The Coop Keeper Part Three. Flora, Fauna, and Shoes.

The Coop Keeper saga is finally coming to an end.  I hear that weeping and gnashing of teeth, but there's not a ding dang thing I can do about it.  All good things must come to an end.  If you missed the first and second installments, click here and here. Also, That Coop Keeper has some pics up about my visit in this post, toward the bottom. 

Let's start with the bees.  They're out yonder in the garden behind the farmhouse, coop, and The Squirrel.

I must admit I didn't see a single bee, but I've seen pictures of Jayme in her getup....and since no one in their right mind would wear that unless they're beekeepers, I'm takin' her word for it that bees do indeed live in those things.

They're cozied up to growing punkins overtaking the beans...

And this thingamabob:

And because Jayme is as random as I am, she has this just sitting next to the garden fence:

I almost stealed it from right under her nose as we headed here...

 
Thankfully she has all paths clearly marked....

Such natural gorgeousness surrounded us as we tinkered our way thru the maze.  I was beginning to believe that I, yes even I, could grow these fabulous weeds without killing them.

We munched on wild blackberries....

And I pretended to be Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice....peeking out from behind a willow to see Mr. Darcy in his soaking wet, sticking-nicely-to-his-bod white linen tunic.

Okay, a girl can dream...

Jayme's Kingdom from the Outpost in sepia (the pic at the top of this post is the same shot but edited in picnik):

I made another collage.  Be amazed.  All this is right behind Jayme's house.

Afterwards, we decided to hang out in front of The Squirrel.  I fit right in:

Here's me looking all relaxed-like.  It epitomizes how I felt the whole weekend.  Excuse the neckage.

And now I will tell you about the shoes.  Behold.

Shoe Corner.
I made Jayme pull over so I could get pictures 'cause I just knew none of ya would believe me if I told you there's this non-descript corner surrounded by corn where people dump their shoes.

I do believe the other cars thought I was more the spectacle than the loafers scattered to the wind as I got outta the vehicle and started snapping pictures.  I thought it was HILARIOUS that they were all just non-chalantly rolling by this extreme demonstration of the random...as if "ok, so there's like shoes all over the place. Duh."  I wanted to wave my arms and say "How can you just drive by this??? This is funny stuff, People!!!  Someone appreciate the humor here!!!"

Omaga.....I was rolling.  The more I looked, the more I laughed.  Glenco told us later that he saw a huge pile o'shoes just dumped right in the middle of the interesection a few days previous.  Here's a brief clip of us cackling as we drove away....obviously Jayme appreciates the humor of shoes accessorizing a crossroads in the cornfields of NW Indiana.  That's why I love her.



And now, unfortunately, I've come to the end of my tale.  Saying goodbye is always hard....though we live in the same state, it's a 2.5 hr trek to this farmy-nirvana.  I hated to leave. I shall return.  In fact, I think we should have a fall campout there.  I call dibs on the bed in the Squirrel.  So there.

Of course, we did the obligatory goof-ball shot:

You don't go to Jayme's without doing a parting goof-ball shot.  That's just the rules.  But then she'll give ya a big ole hug...and make Glenco take several shots to get it just right.  Then I'll do a smash-up job editing it in picasa so we both look all glowy and 18.

Jayme then picked a pretty to keep me company on the long road home.  It stayed there for 3 days, all shriveled and dead, but I just didn't care.

And that's all I got. It was a most excellent adventure.

I miss you Anne Shirley.
Your Bosom Friend,
Diana