Holy Sunflower Field, Batman!

These pictures were taken last week when we we had a bunch of rain. 

This week we are back up to 100 degrees.

 I just wanted to demonstrate the gaps that we have in the sunflower field

caused by extenuating circumstances.

Or as Lemony Snicket would say: a series of unfortunate events. 

That's what we get for being optimistic!

Anyway, we have sunflowers.  We also have large holes in the field where we do not have sunflowers.

It is what it is.  I think what we have will bloom in about 2 weeks.

Sunflower Update

Well, Ted has planted sunflowers a total of three times this year. 

That's a record.  One which we hope to never repeat.

The first planting went in the ground and we immediately got a torrential rain that washed lots of the seed out of the ground.  So, Ted replanted.  Then we got zero rain and lots of continued days of over 100 degree weather.  The field you see here is what has managed to come up in these kinds of conditions.

The field is very sparse, but there are some sunflowers out there. 

Earlier this week, when the weather man said we had a 90% chance of rain,

Ted thought he'd give it one last try.  We didn't get a drop of rain! 

Today we got a tiny amount of rain.  It may or may not sprout the seeds still in the ground, but it will give some help to the flowers that have managed to come up.  They are about a foot tall now.

I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Praying for Rain!!!

I don't know who first said it, but the hubby loves this quote:

"Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance."

How true!

I, however, am putting on my dancing shoes...because we need some rain!

This is the sunflower field.

How terribly sad!

 Ted planted the field and then we immediately got rain.  Lots of rain...all at once.

It rained so hard that it washed most of the seed right out of the ground.  A couple of days later, he replanted the entire field.

 Since then, we have gotten one rain which amounted to 3/10ths of an inch.  We've also had many days of above 100 degree temperatures.  (Yesterday was actually 111*!)

The ground is dry, dry, dry.

Normally, sunflowers do quite well in hot dry weather, but they just don't have the subsoil

moisture to even sprout this year.  The field is spotty with some 4 inch tall sunflowers here and there.  If we get a good rain, the rest of the seeds will germinate, but all we can do is wait...and pray.

I'll keep you posted...

Way Yummy Chocolate Frosting

Because I feel the need to share chocolate frosting with the world right now;

here is my favorite recipe that I've tweaked to my satisfaction:

(And really, you can't fudge this up!)  Har har! 

Chocolate Frosting

1/4 cup Butter Flavor Crisco (or melt some margarine)

3/4 cup cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup milk

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

In a large bowl, beat shortening, cocoa powder, vanilla, and milk with an electric mixer until creamy.  Add the powdered sugar in increments until you get the consistency of frosting that you like.  (I like mine fudgey, thank you very much.)  You can also cut back on the sugar and add more cocoa if you like it more chocolatey and less sweet.  This recipe is enough to easily frost 24 cupcakes.  Or you can put it on graham crackers.  Or you can just eat it right out of the bowl.  Whatever trips your trigger.  Enjoy!

Wheat...my, how things change!

I thought I would do a "photo documentary" of the progression of our wheat field.  It's fun to see how quickly things change on a farm.

This is our field early in the spring.  It had come out of it's winter dormancy and when everything else around was dead and brown, the wheat was lush and green. 

 This was the wheat in early June.  It had grown tall and just set on it's heads.

 After reaching maturity in June, it quickly began to turn yellow and die.

 Drying down enough to cut the wheat is a waiting game.

Here we have our field of wheat shortly before it was cut.  Fully dry, it makes a lovely rustling sound when the wind blows.  It's a race to get it harvested before fourth of July fireworks start.

 After the wheat is cut, we bale the straw.  That's Sidney working with her dad.  Sometimes they have help, but other times just the two of them go out to collect the straw bales.  She drives the truck (a stick with no power steering) and also straightens up the bales in the field so they will feed into the loader.  Lots of hopping in and out of the truck!  Ted rides on the back of truck and stacks the bales neatly in the truck when one comes up the loader.  Very HOT work!

 This is the wheat stubble that remains after all of the straw is taken from the field.  We will plant sunflowers into this, but the field, as it is, is very flammable.  It also has a lot of weeds growing already.  We either have to burn it off, or work the ground first.

We chose to burn it off.  As an option, burning is faster, cheaper, and let's be honest...way more fun!  Also, we have learned over the years, that (most often) the sunflowers do better after the field has been burned, rather than worked.

The field went up like...like...well, a house of straw!  It was over 100*F (actual temperature) yesterday when we burned it.  Let me say that it got a little bit toasty out there!  Anyway, the field is now ready to plant sunflowers.

Sunflower News

I've had quite a few people ask about sunflowers, 

so I thought I'd get off my lazy kiester and do a quick blog. 

This is just a painting I did of the sunflowers and is not meant to represent how the sunflowers look now.

This is actually how the sunflowers look right now.

They will (hopefully) get planted today.  That is the plan, anyway.  They are 73 day seeds which means that they should bloom sometime in mid-September (but I'm too lazy to do the math right now).  The rate of growth also is variable on planting depth, sun, rain, clouds, and whether or not the NFL works out their negotiations.  Ha!  Anyway...farmer Ted is on it!

I promise to keep you posted!

Buddy Clifford Grinter 2000-2011

In 2000, a blessing was (literally) dumped into our lives.  He was a big puppy, and for whatever reason, someone decided the thing to do with him was to dump him in the country.  We fell in love.   The really funny thing was...our girls had been praying for a big dog.  We had just had to put down our previous dog due to old age and the paralysis following a ruptured disc, and the girls were heartbroken.  They naturally thought having another dog would help them heal.  I told them it would have to wait.  We were in the process of moving, and it just wasn't a good time.  Almost overnight, a giant playful puppy showed up on our doorstep.  The girls each gave him a name.  Buddy because he was friendly, and Clifford because he was huge.  They had named him...I guess that meant that we were going to keep him. 

Although the girls and I loved Buddy, he took a particular shine to Ted.  (And Ted to him.)

They were inseparable!

If Ted went out in the pickup...Buddy would jump in the back.

But Buddy was most enamored of the Gator.  (I think because he got to sit up front with Ted.)

Anywhere Ted went, Buddy ran after...

At home, Buddy kept a good eye on things and liked to bark at deer.  He did not, however, ever bark at people.  We always said he was a good watchdog.  He could watch people all day!

Buddy always loved winter.  Especially when it snowed.

But without a doubt, Buddy's favorite thing in the world was going to work with Ted everyday.  

(And I mean EVERY DAY!) 

These two boys...they were buddies!

So...Buddy got old and it was getting hard for him to move his huge frame around.  Eating and moving was more and more of a chore for him and today he made the decision to not try anymore. 
Then we had to make a hard decision ourselves.

We believe Buddy had the best life a dog could have, and he enjoyed his life to the fullest.  All of our family will miss him terribly.  But I think that Ted will feel the most profound loss.
 He has lost his shadow...and his best friend.