Reprieve

We did get high winds, and snow on Oct. 26 & 27th.  Some ditches here have drifts along the fences.  Temperature for 2 mornings was 25 degrees.  The rest of the snow has melted.  I think they got more snow in northern SD, however.
We did get a reprieve, tho, and have had several nice days.  We got the caulking nearly done, the last window trim painted, the frozen garden hoses thawed out, and I drained the water from them and got them hung up.
Garden is not cleaned off, but there is so much foliage, and it is only frozen, not dried.  Cleaning garden will have to wait awhile.  I don't have any way to grind it for the compost, and don't have enough room in the compost ring for all the garden throwaways unless they dry down, and maybe not then.  May have to start a new pile.
I did throw some ground hay over the carrots, but noticed that something is eating on the parts that are out of the ground, so think these had better get dug sooner than later!
I hung a basket of washing on the clothesline this AM, and wind was chilly, reminding me that winter is around the corner.  (Love the fresh smell of line dried clothes).

Chilly Fall Night in SD

The cold wind blew very hard today.  On the way home from work, my car shook as I drove.  Now the first winter weather advisory is out for the north part of our State.  It will get cold here tonight as well, and tomorrow promises only temps in the 30's and 40's.  However, the weekend forecast puts us back up in the 60's.  The football playoffs were tonight, a very cold, windy and blustery night to play that game.  Looked like more running games than passing ones tonight.
I brought into the house, my three pots of Gerber daisies.  I just can't bear the thoughts of those pretty flowers freezing tonight.  One pot is heavy, so I am not going to do this too many times.  I had some moss roses in with them, and they are only seed pods and stems, so will pull them out before I put the pots back on the step.
Well, we will see tomorrow if anyone gets snow tonight!!

Rain

We got a little shower of rain today, really needed it.  The dust was so bad on our gravel roads that when you would meet someone, especially a truck, if the wind was in the right direction, the dust cloud enveloped you, and you were blinded temporarily.  You had better not be going very fast, so that you could stop, until you could get your bearings and see exactly where you were.  Fortunately, the wind removed the dust rather quickly.

When I was on the ladder a few days ago, painting more trim, the trucks were flying by here with loads of corn they were combining, delivering it to a neighbor that has a cattle feedyard.  The dust was flying around them as well.  They were happy for the dryness of the fields, tho, letting them get their crop out.  This fall has been nice for farmers in that regard, they were able to do fall work without rain and cold hampering them.

Church Youth Services

The 29 young people at our Church, 7th graders through Seniors in High School, led the Church Service today.  They sang, led the responsive Scripture readings and prayers, helped with Communion, the children's sermon and taking of the offering. They did a skit called "The Jesus Suits", reminding us all to keep on our Jesus suits when we leave Church for the week ahead. They did an excellent job, and it was an enjoyable hour.  
After Services, they invited the congregation to a biscuits and gravy breakfast with juice, coffee and/or lattes. It was delicious. 
Thank you to our Pastor, and the Youth leaders that work with her leading this great group of young people.

Book Club

Our Book Club, the Undercover Page Turners read the book, "What is the What?"  It was story about Valentino Achak Deng, and the lost boys of Sudan.  This heart wrenching fictionalized memoir was based on Deng's life.   Valentino was seven years old when he fled his village with thousands of other children and trekked hundreds of miles on foot. lived for over a decade in a refuge camp.  The United States, along with some other countries has given sanctuary and political asylum to many of them.  We listened to him talk, along with the author, Dave Eggers at a Book Festival. The war in Sudan killed 1.9 million civilians and forced over 4 million people to flee their homes.

Last night, our club met and watched the film, "God Grew Tired of Us".  This was about 4 young men who were also in the same camps as Valentino.  The film concentrated mostly on what happened to them after they came to the United States.  Think of it, you live your entire life without anything we take for granted, and then suddenly it is all before you....electricity, TV, enough food to eat, transportation other than just your fee;  to say nothing of a culture entirely foreign.  The film was very interesting.  These four young men are like Valentino and those in the book...they want to get an education and do something for their country, for the people they left behind, the ones just like themselves who were not lucky enough to get the opportunity they now have.

Frost in Central SD

We got our first frost of the season last night.  It frosted what was left of the squash vines, and the outside of the tomatoes show black and curly.  Still time to pick the last tomatoes tho.  We have the squash picked up, and have apples yet to pick.  The first frosts do not hurt them, makes them sweeter.   The carrots are still bright and green, they can go much longer before being dug.  I have dug them out of the snow on Thanksgiving week, and they were sweet and tasty.
Most of the deciduous trees show various colors now, faded green to bright yellows.  Some flowers hanging on yet...cosmos, some calendulas that did not dry up, and on my step, the Gerbera daisies in pots.  Wonder if I took them in, how long they would bloom in the house?   Not enough light, I imagine, now with shorter days.

House Fix Up

Our house is now about 50 years old, which is young in comparison with a lot of houses in SD.  However, it seems now that when you fix one thing, another is ready for attention.  We replaced a window on the east, now we see there are some windows on the north that have rotting sills.  More caulking is needed around the house. Looks like wood and siding dry out with age and shrink back.  In addition, the previous caulk dries and shrinks. The sons that were here pheasant hunting "worked" for their keep; did a lot of scraping of the caulk.  Now Roger & I will get back on the ladder, caulk up and do some protective painting.  By the looks of the siding on the north side, it is soon going to have to be painted, too much weathering, hail at times, have taken a toil.
Inside the house, all walls need to be painted again, and we have a sink drain pipe that corroded and is now leaking. (Plumber on the way for this one!)  They also worked on the camper hitch, and replaced a garage door, so that is ready for winter, which is creeping up on us.
Nice to have your "kids" come home for a visit.  The time is too short, there are always jobs that need to be done on the farm or on the house. We appreciate having them home no matter how short the time is.

Pheasant Hunting

Opening day of pheasant hunting in South Dakota was a balmy, beautiful fall wonderland of colored trees, crunchy grass and corn stalks, with Ruger running ahead to flush out birds. The hunting party consists of 7 adults and teenagers with guns, 2 women walking along to help the hunters, and 6 1/2 year old Colby, and 5 1/2 year old Alex, having a great time with the adults. All dressed in orange, they made a stop at the house for cold drinks and snacks, water for the dog, and headed back out. I did some odd jobs outside to enjoy the day and put potatoes in the oven for a baked potato bar for supper. Bev contributed a spicy buffalo chicken dish. We had carrots and little yellow tomatoes from my garden, and crock pot baked beans. Susie brought bagels and made some dips. Birthday cake and ice cream for Troy, who turns 40 next week, finished off the meal.
They came in with their limit for the day, picture taking all around, cleaned birds, and exchanged hunting stories. The meal was delicious. It was a very nice day.

Compost

Roger brought up an old tractor tire rim, which I think I can use to make a compost pile. It is about 40 inches in diameter, 18 inches high. We put it in the garden area. As a habit from my parents, I bury my garbage in the garden, but we have not had rain for some weeks now, and the ground is as hard as a rock. Tomorrow, he will bring me up a tractor scoop of ground hay, as I already have some garbage thrown in to start this. What else do I need, peat moss? Of course I would have to buy that,so will just the hay work? Do I need to have some air to this, I could put boards under the rim to raise it up a little. Advice anyone?

Long Lives

The weekend flew by. We had Sunday dinner (noon meal to all of you) with hubby's brother, sister and their spouses. Lots of good conversation and laughs. His sister lives in Montana, so don't see them often. Later, to visit my 95 year old mother and father at their home, then to see a friend from West River who was here for her 93 year old mother's funeral. We had a discussion about the longevity of the people that live here in central South Dakota. Born in the early 1900's, they have seen a lot of life changes that we take for granted...running water in the house, w/indoor plumbing, electricity, transportation from horses to what it is today.
My Dad drove a school bus, which was a wagon with horses hitched to it. He worked for his room and board, did chores before dawn, and left to drive the bus to school, after he had the horses hitched up. At school, unhitch, go to school for the day, then do the same thing, hitch back up and deliver his charges home, take care of the horses. Then evening chores, which involved milking the cows again, plus any other farm chores in the 1920's. Teenagers today would stay out of trouble if they had this much to do every day.

Kindergarten Teacher

Troy and his son Alex visited this weekend. Alex is 5 1/2, has been in kindergarten for about 5 weeks. He asked me for plain paper, had me staple pages together, because he wanted to make a book. He started writing, did the title of the book, Max and the Crystal, and wrote Author, then his own name. He asked how to spell words, and Troy suggested he use the Turtle method, and he began sounding out word after word. He wrote on the left side and illustrated his book on the right side. He would turn the page, and tell me the lines for that page, in long complicated sentences. He would sound out every letter of a word. I kept trying to get him to shorten the sentences, but the story just kept getting longer. Max finally found the Crystal, but then someone promptly tried to take it from him again. (Max, spelled MSC, is a dog, and he drew Max on every page) He also has a great understanding of the ! point for an exciting sentence, and explained to me that the dot meant the end of a sentence because that's what his teacher says. Then he wanted me to read it to him, "because I can't read yet". I want to meet his teacher! He also has parents that read to him every day, talked to him in complete sentences from the day of his birth, and give him long explanations on any subject that comes up. And of course, he is my grandson, so I think he is brilliant!:) His teacher has about 20 students, and my hat is off to her!

Today's Sights, Smells and Sounds

Sighted** Outside the Hospital, an older lady, maybe 70's, maybe older, hunched over and leaning heavily on a cane...smoking a cigarette!
Smelled** On an elevator in another definite non smoking building, the smell of cigarette smoke from a previous rider.
Sound**Mountain lions in SD, beware, the allowed kill has been increased from 40 animals to 50 this year.
This all, on a beautiful, warm day, breaking record temps for this time of year. High 80's!
*** If you live in South Dakota, don't be complacent, please go to the polls in November, and VOTE YES on # 12, the smoking ban. Thank you!!

Volunteer Tomatoes

I was hanging out a load of clothes this AM, when I noticed an open spot in the shelterbelt, and what looked to be tomato plants.  On investigation, it was a group of plants, 2 1/2 feet tall, the patch was 4 feet or so in diameter.  They are blooming, have little tomatoes setting on.  Where did they come from?   This summer, July 1st, to be exact, we had a sink hole right beside the garden fence, and in a few days, our septic tank collapsed.  The digger man that came to replace the tank took some of the deeper dirt, which was actually gray looking clay like dirt, and dumped a heap in the shelterbelt.  This is interesting, because he did not take the top layer, which would be the logical place for last year's tomatoes to be thrown, so how those seeds got where they were is a mystery.
Because we are nearing frost for our area, there will not be enough time to get a crop from these plants.  It was a bonus year for rain, and garden crops, tho.  I doubt I will ever see another garden of mine flourish the way it did this year!  

Painting Window Trim

A beautiful fall day in SD.  I have been out on a ladder painting the trim around some windows on our house, listening to the birds singing.  Amazing the damage the elements do to wood!  I primed a couple of windows, will put the top coat on in a few days.  Luckily, we have permanent siding, so the house does not need paint.  One big window on the east has rotten sills, and we had some moisture damage on the inside walls last winter...the 2009-2010 winter with snow everywhere, a blizzard every few weeks, snow that buried us a lot of times.  This weekend, we will get that window replaced.  ...Hoping the painting I am doing will hold off any more replacement to be done for another couple of years.  This window alone cost around $1000.00, and that is without the installation cost.  This house was built in 1959, so I guess the windows have held up well.

Blogging - 2010

I am setting up a Blog as a place to put my thoughts.  This is a new experiment for me, and I like to do new things. If you don't try something new, how would you ever know if it was fun, or you liked or did not like to do that particular thing?   Sometimes my experiments are a good idea, sometimes not!  There is only one way to find out!