More things 06/12/2019

            Well let’s see, what happened Monday. It was supposed to be a cool, cloudy, and a windy day. It was cool that morning, and it was windy all day, but the clouds left about half way through the day. I did get a bunch of the weeds and grass out of the old black berry patch. I did not get to the new patch. Donna cut some dead rose bushes and other unwanted plants.

            I re-hung one of Donna’s things, I don’t know what it is called but it has all new rope. We worked in the yard a lot today since the weather is cooler than normal. I noticed that the ground appeared to be dry, as there are crack starting to show up. I decided to allow the sprinkler system in the front yard to run on schedule Tuesday morning. The sprinkler system waters the flowers, so I don’t have to drag out the hose and do it manually.

            The sprinklers in the back yard are not what we expected. If I would have known more about sprinkler systems when they were installed, it would have been done differently. I have a plan to install an above ground sprinkler system in the flower beds along the back of the house.

            I know there is someone saying, you can’t install an above ground sprinkler system it would look awful! I now have an above ground system installed in an area about 40 x 8 feet. It works as well as any professionally installed system (definition of professional, they are paid for working and that makes them pros, it does not make them proficient at their job)! My above ground system is only seen when it is spraying water, the system can be camouflaged.

            My plan would be to rework the present above ground system, and add about 50 more feet of pipe. The new system would water the flower beds and about eight feet of grass along the front of the beds. Non-Charitable Donations will be accepted, they should be sent as gift cards of $500 to the Fords Homestead, identified as “For the new sprinkler system”.

            If I get the planned above ground sprinklers installed, I will have spent less than $50.00, that is, if I don’t have to go to one of those hardware stores.

            I did get a photo of a flower out on the back 40. Click to exaggerate.

                                               

            I now have two homes to keep an eye on during the absence of the families who live there. One of the homes has a little frog. I check the water every day, and every other day I feed Francis the Frog.

            I was calling the Frog Frank, until I was told that he, is a she. Anyway, Francis likes little worms. I take a little worm from the worm box, yes there is a worm box, and put it in with Francis, if the worm is moving, Francis will eat the worm, if the worm is laying still, she does not ingest said worm.

            We are supposed to get the flooring for the fords ole office today. When we get the flooring we are supposed to call the installer. It would be nice to get the floor replaced in the Ford’s so-called office. I would like to have my desk and the rest of my items back in place.

            You should feel sorry for me, I am not only off my normal schedule, I don’t have the security of my ole office area. Heck, this morning I did not get out of bed until 6:00 am. I haven’t slept that late in years. Tres and Charlie were also sleeping! What is going on?

I need a cup of coffee, gota go!

May you stay on schedule and your surroundings be unchanged!

Unscheduled senior person; Don Ford    

           

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Give me a hand 06/10/2019

            Give me a hand he called out, he was waste deep in mud, and was not able to get out on his own. Is this quicksand, he thought? It is like a giant vacuum pulling me down. Help me, give me a hand…

            Now that I have your attention, this posting has nothing to do with mud or quicksand! It does have a photo of my hand, taken by me early one morning.

            It was early, as he walked briskly toward the front door. As usual, the great dog Tres excitedly preceded him to the door. The sun was low over the horizon, the front of the Ford’s homestead was covered with that wonderful morning sun light. As he approached the door he noticed, a single ray of light coming through the peep hole. He placed his hand in front of the hole and, “There was light”, a wonderful color filled light. He had always heard that there was a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, is this man made of gold?     Photo of the light below.

                                   

            This is not the best photo, but in real life the light circle was multi colored, looking like a round rainbow, on his hand.

            Give me a hand is in reference to helping others, such as keeping an eye on their homes when they are out of town. This is something that we here in this neighborhood do for our friends. It seems as if I have two houses to keep an eye on this week. It is good to be needed.

            Changing the subject;

            Apophenia, is the human tendency to perceive meaningful patterns within random data. Can be thought of as the, "unmotivated seeing of connections" accompanied by a "specific experience of an abnormal meaningfulness".       In other words, if a person looks at a cloud and sees a bunny or some other thing in the cloud, that is apophenia. I am good at apophenia!

            My grandson Alex went fishing and would you believe, he caught a 20 pound open mouth bass! The open mouth bass is very rare, and seldom caught. Alex caught one and I have a photo to prove it.     Prepare to be amazed.            Click on the photo and see the truth.

                                               

                                   

            As one can see, I have again told a story that is not only interesting, it is definitely filled with sometimes believable, interpretations.

            On a different subject, one of my security cameras stopped working. I ordered a replacement and when I removed the old camera and replaced it with the new one, it would not work either. I then took both the old and new cameras and hooked them in to the wires of a working camera. Both cameras work! I have determined that the wire is bad. I have now ordered a new wire. I like all the cameras to be working.

            Sunday, I mowed the front yard (no I did not manicure it) and started on the back yard. I was able to get about half of the back yard mowed before the rain came. It rained just enough to make me stop mowing. I should be able to finish the rest of the back 40 today, if the rain stays away.

            You didn’t ask, so I will enlighten. The black berries are still producing with many red berries ready to turn black.

I hope your weekend was as good as ours!

Rested and happy; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Floral Bouquet for you 06/07/2019

            As I was sitting outside talking with a neighbor, my first wife came out to tell me something. While she was sharing the information, she noticed a group of roses that appeared to be a bouquet. I decided to take a photo so you could have a bouquet today!

                                               

            Enjoy your bouquet, and enjoy Friday.

            We have harvested over a gallon of black berries from the small group of bushes. In the following photo you may see a few of the harvested items.

                                   

            Yes, our ruler is not a full foot long. Retired senior people can’t afford all the niceties that the wealthy people have.

Keep working and you will have nice things!

Black berry harvesting senior; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Evidence 06/06/2019

Evidence                06/06/2019

            They say, “A photo is worth a thousand words”. I would like to present you with a thousand words about the photo below, but I will only use a few words.

                                   

            In the photo, one can see the brown wooden cover. I call it a cover as I plan to use it to cover the Ford’s ole security camera video recorder. It will sit on the desk out of the way and I can set other items on top the cover. I made the cover from pieces of junk wood I found in the shed. I did stain the wood and used glue instead of nails to attach the pieces together. I plan to varnish it hopefully making it nicer.

            For that one person who is observant, you will know that my desk is still in the garage. There are a few walking sticks next to the desk, ole people need to use walking sticks. If you were very observant, you would notice the wheel chair in front of the desk. A wheel chair makes it easier to move around at the desk. If you click on the photo you will see many more items.

This was not a thousand words, it was 213 words.

Senior scrap wood artist; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

WOW, it was free? 06/05/2019

            You are right, here comes another bunch of BS from the Ford. You know, I shouldn’t even tell my story to someone with that attitude. You don’t know how hurtful it is when a so-called friend has that kind of attitude about me. I think I will take a break and dry the tears from my eyes.                        BS could stand for beautiful story!

            I am back, I had a cup of coffee and I feel much better now. I have a couple topics for today’s sermon, I will start off with the fact it rained today. We actually needed this rain, it is one of those slow easy rains, you know the kind I speak of, it is also known to some of us as a Missouri rain. This kind of rain is light to moderate at times, there is no run off, and it last the whole day. I took the Alex to Cub Scout camp, and left him there in the rain.

            When I returned to Hewitt I went to the dentists for a cleaning. The young lady who cleans my teeth is a talker, and when she came to the lobby to get me I told her I almost canceled this visit. She looked surprised and asked why! I said it is raining! Everyone knows sugar melts in the rain. The other lady who sits behind the desk chimed in saying, at least you don’t float! I laughed, and said your right. I know what at least you don’t float means, but I will not go into that now.

            I got in the chair and she said you are due for x-rays. I have found that is just another way to get money from us customers. The x-rays and cleaning complete, the dentists came in and did a quick check. I was happy that they didn’t want to do any drilling today. The young lady walked me up to the desk and said I will not see you in 6 months, I ask why and she said, I am pregnant! I asked if she knew how getting pregnant happens, she said she did.            I guess I should have said congratulations!

            The lady behind the desk said there was no charge. No Charge I asked, I was very surprised at that comment! She said, your insurance will cover it.         WOW, it was free!             Wow I have insurance.

            Yep, that kind of made my day!

            I observed something today that I had never seen before. As I sat in the garage with the door up, Tres was laying in front of the fan, the rain was light but steady, I saw a sparrow, that is a small bird in case you didn’t know, fly over to a small table that sits next to the ole rocker on the driveway. This little bird had something in its mouth, which it lay on the table, and then the bird flew away. I was seated several feet away and could not see what was laying there. I thought, if this bird had a bug and was taking it to its nest for the babies, why did he leave it there? After a few minutes I went over to the small table. Lying on the table was not a bug, it was bird poop. I believe the bird was cleaning out the bird house. Why didn’t he /she just drop it outside the birdhouse door? Why did he /she carry it to the table?

            Prior to the rain I did take a couple photos that I will share with you.

                       

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Thanks for reading this observational posting!

Senior observer: Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

In the lead again 06/04/2019

         I am feeling good as I once again have jumped into the lead. This morning after getting Alex off to the Cub Scout day camp, I returned to the ford homestead and mowed the front yard. Seeing me mowing must have inspired the neighbors to get out and mow their yards.

            I want to be truthful so I must confess, the neighbors on both sides of the homestead mowed yesterday. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so everyone is trying to get it done before the rains return. Another fact, both men that live on either side of us, the two people who mowed their yards yesterday, are named Steve.

            I mowed the yard from the street to the house and back, all in straight lines. I was hoping that it would look nice and I would not need to manicure the yard today. It did not look good, so I went over the yard a second time going from left to right. Now it looks good!

            I had lunch and took my usual nap. Rising from the ole recliner I went to the back yard and planted a flower for my first wife. Then I transplanted two black berries, hopefully they will grow. I then watered most of the flowers in the back yard. Being very observant, I noticed that Tres had made deposits several places in the back 40, I then retrieved said deposits and place them in the trash can.

            I have a small wood project going on so I had to get the table saw out and cut a few boards. I need to stain these boards and then find a way to put them together. 

            I went and picked up Alex from scout camp, he says he had a great day. He has a baby frog that he caught at the camp.

            Lucky me, I get to go to the dentists tomorrow for a cleaning.

            Retirement does not mean you no longer work, it just means you don’t get paid for working.

            Well I guess that is it for now, I think I will go do some staining.

 

If it weren’t for happy hour, what would retired people do?

 

Senior fellow at the Ford Homestead; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

The Glair Factor 06/03/2019

            Today I have a slightly different schedule. I did take the ALEX to his Cub Scout day camp. He was super excited to be going to this camp. We got him logged in, and when we drop him off tomorrow he now knows where to go to get the day started.

            Gabi is here at the Ford homestead, she will be going to lunch today with Donna. One of Donna’s friends is having a birthday, (should birthdays count when the person is 70 or older) and that is the reason for the lunch date. Was I invited?             Nope!

            Observation:

            This morning, as I sat on the Fords ole rocking chair, located on the drive way, I observed something that you have not observed. Yes, once again I am here to help you understand things, which most normal, and non-normal people, have no idea exists.

            When I ventured outside with a cup of coffee in hand, I knew that the early morning sun rise would be in my ole senior, and may I say delicate eyes. I also knew that if I positioned the rocking chair in the correct location, our small pecan tree would block the sun. Chair situated, small table moved so it was next to the chair, I sat down.

            I immediately noticed that things were different today, there was a haze or light cloud on the horizon. The small pecan tree on a clear day will block the rising sun but not when there is a haze. The bright light from the sun shining through the haze or light clouds, is magnified (than means enlarged) which basically increased the size of the sun by a factor of 3.72.

            So what would normally be behind the 8 inch pecan tree, is now showing all around the tree. Heck, I don’t think I even got to enjoy my coffee.

            For a complete report on, “The Glair Factor”, as we are now calling it, send your request to, “The Ford Foundation for description and explanation of, The Glair Factor”. Please enclose a check or cash, in the amount of $35.00 or more!             Allow 7 years for delivery.

            I need to go now, the black berries need to be harvested. We believe either squirrels or rabbits have been harvesting some of the lower berries. 

Avoid The Glair Factor, look the other way!

Senior reporter and Glair-ologists consultant; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com

Nothing to do 06/01/2019

            Today is Saturday, another day with nothing for me to do. It will likely be the same as yesterday, eat lunch and do very little the rest of the day. Rest filled Fridays are so nice!

            First it didn’t seem like a Friday because the grand kids are out of school, so our schedule changed. Then the grand kids were not at our home as they went to the other grandparents’ house.

            Early Friday morning, Tres and I decided to take some shirts and pants to the cleaners. While on the way we would stop at the teller machine to get enough money for coffee, and then head for the coffee shop. We then returned home.

            Since I had nothing to do, I decided to do a little touch up painting in the Ford’s ole office. It was too hot to do any work outside, so I ate lunch and took a well-deserved nap.

            After the nap I popped up out of the chair and headed for the back yard. I needed to change the oil in the Ford’s ole generator. I knew the generator still had some gas in it from David’s use when their power was out.

            I removed the generator from the shed and that isn’t easy as it weighs 100 pounds. I started the generator and decided to let it run out of gas, then I would change the oil. After about half an hour of running, with no sign of stopping, I decided to get the string trimmer out and trim the grass from around everything in the back yard. This took about 45 minutes.

            The generator was still running when I completer the trimming, it runs a lot longer when it doesn’t have a load.

            Even though it was hot, I decided to get the Ford’s ole riding mower and mow the back yard. The mowing took about 30 minutes and when I finished the generator had stopped running.

            I put a pan under the drain plug and removed the plug. After about 10 minutes I replace the plug and added the fresh oil to the generator. It was a real task for an ole retired senior person to pull the 100 pound generator up the ramp into the ole shed, but I did it.

            All tools put away, I decided to have a cold drink and that is when my favorite wife call me to supper. No cold drink for me.

 

As you can see, nothing to do but rest all day!

 

Senior person of rest; Don Ford

Virus-free. www.avg.com