Starting Over in the Garden

The move has necessitated that we start all 

over again with a garden. 

Keith, unfortunately, is never going to be well enough to 

build the kind of beds/arbor/infrastructure that he was 

able to build at the "farm" when he felt better. 

We are hoping that next year, we can find someone to build a 

bed along the front of the house on the east side... and across where 

the fence starts.  There is a VERY steep bank there that I cannot take the mower down... it must be hand-mowed or weed-eaten... and we would like to eliminate this problem. 

We're going to work with what we have.  This side of the yard is VERY wet as you see.  We're going to put a bog garden here.  I hope the birds will come... and the frogs. 

The electric box in the yard, the white thing... is going to be removed and an outlet put on the wall behind where I'm standing.  We won't be having an RV. 

It's a start! 

We'll rearrange the patio.. the table and grill this week. 

My Park's Whopper is lookin' good!  Keith did not realize I had planted a tomato, and was very surprised! 

Keith went out to the old place today to pick up the debris from the storm the day before yesterday before Troy has to cut grass again.  He also took a few minutes to dig this out of the south bed. 

What is it?  

It WAS one of my buddleias! 

He is also working at pruning... cutting down, really, the twisty tree at the base of the back deck here. 

I had the privilege of visiting a wonderful garden this morning after church. 

Friend Jill and her husband Calep have turned their suburban back yard into a wild paradise. 

It is so peaceful and serene. 

Jill even has a heron visiting her yard! 

There is a fish pond! 

You can't see the water chain in the arbor with the yellow chair, but it's very beautiful and calming. 

She's going to kill me... but here she is in her habitat!  This was originally a plain suburban yard with all grass that her kids cut all through high school.  

The dogs love it... and the birds... I can't tell you how many there were, and all 

loving it!  

I don't know that we will ever have a big garden again, but it doesn't mean I can't still be inspired! 

Thank you, Jill. 

I cut grass tonight, because everyone else was.  Guess what?  It's TOO WET still. 

I stopped... It can wait until after tomorrow's storms and when the ground has dried a little. 

I'm also learning that everything doesn't have to happen RIGHT NOW. 

See, you CAN teach an old dog new tricks! 

Slovene Fest 2012

Today was SloveneFest at my sister's church, or the church which my sister and brother in law attended.  My brother in law is half pure Italian and half Slovenian, and they had traveled to Slovenia numerous times and spent time with his cousins there.  He also speaks both languages.  She told me often what a very beautiful country in Europe that it is, and enjoyed traveling there.

 

SloveneFest 2012 was dedicated to my sister, which was a wonderful thing for them to do.  Her smiling face greeted me when I walked into the school after we processed over from church behind the flags. 

 

 

The small sign under the picture with her sunglasses on reads :

"Our Beloved Kathleen Serra" and the dates of her birth and death.

 

At the bottom of the large banner was the official dedication.

 

Several Slovenian officers from Fort Leavenworth came to the gathering... and one was in uniform, because he trooped the flag.

 

 

That's handsome brother-in-law Bob speaking at the short dedication ceremony; he was master of ceremonies.  The people in the red shirts were a tamburitza band, well known here and played polka music.  I taped them playing a song, but can't post you tubes from my slow connection.

That's the Slovene Captain behind them with their flag.

 

I wish I had a picture of the ethnic food served, but I did not get one.  Oh.. except from a distance...

 

 

That's my nephew Chris looking down the table, and his wife Jill next to me.  On her plate is sarma, which is a Croation dish of cabbage with meat/rice innards...but the black thing on her plate is what I wanted you to see.  It's blood sausage, a real delicacy.  My sister always got a portion (you pay a dollar extra for blood sausage) because Bob and Chris like it so much.  Jill got designated this year!

 

 

 These little girls were the lights of their grandma's eyes... Caitlin on the left, and Morgan, with her "Baby J" shirt on the right. How my sister loved them, and how we all miss her.  How fast four months has flown!

 

 

 

 

 

Monday Night

Today was kind of a bleak day outside, but a wonderful day for me.  I was off work, and took Hannah for another look at her eye... Dr. Tom is trying a stronger medicine on the eye with glaucoma, to try to relieve some of the pressure.  She is not feeling much hurt from it yet, he confirmed, and I came home with the stronger steroid.  She has begun snuggling up to us... Hannah never did this before, and we aren't sure where it's coming from... but she is getting very snuggly in her old age. 

She can't really close her lid over the bad eye (here on the right) but it only looks closed... because she is smushed together against me on the couch.

This afternoon, my friend Jill from work came over.  Jill has been so encouraging to me for blogging, and she is a great sounding board for things.  She is also a registered veterinary technician, so a good one to run animal problems by.  She had long wanted to stop by, but lives an hour from here.  As she was off work today, she made the trek over.  Once she met all the creatures here and we had a good visit, we hopped in her truck and drove all over Leavenworth County, through all the farm country.  It was so much fun, and we visited as we went.  I forgot my camera, but hopefully, Jill will share with me the pictures of a beautiful black mare we saw.  You know that true black is rare in a horse, but this horse was solid black, with only the faintest hint of a white dash under it's forelock.

Jill's hobby is photography, and she got out of the truck to take wonderful pictures of the mare at the fence that we passed, so hopefully, you'll see them soon on the blog. 

This girl has been agitated all evening:

There is something outside... I think a deer, maybe, that has had them all worried this evening.  As Keith must get up at 5 to drive to Salina, I have brought everyone in and that's where they are staying.

And yes, I'm off work again tomorrow.

I had to do a short errand before Jill got here, and I had left our gate open.  When I pulled in, there was a large, strange black dog with a collar on in the yard.  He looked startled when he saw me, and disappeared.  I parked quickly and ran back around the house, just as Tony ran at the fence.  Tony is quite able to clear that fence if he wanted, and is very protective of his territory... but when I looked, I saw the dog had run down the road to Troy and Kathy's.  I suspect it lives across the road, I have heard a dog barking over there lately.  The thing that worries me is that these folks owned one of the dogs who attacked and killed our chickens and our huge tom turkey three years ago, after we had asked them repeatedly to keep the dog enclosed.  I hope that they are not letting this new dog run loose during the daytimes, thinking we are at work. They live quite a ways back on their property, and this is the first time I have seen the dog.  Then again, he may be a dumpee, which everyone in the country has to deal with, unfortunately.

Tony could easily clear the fence you see behind him.

By the way, Inca has begun weaning Aztec, who still tries to nurse.  Inca, as soon as Azzie bends her neck, sidesteps... into a circle, so that Azzie has to keep following, and finally gives up.  We figured she would do it before too long, as Azzie is now 13 months old.

I made Christmas treats all weekend, but they were either given away or consumed, so I did get a batch of cookies made tonight, and will get several made tomorrow, as well as some more pretzel treats.  We're at four days and counting before our Christmas party!