Does size matter? Yes. 06.16.14

 

The photo below may not be of a perfect Blackberry, _{(I am not writing about a smart phone)} although it is one of a very few blackberries in the world that could be considered almost perfect.

It is well know that the fertile grounds of, “The Ford Homestead” produce many beautiful flowers and outstanding fruits or vegetables.

I should note that we have eaten the tomato that was featured in a previous posting and it was delicious.

I have placed a ruler next to the blackberry so you can get a sense of the size of the berry. Please ignore the diet coke with ice in the short glass behind the blackberry, it was placed there to hold the ruler in place.

The berry appears to be one and three eights inch from end to end _{(1 3/8”)}. There are many berries on the plants and although the birds are helping themselves to the berries, there are enough that both the human and bird population can share.

 

On a totally different subject: the following photo was taken with my flip phone and I was sitting in the Man Rocker while Molly, “the long tailed cat” lay dangerously close to the rocker’s rocker. Did that make sense?

Before you get upset and call the animal rights people, I did not rock on the cat’s tail.

 

We hope you have a Berry Nice Day.

 

Don Ford

Not Excellent but good 06.14.14

 

This ride started about 10:30am and I was riding alone. I like to ride alone but I like to have other riders with me when I stop for a break or food. Riding alone I do not need to be concerned about the other rider/s, you know, am I going too fast or too slow.

The temp was a mild but sticky 84 degrees. I should note that the humidity was actually higher than the temperature. 

Prior to this ride, I had failed to fill the gas tank on the wing, following my previous ride.

The fact that the power was off for eight hours here at, “The Ford Homestead”, on Friday 13^{th (see previous posting)} cause me to need gas for the generator.

My gold wing serves as my reserve gas for lawn mowers and generator. When it is full I have 7 gallons of gas. I syphoned what I could from the almost empty wing, for the generator, on Friday 13^th.

I filled the tank on the wing this morning prior to this ride ^{(6 gallons)}. The information that the tank was full prior to the ride will be used later ^{(if I don’t forget)}.

Once I was out of town on the smaller country roads, I noticed different smells. Yes there were smells of the cattle lot as I passed but also smells of mold or mildew. I also smelled fresh cut grass or possibly hay. There was more fresh air than odd smells.

There was a couple cool spots when I dropped off a big hill or as I rode past a large tank. The tank or lake was large enough to affect the air temp but not what I would call a large lake.

            At one point in the ride, I was on a straight road and I observed a buzzard having lunch. I honked my horn a couple times as I approached, not wanting this bird to fly into my windshield. This buzzard flew in the same direction I was going. As I rode under him I could see part of his lunch hanging from his beak.

            As I rounded another corner I scared up another buzzard along with a large hawk or possibly an eagle. The hawk or eagle was as large as the buzzard but it had brown feathers and its tail feathers were white. 

            Most of the ride was uneventful, enjoyable and quite relaxing.

            I arrived at the Bunk House a few minutes after high noon.  The parking lot was almost empty, possibly 4 vehicles park there.

I parked near the building ^{(in my usual spot)}, hung the helmet on the bike and placed my gloves and long sleeved shirt in the trunk. The long sleeved shirt is used to keep the sun off my arms when I ride.

After entering the building, one walks up a ramp built for handicapped people and seasoned bikers like me.

I ordered my food and drink and sat down at the table.

The normal process after ordering food and drink is fill your glass with ice and your choice of drink, pick a table that allows one to see most of the customers and be seated.

When your food is ready someone will bring your food to you, usually this person calls out the number on your ticket, you raise your hand and the food is brought to your table.

I looked at my ticket and it was number 13. That would have seemed ominous if it were yesterday ^{(Friday 13th)}.

 

Side note; I learned a day late that Friday 13^th was a biker friend’s birthday. Wayne was 29 _(plus) again. 

            Lunch was good and the tea was very refreshing. I sat there a few minutes after completing the meal, just observing the clientele. Most were either red necks like me, farmers or ranchers.

            I refilled my glass with ice and tea and headed out to the bike.

As I walked to my Honda a group of Harley riders came onto the parking lot. They dismounted their bikes and milled around _{(most were looking for their smart phones to see if they had received a text message during their ride)}.

As one of the Harley riders was walking past me toward the door, I said to him, “it don’t seem fair”.

He asked, “What’s that”?

I replied, “One Honda rider against 20 Harley riders”.

He laughed and said, “There are only 16 Harley riders, does that make if better”?

He then noted that he has owned two Honda Gold Wings prior to this Harley and he thought the Wings were much more reliable than a Harley. I didn’t argue. 

Evidently these Harley riders were all hungry, they just walked past me looking at their phones and did not throw any rocks. 

 

Having filled my belly, I headed for home.

I decided to fill the tank on the wing so I would have reserve gas at the house if needed.

My fun ride to lunch and back cost me $20.00 for food and gas, not counting the $18.00 of gas I put into the bike at the start of the ride. 

                      

Everything cost money except sitting on my Man Rocker, _{and that cost money too if it is happy hour.}

 

Different topic: our first tomato from the small garden.

 

Have a good day.

Don Ford

 

 

Friday, the 13th 06.13.14

 

It all seems to have started about 1 minute after midnight, Friday 13^th, 2014. My first wife came to bed about 12:02 and woke me as she got into bed. She noted that it had been raining, “like pouring it out of a boot”. This caused me to listen and there was much loud thunder indicating lightening in the area. I reached for the remote and turned the TV on to see what the storm situation was. The storms had appeared to be south of us when I went to sleep, earlier that night.

                The TV weather indicated a large storm with lots of lightening covering Waco Hewitt and other surrounding towns. I decided to get up and look outside. The back yard looked like a pond ^{(tank in Texas vernacular)}. I went to the front door and the street appeared to be a river at flood stage.

                About 12:30 the lightning was subsiding, that is when, “the power went off”. I got a flash light and worked my way into the garage where I keep a battery powered lantern. I had not charged it in over a year. I was pleasantly surprised, the lantern worked. I set it up in the bed room as a night light and I crawled back into bed.

                At some point during the night I thought about not knowing what time it was. I retrieved my cell phone, set the alarm to go off at 6:00am just in case I was to over sleep. The phone was placed by the bed.

                I woke before the phone alarm went off and rolled out of bed. Knowing the power had been off for 6 hours. I decided to get the generator from the shed and power the fridge and deep freeze.

                What was the first thing I saw when I walked out into the dark world? It was a,                  “Full Moon”. 

 

Think of this; a full moon, Friday the 13^th, major storm, 4.5 inches of rain, and a power outage. Was it a coincidence or does Friday the 13^th have something to do with it?

                The ground was very wet and somewhat difficult to pull the 100 pound generator through the grass. Once the generator was on the driveway, I started the generator and ran a couple extension cords to the fridge and deepfreeze.

                My spouse and I sat outside waiting for the power to come back on. One thing the power outage accomplished, it got several of the neighbors outside talking to each other.

                                                                                                                                   

I hope your Friday the 13^th is    

 

Don Ford

^{I would have finished the last line but I was negatively influenced by Friday 13th.}

What's next, a lion 06.12.14

                Some of you know that a full grown deer, a buck with horns, ran through the front yard one morning as I stood there coffee in hand, amazed. We have seen Turkeys in the tree at a neighbor’s house, there were horny toads and roadrunners here when we first moved in.

                Yesterday morning as I sat in my favorite man-rocker, sipping on a delicious cup of coffee when I was surprised and startled by a big hawk chasing birds. This hawk was diving after a bird when he/she flew within 15 feet of me. It happens so fast that I could not have gotten a photo even if I had a camera in my hand. It was not a small red tail hawk, it was large and fast.

                Later in the day, after taking two naps, I had decided to mow the front yard. I mowed as usual, first in one direction, then I re-mowed in another direction. I believe this extra time put into grooming the yard helps make it look manicured. I did make one mistake while mowing, I was going to mow one notch higher but I forgot to raise the mower.

                Once I had finished mowing, I took the leaf blower and blew the grass off the drive and from the street back into the yard. I was approaching the neighbors drive when I saw it. It was a snake, about 4 foot long, crossing the street. It was coming to our side of the street.

                I checked to be sure it was not a rattler, and it wasn’t. I called my present spouse to bring the camera. I then called the animal control office. He removed the rat snake.

                So what’s next, a lion?  

 

Have a surprise free day.

 

Don Ford

               

Ghost or poltergeist? 06.09.14

 

In traditional belief, a ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear, in visible form or other manifestation, to the living.

In folklore and parapsychology, a poltergeist is a type of ghost or other supernatural being supposedly responsible for physical disturbances such as loud noises and objects moved around or destroyed. Most accounts of poltergeists describe movement or levitation of objects, such as furniture and cutlery, or noises such as knocking on doors.

            The other morning just before 6:00am I was in the kitchen getting ready to prepare my morning repast ^(breakfast) of cereal, when I heard a noise at my computer.

Under each of my computers I have fans that are powered by the computer. These fans are there to help cool the computer and only run when the computer is turned on. These fans are rather noisy when they first come on.

One of the fans came on and ran for about 6 seconds. I walked in to see if I had left something on, neither computer was on.

I have a small battery powered clock in the computer room and it was off by about 20 minutes one day. The clock was running, the second hand was moving at the correct speed. I reset the clock to the correct time and the next day it was off by 3 hours. The clock was still running and the second hand was moving at the expected speed. The clock has stayed on tome since…

I found a beat up old penny on the drive way where I have swept many times. There was no logical reason for the penny to be there.

A few days later I noticed something in the flower bed next to my, “Man Rocker”. ^{(I have decided to call my rocking chair a, “Man Rocker” as it sounds more masculine.)} It was a very old and worn penny. I could not see any marking on the head side of the coin, I could faintly see the tell side of the coin.

A couple days later, laying in front of my, “Man Rocker” I found and old rusty screw. There was no reason for this old rusty screw to be there. ^{(See screw photo below)}

Either someone is playing a trick on this senior citizen, or there is a ghost or poltergeist trying to tell me something. 

I am betting on a poltergeist since they make noise and move things around.

 

I hope all your spirits do not come from a bottle.

 

Don Ford

As big as my Thumb 06.05.14

 

            Yes, it is true, things are bigger in Texas. 

I have also heard that things go better with Coke. 

What I don’t know is, “what things go better with what kind of Coke”.

 

I digress; what is as big as my thumb?

Get your mind out of the gutter, I can’t believe the thoughts that flash into your head.

 

I have a photo of my thumb that I will post below.

I don’t think my thumb is that unusual?

To be open and honest with you, and to stop your imagination from running away, I will show my entire hand in a photo below and you will be able to see what I have displayed.

 Recent studies have shown that only 20 of these berries are needed to make a cobbler. The problem is keeping the birds away from these huge berries.

 There are two blackberry vines at, “The Ford Homestead Gardens” and one produces large berries as seen in the photo above. This one berry was large enough for Alex and me both to have a bite.

            Alex considers the blackberries as his garden while he considers the onion patch to be his sisters.

            Gabi graduates from the 1^st grade today. This is the last day of this school year.

I have explained to both Gabi and Alex that they will be required to work this summer, doing such tasks as washing dishes, vacuuming, mopping and mowing the yard. This will allow my present wife and me to take well deserved naps during the day.

Does Gabi know how to drive the mower? See the photo below and you will have the answer.

 The motor stopped a couple times while Gabi was driving, finally I remembered that the seat has a shut off switch and if Gabi raised up just a little it would shut off. Once I remembered, I explained to Gabi if she needed to stop just raise up off the seat. ^{(She was not mowing, just driving the mower, and I was close by)}

 

I hope your summer vacation is… 

 

Don Ford

Stalking is illegal in some situations 06.03.14

 

 

            Heck with all the seemingly illegal things that some political figures do, why would stalking be illegal?

            First, I want to go on record as saying, “I am not now nor have I ever stalked in an illegal manner”.

            As Alex and I were enjoying the shade behind, “The Ford Homestead”, I was contemplating the noon day sun and how it would provide the power through my solar panels to charge the battery in the shed.

It was then that I thought about the small solar charger that I had laid on the hood of my present spouse’ vehicle, to collect some sun light which charges the unit. The unit can then be used to charge other devices like cell phones.

Since my spouse’ vehicle was gone I wondered where my small charger had been placed. I searched the garage and office space to no avail. I asked my first wife if she had laid the unit somewhere and she had not.

My assumption; my spouse of 45 years drove off with the unit on the hood of the vehicle and it is permanently lost.

Back to my original thought, “Stalking”. As I said, Alex and I were enjoying the early summer like heat in the back yard and I was attempting to reacquaint myself with an old camera. This camera has a telephoto lens so I can’t get too close when taking a photo. The automatic focus on the short lens stopped working, but the telephoto sill works.

It is common knowledge that I, am an excellent shutterbug so working with a telephoto lens is no big deal.

As I stood there, camera in hand, I saw a squirrel run across the roof at the back of the house. I was wondering where he/she was planning to go, as there is no tree at that end of the house. This squirrel jumped from the roof into a bush.

Molly, our attack cat, was observing the same squirrel as she ran to the bottom of the same bush. She stood there like a statue, as she stalked the squirrel.

My thoughts, as I was aiming the camera were, we will see Molly with a squirrel sandwich in a minute. The squirrel made a good decision and stopped at the top of the bush, briefly surveyed the situation, and jumped back to the top of the house.

In the photo below we see, Molly the stalker, observing the squirrel, but not moving.

            Someone asked, why should the squirrel be worried about a cat, possibly the following photos can answer that question.

 She has no fear of climbing and;

she can conceal herself fairly well.

 

If you are out on a limb, don’t use a saw. 

 

Don Ford

Appreciate your blessings and you make room for more. 06.01.14

 

Even though I am very thankful for the many blessings I have received throughout my life, this article is not an original thought of mine. I saw part of a TV show which I totally agree with and I decided to attempt to express the thought.   

The fellow on TV said, when you are grateful for the good things in your life you open yourself up to receive more goodness. He said he was referring to God and blessings from God but he did not want to turn anyone off so he would use the word Nature.

He use an example saying; if you had two houses that needed some repair and you gave the two houses to two families.

When the first family visited they always complained about the roof leaking, a plumbing problem, the yard is too small and so on. They were not happy and did not appreciate what they had.

When the second family visited they were happy that they had a roof over their head, a porch to sit on and a yard to play in. They appreciated what they have.

If you acquired a third house and it was in excellent condition which family would you give it to?

The family that did not appreciate what they have would find things to complain about in the new house.

The family that appreciated what they already have would be more thankful and appreciative of an even better house. You would naturally help the family that was appreciative.

I believe the Lord will bless those who are thankful for what they have.

I think we should be positive about all parts of our life. When you think in a positive manner you will knowingly or not, work towards those positive thoughts.

Having faith and being positive are basically the same thing. Good things happen when, “you have faith”, and or, “think positive”.

 

Have a positive day.

 

Don Ford