off on a wild cow chase...

It's kind of ironic how timing works.

I promised a return to the classic material this week,

and without fail - the cows delivered.

Huck (the dog) was going off like an alarm clock

first thing this morning;

but it was Mom's exclamatory remarks after seeing

this out the front window -

that finally roused me.

Two cows. Loose. Across the Street. Munching on Corn.

And they're our cows.

Mom went for some hay to bargain with,

(the equivalent of graham crackers to these cows)

meanwhile searching for missing cow #3.

(Despite the excellent name suggestions -

[thanks Breezy:)] we can't seem to make anything

stick... At the moment they seem to be

Maisy, Mosey, and "the Big One"...)

Here we spotted Maisy (#3) making her way through

the orchard...

Take my advice.

If you have a cow;

tame your cow...

This advice we did not heed.

I guess we thought we were too seasoned

for cow taming this time around.

But if you and the cow have an understanding;

chances of catching said cow -

go up exponentially.

I managed to lure Maisy back in her confines

with the assistance of a little hay;

but I made a few laps around a rather large pasture

in pursuit of the boys...

(No, I didn't take pictures of that,

but I'm sure you would have enjoyed it.)

We will have to do some explaining to the neighbors

about the hoof shaped divots in their yard.

(They also tasted the lilies, and

missed trampling their garden by inches...)

Mom tried heading them off with some hay,

but that just wasn't working with these two.

Meanwhile, Maisy managed to re-escape;

(which I decided to be grateful for -

she very unwittingly gave their method away.)

So, Mom broke out the big guns.

Powdered Cow Minerals.

(Gummy bear vitamins to a cow's mind.)

That did the trick.

A cow can only take so much frolicking through the

neighbor's flower beds for one day.

And who can say no to gummy bear vitamins?

(or at least the equivalent thereof.)

Stay tuned - when it rains it pours, and as of this afternoon we have a very unexpected little

visitor... She will be making her blog debut in the next few days.

In Memory

Since it's Memorial day,

I would like to honor the veteran in my life;

my Grandpa Joe.

He was a Marine in the 1940's.

Yes, World War II.

He flew as a rear gunner in a

Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bomber

over the Pacific.

Photo Credit

Grandpa Joe passed away when I was six,

before I was old enough to appreciate him,

and the stories he must have had tucked away somewhere.

I've recently sent the paperwork to get his records,

I have two pictures of his squadron,

and my brother Joe and I recently found his uniform

in my grandma's basement.

But we still miss his stories.

In loving memory of my grandpa,

and all those that came before him,

and those that came after;

who sacrificed much -

to protect the freedoms we enjoy.

Take a moment to be Thankful,

and remember,

on this Memorial day.

the Chicken Revolt

The chickens are on my naughty list.

They have eaten our tomatoes,

decimated our strawberries,

destroyed the garlic bed,

and I forgave them...

But what they did Wednesday morning,

was crossing the line.

It all began with my brilliant idea to try the

"Three Sisters Method"

when planting our sweet corn this year.

Provided it actually works, I'll elaborate more on that

later; for now it suffices to say - it is an Indian method

that involves planting your corn, beans, and squash

together - in a way that benefits all three.

The first step involves making 18 inch mounds...

Precisely five feet apart.

After making 11 of them Tuesday night,

(a whopping 1/3 of the goal)

it dawned on me why it was a tribal custom.

I was wondering where my tribe was....

Well,

predictably, the chickens broke in at the crack of dawn,

and destroyed, and devoured,

every last mound and kernel of corn.

I considered tarring and de-feathering them all.

I used to like chickens,

but after my special pet chicken

-Anna Magdalena Bach-

died this past Winter,

the bond was weakened.

So, our chickens will likely be losing many of their

freedoms in the coming days.

Wednesday was spent replanting and

building a fence of protection

around my corn mounds,

but I feel it is time for our plants to experience liberty.

Gardening - free from fear of scratching claws,

pecking beaks, and diabolical birds in general.

Hope.

Gardening with "Honey Bear"

This past week has involved a lot of garden time;

and not just in our garden.

On Monday we had the privilege of helping a man that has

been gardening for a very long time.

We've known him for about ten years I guess;

and I'm yet to discover what his real name is.

Everyone that knows him just calls him

"Honey Bear."

It goes back to the days when he used to sell honey,

and I guess it just stuck.

Honey Bear is a Master Organic Gardener,

and has an overwhelming amount of knowledge to share.

In his eighties, it's amazing how much he can still accomplish,

but the number of things he can't do

is growing as well.

That's where my mom, brother, and I came in.

We volunteered a day to help him get his gardens

and raised beds ready for planting.

First, we began with our customary tour...

He always has the most amazing collection of

heirloom plants & interesting flowers.

Some lovely blue irises...

Next, we built a new fence

for his little flock of chickens and ducks.

After that, it was time for the serious jobs...

Joe began the process of moving the bags of decomposing

leaves that Honey Bear has been saving all Winter.

His plants absolutely love this special mulch.

Yeah, he got something on him.

Meanwhile, Mom waged war

on the thistles in the raised beds.

Flowering Russian Kale

In its own rustic way,

Honey Bear's garden is a lovely place,

with lots of interesting sights to see.

A special kind of accidental art.

Parsley

After putting the camera away...

I got busy emptying said bags of decomposing leaves...

Some of them were very full of water,

(resembling tea...)

Ankle deep in the squishy mulch,

fluffing up the leaves in preparation for tomato plants,

these pictures do no justice to the absolute mess I was...

Believe me though, I've never had a problem getting

dirt on my hands -

and was seriously having a pretty good time out there.

We were pretty wiped out -

but it was a special, and very educational day.

I'm often reminded of the importance of spending time

with those that are older than we are.

They have so much to offer in the way of

wisdom and experience.

We are so thankful for each of the elderly friends

that the Lord has blessed us with over the years.

They have taught us so much.

On the way home we stopped for Blackberry milkshakes.

Now we are busy applying some of Honey Bear's

ideas to our own garden -

and planning on visiting him again soon.

Cats and Flowers

Just a few random cat and flower photos from the past week.

Enjoy.

Peonies

"Madeline"

Johnny Jump-ups

"Favorite"

Roman Chamomile

"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth:

But the word of our God

shall stand forever."

Isaiah 40:8

Buster's Turtle

Buster is getting to be a pretty old dog,

so I didn't think much of the fact that he didn't move

the entire hour my brother Joe and I

were playing volleyball.

Until I noticed the thing sitting next to him.

It kind of resembled a rock.

A rock with a long neck and beady eyes.

We get at least one of these slow-moving visitors every year.

If the creek gets too high,

they cross the road and head for our flooded woods.

Unfortunately for him...

there is a fence in the way.

Buster sat nearby and studied his new little friend,

while Joe ran to get a shovel...

For those of you that have never run across one of

these guys, he's a snapping turtle, and he has the

potential to be very painful.

This dude was made to chomp fingers off,

and we could see he was perfectly willing to follow through,

though I think he would have settled for

Buster's tongue if he got any closer...

They don't usually let go once they clamp down...

So, Joe scooped him up in the shovel.

(Our snapping-turtle transportation method of choice.)

And after a parting shot,

and a parting duet...

Mr. Turtle was safely delivered to his destination.

He thinks he will take the shovel more often;

you wouldn't believe how much faster it was.

fearsome potatoes

One would be surprised at what an unsupervised Winter

in the garage will do to a box of potatoes...

They literally take on a life of their own.

It goes without saying that I kept them above ground

a little longer than I should have.

But it's been raining...

We had just a short little window to get them planted.

Dad agreed; these things were pretty scary looking.

Kind of made us happy to bury them.

The dirt was so wet and heavy

that Dad dug the trenches for me this year.

It made me feel bad that I'd insisted on saving

quite so many of last year's potatoes...

Let's just say -

if the Lord chooses to bless them,

we won't be lacking in potatoes this Fall...