Playing Catch-up

The Bag Lady is prepared for another work week. She spent the weekend doing laundry, cleaning house, and attending to all those mundane chores that make up life. The Rancher spent his time farming - putting in some oats for green feed.

Whew.

She's really, really glad she doesn't have a full-time job - she would never get anything done at home! oh, like she gets lots done now, hahaha

She managed to get a lot of her bedding plants in the ground, but still has a few things left to plant. The weather was a little unco-operative, but at least it didn't snow!

She really doesn't have much to share with you today, but wanted you to know she is still alive and thinking seriously about someday actually writing an amusing/interesting/thoughtful/intelligent/insightful blog post..... but not today.
Sigh.

Hope all is well with all of you! Anything interesting going on in your world? Tell the Bag Lady some good news, or gossip or.... hell, make something up!

Taking the Long Way Home

The Rancher and the Bag Lady got a few things accomplished yesterday. The Bag Lady mowed the lawn while the Rancher prepared the motorhome for the season. He discovered a few water leaks so had to hunt down some new washers and do all kinds of mysterious things under the sink.

The Bag Lady worked on planting some of her bedding plants as well - she is really hoping the weather will remain warm and there will be no frost.
After they finished for the day, they built a fire in the firepit in the back yard and sat around with another couple from the neighbourhood who live about three miles away, as the crow flies.
Toward the end of the evening, the fellow who was visiting said "OH, I almost forgot to tell you. The other day I was working out in the yard and could hear our new cat making all kinds of strange noises, so I investigated and found our old cat had come back home! He's been gone almost a year!"
The Bag Lady's ears perked up and she asked what the old cat looked like..... sure enough, the neighbour said he was a big orange cat, and the Bag Lady asked if he had a little crook at the end of his tail.... Apparently, "Frank" had journeyed far and wide, but finally returned home!


It's nice to know your name, Frank!

Casualty of Snow

The Rancher and the Bag Lady had to go on a rescue mission over the weekend. The Rancher's brother, who lives in town, called to ask for help removing a casualty suffered during the snowstorm last week.

His May Day tree, which was loaded with blossoms, couldn't take the weight of the heavy wet snow and collapsed, taking out a portion of the fence!



There was no way that all the branches would fit in a pick-up truck, so the Rancher hooked up his stock trailer and used it to haul the branches away.

It was quite a load, but smelled better than what is customarily hauled in that trailer!

Winter's Last (hopefully) Kick

This is what things looked like yesterday afternoon after about 3 inches of rain. This is the Bag Lady's garden:

Here's the rain gauge (it may be hard to see the little red marker that floats on top of the water in the gauge)

This is the bottom of the Bag Lady's lawn (the little streaks in the picture are the snow that started to fall):



This was approximately half an hour later:

And this was later still:



The snow was very wet and heavy:
This is what it looked like this morning:


The rain gauge this morning:



The Rancher went out this morning and measured the snow on the back of the Bag Lady's truck... almost 6 inches.
And the forecast is for more rain/snow to fall later today!
It has affected the power - the Rancher's sister lives about an hour north and her electricity went off yesterday afternoon around 4 pm, and still isn't restored.
It was very dry here and the moisture was badly needed, but sheesh, it didn't have to come all at once!

This is a long weekend in Canada, and traditionally the first weekend to go camping.... the Bag Lady is just as happy to hunker down at home, thankyouverymuch.

...the Old Man is Snoring

I'm feeling a little discombobulated today. Perhaps it's due to the wet stuff that is falling from the sky.... it's been such a very long time since we've experienced so much rain all at once that I'm not accustomed to it any more!

It has finally taken to raining here. We got about a quarter of an inch on Tuesday night. The wind was blowing a bit on Wednesday and moved the clouds away, but also blew in another storm sometime during the night. It's been raining ever since. There is now over an inch and a half in the rain gauge. Yippee!

Unfortunately, the forecast is for some cold weather to move in and turn this rain into snow tonight. I bought my bedding plants on Wednesday - tomatoes, peppers and some flowers - but they are currently resting on my dining room table. I'll plant them in pots for the deck after the cold weather moves off again.

I am glad that the garden is in because the cold weather won't have too much effect on it, and the rain will help immensely. Everything is looking very green and clean.

(Blogger is still acting up a little, so there is a totally unrelated photo at the beginning of this post.... but I'm leaving it there because it's cute!)

Can You See These?

The Bag Lady is having a little trouble this morning uploading pictures to her blog. She is hoping that you all can see the pictures (Blogger is being uncooperative.)

Caution?

It seems as though every time the Bag Lady leaves home, she sees at least one bunny on the road, sometimes two! This one was very brave and let her get quite close before it took off into the bushes.


She has been thinking she should make a sign for the road that reads "Caution - Bunnies Crossing", but she fears it would confirm her neighbour's suspicions that she is a lunatic.
Sigh.

She went to the greenhouse yesterday and purchased some bedding plants for the pots on her deck. She bought some tomatoes and peppers, as well as some alyssum, geraniums and petunias. She left them on the deck overnight to help them acclimatize, and will put them into some pots after work today and try not to kill them

She has a lot of work yet to do in her yard because the weeds don't seem to have any consideration or compassion - they continue to proliferate regardless of the fact that she doesn't have as much time to devote to gardening as she did before she started working! bastards!

This coming weekend is a long weekend in Canada, and the forecast is for rain and cooler temperatures. The Bag Lady is not complaining about the rain, though - it will help her garden grow, and the pasture and hay crops really need a drink! There has not been much precipitation in this area and drought conditions prevail. Rain would be welcome, but the Bag Lady bought something that will help..... a new sprinkler head! She figures that if she waters the garden, that will make it rain! Good thinking, eh?

Lettuce,Turnip & Pea

It's been another busy weekend on the ranch. The Bag Lady wanted to plant her garden, and her sister-in-law and her sister-in-law's sister decided they had to help because they didn't have room in their yards in town for a garden, and wanted some veggies, too.

The Bag Lady asked the Rancher if he would help get the garden ready for planting. He decided that it was time to fix some of the landscaping that had been ignored over the years. When he first cleared the land for the Bag Lady's garden, he pushed the trees down and piled them against the bush behind the garden. Over the years, the weeds and brush had grown up and looked untidy, and the garden got a little smaller every year.

He decided to fix that. Of course, it also gave him an excuse to play work with his Cat.... (and we all know how boys love their toys!)

First, he dug a hole:


A fairly big hole, actually:

Then he pushed the brush pile into the hole:


He drove over it with the Cat, using the weight of the machine to crush the logs and brush into the hole:


Then he pushed the dirt back into the hole:


And smoothed it out:

Then he used the disk to smooth it some more:


Here it is, nice and smooth:



But it wasn't quite done, because the Bag Lady wanted to add some manure. So off to the manure pile went the Rancher, much to the consternation of the heifers, who use it for sun-bathing, playing King (Queen?) of the Castle, and just generally surveying the world.

After many trips back and forth and lots of manure, the Rancher smoothed it out one last time:


On Sunday, the Bag Lady, her sister-in-law and her SIL's sister spent a very long, hot day planting:


The Bag Lady knows that it doesn't look like much right now, but with a little rain and a little time, she is hoping for a wonderful harvest of home-grown goodness!

Can You Spot the Bunny?

There really is a wild bunny in this picture, but he was a little camera shy and took off just as the Bag Lady snapped his picture.

I Has a Sad.

It has been a sad weekend around the ranch.

The Bag Lady received a phone call on Friday telling her that one of her favourite relatives (her dad's cousin) passed away. Granted, it was not totally unexpected -- he was, after all, 95 years old, but it still makes her sad to think he is no longer with us.

As if that wasn't enough, on Saturday morning, the Bag Lady received a phone call from her mother-in-law, telling her that one of the Rancher's uncles had passed away early that morning! This was a bit of a surprise because, although he was not a young man, he seemed to be in good health.

The Bag Lady is hoping that the old adage about bad things coming in threes is not true and that this will be all the bad news for quite some time. And if anyone wants to get in touch with her, use email, or smoke signals or pony express, 'cause she is not answering the phone anymore!

Rest in Peace, Denny and Walter.

Spice Rack

The Bag Lady has been keeping herself busy with household chores and all manner of little tasks. One of the tasks she tackled yesterday was rebuilding the spice rack she made for the inside of her pantry door. She has a lot of spices, and likes to have them organized and easy to find, and has had her spice rack for many years. When the new floor was put in, it turned out to be the perfect time to rebuild and enlarge the spice rack.

Here is what she ended up with:


She thought she had a 'before' picture, but can't find it. The original had five shelves - she added two more on the bottom, which meant moving the rack up almost to the top of the door. She is not much of a carpenter, so the rack isn't very attractive, but it's functional and no-one sees it when the door is shut! (And yes, her spices are organized alphabetically.... she's sick that way!)

Have a great weekend!

Hanging Out

The Bag Lady and the Rancher went to town for supper at the Rancher's brother's house on the weekend. The Rancher's sister-in-law's sister's grand-daughter (how's that for convoluted?) wanted to climb the tree in the back yard and Unka Wicker had to climb it, too.



It is a perfect climbing tree, if you are 4 years old and have an unka willing to climb it with you!

Purple Finch

Lost

This cat:

seems to think he lives at the Bag Lady's house.
Sadly, the Bag Lady knows this is not true.
And so do the Bag Lady's critters! This poor guy hangs around on the deck and wants to be let into the house, in spite of the unfriendly response from the cats. He has also been chased away several times by the Princess, but he persists in coming back.

The Bag Lady is going to have to try to find out where he really lives, because she is sure he is someone's pet. He is very friendly, and the Bag Lady thinks someone must be missing him!