Good news: the City of Harveyville will be getting some much-needed road improvements!

Infrastructure was something I just took for granted in Austin, where people had the luxury of debating and whining about the pros and cons of frills like bike lanes and traffic bumps. In a small town in a sparsely-populated county, roads aren’t an entitlement or just part of the basic machine, but a massive expense. This is great news and an excellent effort by the city. Yay, roads!

One of our favorite games is planning our strategy for the inevitable Zombie Apocalypse. You have to acknowledge that the farmers and ranchers will really be in the best position to hold them off.

In the pre-zombie universe, of course, it’s used for moving large round hay bales.

This mysteriously appeared out back this afternoon, which I can only assume means they’ll finally be haying tomorrow! Yay!

Last year I fretted about the hay being so late, and this year I almost fretted a couple of times but decided the grownup thing was not to obsess over stuff I can’t control, especially when the stuff is relatively inexpensive. Worst case scenario, I’d have to buy hay. And I’ve still got a good 20 bales from last year, so even if I got zero hay this year, based on last year’s 50 bales (and that’s over an unusually cold winter), even with a lot of waste from this being old hay, I’d still probably only need 35 more bales, assuming a normal winter. At $3-5/bale, the damage would be $105-175 if I got absolutely no hay.  More likely, it will be somewhat shitty hay and they’ll just waste a lot more, but between it & the old stuff, we’ll be fine. The old stuff is not the best hay ever at this point, but they’re still eating it when it’s hot and they want a snack that doesn’t involve the glaring sun. See? Simple math has helped me avoid unnecessary stress. Yay, math!

In other hay-related news, Ed & Ron will be working on my poor dilapidated hay shelter tomorrow. I should probably suck it up and help, too, seeing as it’s mine. I accused Ed of always starting projects on the hottest days of the year. Normally, Ron would be at work, but the AC’s out at the shop, so free labor! Ed’s going to call tonight with a quote, and if we can afford it, we may go with a more permanent, tin-roof structure instead of the beefed-up hoop house I was planning. But with the possibility of Ron opening up a shop soon, we’re being more cautious with money.

The heat has also resulted in this Jayne’s new “lazy grazing” technique. For the last two afternoons, Jayne has been grazing laying down. He eats all around where he’s laying, gets up and relocates, then reclines and gobbles up the surrounding grass. It’s very weird, but he seems otherwise perfectly fine, not at all weak or reluctant to rise if you approach him. He’s always been kind of on the lazy side, the first to lay down & the last to move his ass, even as a big fat lamb, so I’m not to worried. But it is a bit odd, and something to keep an eye on.

Today I have a little Art Share PSA!

I’m excited to announce the Harveyville Project’s new artist in residence, Liz Runkle, is leading a block printing workshop for Art Share, Harveyville’s free community arts program. We’ll be carving linoleum block and printing on her fantastic old proof press! Space is very limited & participants must be over 13, as we’re using sharp tools. Call 785-589-2714 or email nikol @ harveyville project.com (take out spaces!) to register.

Later this year, Terry Yates and Nancy Land will be teaching some exciting community classes! Art Share’s KAC grant has ended, but there is some excellent volunteer support, and we do plan to continue offering free classes going forward, and we’ll probably have a few fundraisers as well. The plan is to join forces with other nearby communities to share the artistic skills of both visitors and our local people. Some classes will have a supplies fee, but we’ll do our very best to keep the art flowing freely! If you have any ideas or you’d like to lead a workshop yourself, call or email me!

And expect a deluge of posts this month, as I join NaBloPoMo. I’m trying to condition myself to post more regularly. This month’s NaBloPoMo theme is “green” which I’m taking literally today. Here’s Liz with Mr. Shivers:

The days may be long, but they’re flying by, as usual. Here are a few summer pictures from Cupcake Ranch (aka our little backyard flocks).

Felt School Info – Felt School Registration

Psst! Yarn School enrollees: You get a free Dye Lab extension when you enroll in both Yarn School & Felt School.

Both programs are free and open to the public. Call Nikol at 785-589-2714 to sign up for the raku workshop. Click either image for a full-sized flyer pdf.

There was some confusion earlier with the way the buttons were set up! Doubles and private rooms (except for the Time Out room, $50 extra, half the normal private surcharge) are sold out, but group rooms (hostel-style) are still available. They’re $50 less, so you’ll even save a little scratch!

Register Here!

Prom was double-plus awesome this year! Thanks so much to everyone who came out to shake their money makers, and extra special cherry-topped thanks to The Royal Butchers, Howie Pyro, and Kid Congo and the Pink Monkeybirds, as well as their charming partners, who formed the excellent decorations committee. It was a rare treat!

Send me a link to your pictures so I can post them! My few pictures were awful, thanks to my broken camera. Broken camera + alcohol + garage rock freakout = ill-framed and fuzzy pictures.

Kid & Ryan’s Prom pictures

Lawrence Journal World article on Prom

Sara Hound is selling Prom photos she took here