Monday, May 23, 2011
30 days in Kansas
Five types of weather, 6 of each:
Too cold,
too hot,
too windy,
too wet,
& just perfect.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
"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.
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.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
"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.
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.
Friday, May 6, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, May 2, 2011
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.”
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.”
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
The Road to "D" Farm, part two
Because our time was short (Brianna had a flight home from Kansas City to North Carolina just three days away) we modified our trip to take the quickest, shortest route. But there were some highlights along the way.
We set out to find geocaches in each state we passed through. We found the first one after taking a break to get a photo of ourselves “standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.” We pushed on through New Mexico stopping long enough just north of Santa Fe to find a second cache. It was late when we entered Oklahoma. We passed on the opportunity to find a cache there after spending the night in Boise City* but found two caches in Dodge City, Kansas, the next morning. One was easily the largest we had ever seen; basically a small galvanized trash can hidden under an air conditioner casing.
We made it to “D” Farm with enough light left to take a tour around the wheat field in the Ranger. (Point of interest: wheat starts out looking like thick green grass!) Then we returned to Ottawa for dinner at Brianna’s favorite restaurant and my last “civilized” overnight, thanks to Janet who insisted upon setting us up.
All in all it was a very pleasant drive. It turned out that Guillie was an excellent traveler. And we had just enough time to listen to a Librivox reading of, “The Secret Garden,” along the way. It seemed quite appropriate since I expect that a significant portion of my time and effort will be devoted to gardening this summer.
This was my third car trip between California and Kansas in the past two years and I look forward to my return drive to California in the fall.
_____________________________________
*Our passage through Oklahoma was short in distance, only 80 miles. However it wasn’t as brief as it might have been for two reasons. First, it was night when we crossed into the Oklahoma panhandle from New Mexico. We would have to wait until morning if we were going to try to locate an “Oklahoma geocache.” We knew our options for a room for the night would be very limited; the map showed us just three cities along Highway 56. Since we didn’t see a motel as we passed through the first city shortly after 9pm, we were a little anxious when we entered Boise City. We went ahead and took a room in an old brick building in the small downtown area- hot, stuffy and somewhat over-priced. But the beds were clean and it had a shower so there we stayed, setting the alarm for 6:30am to get another early start for the last leg of our journey.
The second delay passing through Oklahoma should have been finding our “Oklahoma geocache.” Instead it was due to a pleasant but unscheduled conversation along the side of Highway 56 with a handsome Oklahoma Highway Patrol Officer. According to his radar I was passing through Oklahoma a little faster than the good folks of Oklahoma would have me. His “friendly warning” was very well-received and at that point we decided to forego the geocache and beat feet (within the posted speed limit) into Kansas.
Monday, April 25, 2011
The Road Back to "D" Farm
April 24, 2011
We made it in 44 hours; 1531 miles from Norco, CA, to Richmond, KS. Not bad, I’d say, given that Mapquest describes it as a 25-hour drive. The hardest part was getting started. It took 3 days to get the car roadworthy. I’d already had the tire pressure checked, the oil changed and had even had the car washed before heading down to San Diego for Tyler’s graduation from MCRD. I picked up two nails in the process and had those taken care of as well. Then, Saturday afternoon the check engine light came on and the car started stalling. According to Pep Boys it was the cam shaft sensor but there would be no fixing it before Monday. As it turned out there was no fix until about 5pm Wednesday and until then it was touch and go whether we would be going at all!
But by 7pm we were on the road….at long last headed back to “D” Farm.
We made it in 44 hours; 1531 miles from Norco, CA, to Richmond, KS. Not bad, I’d say, given that Mapquest describes it as a 25-hour drive. The hardest part was getting started. It took 3 days to get the car roadworthy. I’d already had the tire pressure checked, the oil changed and had even had the car washed before heading down to San Diego for Tyler’s graduation from MCRD. I picked up two nails in the process and had those taken care of as well. Then, Saturday afternoon the check engine light came on and the car started stalling. According to Pep Boys it was the cam shaft sensor but there would be no fixing it before Monday. As it turned out there was no fix until about 5pm Wednesday and until then it was touch and go whether we would be going at all!
But by 7pm we were on the road….at long last headed back to “D” Farm.
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