Sunday, June 29, 2014

Last regular season baseball game and storm updates

Yesterday we made our way an hour North for the last regular season game.
The park we played at had a very nice pavilion, band area, dance floor and concession area.
They were having some kind of local celebration and the place was full. 
The pavilion is open and right behind the stands we were sitting in and for about half the game it was a polka palooza! 
First song or two was ok, then WOW let me tell you it got old. 
We were all relieved when they finally quit playing.

Caden said they could hear the music clear as day out on the field lol

Anyhow.
Daddy-O was asked to help out coaching since the main coach was not at the game.
His son, one of Caden's best buddies was asked or recruited to play I'm not sure which, to play at a baseball tournament in the Southern part of the state with another team. 
Which I think is pretty cool, but a heard a few rumblings from other parents that they didn't think it was right. Shit if your kid was asked to play with another team because they had a lot of talent you sure wouldn't say no.  So give me a break - ugh.


I think this was Caden's best game of the season!
He hit every ball and even stole a base!


He made some excellent plays too!
Got a player out a second, third and first.


Little pep talk before getting up to bat.


Happy to see Dodger when we got home. 


Chyann out at the barn petting the cats and dogs.


We had a hell of a storm again last night too. 
Lot's of thunder and lightning, thankfully not a lot of wind tho.
My new rain gauge says we got 3 1/4 inches of rain!
What a wet year - so far. 


Officially they've declared the tornado that went through town on Friday an F1 with winds about 95mph.
Clean up is still underway. 
I heard the rest of the summer school program may be cancelled due to a vent on the roof of the school that was ripped off and allowed a HUGE amount of water into the school and several class rooms were flooded. I suppose we'll hear something today about that. 
The ball fields behind the school are so littered with debris that they are closed indefinitely.
We got lucky it wasn't any worse than it was. 

Tonight is the end of season baseball potluck and parent vs kid game - IF we don't get the storms they are predicting. 

later :)


Saturday, June 28, 2014

Tornado? and other stuff

Crimaney! 
We had a tornado go through town yesterday afternoon!
Caden had been at the school for the summer gym program and usually his Dad picks him up, but yesterday he was running late. The Hubby called me at 230p and said he wouldn't be there till after 3p so I should go pick Caden up. OK. When I got to the school Caden was outside waiting under the very same freaking tree that was blown over/torn up by the roots - you can see some footage of the damage in this video. More video here. Yikes! Scares the shit out of me to think he could have been outside in the storm if I hadn't went to get him. 

Then about 345p we drove through town and saw a few trees down, but had no idea a tornado had gone through. Crazy. 

In other news.... 

My garden is doing pretty well. 
I've got a lot of tomato's set and the plants are very healthy.
My pepper plants are a little less robust, but all have fruit set. 


Chyna continues to work the horses every day.
I rode Scotch with her on Thursday and we had a lot of fun - forgot my camera of course. 
I'm looking forward to more good rides this summer.


The Dodger managed to eat the strap off one of Caden's cleats this week, but Caden did leave it where the dog could easily nibble on it so I can't blame him for doing it.


Check out this teeny tiny frog that was found at the baseball game. 
I've never seen one that small before. 


6,7,8
Caden and his two best buddies heading out after the game this week.



They won by a lot. 
Caden had three fantastic hits and made it to home every time.
He pitched and did great too.
Today is the last regular season game.
He is a bit anxious about it because quite a few kids wont be there to play and they had to recruit players from the sixth - going into seventh grade team so they'd have enough players for the game. His anxiety stems from the other kids being older and never playing with them before. 
Supposed to storm again this afternoon too and they could be severe.
Guess we'll see what happens. 

Have a nice day.

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

6 months till Christmas, officially and other such

Yes, as of today we are half way to Christmas and of course it's my Birthday too.
Yay for the 14th anniversary of being 29 again. 

In other news White face had her calf with no problems and she seems to be doing well. 
No name yet, but Caden is calling her Black face.
I think she needs a little more imaginative name than that.
Any suggestions? 


Beautiful sunsets every evening lately.


Caught Chyann in some illegal (without a helmet and no shoes!) riding the other night when I went out to get the above picture. 
Guess she thought I'd never know. 
Gotcha!
She calls this free riding.
Bareback with only a thin rope around her neck. 


Big baseball game tonight, hope we don't get rained out. 

later :)

Monday, June 23, 2014

Beegee


Beegee is the sweetest pup.
Soft like a cat.
A real scardy cat though.
Drop a book in the same room as her and she yelps!
But will chase the horses and cows like a BIG dog - quite fierce when it comes to rabbits too.


 Dodger however she is absolutely terrified of and he just wants a friend to play with.


He's gone, whew!
Back to her happy self.



I'm sure she'll get used to him - eventually.

Sunday, June 22, 2014

Our redneck ways

Finally it was time to get the pool going!

Last year we used this new type of pool cover that is supposed to float on top of the water and be secured around the pool with a thick cable. It must be intended for use in an area that doesn't receive snow like we do because all the snow melt and then all the rain we received stayed on top of the tarp, sinking it about three feet below the surface. 

How to get the leafy, icky, tadpole infested, stagnate water off the tarp without getting it in the almost pristine water below the tarp?

The Hubby's water saving master plan was to use a pump with a filer on the end to pull the water off the top of the tarp and pump it back under the tarp. 

Ingenious right?
I didn't think it would work, but ok lets give it a try.

We had some help from an old friend of Colton's who showed up to visit.


Chyna and Dodger were on tap helping too.
ol' Dodger wanted in that water sooo bad.
I'm sure at some point he'll make his way into the pool this summer.


Only took about an hour with this big pump to suck the water off and then back under.


As the water came off, we pulled the tarp taut, pushing the water towards the filter.
When most of the water was removed we unhooked the cable and pulled the tarp back over on itself and off.


Wallah! 
A mostly clean pool.
We need to add about an inch or two of water to get the pump circulating and then it'll probably take a few days to get the water crystal clear and clean.


Through out the whole process Chyann kept saying this is soo redneck.
Really?
I have to admit, it did work when I didn't think it would.
How else would we have accomplished this? No idea.

Anyhow.
A beautiful day here today.
Going to be in the mid 80's. 
Love it.

Take it easy.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

The longest day and other happenings


Summer vacation.
aaaaahhhhhhhhh
Best time ever if you are a kid right?

Miss Chyann has been spending her time working with the horses. 
She says Jenny got "seriously stupid" over the winter. 
Of course, that happens and every spring she works all the kinks out of her and gets back with it.
Good thing she has the trusty Scotch to assist her with this process.


The bugs are atrocious!
With all the rain we've had it is purely miserable out in the pasture and yard.
Fly spray helps, but the horses are still irritated by them.
The rotten bugs are even eating me and I almost never get bit. 
Must need to up my garlic intake.


Gypsy says "Yeah, better you than me".
The old lady came through the winter really well.


Casper the sweet and dirty.
Chyann had a grazing muzzle on him earlier in the week and boy he didn't like wearing it.


Finally got the rain gauge put out yesterday.
Better late than never I guess.
I heard we've had over 12" of rain this month. 
I can believe it. 
We've got several inches of standing water under the willow.

I guess they call Lab's water dogs for a reason right?
Dodger loves hanging out in the wet.
Run and play, then take a quick dip in the muddy water to cool off - repeat.


June 21st.
Longest day of the year. 
I don't want to start loosing daylight already.
I like it being light out when I get up in the morning.
I like the daylight till 9pish.
Sigh.


Going to be a hot one here today - about 85* and humid.
I'll take it.
Bring on the heat.
I've been cold forever it seems.
later :)

Sunday, June 15, 2014

Sunday AM coffee

Hell of a stormy night in our neck of the woods.

The thunder and rain started about 10p last night and we were hit with round after round of storms until about 8a this morning. No idea how much rain we got, but I'm guessing a minimum of three inches. We've got standing water everywhere and a flooded barn of course. Not to mention some serious erosion behind the barn again. 

A few pictures from around the place that I took yesterday.

It's interesting that the lilac trees bloom about three weeks earlier than this lilac bush does.
Keeping that lovely smell around for a bit longer I guess. 
They smell wonderful.


Check it out!
The first tomato's have set in the garden. Lots of blossoms on all the pepper plants too. 


Jennifer Rain watching me intently as I tidy up the barn. 


Dodger aka Hudson is winning the little dogs over bit by bit.
They still freak out at him occasionally though and will not yet play with him.
Yes that is my garden behind them and I definitely need to mow again.


But since the little dog wont play he finds other things to keep himself occupied:


So far he has eaten/popped 1 volleyball, 2 footballs and 2 basketballs.
We give him bones and they are quickly either devoured or stolen by Shasta when he is occupied doing something else, never to be seen again. I'm glad the kids are home for summer vacation because they all walk him, take time to play fetch about a thousand times a day and really spend a lot of time with him. Can't imagine what he would be up to if they were at school all day. 

Bobbi Jo.
You can tell that her skull/jaw was crushed and broke, but she seems to have all her "brains" about her.
She still hasn't made it to back to the barn because Chyann worries she is not quite ready yet, but I think if she is well enough to climb the living room curtains she is well enough to be in the barn.

 

Have a great day and Fathers Day of course!

Saturday, June 14, 2014

A BLUE ribbon day at the Fair

Last year when we went through the Arts & Crafts building at our local fair, I saw all the items on display and thought to myself that I should enter something next year since I did a lot of the same type stuff that was on display. 

Fast forward a year. 

Since we are not involved in 4H or FFA anymore I had no idea who to contact for information regarding how/when to enter items in the fair. 
After numerous calls with no results I almost decided to hell with it, this is a pain in the ass and too much trouble, but the Hubby said we'll just go down to the fair grounds and ask around. 
So we did and the time was right THEN.

Having no idea how to fill out the forms I winged it, got registered and put my items in the designated sections. 
There done. Easy enough right?
While driving home I was flipping through the rule book and see that canned items have to have a specific tag on them detailing how that product was processed.
We turned around and went back because damned if I was going to be disqualified over not having that bit of info on my jar.
Of course I had nothing to write on so I borrowed a piece of notebook paper from a gal and hand wrote all required information then taped it on my jars. 
Done.
Went home.

Woke up at 3a the next morning thinking why did I do that? A handwritten note taped on my jars?
Tossed and turned until it was time to get up and then dug through my old scrapbooking crap to find some pretty paper and some stickers. Printed my info on the pretty paper and during my break at work zipped to town - removed the handwritten note and affixed my MUCH prettier/cuter/looked like I put some time and thought into it label. Course I ran of and left half my stickers at home so was only able to put the pretty stickers on one jar lol dang it.

Went home and waited.
The judging was at 1p.

We didn't head back to the fair until 4p.
The anticipation was making me giddy.


Imagine my surprise when I find that I actually won a BLUE RIBBON! 
  First place for my Chyna's Sweet and Hot Salsa and a Red second place ribbon for my Mom's Favorite Kosher Dill pickles - there was a note on the back of my entry info saying I had beautiful pickles and would have taken first IF I had entered them in the correct pickle category. Some how I put them under relish instead of actual pickles. Oh well, now I know. 




And

A Red second place ribbon for the picture I took of Caden.


A note stating I left out the required who/what/where/when about my picture was left for me. - Drat!
I had a great time and may just do it again next year, now that I half way know that to do. 


I was also surprised to see that an older brother of a boy on Caden's baseball team did a whole exhibit on the boys' baseball spring training.
Check out the picture he included of Caden getting ready to hit the ball. 
It's funny because that was his first home run hit and I was behind the fence trying to video tape this very same hit.
Which I didn't get because I pushed the wrong button on my camera lol


Anywho.

In other news. 

The cat Bobbi Jo is doing much better. 
All the swelling is gone and she is ready to return to the barn - hopefully a bit smarter about staying away from the horses. 

The big dog, Dodger aka Hudson - I just can't say Dodger for for some reason - is I swear the best dog we've ever had. I love him.

Going to put the uncovering of the pool off for another week due to the cool temps. 

Chyann and I had a great horse ride on Sunday. 
Felt great to be riding again.
She is back to riding/working with the horses everyday too.

later :)




Sunday, June 8, 2014

Sunday AM coffee

I managed to do almost nothing yesterday and it felt good.

Before yesterdays rain we had a few frogs hanging around making noise, somewhat irritating at night when trying to sleep, but not too bad. 
However after yesterdays allll day rain the noise they were making was extraordinarily LOUD!
We went out and counted at least 20 of the noisy buggers hanging around the pool
.
Previously we had decided to wait until next weekend to get the pool going because the temperatures are only going to be in the low 70's this next week and the kids don't swim until the temps are in the 80's, but we may have to rethink that due to the new noise level these guys are making.


We've mostly settled on the name Dodger for the new dog. 
I still like Hudson better, but ok Dodger it is.

My garden is doing very well. 
A few days of heat followed by a nice soaking rain makes for happy plants. 
I've got my mulch down and it's nice and thick so I haven't had to weed much yet.
Those trees I transplanted last spring all died over the long winter. Today I'm going to go dig them out and attempt to transplant some new ones that are growing in bad spots. 

I'm in the process of making another rhubarb pie and when that's done I'm rolling Chyann out of bed for a long awaited ride.
Since she's gotten her drivers license she's lost some of her drive to ride horses, which I think is pretty normal. 

Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend Krissy!
Hope you are having a fantastic day!
xoxo

later alligator 

Saturday, June 7, 2014

The week in review...

I woke up to the sound of thunder and driving rain early this morning.
Got up and closed all the windows and went back to bed, but of course I couldn't sleep.
Events of this last week ran through my mind.

We had the Vet out on Monday to look at Scotch.
He had a bad tooth that was about to fall out and a swollen lymph node under his jaw.
He'll be fine in no time though. 

Since the Vet was here we had him look at Bobbi Jo. 
She is one of the kittens Bunka had a few months ago with no tail. The Vet confirmed that she must have gotten stepped on by a horse and her upper jaw was indeed broken. 
Poor baby. 
Chyann and I have been feeding/watering her with a syringe all week and she is really coming around, starting to eat solid foods too. 
The swelling in her face is almost gone and let me tell you she looked pretty rough for a while there. 

Bobbi Jo napping on Cadens back back.


The kids ended another school year!
Chyann is officially a Junior and Caden is a sixth grader!
Imagine that! 

Two baseball games this last week and the boys won both of them!


The Hubby brought home a new dog.
Like we need another dog like a hole in the head.
A gal at his work got him for her daughter and the daughter lost interest in taking care of him so the gal was going to take him to the pound if the Hubby didn't take him.

How could he say no to a 10 month old purebred yellow lab that has had obedience training?
He is a nice boy with decent manners.
He will sit, stay, shake, lay down and fetch. 


The kids all have fun playing fetch with him.
No name for the boy yet - we can't come to a unanimous decision at this point.
Some of the name in the running are:
Hudson, Yukon, Smickens - yeah no idea where that name came from, Doc or Dodger.
He comes to all of them lol

The most friendly people dog I've ever been around. 
Our little dogs do not like him much at this point.  

Finally got the grass mowed. 
Course with all this rain today, I'll be doing it again as soon as it dries out. 


Colton completed his first week doing the internship and says it's the best job ever!
Love it!


Have a great weekend!
k

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

OH Martha!

You have the best pie recipes!


I spent a good chunk of time Sunday picking and freezing rhubarb after I made that delicious pie.
The only variations I made from Martha's recipe was using grapefruit zest and grapefruit juice in the filling. Why? Because I didn't have any oranges and actually prefer grapefruits to oranges anyhow so it worked out.
I also didn't use the egg wash on the crust because well, eggs are gross - I brushed the crust with milk then sprinkled on the sugar.  

Fantastically delicious pie and easy to make.
It was gone by dinner time.
Yum :)

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Sunday morning coffee

It stormed all night and it's still raining this morning. 
Smells good. Clean and fresh.

I didn't quite get as much accomplished as I'd have liked since mowing the jungle that used to be our lawn, took waaay longer than I expected - and that was with the riding mower, pusher mower and weed whacker being used the whole time. Sadly we are not done yet and with the rain probably wont get it finished today either.
Oh well.
We'll be starting the whole mowing process over next weekend.

Pumpkin Pie AKA house cow AKA bunka
hanging out in the apple tree watching the world go by.
The apple trees were swarming with bees so I can't imagine why she'd think that was a good place to be.



Colton starts his internship tomorrow. 
He's got his bag of supplies all packed and it's loaded with everything a person might need for field work. From hip waders to tweezers for pulling ticks and another bag packed for a day at the office with nice clothes.
I'm so excited for him. 

Have you ever cooked bacon in the oven before?
We tried it and WOW! 
I think that's the only way I'll be cooking bacon for the foreseeable future.
The bacon cooks evenly on both sides, doesn't roll or twist up and the clean up is easy.
Be sure to use a cookie sheet with as high of sides as you can find since removing the pan from the oven could be a tricky proposition if you are even a little clumsy.

Anywho.
I'm shooting for getting the rhubarb froze today and that's about it. 

Have a good one :)