Dog gone it 03/08/2021

            We have had a problem with one of the neighbor’s dogs getting out lately. They have two dogs and they get out too often. Saturday, they came at me in my drive way, I got a club and stood my ground, as they barked and snarled at me. Then I decided the club might not be heavy enough so I grabbed a baseball bat. I would have hit one if one got close enough.

            This morning I raised the garage door a little to allow the cats to go in and out. Tres began barking under the door and then the neighbor’s dogs were trying to get under the door, trying to attack Tres. I got Tres away, and shut the door. I put Tres in the back yard and I grabbed the baseball bat, as I needed to move the trash cart to the curb. Bat in hand, I took the cart to the street. The dogs came running at me, and I was ready to literally take one or both of their heads off. They were very aggressive but they stayed about 6 feet away. I did not get to hit either one.

            Another neighbor saw the event and sent me a Text. He also carries a walking stick (AKA club) with him when he goes out to get the morning paper, due to those dogs.

            As I now see it, I can’t take my dog out with me to get the morning paper due to the neighbor’s dogs possibly getting out, and I will need to carry a bat. Also, I may not be able to walk my dog up the street due to the possibility of the dogs getting out. I plan to talk with the owner today.

 

            The grand kids are supposed to be here for the next few days as spring break has begun.

 

            We hope to get our second shot this Friday, we are waiting for the call for a schedule time to arrive.

 

Stay safe, wear a mask, carry a bat!

 

Senior retired person who may get to hit a home run, Don the Ford

Sunday Morning Post 03/07/2021

            Our cat Charlie returned last night. Charlie left on Friday morning about 5:30, which is normal for both cats. Molley came back in that morning but Charlie did not. Charlie was gone all day and night Friday, and all-day Saturday. Saturday evening about 7:00pm I opened the door to go into the garage and Charlie came in. He does not appear to have been hurt, but he was hungry.

            Oddly, this morning (Sunday) Charlie did not go out with Molley. Charlie seems to be happy to be here in our house. I have the feeling that Charlie had gotten into someone’s garage, shed, or vehicle and was unable to get out. He has been fixed, so I am sure he doesn’t have a girlfriend. 

 

            I was able to butcher the vegetation in the back 40 yesterday, and most of the yard looks renewed. There are two cacti that look bad. One is dead, the other is hurt. I will also need to address the dead flowers in the hot house.

 

            OK, I now need to go rest my ole body after all this data entry, ole fingers get tired.

 

Bless others, wear a mask!

 

Senior retired person, who plans to be nice today, Don the Ford

Saturday, my day off 03/06/2021

            Yes, Saturday and every other day are my days off. Most real people think I have been off, mentally, most of my life.

            I did get a bunch of the back yard vegetation properly butchered yesterday. A lot of the vegetation has been butchered, whether it was done properly or not, will be learned later when everything begins to grow.

            If my ole senior body allows me, I may get back out there and attempt to finish the project today. I did review and water the flowers in the Fords so-called hot house. Most of the flowers are dead or partially dead. A neighbor noted that he lost flowers to the cold, and he was also using a heat lamp.

            The last time we saw our cat Charlie was yesterday morning when we let him and Molly out. Not sure what has happened or where he may be. My favorite wife is walking down the street looking for him. I went to the ole shed and checked to be sure I had not locked him up in it, as the door was open a lot yesterday. He could be hurt, he could be locked in someone’s garage, he is friendly, so someone may have taken him. 

 

Charlie, where are you?

 

Senior workaholic and coffee connoisseur, Don the Ford  

Happy what? 03/05/2021

            As I had noted in an earlier posting, Alex, my favorite grandson's birthday was Thursday the 4^th, of March. I picked him up after school yesterday afternoon and since it was his birthday, I begin to sing to him, "Happy Thursday to you, happy Thursday to you, Happy Thursday dear Alex, happy Thursday to you"!

            Alex gave me the look and said, "It is Birthday not Thursday". I then countered with, "Could we both be correct"? I again got the look from Alex. I then noted, "It is your birthday so you are correct, it is also Thursday so I am correct'.

            It is nice when silly grandpa and Alex can both have differing opinions, and yet both be correct. 

 

            Later at the homestead Thursday afternoon, I went to the back 40 and resumed vegetation removal. Alex came out and helped me. It is always nice when a young person helps a senior retired person. I still have a lot of work to do in the back 40, I know I will not get done today.

 

            My present spouse has been using the right hand (remember, she had a broken bone in her wrist) and she is now able to do anything she wants. Today she plans to go to town, alone, and do some shopping. 😊    Now one should consider, when she goes to town alone, that means her first, but maybe not her favorite husband, is left at home alone! 😐

            Yesterday as I was working on the vegetation removal, I could hear several lawn mowers running. Now I have a few weeds in the yard but not enough to get the mower out and try to mow, although I am considering getting the walk behind mower out and vacuuming up the leaves that I have raked out of a flower bed.

            Now that my mind is working, maybe I will take some or all the leaves to the black berry beds and deposit them there. The leaves help keep in moister and also help retard the growth of weeds.             Wow, I am thinking! 😊

 

            I will be so happy to get my second virus shot, I plan to wait 2 weeks after receiving said shot, and then I plan to go to the hair removal place, and get my extra-long and kind of wooly, hair removed!

Be nice to others, wear a mask!

Senior mask-ologist and almost nice guy, who will be home alone today, Don the Ford

Thoughts, do I have them? 03/04/2021

            I do have a couple thoughts, they will not be interesting to you, the reading public, but I will post them anyway, as I care about them!

            In 8 days, we are scheduled to get our second shot! No, not an adult beverage shot, although that would be ok, a virus prevention shot. Why do I even try to enlighten the reading public, when you ask questions like that?

            I believe I have completed the hard part of the yard work in the front yard. A couple minor items and I will proceed to the back 40, where there is an enormous amount of yard work.

              Speaking of the back 40, I have two photos of the black berries. First a look at the number two area, the vines look very poor, almost dead. A closer look reveals that the vines are starting to produce green leaves. That is a positive sign.

           

                                    

            My first spouse and I plan to go to the store today to get some items for the homestead.

            My wife of more then half a century plans to venture forth from the homestead tomorrow, driving herself. This will be the first time she has driven in about 8 weeks.

            My favorite grandson (he is my only grandson) has a birthday today. He will be 11 years old. I will sing happy birthday to him when I pick him up from school this afternoon.

                                               

            The flags were flying at the Homestead yesterday!

Use your own guide lines, stay safe!

Senior retired person with a lot to do today, Don the Ford

Grounds keeper 03/03/2021

            For that one non-believer, and we all know who you are, I did work my poor little ole body, ok my large ole body, yesterday afternoon, until it was worn out. Heck I was almost not able to drag my large body back into the homestead after working, but surprisingly enough, I was able to mix an adult beverage, as a way to revive my poor ole retired person’s body.

            I attached a photo of me on yesterday’s posting, and I had a comment from my present wife that it was all dark, and she could not see anything. I explained to her that her phone did not have a bright enough screen to properly display said photo. I will attempt to display a different selfie of me taken this morning in the bright morning sun light, the reflection in the Ford’s ole Chevy window is brighter than the photo yesterday. 

`                                  

            One should look at me in the selfie, and not the flag pole or the antennas. Try to stay focused on me, it makes me happy to be in your focus!

            I do plan to continue working in the yard today as there is still plenty that needs to be done.

            The governor of this state is allowing all businesses to reopen. He also has removed the mask mandate as of next Wednesday. Personally, I think the businesses should be open but I don’t think removing the mask mandate is a good idea, at least not yet. Too many businesses will not require the masks, and there will be tons of people not wearing them. I suggest we should do our best to avoid all business that do not require them, and of course we should continue to wear them.

Politicians, should have brains!

Senior person who will continue to wear a mask, Don the Ford

Odd or not? 03/02/2021

            With a title like we see above, at least for those of you who read the title line, it is an odd title. As all of you in the reading public know, this “Author” is not only silly grandpa, but I am a very odd creator of word documents. Wow, I am an Author!

            For some reason I have had my Echo dot on, playing old 50s music while the TV was on. Yep, I was listening and not looking! Why did I have both of them on, it is a habit?

            Now I may be a 60s kid, but my brother Jack who was a musician was a 50s kid, so I got a lot of the 50s and 60s music! As I write this, they are playing Lollipop. If you don’t know that ole song, then you are young and weren’t there, or, you never had fun as a youngster.

            Anyway, this odd person decided to take a selfie in an odd way. Before that one person asks, the odd way was, I took the selfie as a reflection of me in the Ford’s ole van window. Yes, I will show you the photo. When you get old and have nothing to do because it is raining outside, we did get an inch of needed rain, you look for things to do, even if they are a little, or very odd!

                                               

            Before you say it, yes, it is possibly the best photo of me ever taken!

            I was going through some things in the garage and I have a very nice and also expensive, leather jacket that I wore when I use to ride. I wish I knew a biker who needed a very good leather jacket, and had a few dollars to spend. 

            My favorite wife has a doctor’s appointment today, it is one of those annual exams that females participate in. After the doctor’s exam, and a visit to a store, then a sandwich from some where in Waco, I plan to return to the Homestead and begin butchering more of the vegetation.

            I had a problem with the star coffee web site, I could check the balance of my Gold card, but I could not add to it. After several attempts, you know how us ole people are, we want to fix things ourselves, I finally gave in and called the coffee people. A nice lady helped me get things back to normal. I did learn that Gold card ended 2 years ago, now days everyone is a Gold member. Most people use the app on their somewhat smart phones, which I never intend to do.

            I noticed the sun shining on one of my monitors, so I captured a photo. Note, the photo is not as clear as what I can see from my seat here at the computer. For some reason, my camera gets a bunch of lines in the photo that are not seen on the monitor.

                                               

            It is going to be a sunny day; hope you enjoy it!

May your day be filled with me, I mean happiness! 

 

Senior retired person who is happy to be a live and blessed in many ways, Don the Ford

                       

Yesterday, today is 03/01/2021

            The day before today, which is known to some as yesterday, Tres and I took a short walk. During this walk we first heard a couple crows calling to each other. One would call out three times, then the other would call out four times. As this process continued, I became aware of the direction of the two crows. As we walked, we came to a point where we could see both crows, and they were each one on the highest branch of two trees, and the trees were about 150 feet apart.

They were on such small branches of these two trees, I found it difficult to believe the little branches would hold them. I assume one of the crows was saying to the other crow, “You better stay away from my girlfriend”! I could be wrong, and they may have been trying to mark or at least identify their territory.

            My friend Tres and I continued our walking, and it became apparent that the leaves from the Live Oaks were coming off. Were there was a Live Oak the ground and street were covered, and this was occurring at all the live oaks. This is very unusual, as the Live Oaks stay green all year round. I assume that the long period of cold weather, and the night of 1 degree temp, froze the leaves. I wonder, did the cold weather hurt the trees, or just the leaves? When we returned to the homestead Tres and I went to the back 40 and I removed all the deposits that Tres had left.

            Then I decided to clean and cut out some of the dead vegetation from the front yard. I knew I would only get to work a short while as it had rained earlier and it was predicted to rain more during the day.

            During the process of vegetation butchering, a neighbor came over and showed me his new toy. He has bought a revolver that will shoot a 45-caliber shell or a 410-shotgun shell. Its a good-looking gun.  

            I was able to clear out some of the dead vegetation but not a lot, before the rain came. I put all the tools away and will begin again when the rain passes. I think it will be necessary to cut down to almost ground level, all the Jasmin in our flower bed, the leaves all look dead.

            It was so humid on Sunday (AKA yesterday) that the floor of the garage was wet. I turned the big fan on to see if I could get some of the condensation to leave, it did not!

            Well, that was it then, you know, yesterday!

Today; it has begun raining this morning and it is only 45 degrees. I get to take the Grandkids to school this morning. I am not sure how long this rain will last, so I don’t know if I will get to butcher any of the vegetation in the front yard.

Stay dry, warm and safe!

Senior retired person who wants to butcher a bush, Don the Ford