Early in our marriage, Cliff was confused about why he found my nightgown under my pillow. I told him that as far as I could remember, my mother always had me put my nightgown or pajamas there so I'd know where it was.
For some reason he didn't seem to like that tradition, and couldn't believe anyone would do that.
I asked him what was wrong with it, and he never gave me any reason why he thought it was weird. One time a preacher at the church I was going to mentioned putting his pajamas under his pillow; I couldn't wait to tell Cliff there was someone else who did that, but now I wonder... maybe it wasn't something a lot of moms wanted their kids to do.
I do understand why he never heard of such a thing, though: He never wore pajamas to bed in his life.
Those of you who care to, would you let me know if that's something you do, or have even heard of?
I did some crazy things in the garden this year that I now regret: For instance, planting four sweet potato plants that took up two rows of other vegetables I planted. Likewise the cantaloupes: There are many huge cantaloupes, but the first one we ate was the only sweet one. I cut the others open and the insides look ready to eat, they aren't hard... but there is no sweetness to them. Thrown over the fence, all of them. They might be getting prematurely ripe because the little striped bugs have killed most of the vines that were covering up about one fifth of my garden. I'm thankful that we've had many tomatoes, enough for me to put a lot in the freezer for chili and other stuff. But the blight is really doing its work now, and we won't have them long. I could go on about that, but I won't.
I told my husband yesterday I was down in the dumps. One hundred degree temperature doesn't help, but of course we're all in that together here in Missouri, so who am I to complain? At least we aren't on fire like California.
My age is getting to be less fun all the time, too.
My Bible reading in Romans this morning reminded me the main thing I should do is to love my neighbor as myself; well, let me tell you, I don't always love myself. According to Jesus, it seems like my neighbor is anyone I come across, and I am supposed to show them mercy. I am an introvert, and really don't care to see a lot of people PERIOD, so I can tell you I have not loved all of my neighbors. I wish I could, but I think maybe the best I can do is to stay away from them.
Thank goodness the next thing I read was the 23rd Psalm.
Since I'm down in the dumps, I decided to get my guitar and sing a song I wrote a few years ago, back when I wrote quite a few songs and was going through a period of writer's gap. Those of you who don't care to hear these type of things know I don't talk much about my faith here. But I want to put this video somewhere so that when I'm gone, the song won't be gone. Maybe someone will find it and actually sing well and do it justice. The title is "There's a Song in Here Somewhere". Enjoy looking up my nose and in my mouth while I'm singing. I have no shame these days.
1. What are your plans for August? No plans. Same old thing.
2. Your mid year resolutions or goals. Living until at least 2025
3. Are you good at taking care of plants? Apparently not, looking at my garden today. Bugs, blight, drought, weeds, and heat have taken over.
4. What makes you feel nourished? Anything, if I'm very hungry.
5. Which animals do you see most in your area? Cows and horses.
6. Books on your summer reading list: Harlan Coben, Think Twice. Emily Henry, Funny Story. Kristin Hannah, The Women. Spencer Quinn, A Farewell to Arfs. Bill Maher, What This Comedian Said Will Shock You. Jane Anne Phillips, Night Watch. Shelby Van Pelt, Remarkably Bright Creatures. I have all these on hold at the library.
7. Projects you want to tackle this summer. Trying not to get a heat stroke.
8. Do you have weddings, graduations, summer celebrations? I hate weddings and graduations. If I ever manage to sleep eight hours in a row sometimes, there may be a celebration.
9. Which summer snacks are you excited to enjoy again? Home-grown tomatoes, green beans, cheap watermelons at Walmart.
10. How much time do you like to take for vacations? To go on vacations, you need to be able to walk around and see things. I can't walk more than 30 minutes before I'm in great pain. Same with my husband.
11. Where are your favorite picnic locations? Anywhere the flies won't bother me.
12. Something that would be out of character for you? Wearing shoes on our property and dressing up in any way.
13. Which summer movies are you excited to see? I haven't been excited about anything since 2015.
14. Your favorite free / cost effective ways to have fun. Reading
15. Who do you trust most to house & pet sit? nobody
And now, for your pleasure, I give you Thelma and Louise, my Dwarf Nigerian goats. They are chewing their cuds.
When school is out, Cora visits us every other Tuesday. A while back she said she wanted us to have a picnic sometime, and since we saw it was supposed to be in the 90's for the next two weeks, it seemed as though this Tuesday was the day to go. We usually don't do a lot when Cora's here, and it surprises me that she still wants to come, but we are glad she does. Any other eleven-year-old child would be bored to death at our house.
Just to be doing something a little different, we decided to go to Fort Osage for the picnic; it's only about 12 miles from home. There's not really a lot to it, but that's a good thing, because neither of Cliff nor I can do a lot of walking, due to my knees and Cliff's hip and breathing problems. I managed to climb some stairs with Cora, though, so I could take pictures.
Cliff climbed upstairs with us here, so we could look down on the Missouri River. There was a canoe race going on that goes from Kansas City to Saint Louis; this is the 19th year for the race.
By the way, we had our picnic as soon as we got there.
When we got back home, she did what she really wanted to do, which was to spend time with Thelma and Louise, the goats. The daughter, Louise, wasn't very tame, and Cora wanted to teach her how to be friendly. She's used to messing with horses, and does barrel races; she's now learning to rope calves. I've been pretty picky about people opening the gate to the goats pen because they meet everyone at the gate and try to sneak around them. However, as I told Cora, I feel I can trust her to shut gates because she's always been around farm animals and knows it's something you have to be careful about.
Obviously, she made a friend out of Louise:
Here's what Cora looked like when we first started babysitting her.
We are so proud of her! And she isn't even related to us.
The two goats, mother and daughter, arrived around 3 P.M. Sunday. I haven't called them by any names so far except "the goats". My dear friend Joanna suggested Thelma and Louise, which I like, and may use for them if I can remember it all the time. The mother has a registered name, but I don't think they bothered to call her by that, or any, name.
Like all livestock, they ran the whole fence around their pen, continually crying, all afternoon. They wanted their old home and all their buddies!
They had plenty of grass to eat, which would shut them up for a while. I had no fear they'd get out of this pen, because Cliff and the grandson spent every resource making it safe.
I wanted to check them before it got dark and went out to make sure all was well. Imagine my surprise when I found the daughter, Louise, outside the pen and crying pitifully to get back in with her mother, who was frantic.
Seriously, I could have cried. Cliff and Arick had given everything they knew how to do so this wouldn't happen. All that work, and now my worst fear was coming true. I came inside and said, "Cliff, you are not going to believe this, but the baby goat is out."
But he DID believe it, of course. He put on his shoes; we went out and walked the whole fence and found no place a goat could get over or under; Casper the friendly ghost couldn't have got out of there! We got Louise back in, watched for awhile, and came back in the house. We were a bit worried, though: If Louise did get out and went to bah-bah-ing for her mother, it could easily draw coyotes who could easily kill that little goat. About 15 minutes later I decided to go to bed, but first I went to check on the goats. I'm sure by now you know. Louise was out again.
Cliff came out and helped me to get the rowdy goat... she isn't exactly tame yet, though her mom is. Since it was almost dark, he said we'd shut her up in the garage. That worried me, because what would that little goat do in there? I needn't have worried; we had a bale of hay in there, and she was asleep on it. Nothing looked out of place. Thank goodness these Nigerian Dwarf goats are too small to hop up on a car or truck!
The next morning Cliff said he thought he had figured things out. Where the back of the pen goes to the fence between us and our neighbors, it ends not near a post, but in the middle of the fence.
He and Arick had mentioned it, and were going to fix the space between the pole and the fence; they had forgotten to do anything about it. The space was no wider than three inches, but when the goat stuck her head in and pushed herself through, that forced the fence away more, and she had room to get out. Cliff fixed it with a rusty baling wire and there have been no more runaways.
I didn't know I'd get an adventure to share so soon after the goats arrived, but there you go.
I haven't had a lot of good luck in the garden this year. The potatoes didn't do well at all; I'm glad I didn't plant too many of them. My tomatoes always have blight, but we have had some delicious big tomatoes anyway, and I've been sharing with neighbors while they last.
The yellow onions all split into two parts as they grew, and they won't keep very long. The red ones look good though. I can always count on green beans, so I'm passing those around the neighborhood too. I'm trying to fight off the squash bugs from the zucchini plant. Nothing seems to stop them, but Rebecca in south Missouri said she is smashing the adult bugs. I cannot do that with my bare hands and fingers, but I decided to try it with my garden gloves. Ohhh, but it was a great feeling to grab those ugly things as they ran away and killing them!
Two of the split onions. They just grow that way sometimes.
I have decided Walmart is the winner in these high inflation times. They have the lowest prices by far on most groceries. On Wednesdays I always look at ads from Price Chopper, Aldi, and Hy-Vee, hoping to find a bargain that's worth driving to Blue Springs for, but lately it just isn't worth it. Walmart made a whole line of off-brand cereals that are half-price of the name brands, and taste exactly the originals. They have the cheapest butter and dairy products. I don't always love their fresh fruit and vegetables, but most of the time they are acceptable. The Oak Grove location doesn't have quite all the stuff that larger Walmarts carry, but they have most of what I need. We can also do our banking at Oak Grove, and there's a place to buy goat food.
I didn't plan my garden very well at all this year. I planted the row of cantaloupes five feet away from the row of red onions, but it has totally covered them up.
Also there's this problem with the cantaloupes: If you step on the vines, they die and baby cantaloupes die along with them. So if I want to get to a ripe one, I start tenderly picking up the vines and moving them over one by one, hoping not to fall on my face as I lean, reach, and crawl far beyond my capabilities. I didn't think we were ever going to taste any of the cantaloupes because the first three rotted just before they were ready, and I tossed them. However, last night I brought one in that was as good as they get. I'm hoping for more. You can see two of them in the middle of the greenery that should be ready in a day or two.
That's the grandson's dog Klouse riding in the middle of my two slaves. Usually Bonnie is riding too.
The lady we are buying the goats from had a very busy day today: She started the day taking one of her children to the doctor. She works cleaning houses for people. She also milks some of her goats. Today she wasn't feeling well and the day was getting more hectic for her the longer it went, so I told her not to stress, and just wait until the weekend. So they are going to bring the two goats over Sunday afternoon. I've had a busy day in the garden myself, and Cliff keeps making things for the goats! He was inspired last Sunday by all the things these folks have built for their goats, and he took pictures so he could copy them. So you may not see MY goats, but you will see some of the herd there. The mother/daughter combo I'll have are Nigerian Dwarf goats. They have a LOT of goats.
It was in the 90's last Sunday, but that didn't keep this goat from sunning himself on the playground.
The next two pictures are of their hay feeder. Cliff has fashioned one following this for a guide, and it's in the goat pen now.
First of all, I will tell you that I did take my camera to the goat farm; however, I forgot to use it! Cliff took pictures with his phone, but no shots of goats: he took the pictures because the man of the house had made a lot of things that goats need and he wanted the pictures so he could use their ideas. The fencing was done this morning, and now they will make the gate. We think we'll have the goats here Thursday.
The guys were out working on the pen at 7:30 A.M. hoping to avoid the 100° heat. Below, they are taking the fencing around the northeast corner.
They got to the last post around 9 o'clock A.M. The fencing is done! Now I assume they are making the gate in the shop. I think I'll go check.
Rebecca, who blogs at Dairy Daze, took pictures of her flowers, so I decided to show you some of mine that are growing currently. The near end of this flower bed doesn't get much sun, but I guess it's enough for flowers to bloom. I like Marigolds and Zinnias because their seeds always wake up the next year as plants, and all I have to do is dig them up and put them where I want them. At the far corner is a lovely Mum, just starting to bloom.
I finally have a sunflower blooming.
And of course, my Hibiscus, grown a few years ago from a seed my cousin Betty gave me.
Things I've seen in the comment section of my last couple of entries:
"Goats are a lot of work. Good luck." I'm not starting a goat farm, I'm getting two, count them, two goats. Surely I can keep them in fresh water and a little hay, even in winter; they will be pretty close to the house. Since I get to take them to their present owner to breed, I probably will do that at least once just for the fun of playing with baby animals, but nothing says I have to keep them forever. In fact, at my age, anything could happen. But whatever time I have, I'll do my best to enjoy it.
"It sounds like you have many people helping you make this a reality. I hope it's everything you hope for!" If it isn't, I'll get rid of the goats and put chickens out there. I have had goats before, so it isn't like I don't know what I'm getting into.
"You listed all the reasons why it's a headache to have goats. However, I'm not seeing why you would like to have them. LOL They sound like real characters with not a lot of common sense." It's my husband who has had so many problems with goats, but if they have the right kind of fence that they can't get out of, there's no problem really. Our problems with goats was always because we just put them in the pasture with the cows, and a lot of cattle fencing isn't made to hold goats. If they have their own pen made for goats, they can't do any harm that I know of. Knock on wood.
"It’s going to take a tall tall fence to turn goats. They like brush and that looks like a cow pasture." The goats will have their own brand new pen with five feet high wire that they can't get their heads through. They won't be running around in the big pasture. It isn't huge, so I'll probably end up feeding them hay year around after they eat the grass down in their pen. Thank goodness goats don't eat as much hay as cows do.
Tomorrow after church we are going over to talk with the lady we're buying them from and see what we're getting. When the new pen is finished, she will bring them to us.
Here's the pen, ready for the wire to be added and one gate to be fashioned. The wire starts being put on tomorrow.
The gate will be here, facing east. Cliff put those big tires in there so they'd have something to climb on.
This is the fence between us and the neighbors, and that means that side of the pen is already fenced. Even chickens couldn't get out of this wire; the holes in it are 2 inches by 4 inches. And that's what we bought for the rest of the pen.
I intend to take some pictures tomorrow when we go to see the goats.
Our son, his wife, and their five-year-old granddaughter spent Monday through Friday with us last week, so I left my blog alone while they were here. Our son is always with us on the fourth of July, so we invite all the relatives who are in the vicinity, which makes it sort of a reunion. The grandson smoked ribs and pork butt, and people bring whatever they want to add to the meal; it's a grand time. But somehow this year's Fourth was about as good as we've ever had.
I was a little "off" that day and didn't cook as much as usual; but I tend to cook too much anyhow, and then we're left with a bunch of the type of leftovers nobody needs, especially old folks like us. This year there was plenty to eat, but not so many leftovers.
Mae, our great-granddaughter, is such a sweet-natured kid. She is just happy all the time. She does a lot of walking from Arick's house to the shop where the men hang out, and to our trailer house. Each time she opened my front door and walked in, I'd say, "You again?"
These days I'm likely to call her grandma her mom, and our son, her dad, but she sweetly corrects me. Her mom, our youngest grandchild, did fly in to spend two days with us.
There were a few kids present on the Fourth, and they were quite the happy group. There's nothing like playing in water on a very warm day to make children happy, and I loved hearing their laughter in the background while we were all in the shop visiting.
Today I am officially 80 years old. I struggle with people's names, but I still enjoy reading good books, making pickled beets, and working in the garden. My hibiscus finally started blooming the day before my birthday!
It makes me happy that when I make cinnamon rolls, my oldest granddaughter Amber, and Mae, one of my great-granddaughters, love them so. Mae didn't want to eat much of anything else the last two days! It takes me back to my childhood when I stayed with Grandma Stevens and asked her to make cinnamon rolls; she was the reason I learned to make them for myself.
Yes, there will be goats, once the pen is built; the goat house is in place. It's hot, my husband is old, and Arick works. So it isn't going to be built in a day, even though it won't be that big a pen. They will do their best, I'm sure.
