Saturday, June 3, 2023

It is raining again on the prairie. There have been lots of showers all around us all afternoon and it finally came over my little corner of the prairie. I had gone out to paint iron trim on the deck railing. I only painted for about 15 minutes when it started sprinkling. If I had known that was all it took to make it rain, I would have gone out earlier.

My guests left the house a little after 5:00 this morning. They will have a long day but one that I trust will be full of fun and adventure for them. One is riding the 100 mile race and the other the 200 mile race. I don’t expect them back until late evening. I’m not sure what time they are leaving in the morning. I have enjoyed them and will wish them safe travels home tomorrow.

Kathy came by for a bit this morning. She did some laundry and played with her cat and then went back to the housesitting job. She wanted to be there in case it stormed as those dogs are weather sensitive.

I have had a quiet afternoon at home. I fixed Tagen some peanut butter balls but haven’t done much else today.

I talked to my cousin and his wife and they decided the most help to their family would be for me to bring two sheet cakes and some pop to the family lunch they are having after the burial Tuesday. They told me they were getting lots of food and they didn’t need dinner brought in tonight. I will bake a couple cakes Monday to take Tuesday – that is easy enough. I may also bake a couple batches of cookies to take too.

I put in a grocery order to pick up on Monday, I needed to get the pop to take Tuesday so went ahead and got what I needed for the week too. We are having a family day next Sunday so got the stuff I will need to fix dinner for that day. I have a turkey in my freezer that needs used up so will fix that but instead of the traditional turkey trimmings I am going to make macaroni and cheese, little smokies in BBQ sauce, green bean casserole and a salad. I will make a couple of desserts too. That will be easy and I will be glad to get the turkey out of my freezer. I am trying to make room for the beef that will be coming in August.

Kathy is leaving for CT on Wednesday. I will be going back and forth to the housesitting job at night and coming up here for day time. I don’t have much on my calendar except for the funeral on Tuesday. I will go to Emporia on Monday to pick up my grocery order and again later in the week to get a blood draw to check my TSH levels. The house will be quiet with Kathy gone. I will have two houses, three horses, two donkeys, four dogs, one peacock, three cats and 28 chickens to care for. That should keep me out of trouble for two weeks or so.

With this rain we are getting I will have mowing to do at both places sometime later this week. The good news with the rain is I won’t have as much watering to do at the housesitting house. I hope we get lots more rain over the next two weeks. It might even be enough to keep the horse trough filled too but I doubt it.

I got the instructions for the Tonglen practice we are doing at my house starting this Sunday evening at 7:00 typed up. All are welcome to come – no reservations are needed. We will start promptly at 7:00 and will be done by 8:00. Come early and enjoy the beauty of the prairie and stay late and watch the moonrise. There will be a full moon Sunday night and it will be a sight to see.

One more month before I start to get eggs. The girls are still growing and getting close to being full grown. They haven’t started swatting when I get close to them so they aren’t ready to lay yet. Should be just a couple more weeks before I get the pay back for all the feed they have been eating. It will be fun to have eggs again. I’m anxious to see what color the Easter Eggers will lay. They will be a shade of blue or green. The others will lay brown eggs.

Tagen has football camp this week so he can’t come help me paint this week. Maybe I will find some motivation and get some done without him being here. I sure would like to finish up that project. Tagen got most of the ladder work done so most of the rest of it I can do by myself if needed.

I was going to go to the lake to drop in at Nicole’s birthday party camp out but decided not to due to the weather. No fun camping when it is raining. I am a bit of wimp when it comes to bad weather. I didn’t want to drive in it or sit in it at a camp ground. I will enjoy the rain sitting in my chair in the dry living room.

A death in the family always makes me reflect on the cycle of life. Uncle Jack lived to be 90 years young but we still weren’t ready to let him go. Death is the one thing every human has in common – someday we will all go through that portal. I try to remember to let death remind me to live my life fully, each and every day. The great mystery of life is most of us have no idea when the portal door will open for us. If could be today, tomorrow, or a long time from now. I try to live as if I know it will be tomorrow. I don’t like unfinished business and unfinished projects.

Grateful for the long life of Uncle Jack, grateful for the rain falling on the prairie, and grateful for the comfort of my home.