Dear Matthew:

My nephew Matthew emailed me, asking the question,

"How are things up in Kansas?"

Dear Matthew,

It's been a full outdoor Saturday for Uncle Paul and me.

Our day started with our Saturday pancake ride:

We ride our bikes to the next town, along with other cyclists, and enjoy early Saturday morning breakfast together. It's a fun group, and once a week or so, we can touch base with friends and college kids and curious onlookers at the Friendship House Cafe in Wamego, Kansas.

Upon our return,
we hitched up the trailer
and went to the farm store for
cattle panel and t-posts:

We have decided a dog yard was in order.
Because we can bloodhound-proof ONE oak leaf hydrangea,
but not the entire optimism of horticulture in the yard:
While we toiled, Beau the Bloodhound made good use of his new horse tank.
He puts his entire head underwater. He is a cool dog, in more ways than one:
Dog yard completed, more-or-less.
(I think the Day of Rest tomorrow
may have some loose ends
to tie up in the fence;
pun intended.)

In a brief break in the Day of Toil,
I ventured over to an iris bed
to check the progress in the blooms:And this is what I first heard, in the iris bed, and then saw: And I said, in my best Aussie dialect: "Good on ya, mate!"

I like snakes.
Because they like vermin.

Speaking of vermin...

Although Beau seems somewhat content in his new digs with his new pool, Biserka-the-Bouvier is not so convinced that she should be dwelling in the new dog yard. After all, she would miss out on what Euripides is doing at any given moment:

Vermin Iradication

And as evening falls, here is what I was doing:
(Moving fence in the horse pasture)

And here is what U. Paul was doing:

And Matthew, we two just came in for the evening. We have been outdoors since 7:30 am, except for the 30-minute break I took for the Kentucky Derby. (I should mention somewhat humbly that my #1 pick, ArchArchArch, pulled up lame. However, my next four picks were 1st-4th place winners. Not in that order, but nevertheless: I do know a good horse when I see one.)

My rancher neighbor Barb Downey called as I came in the door. They (the Downey Ranch) had a cattle drive today - a fundraiser for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters here in Manhattan. That was successful, says she, in that no one got killed and there was money raised. Yahoo for those two points. Additionally, and this fits so well into our little neck o' the Flint Hills, Barb's daughter Laura Cate had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on the family goat after it took the cork off Barb's post-cattle drive bottle of wine (because apparently that is how cowboys celebrate a successful drive, contrary to the notion that cowboys sit around a campfire and sing cowboy songs...)

And that, Matthew,
is how things are up in here in Wabaunsee,
the Flint Hills of Kansas,
on this first Saturday of May.

Love,
~ Auntie Tricia