beginning to look like...

Merry Christmas Reader(s), I'm starting to get the Christmas spirit, good thing since the season is certainly upon us. Bob/Dad/Poppi and I have created an ornament holder. Here are two pictures showing our progress. Where ever you are this Christmas, you are always in my heart. p/ap

crossword puzzles

Crossword puzzles.

It all started with the recent watching of a documentary about a national crossword puzzle contest with Robin, Duane, Rachel, Amanda, Bob and Helen... or maybe it was the dedication with which Helen and Betty tackle their crossword puzzles on a Monday afternoon, each with her own copy of the same puzzle... or maybe it was the snacks. Whatever the catalyst, Bob/Poppi and I now have our own puzzle book and on several evenings during the week, we can be found hunched over our shared puzzle, working hard... and waiting for snacks.

Pictures from Aspermont

and the winners of the annual Sunflower Open All Age Championship are... (drumroll)... well, there weren't any winners for the championship because of lack of bird work (the whole and entire reason we went to Texas was the rumor of a multitude of quail) the winners were announced 1st, 2nd and third and received points as championship qualifiers.
Bud and Terry (far right) were the judges. That's Pretty Boy in the middle.
The rough, cactus filled terrain required foot protection, here a headless man tapes on dog boots, leather and duct tape were the preferred wraps.
Oh and here's the prickly stuff I'm talking about! Hard to believe that you can also make jelly out of some of them. So that's it for the SMS, simply a "oto" deal. (tv talk for "one time only", that's a flash from the past...)

my new pup

So meet Allee. English Pointer pup, daddy is a champion, Connor's Easy Button and isn't she just as cute as one? Her color is orange and white and in these pictures she is about 6 weeks old. (week of October 18, 2010.) Look closely and you'll see my self-portrait in shadow and poorly shod.

So why the "ears" shot? My new camera takes pictures at a rate of 3 per second. As you can see, that's pretty quick, quick enough to get a shot of "ears up"... but will she listen? now that's the question.

I love puppies. I love the smell of their puppy breath. I like the feel of their little squirmy bodies when their entire being is aimed at escape, I like the way they learn about things, and I like being the one they run to. I love everything about puppies... it's always seemed to me that you can tell the people who love something, someone, some place... you can tell because they don't mind doing what it takes to keep them safe, warm and clean... oh, and that is the true test. Pet a pup today!




Allee and me. Have a lovely day.

Aspermont flora and fauna

Aspermont, Texas, the home of the S.M.S. Ranch, see this url for details http://mykindred.com/cloud/TX/getperson.php?personID=I56855&tree=mykindred01

We arrived in Aspermont on Saturday, October 16 and made our way to the S.M.S. Ranch, working cattle ranch complete with an array of flora and fauna. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures later, but for now, here's my list.

Flora: mesquite, cats claw, prickly pear cactus (tall and short), cockleburrs, barrel cactus, jumping cactus, ragweed, broomweed, some kind of greenleafed, stickery bush/tree with berries, and yes, in honor of the Sunflower Open All Age Championship field trial, even some sunflowers.

Fauna: rattlesnakes, scorpions, wild boars, coyotes, deer, raccoons, hawks and cows, many, many cows, also saw a few quail... very few.

Dogs had to wear leather boots on all fours as did people, but of course just the two, horses walked on prickly pear cactus and got pretty good at dodging all sorts of stickery things. Harsh country but no one got hurt, everyone made it home, few will go back...

the Parsons garden

For those of you who trekked out to the empty lots in Parsons and envisioned with me how a garden might look if there was one... these pictures are for you! Taken in mid August, this was how things looked at what turned out to be pretty much the end of the summer growing season, stopped in it's tracks due to very hot, dry weather, even though committed gardeners continued to water... :)

how my garden grows

These are two pictures of my fall garden, mustard greens, onions, lettuce, radishes and I have a third bed that also has carrots planted... O'donna is taking the K-state master gardening course starting on Friday... I'm no expert, but I have completely enjoyed gardening in Parsons and at the farm. Tonight I'm freezing apples with the intention of making apple butter later.

Lucky dog

So she's a lucky dog and I think she knows it. Ginger thinks she's an invader from a distant galaxy and Julie just loves her 'cause she'll go out with her at night... Seems low expectations may offer unexpected rewards. Here's Dolly!

the rest of my birthday story

Ok, finally, the pictures arrived... the sunflower card is from the bank, I got two from them, I don't have an explanation for that. Then O'donna and Bill sent me a card with the cutest dog and a caption that reads Celebrate like someone forgot to lock the gate... love it! A "rock" from Kathy in honor of our gardening partnership and hopeful harvest. The cover of the selected music cd that Rachel and Amanda sent. Robin sent me a great box, artfully decorated that contained a movie and a game that will be enjoyed immensely as well as a watercolor of one of the iris that Terry, Robin and I "rescued" from Mrs. Adelgren's (Bill's second grade teacher I think) a few weeks ago, in a packet of artistic drawings, collages and other creative interpretations of things known and non known. Appreciated and now the painting is clipped on the painting holder and every time I look at it I smile. I had more delicious birthday cake for supper and a news worthy and very welcomed phone call from Amanda from the far and distant state of Washington USA. All in all, best birthday ever. From my pinnacle of advancing years, one bit of advice, when talking about time, spend joyfully rather than killing even a minute.. Wishing you all the best, ap/p

My birthday was today - part 1

Today is my birthday. Aunt Jackie sang Happy Birthday cha cha cha about 7 am and the birthday party people arrived about noon. We had fabulous food, grilled chicken, Helen's famous potato salad and green beans, and a gorgeous and equally delicious birthday caked baked by Rachel. Rachel and Amanda gave me a cd of favorite melodies with one of a kind playlist and cd cover, Mimi, Poppi and Terry gave me singing cards, they added a musical dimension to a wonderful day... and the final picture is THE CAKE! more on the next post, only a few pictures loaded on this one. Love to all who love me, ap/p

my horse

By chance do you notice something odd about this picture? Hint, you have to count. This evening I walked to the top of our hill to watch the sunset. Toby chased the farm deer herd of four who with regularity circle our property. I checked the asparagus plants along the fence, enough for a meal if we weren't letting them go to seed. Henry, in the picture, saw me, quit eating and came to be petted... a good way to end my day. I think I'm happy. Reread post, not inspirational or profound, but maybe enough. :)

the community garden

I work on mostly grant funding and this year we have a community garden grant whose primary purpose is to identify adapted tools and environmental strategies that could make gardening accessible or at least more comfortable for people of all ages with health conditions or disabilities. Because the garden is a community garden we are, of course, recruiting people who like to garden and then we actually are now building the garden. Here are a few of our recent photos. Brian Morton volunteered with his friends to find, load, deliver and unload soil enhancement from the local feed yard. Mmmmm, rich stuff. The last picture is Brian and me... holding the pitch forks upright. lol

Wisteria and photoshop

Hello readers, Don't you just love wisteria, pretty lavender color, lovely scent, rowdy grower, but almost better than wisteria is photoshop I think. The second picture is what the wisteria looked like a few days ago (before the driving rain and wind storm). The first picture is how very cool it looks thanks to Photoshop... just makes you want to run a "filter" on all photos, doesn't it?

Next is a picture of the entrance at our house. The following pictures are the wisteria at Mimi and Poppi's which is a daughter plant of the monster wisteria at the Buffalo Lake house. The second picture is what a close up looks like with a photoshop filter of "watercolor"... couldn't have done better if I had painted it myself....

:) p/ap

Totes and Pigs

Dear readers, You might, and rightly so, wonder what totes and pigs have to do with one another... actually nothing...

See below, Robin's totes stacked high (thanks Duane) and attached to Bob's truck for transport south to Parsons. They were untied and then unloaded by a fellow with a fork lift, nifty lifting, never touched by human hands... all cut up and ready for their new life as raised bed for the Parsons Community Garden... amazing!

And then there is the matter of the thing I saw on Tuesday, April 13, driving past Lenny's towards Wichita ... in the dark... What I thought I saw was something big... well, that's what I knew I saw was something big, maybe a yellow cow or a yellow lab... got to get my glasses checked... 'cause what I saw was this... pink pig... tall enough to look right in my car... at one point it was the Miata straining to outrun the Pink Pig... well, maybe not trying all that hard to pass 'cause you have to admit, one has to blink one's eyes several times, to convince one's own self... that what she is really seeing is really a pink pig....

At least she didn't fly....

Keep in touch...

p/ap

Three things...

Hello Dear Ones,

One thing is that we went to Boonville, Missouri the end of February to take our young black and white colt, Buddy to Eli Yoder's new place to be ridden for 6-8 weeks. In preparing Buddy for the trip we practiced loading in the trailer... no problem, however, he spent a good two hours peering out at us as he refused to deplane. No problem, it just takes time and patience, you remember: take the time it takes and it takes less time... so true in many cases. So now we anxiously await word of how he is going... because obviously Eli does not carry a cell phone or have a phone for that matter. What he does have are some very cute blue heeler pups and a pole barn that was raised for him by his friends in just one day. Pretty impressive. I must say, I did have mixed feelings as we drove away in our big red truck with our friends in a continuation of our road picnic/party that we pay him to ride our horses... makes me wonder who is the lucky one...

Second thing is that I "had" to go to Lawrence to go to a computer class on a Friday in March and met up with Rachel for lunch and a chat. We dined at the "Ingredient", a very nice restaurant, great food and stimulating discussions involving law related things as well as meeting some of Rachel's friends. All in all, a perfect day.

And "Door Number Three", did you hear about Robin's adventures in candy land? had to do with a trailer loaded with empty syrup vats? The girl knows how to have fun! That's what I have always said!!! The Parsons Community Garden is in her debt... so here's a question for the gardeners: what is the essential gardening tool?

... ap/p

Snow in Tennessee

The Ames Plantation, Grand Junction, TN on Monday morning, Feb. 8, 2010.

Dear readers, We left Kansas on Thursday, Feb 4 amidst the snow/sleet/rain and arrived in Conway, AR in the rain, left there for Grand Junction on Friday, went to the awards, cocktails at the Ames manor house, attended the championship drawing, and the Eukanuba kick off party on Sunday night at the museum on Sunday. Sunday was a beautiful day and I rode Henry and Pretty Boy through the mud in the parking lot. Above is what happened overnight and what we were greeted with on Monday morning... The day's braces were postponed. Below is a picture of the stables where our horses stayed. While these aren't ours, they look pretty attentive, don't you think?
Next is a picture looking away from the stables towards the fields that make up the morning course.
Below is a picture driving towards the Ames Plantation.
The Ames is known for its historic Angus cattle herd... those black dots are huddled cattle...


Bud is standing in front of the plantation office. The plantation is also a research center for the University of Tennessee. This is the cemetery near the manor house
It looks kind of lonely overlooking the lake across from the manor house.
The championship finally started on Tuesday morning. This is the breakaway on Monday... notice the mounting steps, a very good idea...

And this is the first dog in the first brace... Bud took the picture and got back in the truck... We had fun, but glad to be home. Stay warm y'all.
The field trial is featured online at amesplantation.org