Are you puzzled 04.30.18

               In a world with continual new technology, it is possible that some of us may seem, or in reality, be puzzled! Although, those of you who read my articles should never be puzzled, as I provide necessary information to guide you through any maze or puzzle.

            Since you are not puzzled, that is proof my work is effective. I have presented enough information to each of you, that life is clear as a bell!             That would be a glass bell because a metal bell is not clear. Do you think that old saying, “Clear as a bell”, means the sound is as clear as a bell? I guess I will need to check into the saying and report back to you.

               To those of you who have requested to stay on the mail list, I want to say Thank You for reading my posts. In the future anyone who wants to get on the mail list, just send me a note!

          Now back to the subject at hand, puzzles. Below are two examples of a natural puzzle, yes nature can make puzzles. I have a couple photos for your enjoyment.

   

           The top photo, nature’s puzzles are together, below they are not. One puzzle has 10 pieces, the other has only 4. One side of each is light colored, the other is dark. For those of us on a fixed income, these are the type of games we have. The ten piece puzzle is more difficult than one would expect.

            Now you see, when I am sitting doing nothing, I am still observing and producing, and it is usually more than many people produce, when they are working their behind off.

Look around, and you will find interesting things!

Don Ford

Country school 04.27.18

               I have written about going to a country school in the past and it seems as if I am doing it again.

               The other day as my favorite granddaughter and I were driving to school (Gabi is my only granddaughter), I began to tell her about when I was in the 5^th and 6^th grade at a country school. Gabi is in the 5^th grade now, so she could compare the olden days with present day school.

               Additional Data, I pick up my favorite grandson in the afternoon from school. Yes Alex is my only grandson.

               Introduction: I had gone to school in town where I made average grades. At this point in life, I enjoyed going to school.

               The country school was named Juden School, I assume it was name for the creek across the road from the school, Juden Creek. This school had classes from the first through the eighth grades. The school had two rooms. In the basement was the 1^st through the 4^th grades, one room in the basement and one teacher. I do not know that teacher’s name.

               Upstairs class room there was the 5^th through the 8^th grade, one teacher, and his name was Cecil H. Hurt. This teacher was a preacher, I do not know which church.

               Each class were seated in a row, with the 5^th grade in the first row, the 6^th in the next row and so on through the eighth grade. Each grade had 6 to 8 students.

               My first day in this school as a 5^th grade student, I remember two main events.

               Lunch, for all the students was in the upstairs room. There was sheets of ply wood attached to the walls with hinges. These sheets of ply wood were raised and there was another piece of plywood on a hinge that would swing out and support the first sheet which was then the table top. 

               The person who prepared the lunch was a farmer’s wife who lived close to the school. They had cows and they made real butter which was served at lunch. Everyone with through the line and got their lunch and went to the tables and sat down. It being my first day I did not know the rules. I reached for some bread and began to put the real butter on the bread.

               1.  One of the kids told me to put it down and wait. I looked around and no one was eating. After a minute or two everyone was seated and the teacher / preacher said a prayer and then everyone began to eat. They did not do that in city school.

               2.  Toward the end of the first day the teacher Mr. Hurt, was at the chalk board and he said, these math problems are your homework for tonight, write them down and turn them in tomorrow. He began to write math problems that were fractions. Example; ½ + ¼ + 1/8 =?        I wrote these simple problems down and answered them as fast as he was writing them on the board. I thought, I will get these all done now, and not have any homework.

               I then learned, those fraction problems were for the 8^th graders! From that day on, I learned nothing new!

               Later:

               There was one game that we played and it was, “Stink Box”.

               There was an area that was marked off and the players could not go outside that area.

               There was two sides with an equal number of players.

               Each side had a small space designated as the stink box.

               If someone from the other side tagged you, you were sent to the stink box.

               The only way you could get out of the stink box was when another player on your side, was able to get to you and tag you out of the stink box, without getting tagged themselves.  The teacher would observe the game as some students would attempt to cheat.

               Another difference between the city school and the two room country school was the rest rooms. Trust me, there was no resting in the rest room of this country school. Juden School had running water for drinking inside the school, but the so-called restrooms were out houses.

               There was one out house for the boys and a different one for the girls. They were located behind the school. They were well build outhouses, made from cement blocks. I can’t remember for sure but I think they were 4 holers. That means as many as 4 could be seated at one time.

               Think of the outhouse in the winter time, or just a rainy day and you needed to go. In the summer time they were just as bad, you know, the smell!

               The orange dot is the location of the old Juden School. It isn’t so much in the country anymore.

My grandkids have it much better!

Don Ford

Control the items 04.25.18

               As your personal instructor, I am here to provide information as to how you may be able to more easily access items in your garage.

               This does not apply to that one person who has a garage in which everything has its place, and where both vehicles can be parked inside the two car garage. I doubt seriously if there are very many people that fit that description.

               This instruction is for the rest of us, you know, those of us who have things that can’t be thrown away. The perfect example would be that piece of wire, you know the one, it’s about 30 inches long and was cut from another wire used on a previous project. You roll the wire up and start to toss it out but you think, “I might need that someday”, so you put it in a drawer or box with other valuable items. 

               I have too much junk, I mean valuable items in my garage, and to get to my tool box I must move several items that are stacked in front of the tool box. The items are too valuable to toss out, so I just put them in a tote or box for future use. One box has scrap pieces of wood. These valuable pieces were cut off boards and kept for future use. Now you see why they can’t be tossed out.

               I formulated the idea that, since I could not toss out these items, I should have a way to move them easily when needing to access the tool chest. As I reviewed the sale item list from the freight company that has something to do with boats, I saw a cart. This cart was 24 inches wide and 36 inches long and has two shelves. I could place all the items that are in front of my tool chest onto the cart, and I could easily move them when needing to access the tool.

                                             Now you see how smart I am. Don’t toss junk out,

                                             just keep it on a cart and move it when it is in the way!

 

               I jumped in the Ford’s Chevy and drove to the Freight store where I learned, that they were out. The employee told me they would get a truck in tomorrow. I returned home broken hearted with tears in my eyes.

               Suddenly I had a revelation, I have a two wheeler cart in the shed that converts to a four wheel cart and possibly I can place all the junk on this cart saving the Ford Homestead money.

               The cart from the shed worked as expected. Now I can easily move all the junk from in front of the tool chest in one easy step. That shows you that my mind is superior when faced with a problem.

 

The Donald is a problem solver!

 

Don Ford

Last notification 04.31.18

               If you want to continue to receive these postings please send me a note by the end of April, saying to keep you on the mailing list.

          For those who have already replied thanks, your name is on the list. 

          This is the last bothersome notice,

 

          Thanks

 

                    Don Ford

I was mooned 04.24.18

               Being mooned could be fun or embarrassing, depending on your view! If one has been mooned in the past, one may understand why I used the word view, in that first sentence.  When one is mooned, the view is very important to some of us. I like a clear, unobstructed, view when mooned. Some of you might enjoy being mooned, depending on how and why.

               I was neither offended, upset, I actually enjoyed being mooned! I have a photo to share with you on this subject, I hope you enjoy it. Below is a photo, please click to enlarge and enjoy a photo of our little pecan tree.

               Believe it or not,

You have been mooned!

Don Ford

               If you do not yet feel fulfilled, look closer at the photo.

Poor but inventive 04.23.18

               I feel that the title is a true statement. We here in the Ford Clan are definitely poor, and occasionally we are inventive. Possibly the word inventive, should be changed to creative. When one is poor and they have a need for an item, we often have to create the thing we need.

               I wanted a tool box so I had to create one. I did not invent the tool box, I just created one from my memory of years gone by. I have a couple photos that I will present, which will help that one person understand creativity. It would be nice if one could click on things at home to enlarge them as we do the images on the blog.       What?   Get your mind out of the gutter, that was an offal thought!  

               We see in the photo above, the poor man’s tool box, I couldn’t even afford a lock!

               The poor person’s tool box is opened, but we can’t see the tools inside the box. Those tools are also created by a poor man, as we see in the following photo.

               It would be nice if we had some tools other than those, two hand made mallets. Have you ever tried to drive a screw using a mallet? Let me tell you, it takes a lot of skill and time to drive a screw with a mallet.

Donations will be accepted through the end of the month, identify these donations as, “Tools for the poor man”!

May you always be creative, but never be poor!

Don Ford

Follow-up to 04.21.18 posting 04.21.18

               Since I had not a lot to do today, I wend and purchased some candles to put in the candle holder. Then I took a photo. I also took another photo of misc. items. Sooner or later I will need to get rid of some of these items.

Look at my candle holders, not Donna’s stuff!

               Thanks for not complaining!

I dropped one of the two red candles that I purchased, it broke. I used super glue to put it back together!

Stop reading this and do something fun!

Don Ford

Battery powered light 04.21.18

               In the olden days, when some of us were kids, the only battery powered lights were flash lights. If memory serves me, the batteries did not last too long. As a kid, if I could get a hold of a flash light I thought I had something special.           Now days, many things are battery powered. As an example, in the Ford’s Homestead there is about 2,000 battery powered candles. Most I mean all of the candles have a timer, and work automatically until the battery needs to be replaced. The budget for batteries far exceeds the budget for food here at the Homestead!

               Oddly enough this article is not about batteries nor candles. (Do you like the word nor instead of or?) This soon to be well written and informative article is about a neighbor lady. As my one reader knows, I take old limbs that Tres carries around and convert them into pieces of art work, which only I like. If you had read my posting of 03.29.18, you would have seen a part of the subject matter that will be in the article.

               I finished the item that the neighbor lady had asked for, and when we presented it to her the other day she commented, “Only one?” I asked, “Did you need more than one”, to which she replied, “I need six candles for the celebration”. She explained what the celebration was but I don’t remember what it was, I think it was some type of religious celebration. My spouse of 49 years asked her, “Do the two need to look alike”, the neighbor lady’s response was, “No I just need 6 candles”. 

               I guess that is what you get for attempting to be a nice person, there is always something more that you will need to do. How do you like that, I am a nice person. What? No I am not bragging! I am just stating the truth! If no one else blows your horn, you are allowed to blow it yourself.

               I went to the back yard and found a part of the limb that the first candle holder was made from. Yes, Tres had been carrying it around but it was not in two bad of a condition. I also went to the fire wood pile and found an additional piece of wood. To make a short story long, I was able to create a second holder that closely matched the first for the neighbor lady. I also made a couple more candle holders for the fun of it.

The photo I took was not real good but is shows a couple of the silly candle holders. I have no use for these, but like my pencil holders I like to make them. Click to exaggerate these useless wonderful works of art.  

The tops of the candles appear black but they were not in real life. Before my one reader asks, I sand the bottom of the limb flat, which causes them to stand up.

Battery powered candles are safer, not prettier!

Don Ford 

Happy? 04.20.18

               I had worked my fingers to the bone, and was hoping for a short ride on the Ford’s Gold Wing, you know, to charge the battery a little. I had put all my tools away and was heading for the Wing when I found Charlie had already staked a claim on the bike. Charlie was on the back seat getting ready to take, what he said was, “A well-deserved nap”! You know how cats lie, so I decided to displace him to the rocking chair. You might enjoy the photo more if you click on it. 

               The Ford’s Gold wing is for sale, call if you have money and are interested.

May the pets leave your play things alone!

Don Ford

What happens when 04.20.18

               As one gets older, maybe one should consider what life would be like, if we lived alone. Living alone is ok, if one is healthy and able to get around on their own, and if they have enough money. Obviously not having anyone living with you would make for lonely days and nights.

               Let’s consider a person who is older and living alone, if they are able to drive then things are not too bad. They can go to the store for groceries and other things, they can go to their church and the trips to the doctor’s office. You might think they would occasionally visit others, but older people don’t want to be a bother so they don’t go visit, even though they may wonder why you don’t come to visit them.

               A senior person may be able to take care of grand kids, and that will help them feel useful and not alone during the times the grandkids are there. This senior person may not be computer literate, and may wonder why the grand kids don’t play with the toy trucks, trains and dolls that kids use to play with. There will come a time when it is thought that this elderly person is no longer able to care for children, or the children are old enough to go to school, so the grandparent is alone, and may believe, “they are no longer needed”.

               If this senior person has children, the children will visit on a regular basis. These visits provide the senior person with enjoyable conversations, allow the adult child to know their parent is ok, and may also help by mowing the lawn, and fixing things that need repair or a little attention. During these visits the child still considers their parent as mostly in charge, not totally dependent on others.  

               If the senior has a clear mind, in other words is able to remember things, still able to understand what is going on around them, can operate the TV, make and receive phone calls, is able to safely cook, can wash and dry clothes, then they can continue to live a lonely life.

               Brothers and or sisters of a senior person may have passed, may live in different parts of the country. Those who still live in the area will visit only occasionally, most likely on a Sunday. It is not that they don’t want to visit, everyone has their own schedule, which is all focused on themselves, and their habitual daily routines. Those habits, normally do not allow them visiting time for a sibling, or anyone.

               What are some of those important daily routines: Morning visit to the Jon, coffee, breakfast, coffee time, read the paper, yes old people still get a paper, watch those TV shows, eat lunch, take a nap, go outside and look at the yard, go to the store, talk with everyone at the store, put the groceries away, watch TV, fix some supper, watch TV, take a shower, go to bed. 

               If the senior person begins to have memory problems, that is when things get really tough. The senior goes to the store to get groceries, returning home they find they have forgotten several items. They have medicine to take daily and they may occasionally forget one or more meds. Cooking for one has become a real chore so they only cook something if they believe someone will visit and eat with them. That means they have less intake of good foods.

               What about the time that they put a pan on the stove but forget that it is there. Suddenly the smoke alarm goes off and the older person hears the alarm, sees the pan burning on the stove and removes the pan from the stove sitting it on the cabinet. Do they turn the stove off, does the pan burn the cabinet?

               With the smoke alarm going off, the room has a lot of smoke in it and the older person looks for the smoke alarm but can’t find it. They don’t open a window or door to let the smoke out, they do call a family member and tell them about the smoke alarm.

               Now that has occurred, what would happen in the middle of the night if the smoke alarm was to go off? Would this elderly person get out of the house, or look through the smoke for the alarm. Would they call the fire department?

               Maybe one would consider giving an elderly person a cell phone to carry with them. They explain how to place and receive a call on the cell phone, with the thought, “If the elderly person gets out somewhere and needs help such as a flat tire, they can call for help”. As the person’s memory gets worse, the senior person forgets to charge the cell phone or they don’t take it with them.

               The elderly person decides to go to the store, they find themselves out of town and lost. Not knowing where they are, they continue to drive. This is bad, as no one knows where they are.  After a couple times getting lost, their driving privilege is taken away from them. Even though the elderly person knows they were lost, they do not want to give up driving, saying they will be more careful. 

               At some point it will be decided, this senior person should not live alone and various options will be considered. The elderly parent will need care as if they were now a child. The adult child should insure that their parent has all the necessities such as, family, friends, food, clothing, medical care and transportation. The elderly parent will need someone around them 24 hours a day.

               Let us assume it has been decided to place this elderly person in a nursing home. That means you will likely need to dispose of the elderly persons possessions. What will the elderly person think when they are told?

               The elderly person has been independent and allowed to make their own decisions all their life, and now they have no say so in their life. Even though living in a nursing home is safer for the elderly, if it isn’t their decision, they will not like it.

               In the nursing home the elderly person is in an unfamiliar setting, and does not know any of these people around them, they feel alone and unhappy. When the elderly person has problems understanding things that goes on around them, they will feel lost and want to go home, back to things they recognize.

               Consider how you might feel if you could no longer live in your home, watch your TV, have privacy, and not have people walking by your room looking in your door, day and night? 

               This is not only rough on the elderly person, it is also bad for the family member who finds it necessary to place the elderly in this nursing home. Consider, the adult child knows that their parent took care of them from the time they were born, until they moved out on their own. That is usually eighteen to twenty two years of care provided by that parent. Now the elderly parent is becoming childlike.

 

               Another option, can the elderly stay in their own home, possibly hiring someone to stay with them? Who could be hired to move in with the elderly parent and what would it cost? Trusting someone to move in with a parent and providing the needed care, is a problem in itself.

 

               There is the option of moving the parent into the adult child’s home. If the adult child is away from their home during the day, they would need someone to be with the elderly parent during the day. There are people who could be hired to stay with the elderly, but again finding the right person could be the problem.

               It would take a very committed person, who would bring an elderly parent needing continual companionship, into their home. Life would no longer be, all about the adult child, it would be about caring for the aging parent.  

               If you are the younger adult today, you may likely, somewhere in the future, become the elderly person, maybe you should consider the above and start to prepare! 

 

Don Ford

Flower or seeds 04.20.18

               I took another foto Photo and I will place it below this statement. There is a flower in bloom out by the shed and I noticed it when I was examining the onions. These fine onions were planted last summer but basically did nothing. Then last fall the onions popped up and began to grow. All winter they were basically dormant. This spring they decided to show off and grow. We have eaten some of them and now they are going to seed. Does anyone know when and how to collect the seeds?

I have a close up of the seeds at the top of the onion plant.

              

May your friend’s breath, not smell of onions, again!

Don Ford

Madder than a mashed cat 04.17.18

               That comment was something that a friend use to say, and I have used it several times in the past. This posting has nothing to do with a mashed cat, but it does have a photo of Molly and Tres.

               Were they both tired? Click the photo to enhance.

               On this same day, as the Tres and I sat near the Ford’s garage door, I heard the sound of a jet passing over. I looked up but did not see the jet. I noticed that Tres was looking up toward the sound, I again looked up but could not see the jet. Again I looked at the Tres and he was still focused on something in the sky, so I again looked up, this time in the area that Tres was looking, and I saw the jet.

               I thought I was observant, but Tres has me beat.

               If you want to continue to receive these postings please send me a note by the end of April, saying to keep you on the mailing list. I understand that not everyone on my mailing list, reads the postings. I plan to send this reminder several times between now and the last full week in April.

Try to get along with that person, like Tres and Molly!

Don Ford

Blue Bonnets 041618

In this posting you might be able to see the Blue Bonnets if the people get out of the way.

                                           

Above: Alex with a flower in his hand.

Above: Gabi also has a flower and possibly chiggers now! 

Above:  Alex and Gabi holding up the tree. 

Above:  They both got tired of of Granny taking photos and decided to leave!

Above:  Granny ran and caught them and forced them to return to the scene. 

Above:   Now we see Granny continuing punishing the grand kids forcing them to sit on the ground with all those fire ants and chiggers crawling around. Did granny get her white pants dirty!

Above:    Alex thinking about what he wants to do.

Above:     Decision made, with his hands in his pockets he begins... 

Above:    What the heck, is that a grand child on the Ford's Chevy?

As if you didn't know, Above:  Finally we see the reason for spring in Texas, Blue Bonnets! 

Don Ford 

Pick-up sticks 04.14.18

               On our way to school Friday morning, Gabi and I were talking about board games they had been playing at school. That is when she asked, “They had board games in your day, didn’t they”? I had the feeling that my Granddaughter thought I was old. Anyway, I told her about the way we use to play monopoly and the game might take several days, you know an hour or so one day and continuing again the next day. She did not seem to be too interested.

               I do remember playing pick-up sticks as a kid. I don’t remember if I was good at it or not, but I remember sitting on the floor and playing.

               The most aggravating thing is, I am still playing pick-up sticks. The main difference is the sticks I am picking up or in my yard. We’ve been having very windy weather, and with the wind comes all the small dead sticks from the trees. It is odd that I see very few dead branches in the trees, but they still end up on the ground. I have picked up these small branches for the last three days and there are more there now.

 

 

               On a different subject:

               On the TV they were talking about two adults and several children who were killed when their vehicle ran off a cliff and fell about 100 feet. The authorities say the wreck was intentional. How do they know? They checked the software in the vehicles computer. Did you know they can spy on you in that way too!

 

Board games verses computers, which will win?

 

Don Ford

                

Shots shot fired 04.12.18

               Note, I have corrected the title in an effort to not provide miss-information.

               The day started with a lot of sunshine and temps in the 40s. I bundled up, possibly a little more than needed. I mounted the Ford’s Gold Wing, which had been cleaned the day prior, and headed for the meeting location. Click on the photo to enjoy!

    

               Since all the riders would be considered senior citizens, (probably the two wives on the ride would not like to be called senior) we did not need to worry about the police following our group or stopping us looking for drugs. In other words, we were not a biker gang!  Heck we only exceeded the speed limit when no one was looking!

               The ride headed west as we were enjoying the back roads. I like to be the last rider in a group as I can ride at my own speed, as long as I keep the group in sight. We had ridden for 1.5 hours when the group leader found a location for us to stop for a break, in Jonesboro TX.

               Short break taken, we were back on the road again. The temp was now in the 60s and I found that I did have too many shirts on. As usual I was riding behind the group but I was actually staying fairly close to the group. There were 6 bikes in front of me (that means there were 7 bikes total) we were out in the country as all the bike passed over a bridge. I was the last to cross this country bridge when, there was a gunshot!  I quickly told another biker (via CB) that I heard a gunshot as I crossed the bridge.

               Yes I know what a gunshot sounds like. I believed the shot came from a shot gun as the sound was loud and distinct. I have no idea why the shot was fired and I assume it was not fired at me. If it was at me, they were a bad shot.

               As I think about it, I wonder if the perpetrator was shooting at something and did not know we were passing, or if this perp saw us passing and wanted to scare the last rider. Before anyone asks, I did not go back to see who and why. Momma raised an ugly boy, but she didn’t raise a fool!

               At 11:20 we stopped in Hico, TX for gas, and that is when I told the leader, I would start back to the house as I needed to be home in time to get the Alex from school. Hico is a little over an hour ride back to Hewitt if you stay on the main highway. Two of the other riders decided to head back with me, while the others decided to have lunch in Hico, TX.

               I suggested to the two who were going back with me, that we could stop at the Bunk House in Clifton TX for a quick lunch, they both agreed.

               As usual, lunch was good at the Bunk House, and the lady that takes our orders said, “Not you again”! She and I aggravate each other every time I go in there. If you can’t have fun don’t do it!

               After the meal, I had to shed some shirts prior to the rest of the ride home as the temp was now in the low 70s!

               I made it home in time to get ready to pick up Alex from school.

All in all it was a nice day for a ride!

Don Ford

Why are they there 04.11.18

               I have attached a photo which you may click to enlarge. Please review the photo and I hope you notice that the pecan trees, which always leaf out later than other trees, are now putting on greenery (AKA leaves). I have commented, “If the tree does not produce this year, I will cut it down”. It has in the past produced many pecans but last year it did not. 

               I have reviewed the actual scene many times, and I do understand, “Why they are there”.

Today I plan to go riding for a few hours this morning with some friends. Yes it is cold and will be cold at the beginning of the day. I had to wash the bike yesterday and I have a photo to show you. In the photo below we are looking through a dusty wind shield. The entire bike was dusty so I washed it.

May all things be clear to you!

Don Ford