:D" Garden update

When last I wrote about my garden, the length of the garden hose still presented a dilemma. I had managed to buy a supplemental hose to reach the garden and, although it reached the garden, there was nothing extra to reach the plants within the garden. That was two weeks ago.

Since then nature has provided a temporary solution in that we have had at least 6” of rain during that time.  Between rains I have added another geranium, one with a showy variegated leaf with a pretty pink flower; a single strawberry plant; a crook neck squash, mostly for its entertainment value; a zucchini and a cucumber.

I am pleased to find that all of the plants have survived and are thriving to varying degrees;  even my little butter crunch lettuce.  There is still plenty of room for more.

As for the hose, I have concluded that an additional 100’ is in order!  I have invested in fence panels to create an enclosure for a horse some 80’ west of the garden.  He will need water, too.

Just a reminder- God causes all things to work together for good.  Romans 8:28

"D" Farmhouse

We think that the house on “D” Farm was built around the turn of the 20th century, ie, the late 1800s/ early 1900s.  


The original house consisted of a living room and dining room/kitchen area plus one small bedroom on the ground floor and three bedrooms upstairs.  It was constructed facing north, about 40 feet south of what is informally referred to as the Lane Road, a road traveling east from the small city of Lane to the 59 highway in rural Richmond.*  


It was several years after my grandparents purchased the home in the mid-1940s that they installed indoor plumbing, adding on a bathroom, enlarging the kitchen, and adding a laundry room at the back of the house with access off the back entry porch.


As a child growing up, the best part of the house was, without a doubt, the stairway to the second floor.  It consisted of five rather steep steps up to a 3’ x 3’ landing, where there was a window looking out to the west, followed by a step up to a second landing of the same dimensions where you would make an 180 degree turn to continue up an additional three steps to the second floor.  There was a simple wooden railing at the top with doors to enter each of the three upstairs bedrooms.  


The stairs were a magnificent play area, made somewhat private by the fact that there was what I call a “Snyder Farm door” that closed it off from the ground floor.  Now that I look back, the adults probably appreciated that as much as we kids did.


My Aunt Virginia and Uncle Steve added an additional 1200 square feet to the house in 1983-84. They left most of the home, as it existed at that time, intact, removing only the back porch and laundry room. They built a new kitchen/dining area, living room and master bedroom with 1 ¾ baths in an “L“ shape wrapping it around the original structure to the south and west. 


After Virginia passed away in 1986, Steve moved to Florida and our mother bought the farm.  For many years she would spend as much as six months a year in Kansas.  But as the years passed, her visits became increasingly shorter, her stays reduced to just a few weeks a year.  Sitting empty for such long periods of time took a toll on the house.  


The house also fell into disrepair due to the severe weather conditions (rain, snow, hail, wind and extreme temperatures, not to mention the fact that it is out in the country).  


It broke our hearts but last year Dale and I concluded that we would have to tear down the entire house and start over.  It wasn’t our first, second, or even our third choice as to how to proceed.  We had consulted two architects and a number of builders exploring the possibility of either repairing and remodeling the house in its entirety; tearing off the 1980s addition and restoring the original house; or tearing down the original house and refurbishing the 1980s addition and adding on.  


The experts’ advice was unanimous:  tear it all down and start over.  Both the original house and the addition had fallen into such disrepair that it would be more costly to repair than to start anew.


* Lane Road was a gravel country road for as long as I can remember up until the county paved it in 2005.  It was formally named Cloud Road in 1990.

30 days in Kansas

Five types of weather, 6 of each:
       Too cold,
too hot,
too windy, 
too wet, 
& just perfect.

"D" Garden is Underway, part two

The hose issue is still under debate, however the garden is looking good.  The nurseries and garden departments of stores were buzzing with activity this weekend.  It is typical for folks to put in their garden in early May.  Even though there were nights during the last week of April in which the temperatures dropped into the 30s, they have risen into highs in the upper 80s low 90s this past week.

I, like so many others, invested in 4-packs of starter flowers and vegetables to get my garden started.  I planted a long row down the center of  the entire length of my 30’ plot running from east to west.  I planted tomatoes (large celebrity and sweet 100 cherry), bell peppers, three types of squash, blue hubbard (reminiscent of Thanksgivings at the Snyder Farm), bush table queen, and straight neck (cousin to the famous and far more entertaining crook neck), butter crunch lettuce and a single watermelon.

As for flowers, I selected those that are supposed to be compatible with the veggies.  I’m sure it is not a coincidence that they were all familiar to me from the days of my grandmother’s garden.  I planted large and small marigolds, zinnias, salvia, and something I thought to be plumed coxcomb although the tag says “celosia”.

I was surprised to see lots of geraniums at the nursery.  They’re everywhere in California but I don’t recall having seen them in Kansas before.  I bought one and placed it directly in the center of my garden as the hub to design around.  It is a perennial that I should be able to count on to return year after year unlike the rest which will last only one season.

Even as this new garden takes root, my mom’s irises are blooming as are my grandmother’s peonies.  There are many fewer iris than there once were due to some grading that was done to redirect the flow of water away from the house 18 months ago.  This is the second season in which I have been so fortunate as to be here to see the peonies; they are quite spectacular.

I find it interesting to observe the brevity of many of the flowers’ seasons.  The lavender that was in bloom when I first arrived three weeks ago is gone now.  Just a few days ago I noticed some delightful small pixie-like white flowers popping up in the middle of the yard overnight and they, too, are almost gone.  It is similar to the fleeting appearance of the red birds and blue birds outside my bedroom window in the early morning. It is a reminder to treasure beauty whenever you encounter it.

"D" Garden is Underway

The garden is officially underway.  When I arrived Uncle Don had already plowed up an area south of the house where my grandmother gardened and where Aunt Carol had regularly planted vegetables for many years.


Although I pointed out an additional second spot where I had envisioned planting, Don suggested that I start small. The area he had already prepared measures approximately 9’ by 30’.  


The only water source to irrigate the garden is next to the house.  I soon discovered that our 50’ garden hose is nowhere near long enough to reach so yesterday I walked off the remaining distance to determine how long a second hose to buy.  I came up with 75’ and, by golly, that was almost long enough! 


Today the question is “shall I buy another 25’ or another 50’?”
I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Back Down on "D" Farm...The first week, part two

We get so accustomed to having conveniences like electricity and running water that we are taken quite by surprise when we flip a switch and there is no light or we turn the faucet handle and there is no water.  I was fortunate that the plumbing issue was resolved by day five and for less than $100.  It was a fee I gladly paid to be able to mindlessly flush and turn on the faucet to wash my hands without giving it a second thought.  There is nothing like doing without, to appreciate being with.

So I concluded that things were looking up, realizing of course that up is a relative term and did not necessarily place me at a particularly lofty altitude.
There were still other lows to be reckoned with, for example:
I decided one evening that I would give Guillie a trial run staying in the crate at home while I made a short drive to Princeton for some ice cream.  It was still daylight and it had been surprisingly pleasant that evening after a day of bone-chilling wind.*

When I got home the sun was setting and Guillie seemed to be okay as far as I could tell looking into the house through the French doors on the back porch.  However, when I slipped the key into the lock, it just rotated loosely from right to left and back to the right again without the slightest hint that it was going to unlock the door.   I played with it for at least 10 minutes trying every possible variation of inserting a key into a lock and turning; fast, slow, gentle, forceful, multiple times in quick succession, while standing on one foot then the other, after spinning in a circle, hopping up and down and spewing out a few choice words.

I would have probably just returned to my car and gone to find shelter elsewhere but for the fact that I had left Guillie inside (for the first time since my arrival) and it was due to drop into the 40s that night.  Some dogs could handle it but Guillie has a very light coat this is the first time he has ever been outside sunny Southern California.

So I finally gave in and called my neighbor Gene.

It wasn’t but a few minutes before his truck pulled into the drive.  He stepped out carrying a handful of assorted tools.  I asked him to try the key himself hoping that he might have just the right touch, but no luck.  The only possible chance we would get into the house without doing damage would be entry through the old section of the house where we had boarded up the passage ways into the addition in which I was living.

The passage between the old kitchen and the new was sealed off with two large overlapping sheets of plywood, upper and lower, each of which had been drilled into place with six screws.  Gene pried off the top board at which point I climbed up and over the remaining board to check on Guillie who had been oblivious to his plight.

To continue coming and going in that fashion wouldn’t be easy let alone safe.  Nor would it provide a way of closing off the old house.  So we went ahead and removed the lower board, reattached it as the upper board so that I could then put the second board in place at the bottom holding it in position by a chair pressed against it until I was ready to literally “duck out” again.

 As it turns out, with further experimentation under less stressful conditions, I have learned the secret of operating the backdoor lock with fairly consistent success.  I also have a backup plan though that shall remain my secret.

I thanked Gene profusely for coming to my rescue that night.  When I called, he had been in the middle of watching a baseball game. He later downplayed his heroics by saying that his team hadn’t been playing very well anyway, but I was extremely grateful.

*Kansans often comment that if you don’t like the weather, just wait an hour, it will change.  I am beginning to realize that not only are the weather conditions more intense in Kansas, the fluctuations are surprisingly rapid.  Aw, but what a difference a little sunshine makes.  Like being without water, the unpleasantness of the lower temperatures is quickly forgotten.

Back Down on "D" Farm...The first week, part one

I’m starting to feel settled in Down on “D“ Farm.  But there were definitely some challenges during this first week.  There were moments that I was delighted to be here and moments when I was ready to grab my bags and my dog and head back to California.

Uncle Don joked that I was living like a pioneer.  Well, I can hardly refer to myself as a pioneer.  After all, I not only have electricity, I have a large screen television ( although I only get a handful of stations), I have a cell phone (although the service is intermittent), and I have my laptop computer with internet (albeit rather slow).

I thought the lack of heat in the house would be the biggest issue.   However, even when the nights dropped into the 40s, the electric space heater I have on loan has gotten us by.  But there is a cumulative effect trying to live in a house that whose average temperature is around 55 degrees.  I am definitely looking forward to it getting warmer….. and it will. There were a couple of days in the high 60s last week. Before you know it we will be complaining that it is too hot.

A more significant issue last week was the unexpected lack of running water. The following is my journal entry for day three, back on “D” Farm:
“The plumbing may be fixed.”
And my entry on day four:
“The plumbing isn’t fixed.”