A Week of Kids

Your blogger has been retired for three years this past week. 

I have gotten used to sleeping a little later than I did during 

my working life.  

This week has been a revelation, Jax and Paiton have to 

come at 6:15 to 6:30, as their mom has to be at work 

shortly after 7.  

They do this every morning of every school day of the year, 

and of day camp during the summer. 

In fact, that's why they are coming to me this week, 

day camp ended last Friday and school starts

next Monday. 

I am WORN OUT.  

I do not know where they get all their energy! 

They are going out to do chores with me every morning, since I 

have to open up the henhouse every morning, as when I lived there. 

We continue to look out for the raccoons: 

As you see... the visitations continue.  We have finally determined it is a mother and three half-grown babies. 

Notice that the popholes are barricaded.  However... they could get in through the front door, I think, if they were really determined.  I am hoping they are not. 

I am dumping the water bowls in the evening, and 

taking the food bowls in... what you see is spilled feed. 

Good gravy Gert. 

This is hard to see... but there is a raccoon at the bottom of the pole holding the 

suet that I hang for the birds... and there is another one up the pole actually eating the suet. 

No wonder there is suet missing every night.  The thing that kills me is the 

raccoons are so lazy... they have gotten used to eating in the chicken yard. 

When we lived there full time, we did not have these problems, because Lilly and Ranger ran them out. 

Here is a happier picture... one I posted on Facebook today. 

That's Jacob closest to the camera, Jax, Paiton, and Grandma (me) at the front, driving the train at the Ag Hall this afternoon.  We had another family behind us... and we had a blast going around the lake.  I'm hoping to get a picture from the front this weekend.  

I need an engineer's hat, and I found out today where to get one! 

The kids have been helping pick tomatoes and peppers daily. 

I am going out later to lock the birds up... and for once, I got to see The Beacon of the Farm last night. 

I am trying to teach the kids to look around them.  We stopped to look at this vulture this morning. 

And while they played on the patio as they waited for me this morning, 
this beautiful cicada drifted down from the tree right next to Jax.  I thought for a minute he 
was dead, as we examined him... but tonight I looked as I went by doing chores, and he was gone. 

Neither child is scared of bugs. 

The light is changing, my friends.  Fall grows closer. 

Fall of our lives growing closer, too. 

I Catch the Scissortail Flycatcher!

This is the bird I have been trying to photograph for two weeks! 

On my way home from church tonight, I came across country, and as 

I came down this road, I could not believe my luck. 

I saw it first up on the electric line, but it soon flew down to 

the fence line. 

It made my day! 

Our beautiful girl ran down in the pasture this morning, and came back wet and covered with hundreds of seeds. 

The iris show is nearly over at the old house. 

There is still a lot of water in the creeks around here, but we are supposedly going to have about 4 days of sun! 

I just know this is a turtle.  I didn't go closer. 

I did not get good pictures of this, but the hawk was eating something.  His head is curled down, he was pulling it apart, it was held between his talons.

He was not happy, and quickly....

Flew away! 

We are about to have a drying out period... and I am hoping our neighbors in Oklahoma and Texas experience the same blessing. 

Maybe I'll get the grass cut!  

A Bunch of Pictures

Another gray day in Leavenworth County... ugh... 

but I am NOT complaining... we just had on the news stories about the terrible, terrible weather on either coast, and my heart goes out to those folks who are going through that mess.  

I hope they are safe over the next few days. 

The dogs and I did not let the cold and grayness keep us from going out. 

This is on a barn about a mile from us... near the alpaca farm. 

All the alpacas were in their barns today, with the cold and drizzle. 

This guy flew over the pasture fast... and no, I don't think it's a hawk.  I think it was a 

black vulture.  He literally went so fast I could hardly get pictures of him, and I suspect he was watching Jester. 

This, on the other hand, IS a hawk, one I pictured a few days ago.  He does NOT like it when I stop the car to take his picture. 

See where I found him?  I have gotten really good at scanning trees and telephone poles.  

I didn't steady myself enough to get a good picture... and he was pretty far away. 

Then he took off, but circled back around. 

Look who is back in the pasture with the other mares.  

I just love her spots.  

They seem to have ample hay this year, unlike last winter, when I worried every time I went down that road. 

Can you BELIEVE THIS?????

I saved the best for last.  You know that Lilly completely ignores Jester... and 

he follows her around constantly... and goes where she has been, because if he gets too close, she goes after him.  So...

He uses the circling tactic 

As soon as she left the goat yard, he rushed in to see what she had been 

investigating. 

Then, he followed her down to the bottom of the pasture.... 

Where she actually had her face down in the opening under the fence into the wooded area on the Spehar's side. 

I'm always afraid she or he will try to tunnel under there, so I watch them closely when they go down there. 

How I've grown to love this dog! 

Tomorrow, I'll show you how we have decorated the house for our Christmas gathering with Keith's family on Saturday.