Sunrise, sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Sunrise

Sunset

Swiftly flow the days.

Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers,

blossoming even as we gaze.

Sunrise, sunset. Sunrise, sunset.

Swiftly fly the years.

One season following another,

laden with happiness and tears.

--Fiddler on the Roof

That is how our lives feel right now. Bonnie was looking at a photo of the two of us this past week and wondered where those two women had gone. Kathy told her to speak for herself, but the mirror doesn't lie, and we both seem to have done some aging over the past few years.

It's official. With mixed feelings, Bonnie will be retiring after 30 years from Cooper Industries on July 31st. It will be nice for the pets to have her home, and it will be nice for Bonnie to be able to tend her garden and have the time to work on projects around the farm while she reinvents herself and outlines the next chapter in her life.

Kathy, who has basically been semi-retired for the past several years, has no plans to change her employment status and will continue at the library 3 days a week and draw early Social Security at age 62, in January of 2010.

There has been a break in the weather and we hope to work outside today...Bonnie in her garden and Kathy running the trimmer-mower.

Don mowed the acreage yesterday (we assume it was Don because he said he was going to mow for us) and did an awesome job. The place is beginning to shape up. With the major weeds gone, the back-fill done and ruts gone, the homestead is lookin' good.

Bonnie's raspberries were delicious Thursday night. We feel like we are winning the battle with the birds for the berries...so far anyway.

Bonnie's fruit and veggies!

From L: melons, Swiss chard and bush beans,

KY Blue pole beans and carrots.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Tomatoes and herbs

Cukes

Winter and summer squashes

Black raspberries

Here are some photos of Bonnie's garden. We look forward to eating the fruit and produce. We have quite a few raspberries picked that we hope to enjoy tonight.

Bonnie had to replant her beans and chose Kentucky Blue pole beans and then bought netting and poles and constructed the apparatus for them to climb. She also rigged up some plastic netting for the cucumbers.

The Swiss Chard looks good, and all the plants look healthy...even the peppers that got off to a bad start.

It is currently 93 degrees outside.

I AM the machine!

Another successful fire!

Good-bye Yellow Brick Road.

Denny finishes...

...running the tile.

At long last...

...our Autumn Blaze Maple comes to the farm!

See the shade?

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

It is very hot today...in the low 90s. Summer has finally come to Blossom Ridge Farm and there are only a few hours each day that we can work outside. Yesterday Kathy was outside by 7:30 a.m. burning what was left of the wood that had been in front of the house, posing as our sidewalk. She, of course, had a hard time getting the fire going. Denny reminded her from across the fence about the fire starters she had in the shed. A few of those along with some newspaper and cardboard she had been saving for the fire, and the sidewalk was quickly consumed.

While the fire was burning, Kathy hoed the last two rows of vines she hadn't done and is set to start over on the first row she did. (Hoeing one or two rows at a time beats hoeing them all at once!) It was much too hot by 10:15 when the hoeing and fire were done to do any weed eating. So inside Kathy went, where she occupied herself with an assortment of indoor tasks.

This morning the call came from Huntington Nursery that they were coming to plant the Autumn Blaze Maple we purchased 9 months ago! The mature height of this tree will be 50', and the spread will be 40'. The fall color is a long-lasting, brilliant orange-red. When Kathy told the men who came to plant the tree that she thought they would be bringing a machine to plant the tree, one of them replied, "I am the machine!" We do know what he is talking about!

Denny finished the tile work he began for us last week and did a super job. Almost makes you wish for rain to see how the drainage works! We need to decide where the dirt will go that is left over from the excavation work that he did. Thank you so much, Denny, for all of your hard work! We really appreciate you stepping in and resolving this issue for us.

Bonnie has been working on her veggie garden in the evenings after work. She is smart enough to not work outside in the heat!

Kathy tied up some vines this morning while waiting for the tree to arrive. The vines look breathtakingly beautiful. It is so much easier to care for them now that we are living here.

After the tree went in, it was off to town for food and supplies, then back into the cottage to escape the heat. We are very pleased to report that the through-the-wall AC that Bonnie purchased is doing a GREAT job cooling the entire cottage. We are also using our two ceiling fans which, likewise, we are thrilled with.

Bonnie's garden is growing well. We are eating black raspberries, and Denny brought over some sour cherries for pie that Kathy pitted and froze for her mother to make a pie with. (Kathy's mother makes the BEST cherry pie in the world! It is sooo good that Kathy asked for one instead of cake for her birthday!)

Farmer Chix

Farmer Chix - Kathy (with her favorite garden tool)...

...and Bonnie.

Catch wires are up.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

You know you are Farmer Chix when you harness yourselves into your buggy and your horses take you to the Farm Store instead of Wal*Mart.

You know you are Farmer Chix when, upon your arrival at the Farm Store, you can greet the staff by name and they ask you how your drainage tile project is going.

We now consider ourselves Farmer Chix because we live on land zoned agricultural and we are cultivating the most beautiful crop in the world...grapes.

We didn't accomplish much on Saturday. We did go shopping and, while out, we stopped by to visit our Autumn Blaze Maple and set up next Wednesday for its delivery and planting. Kathy almost died of shock when the estimate for this service was $150.00! That is almost what the tree cost when we bought it on sale last Fall!

We 'cussed and discussed what to do about the downspouts. We decided to see if Denny could tie the back downspout into the work he was doing for us with the perimeter drain. He said he could, so Kathy went back to the Farm Store and purchased the rest of the connectors. For the front of the house we bought some rock to put under that spout.

Kathy ran a hose from the dehumidifier in the basement to the sump hole. When full, the reservoir was very heavy to remove and empty. We had run a hose in another house we owned and it worked out well. That will eliminate one daily chore since the reservoir was full every day.

Today we put up the double set of catch wires on one of our rows of vines. This would be the row with the most mature of our Marquettes. That went smoothly since we were dealing with mono filament wire and not high tensile. We needed to string two more single rows of high tensile on our row of Native vines, but it was getting hot and it is a bear to string that wire, so we put it off for another day.

Bonnie went inside to get out of the heat and Kathy got out the trimmer-mower and finished the fence row and also mowed the weeds down around the LP gas tank. She is going to stop by and pay Jonathan for his initial mowing of the property and ask him to mow again at his earliest convenience since the weeds are growing, well...like weeds. This time he may be able to lower his blade and cut the weeds down a little lower.

Bonnie worked in her garden today weeding and setting up a trellis system for some pole beans.

We saw Denny when he came over to try to find the field tile on the north side of the walk-out that he will be tying into the one at the south side along with the perimeter tile, and now the back downspout. He is doing such a wonderful job for us.

A very happy Father's Day to Denny and to all the dads who have helped us here with our cottage...Mike and Rex included.

We celebrated our fathers today over coffee. Kathy said that her father always made certain that he took his children to all the places of historical or cultural interest as they moved from state to state. (Kathy was a military brat.) Bonnie said that her father instilled in his children a work ethic to always do the very best they could at whatever job they did. We miss our fathers very much.

So many projects...so little time!

Kathy's new toy...

...and what it can do!

The trimmer-mower was here!

What Denny and Barbara...

...did on Wednesday!

The driveway was enlarged and a stone walkway added.

No more walking through a sea of mud!

Mike did the back-fill and some grading

as well as the driveway.

More of the grading and back-fill.

Lots of projects going on at The Farm.

Mike was at The Farm this week. He enlarged the driveway and also created a gravel path from the driveway to the front porch steps so that we don't have to walk on the boards anymore. (How nice!) Mike also did the back-fill and grading up around the house. (No more big ruts!) The latches were put on the doors of the crawl space under the porch and the siding on the south side of the house that had buckled was replaced. There is still some buckling on the west side that they worked on and are hoping will straighten out without having to be replaced, and a very noticeable buckle on the piece of siding under the loft windows that hasn't been addressed to our knowledge. The caulking also needs to be applied to the cement siding. Kathy thought Mike had applied it this week and had applied a tan instead of a gray color, but he explained that the caulk on the siding had been part of a partial tube he applied after the siding had gone up and that he needed to purchase another tube and it would be the correct color.

Mike also took care of the siding for the dryer vent and Kathy found the cover for it and got it snapped into place.

Kathy got her new toy out on Wednesday and was pleased that she was able to get it up and running without a hitch. She cut down some heavy weeds east of Bonnie's garden, a few along the road, and a section along the fence row. She had hoped to do more of the fence row today and work in the vineyard, hoeing, putting some taller stakes next to the native vines, and maybe even trying her hand at putting in some earth anchors she bought yesterday, but the weather is not cooperating.

The nicest surprise of Wednesday was Denny and Barbara showing up to work on the drainage issue at the walk-out. For some reason no one had accepted the responsibility for completing that project, and though Bonnie had thought she had someone lined up to do it, and other people had expressed an interest in doing it for us, the work was not getting done.

Denny, a ditch digger in a previous life, took ownership of this project for us and showed up with all the tools of the trade and came up with a plan. He and Kathy jumped in his van and went to pick up the tile, connectors and the earth anchors for the vineyard, and Denny had the trench dug and the project well under way by day's end. Today he brought in some stone and covered the tile he had laid so far before the weather got too bad. Bonnie wonders how we ever got so lucky to have Denny and Barbara for neighbors. Another dinner out might be in order!

There are still some odd leaks. Where the dishwasher was draining into a pipe in the basement it started to spill out and Kathy thinks she has that taken care of. The bathroom sink continues to leak no matter what Kathy or Rex do to it, so that will need to be taken care of. Don't want to have to keep catching drips under a sink indefinitely. And, hopefully, Rex now has the drain hose for the washer because the temporary fix is dripping more each day. Will need to give him a call. Perhaps he has also had time to call Sears and find out how we need to adjust the broiler in our stove so we can use it.

Fruiting wire goes up!

Bonnie measuring the height for the fruiting wire.

Next comes the hole.

What you don't want to have happen with high tensile wire!

Finished! Five of the Marquettes are tied to the fruiting wire.
(Click on the photos to enlarge.)

It was a very long day here at The Farm as we strung the fruiting wire in the vineyard. First Bonnie measured the height for the holes in the posts. She then used one of Denny's drill bits (a little overkill on the size) to drill the holes. Next Bonnie cut some PEX tubing which she gently tapped into the holes to protect the posts. The 12 1/2 gauge high tensile wire was then threaded through the PEX in the posts and was secured with Gripples at the end posts which, of course, required a Gripple tool to tighten the wire.

The first row was not pretty. We put the Gripples on incorrectly and then didn't use the tool right so couldn't tighten the wire. After much cussin' and discussin' we decided to try to find a video on the Internet that Bonnie had once seen that would show us how to use the tool. (No booklet or instructions came with the tool!) It took a while, but we finally found the instructions online and realized what we had been doing wrong. We decided to do the next four rows and then go back and cut and splice the wire, and replace one of the Gripples on the first row.

Somehow the wire got all tangled up which added more time that we care to admit to the project. When we were all done we decided to go ahead and tie the cordons on the fruiting wire of the 5 Marquettes that are our most mature vines. We currently have 79 vines. 76 of them are in the vineyard and 3 are spares in Bonnie's garden and will be used for replacements in the vineyard. We have one vine in the vineyard that Kathy thinks may not make it.

No work for us tomorrow as we are off to see the witches of Oz.

We need to string two sets of catch wires on the four rows of vines we are training to VSP(Vertical Shoot Positioning). We will use the top wire cordon system for the row of Niagara, Concord, and Frontenac Gris. Unfortunately, that means that Kathy will have to struggle with the high tensile wire again! We are using 12 1/2 gauge monofilament for the VSP...much easier to handle!

Kathy will be back at work on The Farm on Wednesday...if not sooner. We are thinking of starting the work on the drainage tiles ourselves once we have a plan on how to do it! Kathy has just about had it with the mud at the walk-out basement where she lets her dogs out.

Bonnie's garden is doing well. Most all of her fruits and veggies are up.

Rain, rain go away!

Bonnie weeding her veggie garden.

Kathy has all the tilling done...for now!

We had a most awful storm Monday night. The lightning and thunder looked and sounded like it struck right next to our house. And then there was hail. The garden and vineyard survived with little damage. Our plan calls for us to put up the fruiting wire for the vines this Saturday, weather permitting. We will be off to Indy on Sunday to see Wicked and to eat at Maggiano's - a treat for Kathy and her brothers and their significant others from Kathy's mother, who has also treated us the past few years to Cats and The Lion King. Kathy thinks that this play will be her overall favorite.

After a questionable start, the new microwave appears to be operating ok. It sounds like a freight train and Kathy doesn't remember ever having such a loud microwave. The top latch on the door didn't want to latch when we first started using it so, of course, the microwave would not work. It took a while to figure out what was going on. Now, with use, it seems to be better. What is it with us and microwaves?

Mike called to say he hoped to be out on Friday to expand our driveway. We need to stake out our changes for him. This is all weather-dependent, so we are not hopeful that the weather will cooperate.

The price of gas continues to rise. Kathy, who now has the longest commute of her working career, has discovered that she doesn't mind the 40-minute drive to work, but the gas prices are taking a chunk out of her paycheck. She must make the trip to Georgetown three days a week.

Refusing to spit

A rare photo of Kathy. Today at Vintage Indiana, Military Park, Indy.

Today we took a rare day off and went to our second Vintage Indiana at Military Park in Indianapolis. As usual, Bonnie didn't last long and Kathy could have tasted all day. We signed the age-verification papers for 8 wineries and now can have wine shipped directly to our home from those wineries. Kathy suggested to the owner of one of the wineries that there be a central database accessible by all of the wineries so that if your age was verified at one winery, you were verified for all of them. Each winery would enter their verified customers into the database and then other wineries would only have to consult the database when an order arrived to see if that customer was registered in the database.

Some of our favorite wines from the wineries whose tents we visited were (in no particular order):

Merlot - French Lick

Vignoles - French Lick

Rhubarb - French Lick

Cabernet Sauvignon - Brown County

Plum - Brown County

Riesling - Winzerwald

Gewurtztraminer - Winzerwald

Chambourcin - Oliver

Catawba - Oliver Creekbend

Cabernet Franc - Huber

Late Harvest Vignoles - Butler (We liked every wine we sampled from Butler Winery)

We sampled approximately 30 wines from 8 wineries. Bonnie treated to Lone Star on the way home. We have noticed at Lone Star as well as some other eateries, that the portion sizes have been greatly reduced while the prices have risen. An example is their signature lettuce wedge with blue cheese. We used to share one because it was so large. Now it is about half the size it once was, which is quite a normal portion, but not the huge size to which we were accustomed.

The big news here at the farm is that Barbara and Denny have returned from their travels! They arrived home yesterday, shortly before Bonnie arrived home from work. It is so comforting to see movement down there again, and Kathy has already had a chat with Denny who, as is typical, was already out working hard on his homestead. He has sprayed his fruit trees, mowed his yard, and harvested his veggies. We helped ourselves to a serving of his sugar snap peas while he was away and they were delicious. Bonnie also cut some lettuce and spinach and we had a most delightful salad. We look forward to seeing photos of the new grandbaby and hearing about their trip.

Mike didn't make it out this week but we expect he will be out as soon as he can to extend our driveway among other things.

Rex connected the reverse osmosis to the through-the-door water on our fridge but it didn't taste as good as the RO right at the sink. Kathy is thinking it may need to work out some odors in the tubing??? Rex also adjusted the gas to the stove again and it is much better - no more shooting flames. Kathy made macaroni and cheese and baked it as a test and it turned out just fine. We don't have the broiler adjustment right yet and Rex said he would call Sears for advice. There is too much flame.

Rex hasn't been back to finish the washer and dryer yet but they are usable.

The saga of the microwave continues. We returned the microwave that wouldn't work to Sears. The 90-day warranty had expired because we bought it in November. So even though it had been in the box and not installed for half a year, they would not give us a new one and insisted on fixing it. Bonnie bought a new one anyway and said she would sell the first one once it was fixed. We got the second one home and didn't even have it out of the box when we saw a huge dent in it. A part was missing, and the protective film was off of it. We wondered if this was a returned item that somehow got back in the inventory. So back Bonnie went to Sears and had that microwave replaced, checking inside the box before having it loaded in her car.

Here is something we noticed about Sears. Kathy bought a Craftsman Trimmer/Mower. The salesman told her he had only 1 in stock. When Bonnie bought her microwave that same day, she was told they had only 1 in stock. But when she returned the dented microwave a day later, she was told they could exchange it for her because they still had two in stock. We have decided that Sears trains their salespeople to tell customers that there is only 1 in stock of whatever they are interested in so that, if they are on the fence about a purchase, they will feel like they need to buy it before someone else gets it.

So Kathy has her trimmer/mower but refused to use it on her days off because she might get it dirty (it rained!). Jonathan was over Friday evening and mowed our taller weeds and Kathy will use her new toy along the fence row and along the road and other places Jonathan might not be able to get his mower. The sad news is that a mommy rabbit had a nest in our tall weeds and the nest was mowed. So far Kathy has counted 3 bodies. : (