Ashen

On Wednesday, September 18 our family grew by the size of one puppy. We got Ashen Grey Hunter, a full breed Weimaraner, from a guy in Smith Center, KS. She is currently a little over 9 weeks old and is growing FAST! Not only have we enjoyed having her around, I think I can say Shooter enjoys the company as well. We find them playing together and sometimes we even find them in the same kennel. Probably not Shooter's preference but Ashen seems to squeeze into about anywhere.

On vacation last week, we took both Shooter and Ashen on a 9 hour drive to South Dakota. We were uncertain at first on how the trip would go with a new puppy, but they both did GREAT! It was a great bonding experience for the entire family!

Xeriscape

Remember this post . .  http://lifeinwesternks.blogspot.com/2012/07/yard-work.html. I'm sure some of you thought we were crazy and half of the time I did too, but looking back and seeing the change takes my breath away. Our front lawn is a prime example of xeriscaping, a style of landscape design requiring little or no irrigation or other maintenance. I can't say enough how great it's been not having to mow as well as having a lower water bill during the summers! The colorful flowers are a plus!

BEFORE: Taken July 10, 2012

AFTER: Taken June 20, 2013

 

 

The Family Garden

Dad and I began planting our garden on St. Patrick's Day (March 17th) only to be followed by 3 hard freezes and 2 snow storms.  Who would have thought Mother Nature and the weather would be so crazy in Western Kansas... Anyways things are finally slowing down, most of the corn and milo is in the ground and wheat harvest looks to be a few weeks off yet so it is time to take a breather and hoe the garden. 

Below check out some pictures Jenny took last week of our garden. It consists of 11 rows of vegetables and about 40 hills of squash, pumpkins and melons. To finish it off I put in 16 rows of sweet corn!

Peas, Onions, Potatoes, Beats, and many other vegetables!

Pumpkin and Squash Hills

 Initially we were watering this whole area (about 1/3 acre) with one sprinkler and what a muddy mess it was! On a good windy Western Kansas afternoon mom and dad took up the task of laying dripline on all the vegetable rows and hills.  Thank goodness as now the entire area can be watered at one time even if it is windy!

Green Beans with Sweet Corn in the background

Broccoli

Building Project Part 3

We've made some progress in the office at the shop, but we've still have plenty to do. Below is a snap shot of the progress we've made thus far!

Matt's handy work, tiling the shower.

Becoming an expert!

Completed Shower

Take 2!

Installed kitchen cabinets

Matt's been staining trim

On April 6, we had a come and go Open House at the shop and we had a great turnout. We enjoyed giving everyone a tour! Hopefully by the end of the summer the shop office will be complete so we can start using it.