have some. Tomorrow evening they shall be in beautiful bales. The field will be cleaned up and ready to grow some more. I'll be on standby with the camera just in case some pictures need to be taken of the process too.

Look at that rake on the tractor. Look at that smoke. Yeah, I just liked this picture.

Obviously, someone passed me on the road. Didn't even offer me a ride either. Humph. Oh well, it was time to get more things done anyway. About this time our farm expert showed up. Uncle Gail. I didn't get his picture. It would have been too noticeable if I would have ran to the house to get my camera. So I just smiled and said Hello! :)  He came to investigate our ground. To give it the once over. To properly touch and smell it to make sure it will grow something. Not really. He did come to look at the ground though. It's still a little muddy in spots ... I think that was the verdict.

That's all there is for this episode. There's more to come. Hold onto your hats and take your heart medicine. I hope you can handle it!

Idle

After 2.5 inches of rain, our little farm today is idle. Nothing going on. It's way too muddy to even think about it. There's the planter. It's just sitting there. It got washed good. I'm sure it needed it. Since there's no farming to be done.. the next best thing to do around here is eat!

You can't see them but there's blueberries in that there bowl! This morning I made lemon-blueberry pancakes.  Yum! (Thanks to Pioneer Woman for the recipe!) Anyway, they go real good with a steaming cup of coffee. In fact, They were so good as soon as they hit the plate I forgot to take a picture of them and we gobbled them right up!

Nothing like a good stick to your ribs kind of breakfast to start the day off on the farm. Except there's no farmin' to do today. Idle.. nothing.. nada. Well, a full belly shouldn't be wasted so I'm sure I can find something to do. We have children after all. They should count for something. Well, we did spend part of the morning on the screened-in porch drinking coffee. (My kid#2 used to call it the screamed in porch.) haha.
That didn't last long. Country boy can't sit still. He's thinking about all the stuff he needs to do on the farm. It's muddy I tell him. I don't think he hears me. The only thing moving today is our flag!

It's a gentle breeze for Kansas! Well C.B. isjust fidgety. He's a wiggle worm. He was so bored yesterday and he loves me so much he made me this in the rain;

It's just the most adorable table ever. It matches the picnic table he made for me a few weeks ago. I think I kinda like the mud. The rain. The farm in neutral. It seems to benefit me! One thing is for sure, the farm might be idle but the farmer is not. That's a statement you can take to the bank.

Look at this little darling. He's not idle at all. He's an active little critter. I had a terrible time taking his photograph. I guess golden finches don't like their pictures taken or something.
Okay, so now that I think about it... the only thing on the farm that is idle today is the equipment. The flags, birds, people and other unmentionables are not. Oh wait, except for the kids. They seem to be idle. I think they are still sleeping. They are teenagers. There's nothing else to say about that.

Rain

What a great rainy day in Kansas. Everything is sure going to be green now. The garden was thirsty. My yard had cracks in it already. Smiling for the rain! It's really coming down now. I won't be smiling long... because it makes me sleepy! What is it about the rain hitting the metal roof that does it to me?

Just look at that.. it makes my eyes droop. Where's my cup of coffee? I need some. I think I'll curl up with that cup of coffee and listen to the rain for just a bit.

It's drippy out. It makes me feel like a drip too. Maybe if I take a nap I'll be re-energized just like everything will be outside after this rain. I don't know, that would require the gumption to do something and I just don't have any right now. It's a perfect day to do a little baking. I think I'll try that later.

I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the rain for a bit. It won't last too long. The day will be busy all the same. I think I just saw the grass growing. That bird just got bigger too. I know the beans are. The garden looks great. It might be a bad hair day though. Oh well, enjoy your rainy day!

Decidin' time

So now it's time to do some decidin' on when to bale this Alfalfa. It's a process that you must go through every time. Listen close, you might need to decide something.
First you must drive by your alfalfa field real slow like. Really slow. You must pause thoughtfully and stare at the alfalfa with all your might.

Now you can't drive by just one time. It takes at least 2 or 3 times to get a good full view of the field. About this time you need to get out of the truck and take a closer look.

Yep, still can smell it. That's a good sign. Your cap should need adjusting right now and you should tilt it to the side just a bit because you can think better that way. Grab your overall straps or your belt loops and slide those thumbs through. Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. When you open your eyes you should stare again at the alfalfa. Bend over and grab a bunch...

It it crunchy? Is is drying? ( Don't worry about that ugly hand, it's just a prop used for this story.) Is the wind blowing? Does the alfalfa still look green underneath? We don't want a bale fire if it's green. We don't want it too dry either. We want the livestock to eat it. Good Golly, the weight of the bales is literally in question here!
Well, we got a little much needed rain today. The process above now must be repeated. That's okay though because we did plant some of these yesterday:

It would have been better to have the hay in the barn and all the fields planted but... it's alright. It will get done. C.B. thought maybe it would rain so much the ground would crust over and then he thought....... then his mom told him to quit being such a farmer. haha.

New Day!

Yay! It's a new day and I figured out how to fix one of the computers. I'm feeling pretty good right now. Feeling pretty good....

Earlier this week I found Gingers kittens too. They were hard to find. The clue was when she was helping us last week pull out posts. Yes. Why was she out there? Clear out there...

clear out there

Ginger suddenly appeared that day. Sure made me wonder so I walked out there. Here's what I saw:

This is where she had them. Down in that old wagon. What was she thinking?

Clear back in there between that old tire were 3 babies. I couldn't stick my hand in there because there's a hornet's nest in that there tire. When I peeked in there though the kittens fell out. There were 3 now there's 2. Waylon thought he'd play with one before I could stop him. Naughty puppy. Now they're in my garage...up high where he can't get them.

They are so cute. The girls named them Thunder and something else real goofy. I can't seem to remember. Anyway, Country Boy went fishing last night. He needed some thinking time. Fishing and thinking kinda go together.

There he is, cleaning those fish. He caught several. Funny thing was he had to fight off the cat and the dog. The cat wanted some fish, the dog wanted to get some before the cat, the cat got one and then the dog ate a cleaned fillet while C.B. wasn't looking. It was just a circus out there.

So all is right with the world now. There's some fresh fish in the freezer, the asparagus is finally planted correctly and the lost kittens have been found. The bird war is continuing though. I sprayed the light fixture with some cooking spray and now my front porch smells like butter. I'm not sure what the next move will be. I think I'll go put some clothes on the line now and dare it to rain. We need it. Another day of country life.