wildflowers

 We were treated to a gorgeous sunrise last Sunday morning.  Kev and I were at the farm, hoping to get a Turkey on this first weekend of the season.  We did see 10 turkeys, but they wouldn't cooperate with us and Kev didn't get a shot.  But, we did enjoy the sunrise and all the green grass and wildflowers.

 Last year, it never greened up, so no wildflowers.  This year, we've gotten rain, and the prairies are so nice and green and the spring wildflowers are going crazy!

 Grandma hasn't lived at the farm since 1973, but her Spirea was beautiful this year.

 Her wild roses were beautiful as well.  I took a cutting of these home last year, but my roses didn't bloom this year.  I think they spent last year struggling to survive.  Seeing these at the farm gives me hope that my roses will take off and bloom in the future.

 I liked the wild flax.  But, I'm partial to blue flowers.  I need to remember to plant some flax somewhere at our place because it's so pretty.

 No idea what the yellow flowers are, but they were so pretty with the blue flax intermingled amongst them.

 Even the mustard was nice to see.  Granted, it's 2 feet tall, and is everywhere, but still, it's green!

Just a parting shot of the pretty flowers on our glorious morning at the farm.

A Little Surprise

Sometimes, there's a BIG surprise waiting in the nesting box. 

 This wasn't one of those.

 This was a little surprise.

This poor little egg isn't much bigger than the quarter!  And, yes, it's a chicken egg.  Sometimes, this happens.  I'm assuming it's from my hen that is just now old enough to lay eggs. 

Her eggs are usually larger than this one.

We are also assuming it's empty, or almost empty.  We will not be breaking it open just to find out.  Instead, this little feller will have a home on one of my shelves.

Where it can live, safe and sound, AMEN.

The Big day.

Saturday was Jody's big day.  Her wedding day.

Kev, Kat and I went back to Northwest Kansas this weekend for Jody's wedding.  We left home fairly early in the morning because Kev hoped to have time to drive to his former facilities to see patients and people he worked with before we moved.  I didn't have to be at the wedding site till rehearsal, at 6 that evening.  We dropped Miss Kat off with Miss Jenna in Colby, and we drove on to Goodland, then up to St. Francis and finally headed back to Atwood, which was the location for the wedding.  Since Kev had worked at the nursing homes in all three communities, it worked out well.

Of course everyone he worked with was happy to see him.  Some of the patients he hoped to see had died, so he was sad to learn of that, but he enjoyed seeing everyone and seeing the changes made in various facilities.  It was also great to see how green NW Kansas is.  All the flowering trees were in bloom, which is at least 2 weeks earlier than normal.

We checked into our hotel, and then Kev dropped me off at rehearsal and he met Lynn Dale for supper.  Rehearsal went well, and the rehearsal dinner was good.  What was best was just having some time to sit and visit and catch up with everyone.  Jody wasn't too stressed; but she  was at that point where she was ready to be done with wedding stuff and get on with the marriage. 

Saturday morning, we girls gathered at the church to get primped.  Jody had two gals booked to do hair and they were kept busy!  We bridesmaids all had our hair up and I sure wished I had stock in bobby pins.  There were tons used in our hair!

Pictures of the Bride and Groom began at 1:00, and the rest of us needed to be ready by 2:00.  The Bride, Jody, isn't known for her punctuality...but we had her ready and upstairs almost on time.  The photographer was giving her and Trent (aka the Groom) a couple of "alone" minutes.  I peeked in, but instantly got weepy and teary and quickly went back downstairs.  Lordy, I was in trouble.  But, I got myself under control and didn't cry again.  Weepy?  yes, but cry?  No.  Although Miss Kat told her Dad that I was trying real hard NOT to cry as I walked down the aisle.  I thought I had it under control by then...

It was a very nice and personal ceremony.  Trent is adopting Jody's youngest child, Josie and they had a special little exchange of vows--just the two of them.  Which was a cheek biter for me, (if you bite your cheek, you won't cry...)  Then, Jody's boys joined their Mom, Trent, and sister for a sand ceremony.  The sand ceremony signified they were all joining together as a new family and that once combined, their various colored sands could never be separated, just as their lives would never be separate.  It was very unique and very special to witness.

And then we partied.  There was the supper, the reception and the dance.  No one warned me, but I was supposed to give a toast.  I psyched myself up, and then couldn't do it.  Fortunately, Debbie, one of the bridesmaids, wanted to do it and did a great job.  She almost cried but managed to get through it.  People on TV give toasts and never cry...I wish I could say the same.  I wish I could have done it, but I wouldn't have gotten through it.  Remember, when I left CCC, Jody and I couldn't say good-bye, because we were afraid of the tears, so I hope she knows me enough to know the thought was there, but it just would make it out!

Jody has been in my life for many years.  I've watched and shared some happy times with her and some sad times.  I wasn't sure she was marrying the right guy the first time she got married, but I think she got it right this time.  Trent makes her laugh, and he understands that she's a crier.  She cries when she's happy, sad, and scared.  He's OK with that.  She's a calmer person with him--because he's there to support her and she doesn't have to be strong all the time.  She lit up every time she looked at him, and he did the same.  Since I haven't been around to watch this relationship grow, I was very happy to see what Trent gives her.  And, those friends of mine who do know Trent said that she does the same for him. 

I'm glad I was a part of it...

even IF I had to wear a damn dress.

AND...for those who wanted to see pictures...here's a few. 

 Kev took time to teach Kat to two step.

 Jenna (Left) and Miss Kat (right)

 This little girl fell in love with Kat and Jenna and asked the girls to dance with her.  Then, after their dance, she burst into tears because some other little girl told her she wasn't a good dancer and that Kat and Jenna would never dance with her.  So, the girls danced with her at least one more time.  It was a proud Mama moment for me.

 We three girls.  Me, Debbie, and Melanie.  The groom's Aunt, Pat, made our shawls.  They were beautiful!

And...finally, one of Kev and I...in our "almost" natural state.

Fire...just pictures

I decided to post these cuz pictures of fires are just cool.  Or they are when you live in a family of pseudo-pyromaniacs! 

Fire

Ever since Grandma and Grandpa B died, Mom's been hoping and begging and asking and nagging Dad to burn down the old buildings on the Hill.  No one has lived in the house since the late '60's early '70's and it has deteriorated and was actually a hazard.  The bathroom was being held up by the vent pipe and the house wasn't even safe to walk into anymore. 

It needed to be gone. 

We happened to get rain last week, so Dad finally decided to burn the house down since fire danger was low.  Even if we had 30 mph winds, it's so wet and humid right now that the grass wouldn't burn which means no danger of prairie fire.

Kev and I drove down early Saturday morning, arriving out at the hill at 8:30 a.m.

 Dad had already lit the house afire and was watching it catch.  Here's where it was less than 30 minutes after he started the fire. 

10 minutes later, the roof was fully engaged.

 And...within another 30 minutes, it was basically all down on the ground.  I was astounded at how quickly a house can burn down.  Dad told me that his and Mom's house would burn down just as quickly--simply because of its age.  What sobering information.  I informed Kev that our next house was going to be built of stone or cinder block!

 We took advantage of the weather, and Dad and Kev lit up some downed trees and trash as well as the house...

 And then we moved on to the old chicken house--which was leaning to the east.  It was full of old wood that Grandpa was saving for "someday", but was now rotten.  It also sat next to a junk pile with wood, fence posts, old water heaters, barbed wire rolls, and other junk.  The shed behind the one burning above, we wanted to save...however, it spontaneously combusted from the heat of the chicken house.

 Then we went on to another 2 junk piles that were mainly trees and old iron pieces.  The one above must have had a tire on the bottom of that brush.  We didn't know it was there, or we would have removed it before lighting the fire.  You aren't supposed to burn rubber because of air pollution, but accidents do happen, and this was an accident.

By the end of the day, all that you see here was gone. And, the old barn is gone too.  We burned it, but I didn't have the camera with me.  Why?  Because I was out in it with Dad and Kev, waiting for it to catch.  It finally did, so Dad and I decided to open the gate and go out the "back" way.  Before I could get the darned  gate unchained, it was getting rather...warm.  Dad asked me to "hurry up and get that gate open, it's getting hot!"

The barn was gone in less than 30 minutes.

Maybe I should be sad to see all these buildings gone, but Grandpa and Grandma didn't live there in my lifetime, and the buildings needed to be gone.  Now that they are gone, we can pick up the scrap tin and iron and take it to the salvage yard.  Then we can take the tractor and clean up the rest making the hill area safe and clean.

Note:  This was a controlled burn.  All local regulations were followed.  The controlled burn was reported and all attempts were made to abide by the law.