Day of rest 07.17.2022

            Today is Sunday, and I plan to make it a day of rest, even though a lot of my days are “Restful”, that word means full of rest, I hope to rest even more today!

            We had a very nice time yesterday, aka “Donna’s Birthday”. We all went out to lunch and the food was good, the conversations were nice and polite, at least those that did not have to do with politics were nice. All in all, a very nice day.

            My favorite wife and I did sit outside yesterday afternoon, even though it was kind of hot. Ok, it was really hot, but we sat out there any way. There were a few clouds in the sky, and I found one kind of interesting. Now I have been praying for rain to come to our area and the clouds seems to be reflecting that prayer. I have a photo, let’s see if you find it interesting.

            As to the water rationing, I decided to see if I could water a few things without breaking the rules, so I used a water can, photo to follow.

            In truth, I found the watering can to be easy to use when watering flowerpots, and I did not need to drag that hose around with me and roll it up when finished. I like the watering can. We are allowed to run our sprinklers twice a week, and the rules also say, “Hand-watering is allowed on your designated days, plus two additional days of your choice. (For watering trees, plants & gardens). So, as you can see, we can actually water everything fairly regularly.

            Nap time for the Don, hope your day is restful and safe, with a little fun added. 

Rain needed!

• Senior ole person who is at rest now, Don the Ford

Lawn sprinkler 07.16.2022

            Lawn sprinkler is the topic for today, but first, I want to say Happy Birthday to my favorite wife. Donna is now old enough to vote, and have an adult beverage! 😊 We plan to go out for lunch to celebrate her birthday, good food and good conversations.

            Topic change:             Now that we are on watering restrictions, I have changed the days that my lawn sprinkler runs from Tuesday and Friday, to Tuesday and Saturday, per the new watering restrictions rules. Yep, it was difficult to make the change (not really) but I was able to. The system runs from 3:45am to 5:00am. I do have some hanging baskets that need to be watered by hand, and I have watered them early this morning.

            It is coffee time, and I don't have anything else to talk about, have a good day!

Stay cool calm and safe!

Senior retired person who needs a cup, Don the Ford

It rained 07.15.2022

            Let's see how this expected rain event unfolds. As we all know, we have been in the 100 plus temps for weeks now, and it will likely continue. Yesterday, they said we had a 40% chance of rain, that means, "40% of the area has a chance for rain", so if you are in the right area, you might get some rain.

            Well, the Don was keeping an eye on the weather bug, and it indicated some rain was in the area. The Don assumed that any rain in the area would provide clouds, and possibly some cooler winds. Clouds and cool wind would allow the Don to get outside and work, and that is what he did. The Don went to the #2 black berry bed and began to trim this year's growth. The Don was able to get some trimming done before the rain set in. During the rain the Don sat on the back patio, enjoying the liquid that was falling from the sky. We received almost ¼ inch of rain, per my new rain gage.

            The rain came down rather quickly and there was some wind with it. When the wet weather and thunder left the area, I once again when out and trimmed on the #2 berry bed. It looks a lot better now, but there are still some that I need to remove. I also need to pull all the weeds out of the bed and that will require a cloudy day with cooler temps.

            During the trimming time yesterday, I also trimmed the sunflower plant that came up voluntarily in the #2 berry bed, photo to follow. As you can see, it was so heavy that it was leaning over.

            This morning I went out in the front yard and picked up debris from the red oak trees that came down during the wind yesterday.

            Allow me to alter the topic: this has to do with listening and learning.

I was reminded of something I use to do when I was a real person working in a distribution center. I was the distribution Centers "Manager", as manager, my office was away from everyone, so I would begin taking my coffee break in the main office, that way I could talk to others during my break.

There was a chair placed between the two office staff's desks, and that is where I would sit, coffee, and often an oatmeal cake in hand. During these breaks we would talk about anything and everything. I soon learned that I would get a lot of information from the office staff that neither the supervisors (supervisors are now known as department managers) or I would have gotten otherwise.

It seems, the distribution center staff would ask questions of the office staff, or tell the office staff of things, that they had not asked or told the management team. Now as you see, my taking a break not only allowed me to rest a few minutes, it provided me with information that I might not otherwise have had.

Listen and learn, it will help you and others!

The chair that I sat in during these coffee breaks was later referred to as, "The Therapy chair". 

Topic change: I do have one outside project for this morning, so I better get going. I hope your day is safe, fun and cool.

 

It rained! 😊

Senior person who is thankful for any amount of rain, Don the Ford

Moon light 07.14.2022

            Did you see it? I know there is a name for this moon, but I do not know what it is, and nope I aint going to look it up! The moon is considerably closer to the earth at this time, which allows it to appear larger than usual. Now something that I found even more interesting, this morning as I was going and coming from the burrito shop, in one direction I could see that very large moon, while in the other direction I could see the red sun coming up. The sun and the moon to me appeared to be the same size. Very interesting!

            My favorite wife and a couple friends went out to lunch yesterday, as I stated in an earlier posting, to celebrate her upcoming birthday. Interestingly, they allowed me and a fellow neighbor to go along. It just happened that it was the fellow neighbor’s birthday yesterday, but he does not like to celebrate birthdays.

            We went to a Cajun restaurant and the food was very good. I don’t like the way they have their menu; it is posted up on the wall and you have to stand there looking up and try to find what you want. I am totally opposed to that type of menu.

They have a pond outback of the building, and you can buy fish food and toss it in the pond where the catfish and turtles will come to eat.

            Topic alteration: I have a photo of a flower, which in its appearance is very interesting.

            As I stated, I found it very interesting. It is not supposed to look like that, the extreme heat seems to be taking its toll on everything. The brown leaves use to be green but are just drying up and turning brown. It was 108 here again yesterday and it supposed to be around 106 today. They say some of the area around here might get some rain this afternoon, I hope we all get some rain.

            Heck we are now on a restricted watering schedule, the lawn sprinklers can run twice a week, and the run days depend on which side of the street you live on. I need to adjust the run days on the lawn sprinkler system, as I do not want to receive a $2,000 fine for running on the wrong day or the wrong time. I may be smart enough to do that.

            Would you believe, they have now restricted the number of toilet flushes per day also, two per person in a 12-hour period! I have no information as to how many glasses of water each person can have daily. Maybe it is time to get an outhouse in the back 40!

            The only other thing I have scheduled for my ole senior body today is, get my hair cut. I hope I can get the same lady I got last time, she did a good job on this ole seniors’ hair, but odds are she will not even be working today.

            I guess that is it for now, hope you have a nice safe day!

Will I have luck on the hair cut?

Senior retired person who wants to be lucky, Don the Ford

           

Two photos 07.13.2022

            Today I have two photos that I will attempt to share with you, if you take the time to review this blog posting.

            The first photo was taken yesterday at the neighbor's home, on the corner just across the street from us. First of all, I saw the very nice-looking VW bug, then I saw the rest.

 As I see it, there are two problems there. People should not park that close to a corner, and you should not park in front or near a fire hydrant. If my memory serves me, and it often does not serve me, in the olden days when I was a member of the Hewitt Fire Department, we had responded to a house fire. When we arrived at the scene there was a car parked in front of the fire hydrant. The fellow driving the fire truck pulled up to the back of the vehicle and using the fire truck which had a massive front bumper, he pushed the car away from the hydrant. Putting out a house fire is more important than some damage to the back of a vehicle.

            One would think that a police officer might drive by and seeing the problem, he / she would ask them to move the vehicles. We do not see a lot of police driving through the neighborhood very often, I guess that is good, you know, not a lot of crime.

            I think I noted that there were two photos, so allow me to present the second. You might need to use a little imagination, if you have any, and if you don't have any imagination just act like you do, when viewing the following photo of clouds.

             The sun was just beginning to pop up over the horizon when I took the photo. As I saw it, there were two eyes from a partial face of a very scary sky ghost.

            Topic change: I went to the doctor's office this morning, as I had an appointment to have blood drawn from my ole body. They didn't even ask if I had fasted prior to the removal of my blood. The lady who does they extraction of blood is very good, and I felt nothing at all. She did note that someone had arrived early, but they take people in, according to their appointment. Evidently this person had arrived 1.5 hours early and would be waiting for a while.

            My favorite wife and some friends are supposed to go out for lunch today, in celebration of her upcoming birthday (July 16^th), and I have been invited to attend. When one goes out for lunch, they are not allowed to have a breakfast burrito in the morning. ☹

            I did get a cup of coffee from the coffee place after my visit to the blood drainer person.

            Well, I guess that is it for now, have a good day!

No free lunch for me today!

Senior retired person who wants another cup of coffee, Don the Ford

Done by 7:10am 07.12.2022

            Ok, what was done by 7:10am? Allow me to respond to that question, “I was done by 7:10am”! Now if you were an inquisitive person, you would have asked, “What was the Don done with by 7:10am?”

            So, you are not inquisitive, that is ok, there are others out there like you, and you should not be ashamed, although it is a little odd when you don’t ask questions. I can only assume, that not asking questions, AKA not being inquisitive, when you were in school may have been the reason for those grades you received.

            Enough about you, let’s get back to the Don and what he has to say.

First, it was hot again yesterday, how hot was it they asked, it was 107 degrees Fahrenheit. Did the Don and his favorite wife sit outside in the heat yesterday afternoon? Yes, they did. How are they able to withstand the extreme heat they asked? The Don turned the big fan on, and they had plenty of air, although it does make some noise, and it was difficult to conversate with the fan running.

            What had the Don done this morning, no one asked? Well, he did not get a burrito, he made his own cup of coffee, he watered the flowers in pots out back, he watered the black berry beds, he watered the hanging pots out front, those flowers in pots on the ground out front, received water from the lawn sprinkler system this morning, the Don took the Tres for a short two block walk, he secured a new rain gage on the fence, just in case it ever rains again, and now he is sitting here at the ole computer entering this data, and all before 7:10am!

            The so-called newspaper delivery staff have been placing our newspaper at the front door each morning. This started a couple days ago, and I have observed, using the security cameras, a lady who was driving the vehicle stop, get out and bring the paper to the front door. That is very nice, as the previous delivery person just tossed it out on the lawn. Nice people do nice things!

            I have nothing planned for today, I am going to review a couple of the security cameras in an effort to see when and how the black cat arrives on the back patio. He / she comes each night, and my wife has been putting some cat food out which the black cat eats. I will attempt to keep you, the reading public, informed of, “The Black Cat Adventures”!

            Another photo of morning clouds, before the sun was up.

             Well, I guess that is it for now, may your day be cool and safe!

Hydrate, stay cool, be happy!

Senior ole person who would like to be happy, but I may be too old, Don the Ford

Worked too hard 07.11.2022

            Yesterday, which is known as Sunday, should have been a day of rest and relaxation for ole senior retired persons, but it was not. My favorite wife allowed me to go out back and move the very large flower pots.

Now, I have been known to stretch the truth occasionally, but I am not fibbing when I speak of the weight of the, “cement flower pot”!. The cement flower pot, and yes, I will provide a photo a little later, weighs more than 100 pounds. I was required to move it out of one flower bed and move it about 30 feet to the second flower bed, where I had to get it over a block barrier and on to another cement block.

First, I had to remove the flower in the big pot that resides on the scrap wood table and the table it sat on, which I made a few months back, (photo to follow) as this is where the cement flowerpot was going to be placed. Tres is also in this ole photo.

            I then had to move the cement flowerpot, remember it weighs mor than 100 pounds, over 30 feet across the yard to the new location. No, I did not carry the darn thing, I am almost three quarters of a century old (for that one person that is almost 75 years old), I can’t carry things like that anymore, but I was able to roll it across the yard.

            Arriving at the scene, that is, where the cement flowerpot is to be placed, I had placed a cement block in the location where the cement flowerpot was to be set. I did lift the cement flowerpot up enough, to set it on the cement block. I am now wishing I had not lifted the cement flowerpot. Photo of the pots placement to follow, it’s the big one in the center of the photo.

            Next, I needed to place the scrap wood table in the other flower bed, then somehow get the heavy flowerpot on the table and secured to the table. Photo to follow.

            Finally, I was allowed to return the tools I had used in this project to the shed, I then procured a glass of cold water, and I sat on the back patio, out of the sun, with the fan blowing on me. I was sweating like crazy; my shirt was totally wet from the sweat. I got all this work completed before 10:00am, thank goodness, as the temp yesterday was a hot 109 degrees, photo of the Don to follow. 

 

            The rest of the day I did as little as possible. My favorite wife and I did wash the dog in the heat of the afternoon, and yes, we did set outside in the heat for about an hour, yep, the fan was blowing on us.

            This morning, Monday July 11^th, the Tres and I went for an early morning walk, returning home from the walk, I proceeded to the coffee shop where I acquired a cup of coffee, and then I did get a breakfast burrito, which I brought home and shared with my present spouse. The burrito is large enough for the two of us to share, and their hot sauce is great, (the burrito did not come from the coffee shop).

            You now have all the news from the Ford’s Homestead, hope your day is safe and fun.

Stay hydrated!

Senior retired ole person who drinks a lot, a lot of what, Don the Ford

Rain possibility 07.10.2022

            Yesterday in Hewitt Texas the temperature got up to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that is rather warm, and it made staying inside a good idea.

            At about 5:00pm, my favorite wife asked, “Are we going to sit outside”, to which I responded, “It is kinda hot outside, but we can if you want to”! We sat outside.

            I placed the fan behind our chairs and set it to oscillate so we could get a little hot air blown on us. The cold drinks helped a little, as I related ole stories from my past to my present spouse. My first wife listened to my talking, appearing to be interested in what I said. When someone listens to you, you feel good, and you feel as if you were involved in a pleasant conversation, even though you did all the talking. 

I have made this point before, letting the other person talk, without inserting your thoughts, most always helps the person who is speaking feel appreciated and respected. Also, the person speaking usually sees the person who is listening as a good person.  

Now let us get to the title line, “Rain Possibility”. Now you already know that we sat outside in the 108-degree heat, and that we had cold drinks, and that I talked a lot. What you don’t know is, that there was a rain cloud forming overhead, and yes, we decided to get a photo in an effort to show everyone that rain might be in our future. Photo to follow.

            Altering the subject, I have another photo of a blooming flower here at the homestead.

             The photo has a lot of green in it, maybe it was taken in a jungle and not here at the Homestead. That reminds me, I guess I should go out and water the flowers in the flowerpots. I do have a huge flowerpot that I need to move, maybe I can get David to come over and help me.

Listen more, be appreciated!

Senior retired person who needs to get to work, Don the Ford