This Week at Iten's Acres: Hot and Humid June 12, 2015

 Hot. Humid. Can only work in small stretches. Still busy moving things to the two new beds. Cutting down weeds--amazing what you can discover under there. Watering--the plants and the old man. Feeding the iris. Still some goldfish in the pond--guess the muskrat hasn't gone after them all yet. Trappers won't come after him until fall. More annuals are starting to show off. Lilies are beginning. Lots of wild things. The Japanese iris are taking their final turn. Rain would be nice.

Today at Iten's Acres: Lessons Learned June 10, 2015

Some of the hings I am reminded of practically every day at The Acres:

He is the God of life.
He is a creative God.
He is a lover of beauty.
He is the God of imagination and infinite variety.
He is the God of patience.
He brings forth growth and beauty in any environment--any circumstances.
He loves the old and ancient.
He loves the new and young.
He loves song--even raucous song.
He is in the storm, the wind, the quiet breeze, and the silent stillness.
He declares His majesty in the heavens.
He walks with us and speaks with us in the garden.
He is the God of marvelous surprises.
He is the God of grace.
He shows His love for us in so many ways simply and profoundly--at the same time.
He knows that manual labor is good for our souls and minds; He made the curse a blessing.
He is the God of seasons--beautiful things have their appointed times; you can't rush them.
He is.

Homesteader Update: Rulers of the Universe June 10. 2015

Hey, yep, it's me. Homesteader aka Nosy Rosy, aka White Dish Cloth, aka Stupid Cat. Of course, we understand human. Come on. (I mean, you haven't noticed by now that if you took the face of those "little green aliens" in all those movies and put some fur on it and two little ears what "species" it really is? Yeah, rulers of the universe--that's us. Clever disguise, eh? Next time someone says, "Hey, look, a UFO!" Ask him if he's seen his cat recently. But I digress.)
It's rather a "mixed bag" having the human home all the time in the summer. He gets a little lazy. I talk to him about it every morning--get right in his face. Try my best to prod him--a few paws in the back--into keeping on school time, but he tries to ignore me and actually sleep in a little bit. Slaves. So useless at times. I need my breakfast chubby old man. Get up already! Meow! He spends a lot of his mornings outside, too. Something about it's being cool. Claims to be "working." Probably just puts dirt on his hands to try to fool me. The problem is he waits until the afternoon now to feed the entertainment. How am I suppose to enjoy the bird life and those little furry varmints if he hasn't put the bait--I mean, food--out yet. He does spend more time in the green chair by the front doorwindow so I have a lap to sit in while I watch the show, but I'm used to sleeping away the afternoon in that chair with the sun shining on me. Oh, well, I guess I'll take what I can get. But, i mean, why stay home all summer and not spend the whole day catering to my needs? Senseless, right? And sometimes he tries to put those paper things up in front of his face and block his lap. Really? Like I can't nose them out of the way and flop down right in his face anytime I want. Try reading then human! Always forgetting his place in the world. Ugh. And then he likes to sit in front of this thing and type stuff. I invariably let him know what I think of that in no uncertain terms. Catonese can be a very colorful language. Whose the boss of this place anyway? Silly human. Well, I need to go stretch out in the chair in case he wanders in and thinks he can have it. Just thought I'd fill you in on the goings on around here when the chubby, old, bald human is home. Yeah, I know you were worried about me. Don't. Rulers of the universe, remember? Be good to the cats--or else.

Today at Iten's Acres: Alas and Alack June 4, 2015

 Alas and alack. It appears the goldfish era at Iten's Acres is coming to an ignominious end. Can anyone say "muskrat"? Any trappers out there. A brave little critter--shows himself in broad daylight.

Alas and Alack Two: I am once again an empty nester. Who would have thought that a old man could have a second family? I wasn't prepared so I just winged it. Didn't cost me anything--just a song and a dance, and they did the song. Behold, once more my children have taken flight.

Huzza One--the first bed is finished! I--without the help of any math whatsoever--had exactly the right number of bags of dirt. Genius, eh? (Closer to dumb luck--or providence.) Now to start moving flowers to fill it up.

Alas and Alack Three: The back is weaker than the mind. Old and sore am I. smile emoticon And one more bed to do (until fall). Tomorrow will be fine.

Today at Iten's Acres: Inventors Wanted June 2, 2015

A lovely day at The Acres. Early morning walk in the coolness. Some iris are still blooming; the last one for the year bloomed this morning. Well, the last bearded iris--some more Japanese, Siberian, and Dutch iris yet to come. The annuals are starting to grow and bloom. By September they will be gorgeous. I do need to take a trip to Baker's Acres just to pick up a couple things. (And if I just pick up a couple things that will be a miracle.) The spiderwort is starting to punctuate the wild area and the margins of the meadow. One is even more pinkish than blue. The lilies will be the next big bloomers at The Acres. Tons of color there.
For "work" I continued to build the new beds--just two. It will make The Acres a little more Home and Gardening like, but I need less weeding work. They should both be done by Wednesday, and then comes the summer of transplanting and the fall re-doing of the old beds. Raising the beds makes it easier to weed. Not that the flowers mind the competition but I admit that I do some. I love the wild areas and the wild margins I have all over the place, but I think I will slowly re-do the actual beds. A couple a year as long as I'm here. If the Lord gives me my Dad's physical strength, I can teach another ten years--Buzz just had a heart attack-- and I should have the beds raised by then. And I'll have the strength to do the work as well--if I can just "be like Dad." Of course, the Lord may take me Home long before that, and I will not complain!!
I have an idea for an invention. A laser weed gun. You aim at the weed, pinpoint, zap, and the weed is fried, right down to the root. Sounds like a cool idea to me. You? And it could even be cranked up a little bit. Do a little chipmunk, squirrel, and rabbit zapping. Gives me chills just thinking about it. Shouldn't take over two or three million to invent such a thing. Every gardener in the world would buy one. Two.
Well, tomorrow I finish the two beds--the easy part was today. Filling them with dirt will actually be real work. Then, mow the front. Probably be enough for one day for this old man. Walks, of course. And time on the green throne at the top of the hill. Then, the next day a little excursion to Baker's Acres.
Bonus: Saw the first red breasted grosbeak today! I was wondering where he was. Slacker.

Today at Iten's Acres: Sunday Morning before the Rain May 31, 2015

Sunday morning walk before the rain:

Today at Iten's Acres: The Morning After the Rain May 27, 2015

The morning after the rain: