Author Archives: Debra Farmer

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About Debra Farmer

I'm a wife, mother, and grandma, I live on the plains of central Kansas. I have chickens, goats and a miniature donkey. I also share my life with a very special toy Australian Shepherd, Wylie. Life doesn't get any better than that.

Northern Lights a Comet and Big Boy

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October was an amazing month in Kansas. It started October 10th with the northern lights making for a beautiful night sky. It wasn’t as visible as the photos show, adjusting the setting on my iPhone really made the lights shine. Just looking at it, the sky had an eerie reddish tint. So beautiful.

October 15 gave us a once in a lifetime view of the Comet Tsuchinshan-Atlas. Last seen in the Stone Age (how do they know that?), it will be visible again in about 80,000 years. I don’t think I will be seeing it again.

Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 also made a stop in Salina, KS. This is the third time in recent years that it has stopped here. Built 1941-1944, weighing 1,200,000 lbs it was made to haul freight over the mountains in Utah and Wyoming.

Summer Days

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It has seemed like a long hot summer, but then again it doesn’t seem possible that school will be starting in just over a week. We were able to get out early on the hot days and get our usual walks in. As always we head up to the Ottawa County lake.

The eagles nested up in the east end of the lake and I saw one eaglet.

A small pod of pelicans have returned.

Buttonbush that is native to this area

A quick day trip to Cheyenne Bottoms out at Great Bend, KS. It’s been so hot and dry that the ponds were mostly dry. Will have to return when there’s water and the waterfowl are migrating. We then went into town to the Veterans Park. One of the two beautiful graceful swans that the City of Great Bend purchased to discourage the geese from the pond (as I was told by a local)

Didn’t work

Gorgeous Kansas sunrise

Morning Walk

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Wylie and I have been on many morning walks, today’s walk was one of the best.

Foggy start to the day.

This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

Everyone is waking up! I have an app that records all the bird sounds. Some that we heard are: Nuthatch, cardinal, blue eye vireo, indigo bunting, bobwhite quail, red-bellied woodpecker, meadowlark, Harris sparrow. My bird app didn’t register the coyotes howling!

What a beautiful start to the day! Have a wonderful day.

Eclipse 2024

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It was a beautiful day to spend outside watching the eclipse. Although we weren’t in the path of totality, we did get a bit darker and the breeze was a little cooler.

I took this photo with the sun shining through a colander during the eclipse. I saw this idea from the last eclipse in 2017.

Kansas State Park First Day Hikes

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Sponsored by America’s State Parks First Day Hikes occurs on the day of the New Year. It’s a time where all the State Parks are encouraging people to get out and enjoy what they have to offer. We have been spending a lot of time at Kanoplis State Park and enjoyed hiking on the first day of 2024.

 

Eagle nest above the trails. During nesting season the trails will be closed. We did see 3 eagles in the trees at the campgrounds. Also saw some pelicans that are still enjoying the winter in Kansas.

 

Didn’t see the beaver, but it’s been busy.

 

Wylie hunting deer

 

Meadowlark Trail, Lindsborg, KS

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It was another beautiful winter day and that means we are out and about. We’ve been doing a lot of day trips to the local lakes but today we decided to go Lindsborg.

Our first stop a bakery – 350 Degrees. They really put out some wonderful baked goods. Rusk – made from cinnamon rolls that are sliced thin and rebaked in butter, cinnamon and sugar. That’s a dangerous treat!! So many wonderful pastries, bierocks, cinnamon rolls, bread pudding, so much more to choose from.

Next stop The White Peacock. The friendliest coffee shop around. I need to venture out and order something other than a Chi latte with oat milk, but it’s soooo good.

Time to hike it off.

Meadowlark Trail is a rail to trail. The trailhead at Lindsborg follows the old Union Pacific rail. The planned trail is a 13 mile rail to trail connecting Lindsborg and McPherson. The segment from Lindsborg is 4 miles, then the trail ends, with hopes of one day connecting to the trail that starts from the other end at McPherson.

A Christmas tree on the trail.

Smoky Hill River

This part of the trail is tree lined

Chilly Day At The Lake

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I really enjoy any season at the lake, but winter is (right now anyway) my favorite season. The cold days aren’t bad if you’re bundled up! There certainly is a lot less people.

Kanopolis Lake

Bald eagle

White tail buck

White tail doe

Pelicans

Autumn Days At The Lake

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It has been a wonderful autumn in Kansas.  The days are warm, allowing us to been able to keep exploring a bit longer.  One of our favorite places to be at is Bennington State Lake.

Migrating pelicans

 

 

The little van (Vincent VanGo) certainly makes for comfortable outings. Our days consist of hiking, snacking, napping – repeat!

 

RV Dining

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Every Sunday we load up in the little RV to go have Sunday dinner. We like to patronize small town restaurants.

Today we went to the Historic Wolf Hotel in Ellingwood, KS. built in 1894 by John Wolf.

Nothing better for a Sunday dinner than fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy. I also had one of the best coconut cream pies ever, sorry no photo, didn’t think about a picture until I was almost done. Trust me it was great!

There is a series of tunnels that run underneath the Wolf Hotel and other buildings. They give tours of the undergrounds – will certainly go back and take a tour!!