The Rain Barrels Are In!

Yup, there they are; three in front and one in back. They hold 40 gallons apiece.
Mike and I put them together and installed them. We had to cut the downspouts to slide the barrels underneath. Now why on earth would we need rain barrels?

One, because the downspouts keep getting clogged at the bottom in front when the grass grows.

Two, because the downspout in back drains right next to the basement wall - which means that the rainwater on the roof gets funnelled directly to the basement and soaks thru. Now, that may not sound like a lot to you - after all, an inch or two of rain isn't that much, is it? Well, no - but when you multiply that over about 1000 square feet of roof, by golly, you get a LOT of water!

And three, because these rain barrels can provide us with rainwater for watering plants when it doesn't rain - see the hose attachments? Hook a hose to that and drain it into whatever garden, wherever we want. No pressure spray, of course... but "free" water all the same.
In this next picture, you see two downspouts. We ordered a diverter to hook up the front downspout to the rear one and divert its water into the barrel, too. Naturally, we ordered both at the same time, the barrels were on backorder, so they sent the diverter thru the Postal Service - it is still en route. The barrels were shipped three days ago by Fed Ex and are already here...


Look at the area below; see how the rainwater has pounded the ground so much from the downspout that it is almost bare? All that water, pouring straight down toward the basement wall, and collecting.... Now it will collect in the barrel instead. (You can also see where I've been working on gradually berming the basement wall to keep the water out. )


I am really excited about getting these in. They have a filter in the top to keep out the leaves and trash. Because of the wind here, we weighted the barrels with bricks and rocks - and that will raise the water level too a little bit when it rains, to give us a little more water flow when we turn on the thumb valve to water.

Ok, maybe small things really do amuse small minds; but they are just so damned neat. The FedEx guy was very curious as to why we would want rain barrels - guess they don't think much about that kinda stuff here.

Tomorrow we go to Rapid City to go to Sam's. I have a huge list; stuff I like to buy in bulk instead of 'running to the store' every couple of days. I HATE to shop anyway, and the closest grocery store is 38 miles away - just too damned far to go when I am so busy HERE. I am going to take Mike thru the Badlands on a side trip, and (he doesn't know it yet) I might talk him into going up to Mt Rushmore, too. Might as well make a day of it; we'll leave first thing in the morning - about 6 - and it is a three hour trip, so we might as well do some stuff while we are 'out'. Probably won't be too crowded, either - no one gives a damn about history or topography or geology any more, and no kid wants to spend his summer vacation doing 'old' stuff. Rapid only has a population of 40,000 - not a very crowded city, after all! And hard to get to unless you drive, and driving or flying is so expensive... we'll see just how harsh the impact is on traveling. But this ain't Walt Disney World, after all! The less people, the better...

I'd better swap out the camera battery just in case; don't want to miss a thing...

My Ass Update

Well, I cornered the little buggerer in a stall last night. They came up late for dinner - obviously out carousing - and I simply closed the corral gate while they were eating. "Wolfie" decided to try to go under it, so I stepped in front of it. Then as they went to the water, I walked over and opened the stall door, then walked back to the gate. After about 10 minutes, Wolfie's curiosity got the better of him and he went in. I swung the door shut.

Man that was one PO'ed little ass. He kicked the stall walls repeatedly, and tried to reach through and bite me thru the panels. Lake and I stood outside the door for a few minutes, and I stroked and scratched her. Then she wandered out of the corral. Then little Wolfie really got nutzoid. He started digging under the door. We put a piece of goat fence in front of the gate, and he really got mad. We had several storms last night, and before they hit we could hear his little angry brays coming from the stall.

Sure enough, this morning, his little ass was trotting up the hill with Lake. He had kicked one of the boards down in the night and gotten free. His owner, Mike Jones, called us this afternoon and told us that he was sending a friend over to try to collect the little ass.

Taylor came by about 6. He told us all about this little hellion; he really hasn't been able to be kept anywhere, and he kicked Taylor in the leg. Wolfie is like a cat; gets out of everywhere he is being put. He refused to stop nursing his mother and made her puny, and resented being separated from her. He is not merely stubborn, but mean, to the kids, to adults, to his own mother, to everyone. Taylor has suggested that he be put down - he is unpettable and refuses to be trained. The vet cannot neuter him because he is too young. The vet said Wolfie's attitude is not hormonal - the ass really is just an ass. Smart as a whip, and a damned shame to waste life - but he simply does not want to be contained; he wants to be a wild ass. He is still too immature to breed - even though he is determined to do so!

In other words, a typical teenager... Too bad. If I had the time, patience, and strength - as well as a sturdy place to keep him confined! - I wouldn't mind working with him, maybe seeing if he could be reached; he is really smart. But I don't and neither does anyone else. And would the gain be worthwhile? He is too small to do any real work, and we don't have grandchildren to ride him. I don't see the use of keeping any animal that cannot be utilized. I'm sure my liberal, save-the-animal-with-glass-eyes-and-no-back-legs would be horrified... But there it is. A purposeless life is not worth preserving - especially one that is detemined to be purposeless. So we'll see if Taylor puts him down...

Jackass Love

OK, had a busy day planned again today; and, as usual, something interrupted. Lake wandered up this morning - very unusual; she usually comes up in the evenings.
But this time she had a surprise for me. She didn't look too pleased about it either. Seems she had picked up an admirer...

He was following her around, and shall we say that his passion was very self-evident? Now, this sorta reminded us of the time when our Chihuahua Wolfie fell in love with our Spitz, Prissy... a lot of unrequited love (we thought) until Prissy ended up pregnant. All we could figure was that Wolfie had found a stepladder. Not much chance here - we hope - Lake is a 26 year old mare, and, well, there are no stepladders in the pasture.

Still, there he was, passionately trailing her, making advances, and narrowly avoiding her disgruntled hooves. Where did he come from? There goes my morning, shot in the ass, as I now have to go put on my boots and walk the fence line to find out where the little jackass got in. Dammit.

So I go down to the west gate. This gate backs onto the westernmost road in town; I was hoping he was a townie ass, and didn't come from the property that backs up to our back forty. Lake likes to hang out at the West gate; I don't know why. Sure enough, there in a backyard was the prettiest little jenny, looking at me and crying. Her man had left her alone. I walked down the shared fence line and found the spot where the little jack had wormed through; he had even left a knot of his mane on the barbed wire. So I called Mike on the walkie, and he drove down to the gate with his wire and fence cutters. We repaired the fence. The whole time little jenny was crying next to us, seeking comfort. Lake and her ass were nowhere in sight, but we fixed the fence. I left a note on the door of the house that was in front of the yard, telling them about their ass, and that we had fixed the fence and they could get him any time. I hope that they get home soon and take the little jack off.

He is wearing a halter. If they come back together this evening for supper, I'll close the corral gate and snag him with a longue line and walk him home. Little ass took two hours out of my day, and probably ruined Lake's!!

ROFL Ok, this was too funny NOT to share. But every word of it is true, I swear!

Sleepy Sunday

Today was oddly productive and lovely. We are unpacking faster now; we are down to the last 20 boxes or so. Out of over 300 that is some accomplishment! The front room with the bay window is all set up now; looking neat and tidy except for a few stray boxes that have to go downstairs. Now we are to the stage of re-packing; finding things that are not useful right NOW, like Christmas ornaments and winter clothes. We set aside boxes for them and in they go.

But Mike got the pictures hung and I have the bay window set up at last with the vignette I planned; the North vs South chess set I made for Mike seven years ago. The base is Fort Sumter. It is huge and heavy and very substantial - and if you look thru the window at it you can see either the GWTW poster or Scarlett on the opposite wall. We put a gooseneck spot on it and light it up at night. I like it better than the standard light on the table in the window... It will of course change with the seasons; the Christmas Village and the Halloween stuff will succede it in time, but I am very proud of that chess set!









I finally got my cherry tree planted today. It is so hard to pick a spot - can't be too close to the corral, because its leaves are poisonous to cows and horses. Can't be out in the middle of nowhere, or a snowplow or car might impact it when the snow gets heavy. Can't be under one of the big hawthornes or maples or it won't grow. Has to be protected from winds and snowdrifts... So I put it near the tack shop, between the tack shop and corral. Used the Guerney's fertilizer for Fruit Trees that I had for my peaches, and lined the hole with aged horse manure.

While I was out there, Lake came up... apparently she was feeling rather lonely and curious, because it was still morning. Mike and I fed her Oreos and talked to her. She is still a little shy but getting better. While she wandered around, I raked up a lot of cut grass that Mike mowed down with the mower, it has dried and looks like green hay. I loaded it into the wheelbarrow and wheeled it inside the corral. I headed for the north barn to put it in the gated partition; and Lake came over quietly... and began nosing the grass out of the wheelbarrow onto the ground! LOL Brat. She was cutting her eyes at me while she did it, too. I treated her for flies again yesterday; they are vicious and gather around her in swarms. Nancy says I'm spoiling her, but hey, at that age she deserves to be a little spoiled!

Must bring in the rest of the clothes off the line and finish painting the porch but it is Sunday and I am sleepy....

Today was not a good day

No, not at all. Bad stomach cramps in the AM, and it was raining at 600, so I went down into the basement for 4 hours and quietly unpacked my molds and kiln furniture and ceramics. I arranged my room as much as I could. I need to get the other two tables up, but I was trying to be quiet and peaceful, hoping the pain would go away. It didn't. When I came upstairs, I was hurting so bad that I went back to bed. I took my medication - I HATE it; it makes me so tired - and Mike made me two rum-n-cokes and I fell asleep for an hour. Then I just kinda lay around and watched TV.

The sky was red and gold this morning, and it was chilly. It was so pretty I had to take a picture of it, though. I knew it meant more rain, but I just can't get over the powerful colors in the sky here. I so much wanted to get out and rototill the garden today! It should be totally different than digging thru all of that hardpack clay down South. Because of the rain and resultant cold, most folks' freshly planted gardens are not doing well. The grasses on the hills are so tall and green already, though! Since I haven't been able to plant too much, I'm thinking that everything but the cole crops could still go in... The cabbages, peas, and lettuces will have to wait til late August to take advantage of the fall weather. I have a feeling that it will get pretty warm here pretty quickly. The sunflower seeds I dropped in the garden between the roses and daylilies last week are already coming up. I'll have to get that white fence sanded and repainted to give them a good backdrop - and before I put too many drops of white paint on them! LOL

Nancy got me hooked up with the local artists' group here; there is a retreat of sorts this week and I plan on dropping by. It is at Merritt Dam at the cabins, so nice and peaceful. And yesterday at the Hub I met a lady who invited me to the Relay for Life in Valentine on July 12. Well, I want to take part but the day before we are supposed to be in Kearney at the Dexter show, so I don't know... a little late to get involved, and I would rather work with a team than just walk a track.

Dearest Charles wrote me a response to my most recent email to him; he says I have so much energy I make him tired. If he would have seen me today, he would not think so! I bust my butt until I just collapse; not good for me, I know, but I have to take advantage of the days I feel good and get things done. But, dang, I noticed today that my muscles are coming back with a vengeance; especially my tummy and thighs. I love being muscled, tough, and strong, and hate being fat. The more I do the more I CAN do, and that is a good feeling. Until a day like today!

Taaaa Daaa!

So there I was yesterday, mowing the last bit of grass behind the house, when the mower (not me, for once) ran out of gas. Suddenly I heard an engine roar - and there was Mike, tooling around on the riding lawnmower! He busily cut the high grass next to the garden, then came up in front of me! He was grinnin like a mule eatin briars...

We'd just bought it last Saturday at the auction. The ad said it ran, but when we got to the auction, the owner said it ran - last year, but not this year. They tried the motor and it was struggling to turn over - no binding or hesitation - but would not. So we got it and the push mower together for $125. Mike has been working on the rider ever since, in between all the other stuff - getting the washer and dryer downstairs and working - while I struggled to mow the yard with the push mower. No way I was going to tackle the garden in back with it, or the side garden, but the yard HAD to get done.

Oh, I'd knew he'd do it - he's never met an engine he couldn't get to work. There was oil all over the points and plug, and they were dirty - apparently the thing had never had a tuneup. So he took everything apart and cleaned it and sanded the points, and voila! Riding lawnmower!

FINALLY we can get that wild and woolly property next to the house mowed down and reasonable for growing things!

I took him to dinner at the Hub to celebrate, and Pat was astonished. First that we had bought something that wouldn't work, then that Mike could get something like that to work! She said that her hubby wouldn't even work on something that wasn't running if it had been running when they bought it! I didn't say anything, cause Mike used to be the same way - he was working and didn't have the time or the energy. Now this place IS his work...

Yesterday evening, I went out and brushed Lake with the bug repellant on the curry brush. She liked the brushing - the smell of the bug stuff, not so much. When I went out the gate to get more bug stuff, she went into the corral; when I flipped the gate lock, he looked at me - I swear she laughed! - and galloped out of the corral into the pasture! Well, I wasn't going to chase her - even though she stopped and looked back and seemed to expect me to - I just laughed at her and waved, went out and shut the gate. At least now she has SOME protection.

Long day today...

It dawned clear and warm- 63 deg - this morning, so I went down into the basement. In between doing loads of laundry and taking them out the back to the clothesline, I worked on unpacking and repacking all of my ceramics, Christmas stuff - everything that had been taken down to the basement. I unpacked everything except the five BIG boxes of small molds and put everything up on the electrical room and ceramic room shelves, clearly marked - the fall decorations, the spring decorations, the miscellaneous vases, bottles, and glassware. Lots of Christmas stuff; everything from lights and garlands to della robbia wreaths and trees.

I'm a little nervous about those shelves in the ceramics room; they are made of wood shelves and cinderblock supports, not nailed together like the ones in the electrical room. My molds are so heavy! The big tree I had to put under the shelves; it was just too tall. I'll have to unload and label the molds in the boxes and stack them as best I can - the little ones on the shelves, bigger ones on the floor. Glad the furnace is in that room; it will help keep the molds dry. It'll also dry out my greenware a lot more quickly in the winter when I'm down there! Unlike the garage I was in, in Hardeeville, this room has a readily available water source for my mud mixes.

I cleaned and vaccuumed the utility room, too. It smells so good down there now - not musty and damp like it was starting to again. Having the big outside door open all day helped that, too... the breeze coming in and freshening it.

Set up the shelves for food storage when the order comes in, too. I hated waiting to order til we got here; it takes eight weeks to fill orders and they are having some trouble filling orders for some items. Everything dehydrated and in either #10 cans or pails that vary in size. I ordered a lot - more than a year's supply - so we'll see what they can ship. The shelves in that room are good and sturdy, screwed into the wall. It is next to the furnace room so the cans and pails should stay pretty dry this winter; but not IN the furnace room so things don't get too hot.

Nancy left a lot of empty pickle and other glass gallon size jars, as well as glass cider jars, down there. They should prove good for storage, especially of the opened cans' and pails' foodstuffs, as well. I boxed them up and put them in the food storage room.

So basically I spent the whole day organizing the basement, except for going out and hanging the laundry, then bringing it back in again. I ran out of space and had to use the dryer for one load.

I went out to feed Lake; she has been coming in to the barn when I go into the corral with her feed. Today she ate one Oreo but spit the other out; don't know why. As she went to her feeder, I saw that she was covered with flies! Poor little girl. I went online and got some herbal recipes for fly repellant, but wrote Nancy an email to check and see if she had a preference. Since she is not MY horse, I can't presume to just do whatever I want.

Anyway, Mike made supper and folded the socks after I brought them in. I was glad of it - I was starting to get tired, bringing in and folding all of those clothes! I'm glad I won't have to let them pile up like that again! He hung the pic of Scarlett O'Hara right where I wanted it; you can see it from the front door when you come in, and it looks like she is looking dead at you!

I wore my big knee brace with the big metal hinges all day yesterday and today; I just stripped it off. What a relief! I hate wearing it; it starts to chafe and burn, but I HAVE to or I'll not be able to walk the next day. Aggravating thing.

I have been wearing jeans and no makeup for two solid weeks now, except for the day we signed the papers and last Sunday for Mars' graduation party. It feels wonderful to get up and just throw on jeans and a shirt, maybe a jacket, and GO. Tomorrow is supposed to be warm and pretty, just like today, and drier still - think I'll be able to finish mowing the yard tomorrow once the dew dries up. Then I might tackle either the front room or the family room boxes. I wonder if I am purposely avoiding the remaining boxes of clothes upstairs? You betcha! LOL It's getting organized but it is still frustrating to find all of those clothes that I used to wear and can't fit back into yet. Oh, well - maybe another month.

Kewl Discoveries

We went into the garage today to get the lawnmowers; Mike to work on the riding lawnmower, and me to push the self-propelled mulcher around the yard - with all of the rain we've had, and the lawn not being mowed in three weeks, the grass was almost knee-deep! So I got to work, but Mike called me back after an hour - he'd found the old metal sign for the dairy that used to be here. Rusted but I might clean it up and hang it.

The garage is coming down eventually; it really is too far gone to do anything with, the insurer said he couldn't even insure it! 100 year old wood and cedar shingles can be used elsewhere; the chicken coop or the greenhouse. I could probably sell the wood on EBay and make a killing, but I won't - too useful. Everyone uses and reuses everything here. Some old metal signs - old billboards- actually make up one side of the tack shop.

The door to the basement from the backyard we finally forced open yesterday. It is spiderwebby between the outside and inside doors but it is a quicker access than going up the stairs into the back porch, then going inside and going down a flight of stairs! So much easier to bring the laundry out to the clothesline. Yes we have a dryer but the wind blows here all of the time and clothes, even jeans, dry in less than two hours. And the air smells so sweet! The cottonwoods are blooming now and the air is thick with the scent. Now so are our clothes. Beween the pure untainted water and the fresh sweet air, our clothes are soft even off the line.

Yesterday too we found the local supplier of honey. I have never seen honey so pale yellow; the bees only hang out in alfalfa and clover fields where the cattle graze, and the honey is so light and sweet and rich. I bought two bottles; and I think I know what some Christmas presents will include this year!

The last little discovery was something so small and so dumb... The movers had unloaded my molds onto shelves in the basement. I walked into the room and there sat a two foot high mold of a dwarf that I didn't even know I had!! Many of the larger molds I got from Janine's daddy when he passed I didn't even look at or open. It was odd seeing that.

Today it got up to 85; but the south wind was so dry and cool that even mowing all of that grass was - well, ok, not pleasant but tolerable! It is still blowing tonight; gusting occasionally up to 30 mph, but so warm that it is still 73 degrees out there. The storms predicted for tomorrow look to pass us by to the West and North. Yesterday I got another great pic of a huge rainbow that seemed to touch the earth right on our back hill. Those storms went around us, too.

Tomorrow I will finish cutting the back yard and get some more clothes out on the line. It seems kind of boring I know but it isn't; the weather and the little surprises every day make everything just seem to flow into the next thing, the next day, the next job to do. We have the house open tonight and the wind blowing thru, it is warm and smells so good; dry. flowery, fresh, and so relaxing after a long sweaty day.

Sunday Already??

Wow. It has been raining most of the week; over 10 inches as of yesterday morning, and we had still more last night. Last Sunday the wind was from out of the north and it got so damp and chilly we lit a fire in the woodburning stove. Before that, though, we went to Merritt Dam and walked the pups around it, just to take a break - we had been unpacking steadily since the movers came Friday. I drove south on 97 towards Mullen just so Mike could see how vast the river was, and all of the parks, campgrounds, and fishing holes that lined it. Black storm clouds loomed and we decided to turn around. We no sooner walked in the door at home than we heard that there had been a tornado 30 miles north of Mullen that had crossed Highway 97!!

This week has been a bear; with all the rain everyones' basements have flooded, ours included. We wetvac and then take the water up in five gallon buckets. It isn't too bad - it is a huge basement and the water spreads out- but it is damp and cold down there. Mike caught a cold and is in bed today. Today I went down and wetvac'ed and carried buckets - then took a mop and bleach down with me and poured the bleach all over the cement. Then I mopped it up with the remaining water. It smells much better now; not so dank and dreary. Today the west wind has blown the clouds away and it is sunny and windy and about 70 degrees. So I opened up the house and the basement door to air everything out.

Yesterday we went to an auction 1/2 mile up the road; a family sold their farm and we needed some stuff. We got a washer and dryer for $100; they are only two years old. We got a riding lawnmower and a gas push mower for $125, too. I need to do laundry; I am out of jeans, even after losing one pants size already due to all of this work!! But I have to dress a little today; Jaqui's daughter is having her graduation party in Valentine. Valentine is only 38 miles away, but in the Central Time Zone; we are in the Mountain Time zone. So while the graduation is at 4 it is actually at 3 my time. Here they call it "Fast time" and "slow time"... You can leave Valentine and get home at the same time you left! My car clocks are on Central time, my house clocks are on Mountain time. Have to remember to get laundry soap and Downy while I am out; once we get the washer and dryer down into the basement tomorrow, I will be doing laundry. There is a laundry chute into the basement, but I'll still have to bring the clean clothes up when I'm done! LOL

Mike has a walkin closet off of his room downstairs; one whole room upstairs across from my BR is a closet for me. Mike's bed and new recliner were delivered Wednesday this week; the bed raises and lowers the feet and has massage. His chair is called "The Beast" and it dwarfs my little recliner... he has every comfort now for his back and hip.

I told the folks at the Hub the other night that I was to the point of chunking everything into the yard that hadn't been upacked yet and having a bonfire!! LOL

I got the girl at True Value to mix up the perfect red for the outside trim of the house; it is a deep Bing Cherry, almost black-red. Startling and so pretty. We have matching gliders on the verandah and I managed to plant quite a few daylilies and roses from my tarped SC plants. I am busy all the time and have a huge list of things that need to be done, but at least here everything is cheap and readily available.

Busy but very content. This is how I wanted things to be...