Winter forecast - Wooly worm coat color

Not sure if you can see the wooly worm here, but it is totally black with a brown head.

Does this make for a predicted hard cold winter? I saw 2 and they are marked exactly the same.

Another atempt at Green Beans

Harvest is done for the summer from my garden. Such a disappointing year. Grasshoppers feasted on the final crops after we finally got rain. We didn't have many bugs this summer during the heat and drought. Which was nice, but couldn't sit out and enjoy the outside anyway. Summer just sucked.
So, after the ground got saturated, I am trying for a fall harvest of green beans, zucchini and cucumbers. So far I am pleased with the growth. Now hoping the temps hold and they can produce something for us.

Sa far, the beans are spotty coming up. But more rain has helped the beans sprout now. Finally catching up on the mowing and weed control. The weeds were just waiting to bolt up out of the ground with natures watering. I have missed being able to hide out at the farm this summer and work. Got lazy hanging out in the house. Gotta get back into shape.

Kiley's 3rd Birthday Family Pictures

Aug. 19th we celebrated Kiley's 3rd Birthday. Fun day for all. Aug. 21st was her birthday, and when we told her happy birthday, she said she wanted another party. She loves parties now.

Steve, Kiley and I. Proud Grampa and Gramma.

Aunt Leslie and Kiley. They call each other "best buddies."

Dave, Kiley and Melanie. Proud parents and we are so proud they are ours.

Fighting the 2012 Drought for a Garden

It's been a lot of work this year to have a garden to help feed our family for another year. Unsuccessful with so many seeds. Tomatoes and melons survived for a time. Now they are swirviling in the hot soils of the drought area here in the midwest.

I have so far almost 100 pints of tomato sauce canned up for future use. Looks like we will be eating lots of tomato soup, chili, and pasta dishes this winter. Maybe I'll take up drinking, and make some bloody mary's. Wonder if I could find some friends to join me.

I Thank God for what he has helped provide us with. We could have had nothing at all. Praying for rain everyday, watch clouds build, only for them to just float on over top of us, and not a drop of rain. Trying not to lose faith, but it seems to be drying up like the world around me.

Kiley's visit to the Circus

The circus come to town and it didn't rain. Most unusual year for, shall we call them, traditions. Oh also, it was not hot and humid for the Circus animals and participants either. It was a beautiful day/evening, everyone was out and about, sharing with the children all and more to enjoy this year.

We took our girls when they were elementary ages. All the acts were in a tent, the stench, heat and humidity, well, lets say the Circus went on without us after a couple visits. So when we went this year, we expected more of the same, but NO, the event over the years has been vamped up, new Circus all together, and I think they said they were from Australia, and quite the act they put on .

I just can't fathom being the snake girl. She'd drape that snake right around her shoulders like we would a winter scarf. People lined up for the kids and adults to get their pictures taken with it around them. I saved our ten bucks, we didn't get any closer than this picture to that area.

Kiley liked seeing the Elephants. By the time we got to the circus, the one Elephant was holding it's back leg up or over the other foot, and they let it rest in the center of the area, and went and got another one and took this one to the shade and watering/eating/holding area under the grandstand. After watching the other kids and adults ride, Kiley decided she only wanted to ride the ponies.

She loved the pony ride. Held on all by herself, and when she got off it, she now wants a pony of her own.

The Circus only comes to town one time per year, for the one evening. The very next day when she got to my house, she wanted to "let's go to the circus again, Maw maw".

Spring of 2012

This years 2nd yellow rose in my flower bed. It's smaller than the first one. But love the bright color of it once again.

This years lilies, camera did not bring out the orange of this one.

This one is my yellow lily. They both flowered earlier than usual, with our mild temp. My peonies even bloomed and are gone way before Memorial Day. Loving the colors of my flowers that have bloomed early. I should have mums blooming in a couple weeks. Hoping for color all summer long and into the fall.

Garden is planted, adding later crops in a few weeks. Garden is planned for all summer long harvesting with the space between first planting and later plantings.

Also in the works, is restoring/painting a golf cart and a Farmall - H. Been busy most days with working a little on all the projects, along with getting trees trimmed along roadway at farm, painted a wagon we made last winter, helping Steve get the soybeans in, cleaning up after heavy flash flooding rains, and mowing, which started the second week of March, and has had to be mowed at track, farm and home once a week. Then there is watching Kiley everyday too. She's such a big helper to me now.

We also have started tractor pulling, so we have our fun days too. It's good to be outside working again. Sure lifted my spirits, after a nice warm winter without being able to really do anything til the weather was for sure going to stay warm. Farmers took advantage to plant early, but some had to re-plant, as we had low land flooding from heavy rains which made the creeks go out of their banks into the planted fields. We held off planting til last Tuesday, normal planting time. Wishes for some snow next winter. Sure missed it.

Flowers beginning - Plants Out