2011 - Day Sixty Six; Monday...

Yesterday I ran over one of the sprinkler heads for our aerobic septic system. I saw it, I touched it (not gross). Today I called the company to make an appointment to have it repaired. This afternoon, I went out in the back to mark where the two sprinkler heads are located, and I cannot find the one I ran over and broke. I put a stake in the ground 'close-to' where I think it is, and I expect they will be able to find it. I guess they can cycle the system and then go see where the water is spewing up in the air. Whatever...

This is a photo of a little orchid plant Carrie gave Jody several months ago. Jody has a real knack with orchids, and it is budding out again. It is incredible that he can get these orchids to bloom. I have two African violet plants that we have put in the breakfast room window sill, which I think is a perfect place for them. Bright, diffused light. Perfect.

Today was a pretty good day at work, I am just still a little bit tired from the weekend. I finally got my Hotel conformation for the NAR Mid-Term meeting in Washington, DC. which was necessary before I could make my flight plans. I had looked at flights a couple weeks ago, and between then and now, the airline has raised ticket prices over $100. AND I get to pay $60 each way to check two bags. I am not happy about it. I am not going to mention any airline names, but the initials are the same if you are flying or going on a twelve-step program. Figure it out from there. I have pretty much stayed with Southwest for the last several years, but they only fly into Dulles, and that is not going to happen. Woe is me!

The girls gave up four more eggs today, and it is really windy here again today. It was windy on Saturday, then calm yesterday, and crazy windy again today. I think this week will pretty much 'fly-by', but it will turn out to be okay!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, AIRLINE RESERVATIONS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Five; Sunday...

I am looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, I need some rest.

I did not sleep very comfortably last night, I think I might have been 'too-tired' or maybe not tired enough. That is kind of what happens when I get too much sleep over the weekends, I tend to not be able to get to sleep and kind of toss and turn. Tonight, the issue will be more of 'too tired to sleep' than anything else.

Miguel arrived about 8 o'clock this morning, and by then we had already finished our breakfast and moved on. The Sunday papers are really not what they used to be, and I used to look forward to the 'funnies', but lately I do not even care to read (probably) sixty percent of them. Pretty much the same thing in the dailies, so maybe I have matured or maybe I am even more jaded than I think I am. Whatever it is, I wish the 'funnies' were better. It is like going to a play or the movies, Jody and I decided we wanted to go and be entertained (that translates to laugh) and not have to think. We have to think enough as it is, so if we are going to pay for entertainment, we want it to be funny. Maybe we are just shallow, maybe not.

Anyway, let me try to recap some of the day; we moved about 15 pallets from the side yard (where we had intended to plant a garden) to back by the barn. We had used the pallets to hold down a tarp over an area about 20 by 50 feet. The tarp was down for about four or five months, and e=when we removed the tarp, nothing had happened. We expected the grass would be dead so we could plow the soil, but it was just as is the tarp served as a greenhouse. So, that is one for the prairie grass out here. Anyway... After that, we started trimming palms and trees around the pool, but we were kind of stopped (just a little bit) by the discovery of a Dove's nest in one of the palms, so we did not disturb that one. We will watch the nest just to see what happens. It looks like a viable nest, and we will be interested to watch the progress.

After that, we planted the four fruit trees that we bought yesterday, two apples and two peaches. We have the beginnings of a pretty nice little orchard going out there. I think we are going to try and get a plum or two to go along with these. I doubt that we will actually get any fruit from any of them this year,but they will be nicely settled in for next year, and that will be good. We are also going to put some steel rings around the Pecans that were here when we moved, and see if we cannot get them to produce a little better. They looked promising last year, but then we did not get any rain in the late summer, and the fruit on them just withered away. I will make a better effort to water them this year. After planting those new trees, we took lawn mowers out to the fence row by the road, and cleared about three peach trees that were there when we moved. We actually got peaches from one of them last year, and the other two are showing signs of life, so with a little attention, we may get a little bit of fruit from them this year. That would be nice.

We took the pool cover off the pool, cleaned the filter, but we still could not get the Polaris to start working properly. That might take a little more attention. After that, we fed the cattle and put a fresh bale of hay out there for them. Next week, we will be cutting the far back pasture so the sun can get down to the dirt and get some fresh green grass growing for them. We expect that the fields will all be fertilized (sorry not organic here) in the next week or so, so I need to get that grass cut down before that happens. The cattle all seemed happy and content, but they are always kind of pushy when there is feed being put out. At least it gets them distracted so we can put a bale of hay out in the back without them all sticking their noses (literally) into it while we are back there messing with it.

Jody and I also made time to go into Georgetown for hot fudge sundaes. Not that there is anything wrong with that. It was a pretty day, and a perfect day for a ride in the country. There was a conglomeration of middle-aged (okay about my age) weekend easy-riders wearing day-glo colored t-shirts with their pony-tails (his and hers) and the 'leathers'. I am certain they are attorneys and bankers by day, but on the weekends they hit the roads on their Gold Wings. BUT, I think it takes something away from the mystique when they stop at the Dairy Queen for 'Blizzards All Around'! Something is just not right about that picture!

In all of this (and more) the chickens were totally unaware of all the activity. They were out for good long periods both yesterday and today. I hope they leave the seeds I planted alone. I planted water melons and cantaloupe today, along with some supplemental morning glories. It should be another good year.

Jody made a nice chicken and pasta case role this evening, and he included some asparagus that we have been harvesting from beside the garage for three years now. Yummy! Gonna go to bed now, as soon as I finish my cheese cake.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HARD WORK, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Four; Saturday...

cau·tion - [kaw-shuhn] – verb (used with object) to give warning to; advise or urge to take heed.

loose - [loos] - adjective lacking moral restraint or integrity; sexually promiscuous or immoral; unchaste.

live·stock - [lahyv-stok] – noun ( used with a singular or plural verb )
the horses, cattle, sheep, and other useful animals kept or raised on a farm or ranch.

Caution: Loose Livestock! 'Nuff Said!

Well, I know you are all dying to know, so here it is. The Vick's Vapo Rub did not do a whole lot for me except to make me crabby during the night because my socks kept sticking to the flannel sheets and encumbered my thrashing about under the covers. I am convinced that it did not hurt anything else otherwise, but it was not the miracle cure I was looking for. Jody said he could smell me from a quarter-mile, but I am not sure that had anything to do with the Vick's, I think it was more or less something he had been wanting to say for years and never really had the chance. I did stay in the bed (not sleeping the whole time but still there) until almost 8 o'clock this morning, so that was great.

I had a few chores on my weekend to-do list, and I accomplished a few of them. I did get the fig tree in the front pruned back. I took out about a third of it, and I am considering putting some cantaloupe and water melon in some of that area. I also added a little piece of wood to the top layer of the chickens nesting boxes, just to make a little bit of a higher barrier so they cannot as easily roll eggs out of the nests if they get a little bit rambunctious. This morning there were two girls fighting over the same nesting box, and there were already two eggs in the box. Can't we all just get along?

I also took out a smallish (comparatively speaking) cotton wood tree that had volunteered itself outside the dog yard. Jody and I then made our way into Georgetown where I had a lovely hot fudge sundae and Jody had a caramel sundae at the Dairy Queen. After that, we went to one of the local (the only one I think) nurseries in Georgetown, where we bought two peach trees, two apple trees and two grape vines. So far I have planted the grape vines, and tomorrow we will plant the trees. All varieties are different, except for the grapes, those vines are the same. The nurseryman said the apples needed at least two trees for pollination, but it was not necessary that they be the same kind of trees, and the peach trees indicated that they were 'self-fertile' (those rascally little trees). So, it will be interesting if everything comes up, and our first little gardening effort is successful.

So far we have collected four eggs from the girls, and we took 18 eggs over to Pauline and Hubert. We had thought that we might need Hubert or Michael to come over with the back-hoe to dig holes for the trees, but I think we will be able to handle it with no problem, particularly since Miguel is expected to come out tomorrow and help us with some other work around the place.

More tomorrow...

Deeds, Actions, Changes, SELF FERTILIZING, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Three; Friday...

Self-medication is a good thing. I am feeling better today. I started to say I was feeling 'much' better, but then that would have been a stretch. Last night I decided to do whatever it took to sleep without coughing all night long. Ambien, Excedrin PM, NyQuil, a glass-and-a-half of wine at two Popsicles did the trick. I had a very comfortable nights sleep, and I was up for almost a half-hour this morning before my first cough. A repeat is in store for this evening, and I am adding the Vick's Vapo-Rub to the feet and covered up with socks routine. Our friends in Mississippi (the Franklin's) sent us an e-mail a while back that said if you rub Vick's Vapo-Rub on your feet when you go to bed, the soothing relief will be absorbed through your feet and make everything better. I had passed that idea on to a friend who reminded me today that it works, and I am looking forward to it tonight. AND, I get to sleep a little while extra tomorrow morning!

Today was Karla's (our Administrative Goddess) one-year Anniversary with our company, so we went out for lunch at Shady Grove. It was extra shady, because it has been grey and overcast most of the day, BUT, we did get to sit out on the patio, which was convenient for me because in the open-air I had lees chance of contaminating people around me. Not sure if I am still contagious (or if I was contagious) but there was no reason to take any chances. Now, I am CERTAIN that I have been contagious in the past (ask if you must) but for this episode, not sure about it. I am looking forward however, to feeling even better tomorrow, and continuing my recovery. This is a photo taken at Shady Grove...sometimes it is difficult to take a nice photograph in a public place...people are so weird these days, and folks never know what you are going to do with those photos. I guess I don't really blame them, you can never be too careful.

Okay, speaking of weird, on the way home (I really mean back to the office), Toni remarked to Karla that her purse was HUGE which brought about a discussion of all the stuff in Karla's purse. WELL...she absolutely refused to allow me to just take a picture of the contents of her purse, but she did make available this pair of 'Buzz Lightyear' underwear that obviously belong to one of her kids. I doubt that if I pulled the same pair of underwear out of my brief case I would be able to 'explain-it-away' as easily as Karla did. AND THEN there was a HUGE discussion of how I should not publish a photo of children's underwear in this journal; that after having gone a full-month of pretending I was the 'women's shoe of the day' official web-site. Interesting how we form opinions of things.

Once I got home (I left the office about 2:15 thinking I would come home and go back to bed) I had a few things to do, one of which was to go out and 'free-the-chickens'. We gathered three eggs today, and this is a picture of Vera (WELL STARE!) sitting in one of the boxes getting ready to perform. In just a few minutes, she was out and scratching around, and I went in and gathered the eggs. They are happy chickens!

Later in the afternoon, Pauline came by and brought us home made cookies, fig preserves, dill pickles and canned tomatoes. YUMMY. I think the fig tree in the front has partially bit the dust, and I will need to trim it back tomorrow. AND I have to plant the cantaloupe and watermelons tomorrow as well. We have plenty to do tomorrow, but I am confident that we will have time to work in a trip to Dairy Queen as well.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BUZZ LIGHTYEAR, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty Two; Thursday...

How sick am I? Well, actually I am not sure, I am all foggy and having issues with paying attention. I got up and did all the right stuff, then headed into the office. We had a property management meeting, and then I had some work to do. I called and cancelled my Meals-On-Wheels delivery, because I did not want to make a lot more people sick with whatever-in-the-hell it is that I am carrying around. I left the office about Noon and came home to go to bed. Cannot sleep because I keep coughing and sniffling. I have faced the fact that I have to blow my nose at least every now and then, but I am still not happy about that. Carrie gave me some Super Echinacea which I am supposed to be taking. I have taken four so far. I still would just like to sleep, but I have gone too far now, I will wait several more hours before I self-medicate and go back to bed.

I had to give the girls some fresh water, and that was not terrible, although they were not particularly cooperative about going into their pen so I could feed them. There were stragglers in the crowd, and that is always kind of challenging. BUT, they are in their pen now, they have fresh water, and they will be put to bed once it gets dark. Four eggs today, so that is lovely.

Nighty-Night!

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

2011 - Day Sixty One; Wednesday...

I am dieing with allergies. Help me! SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME. I am not really a fan of nose-blowing, and I don't like it. I am a lot more of a sniffler. I prefer sniffling to blowing. My eyes hurt, my nose hurts, my finger nails hurt. I am not happy about this at all. I am usually one of the luckier residents of central Texas and not often bothered by reactions to the various and multiple allergens wafting around, but this time it got me. I hope this will be over soon. Oh, and I also think I have a fever. Whatever...

I attended an all day meeting at the Board today concerning Professional Standards. I sat at a table of very well respected and informed colleagues, but unfortunately, we all shared a few 'moments', and I have the photos. Well, not all of the photos, but a few of the ones I was quick enough to take. I will spread them out over a few days. This particular photo is of two of my table-mates, Debbie and Karen. The photo was taken at the beginning of the day, and things went rapidly downhill from this minute on.

Real Estate activity is seemingly on the up-swing, I am getting lots of calls on my listings, and there seems to be renewed interest in purchasing property. That is a lovely thing. Perhaps we actually have hit the bottom and are turning things around. Only time will tell.

Six eggs from the girls today, one from each of them. That puts us at 704 lifetime production, and they do not seem to be getting any slower. AND the Owl is still out there, I saw her fly out of the nest this morning when I was leaving for work. I do not know if Owls stay around all year or if she will head off somewhere else later in the year, but I hope she will stay around. She (I am assuming it is a she) is absolutely beautiful, majestic and HUGE. When she flies out of the nest, you would not think something that big could fit in such a small nest. Incredible.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, BIG BIRDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Sixty; Tuesday...

Believe it or not, it is the first day of March already, and I have not even thought about starting my Christmas shopping yet. HOWEVER, if you have made a start in that direction, give me a call, I have a few things on my list you could pick up for me!

We had a nice Strategic Planning meeting in the office this morning, and we had invited James from the Austin Board to come out and tell us about all the services that SUPRA can provide to us just because we are members. There are an incredible amount of services that are provided to us as Board Members, but finding out about them and then figuring out how best to use all those services can be a problem. There are only so many hours in a day!

After the meeting, Carrie, Pat and I went across the street to the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery and visited the 'Man Bites Dog' trailer for mediocre (at best) wieners. It is a pretty nice setting though, and it was a beautiful spring-like day in Austin, so it was very nice to have lunch al-fresco. Fun! And while we were there, there was a camera crew from KXAN (or maybe KEYE) taking the typical artsy-fartsy camera angle shots of folks having lunch and texting or otherwise refraining from actual conversations with their table mates. SO, I thought it would be interesting to take a photo of the photographers. Not exactly like the old Norman Rockwell life studies, but good enough for an amateur. One of the women at the table seemed to take objection to my photographing them, maybe she thought I was still taking pictures of women's feet. Regardless, if you know any of the folks in this photo, do not tell them I have posted it because I DO NOT have their permission.

Thanks!

Any ideas about what you can do with 700 eggs? Most likely tomorrow (unless we have an extremely bad egg day) we will collect our 700th egg from the girls, and tomorrow will also be 23 weeks that we have been getting eggs. So, if you want me to do the math for you (I will anyway) that averages out to over 30 eggs per week from these six chickens. I think that is pretty darn good myself. And they are relatively easy to care for, and folks really appreciate the free eggs. I know for sure that Jody and I consume more eggs than we used to, and I have ALWAYS liked eggs. So, it is a good thing because we now have PLENTY o' eggs!

Jody and our friend Lynda ventured to Llano today to see the Eagles nest that has been an attraction in that area for several years. They were lucky enough to see the Eaglet in the nest, and they also got to see one of the adults (not sure if it was mama or papa). It is really a big deal to be able to see Eagles here, and it reminds me of the trip we took to Alaska, and were saw THOUSANDS of Bald Eagles there, but we never tired of seeing them. Incredibly amazing creatures. Beautiful!

Once I got home from work, I watered all the transplanted Iris and watered what I hope will be another stand of morning glories. I may need to get a few more seeds to sprinkle into the ground just to supplement the returning plants. They were absolutely stunning last year, and I want another performance this year. I LOVE MORNING GLORIES!

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