gardening with turtles

"You remember me?"

2012-01-27T08:55:00.001-06:00

Last month an old beat up car drove up my driveway and the driver, an old Asian man, yelled that question to me...many, many times. I was in the middle of planting crocuses. Tilly had managed to retrieve some of them to tenderly chew while her brother walked off with the box that held all 500 of them. Well.....that's how many there were before the dogs got involved...and I noticed one of those

More birdhouse perils

2012-01-26T01:15:00.010-06:00

One mullet birdhouse went up......and then the other mullet birdhouse went up.It was completely uneventful getting both of them up and that made me very, very happy...confident even. Those two houses looked good despite me having a hard time figuring out what straight was (even with a level) because I don't think one tree out there grows straight up.But when I tried putting this birdhouse up, the

Birdhousing perils

2012-01-17T23:30:00.004-06:00

I put up this little birdhouse a year ago...And when I opened it up to clean it a couple weeks ago, I discovered paper wasps had built a nest in it.Luckily, paper wasps are not supposed to be aggressive and the queen should be hibernating somewhere else anyway...and the rest of the wasps should have expired by now...but I'm just going to wait for a really, really cold day to remove the nest

Birdhousing

2012-01-06T13:30:00.006-06:00

A year or so ago I started making birdhouses. I still have no idea where or what or when exactly I'm going to build my house on Aussie's Acers (how they spell "acre" on signs in the country) but in the meantime, I've been busy creating my future avian subdivision.Once a house is built, it has to stay outside (or hidden somewhere indoors) until it moves to its final spot because Stella gets a

First Gardening Casualty of the Year

2011-12-31T23:55:00.008-06:00

Although it's not quite 2012 yet (still have an hour to go...).I was checking on things on my land in Kansas a couple days ago and noticed that a tree I had planted earlier in the year, a tree that I carried gallons of water up a hill twice a week for the whole summer, was....gone.Oh wait, there it is, flat on the ground.It's not like there aren't thousands, thousands of other trees to choose

The Tree That Ate Dogs...

2011-11-22T16:00:00.007-06:00

At the end of October (near Halloween), I took a day off from work because I knew it was going to be an absolutely gorgeous day...and it was. The temperature was in the 80s, the sun was out, the sky was blue, and despite the lack of rain in months, the trees were at their peak for fall color.I took a full day off from work because I wanted to get the rest of my potted plants in the ground before

Pretty. Pretty. Pretty.

2011-11-20T23:55:00.013-06:00

Last May when the mayapples bloomed......they produced mayapple apples in June. Mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) grow in large clonal colonies and only produce apples if the flowers are cross-pollinated from a different colony. Where those thimbleweeds were planted that were chomped and stomped by a visiting turtle and where I accidentally uncovered those snake or turtle eggs, and where I met

Red, white...and wahoo!

2011-11-14T01:00:00.002-06:00

...as in Eastern Wahoo (Euonymus atropurpureus), a scrubby little native shrub I noticed in September because of the crazy dangling fruits that looked like 1960s earrings. The name is derived from Dakota for arrow wood ("wa" for arrow and "hu" for wood) because of the straight stems. I didn't see this with any of the wahoos on my land. They were shooting out at all angles, their favorite being 45

Sunday and starlings

2011-11-13T12:45:00.002-06:00

I was waiting at a stoplight recently and had the chance to watch a ball of starlings fly through the sky, bouncing in all directions but never touching the ground. A crow was in the air too and that ball of birds decided to bounce toward that crow, and just when they were about to encircle it, they quickly flew off in a completely different direction but then....they turned around to head off

Fall

2011-10-18T00:45:00.002-05:00

I don't know why but when the surprise lilies bloom, I always think of fall.....even though it's been two months since they've bloomed and gone underground again.I think of fall when the jack in the pulpit berries become vivid red......and even when they're still green because the green ones fall over too.I think of fall when dogs get covered with seeds......and when the soldier beetles get busy

Thimbleweed

2011-09-13T08:15:00.000-05:00

I was at the Anita Gorman Discovery Center earlier this summer and saw these flowers blooming in the woodland garden.I knew immediately what they were because I recognized....the leaves (sometimes I am so good!).It's thimbleweed (Anemone virginiana), a native wildflower named for the "fruit" which sort of resemble thimbles (big emphasis on "sort of").I thought this plant was soooo pretty so I

Nom. Nom. Nom.

2011-08-28T23:55:00.005-05:00

Today I was watering my little pink dogwood (the one thing I planted this year that is doing really well) and noticed an unusual leaf. When I looked closer...I saw this leaf had some nommage going on. Interesting how this little guy made himself a comfortable place to sprawl while eating the leaf at the same time. Such efficiency and on such chubby little legs. When I turned the leaf around to

Last weekend...

2011-08-22T23:55:00.005-05:00

I drove past crispy cornfields to get to my land in Kansas. First stop was to check on my recently planted coneflowers and.....great. My garden had become a caterpillar nursery. I think these little stinkers are Silvery Checkerspot caterpillars...probably the result from the butterfly versions that looked so pretty on the coneflowers just a few weeks before. Oh well, that's why I planted them in

"Hottest day on record since Van Halen's 'Jump' was number 2 on the charts!"

2011-08-02T23:55:00.009-05:00

That's what Brett Anthony (NBC's Meteorologist) said this morning and I believe him. What I don't believe is anything that that Drama Queen weather site says.But dang, the numbers they come up with are so darn entertaining......so um, I confess, I could not WAIT to follow the Drama Queen weather site from the get-go this morning to see what their final "count up" would be by the end of the day.

108.5 degrees (feels like 107)

2011-07-31T15:45:00.004-05:00

That's what it says...Hahaha. It's been hot, but not that hot. Makes me laugh because that weather site feels compelled to tell you that you might feel a degree and a half cooler than what's going on outdoors...like that temperature was even correct (!).It has been hot. Just not 108.5 degrees worth of hot. Still, this grasshopper was kind of out of it and looked like he had had enough of this

"Sedges have edges...

2011-07-20T00:35:00.001-05:00

...rushes are round; grasses are hollow right up from the ground." Uh, maybe. I discovered sedges and rushes this year and earnestly tried to identify what I've seen growing but even when they bloom....I still don't know. This might be a Bottle-brush sedge (Carex hystericina) but I really don't know.This could be a Green bulrush (Scirpus atrovirens) but again, I'm just guessing.I have no idea

Sunday was nasty hot...

2011-07-19T15:15:00.001-05:00

...and I was too because I could not talk myself out of driving to Kansas.The creek was kind of low (it's been low for weeks, despite that predicted Missouri River flood for the past month or so). I made Bo take a swim in the water because it was already nearing 100 degrees.This waterhole was a little deeper than usual because I've never seen Bo that submerged before.Bo kept walking in circles in

Too hot for one turtle

2011-07-15T23:40:00.004-05:00

No real story here...more of a paragraph really...because it's just too hot to say or think anything other than that it's......HOT. It was hot this morning...And it's hotter now...The turtles were served watermelon when I got home from work today.However, Cathy Jean walked away from the watermelon and gave me a long and pitiful look.When I came back outside, she was at the bottom of the steps

Summer is just getting started...

2011-07-10T23:55:00.001-05:00

...and the first sunflower to bloom is already worn out.But not this budding "Hello Yellow" blackberry lily...maybe the flower will be lucky enough to come out on a day when the car thermometer doesn't indicate that it's 108 degrees outside. I don't think it was really that hot today, more like the lobby level waiting area to get into hell, but not the actual temperature of hell....I don't think.

Love was in the air...

2011-06-29T23:55:00.004-05:00

...and hanging there (literally) when it comes to these two milkweed bugs.This couple however, was not so acrobatic....but still, they had to figure out a way to back into each other's rear without using rear view mirrors (Gawd. Insects are so weird)!This little perv was more interested in that other couple though......they just kept hanging and swinging in the breeze...I'm not sure this was a

This could have been a pretty good photo...

2011-06-26T14:30:00.007-05:00

...if it was in focus.Same goes with this one...And this one too......who is the one (partly) responsible for my camera's current state of wonkiness....the focus is always off...the camera can't quite figure out exposures after 2 pm...or when it's shady.......or just about any time in any light condition....You see, Bo has an interesting quirk of grabbing things and then carefully carrying them

Miami County Kansas Farm Crawl

2011-05-09T23:55:00.004-05:00

That's what I did on Saturday. There were twelve farms to visit and one of my first stops was an emu ranch.Those emu girls paced in pairs up and down their muddy routes but would they pose for a picture? No. They were too good at turning the other direction. I tried. Oh, I tried to get a good photo...but it was not going to happen.Sleeping baby emus were a lot easier to photograph. My next stop

If the Spring Beauties are blooming...

2011-05-01T23:55:00.006-05:00

...I guess it must be spring. That was my thought almost a month ago because I was still having my doubts about this spring business. Little bits and pieces of color were starting to accent the brown landscape but it was not enough for me. The sky didn't even have any color. It had been consistently overcast ranging from an even white to a lumpy grey for weeks and it was decidedly oppressive. I

Spring sniffing

2011-04-07T23:45:00.009-05:00

Two Sundays ago I caught a cold. Violet and I snored in each other's faces all day and at times would wake up to watch the snow fall, big fat flat flakes that looked like postage stamps dropping from the sky. The following Sunday, I still had the cold but wanted to get out to Kansas to see if anything resembling spring was happening.....since it's spring you know...despite colds, more snow and

Two gloomy Sundays before the first day of spring

2011-03-20T22:00:00.003-05:00

It had been several weeks since I visited Aussie and her posse because of precipitation in all its forms...fog, rain, sleet, frozen rain, snow, hail...you name it. But when I got out there two Sundays ago (albeit kind of late in the day), it might as well have been raining because it was so darn gloomy.The lingering snow from the past couple weeks had melted and had been carried swiftly down the

Gardening with dogs

2011-03-14T23:55:00.007-05:00

Some digging needed to be done.Tilly (in the front there) was the one who got it all started.Everyone had excellent form.Go, Tilly, go!Elvis started to slack off and roll around in the dead leaves. Tilly had to take a break and go over and ask her dad what the heck was going on...in a nice way of course, because she is a very good puppy daughter.Aussie got in there and started digging her own

On Thursday, it rained, it sleeted, it snowed...

2011-02-26T16:20:00.002-06:00

...and then it all froze.They say in the Midwest, if you aren't happy with the weather, wait 15 minutes and it will change.Okay, I'm ready. Change.Change back to what the weather was like the day before all of this happened, the day when it was 60 degrees!I don't like seeing my coneflowers......looking like sno-cone flowers.

The mouse

2011-02-23T21:45:00.008-06:00

Toys are made to look like them.There are darling illustrated storybooks about them.I bought the children's book, "The Tale of Fancy Nancy" years ago just because I thought this little mouse was so cute covering her boo boo with a cabbage leaf (a nut had fallen on her nose).But then a real mouse moved into my house. I had been hearing a racket in the kitchen at night for about a week and thought

Crazy days of winter

2011-02-20T23:00:00.009-06:00

Last Sunday I drove to Aussie's Acers (how you spell "acres" in the country...bear with me while I test out new names for that "acerage" of mine...and Aussie's) and spent the day in the snow with the dogs. This was the snow that was in the process of melting from the blizzard a couple weeks ago.But then on Thursday, the temperature soared into the 70s. That meant pent up turtles could be released

Finding a name for that land o' mine in Kansas

2011-02-13T14:15:00.002-06:00

Red Feather Creek. That's what the previous owners named it. But I want a new name for that land o' mine. It's not as if I don't like the name Red Feather Creek...it's just that I have yet to see a red cardinal there...let alone one red feather. It doesn't seem like a name that suits it anymore. But I just can't seem to move beyond the one that Meg came up with because it makes us laugh so much.

"We're going to die! We're all going to die!"

2011-02-02T23:55:00.001-06:00

That was the weather forecast for yesterday so I took the day off from work and waited. Nothing happened for hours but in the afternoon it started to snow...and it continued to snow....and...surprisingly, it continued to snow. And when I went to sleep last night, the news reported no deaths, or accidents, because apparently everyone in the city was too scared to leave their homes.The storm had

Looking for sunshine...

2011-01-01T16:10:00.004-06:00

A year or so ago, Meg wanted to learn how to make a crocheted ragrug so she, me, and her dentist got to work and between the three of us, we figured out how to make one.And once you get started, you're compelled to make more...Soon followed by MORE...Making a ragrug is a nice dumb project in the middle of winter when it's too cold to go anywhere and you're stuck indoors. And at this time of year,

Migrations

2010-12-23T23:55:00.006-06:00

When I was out on my land in Kansas late September (on the day I learned the dog formerly known as Sassy is really named Mary), I found out that I had accidentally locked Sassy/Mary in the garage the week before. Luckily, Aussie led her owners to where Mary was confined (around midnight, several hours after her incarceration) and they were able to remove the one window in the garage to rescue

Puppies!

2010-12-05T23:55:00.002-06:00

Here they come!This is Tilly.And this is her brother, Bo.It's hard to get pictures of them (because they are constantly moving) but Tilly eventually settled down next to Bella.And with the arrival of the other three grownups (Aussie, Mary and Elvis)...Everyone got comfortable so they could watch and supervise while I tried to weed on this beautiful October day. I thought gardening with turtles

Sassy's Surprises

2010-11-30T23:45:00.004-06:00

A couple months ago, I was out on my Kansas land and the two dogs who showed up to help that day were Elvis and Sassy. Elvis always stays in the background and wags his tail or rolls on his back and as a helper, that often works out just right for me but Sassy.....everything is all about Sassy and what she wants that very minute. While I put together a big yellow metal cart I got at Tractor

Sunday morning with Starlinka

2010-11-14T13:25:00.004-06:00

As bad as Stella is, Starlinka is her counterpart in goodness. Starlinka has never done anything bad in her entire life. She is always full of sweetness and light. And when she chooses to mimic something I say, it's always a compliment (my favorite being "You're so smart."). Several years ago Starlinka started chewing the feathers on one of her wings so until she molted again, she was unable to

Becoming friends with Elvis

2010-10-23T14:00:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday I drove to Kansas and sat on a log bench and waited. How long would it take for a dog to show up? Just two sips of coffee.Because here comes Aussie!But wait...Anyone else?And here comes...Elvis!Elvis never says no to a head scratch...or a belly rub...or just a reach down touch to see if he's still there. Once Elvis got his chin scratched enough, he rolled onto his back...closed his

Crazy autumn color

2010-10-18T15:10:00.013-05:00

After I visited the Discovery Center last Sunday, I drove to the other side of the park and revisited the Kaufmann Garden. I never knew those two were almost next door to each other! It kind of explains why the Kaufmann garden didn't focus more on native plants, the reason I was not so crazy about it when I first visited the garden last year. The focus seemed to be more on color but at this time

Just a couple minutes away from where I live...

2010-10-12T23:55:00.002-05:00

...is the Anita B. Gorman Urban Conservation Campus, a ten acre park full of native flowers and grasses and trees and a Discovery Center for urban kids to learn about nature. I had never heard of it...and it's been there for nine years!So on Sunday I decided to go find it. And there it was, tucked behind some apartment buildings and a KFC, completely hidden from the street. I instantly liked this

Sempervivum sadness.

2010-10-07T23:55:00.002-05:00

I wanted to start a rock garden this year so I started to collect lots of sempervivums (they're also known as hens and chicks). I think I brought home just about every one I saw at a nursery this past spring because it was too hard to make the decision to leave even one variety behind. Every one of them was gorgeous and besides, I was smitten.Some had dangerous looking pointy tips......and some

An observation

2010-10-04T13:15:00.002-05:00

Frogs,from behindlook like dogs.But frogs,unlike some dogs...don't wiggle to the right,and wiggle to the left,when you take their picture for a blog.The End.(apologies to Bacon for making him pose for that "behind" shot)(apologies to everyone else for writing this post in rhyme)

Sunday morning...

2010-09-27T23:55:00.001-05:00

...I woke up to the sound of something being dragged slowly down the hallway. I didn't have to open my eyes. I knew it was Michael. Michael's been known to move chairs, tables, large bird cages...it's just something he does. Over the years, I've learned to pretty much ignore him when I hear him in one of his furniture repositioning moods. From experience, I know there is nothing I can do to make

Weather

2010-09-26T17:35:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday it rained. It thundered. It hailed. It flooded. There were microbursts of wind activity and of course, there was lightning. I was spending the afternoon safe indoors at Redbud Ranch but once things cleared up, I drove to my spot in Kansas to see what the creek looked like after a great big giant rain. It was late when I left Redbud Ranch. The sun was starting to set behind some

Don't ask. Don't tell.

2010-09-14T23:15:00.010-05:00

Because the soldier beetles were busy "doing it."On every single sunflower in the field.Every single one of them.Sometimes even as a double double.This was just too much for what should have been a peaceful late Sunday afternoon so I headed for the woods. No sunflowers in the woods=no soldier beetles in the woods.A Ground Beetle (Dicaelus purpuratus) raced, and I mean raced like in a full-on

Yellow

2010-09-07T23:55:00.007-05:00

Last Friday was a gorgeous long day, not unlike today, or yesterday for that matter, but last Friday was the day I chose to drive to the Overland Park Arboretum. You can see beautiful landscapes like this......but for some reason I was completely entranced with a yellow flowering weed/wildflower I was seeing on the trails throughout the woods. This plant was a couple feet high in the shade......

Rex checked.

2010-09-06T13:40:00.004-05:00

Sarah needed more chickens. Why? Because Sarah didn't have any hens that laid chocolate colored eggs. So last Monday, Sarah, Rex and I drove out to a chicken ranch south of nowhere to pick up four more chickens. We went late in the day because Sarah's chickens had to be tucked safely in their coop for the night. The other part of the strategy was that hopefully, when all the chickens woke up the

Yet another mystery...

2010-08-09T22:45:00.002-05:00

I drove out to that land in Kansas on Saturday because I was curious to see if anyone had come by to continue working on their excavation. Nope. I think that will be a mystery that will forever go unexplained. I was met by the Mueller dogs but sigh, no Aussie. We set off to test the depth of the creek. You can tell it's not that deep because otherwise Elvis would be walking on water.Elvis, the

Discoveries

2010-08-08T18:45:00.005-05:00

Last Sunday I drove to that land in Kansas and discovered Surprise lilies (Lycoris squamigera) in full bloom. I think if you could time it right, you could make popcorn and then eat it while all the Surprise lilies popped out of the ground with just as much speed. They sure are fast at doing what every other flower does at a much more sensible time of year.I found them blooming by the creek too..

So ugly he's cute, so cute she's...well, you'll find out

2010-08-05T23:55:00.004-05:00

Last night I was bringing Violet in the for the night when I saw something move very slowly along the deck railing, almost obscured by the shadow. Creep........creep.......creep.I watched while he made his way forward and kept watching while he tentatively made an upward turn. I kind of knew what he was but was curious as to why he was moving sooooooooo slow. When his head finally appeared over

Noticing/not noticing/being noticed by things

2010-07-18T18:45:00.003-05:00

Last May I visited Powell Gardens and was entranced by some of the combinations of the native flowers. Native columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is always delicately pretty but when combined with blue flax (Linum lewisii), the two together become something extra sweet and lovely.Add some bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii), even more gorgeousness.The flax had self sown itself just about everywhere (or

Future naughtiness, I just sense it

2010-07-11T23:55:00.004-05:00

Last month I had to clean the fishpond, something I try to resist doing every year. The pond is small but it's hard to get into and clean because it's surrounded on three sides by the deck. I scoop what I can but eventually I have to jump in all that muck and bail out the water and sticks (and I'm not going to think about what else) while standing in it. Eeeugh. Eeeugh. Eeeugh. Luckily it doesn't

Wild in the city...

2010-07-10T15:05:00.005-05:00

and lots of attitude in the country...Last time I was at Redbud Ranch, this little guy was giving me a hard time when I needed to open the gate to let my car out to the road. Would he move when I got out of the car? No. I opened the gate and it must have passed a 1/4 inch above his head but would he move? No. Since he was so adamant about staying where he was, I took a picture. Did he move when I

Aussie, Bella and some weevils

2010-07-07T23:55:00.001-05:00

This little darling is a cocklebur weevil. He takes down cockleburs and he takes down.....ragweed!!!! When I found that out, I wanted to tell him to go collect his entire family and I would drive them to paradise...which would be my cocklebur/ragweed infested land in Kansas. But dang, he flew off right after I took this picture and I haven't see him or any bug like him since.But I drove out to

Sunday morning breakfast wars

2010-07-04T15:20:00.004-05:00

I was busy cleaning Shugg's cage this morning when Cathy Jean came over to help.But that turned out not to be her intention at all. She wanted breakfast. Immediately. She gave me an extra long "Stop what you're doing and get me my breakfast now" look."Extra corn on my plate.....................please."And then Michael Ray showed up from behind. He wanted his breakfast faster than Cathy Jean's "

Today was hot!

2010-06-25T23:55:00.004-05:00

So hot, the turtles got to have watermelon for dinner.Michael Ray immediately tore into his slice.And even though the watermelon had just come out of the refrigerator......which is not a good thing because Michael Ray is cold-blooded...I don't think he got a tummyache because that cold watermelon didn't stay cold for long once it got inside a very hot turtle.That watermelon was sooooo good.Too...

Turtle update

2010-06-20T23:55:00.003-05:00

It was kind of a cold spring so the turtles didn't get to spend a full day outdoors until late May. It took a while for the weather to warm up which means it took a while for the turtles to warm up too since they're cold-blooded. And now that they and the weather are a nice consistent warm temperature, those turtles have been busy.This is the routine for their outdoor living...I serve them

Kansas thoughts

2010-06-17T23:55:00.004-05:00

I haven't spent much time on my land in Kansas this past month because it just.......keeps.......raining. I could have driven out this past weekend (despite the constant rain) but since there were flash flood warnings for the area, I stayed put. I'm not a reckless person (although Dick says I have plenty of "reck"). On Tuesday I decided to drive out and see what the creek looked like since for

This is not a black and white photo...

2010-06-07T23:55:00.007-05:00

...just a photo of a grey tree frog in a black rain barrel on a very sunny summer day.You would never know that outside that rain barrel, the sky was crazy blue and the coreopsis was crazy yellow...so much color it kind of hurt your eyes. I can see why the little guy needed to take a break.Yesterday Meg and I went to study the water situation on my land in Kansas. I've been trying to get the

Rain, rain, go away....and don't come back on Sunday........that's tomorrow. I'm serious, don't come back.

2010-05-15T23:55:00.007-05:00

I'm looking for sun where I can find it because once (or twice) again it just keeps raining. The bullydogs were supposed to come out to the country today but it just keeps raining...and raining. Besides being gloomy and just plain wet and cold, I'm not sure how deep the creek is anyway. After all this rain, Rie says the little sausage known as Bucky would probably float away if the creek was

Things are just better when you add a little Bacon

2010-05-02T23:45:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Rie wondered if I was driving to my land in Kansas today because even though Bacon was still a little gimpy from last week's adventure, he was getting restless for another one. Rie found out that Costco parking lots are no substitute for the outdoors once a dog has turned country.And so it was on. Sunday afternoon in Kansas. Not Sunday afternoon in Missouri cleaning the kitchen and the

Pretty pictures of flowers, an introduction to Bella and still, no morels...

2010-04-27T23:55:00.005-05:00

But the mayapples are in bloom...Acres and acres of them...although you do kind of have to peek under their skirts to see the flowers. :-/The yellow colored lilac buds from over a month ago...That looked like this earlier in the month...Now look like this. An explosion of white.It was time for all the purple irises to bloom...The pink flowering shrub growing on the creek bank......turned out to

In one week's time...

2010-04-20T23:55:00.006-05:00

...the redbuds bloom.And then the landscape changes from this......to this.Purple buds open up......to become woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata).The flowers of dogtooth violets disappear......and are replaced by jack-in-the-pulpits.One vibrant forsythia bush......tones it down and goes into hiding.One cricket frog will be joined by a lot of cricket frogs...all jumping in every direction.And the

Oaks and hickories

2010-04-14T23:10:00.001-05:00

That land of mine in Kansas has nothing on it but oaks and hickories, hickories and oaks, and maybe two maples (if you don't count all the evergreens of course). Oaks are nice and shagbark hickories have that lovely bark but since I've never lived with either one close by before, I wasn't expecting anything that I didn't already know.On Saturday I saw a lot of these buds(?) on small trees that

Hunting the elusive

2010-04-13T23:45:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, Rie, Burgess, their dogs Bucky and Bacon, and I drove to Kansas to scout out areas where morels might be coming up. That land has cedars, creeks, plenty of dead trees, mayapples...all the things I've heard you need to be successful with a morel hunt. If only there had been some rain (that one other thing you need to find the elusive morel)...Bucky had a fabulous time wading in the

Chicks, hens, chickens and chickhens

2010-04-09T23:55:00.003-05:00

Last week I took a day off from work and drove out to Kansas to spend some time at Redbud Ranch. Meg needed horse manure for her garden, I wanted to meet the new baby chicks and Rex needed a new tarp put on his trampoline. Meg had an extra tarp so we set out to replace the old one.And it fit! So now it was time to test it out.Once we were sure the trampoline worked, Meg went to load up her car

Oh come on now!

2010-04-06T23:55:00.007-05:00

It's spring. I get that. But does everything have to bloom in just one week's time? There are the fruit trees, the magnolias, the redbuds, the daffodils, tulips and hyacinths, the dandelions...and now there are even leaves appearing on the rest of the trees so there is some sort of green or color halo around everything out there. It's distracting. I don't know what to look at first. :-/I came

Whoa!!!! Settle down there!!!

2010-04-03T14:00:00.002-05:00

Spring is moving along a little too fast.New flowers seem to bloom hourly.And until the squirrels start stomping on them, they are just perfection.It's like all these plants have had a little bit too much sugar because the blooming going on in the last couple days can only be described as HyPeRacTiVe. See this new tulip?One day later, it's already wiped out.I remember I used to sit near a large

Transitions

2010-03-28T12:35:00.007-05:00

Last weekend it looked like this...The starlings had brought the grackles to the coontina Saturday morning and there was lots of muttering about the lack of service. Then it kept snowing...On Sunday, Violet had had enough. I however, was strangely captivated by this last snowfall on the first day of spring.Brian called and confessed that he had said out loud to someone that he wished there was

Last days of winter...

2010-03-20T14:00:00.003-05:00

And the first day of spring...Seriously. Snow. A lot of it.....and it's still coming down.

Where's that sun?

2010-03-15T02:15:00.005-05:00

Because I really miss seeing my shadow.The gloom. The long continuing, uninterrupted feeling of oppressiveness and gloom. That feeling of waiting and waiting for something, and then figuring out that what you're building up all that anxiety for is just for the appearance of light. Will that sun ever come back? That's all I think about these days. The sun. It is gloomy outdoors and twice as gloomy

It's spring!!!!

2010-03-07T16:35:00.005-06:00

And it smells like poop, the kind that comes from horses. When 27 horses live directly south of you....that first good spring thaw.....let's just say my sniffer could not stop scrunching up. But at least I found some daffodils coming up on that land of mine in Kansas...And right next to them on a rock............raccoon scat. Good grief. What a theme for the day.And of course there is this one...

Forcing spring to happen

2010-03-01T23:55:00.007-06:00

Last week? More ice. More zero degree nights. The week before that, it was not as cold so I drove out to that land in Kansas. Snow had fallen again. Always that same one inch. The creek was partially frozen......and the water under the ice was moving fast, so fast you could hear it from the top of the hill.There were lots and lots of tracks in the new snow. It looked like Aussie was joined by a

Badness and forgiveness.

2010-02-27T16:00:00.008-06:00

Years ago when Wendie's Hammy was a little puppy, Hammy got a nice new bed. Hammy (unknown to Wendie at the time) completely shredded the new bed and then was so tired he had to go take a nap on his..........old bed.My sister was unimpressed. She said anyone who has lived with a puppy has the exact same photo...When puppies do something really, really bad, they're still pretty darn cute so you

Snow...and then no snow...

2010-02-21T23:55:00.000-06:00

This has been going on for weeks. It kind of snows. Then it doesn't. Yesterday I watched the snow fall and it looked like a Christmas card....until you looked at the ground. Nothing but clear roads and green lawns. On Friday there was an hour of snow that must have been spectacular because some of the descriptions I heard was that the snow looked like falling white caterpillars and at another

Bad bird. Bad bad baaaaaad bird.

2010-02-14T18:28:00.014-06:00

I've talked about how bad Stella can be before (she even has her own page on Wikipedia). That Stella, she is a bad one. What she did this morning was so bad I had to leave the house and drive to Urban to get some yarn therapy. Baaaad.When I was up there I stopped to watch some geese swimming in the pond.What good birds. Their thoughts were not about chewing wood or destroying anything.And when

It snows...and then it doesn't...then maybe it snows again...

2010-02-08T21:45:00.003-06:00

The snow situation is nothing like what's going on in other parts of the country...but maybe it could be if the snow in this area tried a little harder to be more steady about what it's doing!!! I'm giving it a C+ for effort. It has been snowing though...but then it melts, sometimes at the same time as when it's falling. At some point it must secretly snow during the day or night because there's

Thoughts on hawks and things

2010-01-31T20:55:00.010-06:00

I was curious about those hawks I saw out on my land in Kansas and managed to identify them...not so much from this photo I took this past summer but from the sound they made when they launched into the air. Kee-eeeee-arr! I guess red-tail hawks make a very distinctive sound that is so "hawk-like," Hollywood uses their sound for all hawks and eagles in movies.That white tail on that red-tail hawk

Stray cats?

2010-01-30T12:25:00.001-06:00

The new red cat that has been visiting is extraordinarily round and has maintained that shape since she first came to the coontina about a year ago. One whole year of unchanging roundness...come to think of it, I think she's even rounder now! <:-/This guy....wouldn't you think he was a stray??? I sure did.But now I am totally confounded as to what is going on because look what he's wearing. A

The sun came out on Sunday.......you know the rest.

2010-01-24T23:55:00.004-06:00

I was off to Kansas and while I drove, I watched the clouds line up in rows in front of me.Usually when I drive to Kansas the clouds get bigger and the sun gets brighter but for some reason when I got out there, everything had turned to gloom, if not something downright oppressive.But if I just turned 90 degrees, I could choose to look at a completely different weather situation.It was sunny. And

Daffodils already?

2010-01-21T22:36:00.011-06:00

Oh yes. They're popping their little heads out of the ground.Getting themselves somewhat organized......to line up for school pictures.There's always one in every class who has a personal space issue.Okay Kindergardener class of 2010, smile big for the camera!

It's finally warm outside! It's 20 degrees!!!!

2010-01-12T23:55:00.010-06:00

It snowed on Christmas Eve and it was gorgeous. Then there was a blizzard. Then it snowed again. Maybe it snowed again after that. And every day and every night, although the outdoors has remained pretty and white, the temperature kept dropping lower. This has been going on for weeks. I find it just wrong that my freezer has warmer air than what is going on outdoors or worse, what it feels like

Taking a "walk" with Aussie...

2010-01-03T15:15:00.001-06:00

About 5 days ago it finally got above freezing so I thought I'd take advantage of it and drive out to that land in Kansas. I was really anxious to see what kind of tracks were in the snow before the snow melted (although I'm kind of thinking at this point the snow will never melt). I've been wondering what kinds of animals visited the property because with snow you have real evidence. I already

Sometimes when it's just too darn cold...

2010-01-02T23:55:00.000-06:00

...flannel sheets are the answer."Close the door! You're letting in a draft!"

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T13:35:00.004-06:00

This past decade has been the pits and I'm hoping this coming year will not be an introduction (to paraphrase Dorothy Parker) to a decade of fresh new hell. Here's to a great new year and if things start sliding in the other direction, here's hoping there's at least a good story in it so we can laugh about it later.

Missing that Aussie

2009-12-29T22:30:00.004-06:00

On Christmas Eve it started to snow...And then there was a blizzard...and then it snowed again.The stray cats still made it to the coontina.......but the thermometer has still not made it to above freezing. Brrrr. Cold. Ice. Cold again. Brrr. I've been stuck indoors for days and although I have a full case of wine and lots of enchiladas (not sure why but that's what I decided to make for

Brrrrrr...

2009-12-28T15:30:00.004-06:00

It's so cold, even nightlights seem warm.If Stella was a painter and lived in 17th century Italy and painted a self portrait, she could sign it Stella Caravaggia. Ha ha ha.When I was up in Chicago about 10 days ago, there was a Caravaggio exhibit (the artist known for chiaroscuro, paintings focused on light and shadow). One of the guards on the main floor told me I was not to miss it but when I

From all of us...

2009-12-25T03:31:00.016-06:00

Everyone did a pretty good job of posing for the Christmas photo this morning except for Violet...who is mad. Why is she mad? Because Violet wanted to wear the dress Stella has on. And Stella being the way she is, I don't think she'll take that dress off for a week. It wouldn't be Christmas without a little family drama. :-)

Stella made her request to Santa...

2009-12-23T23:15:00.003-06:00

And just to be sure Santa would know how really bad she was this year, Stella took a big bite out of the linen closet shelf yesterday. Baaaaaad. I'm sure she'll get just what she's worked so hard for... lots and lots of sticks to shred and chew.

I almost always find out about these exhibits too late.

2009-12-20T21:45:00.006-06:00

Case in point? A recent exhibit of Jennifer Angus. I found out about it two days after it closed. An exhibit of design patterns made with insects...although this clip of another exhibit has an additional theme of Victorian children. What's not to like if you happen to be me? When I saw this image in a magazine review of an art exhibit recently, I made my reservation to see the show immediately

Sarah sent out an announcement because...

2009-12-13T19:15:00.015-06:00

Yes, Rex is already two years old and it was time for a party.Rex got tW0 birthday cakes.ONe to share (the cake in front with the long candles) and 0ne just for him......which was a good thing because blowing out a fire on a cake is a messy and earnest business for a two year old....as is the cake cutting.There were presents...Some to share (this little flute was too hard to blow for anyone in

Okay, will THIS ever get old?

2009-11-16T23:55:00.001-06:00

Last week when I was driving home after spending the day with Aussie, the sun was going down behind me and ahead of me were fields of previously mown hay getting mowed down even further by a lot of loose black cows. When my car reached the top of a hill, all I could see was the golden brown of the hay and the crazy amount of black cows spread out evenly almost to the horizon line. So pretty. And

Will this ever get old?

2009-11-11T13:00:00.009-06:00

I've stomped this land long enough over the past couple months that I'm beginning to know where I am when I get lost. Aussie and I were following the creek as far south as we could while a dog barked in the background. Aussie usually attends to noises like that but she ignored that dog in the distance because I guess she had heard all about what that dog was saying before.We ended up where three

Another day with Aussie Mueller...and some trees

2009-11-10T19:10:00.002-06:00

On Saturday I drove to Kansas. My goal was to try and identify trees. Aussie was there to greet me and armed with my new Sibley Guide to Trees, we were off to see if there was anything out there besides oaks.I'm not complaining about the oaks....they're just relatively easy to identify. And hopefully in the spring, under all those oaks will be lots and lots of morels. :-)This is one of the trees

Still looking for fall color...

2009-11-07T23:55:00.011-06:00

The parrotia tree is starting to turn yellow...The beautyberry is covered in red berries which look really pretty against what is left of the fading yellow green leaves. And the heuchera, although still green, is nearly lost in all the leaves that fell off the crab apple...which have now turned brown.There really isn't that much fall color out there. And yesterday, the weather decided to be

Chasing shadows

2009-11-01T23:55:00.009-06:00

On Saturday, I drove to Powell Gardens, a botanical garden near Kansas City.Although it was Halloween, it wasn't scary. There was hardly anyone there and most of the trees had lost their leaves, making them look sort of like skeletons, but still, no hint of scary. The sun was out, the sky was blue, the temperature was in the 60s and it was a perfect day to go hiking with a handbag (and camera).

Halloween

2009-10-31T23:55:00.001-05:00

Black cat with a scowl. Gray cat with a howl.Well, not really. It might be a "Howl-o-ween" for everyone else, but for Violet it's really just one big "Yawn-o-ween."No matter, my odometer turned 666 on the highway and that was one suspenseful minute until I got that next mile driven. :-)

Fall colors

2009-10-27T01:35:00.005-05:00

A couple weeks ago when I was out stomping on that land in Kansas, I had to really search to find anything in color. This closeup of some sumac leaves was the best I could do.Everything else seemed lifeless...if not charred.The only thing with any sort of life was this dead leaf attached to a spider web remnant, endlessly oscillating in the slight breeze.I walked in the woods for a while but the

Keeping up with Rex

2009-10-25T11:08:00.014-05:00

Yesterday was a gloomy day but nice because it was in the 60s.I drove out to Redbud Ranch to spend the day.First thing I did when I got there was say hello to the horses and pet their noses.And then say hello to Girly (the dog that came with the house)...And take a picture of Spook because he looked so handsome against all that green duckweed in the pond.Sarah was busy cleaning out the horse

Color

2009-10-21T01:15:00.005-05:00

The fall colors are almost at their peak of crazy. It seems like anything green wants to see what it's like living on the other side of the color wheel and is rapidly turning manic shades of orange and yellow and red. Nothing subtle about any color change this fall. For the first time I can remember, the tulip poplar in my front yard kept its leaves while the sugar maple took its time to turn a

That arboretum

2009-10-20T11:55:00.003-05:00

This is the problem with visiting botanical gardens. I am perfectly happy with my creek (well almost, it's just kind of overgrown and neglected and I sure could use a better way of crossing it other than just looking for dry spots or rocks)......but then I see this.Well, of course my little mind then scrambles as to how to duplicate the over the top theatrical beauty of this scene.I love weeping