Old and New

Before I start today's post... Keith and I are praying for all those affected by the storms of 

this past weekend and yesterday.... so many have lost their lives, and so many have had their lives devastated, and we pray God will take care of them as they start to rebuild. 

 We moved one month ago today, but the work still goes 

on at the old place.  Little by little, it has been emptied... you see 

some pictures that will be loaded for the thrift store tomorrow... and today, Chris and I taped off the whole house to get it ready to paint. 

Yes, the rugs are a sight, aren't they? 

I had to turn the furnace back on because we are having very cool temps this week... it is 47 out right now, and we are going down to 30's tonight, so best to be careful.  

We have the spackling finished, so on Friday, I'll sand and prepare for the painting.  I want to let the atmosphere dry out a little. 

This is the switchplate by the front door, and was always a favorite of mine.  It may come over here, in fact, and a plain white one be put there. 

Yesterday, I started dumping the planters on the porch, preparatory to bringing them over... but 

now it rained again, and I've had to stop.  We are using that dirt to fill in holes in the yard. 

See all the iris shooting up? 

These are shooting up, too... weeds.  These are filling the potato bed, and I need to get them dug up and turned over before they migrate into the flower bed to the right. 

Here are more, about ten feet down the potato bed.  

Ugh.  I'm going to take the little Stihl rototiller over there, and see if I can't till them all under. 

Why would I go to all this trouble?  

Well, I loved my gardens very much, and I would like to pass them on to 

someone who will love them like I did. 

I may plant some zinnias on this side... they may do okay in the sun/shade mixture this bed gets. 

I need to see if son Jim wants to do some weedeating for me around these beds and the empty-this-year vegetable beds. 

Look who are down from the rafters!  So good to see them... they are going outside and behaving like normals chickens.  For months, while there were more birds in the henhouse, they stayed in the rafters.  

I'm so glad to see them come down and go outside! 

I planted a bunch of tulips in the fall, and Angelique was one of them... she's so beautiful! 

You see behind her that I'll be pulling lots of weeds from this bed, too. 

Moe and April had muddy toes in the henspa. 

While Fluffernut was doing her daily business for me. 

These are the kind of skies we've had for the last three days....

And something interesting... Lilly Ann will no longer go in the old house, where she was a puppy and grew up. 

She's happy here on her new deck!

Catching Up

Well, my friends, we had a LONG weekend. 

Saturday dawned nice and clear as Keith left to go get the big truck. 

And we had a pair of interested observers from next door watching at the gate. 

Abby and I went about doing chores as we normally do. 

And then the big truck got there, and we started. 

(That's Madison and Jax) 

My son Jim and his oldest, Chris, did the heavy lifting, God Bless them. 

Jaxton carried out load after load. 

Jacob had had a soccer game that morning, so he, mom Amy and Paiton were late to the party. 

Here are the boys taking a break. 

(Jacob, Nathan, Jax and Chris) 

DIL Amy was kind enough to run the vacuum for us at the new place. 

We had barbecue for lunch, as we did two trips with the big truck. 

Then the boys and I went to Pizza Hut for dinner, 

and all four spent the night, playing video games on the 

tv in the basement family room. They all slept down there, too, in sleeping bags on the floor. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....

These are the eggs we have gotten in the last week and a half. 

They are all still lovely, though that is the last duck egg. 

I just wanted you all to know that we survived the big part of the move. 

Tomorrow, Keith, Chris and I will move one more big load in 

a rented truck, and then we will be left cleaning out and 

rearranging things that we are going to put in the next sale. 

I have started cleaning the house, and will paint starting next week sometime. 

We are continuing to put away, here at the new house. 

Tomorrow afternoon, I will run Chris back down to Garnett, 

but with our thanks for a job very well done. 

We could not have accomplished this move without the 

help of son Jim and his whole family, because 

we are OLD, (laughing). 

Keith's daughter Amber, sil Jesse, and boys Jace and 

Carson also moved on Saturday, into their latest flip, so they had a big day, too. 

We hope to have them over soon. 

I miss our little house... I miss the ponds, the frogs... everything... 

but guess what?  This neighborhood was platted on a farm, and there is a pond two doors from us. 

I can hear the frogs! 

I am planning garden beds... 

I will take pictures, and more tomorrow. 

(oh, and we have LIGHTENING FAST INTERNET!!!) 

Moving Right Along

Mother Nature had a surprise for us yesterday morning. 

And this morning, too!

The deck was VERY slick. 

We are having some below-normal temps. 

Tomorrow brings rain, and Keith tells me that the Farmer's Almanac, 

that warned of the cold winter just past... has warned now of a 

cooler-than-normal summer. 

After the last two scorchers, I'm ready. 

Lilly and Abby have been picking up on the vibrations the last few weeks. 

Lilly was in the car waiting for me yesterday as I loaded it yet again. 

So today, I took her leash out and snapped it on, and we went for a ride. 

Lilly and Ranger rarely left Calamity Acres.  If they did, it was usually to go see 

Dr. Tom.  This composed look soon faded away to heavy panting, as she got more and more anxious. 

When we got to the house, I ran in with her, and raised the garage door (we didn't get a remote for it). 

I put her back in the car to back the car IN... and then we went back into the house.  I know she could smell the two big dogs that had lived there. 

She went from room to room, checking it out, and I left the leash on,  on purpose. 

Nothing would make her come down the basement stairs... she would come into the doorway, look at me, and go back out into the hall. 

There's plenty of time for this. 

When we got home, once she realized we were in the driveway, I unhooked the leash and let 'er rip. 

She was so glad to be in her own pasture. 

This isn't a very good picture, but this small homestead, on the road that I have been using to go back and forth, used to house a family with a big white dog... and goats in that lovely tan barn, and chickens in the metal barn you can just see behind it. 

I realize, after driving this way now for two weeks, that no one lives here anymore. 

The road was closed for nearly a year while they replaced a bridge over the creek... and at some point, the family who lived here either lost the home, or the renters moved.  I was always careful not to hurt the big dog, who had only 3 legs and laid in the road regularly. 

It's a lovely place. 

It's pretty quiet in the old henhouse these days. 

It takes me about ten minutes to do chores. 

And little Speedy has not been down even once since the hens were taken last week. 

I've been cleaning out feeders and water fountains to take to the sale tomorrow. The auction is 

Saturday, and Keith has been hauling things down there this week... to our fairgrounds, where the auctioneer is set up.  We thought there was an April sale... and found out this morning there is not another sale until June 24th, so now we are hurrying to get things into this one. 

I am going to put the chicken stuff in one lot, and the black trough, and fortexes (there are some out of sight) in another. 

If you don't think this isn't hurting me... you don't know me very well... but I also like to make the best of a bad situation. 

Keith is even now filling the back of the pickup to take another load down to the fairgrounds. 

Any money we can accumulate we can use to make our humble house here decent for someone to buy. 

Today's eggs.  Thank you Henrietta, Folly and April. 

Here is a side view of Moe, after the attack by Lilly.  His beautiful tail is almost gone, and he had a huge tuft of feathers now missing on his saddle... huge... which is why I thought he was gone that night. 

He will not come down from the nest box now. 

Moe is going with me, and the four little hens, April, Snowflake, Fleura and Fluffernut. 

If I can get her, I'm going to take the tiny white hen with the black tail in the old henhouse. 

We're trying to figure out what to do for a coop, a decent-looking coop, at this point, without spending a fortune I don't have. 

One morning next week, I'll take Ferdie the beautiful big rooster... Speedy, my tiny boy, 

and two of the porcelain's (The Elvi) to the feed store parking lot in a crate... and see if I can give them away. 

It's breaking my heart to do it... I had hoped to take Ferdie and Speedy... but we are not going to have room. 

The kind people who took the second batch of chickens... the Tates... will take the last three big hens, and the matched porcelain pair.  

Once everything is empty here... Chris and I will go to town and clean the buildings. 

I'm trying to think of a way to transport some cleanings to the new house for compost, but we shall see. 

Tomorrow I'll try to show you a picture of the only plantings there, and also, where I am 

going to put two perennial beds. 

My apologies to everyone for my non-commenting this past two weeks.  I do get a chance to sit, but 

not for long, usually. 

I will get caught up once we get settled. 

I hope everyone is well!