Summer is Still Around

The show goes on! 

These beautiful squash and pumpkins were at the grocery tonight... but it was nearly 100 degrees out. 

Think fall, everyone! 

Someone was hungry for Chinese food tonight, and managed to get a third of 

his plate down .  This is an accomplishment!  

See that cow on the left? 

I was afraid she had become stuck in the mud.  I went slowly up the road when I came back by.... she was not.  Look how low she is, though! 

squirrel

There is a heron in the middle of this picture, take my word for it. 

This is making me feel better and better. 

Stranger Creek is running really high because of all the recent rains. 

I love these little guys! 

And these little guys! 

And this big guy! 

Using Up Those Pictures!

The last day of August, 2016... so hard to believe the majority of summer is 

past us now.  Yes, time flies faster the older we get. 

The green mound in the middle is made of 3 mum plants that 

wintered over in our garage last winter.  I only watered them once in a while, and 

frankly, they looked dead.  Along about March, though, I noticed a sliver of green in 

all three. 

I planted them in this barrel, and I am about to have a burst of color in an almost perfect mound! 

I'll be collecting seeds from the balsam, the marigolds and the zinnias this week. 

I put them in brown envelopes for the winter and keep them dry. 

 This is the crazy tomato that sprouted in the low planter a month or so ago.  It's blooming! 

The sunflower grew in this low container all summer, you can see it's stalk... and 

the marigolds that dropped down from the planter behind it and grew.  

I'm letting the tomato grow, as an experiment. 

Here is poor Twilight, the female turkey, last night, in the feed room at the Ag Hall. 

As you can see, she has been pecked at by the chickens for weeks, her wing was 

quite bloody the other day.  We have been keeping Wonder Dust on it daily, but yesterday, they were pecking her chest, etc., and she had grown so heavy she could not get away. 

Remember, these are commercial turkeys.  I put her in the feed room 

so she could have some peace and quiet for the night. 

And this morning, she was reunited with Starlight, her friend, and they were moved to 

a friend's house for freezer camp. 

Yes, I will miss them. 

I am sorry their video did not post, they were very personable, as all turkeys are. 

The problem with these commercial-type turkeys is that they cannot carry their weight 

past a certain time.  She was having trouble walking, and her legs/feet were splaying.  He was still able to get around.  

My friend believes they will dress out at about 12 pounds each. 

Here is yesterday's tomato harvest, and I could have picked twice the little ones. 

See the cracking?  That was caused this year by the regular rain, followed by intense heat, 

it is a subject near and dear to all my gardening friends. 

Friday I am meeting with one of the master gardeners while I am at the 

Ag Hall, to discuss a presentation she is doing about Straw Bale Gardening. 

Very. Very. Rare. 

Both of them at once. 

We have had planes buzzing our house for a few days in the last week. 

Last night, one came so low it scared me! 

Remember, there are farm fields all around us, but there is also a farm field with several hangers in it about six miles from us... and I think these guys are practicing, instead of 

spreading fertilizer. 

My favorite cute calf. 

My favorite birds.  

Look who was back on Sunday! 

I had not seen him for the last two months. 

He stayed for about 15 minutes. 

A juvenile mockingbird scolded him from a wire above him the whole time. 

I know it's fall.  Baseball has started again! 

The Last Few Days

The last few days have been a pain... for both of us. 

Here's a blurry picture of the patient at St. Luke's Hospital, 

Kansas City, Missouri, this afternoon. 

We were lucky... yesterday, they had to go out of the VA Network, and 

they found a bed at St. Luke's.  It's an excellent hospital. 

I had not been there in 30 years. 

I am not a good highway driver anymore, but I took my heart 

in my hands and made it there and back. 

He will be in for several more days while they try to stabilize things, and 

possibly explore other options.  

We are hoping to find something out tomorrow. 

Do you believe this glorious sunrise????

When I left the hospital, I came home, loaded the dogs up... and 

went out to the old house.  Taking down the grapevine is very therapeutic, and 

I needed that. 

We used to have a whole group of mums in this bed, but they eventually were choked out. 

These are the only other ones, and yes, it's blurry again. 

Yesterday, I kept Jax... I had agreed to keep him all night several weeks ago, and 

as Keith was stable enough, I went ahead. 

I think we got Chicken Alfredo on the lens, seriously, because....

We went to his favorite place in all the world to eat... Olive Garden! 

I had only eaten there one time before... so it was an adventure for me, too. 

His parents told me to order ONE meal... and split it, and thank heavens, we did. 

Jax had two helpings of salad, one helping before the fettucine, and another AFTER! 

We stopped to get my friend Valerie's mail on the way to the restaurant, 

and look who we saw!

They came down in the just harvested cornfields that surround Valerie's, but 

I could not get a good picture of them on the ground.  

My buddies were with me, and Troy had come out to see what I was doing... so as we visited, these two waited. 

We left soon after, we are home for the evening, fed, and ready to rest. 

Tomorrow, after rush hour, I'll go over and sit with Keith. 

Maybe we'll get some idea of what's going to happen. 

I know one thing... work on the old house has stopped for the time being. 

We'll get it started again, soon. 

Thanks for all your kind words and prayers, we appreciate them so much. 

Back to Work

A dog's life is sure hard. 

I didn't even get the pillowcase on it. 

All I have to do is say I'm going to bed, and Jester beats me 

to it every night. 

I had to run up to Fort Leavenworth to pick up prescriptions yesterday morning, 

and this arrangement was on the receptioin desk.  The lady manning the desk... it seems like 

they change every time I am there... told me that a former employee comes in regularly with seasonal decorations.  I thought these two (there was another) were nice. 

So, I ran to Leavenworth this morning to Home Depot to get mulch.  It's only the start. 

This was 15 bags. 

Mulch should really be applied at least two inches thick.  

I started parceling it on, and then I realized I was 

going to have to pour.  

Fifteen 2 cubic foot bags bearly covered 2/3 of the bed.  I still have some gaps to 

fill in, and at the back, by the bushes, I am going to put a heavy layer of straw. 

I need to save some money somewhere. 

I am going to have to dig out the bed behind this, just like I did the south beds last week. 

There is just too much mint in that bed behind this. 

There used to be at least six mum plants in this bed... and I thought this was all that is left... it is a red one. 

Then this morning, I found one tiny little plant in back of a daylilly.  

It is also going to bloom, but I can't tell what color.  I am actually going

to transplant this little one to this house. 

My assistants got VERY hot, it was 86 degrees. 

This one, too. 

I thought this was an apple on the patio.  It was huge.  

It was a walnut!

I hope you can see the thorns on this stuff.  I do not know WHAT it is, and thank 

heavens I was paying attention, because those thorns were wicked.  I dug it up and carried it by the root.  It is going into a bag and into the trash can, I don't want it around. 

I had other helpers, too. 

There were probably 15 bumblebees on the caryopteris bush next to this, and I leaned over 

by them digging and pulling weeds out... numerous times.  Not one bee bothered me, they 

went about their business. 

The plan for the rest of the day is to go back to Leavenworth to buy some 

more mulch and take it out tomorrow afternoon.  Jacob will be helping me on Saturday, which will speed things along, but I want the mulch bought before then so that I don't have to deal with the Saturday crowds.  

More pictures tomorrow. 

A Really Hot Thursday

The "feel like" temp for our area today is 103 degrees! 

Whew!

And I admit we are all trying to stay inside and take it easy... except for Keith, 

who has been out at the old place for the last hour and a half, working on putting Kilz on the 

floors prior to carpeting. 

Lil has the right idea! 

Lil had to make yet another trip to see Dr. Scott today... she has a bad right front paw, and 

it was time to see what was going on.  Despite shaving the paw clean of hair and inspecting it under light, we 

could not find an embedded burr or glass or splinter... so... she had a shot for inflammation, and is now 

back on antiobiotics for five days, with us watching her closely for more problems. 

An expensive month for Lilly Ann. 

We had our fourth-to-the-last baseball game at the T Bones last night, and that's a sign 

that summer is almost over.  They won. 

We particularly like to watch the field guys mark the field and do other maintenance before the games. 

As the crew wet the field down, a group of ladies from Curves entertained us in the background with some dance routines. 

It was a hot, but beautiful, night...and we won. 

I am trying to keep the zinnias and marigolds going for a while longer... and they are getting watered several times a day. 

BUT.... look what's for sale at WalMart now! 

It MUST BE FALL!!!!