Sitting in the Window

Friends, I still have post-Covid exhaustion. 

I am trying to keep up with posting, but, my goodness, my yard work is suffering!

I'm glad Jax has been able to help a little. 

Do you see the arbor in the middle?  Keith built that as almost the first thing he ever built here. 

It still stands, though it took a direct hit from a branch this summer, but Ben was able to repair it. 

On either side of it were four beds about twenty five feet long.  One bed was in the shade of the maple tree you see.  The big bush like thing on the left was an oakleaf hydrangea. 

These beds were gorgeous in their full bloom.  I mulched them with straw... you can see it here... 

and they were raised and had to have new bags of dirt poured in yearly.  My gosh, they were beautiful. 

I wish you could see what is left!  There is still one, sort of.... on the side where the maple is.  It is full of 

horrid maple seedlings that I  cut out over and over and over.  But there is still some yarrow growing there,  and the hollyhocks have re-seeded themselves.  All other raised meds were taken out by Ben. I have one left, and Jax is helping me re-do it.  We are waiting until next week, for some reason we are having a blast of summer's heat right now.  It is going to be 99 on Wednesday, the day he usually "works".  

So... I have about fifteen bags of dirt, bought a year ago.  Jax is going to spread them across the bed, rake it smooth... and then we are going to transplant every iris we can find.  I am going to try to buy some more this fall, and we are going to have a beautiful bed of iris in the spring, I hope! 

Meet Buddy, or actually, Big Dog, as I call him.  He was found out in the county on Labor Day, and the kind person who found him posted him... then called the Sheriff, who, God bless the deputy, 

called the Bonner Springs ACO (who is awesome) and she came and got him.  He was very weak, 

almost to emaciation, and could hardly stand.  The vet estimated his age to be around ten or older, which is ancient for a German Shepherd Dog.  The vet believes he is purebred. 

He has had his shots and been chipped, and after three days, he came to me to foster. 

Friends, he is the gentlest boy.  He is not fazed by my littles, by the cats, or by the chickens.  I have yet to hear him bark... the only noise I have heard him make is a groan when he rolls onto his side on the floor.  He had a week of Clavamox for a UTI... and yes, I am crating him at night in Ranger's old crate which takes up a bunch of real estate in the kitchen... but.... he did great this morning while I ran down to the Ag Hall to do something and he was loose the whole time.  I do get up at 1 or 2 and take him out of the crate, let him have a good drink, and then go ouside to relieve himself, then he goes back in and back to sleep. 

The cats nearly went catatonic on his arrival... but Mama Cat now comes up to him and boops him on the nose with her nose!  Our routine is that I get him out of the crate about 5:30, and he goes out on the porch, relieves himself, and I put the cat food out so the cats can start eating breakfast.  They ignore him. 

He lays on the doorstep.  He and Zoey were guarding the door this morning before it got hot. 

We all took a two hour rest this afternoon, then everyone had a snack.  

My friends have been teasing me because I failed with my last two fosters... Zoey and Fritzi.... but.... 

I think this guy deserves a home where someone will cherish him in his final year or two  and devote themselves to him.  He had a lot of people interested in him... but no one came forward to fill out the forms to foster.  

The thing is, I can put him out on the porch when I am getting tired of stepping over him, and know that he will stay close and be within recall.  It's comforting. 

Bullseye was not too sure at first.  I will say that Bully and Molly, the two inside cats, are cautious when they come through the door, still.  I don't blame them, he is bigger than anything ever here... and Ranger has been gone a long, long time.  (Ranger was our black/silver GSD that Keith rescued in the county and we brought back to health.  He was our beloved companion for 8 years)

Our beloved Ranger Boy. 

So you see, there was a "Big" here for years. 

Guess what?  I made another trip to the country last Sunday! 

I went to Garnett, where my two oldest grandsons have lived for years. 

It's about 70 miles away. 

This is Aurora Jane Rose, daughter of my grandson Nathan, who was at work. 

She is just a doll, and so fun to be around.  

Two weekends and seeing my grands and great grands was a lot of fun!

I am including this picture because it cracks me up!  My former daughter in law lives in Garnett, and her partner is a barbecue aficionado.  I could not remember on what street she lived, and she said 

"Just come down the street until you see the giant smoker in the front yard".  

Boy, she was not kidding! 

I had her take this picture just as I was leaving! 

These are beautiful dahlias from the Wyandotte County Master Gardeners garden in front of the National Agricultural Center.  

They make me want to grow dahlias next year, they are so gorgeous!  My friend and fellow volunteer Jan held the pink one so I could take pictures of it. 

The beautiful full moon as it faded this week. 

And the moon setting through my bedroom window as I got back in bed after letting Buddy out one morning. 

This is a gander at the Ag Hall on alert last week.

And his ladies in the shade behind him. 

The gorgeous Cleo likes to watch from afar.... and I am still feeding her at the Little Red Hen House.  However, yesterday morning I saw her come up on the porch to eat, so I know she knows where to find food. 

Molly Ann.  Both she and Bully like to lay in the cool dirt in this barrel planter from which Jax and I pulled the tomato plant. 

Cardinal Vine... a very late planting, I threw a bunch of seeds into a big planter in the only garden bed left - the overgrown one... and what a reward! 

Why did I call this entry 

Sitting in the Window? 

Two years ago, during the height of the pandemic, I bought a desktop computer . It literally sat in the the closet until February or March of this year, when I had the young man from the computer place I use come out and "install" it and hook it up to the printer in my office.  That day, he put the old computer, which had been Keith's.... on my kitchen table to get it out of the way.  He had to connect it for some reason... I don't remember why.... and he left it sitting there when he left that day.  

This is an eight year old HP computer.  

I am still using it daily, I LOVE to sit at the table... watch the garden... I can see the chicken houses on the west side of the yard, I can see the two bird feeding stations.  

The dogs are either under the table or behind me, and it is just so to my liking.  

I had it facing out to the road for a few months, and I could glance up and see the television... but here, the television does not usually get turned on until time for the news.  If I have to print something, I send it in to the "new" computer (which is surely now outdated, too) and print it in the office. 

I like the "new" computer, don't get me wrong.  I had a lap top for a while, but I found it awkward to type on, and I did not like having to balance it all the time if it was not on a firm surface.  Call me old fashioned, I don't care. (The lap top, which was a used refurbished, molders in a closet). 

I like what I like.  

So here I sit, watching the world go by in a tiny fashion outside my window.  

Soon, it will be cold again, and my electric heater sits here, ready to keep me warm as I read and type. 

It suits me. 

Everyone have a great week! 

. 

 

How Can it be September?

Whew, it seems like it was just April!

The milo in my compost heap is turning.... telling me that summer is over and the season of harvest is here. 

The salsify says the same thing (and I hope it re-seeds itself a LOT) 

You know I planted in containers this year, and I planted a mix from Burpee that I thought was wildflowers, but turned out to be zinnias, marigolds, and these lovely little sunflowers that have just opened. 

The coleus is leggy but still hanging on.  

Tomorrow, my helper, Grandson Jax, is coming and we are actually going to pull out the tomato plants in the tubs on the patio.  They were started from seed by me, and with one exception, the tomatoes were not to my taste.  I also have realized that the chickens do not eat them (strange!) and many went to waste, since you cannot give a tomato away around here. 

So... no more.  I may plant ONE next year (it will be a Burpee Big Boy) and that's it. 

I did have two planters on the porch with volunteer tomatoes, and I am hoping one re-seeds itself, as those tiny cherries were the sweetest ever!

You all know that I rarely post about my family.  I used to, but I grew to think that for the young kids, it was an invasion of their privacy.  However, I am going to brag a little. 

On Sunday, I drove down to La Cygne (Kansas) where my oldest son Jim has a lot at a lake development. 

He and his family have many friends there and they are all really close.  I have heard about them for years, but have not met them. 

I also had not met my newest great grandson, Wyatt, because his mommy and daddy, his sister Maci, and he all live down there in a house.  

My son Jim met me in La Cygne to lead me to the lot.  

Here are Wyatt and granddaughter Madison, his mom. 

Almost five Maci, and my daughter in law, Amy. 

Son Jim. 

Granddaughter Paiton, on her ATV.  Jax's was out of gas, so she was the chauffer. 

Jax in front of Clifford, the Big Red Truck.  Clifford is his, and that's why Jax is working for me in the yard.  He has to pay for the registration and license, and get his permit.... so he will be working for grandma for a while.  Since Ben left for school, Jax has become my main man. 

I did not get a group picture of everyone else, or Wyatt with his daddy, but by the time I left, they had started a fire in the fire pit, and everyone was gathering. 

Let me just say this... I am not a lake person... but it was nice to see what it was all about, and finally get to meet my little great grand.  I am guessing I won't get to see them again until Christmas time. 

Labor Day weekend, to my family, was going with my dad, a union electrician, to the Labor Day Parade in Kansas City, Kansas, on "The Avenue"... Minnesota Ave... where we celebrated union successes with many other families. 

Things are different, and I am not saying worse.  I am so glad the kids have a place to gather with their friends, relax, eat some good food, and have fun. 

Look who is back!

OUT OF THE BLUE. 

After eight days, I heard a noise while doing chores last week, looked down, and there was Mama at my feet! 

I did not even see from which direction she had come. 

You can see in this picture from the porch cam that she re-attached herself to me immediately. 

She is hanging on the porch or here.... 

You can just barely tell, but she spends hours laying under the bird feeder.  Needless to say, NO ONE is using this feeder. 

I have not seen a bird on it all day today.  I will scoop up the feed I put on it this morning and put it back in the bin so the raccoons don't get it. 

IF she does this for a while, Jax and I will store the feeder in the barn and bring it out when it is colder. 

While she is focused on this one, the birds are eating from the more permanent one in the garden. 

I am rarely seeing squirrels now, they are too frightened of the cats. I miss the squirrels, I admit it. 

Both Bullseye and Mama are lethal hunters. 

After literally a year and a half, the beautiful Cleo will let me stroke and pet her. 

I feed her at the Little Red Hen House, whose porch is slowly deteriorating.  I had to feed her up high, 

so the sheep would not get into her food.  There is a bowl out during the day, and I leave a little at night. That was a project I had for Ben to do that we never got to... rebuilding that small porch and tightening up that building. 

A week ago today, I looked out my bedroom window to see this in my front yard! 

A man keeps a small herd of cattle in my neighbor's pasture.  Twice before, his cows have gotten loose on the road, and I ran them into my yard.  Two years ago, he brought a trailer over, caught the cow and took her back.  Last year, despite my request that they not do so, his wife and daughter ran the cow back through the fence, and of course said "We'll come back and fix it".  They did not.  

I noticed when I mowed last Tuesday that the fence was low in the corner, but by Wednesday, when this big girl came through... it was down to the ground.  Why the rest of them did not follow her, I do not not know. 

My good neighbors from across the road came over and helped me run her back into her pasture... and then, Gary came back after they did an errand, and he and I (well, HE pounded) three tee poles in, and we pulled the fence up and Gary tied it to the poles.  No other cows have tried it since then, thank heavens. 

That afternoon, Jax worked for me.  He called out to me to tell me there was something black in my garden area.  I said "That the water fortex for the birds" and he said no, it was something else. 

It was THIS.  I came over and said "Cow pat" and he looked at me like I was nuts. 

I still don't know if he was pulling my leg or not. 

Can you see the hummer sitting on the light wire on the left?  They are feeding furiously now, getting ready to go.  As I type this, there is one sitting out there! 

I hung two tiny little feeders a friend suggested I order last week.  They have one feeding port on them, and that is one in the picture.  The hummers seem to really like them.  I have two regular feeders hanging too, but they have to be cleaned almost every day with our humidity. 

Regular scene.  I am going broke buying wet and dry. 

(that's Bully, Mama, Molly and Coco) 

Since I am making this about family, 

here is my husband Keith as a teenager.  One of his relatives sent it to me last week. 

His birthday and my stepson Brandon's, Keith's youngest boy, are on the tenth. 

Keith would have been 63, and Brandon, I think... would have been 30.  (I cannot remember his birth year since I wasn't there!) 

I remember all my loved ones on their birthdays. 

 

Back where she should be.