Extra super busy tiring weekend!

   I had a lot of stuff to do this weekend, and then did about 10x what I had actually planned... on Saturday I ran errands (clothes shopping, kayak-accessory-shopping, grocery shopping, and sushi lunch) and was out for several hours. Then I came home and mowed the lawn (enjoying the gorgeous weather!) while I did a load of laundry, then attached my kayak rack to the Rav4, and loaded the kayak just to make sure it worked. I invited Kelly over for a homemade pizza dinner, baked up a storm, and then we watched Anthony Bourdain's new Kansas City episode that aired earlier this week. (He visited Oklahoma Joe's, Stroud's, The Savoy Grill, Cigar Box, Town Topic, Rosedale BBQ, BB's Lawnside, Woodyard BBQ, Dirt Green Farms, tailgated at the Chiefs Game, and saw the Hair Museum in Independence.)
   Today I started working in the yard at 8 am (before I'd even had my coffee!), made a quick trip to the hardware store, planted coleus, weed-whacked the back yard, ate lunch on the front steps and talked to Loren & Champ, and then kept working right up until 1:15, when I had to quickly change and head to Swanson's for Aki's agility class. We spent a couple hours there running like crazy.

   On the way home, we stopped at the hardware store for another load of dirt, and then I worked in the yard for 3 more hours. The dogs sat out on the deck and observed, while chewing a couple of the big "dinosaur" bones (aka beef femur) I had bought for them. I went inside & out, checking on Gypsy and doing 3 more loads of laundry.
   By the end of the evening, I had watered, fertilized, and applied weed killer to the whole lawn, put down 19 bags of top soil to level out the grade (19 x 40 lbs. = 760 lbs.... a LOT to buy, load, lift, carry to the backyard, and dump. But apropos for Earth Day, I moved a lot of earth!). I cut and laid chicken wire over the new dirt, pounding large staples to hold it down—which I HOPE will finally keep Aki from digging, so that grass can grow again. She has been focused on one 4' x 4' spot for a few years, ever since she dug down and discovered an old credit yard. She seems convinced that there's more to find there...

   I weeded the flower beds. Moved some rock. Bought a bunch of perennials and planted them in my flower beds and containers. Mulched. Watered. Thanks to the head start Mom gave me, my yard might actually shape up okay this season!

Happy to be outside:

   After all that, I picked up, put the tools away, and came inside to give Gyp her treatment, give her another new food, feed the dogs, shower, run to McDonald's to get a Filet-o-Fish sandwich for Gyp (she only took 2 tiny bites, so I ate it), finish laundry, read the paper, have a glass of wine, blog, and crash!

Gray Skies are Gonna Clear Up...

   Put on a happy face! The scattered showers throughout the weekend gave way to bright blue skies. Little to be unhappy about this year, with the mild temperatures, blue skies, and gorgeous blooms. Here are a few photos from my back yard:

A Bed of Her Own

Spring tree at sunset

Gypsy has claimed the dogs' bed as her own—I love it!!!

My gorgeous kitty, in the late day sun. I snapped these just before our daily trip to the vet's office:

The dogs always ride along with us. When I arrived and opened the back door, they were staring at Gypsy in her crate. They don't like her hogging all my attention! Guess they know who comes first in my house!  ;)

Home at last, and content to purr and sit on my lap... all night long, for the third night in a row. I haven't slept in my bed in a week, and haven't been sleeping all that well, with a purring kitty on my chest. But I know someday I'm going to miss this more than anything...

Antioch Park Sunset

   I took the dogs up to Antioch Park tonight, to take advantage of the incredible weather and to enjoy the blossoming trees before they give way... to the NINETY-degree temperatures coming on Monday! (What planet are we on, exactly? And just how unbearable is summer going to be, if March and April are tropical?)

charming dogwood

   A maintenance worker, still wearing all his gear, and his daughter stopped me soon after we began our walk. They recognized Shibas because they have their own red sesame at home, a 7-year-old male. They got all googly over my dogs and told me the story of how strongly their dog's drive to escape is. He jumped out of the window of a car moving at 70 mph on the highway—and survived! He blasted out one of his hips and it required intense surgery, but he got to keep his leg. And THAT is why my dogs aren't allowed to hang their heads out of my car windows.

the buds were extra intense in the late sunshine

commingling white- and redbuds

floral fireworks!

   Tons of people had the same idea, and while we made our way around and around the park, on every trail and around every lake—twice—we met many children who were delighted by the dogs. One adorable little girl shrieked, "I LOVE YOUR DOGS!" as we walkey past. Gregarious Taylor is always beloved, but even Aki was all warm and fuzzy. She approached kids and sat with them, allowing them to stroke her fur. Usually she lowers her head as the children approached her, as always, too quickly for her tastes, and with little hands overhead, which makes her recoil. She didn't tonight! Progress? Or just a good mood?
   While we stood and talked to a sweet and chatty little boy and listened to a man playing a flute and loaning his mandolin to a little girl who wanted to try. The boy told me about the dogs he used to have, a husky mix named Smokey and a chihuahua. But he said my dogs were the best. Suddenly, my eye caught something. We were right on the north side of the lake, and a cement drain was just below the embankment. It had just a trickle of water in it, but as I glanced down I saw a small creature shuffling along it. At first it looked like a tiny beaver (about the size of a small rabbit), but when I saw the tail I knew it was a muskrat. Although, I'm not certain how I knew that, as I had never seen one before.

Image source

   The boy and I watched it. It appeared wobbly and clumsy, and just before it traveled out of view, it stumbled and fell, got up and continued. Not a good sign. I stopped by the park office to report it, fearing that it might have rabies or distemper. They were closed, so I'll call tomorrow. Poor little guy. I'm afraid reporting it will be a death sentence if he's spotted again, but it would be kinder than suffering through an awful disease, and may protect other animals and people.

This appeared in the KC Star two days later!

   It was very sad, but I have to say that the sunset over the lake was enough to brighten my mood again. This path led right up to the lake, glowing like golden fire.

and the show got even better and better!

A tree at sunset, Stoll Park

Bittersweet Farm: There & Back

   The drive out to Osawatomie was really pretty once I got outside of Olathe and there was more and more green space, rolling hills and fields full of vibrant plants and flowers...

   Then once at Bittersweet Farm, the view got even better... the incredible zinnia garden was the first thing I passed as I pulled into the driveway. I'll bet the bees love this!

   Then when I was leaving at the end of the day, I passed a pasture along 169 North and saw some cool-looking cows right along the fence line. I turned my car around and headed back, and got a couple of nice shots before these ladies became suspicious of the tiny woman with the camera and high-tailed it back toward their barn.

Jen Takes on the World: Episode 1

DeviantArt

  Right now I'm watching a show on Animal Planet about the animals of Madagascar. And it made me think about Gary's earlier comment, that I need to have my own show.  And I've decided two things: I need to get to Madagascar as soon as possible to see the great baobab trees and some of the most interesting creatures on the planet. And my animal mascot will be a mouse lemur... and a panther chameleon. (Hey, they're small—I can have two. My show, my rules.)

WikiSpaces

National Geographic

We're Not in Kansas Anymore!

   Bright blue sky and rows and rows of palm trees as we drive into Disneyland...

A Stroll in Stoll

   Tonight the weather was cool and pleasant (despite the thunderstorms in the forecast), so I took the mutts to Stoll Park to blow off steam. They had a long day of being mostly alone yesterday: I was gone for work from 7:45-5:15, then played a flag football scrimmage for Corporate Challenge from 5:15-7:10 (whilst dear Mary Ann tended to my herd of pets), then raced home to change for like 10 minutes, then raced out to meet Joni for our long-awaited dinner. Because Joni and I are practically identical in so many ways, we had a lot to catch up on. What an awesome time. 3 hours flew by (and much sushi was scarfed down) before I knew it!
   So tonight was considerably less chaotic: when we got to Stoll there was only 1 other woman there with her dog, and she left as we walked in, so we had the whole park to ourselves for 45 minutes or so.  We spent most of the time running through the overgrown woods, trying to stay out of the mud from this week's storms.
   Later a nice teacher named Therese with her giant black Newfie-mix showed up, followed closely by Justin with his 2 mixed-breeds. We had a nice visit and then I was home to tend to some paperwork over a glass of Riesling. A nice, calm Friday night.

Dogs + Dogwoods

   I continued my Easter tradition this year: wake up early, drink coffee and read the paper as the sun rises, then take the dogs for a walk in Antioch Park. The park is beautiful in Spring, and though the cherry blossoms and magnolias have gone, the dogwoods are at their peak.

I had never noticed this memorial stone, just under the white dogwood in the arboretum.  (Until recent months, it's been under snow!) There's  a park named after Stoll South of here. I tried to research him online but couldn't find him. Only sites about the park turn up.

   And on the way home, I couldn't resist stopping at Panera to get a couple of treats. (Hey, it's a holiday and they were open! It was a sign.) Chocolate pastry & my favoritest food in the world, baked egg souffle with cheese, spinach and bacon!

   I stopped at the grocery store, too, to get the ingredients for homemade pizza, which I think is going to be my Easter dinner. Can't wait. Off to get a bunch of yardwork done, including filling in and seeding the swimming pool Aki has been digging in the backyard... have a great holiday!

   P.S. Speaking of Shibas, David sent this new photo of Swifty giving Scooter a kiss!