Did it happen? 03.31.2022

            If it would have happened tomorrow, I would have understood, but it happened this morning, so I wonder, was it real, or not?    

            As that one viewer understands, tomorrow is the first day of April, and I assume most of us know what the first day of April is.

           What?             No, it isn’t our anniversary! Our anniversary is on April 5^th, and it will be 53 years! Tomorrow is April first, aka April fools’ day!

            I can’t believe you didn’t even ask what had happened. If you don’t want to know what happened then just stop reading now, but I am going to enlighten the rest of the reading public.

            It was close to 6:00am when I went to the back door to let the Tres into the House. As I opened the door, I could hear what sounded as if it was raining. It sounded like a light rain tapping on the metal roof of the patio, but I could not see any rain. I was not dressed so I did not venture outside to get a better look.

            I thought, the weather people had not said anything about rain in the area for this morning, but we will take any rain we can get.

            Tres came in, and I got dressed. As usual after dressing, the Tres and I went out front, even though there is no newspaper for him to pick up. Ole people on a fixed income can’t afford all the nice things that regular people enjoy.

            I was surprised to not see any water spots on the sidewalk. If it was raining, even a light rain, should have left some evidence of the rain, but the sidewalk and driveway was dry. There appeared to have been no rain!

            Conclusion;   silly grandpa has gone off the deep end,                                                                                                       or it only rained at the back of the house,                                                                                                    or it was a spirit making the sound.

            That is how the morning started here at the Ford’s Homestead.

            As usual, I will be taking the kids to school this morning, and tomorrow morning they will arrive an hour early. That early arrival happens at the beginning of each month, and the grandees like to go to the star coffee place before heading to school. I only have about $2.30 in my ole gold card so if we go, I will need to use real money. I hope I can come up with some money for drinks, me and the kids like a morning beverage.

            There are several things I need to do today; I wonder if I will do any of them. You know I purchased oil to put in the mowers and generator, I could do that today. The back 40 needs to be mowed, the ditch behind the house needs the weeds to be cut down. I could work on the new flower bed in the front yard.

            I did get my hair cut yesterday, and I have a photo for your enjoyment.

            You are supposed to look at the haircut, not the items in the background.

            What do I do today, how do I decide?

Decisions, decisions!

Senior ole person who needs coffee, and help deciding what to do, Don the Ford     

 

It rained, but no storm 03.30.2022

            We are now receiving some needed rain, and we are happy that we did not get any storms. I do not know how much rain we have received, but any rain is now appreciated. Maybe the rain will slow down or help stop the brush fires.

            Today I get to take Charlie to the vet, wow that is fun. He only needs to get a couple shots, so it should not be too expensive.

            Heck, I might even get my hair cut today after taking the cat to the vet.

            Speaking of expenses, we had some work done yesterday, which cost this ole retired person who is on a fixed income, to spend his entire $5.00 stipend. We may not be able to afford food for the next month or so. The air conditioner stopped working, due to a sump pump malfunction. This repairman did an excellent job, and yes, we would recommend him.

            While he was here, he checked the outside unit that was making a lot of noise. He replaced something and that part was free as it was under warranty. The outside unit is now quiet and we appreciate that.

            Well, we will have no visit to the hospital for the pre-operation tests this week, as the operation is again canceled. Yep, the doctor is unavailable.

            I need to start thanking about taking the grand kids to school this morning, I hope I don't get wet, you know, sugar melts in the rain, and I am very sweet.

            If all goes well, I might even get to pick up my clothes from the cleaners today.

            Wow, who knew ole retired people was so busy?

Rain means mowing ☹!

That is all from this senior retired person, Don the Ford

Geter dun 03.29.2022

            Geter dun, may be an ole Missouri term and is defined as, “get her done”, and that is what I done yesterday. After taking the kids to school I dropped by the Mexican food place, but not the new rose place, and purchased one Burrito. One of their burritos is larger than two from the new rose place. The problem is, The Rose place has a large coffee for a dollar, the other place does not.

            My favorite wife and I can share one of those large burritos and we are satisfied, also the hot sauce is better than that from the rose place.

            I delivered the trailer to my son’s house and then decided to go to the cleaners to get my clothes. Arriving at the cleaners, I learned that my clothes would not be ready until 5:30. I wasted the gas getting there and back home.

            My first wife headed for town; she had a couple items she wanted to purchase. While she was gone, I followed her suggestion, “All the bolts on the swing set needed to be tightened, and she wants the swing seat raised a few inches. It was a lot of work for this ole senior person, but I goter dun!

            We have seen a humming bird, the last couple afternoons, so I cleaned and filled three humming bird feeders and hung them. While hanging the one feeder in the tree, I adjusted the bird house facing it away from the other bird house. I thought maybe the birds will use it if it faces away from the other house.

            I did make an appointment to take Charlie to the vet this week, for a couple shots. We spend more money on the animals at the vets than we do for ourselves at the doctors.

            The above was written yesterday: below is today:

 

            My favorite wife and I did sit outside for about an hour yesterday afternoon, enjoying the summer like weather. We may have a few storms come through tonight.

            Well, it was very warm yesterday and my first wife noted that it was hot while she was preparing supper. Me, being the gentleman I am, I turned the air conditioner on. The house started to cool down and that made us both happy.

            A little later I walked into the hallway where I heard what sounded like a fan blowing. It wasn’t the fan that pushes air through the vents to cool the house, but it was a fan. I check the unit and the air or heat would not work, but the fan noise was still there. I turned the power off to the unit and will call the repairman this morning.

            I have a couple small projects for today, hope you have a good day!

Need the cool air!

Senior retired person who may not be able to pay the repairman, Don the Ford

Spring or summer 03.28.2022

            The title line asks a question, even though there is no question mark. Is it spring or is it summer? Is seems to me that spring started a week or so ago, and yesterday was the first day of summer.

            For those of you who live here in central Texas, you understand why I am asking the question. For those of you who live elsewhere, you may not know that it was 91 degrees here yesterday. As I see it, 91 degrees is summer!

            What did we do yesterday other than sit outside with cold drink in hand? Well, my favorite spouse was putting some easter decorations out in the front yard (plastic easter eggs). I moved a few items off the trailer and pulled it to the drive way (using the Ford’s ole Chevy, I am too ole to move it very far by hand), where I checked the air pressure in the tires.

            Other than that, I did very little. My first wife did several other tasks inside the house, she likes to keep things in order. 

            That is it for today, I need to get ready to take the kids to school.

 

Enjoy the day!

 

Senior ole retired person who needs to turn the lawn sprinklers on, Don the Ford

To my favorite 03.27.2022

            Wow, you and I enjoyed the posting yesterday, where me and you were the only two communicating with each other. I enjoyed passing my info on to you, and leaving all those other people out of my message. Let’s do it again today, just you and me, we will let the other readers wonder, what the Don has presented.

            As you know, it is Sunday morning and I have the TV on while I provide you with my thoughts. The TV has a minister at the podium preaching, while in the back ground are a group of what appears to be young females. One of these females can clearly be seen and there are some things that I noticed.

            First, she had a short skirt on, her legs are crossed and you can see too much, she is sitting in the front row behind the minister. Second, this female does not seem to be happy, she is making expressions with her mouth that has more of my attention than the minister. Third, the minister completed his comments and the quire stood up to sing, and this same female seemed as if she was bored, unhappy, not enjoying being in the quire. They were scanning through the quire as they prepared to sing, and a couple were yawning.   

            I would suggest that someone from the church review the video and talk with those who are on screen.             My opinion; if you are not enjoying being in the quire, then get out.

            Let me alter my topics; we moved flowers around yesterday, hopefully we have most of them in the correct locations now.

            My favorite wife and I washed the dog, since it was close to 90 degrees yesterday, and yes, he did enjoy it!

            I was allowed to leave the homestead yesterday to get gas in the Ford’s ole Chevy ($3.70) and I went by the cleaners and dropped off some clothes, then I stopped at the teller machine to get our $5.00 stipend. 

            I have a couple projects for today, if my ole senior body will allow me to do the work. I plan to fill the round bird feeders with fresh seeds, and I may clean the trailer off, getting it ready to take to David’s house. Dave and Claire cleaned out their garage and have some items to be hauled off, so he will put them on the trailer and take them to the dump.

            The weather was so nice yesterday that my first spouse and I sat outside discussing world problems and listening to ole 60s music for almost two hours. I did not watch the three stooges yesterday, instead, I enjoyed sitting outside!

Still my favorite!

Senior retired person who needs to stop writing, Don the Ford

Something different 03.26.2022

 

            I wish I had something different to present today but I don't, so I suggest that you stop looking at the posting and go do something fun, or productive, maybe something interesting, just go do something!

            Why are you still here? Just stop acting as if you are reading this and go!

 

            Ok, now everyone has left except you, so the rest of this particular posting is written only to you. Yep, today you are the one!  😊 In truth, I am glad we got rid of the rest of the reading public, we both know, they are kind of uppity!

            Let's get to it, I did not do much yesterday, I did get the roundup and spray the area of the new flower bed. I hope I had enough, as it ran out just as I was finishing. The round up was old and may not be affective, I hope I don't need to purchase more.

            A friend who lives a couple houses down the street, asked if I could help him, he needed to get the fiberglass cover back on his pickup bed. We were able to bring it from the shed in his back yard and put it on the truck without damaging it.

            Back at home, I did carry the two wooden trellises to the back 40, where I positioned them at the two rose bushes. I asked my favorite wife to give me some advice as to how to finish the project. I am going to get out there this morning and attempt to complete the project before the sun gets overhead.

            I also moved some items around in the Ford's ole shed, and I swept the grass clippings out of the shed. Some of the clippings get blown in while I am mowing, I sometimes do not shut the door, other clippings fall off the mower as it is stored there.

            I decided to give the birds some water, as the bird bath was empty, and the dog water bucket was also filled. Even though I did not want to, I did water the 3 black berry beds. Bed number two looks the best with a considerable amount of green, Bed three is showing a fair amount of green, and bed one has some green, but not a lot. I did get the flower beds out back watered.

            I did not get to pick Alex up from school yesterday, his mother was off work and she picked him up.

            An odd thing happened yesterday, we received a package that I had ordered, and it was addressed to, Donna Ray, not Donald Ray. Inside the package was a, "Credentials of Ministry". As soon as I seen the name on the address I wondered if the credentials were also addressed to Donna. Opening the envelope, I found that the credentials had my name on them.

            9 years ago, I went on line and registered, but I did not order the credentials until now. 

            The other day while talking with my first wife about Alex thinking that I have did a lot of things during my life, she noted that I should get the credentials and then tell Alex, that would be one more thing the silly grandpa has done. I have not yet told him about this.

            To end yesterday out, my favorite spouse and I sat outside enjoying the nice weather, and a cold drink, or two. A friend who was out riding her bike stopped and we enjoyed some interesting conversation.

            Now only you have read this, and the other readers who stopped reading have no idea what this ole senior person did yesterday. I suggest that you do not tell them about this posting, they might know that you are my favorite of the reading public!

 

You are my favorite!

Senior ole person who has a favorite, Don the Ford

Yesterday again 03.25.2022

            Every time I turn around there it is, another yesterday! There seems to be as many yesterdays as there are todays.

            I did do some work in the front yard yesterday, and before anyone asks, yes, I did get my hands dirty. What was the labor that I had participated in, one might ask, but did not ask, so I will enlighten you anyway? I raised two of the lawn sprinkler heads, in preparation for future flower bed expansions. I might have a photo or two, taken of the one head raising.

             The little white flag, which is difficult to see, indicates where the sprinkler head is located. The other head that one can see in the lower right, I had raised it a couple inches a few days earlier.

            I had to get through the grass, then dug a hole being careful not to damage the plastic pipe, by the way, there are two plastic pipes as these two heads are on different systems. I have another photo showing the connection of the newly raised head.

            There is a strange blue item at the bottom of the pit. Actually, it is water that came out of the head when it was first removed. Why does it appear blue, I do not know? I have another photo of the completed project. I know, you don’t care but I am presenting it anyway!                                                  

            Before anyone comments, that is my foot in the photo. The sprinkler head at the top of the photo is the one I raised yesterday. I did raise another but I did not take photos.

            My favorite wife and I went to the cracker restaurant for our evening repast yesterday. The service was good, as we had a new employee who served us, the food was ok. After filling our bellies, we went to the new farm store in Hewitt, were I was able to purchase 4 quarts of oil using the gift card we received on opening day. Now that I have the oil, I will need to do more dirty work, why can’t I keep my hands clean?

            Before you say it, I am a retired senior person on a fixed income and I can’t afford to wear rubber gloves when working on dirty or messy projects.

            Topic change; the grand kids spent last night here at the homestead, and we are now getting ready to go to school.

            I was able to get the grand kids to school safely and on time.

            I hope your work does not include getting your hands dirty, they are difficult to clean!

Work a lot, wash a lot!

Senior retired person with too many projects for an ole person, Don the Ford

I did what? 03.24.2022

            Heck, it is even difficult for me to believe, but I did throw some things away, and straighten up some items. I keep paperwork on anything we buy, and I never throw the ole paperwork away. I keep these papers in a tote, so I retrieved the tote and went through all the papers. Anything that I no longer have, and things I do not need the paperwork for, I tossed out. I got rid of about half of the paperwork.

            I found the paperwork on the mowers and the generator, now I know I need 4 quarts of oil, to get them ready for another year of work.   Their work, not me!

            After the paperwork, I decided to see if I could straighten up some items in the garage. I got started and was doing a good job of putting things in their place, some were taken to the shed, when my spouse arrived home. She joined the effort and made a bunch of changes. At the completion of the session (session being work period) my favorite spouse noted that, my shelves look better, hers does not. We did not work on her shelves, yet.

            We have had a couple windy days of late, which encouraged me to fly the flag yesterday.

You bet I have a photo.

 

             It was a very nice day, lots of sunshine and the temp was in the upper 60s.

What? I show this photo of the American flag flying in the breeze, and what you want to know is, why the Ford’s ole Chevy has the door open? I should delete your name from this mailing list. You could have at least commented on the time out chair. I am so upset; I am going to stop and go in the TV room and cry! The reason it was open is.

Because I want it open!

Senior ole person who gets no respect, Don the Ford

Wait time too long 03.23.2022

            I guess the title line says it best, and in fact, waiting was basically all I did yesterday. My favorite wife had two appointments yesterday for two scans, one was an MRI and the other was a CT scan. They basically look inside you to see what is going on.

            The first appointment was for 2:45pm. We sat around here at the house with nothing much to do, most of the day. I was allowed to get out and take the kids to school, and that was the total of my venturing forth.

            We arrived at the hospital a few minutes before the appointment time. We sat there waiting and when they took her back for the first scan, they were 15 minutes later than the appointment time.

            She returned to the waiting room and we sat there for another half hour, which was way past the scheduled appointment time. Finally, they took her back for the MRI, which took 55 minutes.

            Now we wait and see what the doctor sees on the scans. If surgery is needed, it will be two days after our 53^rd anniversary, which is April 5^th. The surgery would be April 7^th, and this is the third time the surgery has been scheduled.

            First time canceled due to the virus, no room in the hospital (July 2021).

            Second time canceled due to one of the doctors not meeting with us prior to surgery.

            Third time …

 

            Leaving the hospital yesterday, we decided to get a couple fish sandwiches on the way home. The last time we got a couple of these sandwiches they were actually good, yesterday they were not so good.

            Today, who knows, maybe I will do something productive, maybe not. The yards front and back are starting to look greener, I need to change the oil in the mowers, and I can’t forget the generator. Wow, too much work for an ole senior person. The ½ inch rain we got during the storms has helped, but we need one of those ole Missouri rains, you know, they are slow and last all day.

            I do plan on stopping at the other Mexican food place and getting my burrito this morning, after dropping the kids off at school, you know change can be good.

            Well, I guess that is it for today, so we hope you have a good one, whatever it is!

Bacon, egg and cheese burrito!

Senior ole person who knows good food when he eats it, Don the Ford

Passed us by 03.22.2022

            There were storms all around yesterday afternoon and night, luckily, they missed us, but they did damage elsewhere. As of now I am told, “no one was killed in the storms last night”. Now was it luck, or was it prayer? I am voting for prayer. “All things are possible if you believe, and praying for help, says you believe.”           That is the sermon for the day.

            We had winds and rain which seem excessive at times last evening. This morning I checked the rain gage and it has only a little over ½ inch, it seemed as if there was more than that during the storm. While the rain was falling, we had water standing in the back 40, this morning it had all soaked in the dry ground. We needed the rain but not the storms.

            A neighbor allowed me to park my truck under his covered area, in an effort to avoid hail. Nice neighbors, we have them!

            I need to get ready to take the kids to school, so I got to go!

 

Wet ground, nice!

 

Senior ole person who believes, Don the Ford  

What can I say 03.21.2022

            Sunday was another day of good food and much resting. My favorite wife made pork roast with potatoes, carets, lima beans, and gravy to put on the potatoes and roast. It was, and is good. Yep, there are left overs for today!

            After a wonder filled lunch, and I was also filled with food, so I tried to take a nap, but the nap failed to come. I then decided I could go outside and find something to do. I went to the ole hot house and began removing flowers one pot at a time. I would take the flower and remove and dead leaves and I did prune some growth. Then if it was a hanging flower, I would hang it somewhere, if it was not in a hanging pot it was placed near the side of the hot house. I did place all the flowers so they could get some direct sun lite (vitamin D), hoping that the frosts are done!

            Then I decided to continue my rest period in the back 40 by getting the riding mower out and decapitating the winter grass (aka weeds) while mulching the leaves and dead grass.

Don't you know it, when you decided to do one thing you must do several other things in preparation for the one thing. I picked up sticks, then I had to roll up the 100-foot-long hose, then I had to disconnect the electrical cord that went from the back porch to the hot house, and roll it up. I also went through the back 40 picking up dog poop, all in preparation to mow.

            The actual mowing and mulching went well, I did go over some areas several times wanting to make the mulch as small as possible.

            Completing that rest period, I decided to get the ole walk behind mower out and decapitate the dead grass in the front yard. I lowered the mower two notches in an effort to get rid of more of the dead grass. In the olden days back in Missouri people would burn the dead grass off the yards and in a week or so the yard would be green, can't do that anymore.

            I was able to get the front yard successfully decapitated, I ended up with two large bags of mulch. My favorite wife noted; both yards look much better now. 😊 Wow, a complement for an ole senior retired person who was enjoying his restful day.

            My first wife was working on potting a couple flowers, one for herself and one for a friend.    My favorite wife and I sat outside for about an hour yesterday afternoon, with a cold drink in hand.

            I had decided to water the flowers and berries today (Monday) but I guess I will forget that, now that it is raining. We may have severe weather later today and tonight. I have been instructed to put some of the flowers back into the hot house in case of hail.

            I hope your day of rest was as good as ours.

Too much rest, get to work!

Senior retired person who needs to get ready to take the kids to school, Don the Ford

Nothing at all 03.20.2022

            And that is the truth, we did nothing at all yesterday. You know, everyone needs a day of relaxing and reflecting, and that is what we did.

            Saturday should be a day of unwinding, but is often more of a day of catching up. All week long you were on the normal schedule, do this, eat that, go here, watch that, wish you had this, when you only had that!

            Here at the Ford Homestead, we decided to enjoy the day and unwind from all the pressures of the world.

            We proceeded to get into the Ford’s ole Chevy and drove to the pharmacy to pick up my eye drops.

            We then proceeded to the nursery, yes it was a nursery for vegetation, were we looked at flowers and also bought some fertilizer for the Jasmine.

            We then proceeded to the Bunkhouse in Clifton for a relaxing lunch. I was very disappointed as they had no tooth picks. Now I know most of you are wondering why having no tooth picks would upset the Don, so I will attempt to enlighten. The tooth picks are not the type that you scrape your teeth with, they are eatable pieces of peppers and onions that are dipped in some coating and deep fried. One eats them with ranch dressing. The other food was good!

            We then took the long way home, enjoying the scenery and some ole radio comedy shows.

            We did use an eighth of a tank of gas during this excursion.

            Back at home I took a nap, resting from the grueling drive of almost 75 miles.

            Waking from the nap, I jumped out of the ole recliner, put my ole pants on, yes I had new pants on and I needed to change them, as I knew I was going to be on my knees outside in the yard.

            I removed some weeds and other debris from the raised flower bed.

            While working on the raised flower bed I noticed that the bird bath was not level. I removed the bird bath which is concrete, then I removed the cement block it sits on, I removed some dirt from where the block sits, I replaced the block, I then replaced the cement bird bath.

            Having emptied the water from the bath I then activated the hose and filled the bird bath. Noting that the raised bed needed watering, I applied water to the soil.

            My spouse was in the front yard on her hands and knees cutting some dead ferns down to the ground. Knowing that she was doing that, encouraged me to do the same in the back 40.

            I cut back the dead growth from two ferns, leaving the green that was near the bottom. I removed all the debris from around these ferns, and around the raised flower bed, depositing it into the trash container.

            I then proceeded to pick up the debris around the areas where my first wife was working.

            The neighbors came over on their electric bikes, never dismounting, and there was some discussion prior to them heading out for a ride.

            I then took the fertilizer that we had purchased earlier and spread it on the Jasmine.

            I activated the sprinklers on system 1 and 4. This provided water to the Jasmine.

            I then activated the sprinkler system to run a normal cycle which would water the entire yard and the Jasmine was watered twice.

            When the sprinkler system completed its watering, my favorite spouse was then allowed to take a shower.

            At 5:00 my first wife and I went out to the Ford’s ole driveway and seated our ole bodies. We discussed how relaxing the day has been. As we sat there one of the ladies who live on the corner began mowing their yard. They have no green grass so I assume that she was trying to remove some of the dead grass from last year.

            We sat there watching her work, talking about many things, we even discussed neighbors, and we got into some discussion about the bible.

            A day of relaxing and reflecting with my favorite wife! What could be better?

 

Relax and reflect all day!

Senior retired person who knows how to relax, Don the Ford

Did you watch it 03.19.2022

            That is about all I did yesterday, you know, I watched it.

            Speaking of a watch, my dad carried a pocket watch. To the best of memory, Dad never had a wristwatch. I received a pocket watch yesterday from my nephew Rick’s wife, Brenda. They thought that I might want to pass it on to one of my sons. Evidently, years ago, my mom gave the watch to Rick and told him that it was my dad’s. Yes, I have a photo.

 

            The watch has a leather pouch, and it is easy to get in and out of your pocket. I remember that dad had a chain on the watch, which attached to the belt loop on his pants. I guess the chain would keep you from dropping the watch, and the leather pouch would keep the watch from getting broken if you dropped it.

            The watch does not work and has not worked since mom gave it to Rick.

            Topic change: I guess I need to put some bird food out, all the big birds are at the small bird’s feeder, and the small birds are being kept away. Bullies!

            I don’t have a lot planned for today, I guess we will go without a plan. I do need to go to the drug store for some drugs, and my present wife wants to go to the nursery. I think she means flower nursery and I hope she does not mean a nursery for babies.

            I have thought about going to the Bunkhouse for lunch, but that would mean it would take several gallons of gas to get there and back. I guess I would spend as much on gas as I would on food. It would be nice to drive out into the country for a while. It would also be nice if we weren’t on a fixed income.

Plan not, do not!

Senior ole person who might do some work, or might not, Don the Ford

Friday is here 03.18.2022

            Well, it is Friday again, how many Fridays have there been since I was born? According to my calculations, 3,874 Fridays have gone past, during my time here on this planet, who knows how many there were while I was on other planets.

            It is a cool 50 this morning and it is supposed to get a little warmer through the day. I did finish raising the one sprinkler head yesterday, an excellent job, even if I must say so.

            When the sprinkler system was installed a couple years ago, I made a drawing of the locations of each head, and which of the seven systems each head was attached to. I went to the drawing yesterday reviewing the locations of each head in system 2, as I wanted to mark the location of a couple heads. Would you believe I could not find one of the heads?

            Before you ask, yes, I had turned the number two system on in an effort to find the heads. You know, with the system on the heads are supposed to pop up and spray water. The grass here in the Ford's front yard, has a tendency to camouflaged the heads. I still could not find that one head, yes, I double checked the drawing. 

            After what seemed to be hours of grueling work (it was in reality only a couple minutes) I decided to look under a couple blocks that I had repositioned a few months ago. Yep, mystery solved, I found the missing head under a block. Does that make it a, "Block Head"? 😊 Come on now, that was funny.

            I did rake some debris from a flower bed, per my CEOs suggestion. There is more work that needs to be done in that bed but I had new jeans on and I am not allowed to get on my knees with new jeans on.

            Alternative subject; I went to the past employer and picked up 3 items yesterday. One item was two light bulbs that are supposed to be dusk and dawn lights, neither work correctly. Neither worked in the outside fixture, then I brought them into the house and put them in a trouble light for testing. Neither worked as advertised. If you shake them, they would come on, and shake them again they would go off. Maybe I should have ordered from the river place on line. Did you get it, river place, company with the name of a river, why do I even try?

            I need to get ready to take the grandkids to school. I might stop by the rose café for a couple burritos and a cup of coffee, on the way home after dropping the kids off at school. 

            Yes, my favorite wife and I went to the cracker place for our evening meal yesterday, we enjoyed the visit. Yes, I said visit, as we do eat and then we have a tendency to visit with a few of the staff. Since no one asked, yes, we did sit outside yesterday afternoon after coming home from supper, but we did not have adult beverages, as we were given to-go drinks at the cracker store. 

            Not sure what I might be doing today, I could mow the weeds in the back 40, I could put some old pants on and work that flower bed for the CEO.

            Topic change; Tres and I went to the vet yesterday, the vet said I was doing good, wait a minute, I mean she said Tres looked as if he was doing good, even though he is itching. She believes it has to do with all the pollen. Tres will not wear a mask to help eliminate the pollen getting into his system, so we are not sure as to what to do. I guess we wait for the pollen to leave.

            That is it for now, Happy Friday to you!

Enjoy the day!

Senior retired person, who is trying to learn how to enjoy, Don the Ford

What, another day? 03.17.2022

            Well, I woke up this morning, so I guess we are started into another day. Will it be a repeat of yesterday, or will it be a wonder filled day, of joy and good friends?

            One might ask, was yesterday not a good day, to which one might respond, “no, yesterday was not a good day, it was a very good day!” For me, an ole senior person who is over 50 years old, (way over 50) any day that I can walk, talk, eat and take naps is a good day!

            Yesterday I walked out into the yard and re-arranged the solar power lights that my favorite wife has along the flower bed. Three of the ole lights had given up. So, I removed them and relocated the rest, making them evenly spaced, per my instructions!

            I also started a project of working on lawn sprinklers. Most of the sprinklers that I have worked with are above ground, (the pipes are underground) they are in the flower beds and need to be able to pop up above the Jasmin and other vegetation. The sprinkler I started working on is in the ground and I want to leave it in the ground but I want to rase it a couple inches.

            I got down on my hands and knees, which is not easy for a senior retired person, and began digging around the sprinkler, needing to get all the way down to the pipe that it is attached too. I need to get all the dirt away from the coupling, as I do not want any dirt to get into the open pipe after I remove the head.

            I am not the fastest learner, it took me a while to decide to get a shovel to remove the dirt, as the small hand-held tool was taking too long. I did get down to the pipe when a friend came over. No, the friend did not offer to help, heck he is as old as me. I did get up off the ground and sit on the ole rocker while we talked. After several minutes of discussion, the neighbor headed for home, and I went into the house.

            I had dirt on my hands! Not just a little bit but a lot of dirt, it was even under my fingernails. Who knows how many times I had to wash my ole hands to get the dirt off?

            No, I did not complete the sprinkler head project, it was lunch and I needed to eat. I hope to get to it today.

            It was a little odd, as my favorite spouse and I sat outside yesterday afternoon, cold drink in hand, the hole I had dug around the sprinkler head was only 3 feet away. I felt as if it was calling to me, “finish me, please finish me”. Like I said, I might get to it today.

            I get to take the grand kids to school this morning, and I might go to the star coffee place and by one last cup, using the old gold card. There is enough funding on the card for one more cup. All things, good or bad, must eventually come to an end.

Finish your projects!

Senior retired person who will likely get back down on his knees today, Don the Ford

More work 03.16.2022

            It seems as if the Don has to work even when it is not needed. As an example, yesterday the Don had been enjoying taking it easy, while sitting on the Fords ole recliner, when he decided to go out in the back 40 and feed the birds.

            Once he was out back, he noticed there was some weeds growing around flower beds and fence. After feeding the birds, he decided to get the string trimmer out and eliminate some of the weeds. This was not necessary, but it did give him something to do. While trimming the weeds the Don noticed that there were areas that have weeds growing in the back 40, so he may need to get the riding mower out and clean up those areas. The Don also took the string trimmer to the front yard and trimmed a couple areas. 

            The Don has ordered a couple items from his past employer and these items will cause him to do more work. What are the items, they are trellis for two rose bushes? Yep, when I get them, I will need to install them, there is no rest for the ole people.

            Today, I get to take the grandkids to school, I guess I am back on the normal schedule again.

            I still need to do a little work on a couple of the lawn sprinkler heads. I don’t like that work because I will need to be on my hands and knees. Yes, I might be praying while I am down there. I might let the sprinklers run this morning; the yard needs it.

            I get to take the Tres to the vet Thursday, and I have to give him some downers before I take him. They want him to be calm during his visit. The vet still has most people stay in their vehicle while they examine the pet. I do not like that, and Tres does not like that!

            I guess that is it for today, maybe I will have more tomorrow.

 

Do something today!

Senior ole person who needs a break from all this work, Don the Ford

I fixed it 03.15.2022

            Yes, in today’s article about me, “The Don”, we will learn that The Don was able to fix it, actually, I replaced it as well as a professional could have, and at a much-reduced cost. To have a professional replace it, I was told would have cost $99.00. I rejected the offer.

            Before we get into today’s topic, allow me to comment on, “the pronunciation of words”. Now last evening as I was resting on the Ford’s ole bed, having nothing to do since the TV has nothing that I want to see, a three-letter word ending in, “at”, came to mind. I began to wonder who decided how we should pronounce these words, ending in “at”? 

            Bat, cat, fat, hat, mat, eat, pat, rat, sat… why don’t they ask me before they make these decisions?

            Let’s see, what can we present to you now? Today is Tuesday, and I did go to the star coffee place for a free cup of coffee, and then to the Mexican restaurant for a burrito, on the way home, this morning. No, I did not go to the rose restaurant, I went to the one next door to the rose. The burrito was good, and their hot sauce is outstanding!

            Now please allow me to respond to the title line which is, “I fixed it”. As stated earlier, you may say I fixed it, when in actuality I replaced it, which in reality I did fix the situation.

            If anyone was reading this article, they might wonder what the Don replaced. I have a photo of what the Don replaced, which should be better than 1,000 words.

            That is the security light that gave up the ghost (stopped working). I had installed that light several years ago, and I have replacement bulbs which only work in this type of light. Evidently the fixture failed, and I tried both replacement bulbs and they would not work. 

            That is when I decided to purchase a new fixture. I found several similar fixtures but none that use the same bulb, so I decided to go to the home store and see if I could find a new fixture. Being on a fixed income, those eighty to one hundred dollars fixtured did not interest me. I found a fixture that cost less than ten dollars. Photo to follow.

            I did remove the big none working light, and I installed the small working light. I have ordered a couple LED bulbs which are dusk to dawn, meaning they will turn on and off by them self. If I were rich like you real people, I could have gotten the larger fixture. This light worked as expected last night, it provided plenty of light and it only used 9 watts of power.

            We got a little rain yesterday, about 1/8 inch, we need more but we are not complaining about the amount. I may run the lawn sprinkler today. I do need to put some bird food out. 

Todays goal, smile often!

Senior retired person who understands electricity and plumbing, Don the Ford