Home and Garden

I spent most of today working in the yard and on a home improvement project. 

Here is an update on the tommy toe fence.  So far so good, they are staying contained.   

I picked six cucumbers today.  Ate one for lunch, delish.  

Not  much prettier that a border bed full of pink and purple.  

I caught a hummingbird moth feeding on the phlox. 

The first 20 years here I have spent planting.  I looks like the next 20 will be full of cutting down. 

I decided to do away with the evergreen that was draping out of the planters.  I also dug up a few horse tails a few weeks ago to see if they could live between the house and sidewalk.  Most have managed to live so I might dig a few more to fill them in quicker. 

And then my craft project was new covers for the chair cushions.  The previous ones were cracked vinyl from the 60's.  Now I just need to repaint the chair.  And if you have seen my porch furniture you will know that that is very unlikely. 

Dollywood 2017

J and I went with some friends to Dollywood this past weekend.  They had rented a cabin and had an extra bedroom so we said we were game.  I think they just wanted me so I could ride the rides with their kids (grown kids) and they could watch the shows and talk cattle with J.

Since V and E didn't go I didn't take my camera into Dollywood, but the view from the porch of the cabin was spectacular.

We had 2 beautiful sunsets.

And a great vantage point for the nightly fireworks at Dollywood.

It was at least 4 stories down from the deck.

There were 3 burned out cabins next door from the recent wild fires.  I think 2500 cabins were lost overall.

As for the rides I highly recommend the Drop Zone and the Wild Eagle Roller Coaster.  

In Bloom At The 4Rs

We have had plenty of rain this year so far so it has been a good season for the flowers. 

 We will be enjoying this sweep of day lilies along the driveway for the next 2 weeks.

 The cone flowers are beautiful this year.

 Sometimes they bloom until fall.

 The Easter lilies are a nice pop of white.

 And the corral bells are out doing themselves.

 The roses were pretty but they are done now.

As are my mother's day lilies.  But they were gorgeous while they lasted.  Hope you have something pretty in your yard.

This One Is For E

E is always asking why I don't ride Pep any.  When I tell her I have ridden Brother or Hank it's, "Why didn't you ride Pep?"  Since E is in Illinois for 9 weeks this summer I can't give my usual answer of, "Why don't you ride her?"  My second answer is because I'm afraid of making her lame.  But since there is no showing on the horizon for her to be sound for, I went ahead and rode her today. 

 First, I did some grooming.  Her mane is longer than ever.  But in retrospect, I think it was suppose to go on the other side.  So I looked up some old pictures to see, and look what I found....

 E and Pep at their first horse show 10 years ago this month.  E was only 10 and Pep was 6.  They made a good team.

 Pep is a challenging horse to ride.  Her jog is nice but her lope has always been stiff and she really fights having to do it.

But we got through it and rode some outside and even chased the goats around.  I think she liked doing that part the best.

Happy Father's Day

Looks like someone got a new truck.

Well, not actually for Father's Day but he got it on Friday which was pretty close.  As you know from a recent post, the red farm truck is trying to fall apart.  So better to get a replacement while it's still running than when you are standing beside the road.   Since we already have a 3/4 ton diesel to pull the trailers, I thought it would be nice to have a small running around truck that was easier to get in and out of opening all the gates.  J found this 2014 Toyota Tacoma with 31,000 miles.  It is a striped down version with a 6 foot bed.  So small enough to whip around in and big enough to haul a load of wood.  It will take some getting use to but I think we will like it.

Containment

Every year E complains about the tommy toes running wild in the garden.  I just can't bring myself to pulling them up.  Even when I try to keep them in a row they just spread out all over the place.  

 J had an idea to fence them in this year.

 So I dug up the volunteers and made a row.  J then put in the post and wire fence.  I'll let you know in September how it went.

And looks like we might have another bumper crop of blackberries.  I might have to find that pie recipe again.

Back In The Saddle

I had some surgery the first of May that has kept me from riding for several reasons.

1. Couldn't pull myself up into the saddle with my right arm.

2. Couldn't really turn the horse to the right if I wanted to.

3. Was afraid if the horse acted badly I wouldn't be able to get off fast enough.

4. Otoelene was lame with an abscess. 

5. Doctor said no riding. 

I rode Jessica in the barn a couple of weeks ago for about 15 minutes but I really don't count just walking around. 

 But yesterday, I rode Hank, The Wonder Horse.

 J rode Brother and got all the gates!!!!  Hank was his usual Wonder Horse self.  What a pleasure and joy to ride.  At least if you don't have to trot too much.  My goodness he is springy.  He is good to learn to post on because you have no other choice.

 Brother is 6 years old now.  Maybe he is finally deciding to be a reliable horse.  J got along really well with him yesterday.

And who needs to go to Mt Rogers with views like this in your front yard.

No Honey Yet

Our bees seem to be really good at making more bees (3 swarms this year) but are slacking in the making honey department. 

 Our newest hive looked very busy so I thought J should go ahead and add a honey super to it.

 That went fine.

 So while he was all suited up, he checked on the other two hives.  And what a disappointment to see no drawn comb or honey started in either one.   I am hoping that it is still just early and since it has been so wet maybe that has stalled production some.

Anyway, J was glad to have the suit on.  Since we were just peeking in the hives and not really doing anything he didn't bother to use a smoker.  You can see they got a little angry.  Maybe I'll have him suit up again in July and check their progress again.

I.C.U.

I had to make a house call Thursday.   Unfortunately, it was to my own house.   J called me at work because a calf he had been treating for scours (diarrhea)  had taken a bad turn for the worse.  Luckily, it wasn't terribly busy so I could leave for a bit to make my house call. 

 The poor little thing was flat out.  I started IV fluids, evil antibiotics, pain medicine and anti diarrhea medicine.

 Do you like my IV pole?

 By the next morning she was sitting sternal.

 Then Friday afternoon we were able to get her to stand up and nurse.

After 5 1/2 liters of IV fluids she said she was ready to go back to mama.

J loaded her on the truck to get her back to mom.

 The cow heard her and started bawling.

Mom and baby back together.  Hope we are over the worst of it.

$400 Jeans, Truck Version

I'm sure you have all heard about the $400 distressed jeans from Nordstroms. 

 If not you can read about them HERE.

 I decided that J's truck was the truck  version of the $400 jeans.  Only he earned every rust spot, dent and scratch.  J bought it used in 2001.  It is a 1994 model.

 The bumper is now falling off.

 There is rust behind every wheel.  The passenger door can only be opened from the outside so you have to roll the window down to get out.  The door does close good though.

 The front bumper is disappearing.

 The left side is gone.

 I don't know what happened to the rear view mirror.  I thought it was still in the truck and several years ago my mother got the special glue for us so I could reattach it.  But by that time I couldn't find the mirror again.

 The driver side door also only opens from the outside but you have to flip the latch up to get it to close again.

 I think J backed into the trailer once and lost the tail light.

And I won't mention how it got a bullet hole in the bed.

Then the set ripped and the stuffing wore out and J was sitting cockeyed down on the seat frame.  I took pity on him and stuffed a pillow in the hole and sewed it up with fishing line.

If fake work jeans are worth $400, surely a real work truck is worth $20,000.  Any takers?