Volume 18 - Day 143/222, 2026 - Saturday

One of my defining judgements about people is whether or not I would go have a beer with them. There are even a few Rs I would not mind having a beer with and getting to know them better (okay, more than a few), and one of them is running for office this year. I think he is a good man, more moderate than many, but he refers to central Texas as 'the Austin swamp.' Well, that is offensive, so I may have to move him to the 'no beer for you' column. I cannot vote for him anyway, but I am stuck being bombarded with political commercials, whether I can vote for them or not. I did vote early for the run-offs, and I only had two things (peeps) to vote for. BUT...I ALWAYS vote. It was just me and Judy hitting the estate sales today. There were three sales, and they were underwhelming, to say the least. I did find two things that I needed, and Judy found two things as well, but there was still nothing really extraordinary about the sales. Nobody has fessed up to receiving my Apple Credit Card by mistake, so this afternoon, I called and told them that I did not receive the latest card. Now the replacement card has been cancelled, and they are sending me another replacement card. I expect someone will fess up and bring me the first replacement card any minute. Whatever. I even looked at the movies showing in Georgetown, and just did not see anything that I am excited about seeing. Tomorrow, I will go with the neighbors (Val, Paulina and Oliver) to the German Restaurant in Walburg for lunch. Always a worthwhile effort, and I may try to convince them to drive out to the farm. There is still one shed out there that I need to clean out...I think there may be some art work in the shed, but I am not sure. Maybe yes, maybe no. I planted this plum tree last fall, and it is knocking itself out with plums. I tried one a couple weeks ago, but it was not really ripe, and it was really sour. Not sure how to tell when they are ripe enough to eat.

Volume 18 - Day 142/223, 2026 - Friday

Since my post last night, we've received 1.35' of rain at the Curious House. Today started out cloudy, but the sun is out now, and it is a beautiful evening in central Texas. Yesterday, the tree people finally made it to the house and gave me a bid to remove some dead limbs from one of the oaks, and today the lighting guy came out and got everything fixed on the outside lights. The tree people just called and wanted to come out on Monday, but Monday is going to be a platelet day, so they will be here on Tuesday. It is not easy finding people that want to work around the house...tree people, lighting people...and I have an appointment with the electricians for next Friday to install some different lights inside the house. After that, I think I will be done with stuff I want done around the house. I still have to plant the cannas that I bought the other day, and I need to see if any of the tulips I planted are showing any signs of life. Let me go look. Nope, I don't see anything happening tulip wise...there is still plenty of time. Tomorrow will be estate sales, there are three sales, so it should not take too long, and I am expecting to come home with at least a couple treasures. I was awake for the start of The Late Show last night, but I fell asleep before it was over, so I expect I missed the best parts. I don't watch too much on CBS, but I am not taking a vow to boycott the channel, but I will take advantage of any opportunity I get to trash talk the channel. Photos from the farm have been popping up on my feed, and I occasionally miss the farm, but then I remember how much work it involved, and I am thankful for the Curious House. I am a lucky man!

Volume 18 - Day 141/224, 2026 - Thursday

We had a little bit of rain overnight, less than a tenth of an inch, but in the last hour or so, we got another 3/4 of an inch, and we are expecting more later this evening. Political advertisements are getting really disgusting here in the Lone Star State, and it makes me laugh. All the Rs are calling each other names, some of which I never even called them. I like their creative thinking. I just hung around the Curious House all day today, I did have an appointment this afternoon, so hopefully I will be able to get some tree trimming done in the near future. I was pretty excited that my Apple Card was to be delivered today, and the USPS Tracking site says it was delivered to a 'parcel locker,' but there was no key in my mail box. I left a note on the cluster box asking anyone that received my package, please let me know and I will come retrieve it. We shall see. I'll give it a day or so. The temperature has certainly dropped along with the drizzle, it is 68 degrees outside, and it feels very nice. I have a whole lot of nothing on the schedule for tomorrow, too, so I think the next several days will be pretty calm. I am NOT one of the millions of people that will be traveling over the coming Holiday, so I am happy for that. Estate sales will be the most stressful thing I attempt. As promised, the photo with this entry is me, Mace and Holly at Mace's congratulatory open house yesterday. I like the trellis effect...

Volume 18 - Day 140/225, 2026 - Wednesday

We got a pretty good rain last night, 1.70", and no one will complain about that. There were also some pretty strong winds, but there were no problems at the Curious House except for a lot of leaves fallen, and a few things blown over. Nothing terrible. We had a nice walk this morning, and after the walk, I did not have a lot of chores on my list, so I took advantage, and did a lot of nothing. Early afternoon, I had been invited to congratulate Mace on his graduation from high school. Should high school be capitalized? Not sure. Anyway, you may have heard me speak of Mace in the past; he founded a non-profit (No Hunger, Inc.) several years ago, and during the celebration this afternoon, he presented a check to the Central Texas Food Bank for $26,000. Mace is an amazing young man, and he has a very bright future ahead of him. He will be attending Tulane in the fall, so everything is looking good. Tonight was our neighbors dinner, and we all had a great time. We were pretty loud, but we had a great time! I enjoy meeting with the neighbors once a month, and already looking forward to next month. I have a couple appointments tomorrow and Friday, but nothing very strenuous. I will include a photo of me, Holly and Mace with my journal entry tomorrow.

Volume 18 - Day 139/226, 2026 - Tuesday

It dribbled a little bit overnight, 0.02", but that was enough for me to call a 'rain day' and not walk. It was a good decision, because I was taking mike to the airport for his 11 o'clock flight. We were about half way to the airport, when he got a notice that his flight had been cancelled. Instead of turning around, we went ahead, Mike was thinking they would get him on another flight pretty soon. SO...his 11 o'clock flight was turned into a 1 o'clock flight, and at last word, he was in Tampa and the airport there was shut down because of weather. I still think he will make it home before the end of the day, but you never know. Oliver and I went to Costco later this morning, and after that, I took a nap, then got up and got my hair cut. It is really short, but it is only hair, it will grow back. After that, I went to HEB and got a few things, and they have cannas for $5, and I think I will get back in the car pretty soon and go get some. I really like cannas, they grow tall and bloom a lot! Perfect for me. We are under a severe thunderstorm watch, so I expect some rain over night, but I have plenty of time for getting to HEB and back. no problemo. I did spy these yellow roses this morning, I really like yellow roses, and they were my fathers' favorite flower.

Volume 18 - Day 138/227, 2026 - Monday

Still no rain, but I expect we will have some before too much longer. Memorial Day is coming up this weekend, and central Texas is known for Memorial Day flooding. We may not have flooding this year, but I am expecting some decent rain totals, they are forecasting 3 to 5 inches of rain for the Georgetown area. Fingers crossed. I went and voted this morning, so the rest of you can just stay home, no big deal. Mike went with me, and after I voted (I was in and out in less than five minutes), we just wandered around for a while, then we got home, we each had a piece of leftover pizza, and then took a nap. We went to Salt Trader's tonight for dinner, me, Mike, Linda, Jimmie, Paulina and Oliver. Mike is flying back to Del Rey Beach tomorrow, and then it will be quiet and dull in the Curious House. With any luck, I have booked the group for the next House Concert in June, and that will be good, it is a Dixieland group, and they are a lot of fun. I already have the September and October groups found, so that is finished. After the expected rains, the high temperatures are supposed to go down to the 80s, and I am happy for the temperatures to be closer to normal; after all, it is still only May. 

Volume 18 - Day 137/228, 2026 - Sunday

It has been cloudy most of the day. I removed all the House Concert fliers from around the neighborhood before our morning walk. One set of fliers was already gone, so I am not sure if that was done by friend or foe. I don't think it matters, because we had a nice turnout for the concert last night, and that is a good thing. The post card I mailed from Vatican City in April was delivered yesterday and it took about a month to go from Italy to Georgetown. At least it got here! We are looking forward to getting some rain, maybe starting tonight, and the predictions are that we could receive between 3 and 5 inches of rain. That would be swell! I did not water plants today, in anticipation of the rain, so now watch, we will get nothing. We all went to dinner tonight at Garbo's, I had a cup of clam chowder and a fried shrimp plate, all very good. Dan and Nancy will be leaving early in the morning, WAY before I get up, I expect. Hopefully they will not have any bad weather for their drive back to Las Cruces. I am not sure what will be happening this week, but I expect it will be calm. It's pretty much guaranteed! The Lesser Finches are happy with their millet, and I am glad to see the occasional hummingbird at the feeders, as well.