Day Fifty One...

THE TWENTIETH OF TWENTY EIGHT THINGS I SEE BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND THE HIGHWAY...in no particular order...

You know, for all the talk, it is not easy getting a barn somewhere. When we first moved here I spent a long, long time trying to get a barn placed on the property. Ideally it would have been big enough for lots of storage, big enough for the cattle to have a generous shelter, and big enough to have plenty of hay storage. But these things are not at all reasonably priced...so, what we did was we got ourselves a smaller barn and a large barn shaped storage building. Right now, the barn is pretty much adequate for the cattle and eventual hay storage (if we ever have a cutting of hay, which is dependent on rain) and the barn shaped storage building is chocker-block full. Nothing a little organization could not fix. But I look around at barns of all shapes and sizes out here, many in total disrepair, and it brings up the same old question...how can folks let their stuff just sit and rot into the earth? I hope I am around when the final big wind causes some of these structures to finally collapse in on themselves. That would definitely be a You Tube moment. Now I do not think this particular barn in in any near-term threat of collapse, I just think it is a neat looking building, kind of Quonset-hut shaped. I like it a lot!

When I got up this morning, the nuclear thermometer said it was 39 degrees, so that means that at ground level it is actually about 34 degrees or so. I finally let the dog out, and the black cat was out there, having survived the night just fine, thank you very much. If you see me out on the streets today, just nod and say hello...one of the smoke detectors decided it needed a new battery at about 2 AM, and I figured out which one it was, closed the door to that room, and went back to bed. Did not go back to sleep, but I did manage to stay in bed for a few more hours. Why can't smoke detectors decide they need new batteries at a more civilized hour? And, nine times out of ten, when I change the batteries, they continue to beep anyway. What is with that? I don't get it, but since our smoke detectors are also hard-wired, many of them have no battery back-up at all. If there is an electrical engineer reading this post, and you can solve this issue, please let me know.

I think the little black cat is getting closer and closer to becoming an inside cat. Jody had a talk with it today and explained to it that if it would be a little more calm and peaceful, he/she/it could most likely come inside. The conditions were that he/she/it needed to recognize that the cat we already have inside (Missy is that cats name, although for years I called it 'Number Three' because it was the third cat we had inside the house at the time), is the QUEEN CAT of the house and that he/she/it would only be a Princess (or whatever, depending on if we ever figure out what gender the cat is). So, that seems to be going nicely, but Jody still has not really broached the subject of another cat moving into the house full time with the QUEEN CAT (whatever you want to call her). And I wonder why, after probably 13 years or so, that the QUEEN CAT has never really even acknowledged my existence on the planet. Go figure.

Okay, now we are scheduled to close on the condo transaction on Monday at 2 PM. We shall see... The good news is, not only does the title company have the funds from the buyers, but I called to have the utilities disconnected and the buyers have already had the utilities transferred into their names. Makes me want to go and turn on all the lights, and turn the heat up really high. But that would not be a good deed, would it?

We are having brats for dinner (not the little girl doll kind of brats) just the big wiener kind of brats, one of my favorites. Yummy.

I will be going to the Texas Association of REALTORS Winter Meeting tomorrow in downtown Austin, and my first meeting starts at 8 AM, which means I will need to leave here at about 6:30 AM. So, hopefully there will be nothing to disrupt my sleep, or I run the risk of being cranky again tomorrow. All I need is for the emergency pager to go off in the middle of the night. Go ahead, make my night...

I have been kind of weak in the good deeds department today, but I did feed the cattle this afternoon when I got home, so they thought that was really a great deal. I will feed them again on Sunday, I try to give them some supplemental feed twice a week, and this week was just a bit crazy. I am hoping the spring and summer will be good...lots of sunshine later in the evenings...good for working around the farm and then lounging in the pool. That is what I am really looking forward to.

Tomorrow is my Aunt Faye's birthday, so if you happen to run into her, tell her 'happy birthday' for me. That can be your good deed for today (and maybe tomorrow). I think once you get Faye talking, it may go on into tomorrow!