Sunday, May 8, 2016

Catching Up

Friends, I did not know it had been a week since I last posted. 

Sometimes life just rushes past us. 

Yesterday was the second anniversary of our loss 
of Brandon, Keith's youngest boy. 

It seems as if time  has rushed these last two years, with this 
loss and our move, and Keith's illness. 

Anyway, I will try to get caught up. 


Here is a big-eared little friend enjoying some bird seed 
on the patio. 

Oh, if only his friends weren't invading the house, and 
making me realize that the feeding must stop for a while, and 
traps be set again. 


If I just didn't like to watch the birds so much! 


The babies are doing well, at least three are moving around and vibrant, 
and unlike this past year, I am seeing mother there daily feeding them. 


Yesterday was the Tractor Cruise at the Ag Hall. 


There were all kinds of old tractors, restored and not restored, all running. 


The participants (some were ladies) had driven them to Tonganoxie, and back... and were loading 
so they could go down to the barn and have a good dinner. 


While all this was going on... a troop of boy scouts was setting up shop to camp out 
last night.

They had other, smaller tents set up near the tree line. 



What a wonderful place to camp. 


And interesting companions. 

The scoutmasters (four dads) were 
overseeing the boys cooking on the grill. 

I hope they had a good night, because it has been storming here since
mid-morning this morning. 


I have been trying for many weeks to get a picture of a cardinal. 


This is a MUCH cropped picture, I was trying to get a picture of the mockingbird, 
and when I saw it in the camera I realized I had got him picking a bug out of the air. 

Serendipity. 

That's the National Farmer's Memorial mound behind him, throwing so 
much white in the picture. 


Look what I was working on yesterday! 

In the morning, I went to Leavenworth, where I bought tomatoes from a young 
woman who raises them in her basement, as I did last year. 

I bought four different kinds.  She also was selling geraniums she had started from slips... I bought ten, at a dollar apiece!  

I will be pulling the grass from the bales, but it also signifies that there are no herbicides in the bales (and that's a good thing).  

Then I stopped at Home Depot and got four pickling cukes and two watermelon slips. 



As you see, I filled the well in the middle of the bales and put the watermelons there, 
I will train them out the sides. 

See the tomato supports?  They are simply protecting the tomatoes for a few days, 
because they will not hold in the bales.  I am going to have to bite the bullet 
and build a trellis system, with some tee poles and some twine. 

I wish you could have seen the black gold that was happening in the 
bales, it was incredible.  I will try to get a picture this week. 

There were also lots of mushrooms that had come up and died off in the bales, 
also a good sign that they are working inside. 


While I was working, we had a flyover.  The Nascar races were this weekend at Kansas Speedway, about ten miles from our house. 

They actually flew over and back around at least six times.  

I wish you could have heard them! 


My feathered friends were chattering non-stop trying to hurry me along. 

The dogs had been out there, but it was very humid, and I soon took them 
back in the house. 

I will be working on the patio this week and will take pictures. 


Okay, this was odd.  

I turned a corner this morning on the way to church, and there were two hens walking down the road. 


The only people I know on this road that keep chickens are the people that sell eggs at the road, and these hens were about a half mile from that house.  

Strange. 

They were nice birds. 

I am not so sure that isn't a rooster above, now that I look at it.

I passed the little pasture pond I have shown you so many times: 


There are three birds in that picture. 




I turned the corner... 


Uh huh.  It's that time again. 


The sun was short-lived... and we expect storms off and on all week. 

It's storming again now, so I am going to end this long, long entry. 

I hope everyone had a grand Mother's Day! 


8 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for your visit. I had no idea you had suffered such a terrible loss and I'm so sorry. Prayers that you keep on moving forward.

    Your pictures are wonderful! The mockingbird especially! Nature all around!

    Great post, Mary Ann!

    Jane

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  2. Hope you had a wonderful Mother's day too. As usual I enjoyed all you pictures. Live has been busy and full of changes for you and I can see that you make the most of every day.

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  3. I hope you had a good Mother's Day, too. AMAZING capture of the mockingbird!

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  4. Wow, what a wonderful collection of photos! We are hoping our dad sees a cardinal when we are at the BAR cuz he has never seen one in person. We are watching those tomatoes!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  5. hope you found where the big ears are getting into the house
    great pics Mary Ann
    Your bale garden looks happy

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