THE WEEKEND

On Sunday, I was determined to finish mowing, and edge with the new parts to repair the weedeater.

Here is part (a very small part) of the before....on Saturday...

...and here is the after on Sunday.

Oh wait, where is the photo?  That's because there was no chance to do it.  After awakening to the horrible news from Orlando, I wasn't in the frame of mind but I went anyway just to clear my head and try to have happy thoughts, hoping I might get the rest of the things done.  But as it turned out...

...here's the radar from about 3pm.  I was already back in town (the red dot) and the farm was under the dark red storms.  2nd Family said we got about an inch of rain after I left.  And the power went out and stayed out for about 3 hours.  Apparently, I didn't miss much.

Backing up, on Saturday, I was able to mow most of the spots that I needed to mow but I was literally on the zen machine for 6 hours...and it still needs more mowing and clearing.

I started getting the trails back but it's work, even on the mower.  I mowed with the deck in the up position so it would skim off the top a bit.  Then I had to lower it back down to the highest level trim level and mow over the same spot again. Then I lowered it again to normal and mowed the same spot one more time to get it looking somewhat neat.  

It was pretty much like doing it all three times!

Once again, I was able to make the neighbor cows VERY happy.  They have about 15 acres to graze with on their own side, but I guess freshly mowed grass is  a special and yummy treat.  Of course, I think they really love that I drive the mower so it all blows over to their side.  Happy cows!

Speaking of happy...

2nd Family's dog "BLUE", came to visit.  He loves to run up onto our porch and sit and look back down the driveway...

...then he always looks at me like "what are we gonna do now?"

It doesn't take him long...

...and he's gone.

So that was the weekend, not what I imagined in my head by any means...but I made a dent and that's all that matters.  I'm actually taking a vacation day this Friday so I can go to the farm, possibly all three days.  Sunday is Father's Day but since we don't have our Fathers, we'll need to fill up our time and working at the farm (WEATHER COOPERATING, ha).  It sounds like something our Dad's would have enjoyed doing.

I'll catch up on comments tonight...

ORLANDO

It's raining at the farm, which today, somehow seems appropriate...

"...this is a sobering reminder that attacks on any American - regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation - is an attack on all of us and on the fundamental values of equality and dignity that define us a nation."

               - President Barack Obama, 6/12/2016

BACK OUT TO THE FARM AGAIN

Not so much fun yesterday after all...

I started with the weedeater but then the head on it broke.  So no edging.

As it turned out, probably a good thing because I started mowing instead...

And mowing...

And mowing...it was a nightmare.

The mower kept getting stuck in tall grass.  As you can see above, the mulched grass clippings are just everywhere, and I am not raking acres and acres of grass.  I was on the mower for almost 6 hours.  STILL not finished.  There are areas I didn't get to, and of course I never even looked in the garden, I figure I'll do that today.

I had to come back home as I was worn out.  

Today it's a stop at Home Depot to get the part to fix the weedeater, then I'll do all the edging first, and finish the mowing and then work in the garden.

For the first time in a while, the time on the mower was not so Zen...

I'll just focus on the end result which should look much better.  

TIME TO HAVE SOME YARD FUN

Short post this morning because I'm off to see how much I can get done.  It hasn't rained all week, it's been in the upper 80's and then we broke 90.  2nd Family said there was a small shower last night, and things are still a bit squishy in places but overall, it's dried up pretty well.  

Regardless, I have no choice...it HAS to be mowed and edged or else we'll lose hours of work done clearing it all to begin with.  It doesn't take long for nature to take over, that's for sure.

I'll probably edge first, it's easier since it throws grass around the and then when I mow over it, it's all clean and neat.  Of course, I'll have to put on the bee suit and edge quickly around the hive area.  I also need to check the garden status and trim the lower branches on the tomatoes, pull away the straw from the base of the plants and maybe even harvest some more herbs.  

It'll be a long day, hot, sweaty, and full of unknowns, but I wouldn't have it any other way....well, ok, maybe I'd swap out the the hot for cool, LOL, but it'll be fun nonetheless.

TERRADYNE ARMORED VEHICLE

OK, so for non cool vehicle fans out there, this post might be boring but I just had to share.  So the other morning, as I was getting ready for work, I looked out the window and down at a parking lot nearby.  I love to people watch and see people coming and going to work.  What caught my eye this particular morning was a vehicle and people walking over to it and taking pictures. 

 I zoomed in with my phone camera and snapped this picture.  What was it?  Nothing I've ever seen...

I zoomed in...it has a hatch on top!  

And some sort of periscope?!?

So of course, I told 2nd Man that on the way to work, I was going to grab my camera and stop to take some closeup pics.  So I did.  
Here it is up close from the front.  

Armored Vehicle

Here is the back (license plate blanked out for privacy of whoever owns it).  That spare tire is HUGE!  The whole vehicle is huge!

Armored Vehicle by Terradyne

It's in a matte finish black, which I'll admit, is kinda cool.  Would be neat to see more matte/flat colors on cars.

Terradyne Vehicle

This was tall enough that I could barely see in.  Check out those mirrors.  

What the heck?  This is where I discovered what it was called.  

It's a TERRADYNE armored vehicle, made in Canada (shout out to Canada for a really cool vehicle!).  What a great vehicle during a hurricane or flooding.  

Or the zombie apocalypse!

And lastly, unbeknownst to me, 2nd Man took out his camera and zoomed in on me being one of those people taking pictures!  

Looking at this photo, I think that vehicle could have run over my little red car like a speed bump...but hey, I KNOW I get better gas mileage!

We don't get anything in exchange for this post, just writing about a way cool vehicle that we'll never possibly own.  Of course if Terradyne is reading this, click on the email us button over there on the right side of the screen...hahahaha!

TGIF!

LITTLE RED BENCH, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday, we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm.  

Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Red Bench, image via pinterest.com

We had a chance the other day to get a small wooden bench but we had to act fast (long story involving getting the right vehicle there in time).  Alas, we missed it.  Later on, we were thinking "well, what could we have really done with it anyway?"  I decided to Google search some small benches redone into an outdoor bench.  I found the image above.

Now I'm really sorry we didn't get that little bench.  A couple coats of outdoor paint and we'd have a nice little splash of color (LOVE THE RED!).

Be inspired!  

GARDEN PROGRESS

Here are the few things we have planted so far and how they've done in this never-ending rain.  The one picture I didn't get was the eggplant bed.  They aren't doing so well.  Haven't grown much and the leaves are yellowing.  Turns out that's a sign of over watering.  That is certainly nothing I had any control over but maybe now with a week of dry weather, they'll perk up.  The soil in all the beds is nice and moist so no worry this week. 

Tomatoes in raised bed

The tomatoes are growing like crazy!!  I am afraid the jalapeño in the middle might get overshadowed but not much I can do about that now, except pick up an already growing one and transplant into another bed.  

They are covered in blooms!

Green tomato on the vine

And look here!  

An actual tomato!

Carrot sprouts

I'm kind of embarrassed about this.  I pulled up a few of them as I was "weeding" the raised bed...I forgot they were the carrot seeds I threw in just to see what would happen.  OOPS!  

Herb raised bed

Above is the herb bed....this was before trimming.  They were growing well and so I took the opportunity to harvest a few...

Herbs in basket

...and end up with this, our first "harvest" this season, ha.  Lots of regular basil, a nice bunch of purple basil, a few chives and some lemon thyme and oregano.  2nd Man made a wonderful roasted chicken with some fresh herbs (my camera battery was dead, boo!).  Still have a bunch in the fridge.

We'll see what happens by the weekend!

THREE WEEKS OF RAIN

Here is what things looked like yesterday:

The trails are starting to disappear...

Grass is just about knee-high and I don't think I stepped in a single spot in all the yard that wasn't wet...

The garden though is fine, the grass and weeds are staying away (a few stragglers around the edges but easy to pull up)...

There was mud everywhere and of course I tracked it everywhere too...

Poor home of the Zen Machine...it's disappearing in the grass...I'm really going to have to edge soon...that will be a major project...

Bees are doing fine but they are probably wondering where the jungle came from.  I'll have to put on the bee suit (no more stings!) and edge here too...

The grass here is chest high!  

Well, chest high on this St. Francis statue...

When I pushed the wheelbarrow around, it left ruts in the wet ground...

But I don't know what I'd do without these lifesavers.  

EVERYONE with a yard should have a pair...

And of course, as I was leaving, the clouds were building again.  The forecast still shows no rain this week so we'll see.

Hope you had a great weekend!

TIME TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED

Off to the farm as this posts, to make sure things are OK.  There will be no mowing of course, but really, with two weeks absence, we're kind of anxious to just check the house, the bees, the garden, etc.  

We checked an online map and the roads around the area are clear so we're good there.  Oh but there is this:

 "J" from 2nd Family told me this morning that when we get there, watch for snakes...they are, in her words, EVERYWHERE. 

Oh.  My.

What I pictured in my head when she said that...

I've got the car loaded up with these.  Have to take them out there...mystery boxes!  Though you can catch a glimpse of something in the open one.  

I've been ordering things online for some upcoming projects...

Outdoor projects...

If it ever stops raining long enough!

I'm not however, looking forward to seeing the yard...we'll see what it all looks like out there, fingers crossed!
  

More later!

BETTER WEATHER TODAY

But not so much this morning, as it was pouring in the early hours.  It was a good morning to sleep in...

2nd Man made a great breakfast, tomatoes, sausage and eggs, a yummy way to wake up.  And now, the storms SEEM to have moved on out of here and nothing is redeveloping to the West, which is where the farm is.

Red dot is downtown where we are now, the farm is out to the West in the clear area.  2nd Family tells us roads out there are still dicey, but draining quickly.  Thankfully, it didn't rain much out there last night or this morning, just sprinkles, the heaviest was in town and down toward the coast.  So we are staying in town today, running a few more errands...

...here is the forecast.  Wait, what is that later in the week?  The sun?  All by itself?  100% chance of...sunshine?  YAY!   Tomorrow is 40% but I look at that as 60% chance of NO rain, right? 

Hope you are having a good weekend!

And, growing up watching boxing with my Dad, I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the passing of a talented athlete...

WET WETTER WETTEST

Sometimes there are just no words, or at least not enough...

Yep, the purple above is 24".  That's TWO FEET of rain.  In a week.

We've had more rain in the last week that we usually get in the first 5 months of the year.  Other, normally drier parts of Texas have had almost a years worth of rain.  I read an article where the author said that words cannot describe the kind of rain that accumulates several inches in an hour...one has to see it comprehend it.  And that is so true.  Maybe we've just grown used to it, or perhaps have become numb to it...

CLICK HERE for a link to a recent Weather.com article about our state's historic flooding...the Brazos river to the West and Spring Creek to the North are at historic levels and have flooded entire small towns and suburbs around Houston.  

For those who've asked, we are fine, we always will be in town, as we are in a high rise.  Our jobs (as do most Houstonian's) ask people to stay home when the roads flood.  Most of the flooding of the last few days has been on the West side of town, and the North/Northwest.  And that means it's wet at the farm.  

Very wet.  

2nd Family tells us about 6" this week.  That's on top of last weeks 8" total.  The roads are once again flooded around the farm but the house (and bees) are OK.  We haven't been able to go out there now in two weeks (and I haven't been able to mow in almost 4 weeks).  We're hoping this is the weekend that the rain lets up and the roads drain off a bit.  

The farm is probably starting to look like an episode of "Life After People":

I'll catch up with comments soon, it's just been so busy at work that I'm exhausted by the time I get home.

Keep Texas in your thoughts!  
A LOT of people need it.

BIRDBATH WITH FLOWERS, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Every Thursday, we like to post a picture of something we've found online that inspires us to do something similar at the farm.  

Sort of our own blog bulletin board so that we can eventually look back and, hopefully anyway, recreate it...enjoy!

Birdbath and flowers, image via Pinterest

Something we don't have at the farm, a birdbath area.  We like this look because we have the river rocks to put around for a border, and some nice annuals would be pretty around the base.  We do have one that "Ma", the previous owner, left behind, and we need to get it set up.  It needs some cleaning but it would work, and this inspires me to get it going.

We would love to have a birdbath setup like this to add color and a focal point to a spot in the yard.  Question for you birders out there...where should a birdbath be placed?  Full sun?  Shade?  Partial shade?  It might look odd to just be in the middle of a big empty yard, so we were thinking of one (or more, we have the space!) tucked into a bushy corner.

Be inspired!

SCOTTISH WILD KITTENS

Saw these at the store the other day...

...haven't seen them before.  It was a metal tin with these intriguing kitties on the top.  Obviously, they are some sort of shortbread cookies.  Perhaps someone from overseas has seen these?  Are they good?  Worth buying?  

I mean really, how can we resist "Kittens in Kilts"???

Check out LAST NIGHT'S RADAR!  

Yep, another line of heavy rain moved through about 7-9pm.

Now check out this...

ANOTHER WASHOUT week. I swear, I've lived here almost my entire life, 2nd Man was born here, we have never seen anything like this.  These aren't even tropical storms or hurricanes, they are just thunderstorms that never seem to end and dump tons of water.

If anyone knows a temporary 'anti-rain dance' let us know...