Bypassed again 04/30/2020

            Yep, the title line again, “Says it all”! I, maybe I should say we, were again bypassed. Possibly it is a good thing to be bypassed. If we never are involved, then we should never miss what bypassed us.

            I shall change the subject and possibly provide you with an interesting photo. Yesterday my wife asked me, “What month is it”? I looked at her as if she had totally lost it. Why would she ask me what month is it, she didn’t seem to be ill. I gave her a look and then I asked, “What did you just ask”. She responded in an irritated manner, “Can’t you hear me, what month is it”! I decide to test her and I said, “It is July”. She gave me a look and called me a dummy. I responded to her with, “You are saying I am a dummy, and you want to know what month it is”.

            My spouse of 51 years said, “We have a Christmas cactus, it normally blooms in November and December. This is April 29, and the Christmas cactus is blooming!” To my surprise as I reviewed the plant, it was covered with blooms. I have a photo, click to enhance.

                                               

            Well my first wife was not crazy, the cactus was blooming and that isn’t all, there is a smaller Christmas cactus with white blooms (not pictured) that is also starting to bloom.

            Is this nature’s way of providing ole people who are in solitary confinement, a pleasant and very positive view, to help ole people know they may someday, be able to get back to their old habits and routines? Nature is helping make this new life, prettier!

            Thanks for reading this posting. What? You want to know about the title line. Let me think, title line, what was the title line. Oh I remember now. Bypassed again was the title line. Truthfully I feel that we were bypassed because most of the people in this neighborhood are retired senior people.

            Ok, here is what happened, I will keep this short as I need a cup of real coffee. Coffee, I haven’t had a cup of real coffee from the star coffee place in over 6 weeks, I guess you can say I am saving money. What, no, coffee has nothing to do with being bypassed. Can’t you just read what is written without assuming things.

            It was a warm afternoon, I was sitting in the Ford’s ole rocker on the driveway near the garage door. I had completed an adult beverage and was considering whether I wanted another, when I heard the sound. It isn’t unusual to hear the sirens from fire trucks, ambulances, and police vehicles as we are just 3 blocks away from the major avenue through Hewitt, Hewitt drive.

            This time the sirens seem to be coming from a different direction, they seemed to be north of our Homestead and they seemed to be close. I was able to force my ole senior body from the rocking chair, and take a few steps into the front yard.

            No, it had nothing to do with the adult beverage I had. I am getting, no, I am old and it takes some effort to get out of the ole rocking chair and walk a few steps.

            I looked down the street which is to the north, and I saw a police car with lights flashing and sirens blaring. In fact, there was a couple police cars and then there was a bunch of normal vehicles following the police, all sounding their horns. It was some sort of parade.

            They made the turn and drove up Texas Street, but they did not make the turn to come over to Oklahoma Ave. We were bypassed again. No parade for the retired people on Oklahoma Ave. 

            Now you know, the virus wants the ole people but the people who are parading don’t want us. With tears in my eyes I finish this posting.

Let nature provide your parades!

                                 

                              The color is starting to change.

Senior non-essential person, Don Ford 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Get out in the yard 04/29/2020

            You might want to get out into your yard and see some of nature. I have a photo of a natural occurrence here at the Ford Homestead. Tres did not see this occurrence.

                                               

Story by Ford:

            There is this senior fellow who has a habit of sitting on the ole rocking chair that is located on his drive way. He does this most afternoons, often wishing he had a friend to talk with to relieve the loneliness. This senior person was in the ole rocker yesterday afternoon when a parade of four wheelers, possibly 10 or more, some with balloons, some carrying two riders, and the last one had a sign on the back but it was unreadable, came down the street. They did not ride in front of the ole senior’s house, which may have made this lonely ole neighborhood seem livelier, instead they turned at the corner and disappeared down that street.

            I believe it must have been someone’s birthday, and they were going to drive by that person’s home as a celebration.

            Yesterday, I decided to make one bird house and see how long it takes to make one of these units. I timed myself starting with placing the needed equipment, marking the wood, cutting the wood, assembly of the unit, clean up and put away. It took one hour and fifteen minutes. I would add thirty minutes per additional unit. Below one can see pieces for a bird residence, Yes there is an instruction / parts list. What, you thought a senior person could remember sizes? Come on, I can’t remember what I had for supper last night. OK, I do remember what I had for supper last night, I can remember food!

                                            

Go out, see nature, get relief from our incarceration.

Senior nature person and semi-lonely rocking chair enthusiast, Don Ford

         

I am not really that lonely sitting on the ford’s ole rocker. I constipate, I mean concentrate on topics as I sit on the ole rocker. 

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Then there were three 04/28/2020

            Did you even read the title line? Ok, one of you read the title line, so for the rest of you, I will not even try to explain what it means. Yesterday I did trim and mow the front yard, and the yard looks very nice, at least for a few days. As I was preparing to mow, a couple of female subjects (aka neighbors) came walking down the street. We began a conversation at the suggested distance. During the conversation my spouse of 51 years came out of the homestead and joined in.

            One of these very intelligent ladies who had very good taste, asked about my display of bird houses. She asked if I sold these bird houses, to which I answered, no, I give them away. At that point she asked if she could have one. I said yes, and told her to pick out the one she wanted. We all walked up and she picked one of the houses. That is when the other lady with good taste said, she also wanted one. I tried to explain to her that I had offered one to her husband and he said he did not want the birds pooping in his yard. If he had a bird house he would have bird poop. She said she wanted one anyway, and I gave her one.

            There was 5 houses this morning, and then there were three!

            I did run the yard sprinklers today and it appeared that they all popped up. It was very windy so some of the water was shared with the neighbor.

            I have a photo of our dog with his mask on. There have been a lot of people with dogs going up and down the street, so we did not want our dog to get the virus so he now has a mask. He is watching the mail box, he keeps other dogs from urinating on the post. Click to enhance.

                                              

            I should say the first photo is not of a real dog.

Odd happening; this morning as I was attempting to find a few scraps to eat for breakfast, the word Ubiquitous came to mind. I said the word out loud several times. I had no idea what it meant.  I ask Alexa what the definition of ubiquitous was, and then how to spell it. I said it was an odd happening, I didn’t say it was interesting.

Wear your mask, wash your hands!

Senior bird house supplier, and mask enthusiast, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Monday 04/27/2020

            Good morning to all. I know you did not ask, but I had an excellent night’s sleep last evening, and I am full of vigor (for that one reader that word means I am full of energy). The enormous amount of work that I completed yesterday evidently had no ill effects on this senior person body. I guess that means I can get outside and do more work in the yard. The front yard needs to be mowed and there are hundreds of oak trees trying to grow in the yard. Every acorn that gets stepped on later tries to grow, and it is now later. I know pulling them up is the best way to get rid of them, but that means, I would need to be on my knees doing something other than praying.

            Oh I have some good news, at least I see it as good news, the three bird homesteads that was placed on top of the galvanized pipe in the back 40, has birds now building nest in them. It usually takes a few days to a week or so before the birds accept the houses. If you noticed, I have the three houses properly distanced so the “Survival of the fittest virus”, as I have named it, will not affect the birds.

                                                 

            Well I need to get started on the yard work before it gets too hot outside. Thanks for reading.

Do normal things while staying at a distance, and staying sanitized!

Senior yard worker and provider of bird homes, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Sunday 04/26/2020

            Another Sunday has come, and we are still keeping our distance from friends and family. Not being able to see family, “Sucks!” I guess that word kind of provides you with an understanding of my attitude, about this so-called distancing.

            I have been messing around with more bird homesteads, now I just need to find someone who wants a, “Bird nest place”. Putting these units together isn’t a lot of fun, but it gives me something to do. I even tried a different pattern using some scrap lumber. I may decide to paint a house or two.

                                 

            I have a couple new start up black berry, you know, they pop up somewhere that you don’t want them to grow. I don’t have a place right now where I want to plant then, so I will put them in old flower pots as temporary homes.

            I had called our son David and asked him, when he goes shopping and if he finds some disinfectant wipes to get us some. He called this morning and said they found some. He got three containers, one for his family, one for us, and one for the other grandparents. He brought them over and he also brought some cheese enchiladas. We sat outside and talked for a while. He didn’t have to work this Sunday, but I think he had about 20 hours of overtime for the week.

            Well, I need to either take a nap or dig up the black berry plants.

            How about both a nap and then the berries. I have a photo of two small plants, the leafs are a little different, so I think one is thorn-less and the other thorny. I hope they will live in the pots, if they do I will find a new home for them. I might give them to the neighbor kids.

                                                

            As you know, I do believe in recycling, so I have a few pieces of wood that I have recycled. I don’t know what they are, I don’t have a name for these wonderful recycled wood pieces, but they are kind of cute. Click to enhance.

                                               

            I think they kind of look like cigars, but they are wood.

            I moved a huge flower pot with dirt and a huge flower. I believe this pot and flower must weigh close to 80 pounds. For a senior citizen who is over 60 years old (way over) it was a tough job, but I made it happen. I may not be able to get out of bed in the morning.

Work in the yard and the day will go quickly!

Senior flower mover and bird house inventor, Don Ford        

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Today is Saturday 04/25/2020

            If you were sitting there wondering, “What is Don doing this Saturday”, I will try to respond. I guess I should start with, did you mean is the Don sad and depressed. Does he just sit around and cry about not having any fun, not able to go out and not having lunch at a restaurant. Is Don so unhappy that he sits in his little ole office with the light off? Is it true that none of his friends ever call him?          Nope it isn’t true!

            Maybe the truth is that Don is saving about $100 every week, not going out for food. It could be that he is staying busy messing around with the scrap wood from the ole Fort. It is possible that he has received and or made calls, to or from, ole friends in Missouri, Illinois, and right her in Texas. He might also get text messages from various people. 

            In truth, we would like to get back to what we consider as normal. I assume that during the near future we will continue washing our hands, wearing the masks, and disinfecting things. We are looking for more disinfecting wipes as they make it easier disinfecting things.

            I learn things, it seems, at a slower rate than real people. I was working on a scrap wood project yesterday, and instead of using the square to measure and mark the boards for cutting, I used another piece of wood which I thought was the correct size as a pattern. Having the item 80% together I observed an incorrect cut. Yes I was able to jury-rig the project and correct the error. I am telling myself to measure and not use the so-called pattern pieces.  

                       

            I have a photo that appears to be 72 years old. If you enlarge the photo you might be able to see; 1 my dad, 2 my mom, 3 me, 4 my sister Wilda, 5 my nephew Paul, 6 my sister Shirlene. The photo was taken inside the ole First Pentecostal Church, it was located on south Sprigg St.

Old memories get better the older they are!

Senior wood butcher who plans to measure twice, cut once, Don Ford         

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Worked all day 04/24/2020

            This posting is about yesterday. Yesterday was Thursday. I worked all day! Do I need to say more? Ok, I heard what you just thought, yes I can read your thoughts. You agreed, and said we do not need to say any more about what I did yesterday, and I agree. But since I like to write about myself, I don’t care what you were thinking!

            First I worked on putting up two bird houses and one cat house. I have a photo but you don’t need to look at it. It is on ½ inch galvanized pipe, attached to the ole stump.

            Then I decided to work on the ole hot house. Two before Photos to follow. 

                                                                                            

My plan was to remove all the items from the hot house, then remove all the items that I have been using as a floor. My intent was to install a wooden floor that would be level all across the hot house. Prior to the start of this work, there were 4 X 4s and landscaping blocks use as a floor, and they were not level. I thought I would use the floor boards from the kid’s ole Fort. I have a photo of the hard wood floor and a photo with the racks reinstalled. Click if you care.

                                                                                               

What? No I did not wash the wood, it is as it came out of the ole Fort. The fort had not been used in quite a while and the wood is dirty. Just get off my case!

            My spouse worked on the flower beds pulling weeds and trimming plants. She worked a little longer, and I think harder than I did, so I ended up helping her by picking up the weeds that she had pulled. We are both tired. She has noted that she may order food for supper from Georges and let them deliver, (she didn’t).

            I have another photo of the Homestead taken yesterday morning.

                                     

Thank you for reading and viewing. It did not seem as if I was in solitary confinement yesterday.

Be safe, be happy, be nice to me everyone!

Senior bird homestead creator, and wood floor installer, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

As Tres and I 04/22/2020

               Each morning Tres and I go for a short ride in the neighborhood, if we didn’t go riding, he will not leave me alone. For some reason I did not turn the radio on this morning. In the quietness of the ride the words to an ole song came to me.

Love Potion No. 9

The Searchers

I took my troubles down to Madame Rue
You know that gypsy with the gold-capped tooth
She's got a pad down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
Selling little bottles of Love Potion Number Nine

I told her that I was a flop with chics
I've been this way since 1956
She looked at my palm and she made a magic sign
She said "What you need is Love Potion Number Nine"

She bent down and turned around and gave me a wink
She said "I'm gonna make it up right here in the sink"
It smelled like turpentine, it looked like Indian ink
I held my nose, I closed my eyes, I took a drink

I didn't know if it was day or night
I started kissing everything in sight
But when I kissed a cop down on Thirty-Fourth and Vine
He broke my little bottle of Love Potion Number Nine
            If you remember the words to that ole song then you are not a kid.

Photos to follow, not of the song.

                       

            Cat house finished and available for purchase. 

Hay, it’s my hobby, keep your distance!

Senior wood butcher and accomplished artists, Don Ford

---

This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

What did I do 04/21/2020

            Well it seemed that most of the things I did was odd, in error, or just wrong.

            Let’s start with the fact that I decided to make a new bird house, actually it will hopefully be a cat house. What is a cat house she asked, it hopefully will be a bird house with cats drawn on the outside.

            As I was attempting to create this house when it became obvious to me, that the wood I was using was slightly smaller than what I had used, and I did not start off with a square piece of wood. Yep, all dumb mistakes. I did have some help with the Cat house, photo to follow. 

                                               

            Yep, molly was on the work table checking my work. I did get the cat house together and painted but the art work has not yet been applied. I am hoping my spouse of more than 20 years (much more) would volunteer to draw the cat.

            I received in the mail the parts that I ordered to attempt to repair the Ford’s ole string trimmer. Why would I want to repair it? Good question. It converts into a pole chain saw. I took my time and began to repair the unit. After I put it together it will start but not run when the choke off. I have the feeling that the gas line are reversed. It would be nice if there was a drawing of the gas lines. There are three lines and I now believe two are switched.

            As I was finishing up my initial work on the Poulan Pro, Tres began barking. He is a very loud barker, and I not being in a good mood any way, went to see what he was barking at. The neighbor was spraying something on the grass in his back yard. I grabbed Tres by his collar and forced him inside the house. I do not like to get that mad, it can’t be good for me. 

            I was able to put everything away and then I decided to take a few minutes and calm down. I remember when my dad was working on something, and it was not going right, he would say, “Contrary outfit”, then he would take a break, get a cup of coffee, and then he would go back with a clear mind and finish the project. The key is to understand that I am getting upset, then I can take a break.

            I did notice that our neighbor had the bird house that I had given his granddaughter, hanging in a tree in their back yard. It will take some time before the birds get use to the house and then possess it. Photo to follow.

                                                 

            My spouse of over half a century decided to provide me with a haircut yesterday. She did as good as the hair stylist’s people do. Photo of me getting cut to follow!

            Do not click to enhance!

                                               

            And that was Monday, what will Tuesday bring?

Stay at a safe distance, while being friendly!

Senior person with a fresh haircut, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Prediction 04/20/2020

The other day when I was weed-eating the front yard trimming along the edge of the driveway and the sidewalk, I had evidently hit a small grass snake, you know 8-10 inches long looks like a Big Worm. It was laying at the curb until the next day. As I was sitting outside on the Ford’s ole rocker enjoying happy hour, I saw a Blue Jay drop down and pick up the dead snake and fly away with it. I just thought it was interesting, that a bird would eat a snake.

            Changing the topic.

            Sunday afternoon there was a knock on my door, it was the neighbor’s grandkids. They wanted me to get a ball out of my back yard which they had accidently tossed over the fence. I suggested instead of me getting it, that they could get it, they got it.

            The neighbor’s grand kids are, a boy who is probably ten years old, and the grand daughter who is probably 5 years old. The granddaughter looked at the tall birdhouse and said she liked it. She said it looks like and apartment. I told her she could have it, if someone would hang it in a tree for the birds.

            Her grandmother was on the other side of the drive way (safe distancing), she asked if I made the bird houses, and did I sell them. I explained that I made them, and gave them away. Granny gave her approval for the granddaughter to have the house.

            The granddaughter was happy and she said thank you a couple times. As they were walking away with the house, she turned and said, “Thank you very much!” That thank you made me feel very good.

            Another topic:

It is obvious to me that people either don't understand or don't care about the virus. I have seen old people, as old, probably older than me, weaker people who could hardly walk, heading into Wally land without a mask. I observed adults with kids come and go from Wally land without a mask.

            There was a prediction in this posting, but I deleted it as it was too negative, now you know why the title line is prediction.

I hope all is good for you!

Senior person, Don Ford

---

This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

Sunday April 19, 2020

            Greetings from the Ford’s. We here at the Ford Homestead are still living a secluded life style, as I assume most everyone is. Staying in one’s home away from friends and relatives can be somewhat gloomy, especially when we don’t have a real date for an end in sight. I understand that we can watch TV, maybe get a book and read it, or we can call friends and talk. Sometimes those things help, but they do not provide genuine relief from the boredom.

            For me, I watch old black and white TV shows, as they don’t have a bunch of blood and guts in them. I do read the bible daily and as I am reading I try to visualize what was taking place. There is a verse out of Matthew 11:28 which states;

            “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”

 

            As I see it, many are weary and they may very well feel as if they are carrying a heavy burden, in this time of isolation. Even if you are at home with your spouse it may still seem as if you are alone. It is suggested that you get outside and go for a walk, do something that you haven’t been doing. If you are watching TV too much, go pull some weeds from the flower bed. If you are working from home using a computer, get away from the computer. You can do some simple exercises and stretching in your home, which will help get the blood circulating.

            Most everyone has some of these depressing feelings, if you are one of these people, take a moment and talk with your lord.

          If you know someone who seems to be having those unhappy feelings, call them, or if they are a neighbor you can visit as long as you stay at a safe distance.

 

Perk up, do something different, ask and you shall receive!

 

Don Ford

 

---

This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com

Trash it up Saturday 04/18/2020

            The title line indicates what I am hoping for, Trash Saturday. Now I do want to state that by trashing it up I do not mean the kind of trash that some of you are thinking about, instead I am talking about tree limbs and other trash that needs to be hauled off.

            Last month the city did not have trash day due to the possibility of bad weather, I would have thought they would have used the virus as an excuse but they chose bad weather.

            My trailer has been loaded for over two months and the grass under it is dying because there is no sun light getting to the ground. Heck, there are birds that have nest in the brush on my trailer. If I get to haul it off they will be without a Homestead.

            I am writing this on Friday, I most often write one day ahead. Today I need to go out to the ole employer and pick up some items that I ordered. Interesting note (at least it is interesting to me) I understand that they are working a bunch of OT, have hired some new employees, and they are supposed to work this Sunday!  I worked at that employer for 40 years and I can only remember working a couple Sundays. I assume they are trying to get the inbound unloaded, checked, hauled and put away. In the olden days employees were paid double time if they worked on Sunday or a holiday, not true at my ole employer anymore. 

            Also, today (Friday) I need to go by the bottle store, my spouse of 51 years needs to go to the Wally store, we might need to go to one other store for some cat food.

            We know of people who have gotten their free money from the government. We here at the Ford Homestead have not received any free money. I guess we have too much income from our social security check. We hope you all enjoy your free money. L 

            Today is Saturday. I drove out by the dump site at 7:00 to see if they were open. There was a line of vehicles, possibly only 10 or so. From what I could see they would not be chipping the limbs, and there was no dump trucks for the trash. I drove back home and removed some of the items from the trailer and placed them in the back of the ford’s ole Chevy. They normally open at 7:00am so I returned to the site and parked in line about 7:30. They did not open until 8:00! I have a photo of some of the vehicles that were behind in line.

                                                 

            They normally unload the items from your truck or trailer for you, but today each person had to unload their own items, that is why I did not take the trailer. They was social distancing, supposedly. They did have face masks and face shields on their face. It was 8:30 when I was able to unload and head for home.

            Once at home I move the trailer away from the gate and parked in at the back of the yard. Now I can mow the entire yard. Maybe next month I will, be able to get rid of the limbs that are still on the trailer. 

            I have no idea what I will be allowed to do the rest of this Saturday.

Be safe in everything you do today!

Senior trash-ologist and always silly grandpa, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Its Friday again 04/17/2020

            Ole senior people don’t do all the work here at the Ford Homestead. As you should be able to see, the Tres is bringing in the Ford’s ole newspaper, he does this most every morning. The second photo shows lines in the grass which may have been caused by a UFO landing and then taking off from the yard last evening.   Click a photo to exaggerate!

                                               

            The senior artist and wood butcher has been at it again. First we see that he has created a cat house, with some uninteresting art work around the house. The second Homesteads are much more refined, it has wonderfully stained walls and no additional art work.

            I have been trying to come up with a way to display said housing, in an effort to offer them to anyone who would use them (not to be sold at a flea market or garage sale) for free.

                                   

            There isn’t much to these Feathered Friend Homesteads, and they do keep me occupied during this solitary confinement phase. I usually make 2 or 3 at a time. The junk wood is free, the time I put into a project is no charge, the nails and screws do need to be purchased. So far the paint and stain has been left over from other homestead projects.

            With all the confinement going on, even if I could display them, I am not sure I could give them away as there would not be much traffic in the area.

Don’t go crazy, do your home projects / hobbies!

Senior, not crazy, but merely silly grandpa, Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com