November 21, 2022

            Well, I did nothing on Sunday, at least I did not do a lot on Sunday. I helped set a white Christmas tree up in the front Jasmin bed, the difficult part was getting on my knees to secure the tree to stakes in the ground, there are a lot of acorns in the Jasmin beds. I was allowed to secure the tree to the cement bird bath, as an extra support.

            I then went to the shed to get an extension cord, there was none to be seen, I then went to the back patio and there was an extension cord that I procured, and took the cord to the front yard. We wanted to be sure the tree lit up properly. The tree lit ok, but it is not yet wired, there will be more items placed in the area and then we will provide electric.

            My first wife needed to go to town so I moved the Ford’s ole Chevy out of the driveway, so she could leave the homestead. Returning to the driveway, I connected the trailer to the truck, as I wanted to check the tires. I knew that one of the tires had been losing air, and I was aware that the valve stem, where one airs the tire, may have been defective. I was able to get the trailer backed close to the garage door where I jacked up one side of the trailer.

I thought I would possibly lose all the air from the tire. I found that the valve stim was loose and about to pop out. I tighten it and filled the tire with air. I also filled the other trailer tire with air, and then backed it out into the yard.

While I was in the back yard, I decided to get the Christmas decorations that my wife of more then a half century wanted me to bring to the garage. As I started placing them in the bed of the pickup, it started sleeting. Yep, I was working in the cold and also sleet.

I was able to get the decorations to the garage, unload them from the pickup, I straightened up some of the items in the garage, and then I decided to check the air pressure of the tires on the pickup. I knew the pressure was low as the truck had indicated such. I aired all four tires, and then it came to me, I should air up the spare. Yes, my ole senior body was laying on the wet cement as I put air into the spare tire. 

Finally, I was able to get a little time to come inside where it is warm and do some reading. I still haven’t caught up on the bible study reading.

Note: I forgot to have an adult beverage yesterday afternoon, it was too cold to sit outside and my ole brain just forgot. Maybe I can have two today, but it is still cold!

That was my Sunday, we hope your Sunday was pleasant and safe. 

Tire aficionado!

Senior person who enjoyed the day, but not the cold, Don the Ford

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

November 20, 2022

            Today is Sunday and I hope it is a day of rest. Now, since no one asked why I am hoping for a day of rest, I am willing to enlighten you, even though you don’t want to know. Yes, the rest of this posting will be written with tears flowing from my eyes.

            Let’s see if I can remember, how did Saturday start? Oh, I remember some things, it seems as if I may have gone to our son David’s home to help haul away limbs from a tree that he has cut down. We were able to load and haul 4 loads of limbs out to the dump site and his back yard looks emptier now. He still has some wood that needs to be cut into pieces, which he will be using for firewood.

            Completing that task, I pulled the Ford’s ole trailer home (I used the Ford’s ole pickup to pull the trailer, not by hand) and parked it in the driveway. I was able to drag my ole senior body into the Ford Homestead, and I took a 15-minute break with a cup of homemade coffee.

            My favorite wife and I then went into the Ford’s ole cold garage and began working on the Angel. After several hours of work, we (team Ford as we are now known) were almost done with the re-lighting, when we ran out of plastic wire ties. My spouse of more than half a century wanted to get an item from Wally world, I needed to get more plastic wire ties so we could complete the relighting project. (We used about 250 wire ties)

I had to first disconnect the trailer from the Ford’s ole Chevy, more work for an ole seniors’ body, then we headed for the store. She shopped one end of the store while I went to the other end. I found the plastic wire ties and the price on the bin was $5.12, that is a couple dollars mor than what I paid for them at the harbor store. When I got to the check out the plastic wire ties cost $6.40. I noted to the young man at the cash register that the price on the bin was $5.12, he said I could talk with a manager, and they could change the price. Irritated, we left the store but if I would have not been in a hurry I would have spoken to a manager.

Back at home I completed the project and then called my first wife out into the garage to either approve or not. She liked what she saw, and I was allowed to carry said angel out to the tree and secure it there. I have two photos.

            First, we see the angel against the tree, and there are pumpkins at the angel's feet. The second photo show the angel and the cross, but the cross is so bright that it blurs in the photo. You might notice the angel provides a lot of light, and the grass in front of it is partially lite up.

            Those photos were taken when we arrived home from supper at the George restaurant. Would you believe, my favorite wife wanted me to have a nice meal for all the work I had performed during the day? I would not believe that either, we were both hungry.

            Well, as you can see, another day with nothing to do, we hope you have things to keep you busy today, be safe and be nice to old people!

Sunday, Day of rest!

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

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

November 19, 2022

            Well, yesterday was a busy day, as a matter of fact, it was so busy that I did not get to work on my Bible study questions, I did read from the bible which I do daily.

            My spouse of more than half a century allowed me to go to the shed and get a Christmas tree, a red truck and a bear, these items go onto the front porch as decorations. While I was there, I also brought the walk behind mower and the string trimmer to the garage, for some fun senior work. I mowed and trimmed the front yard; I should note that it looks good. One of the neighbors gave me a thumbs up, indicating that I was doing a good job. Ole people do good work? 

            I started on re-lighting the angel, photo to follow.

            I have the angel on tables that allow me to move around it on an ole office chair, which has rollers, so I can do most of the work sitting down. As I began the work I was interrupted when I received a call from my favorite spouse. She had put some groceries in the back of the van, along with her keys. Yep, she was locked out. I drove into Waco to unlock the vehicle for her.

            On the way home I stopped at DIB to see what time Dave was going to get off work. He was eating lunch, but he didn’t know for sure, so I headed for home and started on the angel again, this time with my favorite co-worker, Donna. We work for a while and then I needed to stop working so I could go to the pharmacy to get my prescriptions.

            Photo of the lights that are being put on the angel, it is a start and will take a few more hours to get her / him done. She or he will be very bright when completed.

            Then I went to the middle school to get Alex. I usually wait in line about 45 minutes, the Alex came out and got in the Ford’s ole Chevy. We then went to the high school to get Gabi. I made it back home about 4:45 but I did not start on the angel. I had to get some meds ready for the Tres and I had to clean his ears and then put more medicine in each ear. We had planned to give him a bath but that did not happen, so that is move to today, hopefully.

            This morning, Saturday morning, I will go to David’s house, and we will haul some tree limbs away. The trailer is loaded, but we may be able to put more on, Dave believes we will have a total of three loads.

            I hope to finish the angel today, if all goes well and I plan to do my studying for the bible study group too. Yes, we plan to wash the dog.

            Next week the grand kids or off from school, so the only picking up I should do is for Dave at his workplace. My favorite wife will likely want to start the Christmas decorations next week.

            Nothing to do, but it seems to keep me busy! We hope your weekend is relaxing, safe and enjoyable.

Angel repairman!

Senior ole retired person who needs everything, Don the Ford

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

November 18, 2022

            Hello all, we hope all is well for you, we are doing good here at the Ford’s Homestead.

            I went to the eye doctor yesterday, and to my dismay, they dilated my eyes. It takes several hours for me to get over the dilation, so I was more or less sitting doing nothing. I tried to read later in the afternoon, but it was too difficult. My eyes have now cleared up.

            I do have the angel in the garage, and I have the tables to lay it on, so I hope to be starting today, I will attempt to replace some of the rope lights, which will help me remember all that I need to do in this replacement.

            I also need to mow and trim the front yard, it doesn’t need to be mowed as much as trimmed, but I plan to do both today if all goes well.

            I was looking at the berries the other day and I saw what looked like some beginning of berries that died and are now dried up. Why would there be berries on the plants this time of year? Maybe they are something else, and I just don’t understand.

             I know those are not berry starts from this past spring.

            I will also need to get the grandkids from school today and David from work, so as one can see, I have a couple things on my plate to do.

            Topic swap: I have possibly reported on this in the past, and if I have, then you can skip this paragraph. Diet coke is the best. Now I am not advertising for the drink, since I am not being paid, but I am saying, “it is the best in my opinion, if you have a little indigestion, aka heart burn”! You get a little indigestion, take a couple drinks, wait for the burp, and you will feel better. Probably any drink with a lot of fizz in it, would work, but I like the diet coke.

            Subject change: You will likely think this is a silly thought, but since I am Silly grandpa, I can have silly thoughts. I was thinking yesterday, I know, no one believes that ole people can think, but I did have this thought, or question.

“Are there beings on other planets, and if so, are they different from us here on earth?”  I assume that throughout the universe there are many different types of beings, with different bodies and living in different settings, such as underground, or in water or even beings that fly more then walk.

The second part to this question is, “Do we all go to the same heaven, or is there separate heavens, or separate parts of heaven, for different beings?” I told you that you would consider it a silly question.

Well, I guess I should get started on doing something, even if it is silly! We hope you have a safe and productive day!

Silly grandpa!

Senior retired person who should not try to think, Don the Ford

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

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!