December 17, 2023

            Well, we are back to Sunday again. It is rather cool outside this morning, depending on who you listen to it could be 31 to 36 degrees outside.

            Let’s see if anything happened yesterday: Tres did take me for a walk. When walking with Tres he has a tendency to pull on the lead, so I walk faster with Tres than I would if I were walking alone. If I try to walk alone the Tres begins to howl, he is actually crying.

            My favorite wife worked almost all day making sweet things for the holiday period. I was able to talk her into taking a break, so we went into town and got a sandwich for lunch. While in town I was able to stop at the Harbor store and then on the way home we stopped at another store in Hewitt.

            Back at home my wife continued baking the sweets and I went outside to review the yard. I used the blower to move some leaves off the driveway and off the walkways. I felt that they were too wet to attempt to vacuum them, but I will attempt to do that today. I want to vacuum both the flower beds and the yard. this could be next to the last time clearing the front yard this year.

            My favorite wife and I sat outside for a while yesterday afternoon, as the weather was nice, even though there was a little breeze.

            I did order a few items for the grand kids Christmas presents, most of which are here, and one is supposed to get here by this coming Friday. I guess that means more work for the ole Fords, you know, wrapping the Christmas presents, yest that is considered work.

            We are going to celebrate Gabi’s birthday today; she was 17 on this past Wednesday. Yes, it is difficult to believe the grandkids are as old as they are. They have birthdays every year, while I only have birthdays every other year.

            I have a project that I will be working on for a few days. In the past I installed a solar panel on the Ford’s ole shed, I connected it to a 12-volt battery, and I had a device that would convert the 12-volt battery power into 120-volt power. The device was a 400-watt power inverter. I have a couple lights in the shed and the device would power the lights, but not much of anything else.

This new device is a 2000-watt power inverter, when installed properly, will power the lights but it will even power items like a 10-inch circular saw, my table saw and even my chop saw, along with many other items, not all at one time of course. I will put some time in working on this and hopefully I will geter done.

            I guess that is it for now, we hope you are ready for the coming holidays, and that you have all my I mean your presents wrapped and ready to deliver. Have a good day, please stay safe and be nice to everyone.

It’s almost here!

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

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

December 16, 2023

            Good morning to most of you, good afternoon to the other two. Well, it isn’t raining right now, and we are supposed to have a day of sunshine with some breezy winds. I did check the rain gage yesterday afternoon and we received ½ inch of precipitation, that is rain for the other two of you, almost readers. We needed the rain, and it did bring down more leaves from the trees. I am sure I will need to vacuum the leaves from the front yard one more time. I want to start removing the leaves from the flower beds, but I will need to wait until the leaves dry up. I might be able to get my favorite grandson Alex to remove the leaves from the back 40.

            I did go to town again yesterday and shopped for a couple items. I was able to get my new pruning shear with the adjustable handles and it has a ratchet cutting jaws, even though I did not receive any funding from any of you, in the reading public. I have two photos.

             Short to long handle will make it much easier for my favorite wife I mean for the Don to cut the small limbs. Those professional photos were taken in the Ford’s ole kind of like, office. I did purchase a new 50-foot extension cord too, yep that means more work for the Don. There were other items I wanted but since no one gave me any money I could not get them.

            We still do not have a single present under any of the Christmas trees! It would be so nice if we could be like real people and have at least a few presents under one of the trees.

            My wife is making the Banana nut bread this morning, she will make the Mexican Wedding cookies later, and the Molasses cookies tomorrow. The Peanut Butter Bonbons and the Fudge have already been made, and may I say, they are good!

            Wow, there is a first time for everything. I just happened to look at the monitor for camera #4 and I observed a female subject, one of several who live in the house on the corner, run and get into her vehicle and drive off with in a few seconds. Why is that a first time you asked, and even if you did not ask, I will attempt to enlighten. The female subjects who live there have a tendency to stay in their vehicles after parking, up to 30 minutes, and they also have a tendency to sit there in their vehicles for several minutes before leaving. I don’t know why, but it happens, so when one runs out, jumps in, and drives off in a few seconds that is unusual.

            I know, I should not know what goes on in the neighborhood, but when you are old and just sit around all day you have a tendency to observe. I still remember the day that I saw a dark colored vehicle parked about a half of a block up the street. It was not a vehicle that belonged in the neighborhood and there was someone in it. I stood there in the front yard looking at the vehicle, wondering what was going on.

            Then the vehicle started and drove down to where I was standing, the window rolled down and the man showed me a badge, he was a US Marshal. He asked me if I knew the man who lived down the street and I said no, but I wave at him when he drives by. He said they were going to arrest him. After they arrested him, I think he committed Suicide.

            Wow, that was an odd way to end my posting. We hope your day is sunny and bright, please stay safe and be generous to ole people.

Keep your eyes open!

Senior ole person who needs a break, Don the Ford

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

December 15, 2023

            Hello from the Ford’s Homestead and from me. We hope you had a good day yesterday, and if so, we hope you have a better day today!

            I was listening to some Christmas songs on the radio and there was one which mentioned a Hula Hoop. That got me to thinking of past times. Many years ago, someone invented the Hula Hoop, and every kid wanted one. The Hula Hoop was just a piece of plastic pipe connected together making a circle, but every kid wanted one. this may be hard to believe but my parents bought me one, and they never usually wasted money on anything like that. Wow, I was kind of like the real kids, you know the ones I am talking about, their parents had some money. Yes, I could make it go around my young body but not as good as most kids.

            Yesterday, I went to town, and I bought a bag of chocolate mints at the discount store, now they are good with a cup of coffee, and should not be left in my vehicle as I might keep eating them. At the Harbor store I saw several things that I wanted to purchase, and I may go back to get at least one of the items, it is a lopping shear, or pruning shear depending on how you like to define them. I should not go to the harbor store unless I am looking for a particular item, I have a tendency to want a lot of what I see.

            I did put the new bag on my electric leaf blower / vacuum, and it worked. I did not have time to vacuum very much but I will today if the rain stays away.

            I just learned that Alex had decided on an item he wants for a Christmas present, with only 11 days till Christmas, we open presents on Christmas eve here at the Ford’s House. I now know what Alex would like to get for Christmas, and they are out of stock.

            My favorite wife and I went out to supper last night and it was very good. We had a good wait staff and she kept an eye on us and our needs. When we arrived back at home it was too dark to sit outside.

            I got a photo the other day of Christmas colors on our red oak tree, photo to follow.

             The red and green leaves are Christmas colors, so we did not need to put decorations in the yard as the tree is providing the necessary colors. For that one person, try to look closely and allow for a little imagination. Our yard is covered with leaves again and I would like to vacuum them this morning before the rain comes.

I did get my hair cut yesterday but other than that I did not do a lot.

I have another photo of a Christmas tree and it shows how poor the ole Fords are, it does not have a single present under the tree. If ole people were like you real people, we would have some presents under the tree, and not an ole rusted pickup truck.

 

            You probably noticed that we did not have any house lights on, electric is too expensive for ole senior retired people.

            If my present wife was able to get enough aluminum cans last night while she was out forging through the neighbor’s trash cans, I might go back to the Harbor store and get me a new lopping shear, but I need to wait and see if she will give me any money.

            I guess that is it for now, we hope you have a nice and safe day as you consider donating, (aka sending money) to us ole senior retired people as Christmas Gifts. Money is better than gifts.

Christmas is coming!

Senior ole retired person who is gift less, Don the Ford

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

December 14, 2023

            Good morning to you and those others who read these silly postings. I have a couple comments today, some might be negative and some may not be negative.

            First; I think I might stop looking at the weather prognosticators on TV. This week they have been telling us about the large amount of rain we will get this Friday. Over the last couple days they have been reducing the amount and saying that we might get some rain. They build me up with hope, and then shut me down with the words maybe and might. Bad prognosticators.

            Second: I went to my past employer as two of the people I had hired many years ago, were retiring, one of them named Brad, has worked there 41 years. I enjoyed seeing all the people I know and there were other retirees there, but most of those working there now, I do not know. They had free cake so I could not resist going!

            Third: I was unhappy due to two cartons of items that I had ordered, which were delivered to some other address, but not to us. I called the UPS, they were the ones who made the mistake, and then I call the shipper. Neither could say where the product was. The shipper said they would reship the missing items. There were 6 items shipped in those two cartons that were missing. Working with the fellow at the shipper, he had an accent, he asked questions and said they would reship these items, and he would send a return label just in case we got the original shipment.       Email received after my conversation with him indicated that he was reshipping two items and not all 6.

Later in the day: while I was waiting on Alex to get out of school, I received a call from my favorite wife stating, a fellow who lives at 405 Texas Street brought the two packages that had been left at his house over to us. UPS left our two packages at the 405 address, but the wrong street. It is nice to have good honest people who live in our neighborhood. It made me feel very good that he did not keep the items, and he brought them to us. Good neighbors, Good people.

I have a couple things to do today so I need to get going, I hope to get my hair cut, I need to go into town and pick up a couple items and maybe do some shopping. Have a safe day, try to be productive after your nap, be nice to ole people.

Honest people, nice!

Senior ole person who needs to get going, Don the Ford

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

December 13, 2023

            I am not having a good day, we were supposed to receive two packages from UPS yesterday, and they show that they were delivered, but they were not. I even checked the security cameras and no delivery, not even a truck in the area. I am trying to find a way to ask where our packages are but not having any luck.

            We have a friend who will have surgery today, and another friend who will be retiring.

            I may get on here a little later with more items for discussion.

            We hope you have a good day, stay safe.

No packages, aka gifts.

Senior ole person who needs to get going, Don the Ford

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

December 12, 2023

            It is another cool morning here in Hewitt, but it isn’t freezing. I have the TV on but all they have is the same things they have been presenting for weeks, I am tired of TV news.

            I did not do much yesterday, my favorite wife and I had to move our bed to reconnect an electrical plug in to the wall outlet, my clock had stopped working. It seems as if our cat has been hiding under our bed, and may have been laying on the wire, causing it to come loose. Moving a bed don’t sound to difficult, until you consider all that has to be moved before you can move the bed. What is under the bed? Is there a roll top desk at the foot of the bed? Were there other items that needed to be moved to make room for an ole senior person to work? Those are all good questions, and it took more than an hour to do all that.

            Let’s change the topic: Bible study was about 45 minutes longer last night; we had Pizza before the discussions began. Good food, good fellowship, good discussions, good night. We are now on a break and our next meeting is January 8^th, 2024. Wow, no homework until next year.

            Another topic: I believe I have noted in the past that there may be ghosts in our neighborhood. Well, I am again commenting on that topic. Yesterday, as I was sitting here at my ole desk, I happened to look at the security camera screens, and I saw something unusual. Now I have two photos taken of the same monitor, the second was taken a little closer to the monitor.

             In the above photo of the monitor, we can see what appears to be a black short being standing there. Yes, I was surprised when I saw this. I then decided to get another photo a little closer to the monitor, photo below.

            Naturally I got out of my chair and went outside to see this thing. There was nothing there and I did not see the black being or shadow of the black being. The camera saw it but in real life it was not there.

            My favorite wife did go to rehab yesterday, she is a little sore today, but she will do the daily exercises. My first wife has been making candy and will be making cookies along with other items this week for Christmas.

            We are supposed to get a couple packages today, Christmas presents that we have ordered, but they are not for us.

            I guess that is it for now, I need to do something, anything, other than sit here at this keyboard. We hope your day is bright and shiny, and that we all stay safe. 

Strange beings?

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

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

December 11, 2023

            Ok, lets get started. yesterday was possibly the shortest post that I have ever made. Today, who knows until I get started, so let’s go.

            Our next-door neighbor’s son was seen in their front yard of the neighbor’s house, raking the leaves? Wow, that seemed unusual as this son is an adult, and no longer lives in the house. I went over and talked with him and found that his parents were not home.

            This son had first picked up a bunch of sticks that were in the yard and had raked the leaves into long rows across the yard, there was a bunch of leaves. I returned to my home and reviewed my yard. I do have leaves in the yard, and we will get a bunch more. Now some people like to wait until all the leaves have fallen and do nothing all winter, hoping that the wind will blow them away, while others remove the leaves only after they all have fallen.

Then there are others like me, who like to remove the leaves about ones a week until they are all gone. Photo of few of the many things to fall down.

            Now in truth I will probably remove leaves from the front yard 4 to 5 times. I find it easier to remove smaller amounts of leaves over several occasions as compared to all at ones. My lawn mower picks up the leaves and it works better with smaller amounts.

I do have an electric leaf blower/vacuum, and I went to the shed to get it yesterday. This unit has a bag that catches the leaves when one is vacuuming, and when I picked it up it fell apart. The bag had been in the shed all summer, and had not been touched since last fall.

Returning to the house with the electric blower/vacuum I noticed that the neighbor’s son was picking the leaves up by hand, and putting them in a trash bag. I went over and suggested that I loan him a couple leaf picker uppers, which you hold in your hands and are able to pick up large amounts of leaves at a time. I also offered him the use of my trash can to hole the trash bag open while he filled it with leaves. He accepted both. If I had not loaned him these items it would have taken him twice as long.

Now back to me, I went to the ole computer and ordered a new bag for my leaf vacuum, it will be here by Thursday. Before you ask, I use the leaf blower/vacuum in the flower beds and other tight areas, to get the leaves out.

I then went to the front yard and with rake in hand I moved some of the leaves away from Christmas decorations and anything that I did not want to get the mower close to. The yard was now ready to be vacuumed with the ole walk behind mower, but I needed my trash can that I had loaned to the neighbor’s son, back.

He finally finished and I had the trash can with my trash bag in it and I then vacuumed the front yard. as I was working my ole body to death, my favorite wife was sitting outside on the swing enjoying the afternoon. I completed my work and was able to put the tools away then join my present spouse on the swing.

Only real plans for today are, take my first wife to the rehab, get the kids from school. School will be out for two weeks starting next week; it must be close to Christmas. We have bible study tonight and there is pizza before the meeting starts. I think we have a couple weeks off too.

Well, I guess that is it for now, we hope your day is filled with everything you like, and that we all stay safe.

Leaf it up to me!

Senior ole person who don’t want to go outside this morning, Don the Ford

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

December 10, 2023

            Good cool morning to everyone. Today is Sunday and I have no idea if my favorite wife has plans for me or not.

            Yesterday, we both, that is my present spouse and I, did almost nothing, I guess it was a rest filled day. I guess I could mess with the leaves in the yard today, if my ole body can stand the cool air and it the wind stays low.

            In truth, I have no plans for this day, so I will probably do more work today than I have in the past couple weeks.

            We hope you have a very good day, don’t work too hard, and please be safe.

This post is short.

Senior person who has no plans, Don the Ford

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