Moo

Can you see us?

Way down in the back of pasture near the white dots which are the Amish farm beside us. Mom says we have to come back into the arena pasture for the night now.

Sunset is pretty.

Here we come.

Past the new wheel on the heavy gate she has to open. 

The other gate to the front lot got new hinges and mounted off the ground too. It's been few yrs in the works but better late than never.

We're slow but steady.

Gem

Diamond

Aggie and Diamonds calf

Mom calls me bad names but nothing regular. I don't stay inside the fenced area. The electric isn't strong enough with blackberry vines tangled in it. That's not my fault! But that's why she doesn't let us stay out in big pasture overnight. Something about wanting to sleep undisturbed.

Fine we're all headed through gate.

Till tomorrow when we get to go back out to graze. Our corn wagon won't be filled till Tuesday. I miss the sweet corn wagon.

Your truly , Miss Agate's Sin and crew that moos!

They helped post cause I was busy pulling sweet potato vine out of my ole lilac / new garden plot.

It enjoyed this summers weird weather for sure.

The bee balm is all mildewed and moldy looking. I assume poor air circulation but am not sure.

I love this deep purply blue salvia that seeds itself.

LN seems to be recovering well. Yesterday and today she finished her summer homework in the nick of time. She ate well and introduced more food variety with everything agreeing with her system. 

School begins tomorrow. Hopefully she makes it through the days classes as her stamina needs rebuilt.

Thankfully field hockey is taking tomorrow off so she has few more days to rebuild her weight.

The tomatoes I put in the crockpot this morning are filling the house with aroma. The other crockpot has supper of pioneer beans. I'll add cornbread and make potatoes, mashed or baked fries I'm not sure yet.

Still Sick...

LN is still sick.

Sick enough her doctor wanted to admit her to hospital Thursday night.

She's had a GI infection (the flu) and has become dehydrated and lost significant weight.

She became highly upset at being in the hospital or more like getting stuck by needles.

Her doctor and I agreed to let her try to eat and drink enough by Monday to avoid that.

The doctor will check her again Monday to be sure she's recovering.

School starts Monday also.

The doctor said she has to stay away from field hockey till next week.

She's trying to eat and drink but is about 1/8th of her usual intake.

It's going to be a long haul I believe.

She's being a pain today so I'd say she's on the mend.

Dang kids...



Needed Done so I Did....

Front view this afternoon.

Rear view as I chopped the grass/weeds out of the pasture. Some almost as high as the tractor. Course I had to fix the bush hog first . My life....

And so...

LN has had a stomach virus that's kicked her hard. Nothing stays down or in if ya know what I mean :/

She is out the other side and the expulsions are almost over thankfully but she's weak as a kitten.

Funny phrase cause most kittens I've know can rip you apart.

Anyhoo I stopped at drugstore for pedialite freezer pops and liquids. Hopefully she regains fast as she's in the middle of pre season and can't last very long at practices. 

I'm a mean Mom cause I say eat, drink and suck it up, buttercup.

She is not amused.  

Otherwise she got her license and jeep Monday. 

Now to learn to drive the 5 speed manual transmission. She had small lesson in our field but we need bigger area to really get it done. We have 6 months so not a major rush before she's on her own.

I learned by myself at 19 yr old at 5 am the day after I bought mine on a steep hill with a stop sign midway up where I was traveling. It took awhile but I figured it out and so will she.

Thankfully as a rule Delaware is flat.

Shopping

Here we go....

LN is shopping.

Bought this ....

Oops seemed like too good of a deal to pass on. 

Private owned, engine looks cleanest with no major indicators showing, owners garage floor and parking areas show no oil spots, no major rust, drives well, tires  and brakes good, car fax report good, so....

It's a 5 speed manual, crap I'm going to have to relearn as LN learns. It's an hour 1/2 away so I'll learn when I pick it up next week.

Sky went we came home matched the jeep's color.

Coincidence?

Balloon

Balloons make everyone happy.

I helped move a friend to college in PA last week. On the way home we saw a balloon in the distance and I decided to follow it for 45 minutes.

Started behind the grocery store....

Over some power lines...

Over Rt 30 east of Lancaster ...

One of the top 5 most dangerous roads in America.

The owners set it down in between 2 cornfields on a small gravel path. I'm thinking it was not intentional grounding. That area was very congested with people, traffic, businesses, etc.

They landed safely so alls well that ends well.

Still beautiful!

And Go.....

Opinions and advice wanted, be honest...

Anxiety - can't breath, throwing up, not eating, getting sick, sweating anxiety

tips, advice, experiences, anything



And go...

On a side note  this is not me that is having this issue. I'm trying to help someone else.

Bday celebration attempt...

My lil girl is 16 today! 

I tried to surprise her with a small get together with several friends last night .

She recognized a car in the local diner lot.

Still had fun. Low key and simple just like her.

Today while birthday girl is at field hockey tryouts I'm keeping myself busy. 

Lining em up...

How would you carry this?

I didn't have another bucket with me. 

I managed but I stopped a few times to restack. I had some tomatoes at the house I combined with this bucket . An assembly line was formed.  

I put tomatoes through the squeezo and into the 2 crockpots.

Next up I blanched and bagged green beans.

Moved onto sausage, venison and hamburger meatballs that I formed to freeze for easy suppers later.

I finished with cutting up green peppers and freezing them on cookies sheets with jalapeños which I left whole.

None of the veggies were massive quantities but I'm taking what I get this year.

After I ended cleaning up the mess and giving chickens the scraps. The worse part of the job.

The weather has moderated again. The humidity has gone way down and temps are in upper 80's. Better than 90's with 100% humidity we had at fair.

Hopefully I'll get more tomatoes to can. I'm toying with planting another round of green beans. A fall harvest? I figure I have 10 weeks left before freezing.

LN is working on summer homework. She has 2 books left to read and report on. She starts tryouts for school field hockey Saturday (her 16th birthday). Preparing has meant lots of working out and running. School starts the 31st so suppose and clothes are being inventoried. 

Summer is running away...

Death Watch

I'm on a death watch in the garden. Several weeks of over 100* with the heat index coupled with sporadic rains and me gone to fair for a week and a half. This all adds up to tragedy.

I picked a half bucket of green beans as I pulled the dying plants up. As I sort them I may get a meal for us.

Cucumbers were in this piece of row now in pile. I came back to all 4 plants yellowed out.

Sweet potatoes to the right are growing so hopefully we'll have a harvest in the fall.

Watermelon plants are dying, zucchini is gone, summer squash as well. I think cantaloupes are going shortly.

Tomatoes have so much blossom end rot  I'm severely perturbed. Sounds better than pissed right? 

I did pick a bucket and half of possibilities . After sorting and cutting out bad spots I'll see where how it goes . There are many more on the plants if weather normalizes. Please God I love homemade tomato sauce.

I did pick green peppers and jalopenos. No one like them but me so small harvest is fine. Dill plants are all ripe and falling apart. I've never harvested it before but hope too before it dies out or sheds completely on the ground. I've always planted them as deterrent for tomato hornworms. This year I haven't seen one yet knock on my hard head. 

Weeds surround the outside of garden waist high so I wonder if air circulation is a problem? 

Otherwise I'm swapped cleaning up camper and house from fair. Laundry out the "was-sue" if that's the word. 

LN is a camp counselor again this week so she helps at night but by then I'm beat.

Yard was a mess, flower gardens weed riddin ! Seriously it was only 10 days.

Ugghhh ....

S's oldest son and family driving in from Texas tonight or tomorrow so I'm rushing to get ready. 

Timing is everything or nothing....

Come on fall!!!!