I am taking a break.

               Taking a break from what, you asked? Due to the excessive heat and the fact that I have been working my tail off, I called a conference with my adviser Tejas and my wife of 44 years. During the discussion it was noted that I was tired of working on the desk and I wanted to take a break.

My present wife noted that she thought it was a good idea. If I took a break, which would include returning my tools to the appropriate locations, then remove the three tables that I have been using as work benches, she would be able to move and rearrange some items in the garage.

It was agreed and the process begun. Tools were put away and items moved. The garage actually looked better and I could walk through the garage without having to move anything. This will give me three days of break and the weather should be cooler next week “less than 100 plus degrees”.

Donna has a birthday next week but I am not allowed to say the number of years (64).

I was encouraged to purchase some different chairs for sitting outside. No, I have not replaced my old rocker but I did get a couple wicker rockers. Being on a fixed income I did have to wait until they had marked them down (about $30 per chair less than original price). These rockers were approved for use at the Ford Homestead by my first wife.

Below we see Gabi after her recent visit to the dentists. For that one person that believed that statement, the teeth are plastic vampire teeth.

 

As some of you know, I am a “Flowerologists” and I want to show you some examples of the flora here at the Homestead.

It takes hours of work continually feeding and talking to the plants. They say cow manure is a good fertilizer so; me talking to the flowers (a lot of BS) should be even better fertilizer.

I hope you have a bright flowery day.

Don Ford

 

                 

 

What a Night

               Hello from the Ford Homestead, we are doing well and hope you are also. We made it through the Holiday week and have settled down to our normal daily routine. Now that I think about it we were settled into our normal daily routine during the holiday week.

               Retired people on a fixed income are often unable to enjoy the holidays like those of you that are game fully employed. It is bad when you don’t have enough funding to purchase a brisket for the holiday meal. I know what you are thinking; why didn’t I check for road kill. A nice young deer lying in the bar ditch could have possibly made a nice substitute for a brisket.

               For the non-Texans who might read this article; the term “Bar Ditch” is in reference to a ditch alongside any road. It gets the name because many people have ended up in the ditch alongside a road after an evening at the bar.

               How did you sleep last night? My night’s sleep was interrupted as usual by my companion and confidant “Tejas” wanting to go outside.  It was 1:29am when I felt the wet nose of Tejas on my back. He was informing me that he needed to go outside and see what the other dogs were barking at. I obligingly got up and let him out the door. This happens every night at least once but at different times. While Tejas is outside I usually get in my recliner and kick back for a few minutes. After some period of time I get out of the recliner and go to the door to let him back into the house.

               Last night when I opened the door to let him back in Molly T ran out the door and disappeared into the dark. Molly’s gray color makes it impossible to see her at night. I waited a few minutes and went back to the door to see if she was there and would she come in. Molly was near the door but when I went out to see if I could catch her she disappeared into the flowers.

               I thought about just leaving her outside all night but soon decided I would catch hell from my wife of 44 years in the morning if I did.

Even though I am retired and considered an elderly citizen, I am occasionally able to out think the cat. I stood there in the back yard cloaked in darkness deciding my approach to apprehending the aforementioned cat.

My plan was simple; I would turn the water on just a small amount and use the hose without a nozzle to make a stream of water. I would place my thumb over the end of the hose and direct a very small stream (about the size of a pencil) into the flowers. Molly has a fascination with running water if it is not directed at her. I expected her to come and investigate the water stream and if she did I would direct it closer to me. If she came close enough I would swoop down and catch the cat.

What do you think happened?  I stood there watering the flowers for a couple minutes wondering where she was. There was a slight breeze and the wind chime to my right was sound off very quietly as if to say, “I know everyone is sleeping and I will not be too loud.”

Out of the darkness I could see the dark gray body of Molly T sneaking up on the water stream. When she was within a few inches of the water I moved the stream closer to me and as expected she followed. She was just below me and I now needed to swoop down on her or possibly I could slowly bend over and catch her.

I decided on slowly bending as swooping might have startled her and I would need to begin the capture process again. With one hand under her belly I picked the wayward cat up and proceeded to tell her she was a bad cat. Cats need to be verbally punished and I was willing to provide the punishment.

I had now been awake for an hour, and I knew I would be tired today.

 

Someone asked how the puzzle project was going (Queen Anne Desk). The project has slowed as I have been consulting with a varnish specialist (my first wife).  I have varnished a couple pieces and they did not look good. There were streaks on the wood after the varnish was applied. My consultant attempted to show me how to apply a second coat of varnish, which may have been better than what I had done, but there were still streaks.

After careful consultation it was decided to use a different brush with finer bristles (hair). The new brush made a big difference and the project seems to be back on course.

I had purchased 4 clamps from my past employer, they were 36 inches long. The first one I took from the box was broken. I have asked if they will replace the broken one.

 

The weather has been very hot and we are expecting 100 plus temperatures all this week. That makes it difficult to work in the garage. I have three fans which help make the work tolerable.

 

Have a nice week; give someone a nice complement. Say “thank you” to those around you, don’t take them for granted (family and co-workers). 

 

Don Ford

 

Up to no good.

               Someone asked what I have been up to lately and my reply was, “no good”. Although that statement is possibly true, I have a project going on in the “Ford Homestead Garage”.

My oldest son had been given a bunch of wood pieces and some hardware parts that when properly put together would create a “Queen Anne Secretary Desk”.   He had it in his garage for a couple years and decided to unload it on re-gift it to me.  If I remember his comment, “it will give you something to do”. I am retired and as a retired person I am supposed to sit around and occasionally take a nap.

This project lay in the floor of our garage for at least 6 months. After the recent and I might say, “successful” garage sale there is now room in the family garage to do some work.

I have just been interrupted my Molly T, who thinks she should be able to get a free belly rub any time I am sitting at the computer. She is not a lap cat, but she is a key board cat. Molly T will lie on the key board as long as she is getting her body rubbed.

Back to the project;

This project has been difficult thus far to say the least. The instructions must have been written by someone that did not need to follow instructions. If you remember I am a visual and audible learner, so reading instructions and then understanding them can be difficult for me. The fact that the instructions to this project have incorrect information, make it difficult for me to understand. As an example, item 6a should be attached to item 22 with glue and two wood screws. There is an item 6a in the drawing but there is “NO” item 22 to attach it to.

As a last resort I ask my wife of 44 years to read the instructions, she could not find item 22 either.  Although there is no item 22 I have decided where I will attach 6a. I do need to give credit to my present wife; she has help a when I get stumped by the so called instructions.

I have taken a few photos and will post them with photos of the finished project if it ever comes to a state of completion.

               On another subject; this past Saturday I rode my motorcycle and went to Grandview Texas. This was a 90 mile trip one way and the purpose was to allow Glen to trade some parts with another motorcycle owner. We left Hewitt, TX a little after 7:00am and the temp was 81 degrees. I knew it was going to be a hot ride on the way home so I packed 6 bottles of water, some ice and a Bush’s cup. For the non-Texans, Bush’s is a fast food place that specialize in chicken. They also sell a large glass of ice tea for 32 cents and everyone I know drinks there tea. 

               Once we were out in the country I rechecked the temp and at one point it was 77 degrees, which is just about perfect riding temp. Glen was the lead rider and we only made one miss turn before arriving. The trade was made and the fellow offered to install the rear windshield for Glen. This rear windshield is supposed to keep some of the wind from buffeting the passenger.

               We spent a couple hours at this person’s residence while he installed the item. (Note; Glen took the windshield off and reinstalled it after returning home) It was a little after 11:00am when we started the ride home. Our plan was to stop in Glen Rose, Texas for lunch at the BBQ restaurant. They were closed for vacation! I can’t believe anyone would place their vacation time ahead of my eating pleasure!

               The decision was made to ride to Clifton, TX for lunch since it was on our way home. I loaded my Bush’s cup with water and Ice for the 50 mile ride. The temperature was at 100 when we arrived at the Bunk House in Clifton. I believe we may have enjoyed the air conditioning and ice tea more than the BBQ.

               When we started the last leg of this journey I checked the temperature again and it was indicating 102. I would like to point out that riding a motorcycle in the summer while in Texas is kinda dumb. I was sitting in the sun with a helmet on, long sleeved shirt behind a tall windshield which keeps almost all the wind off me. I was literally baking myself.

               Well that is it for now;

I hope you have a good day and better week.

 

 

Don Ford 

 

I think it was a success.

            Good morning, I hope you enjoyed the weekend. We had a good weekend especially after the garage sale ended.  I should start by saying the sale was much better than expected. I don’t have the exact number of dollars that my wide of 44 years received from the sale but it was much better than I expected. I may have had my one item priced too cheap, as it sole to the first person that looked at it. He asked if it would start and I replied “probably not”. I turned the gas on and the fellow pulled the rope two times and the generator jumped to life. He was sold and I was happy.

            Now, “the rest of the story”; My wife of 44 years and I went to lunch about 2:00pm after shutting down the sale.  We enjoyed a relaxing lunch inside the air conditioned restaurant. After eating and relaxing we went to purchase a new generator. As luck would have it, this item was on sale and they had none in stock.  They said they have a truck coming on Thursday but they were not sure the generator would be on the truck. Item on sale and none in stock, that sounds a little suspicious to me.

            I have an observation about yard sales and it has to do with the type of people that go to these sales.

ü  There is “the person that is looking for certain items that will be resold”. These people arrive alone are in a hurry and often ask do you have a certain item or type of item finding none they turn and leave. These people are usually male.

ü  Another group is people looking for things they actually need like baby clothes or something for their home. These people usually come as couples.

ü  There is the group that enjoy going to garage sales mostly to talk but will purchase something if it catches their eye. These people are mostly older couples and the sale is a social function.

ü  There is the segment that arrives with children. There will often be two adult women and multiple kids. The kids play with the toys and the adults look at everything else. This group needs to be watched closely as some of them (not all) allow the kids to be distractions while the adults take items without paying. Watch the kids too; they might walk off with a toy not knowing it is theft. (I might be a little cynical in the last observation)

            Someone told me these Four-O’clocks only bloomed at 4:00PM. This photo was taken at 6:00 am and as you can see some are in full bloom. At the same time I took the next photo and they were still sleeping. We have 4 plants of the “O’clocks” and they bloom at different times.

I am the “Senior Flowerologists” at the Ford Foundation and I have decided to rename our plants, “O’clocks”, leaving the number off. Our plants now have the freedom that many plants wish they had, and that is “they can bloom when they want to”.

 

I hope you have a flowery day!

 

Don Ford;   Flowerologist extraordinaire  

 

Faster than Greased Lightening

               That statement describes Molly-T, it not only applies to her ability to get out of a door when she isn’t supposed to, but also in several other ways. She has a tendency to attempt to catch flies and other insects at the storm door. It doesn’t make her much difference whether the bug is inside or outside the glass, she attempts to catch them.

               There was a movie named “The Karate Kid”, and in one scene he uses a set of chop sticks to catch a fly.  Even though I may have the ability to catch a fly using chop sticks, most mortals could not come close.

               I digress; the other night I walked into our bed room and observed Molly-T jumping and running all over our bed. It was as if she was possessed, which may be true. I walked closed to see why she was preforming acrobatics on the bed. Then I saw it, a common fly was maneuvering above the bed. After a few more jumps Molly-T dropped to the bed and lay there motionless. She opened her mouth and out came the fly. Yes that is yucky but the fly was still alive. Molly-T immediately pounced on the fly again, not killing it but wanting to continue the play. This capture and release program went on a few minutes until the fly gave up the ghost. 

               Molly-T is a lot of trouble but she is a good bug catcher/killer.

On another subject:

               Why are the weather prognosticators  (AKA weather people) referred to as Meteorologists?

               Meteorologists is defined in part as; 1. The science dealing with the atmosphere and its phenomena, including weather and climate. 2. The atmospheric conditions and weather of an area.

Meteor is defined as; A bright trail or streak that appears in the sky when a meteoroid is heated to incandescence by friction with the earth's atmosphere.

I personally do not see how they came up with that name. It is my considered opinion that these people should be referred to as Weatherologists. The word weather seems to fit with what they do more than Meteor. 

On a different subject:

               The Fords seem to be ready for the upcoming driveway sale even though the sign states Garage Sale. All of our items will be on the driveway and not in the garage. We don’t have a lot this time and there are no other families involved. I have one item in the sale and if I sell it I plan to purchase a new one (new one starts with a battery and has a very quiet muffler). If I don’t sell it that will be ok since it is still works.

On a different subject:

               I plan to ride with the Honda Group this evening as they are going to the Horny Toad. “The horned lizard is popularly called a "horned toad", "horny toad", ... which make it resemble a toad or frog.” There use to be lots of Horny Toads in our area when we first moved here. Over the years they have vanished mostly due to fire ants.  

               The Horny Toad we are going to is in Cranfills Gap, Texas and it is a restaurant of sorts. The locals eat there as it is the only restaurant in the little town, and Bikers from all over like to go there.

 

I will call it quits for now; hope you have an interesting day. 

 

Don Ford

 

Typical summer weekend

Even though it is not officially summer until this Friday (6-21-13) it is already hotter than it should be.

Today is Sunday, it is afternoon and I am inside writing this, rather than outside enjoying fresh air. It is so hot outside that I don’t even want to sit on my rocker near the garage door and watch people drive by. 

My wife of 44 years is planning a garage sale next week. I need to go outside and see if I can use a mister with a fan to cool an area. If you are not familiar with the mister, it sprays out a very fine mist of water when connected to a water hose. This mist will cool the air temp 15 to 20 degrees and the fan might move the cool air enough so that Donna and I can stand it outside during the heat of the day.

On a different subject;

Saturday was a busy day at the Hewitt branch of the Ford Homestead; Donna had decided to continue her thorough cleaning of each room in the house. I on the other hand, was attempting to stay out of her way. The grounds keeper for the Ford Homestead was up early. He took the pickup and trailer and helped David haul off a load of limbs from their home. When he returned to the Homestead David, Gabi and Alex were with him.

They backed the trailer into the back yard and the grounds keeper explained that he would move the trailer to its parking spot using the riding mower. He noted that he could move it without straining using the rider.

It was decided that I would go to “brunch” with Dave, Gabi and Alex, we would make it a father’s day event. Brunch is that time when it isn’t breakfast or lunch. We enjoyed pancakes and other things at the local Ihop. We couldn’t think of anything else we wanted to do so we all returned to our homes.              

We here in Hewitt have had enough rain to keep the grass growing even though we haven’t had any in the last few days. It was decided that the grounds keeper would cut the grass. He started with the front yard hoping that when he finished the front yard the predicted rain would come. As usual he mowed the front yard twice, first on an angle away from the street then in line with the street.

Last week I had words with the fellow that mows the neighbor’s yard about leaving grass in the street after mowing. It seems, in Hewitt there is an ordinance which states the home owner is to not leave grass in the streets or along the curb after mowing. This “paid mowing person” had blown grass into the street and was attempting to spread it out by blowing it toward other people’s property. After we talked he attempted to blow it back into the yard where he had mowed.

When the Ford Homestead grounds keeper finished mowing he was reviewing his work and he noticed the grass looked less manicured than usual. When he went to get the broom to sweep the grass from the curb he noticed that he had the mower set one notch lower than usual. Grounds keepers should not make that type of error; that is what you would expect from an amateur.

It was not raining when he finished the front yard and as a matter of fact the sun was peeking through the clouds. Our grounds keeper decided he should mow the back yard. As usual he used the walk behind mower to get close to the fence and flower beds and then got on the riding mower to mow the bulk of the yard.

After some discussion it was decided to mow the back yard one notch higher than usual. This was a good decision as the yard looks nicer than usual.

On a different subject;

My eye seems to get a little better each day but it is taking longer than I would like. I am still using the eye drop that supposedly caused part of the problem. The drops are for inflammation and I am to use them through the end of this week.

I did get glasses but I was and am hoping that I would not need them for distance vision.

 

I hope you have an interesting and safe week.

 

“The Grounds Keeper”

It rained in Texas

            We, here in Hewitt, Texas have been very fortunate to have received rain almost every time we need it. We have also been blessed by not having severe storms with the rains. Most often rain in Texas is accompanied by lots of wind, lightening and hail.

            Our rains have been arriving as needed most often from half to three quarters of an inch at a time. I was watering the yard the other afternoon because the weather people had said, “no chance of rain”. I was finishing the flowers in the front yard when I noticed the clouds gathering overhead. I knew it would rain which would add to the watering I had done. I went inside and took a shower (yes I do usually go inside for my showers) and was sitting in my recliner enjoying a well-deserved rest, when I heard a sound from outside. What was that sound? It was raining like, “pouring it out of a boot”.

            I thought I would show you some of the results of this frequent rain.

 

“Four o’clocks”, that bloom all day. Some people think they only bloom at 4:00PM.

Grass that isn’t brown and it needs to be mowed weekly.

A pinkish rose standing alone and proud. It isn’t the yellow rose of Texas but it is nice.

 

On a different subject; I have new glasses and it is much easier to see the computer screen which aids me in entering data in for my blog. Possibly I will be at the key board more. Gabi likes to watch the TV here in the computer room which can be a little distracting when typing. 

 

I hope you have a nice cool, happy day.

 

Don Ford

Lost Hamster

               Hamsters are a favorite pet for some kids and Gabi is one of those kids. Yep, Gabi got a new hamster that she named, “Tiger Lilly”. What a name for a little hamster. You may need to know that there is a cat in their house. Cats think of hamsters as lunch.

               They had one of those balls that you place the hamster inside, which allows the rodent to have the run of the house. Tiger Lilly was in the ball having a good time. She ventured into the utility room unattended by a human. A few minutes later they began to look for Tiger Lilly. In the utility room they found an open ball and no Tiger Lilly. Wanting to be sure that Tiger Lilly was gone, they searched the entire house moving furniture and looking into everything.  Not wanting to think the worse (the cat got the hamster) they suggested that the hamster went down the drain and had escaped into the drainage system.

               As you would expect, Gabi and the family were upset at the loss.

               Gabi and her mother went back to the pet store and Gabi was allowed to pick a new hamster. This time she decided on a male hamster and she name him “Steven”. I guess Steven is as good a name as any, for a hamster.

               On a different subject; Gabi graduates from Kindergarten tomorrow. We will go to the graduations ceremonies and we have a gift for her. Several months ago Gabi and I saw a kid riding an electric scooter down the street in front of our house. At that time I told her I would get her one when she graduated from kindergarten. The scooter is sitting in our garage ready to go.

               Back to the original subject; they found Tiger Lilly alive and healthy, after they brought Stephan home. Now they have two hamsters, two cages (boy and girl, they don’t need more hamsters).

 

Have a happy day.

 

Don Ford