Reznjun

i bought a garden cart from on-line. i had to assemble it. i only cussed a few times before i got it completed. it is basically 4 wheels with a tractor seat. i already used it once in my gardening. i scooted aliong on it as i transplanted my anaheim peppers. i will use it for weeding. i wont tire out as much since i dont have to stand and bend over to pull weeds.

spent most of yesterday at an auction. it was on the rez.  not surprising there were lotsa indians there. i knew all of them. we got there early and sat our chairs in the shade. most of the indians joined us. i also met some guys i went to high school with and another guy married to a lady that went to mayetta high. we got in a good visit.

i was looking for some boards to make more grow boxes. i found they were out of my price range. they were walnut and oak. a trailer full of them. i was after cheap lumber not furniture lumber. i didnt even bid on it. it went for way more than i was willing to spend. i go to auctions looking for a bargain.

i did find me some art pieces. they will be added to my indian art collection. i am no serious collector. i buy what i like and dont spend alot of money on the art. my living room and bedroom walls are covered with indian art that i bought at auctions or flea markets. it looks good to me.

i also won the bid on a black stone buffalo sculpture. it is heavy. i like the looks of it. it will make a nice display piece. it will sit next to the bronze buffalo i got for being employee of the quarter.  i am always taking pictures of our buffalo.

the tanned hide we ordered was delivered. it has a few holes in it but the price was too good to pass up. it is hard to come by indian tan hides. i let mary buy me out of my share. i have a hide i was saving. i traded a roach for it. i will use that hide for my moccasins. mary will use the one we bought for hers.

we got a little shower this morning. i am glad my corn got some rain. the corn field is too big to water.  sometimes i am asked how i water my corn. i say that them old indians didnt have faucets to turn on to water their corn. i go with what rain i get. it usually works. my corn is waist high now. beats knee high by fourth of july.

my sister said she wants to start gardening. she wanted to buy a tiller. i asked how much she was gonna spend. she said bout $500. i told her i had an extra tiller. i sold her the one i bought off craigslist for the $200 i paid for it. she liked that deal. it saved her money.

it is supposed to rain again. i hope it does. my rain barrels with fill up.

i weeded  the raised beds last night. i also watered them. we had 100 degree heat yesterday and will again today. the water will give them a boost. this morning i hooked up my rain barrel to the soaker hose by my row of tomatoes. i also watered my sema plants and the raised beds where my cucumbers are growing.

the heat has been hard on plants. thats why i watered my plants. we only have a slight chance of rain for the next few days. there is a 3% chance of rain tonight. and 10% chance tomorrow night. not much hope of rain. i will water my plants to protect them from the heat. we cant complain here. the people out west are in a severe drought.

i pulled all the radishes that went to seed. that left two empty grow boxes. i went to town and bought some anaheim pepper plants. anaheims need about 80 days to mature. i think they might ripen before the first frost. it is worth a gamble anyway. i like diced green chiles to cook with.

the tanned deer hide we bought has shipped. we  should get it today or tomorrow. that is good. a lady that is good at making moccasins said she will make me a pair. i am third in line to get mine done. i told her i want beaded, black velvet where the pucker part is. i havent seen any like that in awhile. i am looking forward to wearing these moccasins when they are done.

i sent off some forms to the fish and wild life department a few years ago. i ordered 10 loose eagle feathers. i finally got an answer. i need to fill out another form and send it back.  i will get the feathers at the end of july. i only waited 3 or 4 years.

i was gonna clean some chickens but changed my mind. we were getting too many eggs. we had a surplus of eggs. we eat about a dozen or two a week. then mary asked around and sold 10 dozen. the ones that bought them want more. now we have a market for our eggs. no need to clean chickens. well i will still clean that rooster and maybe two older hens. i still gotta have home made chicken soup.

i filled up my hummingbird feeders again. i bought these ant moat things. the feeders hang from them. they are filled with water and keep the ants out of the sugar water. its amazing how the ants can get to them. the moats keep them out until the water dries up. i like to watch the humming birds.

i have rehab again today. i will finish my second week today. i am coming along fine. they are working me more. i have been active before i started rehab. i worked in my garden and was walking some. that is why i am doing okay in rehab. i may even finish early because of my progress.

i am glad i got my chores early before the heat sets in.

we went to andrews baseball game monday evening. it was a 6 o clock game. the games last about 2 hours. it wasnt too late when we got home from lawrence. if it was an eight o clock game and we would get home after 11. he had a good game and said he got a hit for us.  i bought him an icee from a kona ice truck in the parking lot.

i have rehab again today. on monday i got a pretty good work out. the nurse made me do 20 minutes on the tread mill at a faster pace. i did 20 minutes on the bike with more resistance.  i had to do 5 minutes on the arm machine. then i used light weights on 10 sets of exercises. i worked up a sweat. it was my best work out.

the nurse asked me to set a reachable goal. i said previous to my surgery i used to walk 2 miles each time. i did that 3 times a week. she said that was doable. that will be my goal. i want to be able to walk  on the paved road by my home again. my neighbors must wonder what ever happened to that indian that used to walk on this road.

yesterday mary had an eye appointment. they said they might dilate her pupils. i had that done before so i drove her. i had to watch the grand daughters while she was at the eye doctors. we went to the nearby park. they had fun playing there. they didnt want to leave. they said that was the best part of the day for them.

i started juicing again. i get the nutrients from vegetables but miss the fiber. oh well at least i am getting my veggies in. i save what is left for my worm farm. my worms are doing good. i will use their castings in my gardening. i hope to keep these ones alive all year. last time i didnt know what i was doing. probably still dont but i will try to take better care of these worms.

i am not drinking coffee like i used to but i enjoy it when i have it. i have drank coffee most of my life. i really dont want to give it up. it reminds me of them old indians.  i have a cup about every other day. thats enough for me.

my solar powered radio will be delivered today. i use it  and other deterrents to keep critters out of my garden. all the things i did must work. nothing is bothering my corn. its too early to celebrate though. it is a long time until harvest. i will see how much i got after we dry it.

i am going to mow the yard after breakfast. i will do it before it gets too hot. it will be close to 100 degrees. the grass is getting a little tall. i notice that after every time i mow the birds land on the lawn. they must be after bugs or something. there were times i seen at least 20 birds on the lawn.

i better get busy before the heat sets in.

the boys wanted to camp out. we set up our tent in the back yard. that is convenient. every thing we need is close at hand. what is camping without smores? we made a fire in our fire ring. the boys roasted hot dogs and made smores. i had a few with them.

i didnt think they would sleep outside by them selves so their gramma and i camped with them. our dog konugish also slept by the tent. he started barking at something and woke me up several times. i hollered at him to shut up a few times. he finally calmed down.

next day the boys said they had fun. good thing we indulged them.  i laid down carpeting and piled up blankets for their bed. they took their tablets out to play games on. so it really wasnt roughing it. we all had a good time though. thats what counts.

the boys went home last evening. we had to break camp down this morning. we folded all the blankets and put them away. we also put the lawn chairs away. we had to let the tent dry from the dew on it. after it was dry, we folded it and put it in bag to be stored. that didnt take long. we wanted it done before it got to be 90 degrees outside.

i had to order a new solar powered radio. i got the same kind as the one i had. i know it will play all night on one charge. i had to replace it because i left it out in that last rain we had. i tried drying it out but the radio wouldnt stay on. i will get the new radio on wednesday.

we went to the big farmers market in kansas city on saturday. we loaded up with vegetables and fruits. i have to get plenty in my diet. we took the back roads home. we found a garage sale and had to buy a few things.

i have rehab today. i aint rushing it but am coming along fine. at my first session i was told the goal was 20 minutes on the tread mill. i did that on my second session. i imagine they will make me work harder now.

i have been doing my garden work. my animals have to be fed and watered every day. i started doing those chores again. i have been waiting to get stronger to do some things. i have spring cleaning to do. my tools need to be organized and work benches cleared so i can work on them.

now i think we will be able to clean a few chickens. we have 20 of them. we will clean the barred rock rooster and the older two hens. maybe a coupla other hens for soup. we are getting close to a dozen eggs everyday. we get a surplus of them. we cant keep up with that many. not many people want to buy fresh eggs. we can save on the feed bill if we have less chickens.

tomorrow is per cap day. mine will go to the bank. it always gets spent.

i was given some catfish. it was the first catches of the season by a grand son and grand daughter. i was the elder that they gave their first catch to. i really appreciated that gift. i remember when i used to give my first catches or pickings to an elder. now i am a elder but there are older ones than me.

last night we had some of the filets for supper. that catfish tasted good. mary made some cole slaw. i bought that cabbage at the farmers market. it always tastes better to me. we also had some steamed broccoli that we got at the farmers market. we are trying to eat healthier.

i have been changing my diet for some time, especially after my surgery.  i dropped about 12  pounds and have kept it off. i hope to lose a few more pounds. thats why i wanted to see my progress at rehab. once i am stronger i will log more miles walking.

i went to rehab again yesterday. i walked 14 minutes last time. this time the nurse said i would walk 15 minutes. she came over after about 13 minutes and asked how i was doing. i said i was doing okay. she said well lets go for 20 minutes. i did that. after that i did 20 minutes on the bike machine. then i did 5 minutes on the arm machine. i was told i am doing good.

i told one of the nurses at rehab i had chickens to give me fresh eggs. she said that some of the  big farms feed their chickens ground flax seed. that raises the omega 3 in the eggs. i said i would try that. i ordered 4 pounds of ground flax seeds. i will get it this coming tuesday. i am willing to try making my eggs healthier. we will eat some of the flax seed too. we put it in our oatmeal.

i finally rigged up my irrigations system. i had the four rain barrels hooked up to my house gutters. i needed a long garden hose that would reach to my garden. i found one i got at a garage sale. then i needed a soaker hose. i bought that at the lumber yard.

once i had that i connected the garden hose to the rain barrel. it is long enough to reach all four barrels. then it runs to the garden and connects to the soaker hose. all i have to do then i open the faucet on the bottom of the barrel. the rain water runs to the garden. it is gravity fed. i dont need any power to run it. i get  220 gallons of rain water for free. my irrigation costs me nothing.

i was happy after i had everything hooked up. i turned on the first barrel. it has been hot the last few days. my tomatoes looked wilted. i drained two barrels to soak the ground along the line of tomatoes. the tomatoes perked up. then it rained yesterday. that filled the barrels back up. i will use it to water the tomatoes next time.

we gonna head to the big farmers market in kansas city today. we will be loaded down with fresh vegetables.

keeping our grand daughters during the week is working out good.  i am enjoying the time to bond with my grand daughters. again i say no grand parent would think there is such a thing as too much time with their grand children.

yesterday i went to my first cardiac rehab. the RN told me many things about the rehab process.  it was my first session so i was told to walk in the hall for 6 minutes. i have been walking so that was a breeze. i was told to do another 8 minutes on the tread mill. i handled that too.

i was supposed to do 10 minutes on the bicycle. i was told to 14 minutes instead. i did that too. i was put on this machine that gave my arms a work out.  i did it okay. after everything was done, they checked my blood glucose level. it had gone down but wasnt too low. if it was i couldnt drive home.

the RN told me i did good for my first time. i was hooked up to a monitor the whole time to check that my heart was okay. it was, it didnt skip a beat or anything. i go back tomorrow. i am looking forward to it. i am willing to do the work to get back to where i was before my surgery. i am already doing  gardening work. and i am doing my chores of feeding the animals and gathering eggs.

last night i went to a presentation about boarding school. it was held in a conference room at the casino. they served a fine dinner. after we ate they talked about boarding school. i was reminded of what i went thru. they gave gifts to all boarding school survivors. at our table of six, five of us had gone to boarding school.

in the gimme bag was the presentors report. i took it to a coupla the ones putting this on. i showed them that me and my wifes’ picture was on the front page of their report. one of them had me hold the report and point at my picture. she took my picture again.

i thanked them for their work. i told one of them that i appreciated the package i got from them several months ago. i told him that i said hey look someone cares about us. he nodded his head. it was a good night.

i bought a solar powered radio off the internet for bout 20 bucks. it was charged and i turned it on last night in the garden. it played all night on that charge. that is what i want. i was told the noise will help keep deer away.  i am willing to try any thing to keep critters out. i even bought two more live traps for rabbits.

we are picking strawberries often. we are getting lotsa kale too. we made kale chips. i munch on them for a snack. we can pick green onions too. my raised beds are doing good.

life is good.

one of my kin scored a smoked, tanned deer hide for us. we got a good deal on it. we told her if she comes across any more like that to let us know. it will be delivered to us. mary and i went in on it together.  she probably will make moccasins with her half. i am in line to have a new pair of moccasins made for me.

tomorrow i start cardiac rehab.  it will be an introduction session about two hours long. they will take my blood pressure, go over my medical history and my medications.  they will tell me what will follow. after that i will go three times a week for an hour each time.

i was told i will go at my own speed.  i will start with a 6 minute walk on the tread mill and a 10 minute bike ride. i can handle the walk because i have been walking. i  havent been on a bike that much. not many country indians had bikes. i will be hooked up to monitors each time. they want to chart progress i am making.

i was talking to another gardener. i told him about deer eating my corn  and all the things i put in my garden to deter them. he did the same thing but said he found playing a radio all night in the garden was the best thing. i said i will try that. i ordered one that has a solar powered battery. i dont know if  the battery will play all night. i will find out.

this past weekend we was talking to a migo lady at the farmers market. she said she didnt know if we understood spanish. i told her that people often speak to us in spanish and that we were indians. she said people thought she was indian. i guess because we were both brown, we are mistook for each others’ background. we were amused by that.

that reminded me of when i was in guatemala. i was trying to be polite by trying to speak spanish. i read that some people appreciate it when you try to speak their language.  i greeted someone by saying ‘buenos dias’.  as i was walking away  i heard that one tell another ‘americano’.  that confirmed my spanish isnt that good. i also found out when i asked “quanto” about buying something, the price tripled on me. i gotta work on my spanish.

thinking of guatemala brought back pleasant memories. mary and i spent 10 days there. we booked a tour. we had a private tour bus to take us to around. we seen all areas of the country–the highlands, lowlands, jungle, rain forest, lake atitlan, volcanos etc. we visited the ruins at tikal. that was a trip i will never forget.

speaking of traveling i want to take a road trip this summer. dont know where to or for how long. it dont really matter. just wanna get some road time. most likely we will camp out. we like to take the small two lane highways. thats better scenery than the express 4 lanes where you see nothing but other cars and semis.

what will this week bring.

a small snapping turtle came up to my front door. it is about big around as a softball. too small to eat. i put it in a 5 gallon bucket in the garage. andrew and i have been feeding it bugs n worms. i remember an old guy saying they use to keep turtles. they fed them until they were big enough to eat. i might do that or turn it loose.

this little turtle reminded me of a few years back. three turtles came into my front yard at different times. naturally i caught them. i cleaned them and put them in the freezer. some people got a kick out of those turtles coming to my yard. i have cleaned many of them over the years. i have taught a few others how to do that.

i planted my squash yesterday. i planted it in every other row of corn. i have 8 rows of it.  the only thing i wish i could have is anaheim peppers.  i didnt get extra grow boxes built this spring. my surgery changed that. i can buy anaheim peppers at the farmers market. they even roast them.

i noticed that deer have eaten some of the tops of the corn. all the things i put in the garden to keep them out isnt working. i keep replacing deer repellant, wolf urine, hair and irish spring soap after a rain. i also have an ultrasound alarm. i am beginning to believe it only makes them hungry.

i went to the farmers market in topeka yesterday. i didnt buy too much. i seen one dealer was selling home raised pork. i have been wishing for ham. i bought a small roast from that dealer. we will have it today. i dont think we will have much left overs because it is small. if we do we will use it in a pot of beans.

i also bought a six pack of straw berry plants. there is a bare spot in one of my grow boxes. that was caused by my dog burying a bone. only half of the grow box had straw berries. i transplanted the plants i bought into it.  now it is full of june bearing straw berries. i have two long beds that have ever bearing.

the strawberries i added this spring are producing berries now. andrew, kinikwe and i have eaten a few berries from them.  we also got some from the plants we had last year. the berries will continue to ripen. we will be picking them as fast as we can.

i drove to the farmers market. it is the first time i have driven.  i was told i could drive a coupla weeks ago. i didnt though. i called the rehab people back. i am pretty sure i will go to rehab. it will be 3 times a week for an hour each session. mary will be watching our grand daughters. that means i have to drive myself. thats why i drove to topeekie. it was a trial run. nothing to it.

gotta mow today while it is cool.

i picked goose berries for the first time in years. i bought some at the farmers market in manhattan. it was only enough for maybe a pie and a half. when i was mowing i seen that i had some berries on the bushes i planted years ago. i knew if i picked them i could combine them to give me more pies.

i gave up on those bushes but now they are producing. now we have enough for 4 or 5 goose berry pies. gooseberry pie is my favorite. i  like wild goose berries. the tame pixwells dont have that tart taste. i dont mind tame and wild mixed together, then pies that sweet and tart taste.

we are stemming the berries now.  that is a monotonous chore. i was stemming while catching up on the episodes of jeopardy i missed this week. i started to watch the lakers game while stemming last night. i gave up and went to bed. i will do more today. after they are stemmed, we will blanch and freeze them.

i remember picking goose berries when i was young.  an older lady told us she would pay us for each quart we picked. my brothers and i picked several gallons. the lady paid us. it was worth it for her and us. money was hard to come by. we were proud we made our own. it was one of the first times we got paid for our labors.

my grandsons are back. they went on vacation to the southwest, then on to vegas and los angeles. they flew back yesterday. now they are here for the week end. i was waiting on andrew to show him our strawberries. some are ready. we picked a few and they tasted sweet. we have more ready to pick soon. other berries are forming.

i ordered a new pair of glasses. my vision changed a little. i will get my glasses in a week or two. i was also checked for glaucoma and my results were good. they also said my diabetes isnt affecting my vision. i am glad to hear those results.

yesterday i planted two rows of beans. one row is green beans. the other is lima beans.. i planted them in the field next to the tomatoes. i hope i get a good crop out of what i planted. i didnt plant any red kidney beans. maybe another time.

when i went after that tiller in lawrence we stopped at walmart.  the sign on the door said that people who were vaccinated didnt have to wear a face mask. i was vaccinated so i didnt wear a mask. i noticed many people who were wearing masks. i wonder if i got the same look i gave people who didnt wear them.

today i plan on getting my crooked neck squash planted. that will be the last thing i plant this year. it isnt a hard task. it takes some bending to plant them. they will make my legs tired. it will be worth it though.

gotta get to stemming goose berries.

i wanted a small cultivator for my sema patch. the rows there are narrow. i need to till up the weeds between the rows. the patch is kinda big to weed by hand.  i searched on-line and didnt see anything that i wanted. i wore one of those small cultivators out once. it would cost as much to fix it as getting another one.

i seen a small, front tine tiller on craigslist. it has a 150 cc engine. it has adjustable tilling widths of 11, 16 and 21 inches. that would be adequate for weeding between rows. i wont use it in my big corn field though.  it was going for $200. it sells for $329 when new. the guy said he only used it one year. it starts up easy. it will suit my needs.

i was gonna let one field lay fallow this year. i had a change of mind. i  put in a row of tomatoes that i didnt want to waste. now i will add some rows of bush beans. i will plant green beans and lima beans. maybe kidney beans. beans add nitrogen back into the soil. we will dry the limas and can or freeze the green beans.

my indian beans in the corn field came up. this week i will plant crooked neck squash in the rows of corn. last year rabbits or deer got mine. i will set out live traps and repellant this year. i hope to get enough to dry.  one year i dried 20 that lasted me all year.

yesterday i got a call. the lady asked if i was interested in rehab or not. i am to call to let her either way. i thought i was doing great. the heart doctor said see you in 3 months. i took that to mean i wasnt doing rehab. i even told people that.

now i get a call asking me if i want it. i am unsure. in the spring and early summer i spend time working in my garden. is that less beneficial that walking on a tread mill? i dont know, but on the other hand rehab is their specialty. they know more than me. i will call and see whats up.

today i go to the optometrist. it is time to have my vision checked again. i will  buy new glasses with no line bi-focals. i dont wanna look older than i am. i like the polarized lenses that change to darker in the sunlight too. i wont have to carry sun glasses with me. what the hell,  per cap is coming eh.

i have been editing my pictures. i have thousands of them. i delete bad pictures like the out of focus ones or not a flattering picture of some one. i crop and adjust the lighting on ones i want to keep. then i shrink them from the big size to web page size. that saves a lot of space on my computer. i have all of them backed up on an external hard drive.

gotta do chores.