So tired 04/30/2019

            Well, it has finally happened, I was worked so hard yesterday that two naps would not help. Due to all the hard work, and my poor attitude, this will be the final posting. I have decided to end it all with a few photos, and these photos are the result of past work. Hope you enjoy.

                                               

            First we see green berries that will soon be black berries.

                                              

            Second is the Rose bush I planted the other day.

                                              

            Third and last is the Rose that appears to be pink and or orange, along with a new bud.

Enjoy this very last posting, in April.

Senior worker and Blog presenter; Don Ford

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Saturday 04/27/2019

            Today is Saturday and most of you will be able to relax and take wonderful naps, while this senior citizen works his fingers to the bone. Before that one person opens his mouth again, when I say, “working my fingers to the bone,” I am not referring to typing this soon to be wonderful and informative article! I am referring to real physical work!

            Yesterday, my neighbors did it again! Yep, they mowed their yards without conferring with me. How can I lead this group if they don’t confer with me? That means I will need to mow both the front and back yards today, and possibly get the string trimmer out and trim everything. That will be real work on a day that I should be relaxing with my spouse of half a century.

            Also happening yesterday, I cleared off the second half of the ford’s ole work bench, which wasn’t easy, and painted it white. I tossed out several items also known as junk which made some room. As I was finishing up work about 5:00pm, a good friend pulled up on his motorcycle. Before anyone comments, some of us ole senior citizens do have friends. We sat outside talking for about two hours.

            Well I am going to take a break from this computer now, if I am able later today, I will inform you of any progress made.

                        I am back!

            My first wife and I went out to lunch and not only was the food good the service was excellent.

            Returning home I began the demanding task of manicuring the front yard. Yes I did the normal double mow and the yard looks excellent. Tired from the walking, I staggered to the back yard where I used the walk behind mower to get in close to some areas, as I did not want to get the string trimer out.

            After all that tedious work I was able to pull myself onto the Ford’s ole riding mower. Would you believe, I rode that mower for 6 hours, and I was able to cut all the grass on the back 40?

            I did struggle putting the ole riding mower away, but through much perseverance, I did get it parked and covered with the tarp.

            Even though my body was hurting, I decided to try and plant the first wife’s, rose bush. Shovel in hand I dug that hole, even though the dirt was more or less mud, due to all the rain we have had. Wouldn’t you know, after digging the hole and after Tres had inspected it, I then had to carry that massive rose bush from the driveway all the way out to the back 40. On my hands and knees I struggled to get the plant into the hole. I then had to put the super wet dirt in the hole around the plant and push it down to get all the air pockets out.

            Would you believe, I have no idea how I was able to get back to the garage, but I found myself standing in front of the ole work bench.

            I had heard that having a cup of coffee, after one has worked or exercised to an extreme, was beneficial and would help reduce the amount of pain that one feels. I had a cup of coffee!

            The coffee must have been inspirational, as I jumped from the Fords ole rocking chair and dashed almost 10 feet into the garage where I decided to put together a shelf, for the second half of the ole work bench. I was able to get together some old wood for this soon to be shelf. It would have been nice had I not been retired and on a fixed income, I could have bought new fresh wood for the shelf.

            Once the shelf was put together I painted it white. I then waited about 30 minutes more and put a second coat of paint on the shelf. It occurs to me, someone might ask why I used white paint on the work bench and the two shelves. One would assume that white paint makes it easier to see items that one drops such as a small screw. Even though that is true, I used white paint because that is what I had left over from a project a couple years ago. “If you don’t toss stuff out, you might be able to use it later”. That is the motto of all Hoarders. 

            A little after 5:00 a neighbor came over and we sat there in the rocking chairs complaining about the work we had done and all the projects that are left to do.

May your Saturdays be full of fun and much rest!

Senior non-stop laborer; Don Ford

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Friday, slowdown day 04/26/2019

            For many of you, Friday is slow down day. By that I mean, you have work hard (for that one person, you work semi, no not semi, you almost worked) all week, and now that Friday is here, you are starting to reduce the output. I was considering the possibility that your employer should send you home at noon on Friday, but if that happened you would likely start the slow down on Thursday. The employer can’t win.

            Preacher Ford:

          Speaking of employers, if employers understood what the people who work for them knew, the company would likely be much more productive, have happier staff, and make more money.

          Top management don’t have, or can’t take the time, to have face to face meetings with the working staff, so they rely on HR staff and local management to keep them informed.

          Very few HR staff actually hold meaningful conversations with working staff. HR most often have presentations for the working staff and then try to respond to questions about the info presented during the meeting. All too often, if HR staff receive a comment from working staff they address the comment with local management. 

          Local management often think they are communicating with the working staff, but most often it is one way communication, downward.

          Does the working staff have anyone to listen to their concerns?

          Unfortunately, if working staff bring up a subject, the response to their comments are more often a reaction, not a lasting solution. 

            Back to my original thought, I began a process of re-working the ole work bench in the Ford’s ole garage yesterday. After clearing part of the bench, I then painted it white. I then added a shelf that had been removed from the Ford’s ole office. An old vise that is broken is now removed, and there is a plan to replace it with a wood working vise.

            The bench looks so nice that I plan to continue the process today. So I can’t do what you are doing, “Slow down Friday”, I will be into “Continual working Friday!” Possibly I will have a photo at a later time of the progress in the Ford’s ole garage.

 

Slow down but don’t stop working!

Senior Homestead Preacher; Don Ford

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Olden days 04/25/2019

            During my short visit to the Show Me State, I received some items from my mother and Father’s past. One of the items is a certificate that indicates my Dad did not miss and was not late at his school. I have scanned it and will show you the results. Click to enlarge.

                                        

            The certificate was issued May 20, 1914. For that math impaired person, 1914 was 105 years ago. The school was Rock Levee School in Cape Girardeau County. I have no idea where Rock Levee School was at.

            I understand, the above is probably interesting only to the Ford clan.

            Wednesday afternoon I checked the rain gage, while it was still raining. There was 3 inches of water in the rain gage. The water was running down the street curb deep. Our back yard looked like a duck pond, without the ducks.

            This morning I checked the rain gage again and it has 4.5 inches of water. Today the sky is clear and we are supposed to have sun shine all day, the back yard no longer looks like a duck pond. At one point yesterday, the water in our back yard was literally running down into the neighbor’s back yard, and their yard looked like a duck pond.    Rain gage photo to follow.

                                                                                     

  

            When I picked up Alex yesterday afternoon at school, it was raining. He got into the Ford’s old Chevy and said he liked rainy days. I commented that they were ok, but I like the sunny days too. Alex then asked, “Did you have a good day”? I replied, “Yes, thanks for asking.” Now I normally ask him if he had a good day, I think it is nice when a 9 year old asked if someone has a good day.    He’s a Ford!

            I cleared out some of the items in the Ford’s ole garage yesterday and now I can get to the so-called work bench without climbing over other items. Nice! Now I need a project.

            There was a commercial on the Ford’s ole TV a couple minutes ago and I observed it. It was a commercial for a truck line. In the trailer there was two people loading cartons. One fellow picked up a carton from a pallet took a couple steps and handed it to the other fellow who then placed it on another pallet. I thought, there is no way I would do business with that company if they truly worked like that. I also thought, I could very quickly show them how to properly load a trailer and save money. I guess it is a good commercial for those who have no idea what real work looks like. If a company wants to be productive and safe, hire people who can do the job, not based on race, sex or any of the other categories. Find leaders who have done the work and have an education. Education alone will not provide the desired results. 

            Wow, I can get side tracked easily!

I hope your day is filled with opportunities!

Senior work-ologist; Don Ford

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Getting high 04/24/2019

            The title line, if you would have read it, should have got your attention. Since you did not read it until now, allow me to explain or should I say allow me to re-write it for you. The title line is, “Getting High”!

            Before that one person asks, no, I was not, nor am I now, ^high. I have not received the seeds I had requested for a cannabis plant, from the retired drug cop who lives two doors away. In short, I am not talking about me or my neighbors being, or getting high!

            The other day I was installing a new rope one the radio tower. I have a pulley at the top of this tower, which I had installed when I use to climb said towers, years ago. I still keep a rope through the pulley just in case I want to fly a flag or, as I have done in past years, have Christmas lights on the tower. Now days I have a rope light that is solar powered attached to the rope and at night the rope light flashes.

            As I was installing a new rope I happen to see a spider web going from the tip of an antenna beam to a limb of a tree. I tried to get a photo but the spider web did not show up. 

                                               

            This antenna is about 35 foot above the ground. I wonder how the spider was able to get the web from the antenna to the tree. It was too far to jump. Well I guess it will remain a mystery unless one of you valuable readers have an answer to the question.

            Back down to earth, I have a photo for your enjoyment. This photo can be a sticky subject. It is a cacti type plant that is beginning to bloom. There are actually several of these plants starting to bloom, but I have only this one photo. Click to get stuck!

                                               

            New subject: Did he just not think?

            Our neighbor, I don’t want to give his name but he is a medical doctor, parked his car across the street from his home. This morning I was attempting to get the paper, but it was raining like pouring it out of a boot. The rain was coming down hard, the water was running like a swift river down the street, curb high. (For that one person, the curbs are 8 inches high). Did I say it was lightening like crazy? Tres and I turned around and walked back into the homestead.

            Once we were back in the homestead we looked out at the rain and we observed the neighbor who had parked across the street. He had to get through the running water on this side of the street, cross the street and unlock his vehicle and get into his vehicle. Did I say he had no umbrella and no boots? I wonder why he did not park in his drive way, everyone has been told for almost a week that it would be raining this morning.

Listen to the weather people, sometimes they are accurate!

Sweetie Grandpa: Don Ford    sugar melts in the rain

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On my knees again 04/23/2019

            You are correct if you thought, well his favorite spouse forced him to work again. Yesterday, my wife of half a century strongly suggested that a weed filled flower bed, one of two that had not been cleared, should be cleaned out. Would you believe, it was suggested that there would be no lunch or supper if the flower bed was not cleared?

            I got my gloves and a couple other tools and proceeded to get down on my ole knees. After a short prayer I began pulling the weeds. I remember thinking yesterday morning, it was a good day for weeding the flower bed as it was cloudy and cool. I began the labor and after almost 5 minutes the sun broke through the clouds. I then acquired a long sleeved shirt and hat, to keep the sun off.

            I put about 2 hours into that project. It wasn’t easy work as there were rose bushes with big thorns. I was able to get the flower bed cleared of most of the weeds, (there were no weeds, it was all Saint Augustine grass that was invading the flower bed) and I also picked up the weeds that my first spouse had pulled out of the other flower bed. Now all flower beds have been weeded, it is time to go back to the first flower bed and start over. It is a never ending process.

            After all that work, I was allowed to have lunch.            

            The grand kids are back in school today so we are back on our regular schedule. Since I have to start the Ford’s ole Chevy to take Gabi to school, I might just venture forth to the star coffee shop for an expensive cup of coffee. I will not spend my own money there, but I will accept gift cards to use there, thusly I am using someone else’s money.

            Different subject; Crazy people! Yesterday as I was sitting on the Ford’s ole rocker near the garage door on the driveway, I observed a tall clean looking female subject. This female had what appeared to be a black sleeveless shirt and blue jean shorts. The white skin on her arms and long legs stood out. I, naturally observed this person as she does not live in this neighborhood. During my observations I noticed that she was carrying a purse, you know the kind, with a long strap that fits over her shoulder.

            This female subject was walking and talking, her arms and hands were moving as if she was in a conversation with someone who could see her. I assume she had ear buds in and I also assumed she was using a phone, conversing with someone.

            There are people occasionally walking in our area to get a little exercise, but they never carry a purse. Now I wonder what she had in the purse. Could she be just an odd ball, did she have her protection in the purse (gun) or was she looking for small packages to steal from porches. I think the gun is most likely as she was drawing too much attention to herself to be a thief.

Walk and drive while off the cell phone!

Senior master detective and observer; Don Ford

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Very good day 04/22/2019

            As the title line indicates, we had a very good day. Easter at the Ford’s Homestead was filled with excellent food, all of which was prepared by my favorite wife. We had Family and friends all around us as we enjoyed the day.

            With the three Fs how could you not have a great day, “Food, Family, Friends”!

                                               

            In the above photo, we see the Ford clan along with in-laws Bob and Janet, posing in the back yard. Thanks to Glen for taking the photo.

            I did get my email fixed yesterday, Patrick found the problem and it is now corrected.

            I have another photo that I received during my short visit to Missouri. I do not remember this motorcycle, although I do remember another Indian motorcycle that my brother Carl had. In this photo I appear to be about 5 years old.

                                         

            Yes we lived out in the country when this photo was taken, the house was up on a hill and near Juden Creek. I would guess this photo is about 67 years old.

            Ok there was another photo taken on Easter and I will insert it into this short but sweet article. Tres was having a good time with all the people out there on the back 40.

                                                                                              

            Now that everyone is gone, what will I do today? I don’t need to take or retrieve the grandees from school as they are off today. Wait a minute, they will be here at the Ford Homestead and that will give me something to do, “Aggravate the grand kids”!

            We hope your Easter was as good as ours!

Have a productive, safe and cooperative week!

Senior Ford Homestead reporter; Don Ford

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To begin, to end 04/21/2019

In the beginning there was a board, the board was with the Ford, the Ford decided to transform the board.

           

The Ford created a hole, for what reason he didn’t know, was it all for show, or could there be a reason for the hole? Then suddenly there were nine, some were in a line, and they looked so fine, as he thought they are all mine! The Ford was proud of this board, with the holes he had bored, as he thought, there should be more.

                         

What could he do with this board, and the holes he had bored, thought Mister Ford, as he looked at the board? In the holes he then placed, nine wooded stakes, what good would they be, thought he.

                         

As the Ford stared at the board, he knew there must be more, so with a hot fire, he added color to the board.

                                 

What use would there be, for the masterpiece we see, except to hold the keys, of the Ford family!

                                          

Brought to you by the Ford Homestead of Hewitt!

We hope your Easter Sunday is good for all!

Don Ford

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Mowing explained 04/20/2019

            It was a windy April day, which is not unusual, but today the wind seemed extra strong. I had planned to mow the yard after the grass had become dry, and I believed the wind would help dry the grass. As I sat inside the Ford’s Homestead enjoying a cup of real coffee, I began to hear what sounded like someone mowing. I ventured out of the homestead and the fellow who lives behind us was mowing. Then, to add insult on to injury, I heard others mowing. I turned to see both neighbors across the street mowing and they were working as teams, the male and female subjects working together. How can one retired senior citizen compete against teams?

            Why do they fill it is necessary to start before I have started? They should follow their leader, me.

            There was nothing I could do but start mowing the Ford Homestead’s yard. I retrieved the mower from the Ford’s ole shed and brought it to the front of the house. I began mowing in straight lines, going east to west and back. After mowing the entire yard, I then started mowing the yard again, this time going north to south and back, again in straight lines. My neighbors do not mow in straight lines and they only mow their yard one time.

            When I finished mowing the yard, I took a photo of my perfectly groomed yard. Click to be impressed at my abilities.  

                                   

            You don’t need to say anything, I know it is almost perfect!

            Would you believe, one of the female subjects from across the street came over and asked, “Why do you mow your yard twice, it seems to be extra work”!

            I said, “That is a good question”, to which she asked with a smile, “Do you have a good answer”? I thought for a moment, wanting to give this female subject an answer that she would not only understand, but agree with. I looked at her yard which she had just mowed, and said, “Your yard looks as if it was just mowed”. She looked at her yard and responded with, “I did just mow it”.

            I then looked at her hands and commented that her finger nails look very nice, “Did you have them manicured or did you do them yourself”? She smiled and said, “I had them manicured”, and she went on to tell me where and when. When she finished I said, “I cut my own fingernails” and showed her my hands. She had an odd look on her face, as she looked at my ole ugly hands.

            I them began to explain saying, “You mow your yard and I manicure mine! Since I mow in straight lines and do it twice, that is manicuring, kind of like your fingernails. Where you mow in odd directions and only cover the yard one time, that is mowing, kind of like my ugly fingernails”! Mow or manicure, look good or look great, it is your choice.

            She smiled, looked at my yard again, turned and walked home. Did I just lose a friend?

You can be good, or you can be great!

Senior lawn manicure artist; Don Ford

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Friday what do I do 04/19/19

            Today is Friday, it is also Good Friday. What work projects could the first spouse have for me today. Yesterday, my spouse of half a century went to lunch with some of her friends, and I had to stay home and eat left overs. I am not complaining about eating left overs, but eating alone is not a happy situation for a retired senior citizen.

            My favorite grandkids do not have school today, so they will be visiting here at the Ford Homestead. I, being a silly grandpa, will be available to aggravate and irritate them all morning. Their dad gets off work about noon on Fridays so he will pick them up and I will again be here alone. I will try to not cry too much, being here all alone. I will also attempt to mow the front yard, which should help me not be so lonely. I think the back 40 is probably too wet to be mowed today.

            The wind was blowing like crazy again yesterday, and I again picked up the small limbs and leaves that have been blown out of the Red Oak Trees. I hope the wind is not as bad today so I can mow and not need to pick up items from the yard again.

            The grand kids have arrived, I need to go. When I say go, I mean go to the coffee shop and get a cup of real coffee. No I am not trying to get away from the homestead, I just need a cup of real coffee!

 

Silly Grandpas are more fun than regular grandpas!

 

Senior silly Grandpa; Don Ford 

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It must be the end 04/18/19

          I guess I am getting close to the end. I have this unsolvable problem that is causing me much anguish. Why does it have to happen to a retired senior citizen? Everyone knows if it were to happen to a young person it would not even be considered a problem. With tears in my eyes I write this soon to be well presented article.

          First let me say, I did get some of the new shelves installed yesterday. Their locations may be temporary as I will consider other alternatives for the best distribution of the junk, I mean historically valuable items, which are piled, I mean placed, in the Ford’s little office area. I may take a photo of this version of the shelving placement.

          We had storms in the area last evening, and there was a deposit of about 1.25 inches of rain. If we had the funding, we would have gutters installed on the back of the Homestead. When it rains all the water from the roof top is deposited in the back yard adding much water to the yard and in the process causing water to stand after each major rain. Tres doesn’t like getting his feet wet!   Would you like to donate to the gutter fund?

          The winds from the stormy weather has again caused small limbs and leaves to be deposited in the Ford’s front yard. I haven’t reviewed the back 40 yet, possibly I will be able to get through the deep water later today. I will need to again pick up the limbs, and since the trash container is almost full I am not sure what I will do with them. I will need to mow the yards as soon as the grass is dry.

          We received some additional disturbing news yesterday. My spouse of half a century received her results from her DNA test, and in part it indicated that she was 23% Irish. She has 4% more Irish in her than I do. Such disturbing news, I need to cry for a while so I will try to bring this posting to an end soon. 

          Since no one asked, I will tell you why I believe the end may be nearing. One of my email address has stopped working. The problem is I do not have any idea what the correct password is. I have tried all the passwords that I can think of and still nothing. My email that starts with ford777 will not work. Well, that statement is not totally correct. It works on the Ford’s ole cell phone but not on the ford’s ole computer.

          Now you see why I said, “If it were to happen to a young person, it would not even be considered a problem”, young people understand how to correct these problems.

          I may get some help with this disaster, this weekend.

May your age not present technology problems!

Crying in my coffee; Don Ford

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Who cares 04/17/19

            If you read the title line, and if you have any curiosity, you should be wondering, “Who cares about what”. Yes, I do know, that one person believed the title line was about him because, he doesn’t care about my wonderful writings.

            I have thought about removing his name from the mailing list. I will not remove him from the mailing list as that would make him happy, and I would rather not make him happy!

            The who cares comment applies to the pain I had in my back yesterday. It was so bad I was thinking that I need to go to the doctor. It all started the day before I went to Missouri. I was sitting in the driver’s seat of the Ford’s ole Chevy, when I dropped something in the floor on the passenger’s side. I leaned across the console and stretched to get the item, and that is when I felt a slight pain in the right side of my back.

            The slight pain was there most of the time I was driving and in Missouri. Yesterday I carried all the items off the counter in the computer room and placed them in the Ford’s ole garage. I then painted the wall, and after it dried I began to install the supports for new shelves. My back began hurting at some point during this process. It became progressively worse as the day progressed.

            Doing anything such as bending over, or reaching for something, hurt to a point that I would not try. To make a short story longer, I told my spouse of half a century that I was going to lay on the bed and I might not be able to get up by myself. I did place a heating pad under my back. After a while of relaxing on the heating pad I was able to get up with little pain. This morning I am almost back to normal. I guess the heating pad and prayer helped. Now let’s see if I can do any replacing of the items today without increasing additional pain.

            What? Your question is why was I paining and adding shelf supports? The short answer is, I want to try and organize the area a little better.

May your day be productive and painless!

Pain aficionado; Don Ford

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Important information 04/16/19

            I know, or at least I believe, that each of you want to know if I was able to accomplish my quest yesterday. I will say it was difficult as I had, I mean have numerous projects to work on. I am thankful that my spouse of half a century, does not want to work on her project until after Easter. I did get the limbs and debris removed from the yard even though it took more than two hours and the trash container is now half full.

            Can you believe that a neighbor came over to ask how my trip to Missouri went, and he talked for about half an hour, but he did not offer to help with my work? Would you believe, I just listened and did not participate in the talking?

            I was gone from The Homestead for 4 days, maybe that was good for the environment. In the following photo you will see how things changed while I was gone, click the photo to believe.

                                               

            Everything seemed to bud out while I was out of the state.

            Well, I need to get to work, so I hope you have a good day!            What? Oh, you say I did not tell you about the quest. When you are right, you are right! The quest that I was able to get through yesterday was, “taking my nap after lunch, it was a very relaxing quest”!

May your day be as relaxing as a nap!

Senior workaholic; Don Ford

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Annoying posts are back 04/15/19

            If you had read the previous posting, you would have read, “Would you believe, that I was getting away from the computer and cell phones in an attempt to re-live the olden days.” Some people understand that my comment, “Would you believe”, usually means, don’t believe the following statement.

            I was off the computer for 4 days. I went to Missouri wanting to re-live some of the olden days. Yes it is a long drive, I spent a day going and a day coming home, for the one person who struggles with math, that means I was in Missouri for two days.

            I don’t know if you know it or not, but, people in Missouri use computers and cell phones, just like the rest of us! Wow, who knew? I must still be a Missourian, I assume you know, Missouri is “The Show Me State”, and I was shown!

            I did enjoy the visit as I stayed with Paul and Peggy (Paul is a nephew) and I visited with my two sisters and sister-in-law. It was an excellent but short visit!

 

            I returned home to a bunch of projects like picking up all the small dead limbs that fell during the storm. So much to do, where do I start?  After cleaning up outside, I have a project to paint the inside of my little ole office area, install a shelf and maybe create a couple more shelves. You may work from sun to sun, but an ole person’s work is never done!

 

            I haven’t had a nap after lunch for 4 days, I am hoping to get one today.

 

Nap not and ye shall be sleepy!

 

Napless senior in Hewitt; Don Ford

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