October 2, 2023

            Hello to one and all, we hope all is well with you, family and friends. My favorite wife and I did sit outside yesterday afternoon, I think the temp was 90 degrees and there was a slight breeze. We did not have any visitors as we sat outside, so we enjoyed our own private thoughts which occasionally turned into conversation. Even without comments from others, we enjoyed some brisk conversations.

            As we were outside enjoying the afternoon, our pot hound Tres was providing security for the two of us. He is an observant watch dog.

             For that one person who looked at the photo, yes, his foot does have the star on it, and yes, I have commented on that in the past.

let’s swap topics: the kids arrived at our homestead early this morning, as Claire has to report to work early on the first of the month. It has become a thing that the kids and I go to the star coffee company and get a drink when they come over early. A newer part of the early drop off is breakfast burritos. The entire cost of this early morning rendezvous is almost $40. My star coffee card now has zero dollars on it, so I guess all my coffee will be homemade.

I did get them to school on time, I dropped Alex off first and then Gabi and Brice. I am not going to comment on the school traffic.

Different subject: I need to get outside and water the flowers in pots. Now that the weather is somewhat cooler, I am providing a little less water per pot and we are supposed to get a decent amount of rain this week. I did sit out on the front porch for a while yesterday with a cup of homemade coffee, and during that rest period I noticed that the Jasmine is looking better and even growing after the last rain event.

If all goes well, I might take the Tres for a walk after the watering is complete.

On another theme: we do have bible study tonight and we are supposed to get there early as there will be a fellowship with pizza, before we start the studying.

I guess that is all for now, have a good day and stay safe.

Water then walks.

Senior ole person who must get started, Don the Ford

 

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

October 1, 2023

            We are now into October and I think it supposed to be fall like outside, but is it? It was very hot yesterday, but there was a slight breeze, as my favorite wife and I sat outside with a good friend discussing everything from politics to the bible. This friend actually brought some cheese sticks and peperoni bites to snack on. I did partake in a few as we sat outside, and I saved some for later today.

I have a question, why is October spelled and pronounced that way, it should be, “September, Octember, November, December, not October! 

            This morning when The Tres and I went out front for his review of the yard, and to relieve himself, we could hear many birds calling out before the sun got up. There were birds making noise from all directions. As I listened, the only other sound I heard was a dog way off in the distance barking.

            I was able to get the back 40 mowed yesterday, but the actions I must take before starting mowing is the part, I do not like about the back 40. I removed the Poopa-Loopa and a few sticks, I roll up the garden hose, I don’t know why I called it a garden hose, we don’t have a garden, I looked for items like Tres’ ball so they are not in the mowers path. Then I checked the air pressure in the tires of the ole riding mower and added air as needed, yes, I checked the oil and added gas before starting the process.

            Now you can see why an ole senior person would be totally worn out before he even got onto the ole riding mower. I was able to get the mowing done, and I have some areas that need to be trimmed with the string trimmer. Heck the ditch behind the back fence needs to be trimmed, more work for and ole senior person.

            I thought I was going to pick Dave and Alex up after the popcorn sales for the scouts but Claire got off work and was able to get them. I was also allowed to take my first wife’s van and get gas in it. It took $50 to fill the gas tank. She is not happy about that because she will need to pick up twice as many aluminum cans, and that means she will get less sleep, as she does most of the aluminum can searches at night.

            We would like to go over to the cracker store for breakfast this morning but after that $50 gas, we may not be able to eat out for a couple weeks. The price of everything is too high, especially for us ole people on a fixed income.

            Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a good first day of October, and we hope everyone stays safe.

Ole yard man Don

Senior person who would like to have breakfast out, if we had the funding, Don the Ford 

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

September 30, 2023

            Good morning to my favorite person in this reading group. Thank you for being such a contemporary reviewer of my words!

            Let us see what happened yesterday; I had another round of vertigo, so I went to the human vet (aka doctor) for a checkup. He looked me over and cleaned out my ears. Did not come up with anything new. When I roll around on the bed like they have suggested, the vertigo usually goes away after a few minutes.

            I did mow the front yard yesterday and I trimmed a little in the back yard. I hope to mow the back 40 today. I did not need to go get Alex or Gabi from school yesterday.

            My favorite wife and I did sit outside yesterday, and we were joined by neighbors from across the street. It is always nice to have friends to talk with. One of our neighbors starts Chemotherapy next week, he is in our prayers.

            Today: Alex and the Boy scouts are supposed to be out trying to sell popcorn again. The price per bag is very high, I find it hard to believe that anyone not associated with the scouts, or the kids in the scouts, would pay the price. We get two bags, and it is $40.

            Tres and I did go for a morning walk and the interesting thing was the Crows. As we walked down the street, I could hear one crow off in the distance calling out loud and clear. It sounded as if he was flying from the east to the west. As we walked his sound became quieter and then was gone. We continued our walk and a couple blocks later I was surprised as several crows flew over us and it seemed as if they were all making noise at us.

            We continued our walk, and when we turned around, we could see crows down on the street. The sight of the crows in the street made me think of buzzards on a street eating something dead. As we approached the crows, they begin to fly away from the street and landed on a house top where they appeared to be watching us. One crow stayed on the street until we were about 50 feet away then he also flew to the house top.

            As we walked past the area where the crows had gathered on the street, I could see something that might had been smashed by a car and that is what they were attempting to eat. When we had gone past, I looked back and the first crow was back on the street, I did not look back anymore. Once we were back at home I went outside and as usual watered the flowers in pots. We have a flower that we were not expecting to develop any more blooms, but it has.

            The photo was taken today, yesterday the bloom was even larger.

            All the morning chores done, I came in here and began to compose this almost interesting blog posting. I did have a glass of milk and a sausage, egg and cheese sandwich as I composed.

            Not sure what we will do today, as I inferred earlier, I would like to mow the back 40 today, we will likely go and buy some popcorn from the scouts, and I do not know what else we might do. We hope your day is good, productive, safe and full of rest.

Crow watcher

Senior ole person who needs to get started at something, Don the Ford

 

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

September 29, 2023

            Wow, we are at Friday again. Well, there isn’t much going on here at the Ford’s house.

            As I was helping my favorite wife install a few new solar powered lights in the front yard yesterday, we both noticed that the yard needs to be mowed. The recent rain has made some of the grass in the back 40 grow, so it also needs to be mowed. I had thought I might get the Alex to come over Saturday and do the mowing, but I learned that the boy scouts would be selling popcorn again, and after that he has plans with some friends. Looks like I might be doing the mowing myself.

Speaking of Alex, we did go to Alex’ school last night as the group that he plays in was demonstrating their musical abilities. There were also two other groups who played, it was a good evening of music.

My favorite wife and I did go out for supper yesterday afternoon at the Cracker store, the service and food were good.

I just thought of a photo that I had taken while I was waiting on Gabi to get out of school yesterday. The photo is of a cloud and the flag at the school. If you notice the flag was not being blown by the wind, which means that I was not getting a breeze in the Ford’s ole Chevy as I sit there waiting in the 97-degree heat.

             Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope all goes well for you today and please stay safe.

Ole person who needs to mow.

Senior ole person who needs to get up and do something, Don the Ford

 

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

September 28, 2023

            I sit here in front of this screen with a cup of homemade coffee, wondering if there is anything of interest I can write about, and the answer is “nope”. You do not want to know that Tres and I walked with two female subjects (aka neighbors) this morning. Well, we walked up the street together for two blocks where they turned right, but Tres and I turned and started for home. Part of the conversation was about the neighbor who has been diagnosed with stage four cancer.

I don’t want to talk about the two bike riders I observed yesterday from my front porch. I saw two people a male who looked like big brother on his bike, and little sister on her bike. The little sister was calling out, “left or right”, which she said several times, but her brother wasn’t listening. Her brother had his cell phone in one hand and had it in front of his face, evidently talking or maybe face timing with someone. He never responded to the little girl, but they did turn left and continue riding.

            I don’t want to tell you about going to get Gabi yesterday: why would you be interested in knowing that I left the house about 3:00 as I wanted to go by the teller machine and get the weekly stipend before heading to the high school parking lot. You don’t need to know that I got the usual parking spot, and I was there 45 minutes. the kids were coming out of school, and it was about 5 minutes later than usual when I decided to call Gabi and see what was holding her up.

            Gabi was surprised at my call saying she wasn’t at school; she had gone to the doctor and I did not need to pick her up. About 4:25 I arrived back at home having spent about 1.5 hours in the Ford’s ole Chevy.

            I know you do not want to know that I did sit outside all alone yesterday, and I wish I would have been able to get a photo of a jet plane and a hawk flying over. I heard the jet and looked up and it was flying over at the same time there was a hawk or buzzard really high in the sky, it looked almost like they were flying together. They appeared to be about the same size.

            I did get a photo yesterday, and you might be interested in this photo. This photo is of a pair of legs, and they are cute. I was sitting outside yesterday afternoon and not having anyone to discuss world problems with, I decided to get a photo of those legs.

            If we were like real people and had extra money to spend, I could get a new clean pair of walking shoes.

            Well since the only thing that is interesting to you is the pair of legs, I will say, “see you later, hope you have a good day, and be safe.”

Nice legs!

Senior ole person who needs to get started doing something, Don the Ford

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

 

September 27, 2023

            Tres and I did a mid-week walk this morning; I should say it was uneventful. The temp felt cool when we stated the walk, but I was sweating at the end of the walk. I assume that the humidity was high. I did water the flowerpots this morning and a neighbor lady said it rained so you don’t need to water. I explained that water in a flowerpot drains down and out while the water in the ground doesn’t.

We did go to Alex’ Football game yesterday, my favorite wife and I together went to pick up Gabi from school. Now when I say went to pick up, I mean, we go about 45 minutes before school gets out so we can get a good parking space. When I arrive daily there are many vehicles there ahead of me. I assume those who get there before me are also grandparents, who have the time to sit and wait on the kids to get out.

Gabi and Brice came out and we headed to Brice’ home to drop him off, but on the way, he called his mother to see if he could go to the ball game with us, she approved. We still took him to his home so he could drop off his backpack and get a different shirt.

Then we headed to the ball game which was I think 28 miles away and a 30-minute drive according to the GPS. The drive down was slower than expected as the vehicle in front of us was driving below the speed limit, it must have been and ole senior person who wasn’t a fast driver.

We arrived at the stadium and the game had started. When we got to the ticket booth, I noted that we were old and the game had started, did we get a discount? Ticket price was four dollar each, for a total of eight dollars, we got one dollar off. Why do they charge us to see our kids and grandkids play. I thought tax money paid for the school and stadiums. I have a photo to share of a cloud that we observed as the game was going on. Our team was in blue uniforms.

 

The game was close, but we did win 18 to 12. The drive home was uneventful and fairly fast, there was no slow drivers in front of us. Back in Hewitt we decided to get some chicken tenders for supper, the food was good, but it cost too much.

And that is what the Ford’s did yesterday, and I have no plans for today. I have noticed that due to the rain the back 40 will need to be mowed possibly Saturday. I will see if our yard man has plans for Saturday, if not maybe I can persuade him to mow the back 40.

Well, I guess that will be it for today we hope your day is interesting and more importantly be safe.

A clouded mind

Senior ole person who has not had a cup of real coffee in a long time, Don the Ford

 

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

September 26, 2023

            Good morning to you, my favorite reader of this blog. We hope you had a good night and we hope your day is productive as well as fun and safe. I guess our day will be a normal day with the exception of the football game this evening. The game will be an out-of-town game which can make it a little more stressful. As for as we know now, we, that is my favorite wife and I, will get in the Ford’s ole Chevy and go to the high school about 3:15, to get a parking space so we can wait on Gabi this afternoon. We assume we will get Gabi and Brice at the normal time, 4:05pm. We will then take Brice to his house and after dropping him off, we head out of town to the game. 

            It will take about 30 minutes to get to the game depending on traffic, and the game starts at 5:00. We hope the game is good (we would like to win) and all the players enjoy learning more about the game.

            Different topic: the next-door neighbor has a small tree limb laying in her yard and it has been there for a while. I have noticed a limb in that same tree that is dead and appeared to be cracking. I have been looking at it almost every morning when the Tres and I walk. I have now seen another limb that has broken off the tree and is hanging on part of the other limb that appears to be breaking. Yesterday, I showed the neighbor the broken limb which is hanging over part of her driveway. 

            By the way, while she and I were looking at the tree, we saw another limb broken and hanging. Am I a good neighbor or a nosy neighbor?

            Heck, I have a tree in the back yard that has some dead limbs that need to be trimmed. I need to find a good tree trimming group, that don’t charge too much. I know, there aint no such thing!

            Bible study group: we had a good meeting last night, everyone seemed to participate. Our group is supposed to have a fellowship meeting with Pizza next week, before the real meeting begins.

That is it for now we hope your day is pleasant and safe.

Good or Nosy?

Senior ole person who as usual, needs a cup of coffee, Don the Ford

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

September 25, 2023

            Today is the first day of the week, at least it is the way I look at it.  Monday, and I have learned that school is out today, so I will not need to pick up any of the kids today.

Hay, I will not need to water the flowers in pots today, my free rain gage has almost 2 inches of rain in it this morning. We had some hard rain last night and I think I heard a little hail. I looked out back and even though we had all that rain, there is no water standing in the back 40.

It was a record day yesterday; the record is now 102 degrees. It was very hot, and I did sit outside for a while with a fan blowing on me. During the overheated sitting outside, I was able to install a fire extinguisher, no photo available. 

As I sit outside, I received a call from a neighbor lady asking if I had a few minutes to come and help her put a rack together. This lady had a garage sale going for 3 days and was now attempting to put things back into the garage and fold the tables. I said I would come and help, so I went to my favorite wife and explained what I knew, and she went with me.

Arriving at the house I was able to help her get the rack together. Now it was thundering off in the distance, so my present wife and I helped the lady to pack up items and put them in her garage. As we were helping another lady, and her dog came up and she started helping too. Together our 4-person group got all most all the items, not including the tables put away. When the thunder became louder, I said we should not be outside when it is lightning, my favorite wife and I excused ourselves and went home.

When we arrived home, it was sprinkling and in no time, it was raining hard. The rain and thunder had both of the animals in the office with me. They, like me, do not like the storms.

            I went outside this morning about 6:00 to check the amount of rain in the gage and I also moved the trash can out to the street, and that is when I observed the open garage door, at the neighbor across the street. Later I saw that neighbor putting his trash can out to the street, so I commented on the open door. He said I forgot to close it. It is very unusual for garage doors to be open at night. 

It was too dark to walk this morning, so I decided to work on this posting and walk a little later. It is better when I can see all the things that Tres sees, he can see in the dark. Heck he may be half cat. 

I did have the yard man Alex over yesterday to mow the front yard for me. He does an excellent job and I do appreciate his help.

I will stop for now; we hope all is good at your home and that you will be nice to at least one person today. Please stay safe and enjoy the cooler weather.

After garage sale helper.

Senior ole person who tries to be nice to our neighbors, Don the Ford

 

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