Adventures in Birding

I LOVE killdeer!!

These are the funniest little birds.

They show up at our house in the spring. .

With their funny long legs. .

their distinct coloring. .

and their promise that a change of season is on the way!!

Devin and Cami were taking a cruise in the golf cart about 3 weeks ago or so. .

and SAW these little eggs on the ground. .

When they were telling me about them, I knew IMMEDIATELY what they were talking about!

After some research, I learned that killdeer eggs take 21-28 days to hatch.

Every morning that I walked. .

I played a game of cat and mouse with the parents of the eggs.

I walk right by the little nest lined with tiny stones. .

And about 20 feet from that, the parent would run out of the tall grass. .

and start and stop the rest of the 50 yards to the highway where I turned.

I had always heard about the antic that they are famous for. .

but had never seen it myself. .

until recently.

Killdeer will feign a broken wing. .

to get the attention of anyone that has gotten too close to their nest. .

And "lure" you with their flapping and spastic movements. .

And sometimes their squawking.

This mama did the whole flapping the wing thing. .

But as I proceeded to move one step closer to see those little eggs. .

She hollered at me. .

And I gave it up so as not to stress her out.

When the kids and I got back from my mom's last Sunday. .

I wandered out to the nest (I had been checking it every day, since I knew the hatching would take place soon). .

And here is what I found. .

Four perfect looking, sleepy little killdeer.

They were still there Monday morning when I walked. .

But they have all gone since then. I imagine they are still around here. .

What an AWESOME thing to watch!

We were going to have baby blue birds too. .

This daddy was getting ready to feed the female, whom I saw when I put my eye up to the hole!!

The sparrows started hanging out around the nest though. .

And I am not sure that they didn't get in and ruin the eggs.

The bluebirds are still here. .

But they aren't around that nest box anymore. .

GRR!

The only other bird excitement. .

Is watching these girls and boys wander around through the yard.

Devin's chicken flock. .

continues to spend their days hunting bugs. .

and laying eggs!!

Not sure that he will be able to show any of the hens at the fair. .

Most of them have a feather issue on their backs. .

that apparently is not some "chicken thing" like I thought. .

but rather a ROOSTER induced thing!!

I understand the birds and the bees quite well in the human world. .

But am still figuring out the BIRD world!

Oh well. .

Live and learn, right??

Have a GREAT 4th of July weekend!!

Garden Bits. .

Hey there. .

This little tiger eye sumac bush should grow to be fairly substantial in size. .about 4 feet tall by  6 feet wide. The other green bushes on the rock side of the fence are a raspberry bush transplanted from the old veggie garden; a rhubarb plant taken from my mom's last year, and a bush redbud tree (behind the largest boulder you see there)

I had taken a LOT of garden photos a couple weeks ago. .

And decided not to post them all at once. .

for the sheer sake of preventing boredom!!

So here. .

are the rest!

And I am amazed at how much the garden has changed since this round!

These photos are showing how we fixed the nasty, weedy border between the driveway and the memory garden, which is on the other side of the rustic fence!

My employer did some landscaping. .

and had a ton (or several tons hahaha) of leftover river rock. .

to be given away to good homes. .

or just to those who would show up and scoop it up and haul it off!!

4 trips to town with the little Kuboda tractor and flat trailer. .

And we had enough rock to clean up our little messes!! We moved some of our existing boulders around from other areas. .

To add a little interest to the long border. .

now full of rock!!

The hollyhocks are blooming their first season in the location and I LOVE their effect!

Granny brought me a couple old galvanized tubs. .

And I hope to fill them with soil. .

and add some tall sedum or other low maintanence solutions!

Eventually, I might like to add a few spots of tall grass there too. .

to break up the monotony of the stone!

The other major use of the stone. .

went to the corner garden . The first year we created it, it looked really good. .

and then not so much after that!!

This year found it with a few things that I had planted. .

and overrun with bare space and weeds!!

I was so taken with the cool landscape job that the hospital had done. .

that when Jeremy and I went to Wichita, we stopped at Hillside Nursery (which I loved) and bought some drought tolerant plants to put in it!!

The yellowish junipers will get fairly tall and wide and will contrast nicely with the lower blue juniper bushes. .

Hopefully the grasses will soften the effect. .

and some blooms will be added by butterfly weed, red salvia, and red texas yucca that we bought. .

in addition to the daylilies, mums, blue flax, Baptisia, coreopsis, and common milkweed that were already there.

Like my bike??

My mom's dad bought that for me shortly after we got married ago (hint, twenty years ago this month) at a garage sale. .

Thought I might like to ride it!

When we moved from our little homestead to this house. .

I forgot to take it with me. .

cause I never rode it and forgot I had it!

My father in law was asking me about it about a year ago. .

which caused me to remember the whole story. .

so we moved it from that place to the shop at this place. .

where it has sat ever since!

Walking by it a month ago. .

caused my little brain light to go on. .

and I hauled it out to my tree!

I rather liked the effect. .

and have gotten several comments about it from people driving in!

GREAT story!!

In front of it. .

Is a common milkweed. .

along with some bouncing betty's acquired from my friend on Sherlock Street.

Here is the vegetation on our west deck. .

It is SO hot on that deck. .

the summer sun on an afternoon is pretty brutal!!

So we spend more time on the other decks since the afternoon (late) and evenings are when we have time to sit. .

I have found that the succulents do amazingly well here!!

They don't get wind blown. .

And they don't suck down tons of water. .

Not to mention. .

That our cat population doesn't choose to sit in these pots or mess with them in any way!

Most of these succulents overwintered in my greenhouse. .

I just repotted them in the spring. .

And bought a few more varieties to add to my old egg basket. .

And some spiky ones to go into the blue enamel pail.

Finally. .

showcasing a couple things on our east patio. .

Is the pitcher pump water feature. .

It's a little hard to see. .

the old locker basket with a succulent garden planted into it (It's right behind the pump)

And I am ECSTATIC. .

to report. .

That for the first time. .

I am growing elephant ears. .

and they are surviving!!

This big plastic pot. .

has NO drain holes. .

and that. .

is the only thing keeping this moisture loving creature. .

alive in our HOT. .and DRY. .climate!!

I actually moved this little plant holder the other night. .

So it is no longer back in the corner. .

but more visible.

Jeremy built it for me a few months back.

I found the old spigots on ebay. .

and the little crystals hanging from them to portray water droplets. .

from an antique store. 

He welded them onto a square piece of pipe he found out in his shop. .

And because I needed something heavy to anchor the stand. .

 to hold up the pots that I intended to hang off of it. .

He welded it into this AWESOME old wheel that we took off of some old piece of junk sitting in the back 40. .

And VOILA. .

The coolest hanging plant stand I have EVER seen. .

Thank you Pinterest!!

 

We had a HUGE storm last night. .

that netted another 9/10 of an inch of rain. .

Tipped all my tomato cages over. .

And relocated our trampoline to the other side of the driveway. .

A good 50 feet from where it was. .

THANKFULLY. .

only knocking off a few of the legs. .

which were easily replaced onto it. .

A much better move than the last trampoline which caught in the breeze. .

and landed on the top of our outdoor wood burner!!

We are LOVING all the moisture!!

Hope you are all getting wet too!!

Have a BLESSED week!

Memory Garden Displays. .

Hello, Hello!!

We have had the most spectacular June. .after all that miserable droughting!

I was a little worried the SECOND time we hit 100 degrees in early May. .

about how our summer would go.

But. .it has been great!

We even received another 3 inches of rain a couple nights ago!

WOO HOO!

I'm amazed at how well the plants are doing. .

and how many blooms we are getting.

For the first time. .

I was able to take some landscape views that looked nice. .

with big, green plants. .

complete with flowers!

Moonflowers are already blooming prolifically!! Though my mother in law has a great stand of these. .THIS bunch, actually came about from some shared seeds from Garden on Sherlock Street!!

All the photos today are taken of the Memory Garden. .

which I had started the fall before my dad died. .

and then proceeded to plant in. .

with horticulture gifts and plants that I bought from the generous memorial gifts given to me in his honor from family, friends, and neighbors.

The Blue Atlas Cedar at the far right (a few branches of it anyway) was put in during the fall of 2011.

And continues to anchor this garden with grace and blue beauty!

The lilies have just lit up their little section!

Here they are again in back of the miniature hollyhocks that have gone totally MAD in the back part of the garden!! The original couple plants came from my mom's garden at the farm!

The light pink flowers in the foreground (the hollyhock madness continues in the background) is a more drought tolerant Bee Balm or Monarda.

The hostess of the blog Gaia Garden. .

met this blogging girl in the parking lot of one of my favorite antique places a few years ago. .

and swapped garden plants. .

Oh for the LOVE of technology!!

And plants. .

And sweet people who aren't afraid of strangers!!

You can see. .

that it is doing well in my garden. .

and in the past, has been feeders to my favorite Swallowtail butterflies.

The daisies were purchased last summer. .

and there are both shorter ones as well as some taller ones.

The shorter ones have double petals. .

which I tend to prefer.

I was a little surprised to find this coneflower. .

Obviously it didn't bloom well last summer if at all. .

cause I didn't even remember seeing it. .

let alone planting it!!

I love the pom poms of petals on it!

Speaking of coneflowers. .

This bunch came from a few that I started from seed in the greenhouse several years ago.

I leave the seedheads on at the end of the season for finches to feed on. .

And this patch has mostly self-seeded and looks stunning in real life!!

Truly, the photos do it NO justice!!

You can get a little peek of goldenrod in the background. .

It blurs out the changes that we made to that bed last month!!

Will be bringing those photos soon!

But please don't judge my laziness. .

for putting up a bottle tree. .

without removing the labels from the bottles!!

I figured that they would come off sooner or later. .

really expecting them off SOONER. .

than later!!

Sigh!

Black eyed susans are another favorite of mine. .

which haven't done well in my garden until now!!

Sometimes, a mere change in location will fix the gardening issues. .

I have started all these by seed. .

But have had them in a location that they HATED. .

and subsequently died out in!

These lil guys are pretty tolerant. .

And so I hope. .

that they will flourish and be beautiful in their two new spots.

So far. .

So good!!

Though not officially part of the memory garden. .

My little veggie plot has moved locations and is now directly across the sidewalk from it.

There isn't a lot of room there. .

BUT. .

I have to walk by it multiple times daily now. .

and so the care has improved greatly!!

The three tubs up front hold herbs. .

Sage, chives, thyme, and dill. There is also lemon balm, rosemary, tarragon, and basil (along with some more dill plants) in the ground up front.

The guys built me 4 raised beds this spring to go with the one that we moved last fall and planted garlic in. .

The one to the left has potatoes, some onions and two eggplant bushes. The one on the right has cucumber bushes, several varieties of peppers, and a few more onions. In the back. .there is garlic, onions, spaghetti squash, more basil, and watermelon plants in one bed. .

Various types of tomatoes ranging from early tomatoes to grape tomatoes to heirloom tomatoes to yellow tomatoes. .as well as more watermelon, a few cucumber vines that the cats and chickens haven't ruined, some beets and snow peas.

 

Everything looks so much better than it has in the past. .

I'm sure it is because they are right under my nose. .

and watering is getting done with some regularity. .

The influx of GOD'S natural water. .

has likely helped as well!!

If you kept walking straight through this photo. .

you would walk right into the herb and kitchen garden. .

It's a GREAT view. .

from those two red lounge chairs in the distant background. .

FINALLY. .

I can sit. .

and relax. .

and enjoy the fruits of our labor!!

Until I notice those renegade weeds brought full on. .

by all the rain!!

BUT. .

you won't hear me complaining!!

Enjoy your week!

Wheat Harvest 2014!!

Wheat harvest officially started here in our neck of the woods this week!!

It's REALLY bad!!

Really!!

They were at our house tonight cutting our little patch. .

So after dinner. .

Cami and I walked out back to hitch a ride.

You don't have to be a farmer. .

to notice. .

that the wheat comes up to a 6 year old's knee!!

BAD!! 

Lots of dirt was blowing in the breeze too!!

 

While we stood at the side of the field waiting on Grant to come close enough to hijack. .

I noted some more trees that the drought has gotten!! Some time I'll have to post a picture of where our old tree row USED to stand. .every tree in it perished in the severe drought!!

And it's always a little sad to see more damage!

There is just something sentimental to me about those big ole machines and the huge expanse of blue sky overhead hanging over those amber fields of grain!! 

I included this super pathetic picture for my farm rooted family back in the land of rain. .

This shows how miserable the wheat was in a LOT of spots. .

this has NOT been cut yet. .

NOR was it at the edge of the field like you might expect to see. .it was in the middle!

YUCK! 

This is what the entire field should look more like!!

Even though at closer viewing. .

it is not really impressive either!!

As I sat on in the jump seat watching. .

round after round. .

I couldn't help. .

but remember when I used to ride shotgun with my dad during harvest. .

and then riding shotgun with my love as a newlywed. .

and NOW. .I am riding shotgun with my CHILD!! 

He LOVES harvest. .

everything about it!!

Down to enjoying his sister's endless rattling mouth every evening!

(Though he will tell you he doesn't!) 

Uncle Joe runs the other combine. 

Jeremy and Cami have been checking out the harvest action every evening this week. .

And today, he has been helping them to move equipment to different fields. .

They have to take those tremendously long headers off. .

and put them on the long trailers to fit down the roads.

Papa is the supervisor. .

He also trucks all the grain to town!

Devin has also gotten initiated. .

much to his eleven year old delight!!

He is being taught how to run the grain cart. .

And seems to have the job spoken for already for next summer!!

Tractor safety course. .

Here he comes!!

 

As soon as it came. .

Harvest will be over!!

Flower photos are taken. .

And will be shown soon!!

Enjoy your weekend, ya'll!!

Hello. .Remember Me?

Hello people. .

remember me??

I used to frequent this site. .

And I nearly forgot how to navigate!!

I believe that it has been since last October that I posted anything related to my family. .

So I thought. .

while I had a few minutes. .

I would offer a catch up. .

for anyone that still drops by occasionally!

Last day of school for these 2 high schoolers. .
you'll note. .Tristan is no longer the tallest!!

It's been a great year. .

with lots of activity. .

some trials. .

and growth. .physical and spiritual!

These two sassy kids were no less than ecstatic to be done with school! They could hardly contain their excitement!!

Fresh out of school. .

These four are trying not to consider the upcoming year. .

until August!!

It's hard to believe. .

that we will have a SENIOR. .

as well as a Junior, 6th grader (which constitutes middle school around here), and a 1st grader!

Tristan waits his turn during the golf meet

Tristan is working full time for our carpenter friend. .

Seems that he has picked up some skills. .

and is feeling good about that.

He and Grant attended a camp at K-State as a part of 4-H.

They really loved it (everything except the cafeteria food).

Soon it will be time to consider senior pictures. .

but, since he gave himself a "no-hair" hair cut. .

that WON'T be any time soon!!

Good thing that Grant could keep an eye on where his ball landed. .this golfing mom could NEVER keep track!

Grant is working full time for his dad in the mechanic shop. .

and about 3 days into their Manhattan camp. .

his dad really was missing his right hand shop man!

Both the older boys went to 4-H camp last week as counselors. .

They are fun to watch. .

And they really enjoy that experience!

Neither boy is planning on playing football next year. .

But Grant is toying with the idea of running cross country. .

and both of them would like to spend the extra time after school practicing their golf games. .

which has really turned out to be a new love for them!!

Devin is being allowed to go along this summer, and so it will only be a matter of time until they talk Jeremy into joining them. .

Don't tell HIM that!

As he will adamantly deny it!

First time in 12 play days. .that we had a kid do the long jump!! What flying form he has!!

Devin has been having a busy summer so far. .

He has already been to art camp, Vacation Bible School, and 4-H camp this summer!

He was able to take his bike to town. .

as well as his dad's cell phone. .

And enjoyed a tiny taste of independence!!

He's been loving the pool too!

Now that his schedule is winding down some. .

we hope to train him into some more household and garden responsibilities. .

since he will be home.

That is an aggravation to him. .

and consequently. .to US!

It may be a loooonng summer ;-)

5o meter shuttle relay. .with her tongue hangin out!!

And this one. .

Is losing teeth faster than she is gaining them back!!

Still no sign of the two top teeth that were removed by the dentist last summer when she also removed an accessory tooth that was going to cause issues for her.

She can eat anything. .

and caused us quite a bit of chuckling a few weeks back when we ate corn on the cob for dinner. .

She had it right up to her mouth. .

and wondered out loud. .

"Now. .HOW am I gonna eat THIS?"

Needless to say. .

she managed to get all the kernels gnawed off that ole cob with no further discussion!

She has been working on some lemon blueberry muffins to enter in open class at the fair. .

I would have never considered that for any of the other kids. .

but SHE. .

is just ready for that!!

 

No photos uploaded of the old people that live around the house. .

but we look about the same!!

And we are still tied into much the same day to day activities. .

One exciting thing going for us. .

This summer marks the celebration of our TWENTIETH anniversary. .

WOW. .

Where did it go??

We are taking a short. .

adult only. .

vacay to Boston next month. .

Labstah. .

yum!

 

I have been meaning to photograph the gardens. .

which are looking surprisingly well despite the drought. .

We have been blessed with some rain. .

But. .

the winds are touted to blow day and night this week. .

so. .

not sure that the photos will come to you this week.

 

I would like to post a little more regularly again. .

but find myself unable to completely commit to doing it. .

If you happen to catch this post. .

and would like an email warning from me when I post. .

holler at me and I will be glad to give you a shout out!!

 

Have a GREAT week!