A Trip in the Rain

Today I drove 100 miles in the rain to meet Joyce, the 

kind blog reader who sent me "The Ponies Next Door" two weeks ago. 

Joyce lives in Iola, the county seat of Allen County, Kansas, south of Garnett, where my oldest grands live. 

It was raining, did I mention that? 

See that third box truck, the one nearest me?  He dogged me at about 8 feet behind me for 20 miles in the rain and wind.  

Then, he pulled around me.... look how far he got!  I KNOW he could see the two trucks in front of me, and I know he knew they weren't going anywhere fast.  Was he just cutting the wind on his truck????

Joyce works for the County Clerk, and I found the courthouse and her office with HARDLY any problem.  I was looking for an older, classic courthouse, but this one was modern and nice. 

I got to meet her co-workers and the Clerk, Sherrie Riebel, who granted Joyce a longer lunch hour so we could visit. 

I also got to meet Joyce's husband Larry for a few minutes.  

They live on the edge of Iola, in a lovely country home on ten acres... and have some nice kitties!

Joyce gifted me with two of the Father Tim series of books by Jan Karon, so I am looking forward to reading them this week. 

I would have some pictures of the wonderful town square of Iola, and the beautiful old homes... but it was raining!

After rendesvousing with my daughter in law Sherie at the parking lot of Walmart in Ottawa to give her some things for the boys and her, I made a ten minute stop at my favorite antique store in Ottawa.  

Sigh. 

I felt so good just slowing down and LOVING. 

Be still my heart. 

Then I came home to a mess. 

At least the ducks are happy in the mess. 

And can you believe it?  I filled their swimming pool!!!

And now, goat friends... I have a very puzzling piece of film for you if I can get it to load.  

Delilah is now trying to breed one of the babies, who, I believe, has come into heat. 

Despite all that... why would a DOE be trying to breed?  She is slobbering, tongue hanging out, chasing the baby, butting and pushing her, and trying to mount her.  The baby has dirty hoof marks all over her, so I suspect it went on all day while I was gone.  Right now, I have the babies on the porch, but it is raining and getting chilly... I need advice!

Of course, it's raining hard here now and the video won't load at all.  You can see from this picture that it is dogged.  Delilah is also making grunting noises, peculiar grunting noises.  If I didn't know she was a doe, I would think she was a hermaphrodite.   Donna, I know you have one... could this be the reason? 

On top of the steady rain, Lilly went down in the pasture at dusk, and has not come back.  I am going to go out with a hood on, and take the spotlight and try to find her.  She never leaves our place, and the few times she has gotten out, has become disoriented and scared.  We live too close to a highway.. 2/10 of a mile.  I wouldn't want to take a chance on losing The Protector of Us All. 

P.S. 

We found Lilly after an hour.  My friend Jill said "Have you checked all the buildings?".  I had seen Lil go past me in the rain, down into the pasture, so kept looking for her there.  

Keith got home, and we got ready to search with the spotlight... it was PITCH black out and raining. 

All of the sudden, I remembered that the haybarn door had blown in the wind while I was putting the two little girls in the pen. 

Lilly was in the haybarn, she had been trapped.  The door had just barely caught... there was a gap, but she could not get out.  Oddly enough, she did not bark, even when I called. 

I would have found her in the morning, and she would have been warm in the loose hay for the night, just thirsty.  

I was so glad to see her smiling face, and Keith was very relieved, as was Lil. 

A Great Mother's Day

People, sometimes life intervenes, but we are back.

It was a hot, wonderful Mother's Day here in Tonganoxie.  Temps got up to 92, and though it was supposedly only 50 percent humidity, we can attest it felt like MUCH more.  Yes, the air is on, and yes, the dogs were in most of the day, particularly the pugs, who suffer so in the heat.  Our old man, Ranger, is also bothered by it now.  He likes to go out and check the yard out in the morning, and then come back in when we leave for work, settle on his pad, and go to sleep for the day.

This weekend was the second year of the Kansas Sampler Festival, held last year and this in Leavenworth, Kansas, on the outskirts of the grounds of the Eisenhower Veterans Administration beautiful grounds.  After church early this morning, and a visit from Son Jim and his family, Keith and I went to Grass Pad to get some more dirt for the garden beds, and some perennials and other things.  An observation we made... the big nursery is not stocking as much as last year, and the plants are not as nice.  I picked up a gallon coreopsis as we went in to pay with our tray cart, and when we got to the checkout, realized it had a virus.  I paid for it, (they kept it) and I found a good one on the way out.  We noticed their trees are not as nice for sure, and bushes likewise.  All geraniums we saw were very expensive, so I have planted lilliput zinnia seeds in the planters on the porch for this year. 

When we got back, I decided to take myself to the Kansas Sampler Festival for my own Mother's Day treat, while Keith worked on more garden beds. 

Off I went, in my church dress and comfortable shoes, parking in a convenient store parking lot and riding the shuttle bus over.  Thank heavens I thought to grab a visor when leaving!

Here is what met me at the gate:

There were tents for all the different regions of our state... and I learned so much while going through the tents.

I bought honey from a nice lady from Hillside Honey in Easton, which is here in our own county of Leavenworth... I was unaware of them, but their honey is wonderful and I would love to learn about bees.

There were beautiful quilts... this one from Muscotah, Kansas, north of Atchison.  It is close enough to drive for a day trip, and in June they have a Rose Festival.  I bought a chance on the lovely quilt, and am going to drive up to see the roses.

There was artwork, indeed, an entire tent of it, incuding drawings for some lovely oils.  I bought note cards from a very talented pastel artist... I'll try to take a picture of one this week, I am going to buy some more of her cards and frame them, they are so nice. 

What would a festival be without food?

There was everything from Highland beef sandwiches, to kettle corn, to bierocks, to lemon drinks and on and on.  I had some homemade ice cream in the hot sun.

 What would a Kansas Festival be without a buffalo or two?

This little guy was a cutie, but don't know what he was doing in Kansas!

There were performers both days.

These ladies were very talented.

Lots of things for kids to do... it was a good afternoon for a stroll around Kansas.

Home to chores, watering, and planting some more flowers.

It's 10 now, and after a hot shower, I'm ready to hit the hay and get up early so I can be at work early for a meeting. 

Happy Mother's Day 2011!