282 - Late Spring

We finally have a riding lawnmower... or will on Thursday evening when it's delivered!!! We went to a Sears Outlet on Monday and found a decent deal, so I'm excited and Mike is excited that we will be able to mow the lawn in a lot less time, and more of it. Over time we can also add implements and attachments to it that will increase its capabilities and make it more useful. And we finally bought a freezer (online) that will be delivered the following week. They had some at the outlet but we compared prices and the difference between the prices was only $100 so we went with a new, unblemished freezer with free delivery instead of paying $85 at the outlet, worked out about the same at that rate.

So today we smoked a brisket. We've been craving one for a while because the last one was soooo good. I got up and made more of the rub we concocted last time.

And I soaked some wood chips

In the meantime, Lady Richelieu dropped in for a visit

And Daisy helped dad get the fire going.

Which was something of a feat, since it started to rain about an hour into the cook time... So Mike created this Seussian creation to keep the fire and smoke going.

The hummingbird dropped in for a visit

The dogs are very focused when it comes to treat time.

Bo doesn't like it when Daisy gets her treat first.

But he gets a treat too

And lightning fast, he jumps up to snatch it.

Daisy is a good sitter.

The hydrangea is blooming. The poofs are kind of small right now but they're getting bigger and bigger. I can't wait until it really bushes out. I'm so jealous of the ones at Ashford Castle in Ireland, but I suppose those have had decades to grow while mine is a mere summer old.

I have six rose buds. I guess you would call them teacup roses? They're smaller and more carnation-like than a typical rose. I've only seen one blossom so far so I think it will be really pretty when it blooms.

I have either a bell pepper or jalapeno about to grow, I can't remember which one I planted here.

The sycamore is really branching out. Leaves formed and then grew into little stems where more leaves grew. I'm glad because that final freeze we had killed the first leaves that grew. The top of the stem is still bare, but the bottom half is very much alive.

Lots of magnolias blooming. This one is older...

And these are about to bloom

We have blackberries in the process of ripening. LOTS of them.

This grew from the birdseed... it sort of looks like corn but I'm not sure if it is because I don't see any kernels in the feeder. I did have a different kind in the feeder before this though.

Not sure what this is, but it doesn't look friendly

And this looks like wheat...

I have one tomato and four potential tomatoes. I can't wait. Chocolate Cherokee tomatoes. Yum.

Speaking of Cherokee, I met an Apache at the Folk Medicine Festival last weekend. He was very nice. He said that I could go to college for free since I have Indian blood (two or three generations back?)... really wish I had known this when I went to college... but I suppose if I decide to pursue a different degree I could maybe check into it.

Tomorrow we are going to clean the basement so Mike can get back to fixing the curtain setup, making it more sturdy so the dogs can't pull it down so easily... And sometime soon we should be putting up a fence. A friend has a bunch of chainlink that he doesn't want, probably enough for half an acre, and he's practically giving it to us. I can't wait... it'll make life so much easier, the dogs can run free and we will only have to leash them if we walk them or take them out front. :)

Then I can start amending the soil for next year's garden since I pretty much missed out this year. Being able to mow the field will make it possible to actually see the ground... so I will also start back with my gardening course. A new module gets unlocked every month so I just have to watch the videos and read, but it's pretty fascinating stuff and the videos are broken up into short sections. And I found a free permaculture course so I'm going to check that out too. I feel like we're finally going to make some progress in making this place ours, finally settling in. We know what we want it to be, and it's going to take some time, but it's going to be amazing, and each little piece is going to make a huge difference.

281 - Home Again, Home Again, Jig-a-Jig-Jig

Mike should be home tomorrow. Not sure which path we'll take after that... three options on the table that we need to discuss. Seems like he's been gone forever. We'll have to reconfigure the sleeping arrangements so all of us fit in the bed...

In the meantime we have been keeping ourselves busy here at the 'ol homestead.

Managed to pull the curtains down. Twice... so Mike's going to have to fix that when he gets home, and I may have to hem them as well. Despite my soft speaking voice, I apparently engage my diaphragm when I am angry and I project my voice in a manner sufficient to send two dogs tearing ass into the mancave to lay quietly on the sofa while I calm down. I don't lay a hand on them, don't intend to, and I don't like to yell either, but I have my limits.

After the melee there is consternation.

And angst.

Pretty yellow bird. I will need to refill the feeder soon or Cardinal Richelieu and his lady friend will chastise me.

Some of us were digging for moles in the yard...

They're very spirited when they dig, and work as a team.

This used to be ropey (which used to be a duck... ropey evolves).

Now it's a shredded pile of orange fiber, but they still play with it. I wish I could be so content chewing on rope.

At night they sometimes aren't quite ready to sleep, but if I give them ropey, they will quietly chew on it until they are ready to close their eyes. It's magic. For the most part, they seem to understand that when they come to bed, it's quiet time... they can still "play," but qui-et-ly. And ever since Daisy came home, Bo sleeps through the night, no 3 am potty breaks. And instead of 6:30 am, we usually wake up to go first potty at 7:30 or even (on days I love most) 8:30.

Comfy and tired.

This one still likes to sleep next to me on the couch.

Daisy will sleep on the couch too, but Bo usually gets there first. I think it's because he likes to kick me in his sleep. If there's (what she considers to be) enough room, she'll walk onto the couch and lay across my lap. Sometimes Bo will stay, sometimes he will huff and hop down to sleep on his pillow by the window. She's kind of a force of nature... she'll lay next to you, on you, put her head by your head on the pillow, she's very uninhibited that way.

When Bo finishes his rawhide first, he becomes very interested in Daisy's rawhide. It's much the same as when he becomes interested in my hamburger. This is the stare down.

This is the 'I'm so cute, don't you want to give me that rawhide?' pose.

And this is the 'See how far I can get without her biting my nose' maneuver.

She's very patient. But he ain't gettin' that rawhide.

Typically, any time I so much as appear to be about to get up, Bo hops up and goes to the door or his pillow. If I go to the kitchen he's right behind me. Oddly enough, if I am filling his bowl he will patiently lay on the mancave couch and wait for me to walk by so he can get in position by his bowl. If I'm making human food he's just a pest... Anywhere else, he may or may not go.

Daisy will follow me pretty much anywhere I go. In the kitchen she'll trail me for a little while but then she flops down onto the floor and lays quietly while I do what I need to do. If I go to the bathroom she's there. If I go to the bedroom, she's there. The only place she hasn't followed me is to the basement, though she stands at the door until I come back, and if I take too long she'll whine. She's a very sweet girl. She also has a protective instinct. She barks at people and her hackles go up a little until she knows I'm happy to see them, then she's friendly. One night I was in the bathroom when Bo took off, went to the living room and started barking. One barks and the other one barks for moral support whether they know what they're barking at or not, so she ran in there too, but then she came back and sat between me and the bathroom door to bark. It makes me feel safer, not that I feel unsafe, but I would definitely have warning should anyone intend to do me harm, and they would probably have to deal with Daisy first.

Poor Mike... even he is going to have to ring the doorbell so I can get the dogs leashed before he comes into the house for the first time...

280 - Boom

Storm came...