August 4, 2026

    Good morning to you, and to that other person we say hello.

Yesterday we had a couple events: first I decided to get a cup of real coffee so I left the homestead and went to the coffee place for a cup. Back at home I kicked back on the Ford’s ole recliner with the coffee in hand and rested (aka nap).

                Rest completed I started to go read the bible, but I decided I had better vacuum the floors. Work was done, I then began the reading process, and it was interesting. I am trying to read slower and think more about what I read. 

                After reading I talked my favorite wife into going with me to get gas in the vehicle and we also got a couple ice teas from the chicken place. We then drove around in Waco to see where a certain restaurant was located. We found the restaurant but did not go in, and then we headed to the cheap store. 

                At the cheap store we purchased a new 100-foot-long water hose. Our ole hose is broken. Back at home we did nothing for a while. We did go outside and sat on the front porch for a couple hours. As we sat there, I decided to put some water in the bird baths and while I was doing that a drone came over very slowly. I watched it lower down in the neighbors back yard and dropped off the carton then it went back up and flew away.

                I had a fan blowing some air on us while we sat outside and after an hour the battery went dead. While we sat there, I received a call from the people who we have been talking to about installing a couple of new storm doors. They were not cheap.

                Today we need to take Alex to ROTC even though I believe he told me, “he had this week off from ROTC”. My favorite wife will go with me to get Alex and then after dropping him off at school we will go to George’s for breakfast. At this point in time, we have no other big plans for the day.

                Please stay safe in all you do today and we pray you have a blessed day.

                Don the Ford

August 3, 2026

                Good morning to all as we start the day with no humidity, so maybe the heat will not be too bad.

                Yesterday’s main event: as I was in the house reading some info about the upcoming bible study class, I receive a call from a good friend asking me to come outside and meet him near the mailbox. I proceeded out front and I was presented with a Banana Pudding. I thanked him and asked him to thank his wife as she made the pudding. My favorite wife and I both enjoyed the Banana Pudding after our supper. It has been a long time since I had Banana Pudding, and it was excellent! Wow, we have very good friends.  

                The rest of the day was ok, we went to the cracker store for lunch, then we went to a store to get a battery for my favorite wife’s watch and while we were there, we also purchased a new watch. It was good that we purchased a new watch as we have been unable after replacing the battery to get the back put on the old watch.

                We sat on the front porch yesterday enjoying the afternoon. Most of the time there was a breeze, but I did have my hand made fan too. The drones were very busy yesterday afternoon as there was probably more than 12 fly over. If you haven’t been around the drones they fly a direct path to their destination, they stop at the destination, get close to the ground and drop the package, then go back up to a safe height and then fly a direct path back to the Amazon. Their propellers make a buzzing sound.

                Today’s big plan hasn’t come to me yet, so it may be a do-little day. I guess I should stop for now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Keep family and friends in your prayers.

                Don the Ford

August 2, 2026

                It is a good morning here in Hewitt, it is in the low 70s outside and that makes it a good morning.

                Our big plans for today would be to go out for lunch, rest a lot, do our bible reading and set outside as we would again be resting. Wow, that sounds like we rest a lot.

                Yesterday was a good day for us, we had discussed a trip to the Blue Bonnet Café for lunch just to get us out of the house for a while, but there seemed to be things that kept us home. For example, my wife was going through some things, I am not sure what she was looking for, so I went out back to finish cutting up the limbs that Alex and I had removed from the live oak tree. I finished the project which took longer that I had thought and that may be why we did not go out of town yesterday. Photos to follow.

                In the container you may see that I cut things into very small pieces and that is done to get more in the trash can.

                It the wagon are the larger pieces and our son Dave said he would take them to burn in the fireplace.

I have one more photo and it is for that one person who looked at the photo of the tree in yesterday post and said, “it did not look as if it had been trimmed”. I have a photo from a different direction with no other trees behind it. Yes, our work supervisor Tres is in the photo too.

                I was able to talk my favorite wife into going to the George’s for a late lunch and when we arrived, they were crowded. We did get lucky and got a handicap parking space at the front door. Food and service was good even with the large number of people who were there.

                Back at home we decided to sit on the front porch as there was a breeze and the temperature was not 100 degrees. After a while my favorite wife decided to take a walk down the street which we did and we did stop and talk to friends who were in the yard working. We have good friends and good neighbors. As we were talking, I noticed a vehicle pull into our driveway. It was another good friend who comes to visit on Friday or Saturday afternoon. We walked back to the house, and we sat outside on the driveway with the big ole fan blowing on us.

                Well, I need to stop so I can get started, so have a blessed day and stay safe in all you do. Please keep your family and friends in your prayers.  

                Donnie the Ford   

August 1, 2026

                Good Saturday morning, we hope you have a good day.

                Yesterday was a good day, my yard man Alex came over, and we worked together for a while on trimming the oak tree out back. On the way to get Alex I got a photo of some clouds as the sun was rising.

The photo does not do Justis as to what I saw.

Back at home we trimmed the oak tree. In the photo you see the tree we worked on after removing the lower limbs. I am good at taking after photos, but I fail to take before photos. One can now walk under the tree without hitting their head on a limb.

                The trimming done I started cutting up the limbs into small pieces to put in the trash container and the larger pieces are piled up. Alex began mowing the front yard. We started at 7:00 and Alex put in 1.5 hours of work while I put in 3 hours of work. Yes, I worked after taking him back to his home.

                I was allowed to take a shower and then rest for a while before my favorite wife, and I went into Waco for lunch. We visited a grocery store where we purchased a couple items.

                Back at home we rested for a while and after the rest period I got the bible out and began reading.

Later in the afternoon we did as usual sit outside for a while. We both noticed that it was a very quiet afternoon, heck even the birds were not around. There were two neighbors who drove up or down the street during the 2 hours that we were out there and one police officer. It is very unusual to see a police vehicle on our street. It seemed as if the drones were not making very many deliveries yesterday afternoon.

Speaking of drones, yesterday morning as Alex and I were outside working, I saw a drone making a delivery and it appeared to be in our neighbor’s back yard across the street from us. The drone flew up and stopped, went down, (I could not see what was happening then) came back up and flew back to the distribution center. It wasn’t 2 minutes later when another drone came back to the same place and this time, I determined that the drone was not leaving packages in the neighbor’s back yard, it was at the house behind our neighbor. Later when I took Alex home, we saw the two cartons that the drone had dropped still laying in the yard.

Today: not sure what we will do. We have discussed going for a drive and having lunch out of town. I do need to go the grocery store, and I should do it this morning early to beat the crowds. I should finish cutting up the limbs from the tree, but it will be too hot this afternoon to work outside.

I am stopping for now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. let's keep our families and friend in our prayers. 

Don the Ford

July 31, 2026

                Good morning on the last day of this month.

                Yesterday was another day of not too much in the way of work. I was able to get Alex to school on time and then after school I took him and a friend to their homes. I took the dog Tres to the vet yesterday afternoon and that cost a fortune. I spend more on the dog’s medicine for one month than my medicine for a year. I should be happy that I don’t need too much medicine.  

                We did go to supper yesterday afternoon, but our friends did not go with us. The food and service were very good. Back at home we did set outside for a while enjoying the quiet afternoon.     

                Today we plan to get Alex over to do some yard work. We have a tree in the back yard that needs to be trimmed as the limbs are hanging down too low.

                Well, I will stop and get started as Alex wanted to start early to avoid the heat. Have a blessed day and stay safe in all you do. Let’s keep our family and friends in our prayers.

                Don the Ford

July 30, 2026

                Good morning from us to you, we hope all have a good day.

                As I set here trying to think about yesterday and I don’t think I did anything, if I did want was it? I took Alex to school for his orchestra practice and then I returned home and rested for about 10 minutes, I was enjoying my cup of coffee from the Star coffee place. After the coffee rest I forced my ole senior body to get up and head out back with the thought I might be able to mow the back 40 (aka back yard).

                I was able to get the riding mower out and check the tire pressure, check the oil and add gas. Wow, it was ready to mow so I crawled onto the mower and began the task. I mowed all I could and I decided the next time we mow we will mow one inch higher.

                I then got the string trimmer out and trimmed everything. The mowing and trimming completed which took about 2 hours in the heat, I was able to drag my ole body into the house where I took a shower. Ole body cleaned, I then headed to school to get Alex and take him home. I dropped him off at his home and then I did get lunch and bring it home to my favorite wife.

                Lunch completed we were able to rest for a while before heading out back to wash the dog. I have a photo of the back 40 with the two benches set up where we will wash the pot hound.

                When my favorite wife and I had finished the wash job we headed for the chairs on the driveway where we sat and rested. There were no drones flying over yesterday and our conversations were again along the lines of olden days.

                Today I need to take Alex to school for the ROTC meeting and then get him and a friend home after school. I also must take the dog to the vet at 2:30. If that all goes well, we will then go out to supper.

                Well, I need to rest from all this data entry, we pray that you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Keep family and friends in your prayers.

                Donnie the Ford  

July 29 2026

                Good morning to all even though the morning is a little odd for me. My morning story is like this; I got the computer and I sat on the ole recliner where I created the blog for today and right at the end when I was trying to copy it so I could move it over to the e-mail and send it to the blog post, I deleted it. In the olden days I knew how to undelete some things, but I could not undelete that so I'm going to have to rewrite it.

                Also making the morning odd before I started it the second time, I had an optical migraine. Yep, my optical migraines usually last for 20 to 25 minutes and then they're gone. So now you see why I say it's starting as an odd day.

                Yesterday was another do nothing day, most of the time, my big event was taking Alex to ROTC then getting him home afterwards. I also removed the dog Poopa-Loopa from the backyard in an effort to get it cleaned up in case I decided to mow it this morning.

                Yesterday afternoon we did set outside in the hot air and most of our conversations had to deal with the olden days when we were young and people we knew when we lived in Missouri. At one point we were considering how many people were still alive, where they lived, how they were doing and my favorite wife said it would be nice if she had the phone number for a couple people she would call them and see what was going on.

                We have a neighbor that I believe is out of town they had left their trash card out by the street an extra day which they normally do not do so I went over and pushed it up against the fence getting it away from the street. After putting the trash cart up against the fence I decided for some reason to take a picture down the street, photo to follow.

                You may have noticed the heavy traffic on our street.

                As usual, while we were sitting outside the drones were flying over making the buzzing sound, when I noticed a cloud in the sky which I took a photo of. The cloud has a hole in it.

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

Don the Ford

July 28, 2026

                Good morning to all our friends…

                Yesterday’s great events: I went to the store for a few items yesterday morning about 8:00am and I learned that there are plenty of parking spaces early morning and no one in my way when shopping. Back at home I did my bible reading after a short rest period (nap). I tried to stay out of the way of the cleaning lady.  

                Later in the afternoon we sat outside on the front porch. It was hot but there was an occasional breeze, and I had a fan in my hand. As we sat there a neighbor drove by in a new Ford pickup truck. Wow our neighbors get new vehicles, it must be nice to be rich.

                I did prepare supper and after eating and cleaning up I was allowed to go out back and water the plants.

Today: my big plan is to take Alex to ROTC at school and pick him up later.

               

                Addiction is the topic: I do not know who among you may have been or is addicted to something and I am not attempting to find out. Most people do not want to admit that they are addicted, and some may be addicted but not understand that they are addicted.   

          Let’s start with my addiction, I am addicted to nicotine even though I do not use the tobacco products anymore, my body is still addicted to nicotine. Many years ago, I smoked a pipe even though at that time the main items for smoking were cigarettes and cigars. As time passed, I changed from the pipe to chewing tobacco. I chewed tobacco for many years, and I stopped the weekend that our son David got married, 21 years ago.

          Stopping is very difficult and for a while I was not a good person, there were times that I literally wanted to hurt someone. I made a statement when I quit and it was, “if I learned that I had 3 months to live the first thing I would do would be to get a pouch of chewing tobacco “.

          Now I occasionally get a cigar or two when family or friends go on a cruise. I enjoy these cigars, usually taking 5 days to completely smoke one cigar. I call it playing and enjoying. I see it as fun but not as a part of my addiction, but it is a part of my addiction.

          After the last two cigars that were brough to me by a friend from his cruise, I have been wanting to have more cigars even considering going to a smoke shop to get a couple cigars.

Now I have been thinking about this, and it is not just that I have fun with cigars, even though I do, it is that my addiction is working to get me back into the daily intake (use) of nicotine. I have considered the situation, and I have decided that I will not go to the smoke shop and buy cigars. I know it is my addiction that is tempting me and I will not allow it to bring me back to nicotine!  If you are addicted get help to stop because it isn’t easy and many who stop only stop for a while and then return to the addiction.

If one stops using, the addiction is still there waiting to temp you back…

 

          I will stop entering data now, we hope you have a blessed day and that we all stay safe in all we do. Pray for friends and family.

          Donnie the Ford