September 18, 2025

                Howdy to you from us here in Hewitt, and good morning to those who are awake.

                Let us see if there was any activity here at the Ford homestead yesterday. Returning home from dropping Alex off at school, my favorite wife was getting ready to go to the grocery store and I decided I would go along as we both needed to get a couple shots, (no not adult beverages, shots for the flu and covid) and we could get them at the pharmacy at the grocery store where she was going. Our usual pharmacy had the COVID vaccine but could not give it yet. So, we went to Wally world at their pharmacy and got a flu shot and the COVID shot.

                My favorite wife and I walked around inside the store looking for a few items that we could use at home then we left that store and went to another store where my wife went in and did some shopping and I stayed out in the Ford's old van. It can be very interesting watching the various people who go in and out of the grocery stores.

Back at home I Decided to take a short nap before I started working on my Bible study homework. A short nap before I start reading helps me stay awake and alert. A little later I decided to go out and see if I could get that stump cut off, so I went out to the shed and found an old saw that belonged to our fathers or our grandfathers. I'm not sure who it belonged to I do have a photo for your enjoyment.

That old saw is almost 4 feet long and I thought I could get down on the ground and use it to finish cutting through the center of the stump but no it was too difficult. So, the stump is still attached.

I have another story about yesterday morning very early. Every morning there is a fellow and his dog that walk around the corner down the street. Yesterday morning as usual when he started down the street my dog who was in the garage started barking, so I made my dog come out of the garage. I sat there and watched him and the dog as they walked down the street, and it was amazing that they simply vanished. They were walking along, and they began to become invisible. Yes, it was caught on my camera and yes, I have a short video of it. I know they're not ghosts it's just something my camera was doing to make it disappear.

Well, I got to start getting ready to go get Alex so I'm not going to finish this until I get back. I am back and he made it to school on time and safe. Note: his sister's name is now being used as the name of a storm that will likely become a hurricane, Gabrielle. I don't think my name was ever used to name a hurricane.

Well, I will stop for now, we hope you have a good day and stay safe in all you do.  

Stumped Don the Ford

Donald Ford

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

September 17, 2025

                I am awake and moving around so it must be a good morning.

                Yesterday's events were very few: I did visit the dentist for my cleaning yesterday morning at lunchtime. Yes, my appointment was at 11:00 and that is lunchtime for me. All went well and they did not need to pull any of my ole teeth.

I decided to work on the removal of the stump in the front yard. Not having a chainsaw that worked, I used my electric pole saw in an attempt to remove the stump. I sat on the ground and attempted to cut it; I had to crawl from place to place trying to cut all the way around the stump. I could not completely cut it due to the short length of the blade and chain on the pole saw. Photo to follow.

                As you might see I took a metal wedge and drove it into the cut area attempting to pry the top off the bottom, but it did not work. Now I haven't gone outside yet and looked at it this morning, I did leave the wedge in there all night hoping that the pressure would break it off. I will likely take my hammer and knock the wedge out then go out to the shed and see if I've got a saw that I might use to cut the center of the stump.

                Another photo for your enjoyment: I have a photo of Some of the mouse traps that I have placed in the flowerpots.

Yesterday two of the mouse traps were tripped. I am hoping that the mouse traps snapping at them when they get in will keep them from digging in the flowerpots.

Today's possible events:

I will call the pharmacy again today and see if they have our needed shots available. If they do not we will go to a different pharmacy and get our shots. We need the flu shot and the covid virus shot for ole people. I may attempt to replant an ole plant that has overgrown the flowerpot it is in. There may be some other things I can or may do during the day.

I will attempt to stop for now and get Alex to school. Ok, I am back, and I did get him to school on time. Before you ask, yes, I did get a cup of coffee from the star coffee place. Well, I guess I should stop for now and try to do something interesting or take a nap whichever seems to be best for me. We hope you have a good day and stay safe in all you do.

Wood butcher, Don the Ford

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

September 16, 2025

                Good morning to one and all, we hope your day is starting off well.

                Did I do anything yesterday? Nope. I did very little yesterday, Although I did replace the damaged roof panel on the so-called hot house. I used the clear piece of plastic, and it is so clear that it looks like it's not even there. I will take a couple pieces of tape and put on it so that when I look at it I can see that it is in fact there. I did water the blackberries yesterday even though they said we might get a little rain. I went ahead and watered them, and I did water the potted plants that the squirrels seem to be enjoying digging in. We sat outside for a little while yesterday afternoon before I headed out to Bible study. I found a decent parking place even though there's a lot more people attending now, Bible study went well.

                I did get a photo as I was going to get Alex for school, and I will show you.

                The photo was taken through the trucks window, so it isn't a great photo. The Early morning sun had a few clouds up there in the sky Which made it interesting to me. Yes, I pulled over and stop to take the photo.

                I have no big plans for today, we'll see what happens.

I guess I should stop for now and get ready to go get Alex. We hope you have a very good day and be safe in all you do.

Sunny boy, Don the Ford

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

September 15, 2025

                Good morning to you and that other person too.

                Yesterday was a day of rest: I did very little other than go out for lunch, we got the "buy one and get one free" breakfast. Breakfast was good and I wanted to have some fried apples, the manager came by and asked if we needed anything. We said refill our coffee and some fried apples, which he brough to us. A little later the server came to us with our bill, and it did not have fried apples on it. We told him and he then added it to our bill. I do not intently cheat anyone, and I was not going to take the apples as free. 

                I did work on the chain saw and it still does not run.

                We did set outside, and the neighborhood was very quiet.

                Today's plans: take Alex to school and then… we do have bible study this evening.

                That is it for now, have a good day and stay safe in all you do.

Don the Ford

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

September 14, 2025

            Good Sunday morning to you all.

Yesterday's events: We had Alex come over yesterday and do the yard work for us we got the yards mowed, and the fire Ant killer spread around. We tried to get the chainsaw to run but nothing we could do would make it run. I think that's odd as a couple days ago I got it started myself and it ran but may and Alex could not get it to run. We went into town for a quick sandwich at lunch and back home to finish the work.

My favorite wife and I sat outside yesterday afternoon. It was very quiet we were both very tired because of the work we did yesterday. We had no visitors and there was very little traffic in the area, I think we may have got to wave at one person.

            Towards the end of our time setting outside, I heard something like the sound of wood cracking. I began to look at the neighbor's big tree and a limb broke and fell towards the ground. That limb did not make it all the way to the ground. It was still hanging partially on some other limbs, but it was big. I got up out of my chair and went and looked over at the neighbor's driveway to see if there were any cars there, I did not see any, so I called the lady that lives there to let her know that the limb had broken. She said she would be back home tomorrow; I then told her there were several items sitting on her front porch that had been delivered there yesterday and were still there today. She said she would call a family member and have them come over and get the items off the porch.

            Today: we hope this day is a day of rest.

            We hope that each of you have a good day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Rest day… Don the Ford

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

September 13, 2025

                Good morning!

How easy is it to become addicted to nicotine?

I used to be an addict when it came to nicotine. I started out smoking a pipe and later switched to chewing tobacco. The reason I'm bringing this up is I have a few cigars that were given to me probably 6 months ago. Every now and then I will get one of them out and smoke it. Now when I say smoke it, it usually takes about two weeks to get one cigar smoked. The first time I take it out I don't even light it up I just carry it around putting it in my mouth like I'm really smoking but I don't lite it. Next time I might light it, puff on it a few times then let it go out. One cigar will last me a couple weeks.

                 Why would I take a couple weeks to smoke one cigar, because I enjoy a good cigar and if I had a cigar every day, I would be again addicted to tobacco.

                Different topic: yesterday I decided to put oil and gas in the chain saw. That saw had never been used and I won it at a company event several years ago. It has been sitting out in the ole shed all that time. I reviewed the instructions for the saw and then began putting oil and gas in it. I adjusted the chain to a proper tightness and then I attempted to start the saw. I set the choke to full, I pumped the gas button 6 times as instructed and I pulled on the starter rope five times, and the chainsaw acted like it was going to start. I then put the choke to half and continued pulling on the rope, but the chainsaw would not start. I went back through the process again of choking it pulling a rope nothing happened, so I gave up and said, "I'll leave it alone when my grandson gets here tomorrow, I'll let him try to start it, this is too much work for a senior person".

I then carried the saw and some other items over to the shed, I set it on the floor, and I sat down on the stool looking at the saw. I was tired from pulling on the rope and as I sat there and looking at the saw it came to me, "try it one more time". So, I tried it one more time and yes, the saw started. I did run it for a minute or so just to make sure it would keep running so now I know it does run. I may attempt to remove more of the tree stump in the front yard using the saw today.

Later in the afternoon a friend came over and she brought a Pizza with her which she shared with us. As usual, we had a lot of interesting conversations and yes, the bible was one of them.

Today events: Alex will be practicing with the ROTC this morning, they are getting ready for the homecoming. I assume they will be marching with the flags at the beginning of the homecoming. Alex will give me a call when he's done, I'll go get him and then he'll come over here and be our yard man for a while. We've got a couple things we need to get done mowing trimming and spreading the fire Ant killer and maybe cutting more of that stump out of the yard. Alex wants to learn how to use the chainsaw as there is a stump about 10-foot tall in the backyard from a tree that I had cut down many years ago.

Other events for today, we will probably go into town for sandwiches and then come back home and sit around and do nothing for the rest of the day.

Well, I will stop for now. We hope you have a very good day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

Sawyer? Don the Ford

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

September 12, 2025

The sun isn't up yet but we still wish you a good morning.

                Yesterday: My finger was hurting yesterday morning when I woke up, because of the use of the weed eater. That finger was used to operate the control which causes the trimmer motor to run, and it has what is known as trigger finger. My hand cramps up sometimes when I'm just sitting around doing nothing. I guess that's from holding on to the weed trimmer for each of these 3 mornings.

I did get the ditch done yesterday, that means I may get to rest this morning. I did use 2 full tanks of gas to get it all done. It looks decent now.

I might attempt to take the leaf blower out there and blow some of the dead grass around. I would like to be able to see the grooves in the ditch, which I was trying to not fall into.

The cup of coffee yesterday morning was good. I don't know if they were serving a different brand of coffee or had someone new making it. I worked on a couple small projects yesterday.

My favorite wife and I did go out to supper yesterday and upon returning home I did get the rose bush out of the small flowerpot into the large flowerpot. That completed, I was then required to water all the potted plants in the back 40 and the transplanted rose. Finally, I was allowed to sit down and visit with my favorite wife and enjoy a cold drink.

Today's plan: get Alex to school on time and then rest some. I may put the two-cycle oil in the gas and see if I can get the chain saw running. If I do anything else, I will enlighten you tomorrow.

I will attempt to stop for now, we hope you have a good day and that we all stay safe in all we do.

 Ditch done… Don the Ford

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

September 11, 2025

                Good morning to only you who have read or will read this message.

                Today is September the 11th also known as 911 when terrorist decided to fly planes into the trade centers in New York City. I was not in New York City at that time, but I was in the state of New York working. There are a lot of thoughts about that day.

                I am changing the subject to yesterday's events: I was able to get Alex to school safe and sound. I purchased a cup of coffee from the Star Coffee place which tasted bitter. The last two cups of coffee I purchased from there were both bitter and not good. I do plan to stop by there today and purchase another cup. I also plan to tell them, "If it's bitter I will not be back".

                Returning home from dropping Alex off at school, I decided to work on the ditch. I decided that I would see how much I could get done before it got too hot. I did use 1 1/2 tanks of gas before I quit. I have a photo of the weeds that have been cut.

I may go out and attempt to finish cutting the rest of it today, there's a bunch of grooves in the dirt which makes it difficult for an old person to walk. These grooves were put there by city employees on 4-wheel vehicles when the ground was wet, they got stuck in the mud.

                Later in the day after getting a shower and resting up, decided I would try to spread fire Ant killer on the front yard. I did accomplish that although with my ankle that hurts when I walk, I have decided that I will allow my grandson to spread the fire Ant killer in the backyard. My favorite wife and I did sit outside yesterday afternoon it was nice we didn't even need the big fan.

                Today's exciting events: as I said earlier, I may go out in the back and weed eat in a ditch, I will attempt to get Alex to school safe and sound. I do have some other small jobs that I need to do, if I keep them in mind, I might get them done.

I guess I will stop for now. We hope you have a real good day and be safe in everything you do.

Don the Ford

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