Luck of the Irish

            Will the luck of the Irish be with me? 

I went out to my past employer for two reasons. One; I needed to pick up my retiree order. They let old people that have retired from DIB purchase merchandise from them but you have to pay them before they let you take it home. Two; I wanted to enter a drawing for a lawn mower.  By donating to the United Way you get a chance to win a real nice lawn mower.  I was told it cost about $1,900.00 and was a 54 inch cut with a 24 HP, V twin motor. It is larger than I need but I was willing to take a chance. I donated and brought my purchase home.

I had purchased fire ant killer and I needed to broadcast it over the entire yard. It was hot and I spread the fire ant killer in the front yard. When I went to the back yard I put on a long sleeved shirt to keep the sun off my arms. I went over the entire yard twice, first north and south the east and west. That was tiring but after finishing I decided to mow the back yard. Note; in the short time I was working in the front yard I received a light sun burn on my arms.

Knowing I will likely win the big mower and the fact my yard needed to be mowed real bad, I pulled my push mower out of the shed in preparation for mowing the back yard. Before I mow I walk the yard picking op anything that I don’t want to mow over. There were a lot of twigs and small sticks from the trees. I had noted in an earlier posting that we had not seen any squirrels for a while, well, they are back.

The darn squirrels chew the twigs off the tree to use for building a nest, but they drop some. It seemed to me as if they had dropped a lot.

It was Thursday which is a day earlier than usual for mowing but the grass needed it and I did not have anything else to do. I vary the height of the mower when mowing the back yard. The thicker grass the higher the mower and the thinner grass is cut shorter.  I noticed that the grass was piling up as I mowed and it really needed to be mowed twice to make the yard look nice. I decided to wait on mowing it twice thinking I will use the new mower after tomorrows drawing.

Friday morning I prepared to mow the front yard. First I trimmed around everything with the string trimmer. I could not believe there were more twigs on the ground. It seemed as if the squirrels were dropping them intentionally.

I started mowing the front yard and realized that I had the mower much closer to the ground than I wanted it to be. It is hard to believe that I, “a recognized Lawnologist” would make such an error. It was too late to change now; I will have to mow the entire yard at that height.  I soon decided that there was too much grass clippings being left on the ground. I always mow the front yard twice; once east/west and then north/south. That gives it a nice finished look.

Today before the second mowing I went to the shed and got the grass catcher. The idea was to pick up the loose grass during the second mowing.  That actually worked, but my work was not finished.  After completing the second mowing of the front yard I could see runners from the St. Augustine grass that had popped up due to cutting the grass to short. You guessed it; I mowed the front yard a third time.

I was tired of walking and I knew the riding mower is just what I need. The drawing was held and there must have been some snafu in the drawing because someone else won.  I am the Irish Boy that should have won. Darn it!

               After all that work, I had to eat left overs for lunch, and then I took a well-deserved nap.

From the Lawnologist mind of     Don Ford      happy Father’s Day if it applies.

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Washer Toss Game

Bill of Materials for Washer Toss set

1 sheet of plywood 4 foot by 4 foot by ½ inch        (This will make tops for two sets)

2 each 1 inch by 3 inch by 8 foot boards                 (This will make a frame for one set)

2 each latches                                                                  (Need for one set)

Rope 11 feet                                                                     (Need for one set)

32 screws                                                                          (Needed for one set)

Wood Glue                                                                        (Glue all points of contact)

Handle could be a handle or rope may be used.

Cost of wood and hardware per set was $20.75 (does not include screws or rope)

5 tops can be made from one 4’ X 4’ sheet of Plywood

Each 1” X 3” X 8’ is cut into        

·       2 each 30 inch pieces sides

·       4 each 8.5 inch pieces ends and dividers (Cut the 30 inch pieces from each board the set the saw for 8.5 inch cuts and cut all these pieces at the same time.)

Rules will be attached inside one of the boards.

The rope between the two boxes is there to keep the same distance for all players. It may be shortened or lengthened to meet the desires of the players.

The washers are large enough to be easily seen when a player misses the box.

The guard dog is optional but may be necessary if arguments arise.

Rules to play the Washer Toss Game

·       First game, toss a coin to see who tosses first.  Second game and there after the looser tosses first.

·       Each player has three washers.

·       Player may stand on or beside the board; players toe may not pass the end of the board, leaning is acceptable.

·       He/she get to toss three washers, one at a time.

·       Hole closest to the player is 1 point; middle hole is 2 points; back hole is 3 points.

·       Usually two players to a team, it can be played 1 on 1.

·       If player one tosses the washer in the middle hole, he/she scores two points. Then player two scores two points by tossing his washer in the middle hole; this is called “cover or covering”; player one loses his/her two points, player two counts his/her points.

·       First team to 21 points is a winner.

·       If both teams get to 21 points at the same time, play continues until one team scores more than the other team.

·       When a team loses 2 game in a row they moon the other team.  This is the “J. D. Hilton rule”.

We often played for county, district, state, national, and world championship in one afternoon.

Don Ford    

    

Political statement;                I am not always right but I am never left.

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Open Mouth Insert Foot

I just had to open my mouth and comment on the fact that Tejas had not seen any squirrels for a few weeks.

 

               One weather guy said it hit 100 yesterday while the other said only 99 degrees. Whatever, it was hotter than %#$@.  

Yesterday afternoon I was taking some tools back to the shed when I observed a rabbit and a squirrel running in the ditch behind the shed. 

I just had to brag about the squirrels being gone and boom, I see one. The squirrel was a very dark color, almost black.  Today I have seen two dark colored squirrels in the front yard.

Why couldn’t I have keep my mouth shut and my foot out of my mouth?

From the toe jam mind of              Don Ford                    

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100 use to be good

When I was in school (yes I went to school, will you save you questions until the end) a 100 on a test meant you answered all the questions correct.  You are correct; I did not receive a lot of scores of 100. 

               As I was sitting in my favorite chair contemplating many topics like, “why is sugar sweet and salt not”, I noticed something. It was a rabbit across the street hopping around in the neighbor’s yard.  Have you noticed how rabbits and birds are not afraid of each other? 

Ok, you are right, I was not the first to notice the rabbit, it was my amigo Tejas. But I was quickly aware of the rabbit and that stared both of us thinking.  We had different thoughts about the rabbit as you may have guessed. I wanted to invite him over for lunch; my lunch, while Tejas thought about the lack of other furry creatures in the neighborhood.

Tejas is very observant and has noticed over the last month or so, the squirrels that use to be in the neighborhood have gone. We don’t know if they decided to leave us for a more upscale community or if one of the neighbors is eradicating them. Whichever it is, we have not seen a squirrel form over a month.

I just thought; having no squirrels is another blessing (referring to an earlier posting). Tejas indicated he misses them.

When we were in North Carolina I noticed the squirrels were smaller than the squirrels are in Texas. Do you think the old saying is true; everything is bigger in Texas?

I took a cup of coffee outside to enjoy the morning’s cool temp and was greeted by my neighbor mowing his yard. I waved a greeting to him but he was too intent on looking at the mower and did not return my greeting. I assume he did not intend to break the unwritten 8:00 am rule, but it is supposed to get very hot as this day progresses and that is why he did it.

What? You don’t know what the 8:00 am rule is. I thought everyone knew about the 8:00 am rule.

Oh, OK, for those of you who live in a gated community, with a home owners association that provided your entire yard work for you, I will explain.

I am kind of happy that my old leaf blower broke again and this time I was unable to wire it back together. In the instructions that came with my new Weed Eater brand of leaf blower was the 8:00 rule.

My new leaf blower is easy to start and I run it at half speed to do the same work of the old blower at full speed.

Ok, back to the 8:00 rule.  You should not run any power equipment before 8:00am as a courtesy to your neighbors. Not everyone gets up early and the motor of the equipment might wake them.

Today may be the first day we hit 100 degrees, but 100 in the instance will not be perfect. It is still officially spring in Texas, even though is hasn’t felt like it for several weeks now.

I believe 80 degrees would be a perfect score for me today.

From the overheated brain of                     Don Ford

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We have been blessed

            We may occasionally become overwhelmed with bad news about the economy and many other negative items. We should occasionally stop and take time to appreciate or blessing. What? You want to know what I consider a blessing; ok I will name a couple.

               Yesterday June 7^th, 2012 was a mile stone in the life of Don Ford.  I finally received the public acknowledgment that I so rightly deserved for many years. Thursday started with light rain, lots of clouds; the night before we received a badly needed 2.5 inches of rain. All the yards in our neighborhood said thank you to Mother Nature for the rain. The numerous cracks that were in my yard are now closed. There was water standing in my back yard for a couple hours before it was soaked up by the thirsty ground.

               I had decided earlier in the week to ride to the Bunkhouse for lunch. I like to give my wife plenty of room when she is cleaning the house and that is a Thursday project.

I had sent an email to the guys letting them know that I planned to go to the Bunkhouse just in case anyone wanted to go along. I watched the weather radar all Thursday morning (did you know radar is spelled the same forward or backward, and my cell phone number is the same forward or backwards) hopeful that the light rain would stop between Hewitt and Clifton, it did. This was the first sign that I was having a good day, although I had not yet recognized it.

Glen and I left the house about 11:00 (Glen went to the gas station and I went to the bank) we met on a service road just off Hwy 6. We rode to the intersection of Hwy 6 and 185 where we stopped and waited on Wayne.   Wayne was a no show.

About 11:30 Glen and I were back on the road heading for the Bunkhouse. When we arrived at the Bunkhouse parking lot there was a car that pulled out leaving us a VIP parking spot. This was the second sign that should have let me know that I was about to receive recognition for my life long accomplishments.   

We dismounted our bikes and prepared to enter the Bunkhouse. As you enter the door you immediately make a right turn, proceed up a ramp that is about 30 feet long. At the top of the ramp we make a left and step into the Bunkhouse. Immediately to your right is the fellow that cuts all the meat, he is the owner. He always has a cowboy hat on and always greets the customers with a big smile and a Howdy, welcome.

The girl that takes your order is standing at the cash register next to the owner. I gave her my order and received my discount (10 % off on Thursdays). She handed me my ticket stub and that is when I started feeling good. My number was “1”.  Yes you heard me; I was number one “1”.  We found a table, got our drinks and sit down.  When the lady brings out your food she calls out your number and you raise your hand so she knows whose food she has. I heard the words, “number one”, I raised my hand, yes I am number one.   You can’t top being, “number one”, and I assume being number one may have been the reason we were not rained on during our ride.

               As I stated earlier, “we should take time to be thankful for our blessings”. We see in the photo below some vegetables from Keith’s garden (the peppers are from our two plants).  Although it may not be evident in the photo those onions are 5 inches in diameter. Those are the best onions we have ever had, they are not strong and they go well with anything that requires onions. Keith has been blessed with a green thumb and also blessed with a wet spring and no late frost. He has been blessed with an outstanding garden this year.

               Keith has brought us vegetables on several occasions.  We have been blessed with Keith.

               We have received rain when we need it and in our area, we have not had any violent storms.  We are reasonable healthy for persons of our age. I could go on and on with a list of blessings but I will stop.

               The rose below with the two buds next to it is a blessing of beauty.

               Possibly each of us should take a minute and think how we have been blessed.

From the blessed mind of              Don Ford      have a blessed day.

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The Wedding

            As a wedding consultant, I need to be aware of everything that is happening. Timing is very important and having everyone in their place at the right time is a daunting task. As you are aware I am able to master most tasks without any missteps.

               As you might know the most difficult part of the rehearsal and wedding is getting the young children to walk and stand where you want them. In this particular event the young kids were not focused during the rehearsal since it was in a park but were outstanding on the day of the ceremony. 

               We rode to the wedding with one of the Brides Maid. Her dress was green and had one strap over the shoulder. This dress was a little short and somewhat tight. We learned (even thought we did not want to know) that since the dress was tight the young lady did not have underwear on. This dress also had a slit up the back which posed a problem due to the lack of undergarments. A safety pin was used to help correct the problem with the slit in the dress.

               The wedding was scheduled to be outside, under a pavilion with a lake in the back ground, on the military base, “Camp Lejeune”. This location was very nice.

               With no help from me the wedding came off as scheduled and it was very nice. The bride was beautiful and the groom was handsome. The ceremony took about 20 minutes with lots of photos following.  The young man that was the ring bearer was a little unruly. He threw the pillow he was carrying (the rings were not on the pillow) then walked up to it and kicked it. Everyone laughed I don’t know it the bride saw it or not.

               The reception hall was decorated very nicely, the food was good and everyone seemed to enjoy the evening.

Note; during the weeding rehearsal at the park the minister actually married the couple. He noted afterwards, “I hope nothing goes wrong because they are now married”.  I wonder which date the will use to celebrate their anniversary.

From the wedding planner mind of                           Don Ford   

  

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On My Knees Again

            As I kneel here in deep thought pondering the meaning of life I…

Well, it is another hot day in Texas and summer isn’t here yet. The weather guy said there is a slight chance of rain.  That means it isn’t going to rain but we don’t want you to lose hope.

My wife decided to can tomatoes today, which dramatically adds to the heat in the house. Keith brought us a bunch of very nice tomatoes and Donna decided to can them. I have eaten some of the tomatoes with a little salt, Nice! Keith has brought us other vegies from his garden and we do appreciate them. We have only seen photos of his garden (below) but we understand it is huge.  A big Thanks to Keith (we don’t have to eat road kill tonight)

For some reason this year the heats seems to bother me more than in the past. I just don’t like to be sweating with my clothes sticking to me and sweat dripping onto my glasses.  When I am working outside I try to work in the shade. Most often we have a breeze and that helps keep me somewhat cooler.

I still have several projects to do outside but I am not real enthusiastic about getting them done. Today I am tackling the flower bed behind our house near our bed room. I am on my knees pulling weeds and picking up snail shells.

I water this flower bed daily.  As I crawl around on my hands and knees, my hand are getting muddy. That could mean I am over watering. As I kneel here with my knee pads on I find it difficult to believe I, would over water. I am a master in waterology (the study of proper watering techniques) and should not make watering errors.

In the above photo you see the flower bed I was forced to work in this morning. I pulled weeds until I got to the sunny part of the flower bed (on the right and not in the photo) and I stopped. I got all but about 2 feet. If it gets cloudy I will again get on my knees.   

We can also see what is left over of an old clothes line. The post was originally there to hold up a wood fence. The fence was there to keep kids and others out of the swimming pool. As time passed the pool was not used and it went away along with the fence.

Some of you may not be familiar with a clothes line so I will explain. They were used to hang clothes on after washing them. The clothes are air dried and when you put sheets and pillow cases on the bed after they had been hung outside the bed feels good and smelled fresh.

Mom used a clothes line; there was 4 separate clothes lines on the two poles. When she would hang sheets out to dry I would get in between the lines and the wet sheets and clothes would deaden the sounds.  It would be strangely quite in between the wet items on the clothes line. 

I had put out some slug and snail bait and I must say it works. The snails were everywhere eating everything and now they are no more.

I need to cut the tops of the tall bushes at the north end of the house (photo below).  I don’t know what they are called but I will need a ladder. They are as high as the top of the house and rubbing the wall and roof. Whatever they are, they are blooming now and it will seem odd that I trim them while in bloom. Once I cut them I will need to carry the cutting to the back yard and put them on the trailer.

We have some cactus on the end of the house and for some reason it is growing just fine. There are weeds growing in the cactus and they will be difficult to pull.

Above is in the front of our homestead, another flower bed I am forced to work in.

My mind just flashed to breakfast burritos for some reason. It is 4:00pm and I am not hungry but I started thinking about the burrito. I often have flash backs; that is often associated with drug use. I have never used drugs and have never even smoked marijuana.  I don’t think I have missed out on anything by not using drugs.

From the knelling mind of              Don Ford

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Smoking

Memorial Day in North Carolinian had good weather, plenty of food, swimming and friends.

               This area of North Carolinian has a high concentration of military people. Camp Lejeune is there and so naturally there are military people and families everywhere.  We have Fort Hood that is about 60 miles from here and even though it is the largest military reservation in the free world, there it is not as far-reaching military affect here in the Hewitt area.

               The weather was very good on Memorial Day, maybe a little warmer than I would have liked but still a nice day. I am not sure how many people were at the party but I estimate 30 plus were in attendance. The kids took to the pool along with several of the adults. At one point when I glanced at the pool, I thought that of a traffic jam. The pool seemed to me to be at capacity.

               Something I noticed during our visit was the number of people who smoked.  As I think about it, most of the people I know do not smoke. A person smoking around me is ok but I was not use to seeing so many smokers in one place. I wonder if there are more smokers there, or maybe I just don’t get out enough to know how many smokers there really are around here.

               I was talking to one of the young ladies that smoked and I asked how much cigarettes cost. She explained that they could be purchased for $4.00 a pack at one local store but if you have to buy them else where they were about $6.00 a pack.

If a person smokes a pack a day and the cost is $4.00 per pack;

·       $28.00 per week

·       $120.00 per month

·       $1,460.00 per year

If a person smokes a pack a day and the cost is $6.00 per pack;

Ø  $42.00 per week

Ø  $180.00 per month

Ø  2,190.00 per year

If a person smokes more than a pack a day the cost increases. What other items could be purchased with the money spent on tobacco.  

I understand how addicting tobacco can be as I am a “recovering nicotine addict”. I used chewing tobacco for many years but I have not had any for about 9 years now.

I remember one time when I had quit using tobacco; my wife and I were coming out of a restaurant after eating supper. It had been about a week since I had quit using tobacco.

For those of you who have never use tobacco, you will not understand how strong the desire to have a nicotine fix is, after you eat. 

It was dark and the parking lot lights were not on. I said to my wife, “I wish someone would try to mug me, I would really like to hurt someone right now”.  When a person has quit tobacco they have a lot of feeling; one of those feeling for me was anger. 

For those of use that have used or still use tobacco, we understand how good the nicotine fix can be. Nicotine will give you a lift when you need it, it will help you relax when you need to. No wonder it is so addictive.

               I guess I am preaching now but I know it doesn’t do any good to try to talk people out of using tobacco. The only way a person can or will quit is when “they decide for them self that they want to quit”. A nicotine addict will get mad when you try to tell them they should quit. A nicotine addict will not quit for their spouse, kids, parents or anyone else. It is a personal decision and you cannot make it for them.  

               I am not meaning to upset any tobacco user in this statement, although I do think people should not use tobacco.

From the nicotine free mind of    Don Ford

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