A Sunday

We went to the farm on Sunday so we could see the grand kids and talk to Ryan.  As always, such a visit is wonderful!
The mason is finished with the outside:

Well it didn't take "The Nose" AKA Beulah very long to locate the smell of a hog carcass out in the newly cut wheat field.  She spent the day sneaking off to be with its wonderful bouquet and snacking possibilities.  Dead things are not one of my favorite things about the country.  The good news is we are having a doggie shower installed in our house for those occasions when a trip to the tank is not enough. 

 The pasture was baled this week and the wheat fields were harvested.  It sure is a lot easier to walk with the high grasses cut!

 It was a warm humid day so a dip in the tank was much enjoyed.

The tank benefited from a rain this week.  I always think it is pretty.

"Oh my gosh, I can smell that heavenly hog all the way over here!"

 "Man does it smell good!"

 "Oh, oh my people are watching me!"

 "Damn, it smells good!"

"I'll look at something else so they won't suspect.  I'll have time to sneak off when we go back up to the house and everyone is chatting.  They'll never even know I disappeared!  What a plan!"

Brick By Brick...

We saw continued progress this week on the exterior and interior sheet rocking.  A few pictures:

 Front

 Front Entry

 Back Porch Looking toward Family Room

 Porch off Bon's Room

 Toward Family Room

 Family Room Side

 From Breakfast Room into Kitchen

 Into Family Room from Side of Kitchen

Family Room View

Of course the dogs were anxious for a walk to their favorite swimming hole, so we headed in that direction in hopes of nailing a few fire ant beds in the process.  With the grass as tall and thick as it is, the only way to find a fire ant bed is to trip over one.  We found a few as we tripped toward the tank.  If you compare the tank this week from last week, it looks like we got several inches of rain, which we did.  Wow!  

With all the rain, I think the corn sprang up a foot!  Which brings me to what we got to watch: a crop duster plane spraying the corn field across the road.  It turned around above us to make its passes over the field.  It was a lot of fun to watch!

 

While Peg cut brush, the dogs and I took a nap, sun bathed, or bird watched.

A good day was had by all!

Another Saturday

Here are some pictures of the house from Saturday:

 partial front view (trucks, etc. in the way)

 back porch area

 Looking into kitchen from family room

 Family Room toward front entry

Upstairs

The masons were working on the exterior rock and the sheet rock group was finishing up the tape and bedding.  I understand they will texture next.  Then the trim guy arrives to do as much as he can before the cabinets arrive.  It is starting to look like a house!

On our walk, Peg made me take a picture of the lovely flowers blooming on this prickly pear cactus.  I hate these plants, but love the flowers!

I was also asked to include a picture of this rather sparse bit of little bluestem grass.

It looked like the area did get a little rain this past week.  The corn looked better.  But as pictured, the tank is going down and could use a shot of rain.

We looked for fire ant mounds but few were to be found.  We need a really good rain to draw the ants out from the depths so we can see activity on the surface.  Then we can KILL them!

Trees

If you remember, Peg and I spent a day at the farm planting acorns with very high expectations.  After backtracking the next weekend, we realized the local squirrels had been following us digging up what we had planted.  So I brought the whole operation back to Dallas.  I posted a couple of times the plantings in an old doggie kennel.  This week I am happy to report that we have babies!

All total, seven babies have sprouted so far.  In my zeal, I transplanted one baby and left it outside the cage.  The squirrels chewed it and broke the top leaves off!  I am heartsick but am hopeful it will try to sprout another set of leaves.

I am in the process of potting the remaining babies into big pots where they will have the opportunity to grow.  However, now they go right back into the cage so they are protected.
Our brother told us that he had had no luck growing trees because of the squirrels.  He said he tried for many years using all sorts of protection, etc.  He was not optimistic when I told him our plans.  Already I feel like I am really being tested by nature.  I have my fingers crossed that I will prevail!

We Hit 90 Degrees And Summer Is Here!

A warm day today with lots of sunshine.  Drove right up to the house and saw the piles of rock which will soon be on our exterior.  Looks okay in terms of few rusty stains and yellow tints.  Have my fingers crossed because once it's on, that's it.

In the house, the sheet rock was being installed.  Again I was amazed by how quiet the house was inside.

It is interesting how they cut all of the insulation they blew in so the sheet rock will fit over it.

Then headed for a walk with the dogs.  As always we stopped at the tank for a swim.

 Beulah's big ears are always hanging in interesting positions.

 Ears and tongue!

Peg found some black berries that were ripening.  Maybe with a little attention we could get enough to make it worth our while.

Talked with Mike about the lack of rain and affect on corn.  You can see the leaves are curling.  As it dries out, it will just continue to curl.  Farmers are really in need of some good rains now!

We worked for about an hour raking up nails and pieces of metal from the roof.  We don't want to have either come back to haunt us. 
It was a great day to be outside.  The birds really tuned up and the breeze was enough to keep us cool in the shade.