July 25, 2026

                Good Saturday morning if you are seeing this in the morning…

                I have already been to the Star coffee place for a cup, and I have already been to Alex’s home and brough him to the Fords homestead. I have commissioned him to mow the front yard today; the back yard seems to be ok for now. I can observe the work he is doing from the security monitors, and he is following instructions that I gave him when he first started mowing for us.

Instructions: When mowing you should have at least three directions to mow. Each time you mow, mow in a different direction. Examples of The Ford method; one mow in line with the curb (aka north and south) two away from the curb toward the house (aka east and west) three on and 45-degree angle aka (northeast to southwest).

Mowing in a different direction keeps your yard from having lines where the wheels of the mower have been. In other words, your yard looks better. When using a riding mower, one should be sure the tires have the correct air pressure and one should make all turns at a slow speed, which reduced the marks the riding mower leaves in a yard.

Wow, I am done with the preaching, let’s see if I have anything else to present. My favorite wife and I did go for a ride in the Fords new Chevy, the main reason for this ride was to get Tres into the vehicle and see how he would react. I will need to take him to the vet next week and I wanted to get him familiar with the vehicle. He did fine.

We then sat outside yesterday afternoon, and I later learned I did miss a couple of calls. We did not have the Fords house phone on the front porch with us, so we did not hear the phone rang.

We have discussed the possibility of going to a small town about 30 miles away for some BBQ today. BBQ sounds good and getting out of the house seems to be good for our morale. Seeing places that we have not seen for a couple years is actually interesting for ole people.

Well Alex is almost finished with the yard work so I guess I should also stop with my work, yes this is work for an ole person. We hope we all have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Let’s keep our friends and family in our prayers.

Don the Ford

July 24, 2026

                Good morning to all…

Allow me to start out with photos of flower blooms. These are located near the driveway where we sit in the afternoons.

            We did have supper yesterday afternoon with friends. I know you thought we did not have any friends but surprise, we do have friends. We all met at the restaurant at the same time, and we very much enjoyed time together. We have all lived in this neighborhood for many years. Larry and Janice have been here for 48 years, and we have lived here for 47 years. When we were younger the neighborhood was full of kids.  

            I should note that there is a thing known as the “Ford Curse”. This curse has to do with food and the fact that if you eat with the Fords someone will get food or a drink on their clothes. Yes, it happened during our supper, and I will not say who was cursed.   

            Back at home my favorite wife and I sat outside for a while. It was hot but there was a very good breeze blowing. I would say we had a good breeze for 80% of the time and 20% of the time we had the big ole fan blowing. Talking about the wind, as we sat there, I could see the grass in the front yard moving in the wind, which means the grass is taller than it should be. I looked at the neighbor’s yard which is shorter than ours and it did not seem to be influenced by the wind. I guess I should consider mowing or maybe getting the yard man Alex over to mow.

 

            Big plan for the day; attempt to get Tres into the Fords new chevy, He has never been in the car, and I will need to take him to the vet next week, so I need to get him in and use to being in the car.

            Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Let’s keep our friends and family in our prayers.

            Don the Ford

July 23, 2026

                We are looking at another hot good morning, and a hotter day.

                Yesterday we did get the door inspection for the two storm doors. He did some measuring and took some photos, then he said they would send me the info on price and when they could do the work.  

In the afternoon we were bored just sitting around in the house, we decided to get in the car and go for a ride out in the country just to get out of the house for a while. The drive was on roads that we use to travel often but as we considered the situation, we had not been out of the city limits of Hewitt or Waco for a couple years. In the olden days we would get on the motorcycle and go for a ride on many country roads. Now we stay home or stay in town. We very much enjoyed the drive in the country and many things have changed.

Back in town we stopped and got some food for supper then headed for home.  

Back at home we sat outside in the extreme heat “106 yesterday” with the big ole fan blowing on us and we did have drinks with a lot of ice in them. It was too hot for the Tres to be outside during our drive in the country, so he stayed inside.

We did have blackberry cobbler with out ice cream last night and it was good!

Today’s big plans, take and get Alex from ROTC meeting. Wow old people have too much to do.

We hope you have a blessed day keeping friends and family in your prayers and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Don the Ford

July 22, 2026

                We wish you a good morning and an even better day.

                Yesterday I was able to get Alex to school (ROTC) and then pick him up afterword. After school we went to the grocery store together as we both needed some items. I needed a few usual things for the house and Alex needed some things as he said he was going to make cookies today. Alex had gotten some cookie recipes from my favorite wife last year and he has made cookies using them. Alex also cooks at times, so he is learning how to do many things.

                We have contacted the home store to get someone to give a price for new storm doors. Yes, we need two storm doors. He will be here today, and we have a photo of the person who is coming so we know he is the right person to give us a bid. It will cost too much but we need to have them replaced.

                Yesterday afternoon my favorite wife and I went to town to do some shopping. We went to a grocery store where we purchased a package of cookies for Tres, a frozen pizza and a couple of other items. Then we went to another big store where my favorite wife walked through many of the aisles and I was getting tired following her. She did get a couple small items which cost about $6.00 then we headed for home. We did get a couple of unsweet ice teas on the way home.

                We did not sit outside yesterday as the heat was too much, I think the temp was 102.

                We had blackberry cobbler after supper last night that was made by our daughter-in-law Claire, and it was very good. We put a little ice cream on top of the cobbler.

                I again have no plans for today as it is going to be too hot for ole senior people.

                I am stopping for now and I am going to do as little as possible. We wish you a blessed day, and we hope you stay safe in all you do. Keep your friends and family in your prayers and us too please, as we do the same.

                Mr. Don the Ford

July 21, 2026

    Good morning and good day…

Yesterday started out early and for some reason my favorite wife also got up early. I did go to the star coffee place in preparation for picking up our grandson and yard man Alex. On the way I took a photo of the rising sun.

We made it to the homestead and Alex started in the backyard as I started to remove the Poopa-Loopa. During the process of Poopa-Loopa removal, I noticed some blooming flowers we call “Four O’clocks”. I was told by an ole friend that they only bloomed at 4:00. It was 7:30, not 4:00 when I took the photo.

I had decided to cut off or reposition some of the black berry limbs as they were hanging out into the yard and that made it difficult to get close enough to mow, in this process I also started removing some trees from the number three bed.

I knew there were trees that were growing in the bed but until I began to remove them, I was unaware of how many there were. As this removal activity continued, I was also more aware of some dead black berry vines which I also removed. There is very little work around or in black berry beds that do not cause injury. I did have some cuts on the ole arms and I was sweating almost as much as the yard man Alex.

I had a trash container filled with cuttings and the larger cuttings were on the Ford’s ole red wagon. I finally discontinued the cutting and removal process and took the trash container and the wagon to the trash cart that was at the curb. Our neighbor lady was mowing in her front yard, and she came over to talk with me. I now know she was sweating as much as me, she is going to have her house foundation leveled again, and she wants to go back to work (she has not had a job since her husband passed away a year ago).

As our conversation was completed, I then put the cutting from the blackberries into the large trash cart. I then went to the back yard where Alex had started cutting the weeds in the ditch. We had decided to remove the weeds from the close side of the ditch for now and do the difficult side later. The difficult side has trenches in it from the city employees when they got their vehicles stuck in the mud about two or three years ago. I also got the other string trimmer out and started trimming. The battery went dead on the trimmer Alex was using so he came and took the gas-powered trimmer from me and finished the job.

Tools were put away and the gate to the ditch locked we decided to wash the dog Tres. I have a photo of him all wet from the washing, and he had rolled in the cut grass.

All the work completed I compensated Alex for his work and took him to his house. I then returned to the homestead and was able to take a highly needed shower. I was allowed to have a little time on the Fords ole worn-out recliner. When my eyes again opened, I warmed up in the microwave some lunch for my favorite wife.

Lunch eaten I was then able to get the bible out and begin my daily bible study. I no longer read just to be reading; I now read to learn and consider what is being said. I do enjoy reading the bible.

Even though it was extremely hot yesterday we did go outside to relax. We sat on the driveway near the garage door, and we did have the big ole fan blowing air on us. As usual it was a quiet afternoon and there was almost no traffic on the street.

I heard one drone going over so I looked up to see it and there was something that looked like a bird flying at the same speed, same direction, to the left of the drone but it was higher than the drone. If it was a bird, why would it be going the same direction and same speed as the drone?

Today’s big plan: take and get Alex to and from school ROTC meeting. Go into town for some groceries, my favorite wife wants to go to a couple stores.  

Please allow me to stop and you can do something interesting. We hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Keep all your friends and family along with us in your prayers.  

Donnie the Ford

July 20, 2026

                Good morning to you and the others too.

                Sunday was a day of many things. I did get out of bed early due to the Dog wanting to go outside. I did have a cup of homemade coffee as I attempted to watch the so-called news. I then kicked back and did nothing for a while also known as a nap in preparation for my morning bible reading.

                The reading was interesting as usual and when that was completed, I did take a shower and got dressed for our trip to the Cracker store for lunch. The store was crowded and we had to wait for a while before we got a table. Our wait staff must have been about 6 foot 6 inches tall, and he was a good waiter. We enjoyed our food and the fact that we had a gift card that would cover part of the bill.

                Back at home we just sat around for a while allowing our full bellies to get comfortable. About 3:00 we decided to go outside and sit and that is when I learned that we need a new storm door. For some reason it doesn’t want to shut all the way. I have messed with it and I believe we need a new door, yep, we will need to spend some money.

                I watered the flowers in the flowerpots out front and then I removed a bunch of small sticks from a flower bed. I decided to start washing the clothes as my favorite wife did continue to set outside. I checked with her occasionally to see if she wanted to come inside.

                The whites are all washed and stored away first then colored went into the washer. When my favorite wife came back into the house, she decided it was time for supper which I prepared for her. I did need to wash the dishes but there weren’t many.

                I checked with our yard man Alex, and he is willing to come over today and do yard work. I asked him if he wanted to try to beat the heat and start early and he said yes. I let him pick the time to start, and I will pick him up at 7:00am.

                We need to get the back yard mowed and trimmed and we need to weed eat the ditch behind the house. Wow, I need to get started early and my favorite wife will need to get up early too.

                That is all for now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Please keep all your friends along with me and my favorite wife in your prayers.

                Don the Ford

July 19, 2026

                As usual the morning is starting as a good morning, and we hope it becomes a good day for you.

                Yesterday was a good day for us. Our son Patrick and his wife Karla drove up from Austin to celebrate my favorite wife’s birthday. Our son David, his wife Claire and their daughter Gabi met us at the restaurant for lunch. Our grandson Alex could not come to lunch as he was working with the ROTC at school.

The food and service were good, but the conversations were even better. We always have interesting discussions when we get together. Lunch over we headed back to our house where we caught up on what was happening in our lives. Ole people do not have much to reveal in their lives, but younger people have many things to share. Age was discussed and Patrick noted that he and David are both over 50 years old, yes that made me feel even older. I did get some help from Patrick with my ole computer, it seems to be working correctly again.

My favorite wife and I did sit outside as usual yesterday afternoon, but it was hot.

Today we have no big plans, we will likely go to the cracker store for lunch as we have a gift card to help pay for the meals.

I will need to decide if I will mow the back yard myself or if I will try to get Alex to come over Monday and mow. The ditch behind the house needs to be cut down again and that is a lot of work.

Well, I am stopping now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

                 Donnie the Ford

July 18, 2026

                Good morning, well I guess it is. Tres was outside and I was in bed when he decides to start barking at something. Yep, I had to get up and let him in. I had wanted to stay in bed longer than usual this morning but…

                Yesterday morning started off rough, I got up late, I did not get to do my normal morning activities like getting a cup of homemade coffee and drinking it and working on my posting before my favorite wife got up. Since things weren’t normal, I went for a Star coffee.

I wanted to beat the heat, so I started mowing the front yard. I took two hours to do the work, and it looks as good as if Alex had done the work. Now Alex can do that same work in one hour and it took me two hours. Ole man be slow! I have a photo showing I mowed and trimmed well.

Work completed and shower taken, I was allowed to fix lunch for my favorite wife and me. Then I was able to do my bible reading. We jumped in the Fords new Chevy and went to get a couple Ice teas at the chicken place and then went on into town where we bought one item.

We got a call from a friend wanting to come and visit but we were in town. We like friends to come and visit, so we were kind of sad that we were not at home.  

Back home we sat outside, and a friend came by and brough a birthday card for my favorite wife. She has received some very nice cards from friends. Another friend came over and she had a bottle of wine. It was a very nice afternoon.

Today our plans are to go out to lunch with our sons and their families to celebrate my favorite wife’s birthday.

Well, I will stop for now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Don the Ford