November 16, 2022

            We are at Wednesday, half way through the week, and we still do not want to go outside in the cool winter type air. This cool air has more or less shut my outside ventures down. I guess I should just bundle up and go outside. I need to get started on relighting the angel, and that will be done in the Fords ole garage.

This angel project, will be at least an 8-hour project. I should note that the angel weighs about 50 pounds, it is made of steel, it is about 7 foot tall, and not easy to handle. The rope lights are secured to the steal frame with the plastic wire ties. At least 200 of these wire ties will need to be removed and replaced, but also as I remove a section, not all at once, I will then need to clean the steal, and repaint it with white paint. After the paint dries, I then start replacing that section of lights. There are 5 sections that need to be removed, cleaned, painted, new lights installed.

The lights against the white paint on the steal make the angel brighter. We have neighbors who have commented on the lights, we hope they will be able to sleep when the angel’s bright lights come on at night.   

My intent is to bring the angel to the garage, lay it face up on a table or two, hopefully I can do a lot of the work sitting in a rolling chair. Before you ask there is a front side that has the lights and the back side does not have lights, and that is why I said, “face up”! Ha, ha, I answered before you asked!

What, you weren’t going to ask, you don’t care what I do, that is so hurtful, with tears in my eyes, I might just stop writing and get a cup of coffee.

 

Now that I understand that you don’t care what I am doing, I have stopped writing, I am not going to say anything about taking the dog to the vet yesterday, or that he has several drugs to be taken daily for a bacterial skin infection. I am not going to tell you that I also have shampoo for the same bacterial skin infection, I guess I can use the shampoo if I want to. I am not going to tell anyone that I paid more for that one visit to the vet that I paid all year for my doctor visits and meds.

I also am not going to inform anyone that yesterday, I again started reading from Revelations, and for some reason I really get into trying to understand what is being predicted. I also have a book that attempts to explain from several points of view what each verse in revelations means.

Yep, I also will not tell you that I do the bible study homework daily, and usually I do that first, then for my own enlightenment I read from the bible! Maybe you should try reading from the bible, it does help!

Revelation, reveals!

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 15, 2022

            The cold weather is still here, and we received about ½ inch of rain yesterday. Rain we need, cold weather we don't need.

            Today I will attempt to take the Tres to the vet. The vet wants me to give him some drugs a couple hours before we arrive. Tres don't like strangers and the vet knows that.

            Tres has been unhappy since the fellow that use to live next door moved. He took his dogs with him and now Tres don't have anyone to run up and down the fence with. Heck, we haven't taken a walk for the last couple days due to the cold weather.

            I went to the bible study meeting last night, there were a lot of people absent in the total assembly, although in our group, almost everyone was there. Not sure if it was the cold weather or something else that kept them away. There were good discussions as usual.

            Topic swap: My favorite wife finished making the tamales yesterday, I think she made about 5 dozen yesterday, and the total for this year is about 23 dozen. If we can't afford Turkey for thanksgiving this year, we can have tamales!

            Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a safe, and warm day.

Homemade coffee! ☹

Senior ole person who don't want to go out in the cold, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 14, 2022

            We are beck to Monday, yep, the start of another work week for those real people, you know, those who have jobs. The ole retired people have nothing to do, no work to occupy their time, no schedule to follow, except for taking the daily nap. 

            In truth, there are a couple times each day that I do become sleepy, and a 10 to 15-minute nap refreshes my ole body. This short nap taking began when I worked. In the afternoon when everyone in the building took a 10-minute break, I would at times, shut the door to my ole office and call one of the ladies in the front office saying, "call me when break is over". I would put my feet on the desk, lean back for a short 10-minute rest period. Oh, the break bell at the end of the break would always wake me up.

            Another time that I become sleepy is when, I am reading for more then a couple minutes. Actually, I like to start reading after a short nap and that way I am able to stay awake and focused, on what I am reading.

            Topic swap: I did water the items in the hot house yesterday, the sun was shining on the house when I entered, the hot house was hot, it was over 100.

            Speaking of water, we are expecting to have rain most of the day today. I hope it isn't raining when I pick up the grandkids this afternoon.

            There is some debris from the oak trees in the front yard that needs to be picked up, which I might do before it rains today, and the yard needs to be mowed and trimmed, but not while it is cold. There have been a few leaves fall and sooner or later I will need to be mulching leaves and vacuuming them up.

            I also need to get started on re-lighting the angel. This is not and easy or short job, but I might be able to do it. When you are three quarters of a century old, it often takes more time to do these little jobs.

            I did put the new smaller kerosene heater together, I lit it just to be sure it would work, and it did. Donations will be accepted to purchase kerosene for these heaters, please send the gift cards with a note indicating that they are for kerosene. We will also accept gift cards to the Star coffee place, as my ole gold card is out of funding. Ole retired people on a fixed income, need lots of help. Some time ago I had asked for donations, and I received and envelope with a note and a penny donation, I do not want to say Wayne's name, but I do want to say thanks for the donation, Wayne!

            Subject alteration: I swept our side of the street in front of the homestead yesterday. There was a bunch of crushed acorns and some leaves on the street, it looks better now, but probably not for long.

            I guess I will try to make a cup of homemade coffee; we hope you feel generous with your donations 😊, and we hope you have a safe and interesting day!

Donate to street sweeper!

Senior ole person who needs a donation or two, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 13, 2022

            Another Sun Day is here, and we hope you are doing well. I have bad news for the reading public, and you. We did not get to sit outside yesterday afternoon, as it was too cold for ole people. I did sit in the Ford’s ole office and have an adult beverage, as I looked at the monitor from the security cameras. It was kind of like being outside, I could wave at people as they walked or drove by, but they could not see me. There was no wind or cold, and it was warmer inside the office than it was outside.

            We received the smaller kerosene heater today and I put it together. I filled it with kerosene and will let it sit for an hour or more, which allows the wick to soak up the kerosene. When the wick is soaked, I can then light the heater and see it work.

            I checked the shed and found an ole kerosene lantern, which had belonged to my favorite wife’s dad. We think he got it off a river boat he use to work on in the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. I need to clean it up better, I did wipe the dust off it some, but it needs a good cleaning.

 There was a little kerosene in the lantern, I added a little more and lit it. It makes a good light, and also some heat.

            Heck, we have a couple kerosene lamps here in the homestead, I guess we got them from our parents. When the power goes out, we never think of the lamps, we usually reach for a flash light.

            My somewhat smart phone indicates that it is 30 degrees here in Hewitt Texas. That is too cold for ole senior retired people. A few days with those temps will influence the trees to drop their leaves, and that means more work for the old people. Mulching leaves, then putting them in bags, and then you have to haul them off. Thinking about that work makes me want a nap.

            Well, I guess that is it for now, hope your Sunday is a good day, filled with friends or family.

Fall or winter?

Senior ole retired person who needs a cup of homemade coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 12, 2022

            Sat all day is here, it rained most of the day yesterday, we got 1.25 inches of rain and we can still use more. When we are not in a drought and get that much rain, we would have water standing in places in the back 40, but there is no standing water so we need more rain, but not the cold.

            We have a bunch of acorns on the street and in the yard due to the wind during yesterday’s rain event. I might be able to withstand the cold long enough to get the uncrushed acorns from the street, walkway and drive. Those acorns are easy enough for an ole senior person to procure.

            I have no real plans for today, I might be allowed to drive my favorite wife to a couple stores today. It seems like there was something I wanted to get from town but my ole mind can’t remember. My memory is better when I write things down. There is something about noting something on paper, for some reason I can remember it better even when I don’t look back at the note. Yes, I know, ole people are silly!

            Grandees: When I pick my favorite grandson up from school we get to talk while heading for home. He has told me that he wants a Ford Pickup truck, he wants a motorcycle, and yesterday he said when he gets older, he wants to grow a beard.

            I did get my favorite granddaughter Gabi, to the orthodontist on time, and then back to school safely, yesterday.

            Topic swap: Well, I guess sitting outside in the afternoon will be eliminated while the weather is cold, heck I guess I will need to stay inside and watch re-runs of the three stooges this afternoon.

            TV: An old, yes very old, Tarzan movie is on, they are fun to watch but are not as exciting as they were 60 years ago. Now days anyone could make that type movie using a smart phone. 

            News: yesterday while my present spouse was in town, I, the Don, de-activated the air conditioner, and then activated the furnace! It took a while for the temp in the homestead to get cool enough for the furnace to begin heating. There is no heat vent in this ole office area so I need to go out to the Ford’s ole shed and bring one of the small electric heaters in. It isn’t cold in here today, but as the temps begin to stay low this room does cool off dramatically.

Cool, cold, freezing!

Senior ole retired person who had a cup of coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 11, 2022

            Today is Veterans’ Day, say thanks to any vet you come in contact with.

            We are supposed to have rain today and the temp is supposed to go down all day. I report that for those of you who do not live in this area. The temp now is mid-60s, tonight it may get down in the low 30s.

            I did get an appointment with the vet for next Tuesday. I could have gotten it earlier but scheduling of transporting the grand kids pushed it back a couple days. No, the appointment is not for me, it is for Tres!                      Why do I even try?

            I went out to get the so-called newspaper this morning and I saw what I thought was an interesting cloud, so naturally I got a photo.

            This cloud was to the east of the Ford’s Homestead and the cold rainy weather is supposed to come from the west, I can only assume this cloud is trying to get away from the bad clouds.

            I have the little hot house ready for the cold weather, I plan on checking to see how efficient the heat lamp is this evening. All it has to do is, keep the temp above freezing to protect the flowers.

            I need to get my favorite granddaughter from school this morning and take her to the orthodontists for a quick check up, and then return her to school. Yep, she has to go back to school.

            Well, I guess that is it for today, hope you stay dry, and say thanks to the vets! 

Veterans day!

Senior retired person who needs a cup of coffee, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 10, 2022

            Again today, I have nothing to write about, so I will apologize to you, for sending this nothing post to my blog. Heck, if I were to attempt to present anything, it would be all about the animals here at, “The Ford Foundation for retired senior people”, and no one wants to know that when Tres and I went for a walk yesterday that a man was putting his recycle container out at the curb as we approached. This man, wisely stepped back onto his driveway giving Tres plenty of room to pass by.

When we were directly in front of the man he said, that is a good-looking dog, and I immediately responded with, “Thank you, now what about me, am I good-looking?” He had an odd look on his face as he tried to think of a response. He then asked, is it a male or female? I thought it was obvious that Tres is a male, but being the gentleman that I am I replied, “he is a male”. We walked on and had no further interruptions to our morning walk.

Returning to the Ford’s homestead I decided to remove a few of the acorns from the street and the neighbor's driveway, as the acorns on cement are much easier to retrieve. As I was working, I had two supervisors, there to review my work and advise me, photo to follow.

             As you can see, they were very interested in my work, or were they?

            I need to try and get the Tres to the vet today or tomorrow, as he is itching a lot, and has scratched his ears a lot and is shaking his head often. Scheduling is difficult as I need to be available to get Dave from work and the kids from school.

            I also need to get the so-called hot house ready for this weekend’s cooler weather, basically bring the electric cord to the outlet on the patio, plug the heat lamp in and shut the door. We may get down to 32 for the first time this fall.

            Today is Thursday, I go to the teller machine to get our $5 stipend, you know the $5.00 goes away much faster now days with all the price increases.

            We hope you have a good day, stay safe and try to be productive.

Who needs supervisors?

Senior ole person who needs a lot of supervision, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!

November 9, 2022

            We are in the middle of the work week, for those of you who work, for us ole retired people it is just Wednesday.

            Yesterday, I did not go get the kids at school, so instead, I was allowed to work here at the homestead. I removed the debris from the back 40 and then decided to mow the back 40. There are parts of the back 40 that are basically dead, that is the areas where the sprinklers do not reach, although there is one area that is still green and growing. That area I assume, may get more shade than the other areas, and need less water.

            As usual I had to put air in one of the tires, and in doing so I check all the tire pressures as having the correct amount of air in each tire will allow the mower to mow evenly. I can’t say I manicured the back 40, but it does look better than before.

            A friend came by to get some of the acorns that a neighbor has picked up from his yard, I picked up some but the neighbor is the real acorn retriever. While that friend was here our neighbors from across the street came over and we all sat around with some lively conversations.

            Now that it is getting dark an hour earlier, happy hour seems to be hurried, (aka shorter).

            Well, it isn’t foggy this morning. The past couple days I almost thought I was back in Missouri and Illinois; due to the fog we were having. It has been quite foggy at times.

            As I was walking yesterday, I noticed that Fall must have arrived in Hewitt Texas. There were leaves on the ground and driveway of a house on our street, and I have a photo.

            Maybe I should note, those leaves were from one of a neighbor’s pecan trees, the other three pecan trees that are next to this tree, still have green leaves.

            I have another photo that I thought was an indication of Fall being here, this photo has brown leaves, and is in my pecan tree. Upon closer review, the brown leaves were from the oak tree next to the pecan tree, they had broken away from the oak and lodged in the pecan tree.

             I have learned from the TV prognosticators that we may experience our first 32 degree temps this weekend. For that one person, a temperature of 32 or less will freeze water into Ice. I will need to shut the door to the hot house, or it will be the cold house.

            OK, I guess that is it for now, I need to find some food to use as breakfast, nope we don’t have a burrito this morning, darn it!

            We hope you have a safe and productive day.

Election is over?      Yippee!

Senior ole person who needs some food, Don the Ford

May today be better than your best day, but not as good as tomorrow!