People on a fixed income 08.31.16

            As the title indicates, this informative article is about some of us seniors, who are forced to live on a fixed income. Fixed incomes aren’t bad if you like various road killed dishes, and you don’t mind, not having enough money to purchase the bare essentials.

            In today’s tutorial, I will enlighten the reading public as to how I have been able to manufacture items from scraps, and use them in my moneyless life. (Later in the article I will enlighten you as to how you may donate to the, “MFHFF, Moneyless Ford Homestead Food Fund”.)

                There will be four, well composed photos in today’s presentation, showing the progression of a project from scrap, to finished item.

            I found a couple pieces of scrap wood, and being an inventive person I could see that these two hunks of wood could be turned into something useful. As you can see in the photo below, there are two wood wedges and a couple wood dowels. I rescued the wood wedges from a water logged scrap pile which cause them to be a little dark.

 

Photo two shows the genius of my simple design. Imagine what I could do with good wood!

 

In the next photo we see how this masterpiece of, “woodology” will be used in the coming days. For the untrained person, that is my key board on the wood wedges.

 

          (click on photo for a larger image)

If I would have not been on a fixed income, I could have afforded some paint or wood stain to make the project more presentable. Presentable or not, the unit is now in use under the key board in my meager office space (see photo below).

 

Scraps that would have been tossed out by those wealthy people, help those of us on a fixed income to have a nicer and more productive life. The wood wedge stand was in use during this outstanding publication, it is just at the right angle for a senior to be able to see the key board.

May all your scraps become useful!

Don Ford

Rained again 08.30.16

            The days are getting shorter and the sun is moving south! You might ask how I know. That is easy, I am absorbent and observant too. Each afternoon there is more sun on my old rocker which is located on the drive way near the garage door at the south end of the house. If the sun was staying north, I would not be exposed to the injurious sun rays! (You didn’t know I even knew that word, let alone be able to spell it.)

            For the one person who is just dying to correct me, I will help relieve your stress by stating, I know the sun is not moving south, it is the earth that is tilting which makes the sun seem to be moving to the south. Get off my case!

            It did rain again yesterday after noon and into the night. All totaled we received about ½ inch of needed rain.

            On a different subject, the grounds keeper went to the doctor yesterday for his two week checkup. Our grounds keeper can begin to resume normal activities as long as he does them within reason. If it hurts or if he thinks it might hurt, don’t do it. Finally, I am going to get this lazy person out of my recliner!

 

 

 

             Click on photo to enlarge.

See what the rain caused! The Four O’clocks, middle photo are descendants of flowers that came from my sister’s home in Missouri several years ago. They seem to pop up in various places, we assume due to the birds eating and pooping the seeds.

May your days be bright and sunny,

And your nights be filled with sweet dreams,

May your prayers all be answered,

And may you be as happy as me!

I am not a poet and I know it!  Oh, wow, that rhymed!

Don Ford

Thankful 08.21.16

                We thought we should post a Thank You note, for all the nice messages we have received for our groundskeeper. Possibly I should note, we read all the emails and text messages to our groundskeeper, as he can’t read or write, he is from a distant state. We also let him know of any phone calls.

            Update on his surgery, he is improving, he is doing well, he has not been taking the pain pills prescribed by the surgeon, he is routinely getting out of his recliner and walking throughout the house. He still has a lot of recovery ahead of him, but as for now he is doing well.

            The pool for the kids needed to be drained, as school is starting next week and it would no longer be used. David filled in for the groundskeeper, when he put a syphoning hose in the pool and it is now drained.

            We have had plenty of rain in the last week and the grass has grown a little. Several of the neighbors have mowed their yards recently making the rest of the neighborhood look less than desirable. Saturday morning, Glen was mowing his lawn and after completing his yard he called and asked if he could fill in for the groundskeeper.

I was a little hesitant but decided to let him mow the front yard here at The Ford Homestead. Glen is friends with the groundskeeper and wanted to help out.

All kidding aside, I want to say thanks to everyone who called, emailed and text about my condition, with a special thanks to Glen who mowed the front yard, and Sandi who come to the hospital and sat with Donna and the kids during the surgery. Donna and I have been blessed with many good friends and family.

I have a tendency to think that only friends read my blog, but in truth outsiders read it too. For the outsider, the groundskeeper is me!

Again, thanks to all!

Don Ford

Hurten fer Certen 08/17/16

            The groundskeeper had his surgery yesterday and the doctor said it was successful. Our groundskeeper slept most of the night in a recliner. He did try to sleep in his bed but that did not work due to tremendous pain.

            When asked how he feels he said he was, “Hurten fer Certen”. We have been getting some rain the last few days which is good, it keeps the groundskeeper from wanting to go outside and work. As a matter of fact, the rain gage has 5 inches of rain in it, which has accumulated over the last six days, and they are predicting rain for the next 7 days. This rain has been slow and easy, kind of like one of those old Missouri rains, which just keeps coming but does not run off.

            My present wife is preparing lunch for the groundskeeper right now. She has been taking pretty good care of him, and has even been nice to him!

May your day be filled with ____!

                                                                                                                You can fill in the blank.

Don Ford

Different meaning 08.15.16

            Sometimes an acronym has more than one meaning. Today we will provide a second meaning for a well-known acronym.

            But first the groundskeeper here at the Ford Homestead wanted me to say thanks to everyone who sent birthday greetings yesterday, he really appreciated them!

            I want to personally say thanks to our grounds keeper, who is scheduled for surgery tomorrow, as he mowed the yard over the weekend. He used the riding mower so it wasn’t too much of a strain. We just can’t keep him from working!

            Back to the original subject, an acronym with a different meaning. UFO, usually means Unidentified Flying Object, but here at the Ford Homestead we found another meaning. This acronym today means Unidentified Falling Object. A wise person might ask, what the UFO was. Our reply would be, “we are not sure, but it was wet and looked something like the rain we use to get in the olden days”.

            If one goes outside and is real quiet, they can hear the grass, trees, and other plants saying Thank You!

            We have a light and steady rain with no run off. This is the first measurable rain at the Ford Homestead in almost 8 weeks. It would rain all around the Homestead but not on the Homestead, we had begun to wonder if we were cursed. We are thankful for our rain!

Let’s keep those people in the flooded areas in our prayers.

Unidentified Falling Object, Thanks!

Don Ford

UFO 08.12.16

                The attached photo was taken with my windows phone and is reasonably good. There may be two UFOs in this photo. Near the center of this photo, which is left of and above the sun, there is a small black UFO and toward the top there is a round green UFO that may have been observing or following the first UFO. Click on the photo to see a larger image.  

 

Hope these UFOs don’t land near the Ford Homestead!

May the weekend reveal the truth!

Don Ford

  

Rain chance promised 08.11.16

            Our local prognosticators have issued a threat, and almost promised the possibility of rain, all around the Hewitt area, key word is, “around”. Let’s hope they are correct, and that it will not only rain around Hewitt, but also on Hewitt.

            Even without the rain, we have flowers that are prospering, due to the grounds keeper’s vigorous efforts to provide water during this extended period of drought. See following photos.

 

 

Click on the photo to see them in a larger version. The last photo is of, “Four O’clocks”, that were brought from Missouri as seeds, years ago. The birds have spread the seeds of the four O’clocks to several flower beds.

            The groundskeeper’s hernia, will be operated on this coming Tue. The doctor suggested that he stay in a recliner with an ice pack for a couple days after the surgery. I guess he can use my recliner.

May your day be filled with Blossoms!

Don Ford

It happened this way 08.09.16

            It was one of those hot August days when no one wanted to go outside, you know, the temp was 101 and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. The prognosticators were saying no chance of rain for the foreseeable future. 

            We noticed that one of our staff, the grounds keeper, was just sitting around in the air conditioned Homestead doing nothing. It was decided that since there was some shade in the back yard, we should have the grounds keeper get out of his quarters and do some work.

            We assigned him a few limbs to cut. He made some remarks under his breath and headed out side. He retrieved the ladder and pole saw from the shed. Positioning the ladder more or less under the limbs, he then climbed up to the top of the ladder and began to saw. The first limb began to crack and fall, so our grounds keeper quickly climbed down, as he was concerned the limb might hit him.

            The limb did not fall, so after a few minutes he climbed back up the ladder and again began to saw on the broken limb. After only a few seconds the first limb fell. Luckily the limb fell without hitting the grounds keeper, or the flower bed.

            Our tree trimmer climbed up the ladder and again, using the 16 foot pole saw, cut the second limb with the same results. As the limb fell to the ground, the grounds keeper felt an odd feeling in his lower abdomen. He carefully climbed down from the ladder. He instinctively knew what had happened to him. As he felt his lower abdomen he felt a bulge, he knew he had a hernia.

            He called the doctor and received an appointment for that afternoon. He was checked and the doctor confirmed our grounds keeper’s diagnosis, it was a hernia.

            Our grounds keeper now has an appointment with a surgeon this Wednesday afternoon, who will enlighten him as to when and where or if, they will cut him open and then glue him back together. 

            Enough about our grounds keeper, we had to call the air conditioner repair people yesterday. The unit began to deposit water on the floor around the unit. This had happened a few years ago, when we were told that it will happen again. Needless to say not having air conditioning would be a nightmare here in the heart of Texas. Repairs were made and costing much money! We will not be able to eat anything other than road kill for about the next 6 months. Donations will be accepted!

May your birthday week have less excitement, than mine!

Don Ford

Keeping others out 08.08.16

                The date of this posting is interesting, 8+8=16.              

                I am sure this particular subject has never entered your thought process, so I have decided to share this information with you. As some of you know, I indulge in a morning walk usually in a meditative state, not seeing my surrounding. Occasionally I will be distracted and then I become very observant of my surroundings.

            The photo below was taken during one of my non-meditative periods.

 

                For most of those viewing the above photo, they would see the moon as the central item in this photo. I, as an observant and should I say absorbent individual, will attempt to enlighten the un-enlightened as to what I have learned from this view.

            Have you noticed the trees seem to be everywhere, and they effectively block the view? Next I want to point out that there are wooden privacy fences along the property lines. What are these so called neighbors hiding from us? Click on the photo to enlarge it.

            I can only assume these view blocking fences, trees and in some cases shrubbery, are there to hide illegal actions. Possibly they have moon shine stills, or other activities in these restricted areas.

            Please note, the Ford Homestead has a chain link fence, which in no way blocks the view. Thusly, there are no illegal activities at the Ford Homestead behind privacy fences. It is much safer to do activities which you do not want others to see, in your basement!

Enjoy your private time, no one needs to know!

Don Ford

End of week 08.05.16

                A couple flowers from the Ford Homestead’s vast flower gardens.

 

 

May the Flower be with you!

Don Ford

Not a Dream 08.04.16

            Wow, what a day! I could not believe what I was experiencing as I left the shelter of the Ford Homestead for my early morning stroll. This wonderful day started with the temp in the low 70s, cool enough that one (me) is extremely comfortable, but not cool enough to require extra clothing.

This cool snap was due to the unusual rain that we had received over the last two days. I describe this rain as, “One of those old Missouri rains”, you know, it is a slow rain that continues at least one day without any lightening or wind. A rain that seems to never end, but provides life for everything outdoors.

This recent area wide rain was enough to cause the cracks in the yard to close, and the grass to begin to rejuvenate.

As I began my morning walked down the Avenue, (Oklahoma Avenue) I thought, finally an end to the heat and drought. How wonderful this coolness felt! It was then that I noticed there was no sound! There was total silence! Not a bird chirping, not a cricket cricking! Was I deaf, or had I somehow walked through a dimension in time, from one reality to an alternate reality? 

I looked around and everything appeared to be the same, but there was no sound. I could not here my own footsteps on the road. I clapped my hands several times and although I could see my hands impacting each other, there was no sound!

This is not happening to me I thought, I turned to walk back to the Homestead and there was nothing behind me! When I say nothing I mean there was nothing to be seen. There was a strange blackness, more or less a black cloud or fog. There was no avenue, no trees, no houses, just a foggy, black, silent darkness.

Should I walk into this dark alternate reality? If I do cross into this darkness, will there be anything there, or will I be trapped in what seems to be, a black fog underworld?

Possibly I should turn away from the black cloud and walk down to the end of the Avenue. Quickly I turned in an effort to go to the end of the road but there was total darkness there also!

I am now completely surrounded by this un-nerving darkness, but I am not in the darkness! It is as if I am standing in a spot light, which comes from nowhere, but provides light for me in this dark alternate dimension.

Oddly enough, I am not panicking. It is as if I have been chosen, for what, I do not know!

Suddenly I begin to here sounds. These sounds are soft and seem to be a long way off. It is an odd sound, very low in volume, somewhat like a buzzing, low tone. I notice that as the sound gets closer, and more distinct, the Darkness around me is closing in. I am almost totally engulfed in the darkness and the sound is much more distinct, it is a very low tone.

If it is a message, I can’t understand it. What is the message? Why can’t I hear it clearly? The bright light is totally gone now, why? Why am I in the total blackness? How do I…        

Suddenly it happened, the message came to me! The sound was clear now and I could see everything around me! I was not in an alternate reality, I was at home, in my bed, and Charlie the cat was laying six inches away from my face, purring loudly, telling me it was time to get up and feed the cats.

Was it a dream, an unusual dream?

                                                The End

What? You have a question? Heck I didn’t know you could read, and now you are asking questions!            

Ok, what is your question?     Aha, I see, ok, I will answer that question.

Yes it was fiction. No I did not dream that, but you might consider having an imagination as I do, and daydreaming as I write, a dream.    

If you can’t have fun, don’t do it!

Don Ford 

Grounds Keeper 08.02.16

            It was the first day of August, the temperature was supposed to hit 100 again today, when we find the Grounds Keeper at The Ford Homestead, on his knees again, pulling weeds as he prayed for rain. Yes, this year the grounds keeper is attempting to use a different method to bring rain to the area.

            As you may know, our grounds keeper is a learned person, who is physically fit, and one might say he is handsome, for a gentlemen of his years. In the past he has performed a rain dance in an effort to invoke the rain. He was most effective the year he performed the rain dance in the nude. To be honest, he wasn’t totally nude, he did have on a pair of white knee socks and black leather sandals.

            We did notice that during the nude rain dance performance, all the neighbors went inside. We believe they did this in an effort to not distract the grounds keeper from his meditative dance, as we needed the rain in the worst way.

            There have been request that our grounds keeper perform the rain dance again this year, but with more clothes on. He is relying on prayer, as he is in the knelling position, while he pulls some weeds from the flower beds. Our grounds keeper believes that he should not waste time, and if he can do two things at the same time, he is then using time wisely.

            Different subject:

            We have some bad news, the triplets are missing and presumed dead (posting of 07/26/16). Their home is destroyed and we believe the triplets were too young to have survived. We have noticed some scratches on Charlies face and ear, which appear to have been caused by thorns from a bush like the black berries. It is possible Charlie entered the black berries and, well, let’s not go into any unnecessary and speculative details.

            Different subject:

            As I was strolling this morning the word, “inside” came to mind. I began to wonder if the word people, got this word wrong too. Inside is two words joined, in and side.

Let’s first consider the word “side”, it means, not in the middle, to the left or right of something!

Now let’s consider the word “in”, which means enclosed or contained by something!

            Now consider the entire word as it should be. Inside should mean, enclosed or contained to the left or right!        I wish these word people would check with me before they make a word.

Your prayers and dances for rain are appreciated!

Don Ford

Moister in the air 08.01.16

            August is here!            Days are getting shorter!         Someone has a birthday.

            As I sat on the old rocker, which is located on my old drive way, enduring what seemed to be an endless drought, with temperatures of 100 plus, I looked up at the sky hoping for a sign from above, possibly indicating an end to the drought. As I observed a sky full of clouds, I began to wonder… 

 

            I have often wondered why clouds form. I am sure someone will be able to provide me with and answer. Please do not embarrass yourself by saying, “they are formed due to moister in the air”, everyone knows that!

            What I want to know is why the moister does not spread evenly through the air, creating one cloud of an equal thickness? Why are there clouds of various size / thickness?

            Please respond if you have the correct answer.

Fog is a cloud that is afraid to fly!

            In the next photo we learn that they are still watching me. Do you think that I have some special intellect that they need to study, or could it be my unusually good looks for a senior retired citizen? If I were to guess I would believe it was both.

  Click on photo to enlarge.

            Most highly intelligent and ultra-observant people, can see the two eye holes, a nose hole, and what would be a large mouth in the cloud formation. This alien looks a lot like a skeleton’s head, and may have been surprised at what he was seeing, so his mouth was wide open.

If you have no idea what I am writing about, you should review the two postings dated 06/15/16 and 07/06/16 as they have additional info, about alien observations of yours truly. 

            For that one very observant reader, yes, there were at least two cloud aliens watching me in the first photo above.

May all your observers be, non-alien!

Don Ford