Sorry for the dely

I am sorry for the delays in posting. There is some type of problem and it is taking more than a day to get a posting from my computer to the Blog site.

Have a good day.

                      Don Ford

Early evening at the Ford Homestead

            It is early evening at the Ford Homestead as I and my trusty sidekick Tejas were enjoying the evening. I was sitting in my favorite rocking chair near the garage door on our drive way.

               Retired people who exist on a fixed income much like my wife and I, often have a favorite chair and they are often rocking chairs. As you may know I often contemplate deep, difficult subjects, which would be problematic for a person with an average IQ to consider. 

The subject this week is; “why do retired people on a fixed income like rocking chairs?”

               Tejas and I were enjoying the early evening as we watered the front yard. Tejas noticed the moon was out early again this evening as it had been for the last 4 or 5 evenings. When he pointed it out to me I decided I would take a photo, to share with you.

Not a cloud in the sky this evening and it was starting to cool down. We were at 99 today which is better than what some of the northern states were having.

               As you can see below Tejas was guarding the Ford Homestead by lying in the grass next to a water sprinkler. He knows how to take a shower, now I need to teach him how to use the dog shampoo.

 

 

               OK, back to the rockers and retired fixed income people. I have discovered that the rocking motion of the rocking chair gives the retired person a feeling of going somewhere. Since the retired person on a fixed income hasn’t the money to go places, the rocking chair is their way to get a felling, ever so small feeling of getting away.

               If you would like to send a retired person on a vacation you can make a donation to “The Ford Foundation of Hewitt”. Identify the donation as “vacation funds”.

 

From the rocking chair traveler mind of    Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

 

 

                                                                                                                  

                  

 

Me complain? Not me...

            I would like to talk about service from Office Max and the McLennan County Tax office.

               All those who knows me, understand that I “never complain”, unnecessarily. So, it is obvious that this is a necessary comment on service provided or not provided.

               As most of you know my trusted Nikon camera is broken. The cover that keeps the batteries in place will no longer stay closed. I have tried tapping it closed and it was ok for a few minutes but then the tape let go.

Office Max had an advertisement showing a camera similar to mine for $64.00. I went to their store and asked to see the camera. The fellow working there said, there had been probably 6 people asking for the camera but they did not have any. He went on to say, the only store that had one of these cameras was in Austin.  I am sure you understand those comments made me unhappy.

Office Max knowingly puts out an ad for an item that they do not have and evidently did not expect to have. The fellow said we have other cameras on sale and pointed at the camera display. The display could hold possibly 40 cameras and they may have had 5 or 6 on display. To say their service sucked would be an understatement as they had no service.

Now let me tell you about the tax office. I went to Lorena, TX (a small town south of Hewitt, TX) to that tax office to get my license for my motorcycle. The lady that worked there was nice and actually pleasant. This was kind of a surprise to me as I did not expect good service from someone that worked for the government, especially a tax office.

From the complaint free mind of                Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                 

Garage Sale

            People on a fixed income have to resort to selling their prized belongings to make a few dollars.  The Ford Homestead is almost empty on the inside due to selling possessions so we can pay our bills.

Donations may be sent to the “Preserve the Ford Homestead Foundation”

When having a sale in your drive way you should decide on a theme. We decided to go with “Poor Texans” as our theme. It is advisable to have the sell in the cooler months and not July or August. The temp was officially 105 Saturday and even though there was shade in the garage and two fans running at top speed it was not comfortable.

There was a sign placed in my well-trimmed yard, and people seem to totally disregard the feelings of the grass as they walked and sat chairs on it. I have watered it twice since the sale attempting to put some life back in my grass.

               On a different subject, I picked up my new sun glasses and they are really nice. I am able to see the world around me through dark lenses.  This pair of glasses will probably be the last use of my company insurance as the “Government Medicare” starts on August first.

(Possibly you have noticed that I have skillfully inserted this comment in the story line to advise you of my upcoming birthday August 14th. I know most of you will want to acknowledge my birth by sending checks, money orders and or gifts.  Please send these to the Ford Homestead Foundation before August 14^th. )

Back to the sale; some of the items belong to a friend of ours. About half was ours and the other half was theirs.  I don’t know why I say “ours” as I did not receive a penny from this sale. I did spend my money for donuts that were shared by all.

               Before you ask, no one made an offer on the garage so we still have it, and I do not know how much was made from the sale but I can tell you it wasn’t enough to get me to sit out in the heat all day.

From the garage sale mind of       Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

                                                                                                                  

                  

Cleaning up at the Ford's

There are times when we all need to help clean up and today was one of those days.

               There used to be a saying, “children should be seen and not heard”. I believe we could modify that to say, “Children should be worked and not allowed to play”.

               As you can see in the following photos, I have put my saying to good use and have required the children (Gabi 5.5 years and Alex 2.5 years) to work for their supper.

 In the first photo we see Gabi doing her dance moves as she washes the wing. She has found this to be effective at cleaning and a way to relieve stress.

I put the canopy in the drive way to keep the sun off me and immediately had two helpers.

 Alex participated in the cleaning process and at one point he was attempting to wash my shoes. I explained to him that he needed to put the soap and water on the bike and not my shoes. It was explained to me that my shoes were dirty (they are the shoes I wear when I mow). 

The rolling stool was for me but at one point Alex washed the stool seat and all.

 I must say they were very diligent at the process and did a very good job.

 I was very thankful for the help but they did not seem to appreciate the Rush Limbaugh radio show that I was listening to.

               I guess I should have taken a photo of the bike after it was dried. Yes I was using the broken camera to take these photos, I have it tapes together. 

               We are still taking donations at “The Ford Homestead Foundation”, for the purchase of a new camera.

From the almost always clean mind of      Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

Alarm Clock

            Yes we can afford an alarm clock even though we are on a fixed income. Well, the truth is, we have had the alarm clock since the olden days when I worked and had a real income.

               We get up at the same time each day and we do not set an alarm clock. Today we both over slept a little (8 minutes). My amigo Tejas came to my side of the bed to be petted. He will bump the bed a couple times and if you don’t pet him he will get your attention with a wet nose. I reached over and rubbed his back without opening my eye. Tejas usually wants me to pet him a couple times each night. When I stopped petting him he turned the other side and asked for more. I obliged with another generous back rub.

               I just thought of this; why do humans rub their dog’s backs but never get a back rub in return from the dog.

               Tejas’ third request caused me to wonder what he was trying to do. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock.  I had over slept by a few minutes.  Tejas knows I need to put the recycle container out on Wed. morning so I assume he was trying to be helpful. I also put food in his bowl each morning when I get up but I am sure that was not the motivation.

               I will answer the question that several of you have asked;

               “Has the old black pecan fallen off the tree and did the world come to an end?”

From a previous posting; Control click to follow this link       End of the world ..          

               The pecan has fallen and as far as I can tell, the world has not come to an end yet. I did over sleep this morning so possibly that is a sign.

Have a nice day and enjoy the heat.

From the often sleepy mind of     Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.                   

                                                                                                                 

                  

Camera is Broken

            Poor retired people like me living from week to week on a fixed income have it hard enough but when their little $79.00 camera breaks and they haven’t the funds to replace it…

               Yes my little camera has broken from over use.  When you are retired and have nothing to do other than take a few photos and possibly a few naps your camera is a large part of your life.               (Donations can be sent to, “The Ford Homestead Foundation”)

               Today they have blocked our street off and are pretending to be resurfacing it. I thought it was odd that I along with my wife (who had a birthday yesterday) my grandson and Daughter-in –law were all outside watching the event.  That tell you how exciting things are at the Ford Homestead.

               Claire starts a new job today so she had to move her vehicle to another street before they started the work.

               My wife is planning a garage sale this week so if you need any old stuff please come by her sale.

               I plan on taking a short 3 day 2 night trip next week (free hotel stay or I could not go) but now that my camera is broken I may have to change my plans. Surly someone could donate an old digital camera. 

From the poor broken camera mind of     Don Ford

All rights reserved; any reproduction or distribution without written permission is strictly prohibited.

              

                 

Grandchild at work.

            Getting the grandson to start working isn’t difficult but keeping him in the ditch working is more difficult.

               The day started out like many other days with some coffee and a review of my hectic daily schedule. On the list for this Sunday was;

1.     A trip to the mall to pick up my new glasses

2.     Lunch

3.     Nap

4.     Supper

5.      

Little did I know that my well planned and properly organized day would involve yard work, along with an attempt at keeping the grandson working? 

Dave had decided he would mow the ditch behind the house so he could run his remote controlled car. While he was mowing I decided that it would be a good idea to plant a new tree in the back yard. I picked the first spot which turned out to be too difficult to dig in due to some rocks. The second spot I hit roots almost immediately. I picked a third location and decided that I should have a younger person to dig the hole for the tree.

Alex and I began the negotiation over the wages and breaks. Since Alex is 1/3 the size of a teenager I felt that he should only receive 1/3 of minimum wage. I soon found that he was a tough negotiator. After several offers and counter offers we settled on an hourly wage with an agreement of non-disclosure.

I allowed him to use my tools to do this work. Alex seems to me to be an inspector more than a labor.   As you can see he is reviewing the work before continuing to dig.

Tejas (our guard dog) was carefully observing the work being performed from a secluded spot that is usually cool on his belly due to daily watering of the shrubs. There is a plastic water bottle that he had been chewing (a favorite toy, the sound that plastic bottles make under the vicious teeth).

You might know that Alex really gets in to his work…

The constant breaks started to get to me as I was paying for an hours work but not getting an hours work.

 Alex called it inspection and measuring but I believe it was taking a break. 

 Finally the hole was deep enough to plant a tree. Donna and I ventured fourth to find a tree but the nursery that is always open on Sunday now has different hours. Feeling dejected I returned home without a tree.

               I felt so bad that I had to take a Sunday afternoon nap.

               Later in the afternoon we decided to try a couple other nurseries for a tree. As we left the Ford Homestead I noticed the ominous looking clouds in the sky. Now we were in a battle to see if we could find a tree that would fit in the hole and get it planted prior to the looming rain.

At the second nursery we found a live oak and headed for home. Alex wasn’t much help in planting the tree because he was taking a nap (like grandpa like grandson). The nap was a smart move on Ales’ part as we did need to hurry to get the tree into the ground.  We had placed all the dirt from the hole in a wagon and if the rain were to fill the wagon before we emptied it we would have a muddy mess.

Mission accomplished, tree planted. Light rain showers began shortly after planting.

               Now everyone that has been telling me to plant replacement trees in the back yard can see, I have started.

From the Live Oak mind of          Don Ford

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