Topics

1

Chit Chat / Where have I been lately?

« on: January 18, 2014, 12:12:58 PM »

Sorry I have not been around for some time.  As some of you know my main job at the farm has been caregiver to the owner.  She turned 90 this past summer.  In November she passed away after suffering a stroke.  We were able to keep her home and she passed peacefully in her own room at the farm.  So things have been quite busy out on the farm.  I still managed to get all the Christmas Chocolate packages out to all the family, friends and farmers.  The list of people gets longer every year.  With her passing and the funeral,  I was doing 15 hour days to finish everything.  Even manged to get a package to Kat this year, as a thank you for all the lilies.

Now that things have settled down I  finally got around to start putting some of my soaps online to sell.  Of course I have a few pond related soaps.    A few farm related, also.  Been washing my hands with cows for a while now.

Hope all is well with the pond folks.  I have really missed being on here.



http://www.etsy.com/shop/Hopsingspond?ref=search_shop_redirect

2

Chit Chat / Was a very long day, to say the least

« on: July 17, 2013, 03:34:06 PM »

Thought I would share my day on the farm.  When I say it's never a dull moment, I mean it. 

Started off as a normal morning till a call from the sheriff's office. Cows out on the highway.  So out we go.  Amazing how two words, will kick your butt in gear. 

Well it turned out to be 24 Charolais heifers.  Not ours, but you have to get them off the road. Angus are black or red, Charolais are white or very light brown.  So we safely got them into our pasture.  The highway has semi's 24/7.   Poor babies went looking for water because the windmill wasn't working where they were at.  Then the calls to try and find the correct owners.  Now owner located, but we strongly urged them to let them settled down.  Get some much needed water  So the poor heifers got water, grass and a chance to rest.

First attempt to get them back to the corral went well till the train came past,  Spooked them and off they went again.  Second attempt with the owner here, did not go well till we got him to stop helping.  They move cows slowly and gently on this farm. So slow and gentle worked.  All his and our cows in the corral.  We have a loading spot we move them into, so we can put them on a trailer.

While the owner went to get his trailer.  Two women, me being one of them, gently sorted and moved his Charolais heifers.  He came back to them all ready to go.  He looked shocked, and we explained again slow and gentle works.

So while the heifers rested here,  his windmill was fixed.  I can happily report they are now back in their own pasture.  The cows here are happy as can be because they got two bales of alfalfa.

Edited out is some very blue air, words I could not post.  Edited out that I told a few folks off.  I do not tolerate attitudes, when all that was important was keeping the animals safe.  So SW Nebraska heard what a Philly girl sounds like very mad. 

Never mess with a crazy animal rescuer.     We can be very scary. 

3

Chit Chat / Day dreams and Craiglist

« on: July 16, 2013, 11:26:27 AM »

Well I sprayed weeds for three hours this morning, so my brain may not be functioning correctly.

I sat down and did my Craiglist search. 

This should be my new pond plan.  I'm just shy of the available cash to make it happen. 


My new enclosure and the pond to go in it.  Remember my brain is on roundup at the moment. 

http://eastco.craigslist.org/grd/3936988199.html

http://grandisland.craigslist.org/for/3927160441.html


I'm posting so later I can look back and remember what this chemically induced daydream was about.

4

Chit Chat / Painted the cows today!

« on: July 15, 2013, 05:17:00 PM »

I got a bunch of plant pots from a lady cleaning out her barn.  Here's the cows  cleaned up and painted.  Have to find some plants to put in them.

5

Pond Chat / If you got some lotus seeds from me

« on: July 15, 2013, 04:48:59 PM »

For the gang I sent Lotus seeds. There are some great links you might want to check out on AP.  Will look tonight an update the links.

http://www.americanponders.com/forum/index.php?topic=143.0

6

Pond Chat / Mutant Vips

« on: July 15, 2013, 11:52:49 AM »

Well, I have figured out viviparous tropical waterlilies love our horrible weather in Nebraska.  The pads have been forming new plants at an unusual rate to me. All of the Vip tropicals have bloomed and grown, much better than any tropical I have currently.  I had moved some plants two weeks ago to a different stock tank.  I pruned a few pads and tossed them in an empty tub of water.  Out of ten pads tossed in the bucket ten have plants forming.  They are either from a Key Largo or Hoku Kea.

Now for the  mutant.  This is exactly two weeks from removing it from the parent plant.  The buttons were just fuzzy and no swelling when I dropped them in the tub.  This seems to have three plant starts from one pad. 

7

Pond Chat / Water depth for small starts

« on: July 15, 2013, 09:37:49 AM »

I have a number of small start waterlilies.  I have usually tried to match the water depth with height of the pad growth.  I am trying to consolidate all the small lilies.  Trying to clear space for some stock tanks.  They will hopefully be moved to the yard in two weeks.

So to my question.  Can I put the small starts in deeper water for about two weeks? It would be a least a foot over the pads.

8

Carnivorous Plants... / Pitcher Plants

« on: July 14, 2013, 04:53:21 PM »

Anyone know of a good place to buy some pitcher plants online?  I want to try a couple in the house.

9

Chit Chat / Rain dance........Maybe

« on: July 14, 2013, 01:15:51 PM »

Holding my breath, hoping we are going to get rain today.  It's getting bad out here.  I'm paying these storms hold together and give us some moisture.  If it doesn't rain this week, probably no corn crop again this year.

10

Chit Chat / This is what I saw

« on: July 13, 2013, 04:56:54 PM »

 This is what I saw my first weekend in Nebraska.  I thought I arrived in the 1950's to start. I was a big city kid.  Nebraska was just a little different.

Now every year it reminds me, it's my anniversary of being here. 

http://kool-aiddays.com/#sthash.7BqvaFM1.dpbs


Did I drink the Kool-Aid?

11

Pond Chat / Lotus and Kitties

« on: July 13, 2013, 01:23:02 PM »

Well I finally had an aerial pad......for about two hours.  Mike the cat chomped it.   -He somehow thinks the water in that tub is very tasty.   So that was my bad news.   He seems to really hate the taste of the pad.  Hoping the poor lotus will be safe from another kitty snack attack.

12

Pond Chat / One down........Three to go

« on: July 12, 2013, 10:45:26 AM »

Well I had four waterlilies that were tag less. All are lovely gifts from friends.  Two from Lorenzo, tropicals blues or purples.  One from Craig, thinking it's a night bloomer.  Which leads me to the hardy waterlily from Miss Kat. 

Kat identified this gorgeous lily this morning.  It has been making me wait  :swear:for a couple of days, to finally bloom.

So now I can officially add Perry's Orange Sunset to my list of waterlilies.  Thank you Kat!

Three to go.

13

Terrestrial Gardening / Peony......Seeds

« on: July 12, 2013, 05:55:03 AM »

I have grown Peonies in the past.  It has taken me three long years to get a peony to blooming size, here in Nebraska.  This plant came from a batch of unmarked clearance plants at Walmart.  So unfortunately I have no idea what hybrid it could be.  Well this year I have seed pods on the peony. This is a first for me, I don't ever remember having seed pods on peonies.

Has anyone grown peonies from seed?

14

Aquatic and Terrestrial Plant Exchange / One lily still needed - Lavender Lace

« on: June 29, 2013, 05:41:05 AM »

I managed to find everything I was looking, I think.  Still trying to find a Lavender Lace tropical waterlily, if anyone has one to sell please pm me.

Thanks