SO Done With Rain!

The weather in my little corner of Kansas has just not been cooperating with my weekends. Last weekend it rained and stormed the entire weekend, and this past Saturday it was sunny but cool in the morning and cloudy, windy and cool the rest of the day with scattered showers. Sunday was cloudy and cold all day long. Blah. I managed to get my chocolate mint, sweet basil and some flowers potted during a sunny period, but I still need French lavender, dill, and parsley. I found this great idea that I would love to try for my herb garden and pinned it on my Pinterest. Of course, I may need to move it up on the ol' project list in order to see it realized. It's a long list.

Last weekend was a Civil War encampment at the Fort and I felt sorry for them because it rained and stormed the entire time. Those are usually fun to attend, but not in the rain and not in heat, either. This year's annual Civil War Encampment was celebrating the 150th anniversary of the end of the "War Between the States" and was to be a big deal. Although the turn-out was less than expected, it wasn't too bad. What I thought was interesting, was the person who did the writeup in the paper described the participants and their clothing mostly accurately, except that he referred to the women as wearing "Victorian dress". The reason I think it is interesting is because while the Victorian era lasted from 1837 until 1901 and the American Civil War was right smack in the middle of that (1860-1865), regardless of what was actually being worn during the period, the clothing typically worn by women at these encampments is mostly frontier and prairie with a few 'Southern Belle' style, which is, technically, early Victorian.  When I think of 'Victorian dress', I mentally see the narrower skirts with the bustle in the back, not the full-skirted earlier version typical of the 'Southern Belle', even though that's what they technically were. The bustle. That is something I just don't get. You gotta wonder why anyone would think adding that much acreage to a woman's ass was a good look. The 'Southern Belle' dress with all of its many layers and accoutrements enhanced and emphasized a number of features and hid a multitude of sins underneath all of those yards of fabric, but it was also a highly sophisticated form of torture. I wonder how many women dropped dead from heat exhaustion or lack of oxygen? The numbers must be staggering...

This morning, when I went out to feed the cats before I left for work, I discovered that one of the young first-time mamas had her kittens in the carport - again, right out in the open. This one had hers on the blanket that she used to cuddle up on with her siblings last year. I sure hope she gets them moved somewhere safer soon. Thursday or Friday of last week Mama Cat had her babies - in the shed again. So I have kittens under my AC unit, kittens in my shed, and kittens in my carport, and I know there are at least two more that I've seen that are pregnant. Seriously praying that they have their kittens elsewhere. I can't take the stress. Why on Earth do they want to have their babies in my yard anyway? I have dogs! Why not in my neighbor's yard where she doesn't have any pets or even kids out there to bother them? It's a complete mystery.

This afternoon when I got home from work, I checked on the newest mama and her babies. She was away from her kitties and I was able to count four. Three different shades of gray - possibly some stripes? - and one orange-ish one. The older babies (by two weeks) I still can't get a really good look at so I don't have a clue as to how many there are. After I checked on everyone, I watered my herbs and took a moment to enjoy the lovely scents in the air: lilac, rosemary, oregano, basil, mint, and the spicy-floral scent of my little Stock (Matthiola) flowers. Ahhh! Now I need to get a nice patio set for the deck. I can sit outside on the deck enjoying the evening, listening to the spring peepers and toads and this summer watch...some old guy in a wife-beater riding his lawn mower down the street behind us. Yikes! But that is exactly what I saw as I was thinking about how I would be watching the lightning bugs and listening to locusts (again, cicadas to the rest of the world) later on in the season. This more than likely is a guy who has had his driving license taken from him, so clearly, he can just hop onto the ol' riding lawnmower when he wants a drink from Sonic. And, unless he does something stupid, which is highly likely, actually, no one will think anything of it because it is so common. These old guys who can't drive anymore, for whatever reason, understandably don't like losing their wheels, so they find a way around it. They still want to run to the hardware store or get a Coke whenever they want, and by golly, they're going to, and if that means hopping on the mower or a golf cart, that's what they do. Oh yeah, that's legal here too. Some cities have policies about driving golf carts, but so far nothing has changed here. It is a rare event indeed when something around here changes... I leave you with some beautiful Kansas sunrise shots.

Tuesday Morning

Monday Morning

Planting Season Part Deux: Herbal Endeavors

The weekend was good except we did get some storms and rain. We didn't get to go on a ride at all this weekend, but we did get lot's of planting done. Last year we planted a ton of stuff and nearly all of it came back. This year, we didn't need to plant as much, mainly just take care of our problem areas, which was where the plants that didn't survive were; the north side of the house and the south side. The north side gets a lot of shade and the south side gets a lot of sun, and although we planted accordingly, some things didn't do well at all. We have discovered, however that peonies do well anywhere so we filled in some places with a few more of them. I'm super excited because my Kwanzan Cherry tree is finally blooming! Every day there are new blooms :) It, like my lilac, is apparently a late bloomer. My neighbor's lilac is in full majestic bloom, and mine is just barely starting to show a few blossoms. Hopefully it will get with it soon. It smells heavenly when I walk outside though, so the nice thing about mine being slow is that I will have that scent longer ;) 

My neighbor's lilac

My lilac

Since dipping my toes in the pool of herb gardening last year, I have decided to expand this year. I planted Rosemary, Oregano, Basil, and French Lavender in pots. I placed mint on the east side of the back deck so that it can fill up that space every year, but now I'm seeing that mint can completely take over a garden, so maybe I should rethink that and put it in a container instead. Or move it somewhere by itself. My Orange Mint is in the process of coming back, so I don't need to replace that. They didn't have any Chocolate Mint, Sage, or Thyme but they are expecting some herbs in this week, so I will hit swing by over the weekend and check. I think I will get some dill and parsley, too. I don't use chives much, but lemon balm might be good, although I'm not sure what use I will have for it. Last year I mainly wanted them for their scent, but this year I plan on using them. And of course they do smell wonderful - especially the basil! I found some wonderful pins on Pinterest with lots of great information and ideas ;) I just wish I had a good place indoors to put them all for the cold weather. I basically have just one window, and it is right above a heater vent and about four feet away from the fireplace, which we use a lot during the winter months. It gets pretty dry right there, so I need to figure something out.

We woke up to a little surprise Saturday morning. Or, I should say, several very small surprises. For weeks now, we have noticed at least three pregnant cats in the vicinity and I have been hoping that they go elsewhere to raise their small ones. One of them decided to have her babies in a little corner of our yard where the original part of the house meets the familyroom addition - almost in exactly the same area as Mama Cat - and almost right in plain sight. The only thing hiding her was that the grass was a tad high there. Later in the day she moved them - underneath our air conditioner, which sets up on a base and is enclosed at the bottom so little ones can't get in. We are hoping that the need for the AC will hold off for a couple of weeks until she moves them again because we're certain that when it kicks on it will scare the living daylights out of them, and we don't want that. They can't all stay under there for very long - it's just not that big. This just happens to be the same cat that put her kittens briefly in the little well area last year first, before Mama Cat moved hers from our shed to under the house, if you recall. We call her Other Mama - yeah, we're original like that. I am noticing that Mama Cat is pregnant too, and bet anything that she plans on having her babies in the shed again. We will have to watch very closely when we take the dogs out - don't want any kitty tragedies in my yard :(

Anyway, all day while we were working we would keep tabs on the family living under our AC unit, trying to do our work without disturbing them. And while Hubby was a little put out that he couldn't mow near that area, he didn't complain too much. "Hey - there's some blonde-looking ones in this batch!" Gotta love a guy who puts off his need for yard maintenance for the good of a mama cat and her babies :)

 

wink-wink

If Mama Ain't Happy...

It's been rather stormy here the last few days - and not just weather-wise (although we have had severe thunderstorm warnings almost non-stop for the last 12 hours). Some recent events have set me off and I'm just picking my moment to set things right. Most of them little, and they do pile up, but one of them happens to be a big deal. To me, anyway. 

As a general rule, I am non-confrontational when the situation applies to myself. I let a lot of things go (part of that whole forgiveness thing). I might stew about them a bit in my own mind...or here, but generally I take a step back and take a moment to think about whether it is worth it or not, and usually decide it isn't. I'm very quick, however, to jump in when it involves someone else. Most of the trouble I got into at school was due to taking up for others who were bullied, etc. This time it involved me. I took my step back and my time to think and decided a course of action is necessary. Let me 'splain:

My husband and I decided when we moved into our current home that the family room was his to arrange how he liked and the living room was mine. I don't mess with his room and he doesn't mess with mine. Normally. We do of course ask each others opinion when rearranging or whatever. As I mentioned a few posts back, we moved my computer and art/craft stuff out so that the boys could have separate rooms. That has made the living room a bit crowded, a fact that I was aware of and in the process of figuring out. My husband decided to take matters into his own hands and rearranged my living room. In a way that I had already expressly and firmly stated I did not want. Mama ain't happy. The thing that really makes me angry about this is that we discussed it and he knew I didn't want to do it that way, but he did it anyway, and then tried to hide from me when I came home from work - knowing exactly how I would feel. I was so mad, I didn't speak to him the rest of the evening. Not as punishment, but to keep myself from crossing the line into scary. Did I mention I was mad? The reason I am still mad is because the way he arranged things (and moved out a few things!) messed with my overall plans for that room and threw everything out of kilter. I am somewhat OCD, and I favor symmetry and balance. Where he put the couch absolutely jacks with the balance of the decor on the wall behind it. And every time I look at it, it drives me crazy because it's all out of whack.

So, I dwelt in the valley of evil for a bit thinking up a suitable revenge: move all the furniture around in HIS room while HE'S at work in a configuration HE will hate; or, change the orientation of his computer desktop upside down every day after first locking him out of his computer. I like that second one because he will have to ask me to fix it for him - every day, until I decide he has suffered enough. But, "vengeance is mine saith the Lord", so handling the matter in such a way is a no-no. Instead I will just rearrange everything in the living room. And tell him I will lock him out of his computer if he jacks with it again. I can't arrange it while he's home, though, or he will try exerting his preferences.

Another thing that has me a little peeved happened today. Well, I guess it happened yesterday, but I discovered it today. It involves something of mine that got "borrowed" without asking me - no bad intentions, but still...Good manners say you ask first and you don't pass it off as yours. 

The topper to my agitation: I've been forced to listen to some really crappy music from the 70's. This is stuff that hearing as a child, hated then. It hasn't gotten any better over time. What's worse is that it is all cover stuff by Glen Campbell, so even the good ones like Otis Redding's "Dock Of The Bay" isn't good because it's not him singing. Simon and Garfunkle's "Scarborough Fair" (Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme...), Judy Collins' "Both Sides Now", (which I don't like, but is worth mentioning because it is an odd choice), Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" - All of them Glen, so not just his own greatest hits, but everybody else's too. I never cared for Glen Campbell and a few of his songs I truly despise like "Wichita Lineman", and "By The Time I Get To Phoenix". Today is day three of non-stop Glen Campbell. Proof that there really is a Devil. *sigh*

Looking out my backdoor

This is a photo I took with my phone in my back yard yesterday morning. I had to hurry because the clouds were moving pretty quickly. It was a brief break in the weather that I wanted to capture. Then I took a moment to check for new spring growth on last year's plantings. I noticed several peonies coming up and my lilac has buds, but not blooming yet. My neighbor's lilac has started already. My butterfly bush still looks like dead twigs, so I'm not sure what's happening with it. I think I am going to plant a couple more peonies on the south side of the house where those silly Live-Forever's died. The peonies do really well over there. I'm hoping for some good weather this weekend so we can do some work in the yard and maybe get a ride on the bike in, but it looks like Friday is mostly sunny while Saturday is partly cloudy and Sunday is stormy. Might have to plan a ride for Friday after work, and then yard work Saturday morning. That'll work!