Missed a Week!

I have been trying to make at least one weekly post, but I sure missed last week. 

I'm going to make it up to post Covid tiredness, still, and believe me, it's real. 

The doctor tells me it will be some time before I am back to "normal". 

I did get over 8000 steps in the  last three days, though, and over 10,000 yesterday!  

I am feeling much better, but I realize I have to stop and sit down from time to time while I am out working. 

I am going to go out shortly and cut down the tall grass at the top of the pasture. There is a growth there that came up when the sheep went home... and I need to trim it back.  It will also help the camera out there be able to take better pictures of the wildings.  

There is a classic pose of a coyote on the 28th... looking at the fortex where I put food scraps, etc. 

There was a disagreement between the coyote and a big possum. 

The possum gave up when reinforcements came. 

I suspect the fortex was actually empty at this point. 

And then, for two nights in a row, a creature I have not seen here in MANY years appeared... a skunk.  It let the other animals know in no uncertain terms that the fortex was his! 

See the tail? 

This very bad view through the kitchen door was taken last night, when one of my visitors came to eat cat food.  I had brought everything in, but Mama had been out there a few minutes before, and I took a small amount out and poured it for her.  

Here is the rest of the story:  I went out, sat down in the chair to the left of the door, and talked to that raccoon until it finished eating all the cat food, and left the deck through the railing just behind it.  I swear to you, they are not scared.  I did not have my phone with me, or would have taken some pictures. 

Sunrise on the 26th. 

The roadsides are becoming beautiful.  The Big Bluestem waves in the wind. 

Sumac is beginning to turn, too.  I had the camera with me when I went to do an errand this morning, but did not stop to take pictures of the trees beginning to turn.  I'll try to do it later. 

I am hitching up my little wagon to the tractor to pull some bins over to the storage building... it's finally time to put the summer clothes away.  Two weeks ago tomorrow and Tuesday, it was 100 degrees here.  Right now, it's 72, and the overnight lows were in the 40s.  

My Saturday co-worker at the Ag Hall (The National Agricultural Center & Hall of Fame) is Wayne.  His grandson Brayden has practically grown up there.  He had not been able to come over to Grandpa's for a month, and yesterday, he spent the day with us.  He set up his tent in the lobby and had his fourwheeler there, he was in and out... but he is so helpful because he knows where everything is and can answer questions when people come.  I can also run in the restroom with him there because he can let the people know I will be back in a minute!  

He's a big help! 

My poor old big roosters.  Singleton, here, has quit roosting. 

He flies up into the open brooder pen in the old hen house every night now, and sleeps in a little nest he has made.  He is actually the dominant rooster of the three big ones, but I noticed last night his poor old tail is almost gone.  

There are only two hens left in this hen house, and one never comes outside any more, but spends her days in solitude. 

Not a cat. 

Son Jim came out and did some maintenance on the little hay shed, but.... the siding all needs to come off and be replaced, Keith did not build that for longevity.  I would give anything for Ben to reappear for a week.  I should have had him take the sides off and rebuild it. 

Jim did the best he could under the circumstances.  

Zoey has been here almost a year now.  She saw the vet this week, and got a 

clean bill of health except for worn teeth.  She will be due for shots at the end of the month. 

She is my barker, and lets me know when something is amiss.  

And now we come to.... 

Buddy, or BigDog, as I call him a lot of the time. 

Buddy is a foster for Bonner Animal Rescue, from whom I adopted 

Fritzie and Zoey.  

Buddy was found in the county on Labor Day, starving, nails overgrown, in very sad shape.  He was still wearing a chain collar.  His first pictures were very sad, and no one came forward and claimed him. 

The wonderful ACO in Bonner, Officer Kendra, drove out and picked him up.  She had him vetted and they found he was underweight and had a UTI. 

He has all his shots and a chip now, and last Tuesday, he was neutered.  He has been here about three weeks.  He has gained weight and is happy and healthy.  He minds you....and, unlike our beautiful Ranger that Keith and I had... he does not bark.  He is able to stay crated when you need him to, and goes right in.  He does have to go out frequently because of the UTI, but not as much as that first week. 

He still has it, when he was neutered they checked... so we are now doing stronger antibiotics for a couple of weeks. 

He is a senior, purebred GSD.  

He is good with the other dogs, with the cats, and with the chickens, whom he ignores. 

Many people were interested in him that first day when the finder posted him on Facebook. 

I am hoping one of them will step forward to give him a good home when his adoption 

availability is announced.  Everyone assumes he is staying here, but I am not able to take another dog right now, though I will continue to foster. 

(Taken the first day he was here)

In the meantime, he can just stay here and grow stronger and healthier.  I truly believe someone will want this beautiful old boy and give him a good home. 

Though leggy, I am still enjoying the coleus.  I will plant more next year. 

I am going to stop here and go out and do a little work on the tractor.  I hope everyone is having a wonderful start to their month, and I hope we are all praying for those poor people who have lost everything due to the natural disasters in the south.  My heart goes out to all of them. 

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! 

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