2012 - Day 182/184 - Saturday...

Today is the last day of June.  WOW!

I would like you to meet Audrey and three of her six children.  They were schlepping in a bus and truck tour of Little Shop of Horrors up in Cedar Park, and they were looking for donuts and the last truck pulled out and they ended up sedentary, and you know what happens when physics takes over.  One thing leads to another and then you end up the size of a Volkswagen, and then what are you gonna do?  Well, in this case, you have the Century Plant equivalent of gastric by-pass surgery, and you get put in a home on the edge of nowhere.  Really?

REALLY!  These plants were at Martha's house in Cedar Park and they just got too big, so instead of just chopping them up and doing away with them, they are now residing on the circle in front of the house.  A little water in the morning and hope for the best.  Even though everyone says you can hardly kill them, they are not aware of my prowess for destruction.

We shall see...

We got the Mule back today, so all is good there.  Amazing how handy that thing comes in when you are trying to go from here to the back end of the farm. Or even just to schlep something to the front barn or something.  A very useful device.

Pulled weeds, trimmed some bushes, did a little bit of this-and-that.  Had a really nice nap.  Tomorrow is another day.

Enjoy your extra second this evening.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, AGAVE, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 181/185 - Friday...

It is Friday, and this is my Happy Dance.  There are so many things that I have to be happy about, it would take too long to put all of them into words.

This is a photo of the new chicks, they are not nearly as interested in having their pictures taken as the old ladies of the coop, and I am still not too sure if these chickens have ever touched the ground.  I was pretty sure of it the other day; I had put some bread outside their mini-coop (not to be confused with a Mini-Cooper), and when I came home that night the bread was gone.  Today I put some bread on the ground, and it was still there when I cam home this evening.  Interesting...

Interesting lunch conversation; aborted chicken fetuses (possibly due to a vitamin deficiency, vitamin D in particular), the width of a roll of toilet paper in proportion to the width of modern day asses, cross-walk scams, homes for homos, you can't spell Granbury without GAY, and high temperatures in Arkansas.  There was a lot more talked about, but the other stuff did not stick with me.  Oh yeah, the benefits of blowing on your food.

I was appalled, but I sat there and was polite for most of the conversation.  It was interesting!  Thanks to Chris, Tim and Shannon.  I like laughing!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CONVERSATION, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 180/186 - Thursday...

SHINIQUA!  It's a difficult story to explain, so if you really want to know, you will need to ask me outside this journal...

This is something that is guaranteed to slow down your morning commute into the city.  No sooner had I listened to the traffic report that said it was smooth sailing into Austin that I came upon this little mishap that was slowing (but not stopping) the traffic flow.  Once I got past that, it was a pretty uneventful drive into the office.

Chris and I did Meals-On-Wheels this morning, and we had nine clients on our route.  It is much more efficient when there are two of us delivering together.  All of our regulars were on the route and all of them were at home.  Granted, one of them was in the bathroom, but they were all home and happy to have their meal.

Tune in tomorrow when you can witness my Happy Dance!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, TRAFFIC, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 179/187 - Wednesday...

I have it on EXCELLENT FIRST HAND authority that today was much like yesterday; not a good day if you are an old fat man dressed in shirt, tie and jacket.  IT IS HOT again, and I am not happy about it.  I am tired of making statements about the need for rain and cooler temperatures.  Then again, I could just be tired.  Even though the official high temperature recorded in Austin today was a balmy 106 degrees, the highest temperature I saw in my car was 108, and when I had the forethought to take a photograph (I have become lax in photos for this journal), we were down to 107.  Must have been a front that came through!

Quite a long day of accomplishments and sitting in the same chair from about 7:30 until 3.  I did get to switch chairs from 3 until 3:45, and then the day was done.

Tomorrow is Meals-On-Wheels lunch with a good friend.

Already looking forward to the weekend.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HOT, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 178/188 - Tuesday...

In the end, everything will be okay.  So, if things are not okay, it is not the end.

Today was one of those roller-coaster kind of days, lots of ups and downs, but I think that everything will work out just fine.  I just have to survive a few more ups and downs, and then I will be on to the next traumatic event.

The high temperature today in Austin was 110 degrees.  When I got in the car to drive home (I park under a carport) the thermometer read 109 degrees.  That was in the shade.  It is obvious to me that this heat has no respect for shade.  I expect the cattle are coping with the heat without too much difficulty, but the chickens are staying in the shady spots, and none of them are eating too much.  I think the bees will be able to cope for a while, but I have to make sure that they have plenty of water.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HEAT, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 177/189 - Monday...

I have always said 'The bigger the tires, the smaller the...'.  BUT, just because I have always said that (and I know for a fact that many of you agree with me because we have discussed it AT LENGTH) does not mean that you have to read it on this family oriented journal.  Whatever...

Monday, and for some reason today, I have been FILLED with anxiety.  You know that feeling, like there is something bad that is going to happen or that you have not tied up some loose ends or something.  Just this ominous feeling you have?  Well, I was uncomfortable for most of the day, but miraculously, after my dental appointment this afternoon, I am feeling much better.  WHY OH WHY do I get so agitated when I have to go to the dentist.  I just had one simple cracked filling that needed to be repaired, but I am a total wimp when it gets down to it about dentists. Crazy.

Otherwise, I got a lot of work done today, and made lots of resolutions made about a lot of work that I can get done tomorrow.

We just got off the phone with our friend Mikey from Palm Beach (close anyway), and we are not really that happy that they took all of our rain.  BOO!  But they are all fine, and doing wonderfully well.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BIG TIRES, LITTLE ..., Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 176/190 - Sunday...

Miguel was not able to come out and help today, but we still got a lot of things accomplished, and that was all good.  I did not pull many weeds, but there was some good stuff done.  To begin, Jody and I went out and got started putting the finishing touches on the auxiliary chicken coop.  So far (about ten hours later) I still do not think the newest chicks have ever had their feet on real dirt or the ground.  The opportunity is there and I expect they will do it soon, but not yet.  Of course, all the other chickens had to come and check things out, and Vera was right in the middle of all of it.  She seems to always be right in the middle of everything, along with her two sisters from the original batch of chickens.  They are the friendliest and the most curious.

We put three and a half sides of the cage (actually a dog kennel) together, and then we moved the coop that had been inside the barn outside, and put it on the flattened box that the kennel came in.  Then we kind of used the box as a sled, and slid the coop over to where we had built the cage.  We got the coop into the cage and then we put the tarp on as the roof, and that was pretty much it.

Before I could do some of that though, I had to move a couple old water troughs that we had tried using as a raised garden (that never did work) and some of the downed tree limbs.  I also tried moving the tree that fell over a couple weeks ago.  Everything at least got moved out of the way using the truck and the tractor (not at the same time) to pull it out of the way.  Sooner or (but probably) later, I will have to haul it all off somewhere and get rid of it or store it or something.

It was also a day for doing stuff, and taking a rest; doing a little more and taking another rest.  It is darned hot, so you cannot really stay outside and work for too long.  I did get hay out to the cattle and took them two new buckets of molasses.  I did not get the gutter on the west side of the house cleaned out, but it seems like the tropical depression is going to go elsewhere, so there is no emergency about that.  I did cut my fingernails.

AND, I did get some figs picked.  The fig tree in my estimation bloomed kind of late, and it seems like I was picking figs a lot earlier last year.  BUT, there are plenty of figs, and these are some figs that I will be taking into the office tomorrow.  Seems like folks at the office like figs, and I think I have only eaten fresh figs ONCE in my life, and that was last year or the year before.  They never have appealed to me, but I like fig preserves just fine.

Lots of things to get accomplished this week coming, and then the week after that will be a short Holiday week.  Totally ready for that!


Deeds, Actions, Changes, STUFF, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 175/191 - Saturday...

My plan was to stay in the bed this morning until AT LEAST 7 o'clock.  It seems we have the only dog that has a 'squishy' stomach.  HOW SQUISHY IS IT, you might say to yourself?  So squishy that it woke me up at about 5 o'clock, and it sounded to me like something needed to be done, but of course the dog was sleeping right through it.  Even though we think he is getting progressively more deaf by the second, you would think all that gastro-intestinal action would have given him some cause for alarm, but he seemed totally unconcerned by the whole thing.  There did seem to be some relief after we took a walk several hours later and and he freed himself of some of the burden along side the road.

On the way back from the walk, I stopped to see if there were any morning glories blooming, and there are indeed a few.  The drought we are experiencing (once again) is taking its toll on the vegetation again, but we did have a little bit of rain this past week.  The local weather prognosticators (and even the national news this evening) is teasing us that the tropical disturbance in the Gulf (Debbie) could very likely bring us some rain in the next five or six days.  That makes me a little bit more optimistic, but really just a little bit.  I will believe it when we are opening the flood gates on Lake Travis because we have received five or six inches of rain.  That will be a BIG DEAL to us.  And a welcome one as well.

Later this morning, we went into Taylor and bought a couple molasses barrels for the cattle, and I stopped and filled the cans (and truck) up with gasoline and diesel.  $110 later (I did not pursue it after the gas pump stopped at $75), we made it home, and we are all stocked up (probably) for another month or so with diesel and gasoline for the various bits of machinery around here.

After naps (the first of the day) we headed off into Georgetown and stopped at Home Depot where I bought a covered dog kennel (4 x 8 x 6) that we are going to use as an auxiliary chicken coop.  The littlest chicks are going to have their little coop put inside the kennel, so they can get a taste of the outdoors and have more room to run.  Jody and I started putting it together, and when we got as far as we wanted to go for today, we came inside where I thought I might as well look at the directions.  It will only take me about thirty minutes tomorrow to correct the assembly mistakes I have made so far.  BUT, as I was making was for the kennel, I was moving some square bales of hay I have had stored out by the front barn, and there were these two LITTLE BITTY TEENY TINY eggs between two of the bales.  I have no idea what they might be, but they are very precious little eggs.  They might be snake eggs or something (well obviously they are something), but if anyone know what they are, let me know.

I will fill you in more about the auxiliary chicken coop tomorrow.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BUSY DAYS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 174/192 - Friday...

It is Friday, and if you pay very, very close attention, you can see me doing my Happy Dance.  I'm DANCING!

It was a nice sunrise this morning, and it had all the indications of a nice day ahead, and it was not far off the mark.  LOTS of real estate stuff was happening, and it was a really busy day all around, but there was a really good sense of accomplishment achieved.

On the way home this afternoon (almost evening) I thought that the clouds were not very impressive.  But then I decided I should be ashamed of myself, because I cannot make a cloud.  And even a clouds worst effort is much better than I could do.  I guess some clouds are really just over-achievers and some are ordinary.

Whatever...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CLOUDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 173/193 - Thursday...

I sure do love me some old Caddy!  I saw this old girl while I was delivering my Meals-On-Wheels route this morning.  From the side, I was really surprised how much it reminded me of Pontiacs and Oldsmoblies from the same period, both of those nameplates are out of production now.  I had not really thought much of the fact that different brands used the same platforms and basic body styles back then, I had always thought of it as a newer trend.  It just goes to show you...

I also saw a couple El Caminos or whatever the other one of those were called back then (was it a Ranchero?).  I think El Caminos are about the best thing there is.  Not really practical anymore, but they are neat looking.  I had eight clients on my route today, and they were all home and glad to see me!

I like me some clouds, too.  We ended up with 1.21" of rain for the day, and when I got up this morning it was REALLY humid, and by the time I left for work it was REALLY FOGGY!  But usually (as was the case today) the fog is gone by the time I get to the Interstate.  Not much else went on of any note today, but by the time I was heading home, there were some really nice clouds.  The temperatures are supposed to by exceeding 100 degrees over the weekend, AND there is some talk of some tropical storms affecting us within the next seven days.  These weather prognosticators always get our hopes up and then let us down at the end.  I will not play there little game right now, I will just wait and see.


Deeds, Actions, Changes, OLD CADDIES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 172/194 - Wednesday...

It rained on me for about 10 minutes on the way to work this morning.  I had to take a detour because there was a wreck on the Interstate (happened early this morning around 1 o'clock, was not cleared until about 9 o'clock this morning), so maybe I need to take that route everyday, if I can be guaranteed rain.  The rain I was involved in did not amount to much, and I do not think there was any measurable totals received at the official sites in Austin.  BUT, we got over an inch of rain at the house, and that is great.  The old gauge reads about an inch-and-a-half, but I will not be able to get an accurate measurement on the new OFFICIAL gauge until tomorrow morning.  I will let you know.

Today was a pretty productive day, I am forging ahead with the new workings of G-Mail as opposed to my Outlook mail.  I am making progress, and I think I will get (most of) it all together in another week or so.  I still do not think that is too bad, converting from something you used your ENTIRE INTERNET LIFE to a new system.  I am a Luddite.

I went to a TREPAC Fundraising event tonight at the Domain.  My colleague Chris did a tremendous job, and we will find out how much money we raised sometime tomorrow.  Probably a couple grand, anyway, and that is a very successful event.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, RAIN, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 171/195 - Tuesday...

I have had a headache most of the day, because I have been converting my e-mail program from Outlook (which I have used since 1995) to G-Mail.  I know it has to be done, and it is all part of a conspiracy for my to really start using Google Docs (that everyone in my office is very fond of), but it is DIFFERENT.  I have been using Outlook ever since I invented the Internet (back in 1995) but I will try to make the best of this change.  I never said I dealt well with change, and this is certainly proof of that.

If you have been reading this journal for any length of time, you should know that I am a big fan of clouds.  CLOUDS.  Yep, I like clouds.  There were some interesting clouds this morning (right here) that really looked kind of like a dust storm coming in.  Then, this afternoon, there were some interesting clouds on the way home (above).  NONE OF THESE CLOUDS ( it should be noted here) produced ANY RAIN.  None, zero, zilch, nada.  I would really appreciate it if we could get some rain.


The humidity has lessened, the sage at the front of the driveway is starting to bloom (which is supposed to mean that it is going to rain), and it was nice enough that Jody and I were able to sit out on the porch for a while this evening.

As I side note, I really have no contempt for flies or mosquitoes, unless they are acting like flies or mosquitoes.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CLOUDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 170/196 - Monday...

A beautiful sunrise as I left for work this morning.

Although this is the day we chose to celebrate, Jody and I finished off twenty years of bliss yesterday.  Happiness, sharing and a total disregard for certain laws in the State of Texas.  Take that!

We headed off to Fish City Grill tonight for dinner, and that was nice.

All in all it was a quiet day, but there was certainly time for me to reflect back and revel in all the happiness I have in my life and to be able to confirm that I am the luckiest man in the world/

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CELEBRATIONS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 169/197 - Sunday...

I hope everyone enjoyed their Father's Day.

So, if a tree falls over in the front of the property, and there is no one around to witness (let alone hear) the said tree falling over, has it really fallen over?  Or is it just another instance of people from the city putting their dead trees in the car and driving out into the country and dumping them in other peoples front yards, expecting us country folk to take care of it.  Kind of like McDonald's bags and beer cans.  There is NO traffic on these County Roads, but you would think it was a highway with the amount of litter that ends up along side the roads.

There were major accomplishments around here today.  Miguel came out to work and he brought two others with him.  I spent several hours cutting 'at' grass in the front and was not accosted by a single bee, most likely because I was 'suited up' and the object of great humor to the men that came out with Miguel. AND I was working all around that tree this morning, and I really would like to know when it fell over.  But, things are looking much better, so we are off to a good start, now there is maintaining it.  It will never end.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, DEAD TREES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 168/198 - Saturday...

Okay, let me make this perfectly clear, and right from the beginning.  I always lie, I cannot ever tell the truth about anything, and I lie about everything.  See there, I just did it again.  Three times.

Today I did little of nothing, and that is a lie.  I took many breaths.  I blinked thousands of times.  I picked my nose to my great satisfaction.  I woke up and read the paper.  I drove into Austin and instructed a three hour class to three people (for you math majors out there, that averages one hour per person).  I drove home and took apart the 240 Volt charging station for the car apart to see if there was a reset button inside.  I did remember to flip the breakers first.  There was no reset button inside, and the charging station is still not working.  Not a terrible thing, except that it is a really expensive piece of industrial looking wall art (I do not think wall art is necessary inside a garage), and that I want it to work, for a variety of other reasons.  After failing at that mission, I took the Mule (which had been pre-placed on the trailer) to the Kawasaki Dealer in Georgetown.  We will not be getting the Mule back for about 10 days, which gives me yet another excuse to do virtually nothing around the house because the Mule is gone.

We did have some experiments in getting a truck and a trailer (with a combined length of about thirty-five feet) into the parking lot at the Dairy Queen.  Jody suggested the drive through, but I opted to make our own  special parking spot along the back side of the building.  My preference would have been to go to Chick-Fil-A, but I could not navigate even the thought of getting the truck and trailer through their parking lot.

AND OMG, HOW COULD THIS HAVE HAPPENED?  We were about four miles away from the house on the way to Georgetown when I realized I was not in possession of my cell phone.

I am back.  Just as I was writing this entry, I had a phone call from our neighbor Randy, asking if I knew I had a cow loose this morning.  Um, no I didn't.  He said he thought I had known it, because he did not see her loose later in the day, and thought I had gotten her back inside our fence.  ANYWAY, I did not know it, and the Mule is in Georgetown, so Jody and I got into his truck (mine still has the trailer hooked up to it) and we went into the back to herd cattle.  I got 15 of the 17 into the front pasture, and there were two renegade cows outside the fence in the back pasture.  I wish I had a video of the next 25 or 30 minutes, but all of the cattle are now inside the secured fencing of the front pastures.  We will work on some fencing issues tomorrow.

Where was I?  Of yes, no cell phone and we were on our way to Georgetown.  Needless to say, that conversation is kind of anti-climactic after herding cattle, so I will not continue that conversation.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, LOOSE LIVESTOCK, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 167/199 - Friday...

IT'S FRIDAY!  'nuff said...

We have grapes!  Not a lot, but nothing to sneeze at either.  Last year we planted four grape vines, and nothing happened, although Jody really did not expect anything to happen, I still thought there could have been a chance.  BUT, with all the high temperatures and the lack of rain, it was a miracle that they just survived.  This year, they are doing very nicely, and three of the four vines have grapes.  I will be kind of sad to actually harvest them, but they are delicious, and they are ours!

When I was a little kid growing up in Michigan, the neighborhood I lived in was a 'developing' area.  When we moved there, our 'street' was not paved, and many of our neighbors still had outhouses.  We had our house built in 1961, and Urban Renewal came through a couple years later and paved the streets, but the outhouses remained.  Neighbors to the back of us had grape vines growing outside their outhouse, and they grapes were dark purple and delicious.  Dark grapes (or I guess any grapes) have kind of a white hazy film on them, and the patriarch of the family told us he had dusted the grapes with poison to keep bugs off them, and the poison would kill us if we ate his grapes.  It did not stop me, and I am still here, so either the poison was weak or he was just trying to keep me (and the rest of us) from eating his grapes.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, GRAPES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 166/200 - Thursday...

I can pretty much blame the entire day (good or bad) on the fact that I had too much sugar.  This morning, I consumed one of the peaches that I bought yesterday.  Then a cup of coffee (no sugar yet).  I made it to the office about 7:30 and Tom had a donut.  'Where'd you get the donut'?  'In the fridge'.  Okay, that was pretty much the beginning of the end.  I am not sure that I have positively 100% ever in my life HAD a Round Rock Donut (they are kind of orange and not really that appealing to me), but these had chocolate on the top and some kind of creamy filling.  WHOA!  And from then on, I pinged off the walls for the rest of the day.

The sugar buzz helped me do some power real estate, and then I was off to the Women's Council Luncheon.    After that it was on to the Board for a quick meeting (for which I was late and left early), and then a couple hours of phone banking for TREPAC.  We are doing nicely, and this has been a really good week for investments, and there is still one day left!

I made it home about 5:30, and watched the news and took about a three-minute nap.  There are Barn Swallow nests everywhere around the house, but this particular nest is under the patio outside the breakfast room.  There are five hatchlings in this nest, but in this photo I can really only count four.  I can guarantee you that the parental units keep busy feeding this little ones.

Tomorrow will be another day.


Deeds, Actions, Changes, DONUTS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 165/201 - Wednesday...

A well stocked fruit bowl should always include salty snacks and a variety of hard to find hardware items.  I'm just saying.  I finally got the chance to stop at a roadside vendor booth today and bought a basket of peaches (presumably from Fredricksburg, but they could have bought them at the local grocer for all I know.  What I do know is that I paid $5 for the basket (seven peaches), which makes that $0.75 a peach, and that seems a little pricey to me, now that I think about it.

Busy day today, and the rest of the week will be busy as well.  I will be taking a class all day on Friday, teaching a three hour class on Saturday, and enjoying some rest and relaxation on next week.  At this minute, I am not moving so quickly that I can see my butt in front of me!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, PEACHES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 164/202 - Tuesday...

Another good day, and even thought it was a good day, I am tired.  It is mainly because if you translated my name into Chinese, it would translate as U-NO-YUNG.  Honestly!  I taught classes the last two days at the Board, and I am tired.

The next couple days I will be playing catch-up with what I have missed the last couple days and then on Friday I will be attending a class all day.  Then maybe next week I will have some time to concentrate on other things.  I am just like everyone else, I commit to too much, but at least I acknowledge that I CHOSE that.

We have had threatening skies, but no rain.  Everyone around us got rain, but not us.  When I got home this afternoon, there were STRONG winds from the north and now (about three hours later) the winds are strong but are once again from the south-southeast.  CRAZY.  Our weather alarm radio went off telling us of threatening conditions south of us, but we got NOTHING!  Lots of tree limbs down, debris all over, crap in the pool but no rain.  All we really wanted was rain.  BUT, the clouds kept the temperature down, and by the time I got home, it was only 78 degrees outside.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, FAKE STORM CLOUDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 163/203 - Monday...

I know it is Monday, but I also know that if you just settle down and be quiet for a few minutes everything will be better in a few minutes.  OH, and why don't you have a cookie?  Cookies will make it all better.  And if that does not work, have one of these little pills, I KNOW that will make everything better.  Now, isn't that better?

I did a full day of teaching classes today, and it was a great day!  Two separate classes, three hours for each class, and there were about forty folks in each of the classes.  Really good.  Tomorrow is one six-hour class, about the same number of attendees, and many of the same folks will be in the class.  I really enjoy teaching.

We had our first official 100 degree day today.  It is not something that I am happy to report.  I do not like the precedent that this is setting at all, either.  It is too darned hot, there is not enough rain, and overall I am just kind of grumpy about all of it.

So there...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, TOO HOT, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 162/204 - Sunday...S

Interestingly, I was not prepared to photograph the actions of the generously proportioned Reubenesque and tattooed woman bringing up the rear of this group of ROT (Republic of Texas) Riders travelling (hopefully) homeward this afternoon on IH-35.  BUT, it is not everyday you see someone on a motorcycle texting.  Not that there is anything wrong with that, it was just an interesting sight, so I thought I would share it with you, even if I was not actually capable of capturing the precise moment for digital posterity.  You kind of get the picture, though, I hope.

Got up, pulled weeds.  Made breakfast, pulled weeds.  Went into town, stopped at DQ on the way home, pulled weeds.  The good thing was, Miguel came by today and spent a long time pulling weeds, so there was some progress made.  I think he will be back during the week too, so there is hope.  BUT, as of right now, the weeds are still winning.

I will be teaching class for two days this week, but I did manage to get caught up with my work, so I will start of the week kind of even, and will only have two days worth of catching up to do on Wednesday.

We shall see.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, ROT RIDERS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 161/205 - Saturday...

Well, I worked a good part of the day, at times more intensely than at others.  The day did include putting a hundred or so miles on the car talking with potential clients, taking signs and lock boxes OFF properties and putting signs and lock boxes ON other properties.  A little more of the same tomorrow, gonna have to go into the office to get some administrative stuff done since I will be teaching classes on Monday and Tuesday.  BUT, I am happy for the business, and I am not criticizing ANYTHING.

This is the sunrise I awoke to this morning, and I snapped this photo in the way to let the chickens loose.  I should have pulled a weed or two on the way to the barn, but I did not.  I plan to get outside early again tomorrow, and the goal will be to pull a wheel barrel or two worth of weeds before I give up and fall over dead from heat prostration.  Is that the right word?  I always get confused, but I can always count on someone being close by to correct my error.  No harm...happy for the corrections!

The littlest new chicks are really getting big.  Three of the six have managed to survive, and I am telling you, if there were still six of them there would be no room in that little baby coop they are in.  They will be about five weeks old tomorrow, and pretty soon they will be changing over to a new 'intermediate' feed.  At eight weeks they will be integrated into the coop with the big girls and that is when the whole dynamic of the coop will change forever, and a totally NEW pecking order will start.  Interesting stuff happens out here.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BUSINESS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 160/206 - Friday...

Yes, I pretty much think this says it all.  This pretty much covers it.  Not much I can add to this.  Whatever...

today is Friday, and this is my Happy Dance.  Would you like to dance?  Go ahead, DANCE like no one is watching, it will do you good.

It has been a very busy week, and it will continue on tomorrow.  I have a couple specific things that need to be accomplished tomorrow, and hopefully I will have that all done by 1 or 2, and then we will make time to visit the Dairy Queen and then on Sunday, I will pull some weeds.  I also need to take an inventory of the bee supplies because I think there will be some honey-pulling done next weekend.  I am blocking my calendar next weekend in anticipation of that.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, WHAT?, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 159/207 - Thursday...

Another late day but look what I saw HOURS ago on the way to the office.  A wonderfully beautiful sunrise, kind of a premonition of things to come, and it all turned out pretty darned good.

It is a good things there are weekends at the end of the weeks, so I can get all the stuff done over the weekend that I did not get a chance to get done during the week.  Did you all follow that?

Deeds, Actions, Changes, WEEKS AND WEEKENDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 158/208 - Wednesday...

I have been reduced to this.  I am a chicken herder.  Yep, that's me, just herding chickens BUT herding only a select group of really spoiled chickens.  Vera and the two Broody sisters.  Vera will sit outside until I come and carry her in to the coop.  I know she will actually go in at some point, but not sure what point that is, and I want to go to bed before 9 o'clock.  SO, I go and herd chickens.  Whatever...

Nothing much could come between me and my Venus Transit except maybe some clouds.  So I guess I will have to wait until the next one, in about 100 years or so.  BUT, there is word that a total eclipse of the sun is expected to occur RIGHT OVER AUSTIN in 2014, so I will put that one on my to-done list right away.

Even though I did not get to see the Venue Transit, there was a really pretty moon-set this morning when I was outside to let the girls loose.  Very nice.  The sun was rising one way and the moon was setting the other way.  Oh, and another thing, if you add a hyphen to just about any combination of words, spell check thinks it is a real word.  I like that a lot!

 Deeds, Actions, Changes, SUNRISE MOON-SET, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 157/209 - Tuesday...

And so it goes, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it.  It is really crazy busy around here, and again, I do not need more hours in the day, I would just settle for a couple extra days.  EVERYBODY, REBOOT!

It seems I am becoming something of a legend around these world-wide-web parts, and it is interesting who really wants to see the yucky (not really that bad) snake in several sections photos.  I am just not too queasy about stuff like that, and it is surprising to me who is (and who is not).  I will know I have made the big time when someone writes a sonnet (okay maybe just a really bad folk-song) abut my triumphs over one snake.  I can hardly wait.

One mans weed is another mans flower.  Jody pretty much thinks anything with a bloom on it should be spared, and I think there are plenty of dandelions without the several million that have found a happy existence at our house.  He also thinks that a particularly NASTY weed that kind of looks like a cantaloupe or some other type of gourd vine-y kind of thing is particularly lovely, but I have tackled a couple of them, and they are not in the least bid delicate.  They are downright thorny and prickly.  I have spared a few of them, but I have also done in a few of them.  Whatever.  ANYWAY, these little (okay BIG) sunflower-y kind of things are pretty if you ask me, and so most of them are spared.  Farmers around here, however, have no sentimental attachment to them, and are happy to rid their properties (and fields) of them.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SUNFLOWER-Y THINGS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 156/210 - Monday...

I am not even going to mention that today is Monday...

Apparently you can spell Crape Myrtle like this (look three and four words back) or like this Crepe Myrtle.  I actually prefer Crappe Myrtle, but that does not seem to be one of the choices via the Internet.  Anyway, the Crape Myrtles are doing nicely this year, and have somewhat recovered from the challenges of the last two years.  They are still not as glorious as they have been, but they are lovely to look at, especially if you stop and really study them.  They are wonderfully delicate, and the pistils are just wonderful.

There seems to be an abundance of corn in the area as well.  Jim and Bonnie brought us some corn when the visited from Houston last weekend, and Hubert brought us some corn on Saturday afternoon.  Irene just called and brought us a years supply of corn (shucked and frozen) that we put in the freezer.  Of course, that meant we had to sacrifice the ice maker in the garage freezer (I can't believe we had not thought of that earlier) but it was well worth it.  I think I am going to stop on the way to work tomorrow and get some ears of corn and take into the office with me, Irene said it would be okay.

Even one of the peach trees out by the road is doing nicely this year.  Last year the raccoons got them before we did, and they may still get them this year.  Jody and I checked them out this morning, and they are still pretty hard, but I think they will be ready this week.

Much to my chagrin, I was BACK at the dentists office this morning and had x-rays, a cleaning and just an overall checkup.  I have one cracked filling that needs to be replaced and that is scheduled for later in the month.  The dentist suggested I come back tomorrow for that, and I explained to him that I could not really imagine myself visiting a dental office three times in less than a week, but later in the month would be just fine, thank you very much.

Tomorrow I have a check up at my GP, my every six-month thing, so I will need to take off a little bit early in the morning.


Deeds, Actions, Changes, CRAPPES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 155/211 - Sunday...

WARNING:  TODAY'S ENTRY COULD BE UPSETTING TO IMMATURE READERS!  READER CAUTION IS ADVISED!

Okay, today was the day that I decided it was either me or the snake.  As I reported last night, there has been a rash of broken eggs out in the coop, and I really had not fully thought it through to even consider that the snake (that I had been totally tolerant and non-threatening to) could be the responsible party.  This morning, I was out in the barn cleaning the little chicks coop and giving them fresh food and water, and I opened the door to the big girls coop to add some grass to the nesting box, and there was the freakin' snake all coiled up as happy as you please in one of the nesting boxes.  Not only that, but (as you can see from the obvious bulge in it) it had just consumed SOMETHING out of the nest.  I went up to the house to get my camera (need to document my own possible demise) and tell Jody there was gonna be a dead snake soon.  I really did not want to kill the snake, but I had been pushed to my limits.

SO...I grabbed a pair of lopping shears and grabbed hold of the snake.  The lopping shears did not make the snake into two parts, but it gave me a good grip on it.  I took it out in the yard and went back into the barn to get a hoe, with which I could STILL NOT chop it into pieces.  Next up was a box-blade, and I was able to chop it up into two or three parts, and even then it was still wriggling around.  Since it had the egg inside it, I took the hoe and tried to crush the egg (now I was just experimenting) and it would not break, which told me it had eaten one of the wooden nest eggs.  I got the box-blade and (without further sterilization) made a couple incisions close to the bulge, and began to squeeze.  I retrieved the golf ball that we had also been using as a nest egg.  SO, I retrieved the golf ball, washed it off and put it back in the nesting box.  The snake was unceremoniously disposed of.  If you would like to see photos of 'snake parts' just let me know and I will forward them on to you.

No more Mr. Nice-Guy with the snakes!

And then I went to show property.  Kind of anti-climatic after that start to the day...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BARN-YARD-SURGERY, Kindnesses (well...), Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 154/212 - Saturday...

If I didn't know for sure that Vera is a chicken, I would swear she was a ham.  She is such a funny and spoiled chicken.  She and the two remaining older girls are ALWAYS the last chickens in the coop, and she will not have it any other way except to be carried into the coop.  Funny, funny little girl.  We are also having a rash of broken eggs in the nesting boxes.  Not sure what is causing that, but I need to see what I can do to prevent it.

I stayed in bed until 7AM this morning.  I was not asleep but I was not ambulatory either.  It was good to just lay there.  I did get in an hour-or-two of weed pulling, and Jody and I took the boy dog for a ride.  When we got back, Hubert called and brought us some fresh corn.  He said he has forty acres of corn so we can help ourselves.  Randy and Irene told us last week that their corn was ready too, so if you know anybody that would like a couple ears of corn, let me know and I will see what I can do.

I will be heading into Austin tomorrow to show property, and the market is really heating up.  My phone has been ringing all day long with lease listings.  Lease properties are HOT and PRICEY!  It should be a good year for Property Management.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CHICKENS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2012 - Day 153/213 - Friday...

Ordinarily I would be doing a happy dance, but I am too tired for that nonsense today...

Today is the 1,250th journal entry.  I am pretty impressed with that.  I did miss a couple days (I think) when there was problem with the site, but I overcame that, and faced reality that nothing is perfect.  BUT, I am glad I bought the domain name for five years, and not just one.

BUSY, BUSY day today, and everyone in our office is BUSY!  It is the season, so we have to make hay while the sun shines.  AND, since I live on the edge of nowhere, I actually know what that is referring to.  I got into the office, and did some power real estate, headed off to the Board and gave a power overview of REALTOR ethics to (mostly) newly licensed REALTORS, than headed back to the office for more stuff.

Chris and I headed out about noon:15 and made it to five or six properties and got back to the office before three o'clock.  Good job to both of us.

I am looking forward to a little bit of extra sleep tomorrow before I begin to  perspire, and I have appointments to show property on Sunday.

Life is good, and I appreciate it even more knowing it.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BUSINESS (or Busy-Ness), Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!