The Adventures of Harlee Dog

Last night I took supper out to the field and of course my trusty sidekick Harlee went along.  When we got to the field I let her out of the car and she ran around sniffing every inch of ground and every milo stalk in the field.

I was parked at the edge of the road, near the grain semi.  The tractor had pulled up to the semi and was unloading the grain from the grain cart into the semi.  I figured I'd stay a while and ride in the combine with The Farmer, but the combine was out in the middle of the field.  I decided to jump in the tractor with the hired guy and ride with him out to the combine.  I sternly told Harlee to stay and hopped in the tractor.

Since we were pulling a huge grain cart behind the tractor, we could not see behind us but I figured she'd stayed close to the semi at the edge of the field.  We drove the tractor clear to the other end of the field and turned around to meet up with the combine and begin unloading the grain from the combine into the grain cart.  As we turn around, who comes running around the side of the grain cart?  That would be Harlee dog.

She was panting hard and had run quite a ways by the time we crossed the whole field.  I crawled out of the tractor and was going to jump in the combine with The Farmer, but first we had to figure out what to do about Harlee.  The Farmer didn't want her to keep running through the field because the milo stalks are taller than her and he was afraid she'd get lost in them.  The only option was to put her in the combine with us.  

Now one of the things Harlee hates most is getting picked up, even by me or The Farmer.  Several weeks ago she followed The Farmer in the tractor when he was planting wheat, and by the time he realized she was following him they were a mile from the house.  So he picked her up, put her in the tractor, and she rode with him in the tractor all afternoon.  So when he tried to grab her to carry her up the combine ladder, she was having none of it.  She knew what he was going to do and took off.

The Farmer told me to crawl up the ladder and wait at the top, because Harlee usually wants to be where I am.  He figured she'd be more likely to let him catch her and bring her up if I was waiting at the top.  So I crawled up the ladder to the small platform outside the cab.  The Farmer crouched down and tried to talk all sweetly to Harlee.  She came running back to him, but stayed JUST out of his reach.  As soon as he tried to grab her, she took off.  You could tell she thought it was a fun game, and she would get tantalizingly close, only to dodge his grasp as soon as he tried to catch her.  Meanwhile I was on the platform laughing my head off.

Well eventually The Farmer did manage to catch her and carried her up the ladder and put her in the cab of the combine with us.  She flailed all the way up the ladder, but as soon as she got in the cab she calmed down and was happy as a clam.

 Here she is riding on the floor of the combine.  She just stared out the front windshield and looked pretty pleased with herself!

 We rode for close to 3 hours, and she really did great the whole time.  When I finally decided it was time for us to go home, The Farmer had to carry her back down the ladder and she was NOT a fan of that, but all in all I think she was pretty pleased with herself for getting to ride with us.  And even though she was a little booger to catch and carry, I think The Farmer was glad to have some company in the combine with him.

Fall on the Farm

The warm summer temperatures have FINALLY given way to cooler nights and beautiful days, and fall harvest has started at the farm.  This is The Farmer's busiest season; he's got soybeans and milo to harvest and wheat to plant.  The other night he was out planting wheat and when I took some supper to him in the field, I noticed this pretty milo field across the road.

Last night he was cutting soybeans, and I went out to take him some supper and get in a little combine time myself.  (Just riding, not driving.  The Farmer has offered several times to teach me how to drive the combine, but let's face it: I once drove my car over a curb, shredding my tire, because a spider crawled across my leg while I was driving.  I am probably not the girl you want to be entrusting with heavy duty machinery.)

While I was waiting for him to stop so I could jump in with him, I snapped these pictures of the sunset:

With the long days where The Farmer is in the field all day and I'm at work, Harlee has been spending a lot of time outside.  The exception was this weekend, when I was laid up all weekend with a nasty cold.  She got lots of cuddle time with me on the couch, and of course she begged for food every chance she got.

 "You gonna finish all of that?"

 

Catching Up

Well that was a long and unintended break.  I'll share more soon about why life has been so crazy, but for now, here's a random list of stuff that's been happening around the farm.

1. This is what it looks like when you have a tired farmer and a dog who wants the tired farmer to wake up and play.

 "Wake up dad, you need to pet me!"

2.  I made some curtains for the kitchen window.  

I use the term "made" loosely, because I just bought flower sack towels and sewed pom-pom trim along the bottom edge.  I hung them with clip rings so I didn't even have to sew a curtain rod pocket.  

 Lazy girl curtains for the win!

3.  The zinnias and dahlias have stood up well to the summer heat and drought that just won't quit around here.

 4. I have been treated to some pretty gorgeous sunrises on my way to work lately.

 Getting up and getting ready while it's still dark out = no fun.  But sunrises like this for me to enjoy on my 30 minute commute kind of make up for it.

 

Cuteness

About a week ago, I was watering some plants in one of my raised garden beds and heard a tiny squeak/whimper.  I took a few giant steps backwards and kept watering (I thought maybe it was a mouse, and I did NOT want it running up my leg or over my foot if it came out panicked).  Then a couple days later as I was watering the same spot, a baby bunny ran out.  It was clearly not a fan of the sudden downpour in what must have been a nice cool spot among the leaves of my day lilies, and as soon as it ran out it caught the attention of Harlee the Watchdog.  This was more bad news, although the poor thing ran under another bush safely out of Harlee's reach.

Tonight as I was watering the same spot again (100 degree heat makes for a lot of quality time between Melissa and the garden hose), I happened to notice four baby bunnies huddled together in the grass between the raised beds.  We have 2 raised beds that are about 18 inches apart, which is too narrow for the lawn mower to reach, so the grass is usually taller there and the sweet little babies must have though it would make a pretty good home.

Harlee just got a bath earlier today (she would like you to feel sorry for her and wants you to know that she has the meanest humans on the planet) and we made her stay inside tonight so she wouldn't get instantly dirty again, so she was not around to scare the poor things.  So I ran inside and got my camera to take a few pictures.  How cute are they?!

Speaking of cuteness, my brother and sister-in-law and niece came to visit the farm last weekend.  It was the first time they've been to the farm since we moved here, and it was so fun to have them!  My niece is two and a half and is at the perfect age for exploring a big farmyard. 

Someone in this picture really loves her uncle. :)  

Harlee was not quite sure what to do with a toddler and all her energy.  She did allow my niece to hug her and kiss her, which was super sweet.  After they left, though, this was how she spent the next couple of days.  Haha!  Having a little playmate really wore her out.

Growing Summer

A while back I mentioned a couple of pots that I had done everything possible to kill, and yet the plants came back to life.  Here are the cannas I was sure were gone.  Not only did they grow back, but they are blooming right now.  This year I'll do a better job of digging them up after they finish blooming and storing them for the winter.  They didn't get very tall this year and I think it's because they're still living in the pot with all the old bulbs from last year.  Hopefully digging and storing them, then replanting them in their own pot next year will allow them to get a bit bigger in the future.

  

 I've also mentioned that I got a little green pepper plant for free when I bought tomatoes from the greenhouse.  I peeked under the leaves the other day and found this tiny little pepper!  I have no idea how to tell when they are ready to be picked, but I can't wait to try it out.  This guy is pretty small, so I'll give it some more time before I pick it.

My watermelon plant has officially taken over the whole garden at this point.  Note to self, plant it far, far away from every other plant next year.  Watermelon plants are a vine, and the tendrils from the watermelon vine have grown up to my tomato plants and wrapped themselves around the branches of the tomato plants.  Here are a couple baby watermelons that I've been watching.  They're actually growing pretty fast, so I hope we'll have watermelon ready to eat in the next week or so.  The Farmer doesn't really like it, so I'm going to have an awful lot to eat!

When I was out at the garden taking pictures of the produce, the sun was shining through the trees just right and hitting the sunflowers so beautifully.  I had to stop and take a few pictures of those as well.  

And no post about gardening would be complete without the latest zinnia picture.  I love this picture because it shows how intricate all the petals are!  

My brother, sister-in-law, and niece came to stay with us for a couple of days and it was so fun to be able to cut flowers from the yard and use them to decorate the guest room for them.  

I didn't take any pictures of this, but last weekend I ordered 6 dozen ears of sweet corn from a local grower and on Saturday I put it all up.  I'm not sure the actual term for what I did with the corn; growing up we always just called it "putting up corn."  I husked it all, washed it, boiled it for a few minutes, then plunged it into ice water to cool down and cut it off the cob as soon as it was cool to the touch.  Then I scooped all the corn into small containers and bags and froze it.  It's sort of a lot of work, but I grew up eating corn this way and it completely ruined me from being able to enjoy the frozen stuff you buy at the grocery store.  Corn put up this way tastes so fresh and sweet, it was worth all the work to be able to enjoy that taste in the middle of winter.

I actually bought 8 dozen ears of corn and only put up 6 of them, so I need to get something done with the rest of them.  I'm sure The Farmer and I will eat some of them fresh on the cob in the next few days (we've already done this once), and I hope to put the rest up this week.  I got 24 containers of corn out of the first 6 dozen ears I did, so if I can get 6 more containers out of what I have left, that would put me at 30.  Then I'd like to do one more batch of at least 6 dozen more, to get us to a total of at least 50 containers.  Having one container to pull out each week over the next year will be so tasty!

C O L O R F U L S U M M E R

 Take a look at the beauties I cut from the garden tonight!  These are called "Teddy Bear Sunflowers."  Instead of large, distinct petals like a normal sunflower, they have these fuzzy leaves that look more like a teddy bear's fur.  I've never grown them before, but decided to try them out this year.  It seems like they took forever to bloom, but they were worth the wait!  Next year I'd like to put them in one of my raised beds.  This year I have them growing just along the grass that borders our garden, and I think the grass has held them back from getting as big as they otherwise would have.  But they are blooming away right now and are quite the happy sight on our dining room table.

And speaking of blooming, the zinnias have gone crazy!  Never again will I try to grow them in pots.  This is the first year I stuck them in the ground (in a raised bed) and I have had so much better luck with them!  I think an entire raised bed of them would be stunning.  This year they just take up one end of one of my beds, but next year I just may go crazy with them. :)

A New Approach

I have to tell you about the book I've been reading.  I've been feeling a bit lost when it comes to my devotions lately.  When I don't have a clear direction or plan or accountability, I tend to let that time get pushed out of my day.  I was really wanting something to get me back into my Bible and to give me some direction, and a girl whose blog I follow (www.jessmcclenahan.com) suggested a book by Jen Wilkin.  I had never heard of her, but I did a little research and found out that she and her family are members of The Village Church in TX.  This is the church that Matt Chandler pastors, and Jen and her books come highly recommended by him.  I have mad respect for him, so that was all the recommendation I needed.

  

It. Is. So. Good!

It's not a Bible study.  Rather, it is a book that teaches you the process of HOW to study the Bible for yourself.  A lot of the stuff she teaches is similar to the inductive Bible study method that Kay Arthur teaches.  But Kay Arthur's method is a little too intense and intimidating for me.  I love the way Jen lays out the steps to go deep in the Word, encourages us to love God first with our minds and then with our hearts, and the way she presents prayer as a component that runs through every part of the study process.  

As I've been reading the book, I've been thinking about which book of the Bible I might want to try studying with this method.  Then the president of the college where I work sent all the employees an email suggesting that we read through Romans in preparation for the next school year.  The book of Romans is going to be our focus during our weekly chapel services, so he was encouraging us to start meditating on it now.  I decided that was a great place to start, so I've just started into Romans using this method.  I can't wait to see how it goes!

Zinnias, Lilies, And Veggies (Oh My)!

The zinnias I planted this spring have started blooming.  I've decided that zinnias are my new best friends.  I literally just dumped the whole seed packet out on the dirt and watered it good.  And this is what happened!

And there's more blooming beauty on the farm, although I can take no credit for this part.  There's a bush in our front yard that was very slow to come back to life this spring.  It's very overgrown and needs a good pruning, but I'm not sure what it's called and haven't been able to look up instructions about how to prune it.  Recently these gorgeous pink and white blooms started appearing on it.  Anyone know what it is?

There is a long row of lilies showing off in the back yard, too.

Not to be outdone, the veggies are growing like crazy.  It will soon be time to turn on the electric fence to keep animals from stealing our produce.  See the ears of corn?

And look at this tiny cucumber I found!

There is nothing better than fresh veggies from the garden!  

Wheat Harvest 2015

Well, we have officially made it through our first wheat harvest as a married couple.  In fact, today marks our 6th month wedding anniversary!  It does not seem like half a year since we got married.  I guess it's true that time flies when you're having fun.  

We had a great year for wheat harvest.  The Farmer started cutting in the evening on Friday the 19th and finished on Thursday the 25th and did not have to stop one time because of rain.  Even the humidity stayed low, which meant the grain dried out easily and they could start cutting early each day. 

The Farmer's brother drove in from Colorado to help and was able to be here the whole time, which was awesome.  It's so interesting to me to watch them working together.  They seem to just know what the other one is thinking/needing.  For the most part, The Farmer drove the combine (cutting the wheat) and his brother was in the tractor pulling the grain cart (taking the wheat from the combine in the field to the semi waiting at the edge of the field).

I had a bit of vacation time left at work (it has to be used by June 30th or I lose it), so I was able to take a couple of afternoons off during the week.  Between the extra time off to make food and the food I had made ahead and frozen, there was no food shortage.  I really enjoy feeding them!

It was certainly a fun week, but I'm glad it's over now.  There's always a danger when working around heavy equipment, and it would only take one hailstorm or fire to be devastating.  God not only gave us a safe year, but brought the rains just in time to make the plants produce.  I think The Farmer's grandpa summed it up best when he told me, "You know, we can plant, but God gives the increase."  

Breaking Scientific News

In today's science lesson, we will learn that 

sun + rain = stuff grows!

Ok, not a news flash?  Maybe not, but Kansas is absolutely busting at the seams with gorgeousness as a result of a month of rain (May) followed by lots of sun the past couple of weeks.

The wheat is SO. CLOSE. to being ready for harvest.  My family (who lives about 60 miles south of our farm) actually started cutting wheat over a week ago, before getting rained out for several days.  The Farmer still hasn't started cutting his wheat, but he expects to start tomorrow (unless it rains tonight).

It is golden and beautiful!  The other day I went to go snap a few pictures of it in its ripe stage before it gets cut.

 

A few days ago we had a little rain shower move through.  Once it moved to our east, I saw a faint rainbow and took a few pictures on my phone.  Then I went inside to eat a piece of pie, and pretty soon The Farmer came running in.  He was on the phone with someone, but motioned to me frantically to come outside.  I ran outside and saw the most vivid rainbow I have ever seen.  It was so close that the color appeared in front of the tree row about a mile and a half from our house!

 

Of course, my little camera didn't fully capture the beauty of it, but it is still a cool picture.

Sometimes I get a little bored on my drive home from work (my job is a 30 minute commute).  I was driving home yesterday noticing how blue the sky looked, and then I drove by the most lush, green corn field.  I have no idea whose field it was, but I decided to stop and take some pictures.

 

How lucky am I, to get these kinds of views on my daily commute?!  I don't think I could handle a 30 minute commute in heavy city traffic, but I don't mind it when I get to zip down the highway doing 70 mph and looking at all this beauty.

 

Growth

Things around the farm are growing!  My garden has FINALLY taken off now that we are getting some sunny, hot days.

Here are my potatoes.  

 

I haven't peeked into the ground yet to see how big they are, but I hope to soon!  When I was growing up, my mom would fix new potatoes and onions and I LOVED them.  I'm going to attempt to make some soon, as long as there are enough small potatoes to dig up.

I also have one pepper plant growing.

  I've never grown peppers before, but our local greenhouse was having a "Buy 2 veggies, get 1 free" sale when I went to buy tomato plants, so for my free one I picked out a little pepper.  I figured it would be a good way to try something new, without feeling like I wasted money if it dies or doesn't produce well.

Speaking of tomatoes, I've got four of them.  A friend from church had given me four little plants that he had started from seeds this spring.  I cared for all 4 the exact same way, but 2 didn't make it and 2 are doing just fine.  I'm not sure what the difference was, but I decided to buy a couple more to replace the ones I killed.  Here are the two that I bought:

 

And here are the two that were given to me:

 

 I've also got two watermelon plants that are starting to get bigger.  Can't wait for fresh watermelon!

 

My cucumber is still small, but it at least looks healthy.  When it gets a little bigger I am going to put a tomato cage around it and try to get it to grow up the cage instead of spreading across the ground.

And we can't forget the sweet corn!  The first variety I planted is getting quite tall already.  When it was a couple inches tall I planted a second variety, which is also up and growing.  It's tall enough that I should be planting my third variety, but I haven't had time yet.  By staggering the planting dates, I hope to have sweet corn through several weeks instead of it all ripening at the same time and then being done.  In this picture, the first variety I planted is on the left and the more recent planting is on the right.  I'll add the last variety to the right of that.

 

It's too early to guarantee anything, but if all these plants produce like I hope, we will be eating good later this summer!