2011 - Day Seventy Five; Wednesday...

An ordinary day in the office, nothing to really write home about and really nothing to relay to you in this journal. Okay, we did have an office meeting and we did have pizza, so that was pretty good.

We lost our strawberries in the really cold weather last year, but we put in another couple little plants this spring. The nice thing about strawberries is they keep delivering strawberries all year long here. Every now and then there will be a nice ripe strawberry to pick and eat. Lovely. This one will be ready in a day or two. It is windy out here again, and very nice...the temperature as we sit out here on the porch is in the middle 70's but the breeze is making it feel a little bit cooler. The flag pole is bowing in the wind, but nothing like it did a week or so ago.

I stopped at Papa Murphy's on the way home for pizza, one of the stuffed pizzas, the first time we ever tried a stuffed pizza. I liked it very much, but Jody did not particularly care for it. It will easily make two more meals for us. What is with people that do not care for left-overs? I generally think the left-overs are better than the first go-round. I think the flavors have time to permeate the rest of the food, and it just tastes better. There is no account for some folks tastes...you can dress me up, but you really can't take me out.

Jody and the dog have gotten into the habit of going for a ride in the afternoons, and today, they took off went on two rides. Well, actually, one ride turned into two rides, but that is another story. ANYWAY, when they got home, the dog refused to get out of the truck. He was still in the back seat when I got home, so I told him that if he did not get out of the truck by himself (he is a HEAVY dog) he might be jeopardizing his future go-for-a-ride-ability! Whatever...he did not get out of the truck and I had to lift him out, not the easiest thing in the world. We will see if Jody has the discipline to 'just say no' tomorrow.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, STUFFED PIZZA, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Four; Tuesday...

A beautiful, lovely, wonderful spring day in Austin, Texas and its' environs. When you think of spring-time in Texas (or at least central Texas) you think of spring blossoms, wild-flowers and freaks. Yep, freaks. This is spring-break week which means South by Southwest (SXSW) and the city is crawling with freaks. I have heard the estimates of folks from all around the world who are here for this 10 day period, and they contribute MILLIONS AND MILLIONS to our economy, but unfortunately the roads are clogged and they are not really sure what the trash bins are for. We will all survive, and forget all about the bad parts. Kind of like past romantic relationships; there is a reason those things did not work out. BUT, here is something that I really enjoy, and I will be on this kick for a while to come. Photos of flowers blooming in and around the city. These trumpet vines are generally magnificent outside my office, and they are just beginning. Soon they will be a wall of orange blooms, and their beauty will be magnificent. Just wait...

A good day in the office, still making nice accomplishments. Got leases finalized on a couple management properties, and made some head way in my 'elective' (volunteer) endeavors. Interestingly, I never seem to be lacking in stuff to do, whether it is at home or in the office.

On the way home, I paid attention to some clouds. There were a variety of clouds available for inspiration, it just depended on which part of the sky you wanted to pay attention to. These little wispy clouds seemed to have caught my attention, and I thought I would share them with you. The cracker-jack meteorologist on the local news channel said we have no fear of frost for the rest of the season, so I guess we are out of the woods on that one. Time will tell.

Once I got home (Jody got five eggs from the girls this afternoon), I went out and watered the trees in the back that we just planted and my watermelon and cantaloupe seeds that I put in a week ago. Still no sign of them sprouting, but I am not dismayed. I think they will come up. The corn and everything else we put in the ground is coming up nicely. One of the grape vines has been molested by bunnies, but I think it will survive. Once it gets out of 'bunnie-reach' it should do okay. This is a picture of our bed of corn, we will need to thin it out some (maybe) or just let it grow and see what happens.

Jody is bar-b-cuing bacon-wrapped scallops for dinner tonight. Absolutely Fabulous! Tomorrow I am stopping at Papa Murphy's on the way home for a stuffed pizza. We have never tried that, so it will be a new experience. Not many of those left anymore!

Okay, I almost forgot; while I was outside watering the trees, I walked back to check on the cattle, and our friend Mike from Miami called. We are trying to coordinate a time for him to come up and visit. Anyway, I moved up to the pool and was sitting in a chair by the gazebo, and the chickens were over on the other side of the pool. I asked him if he remembered a photo in the blog a couple months ago of the chicken flying up into the tree and feeding out of the bird feeder. He did not recall it, but as I was sitting there, one of the Plymouth Rocks got up in the tree and was feeding. SO, this picture is for Mike in Miami!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CORN ROWS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Three; Monday...

It was dark when I went to work this morning, and it was dark when I came home tonight. What's all this talk about daylight savings time? How about (according to Jody) we just split the difference, move ahead a half-hour in the spring and call it quits. Everybody wins!

A full day in the office today, and I pretty much got my desk cleared off. Then it was onto elective work. Things that I am doing for this group or that group. I also had an appointment to show a home this evening late, which resulted in my getting home after dark.

On the way home, I took the tollway from around the airport, and it was interesting that, as I would sink into a low spot or crest a high spot in the road, I would see vapor trails highlighted against the sun setting in the west. At one point, I counted a dozen different vapor trails, it was really interesting to watch; some of them lower on the horizon that could only be seen from a higher vantage point. Very pretty.

Tomorrow will be another day in the office, and the NARPM Luncheon as well. Always fun, and good to see those folks.

This is a picture I took for Konrad the other day, he is a collector of (especially) old VW Buses. I am not sure what is going on with this one, but it looks to be in pretty good shape. Konrad is the guy that owns Round R0ck Honey, the guy I took beekeeping classes from. I need to ask his opinion of why I got stung twice yesterday while I was doing yard work. Hmmm...

We got five eggs from the girls today, so they are back to putting out!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, VEE-DUBS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Two; Sunday...

Okay, well it could have been a lot worse. I was only stung twice, and I was not even messing with the bees. All I was doing was picking up limbs and branches that have fallen from the trees during the high winds. Some of the bees are are just a little bit more aggressive than others. Not really sure which of the hives they were from, but after the second sting, I just decided to move on.

ANYWAY, so today was the day that we were supposed to 'spring forward', and so of course that is exactly what we did. It will take a few days for us to all get used to getting up in the dark and, in my case, going to work in the dark. We will all survive, but I also read in the paper this morning that it has been documented that traffic accidents increase about 8% during the week following the time change. AND, when we 'fall back' traffic accidents decrease by the same amount. We obviously are all sleep deprived, and this just adds fuel to our plight. Interesting study. The newspaper called it a huge national experiment with no one really studying the consequences.

Whatever...

So, Miguel came out to help me get some stuff done today, and we started by planting the plum tree and the two grape vines we bought yesterday. Having gotten that done, we took the tractor, Mule and riding lawn mower out to the road and worked the fence row until we had that all cleaned up. It really looks nice, and it is another part of my trying to keep all this stuff under control and not letting it get totally out of hand. If you have ever seen or heard of the 'Grey Gardens' that is kind of what we think of the place around here. Lots of stuff to do, and you just have to keep after it. There are lots of things beginning to bloom, but so far none of the Iris are blooming, and the cannas are still looking pretty dormant. This is a bloom from an imported (and relatively invasive) tree that we think is called (something like) a Hawaiian Princess tree. It is really pretty, but it is not at all suited for this climate. It smells lovely but it is not for this climate.

After a while, Jody and headed off to Georgetown for a spoiler, and when we got back, Miguel and I decided to hook the Mule up to the portable water tank so we could go out and water the trees out by the road. This will be the year that we actually pay attention to those trees, and try to give them a boost. We had some lovely peaches from one of them last year, and are hoping for more this year and the years to come.

We trimmed around the pool and hauled more stuff off to the pasture where we will EVENTUALLY burn the stuff. I have been saying that for the last two years, but this may be the year. I need to go back to work to get some rest.

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

2011 - Day Seventy One; Saturday...

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. I stayed IN BED (not necessarily sleeping) until after 7 o'clock this morning. By 8 o'clock, I was making egg loaf and reading the paper (not necessarily at the same time), and by 9 o'clock, I had taken a fresh bale of hay out to the cattle and hooked the shredder up to the tractor and was shredding grass up by the road. That was pretty much finished by 11 o'clock, and Jody and I headed into Georgetown to hit the Dairy Queen. After that, I stopped at Wal-Mart to put gas in the truck ($75 gave me three quarters of a tank) and I filled up one of the cans with diesel for the tractor. Then we headed off to Home Depot where we got some decomposed granite (a couple bags) and a plum tree and two grape vines. We will plant those things tomorrow with the help of Miguel.

This is a picture of some of the cattle, and you can see Mr. Speckles is paying special attention to Orchid (who is obviously back in season). All you can see of Orchid is her brown butt, but believe me, Speckles is being very romantic (he is thinking there is some 'fonorky-toodling' in his future), and Orchid is really not seeming to be that interested in any of it right now. We shall see...

Once we got home from Georgetown I headed back out to the tractor and headed for the far back grazing pasture. I shredded the entire pasture so the sun can get to the ground and let some of the new grass get going. Interestingly, while I was out there, all the cattle decided to take a siesta (Orchid was trying, but Speckles would really not leave her alone), so I shredded around them until they finally moved and I got finished. It took about 2 or 3 hours to shred the pasture, and I figure that pasture is somewhere between 7 and 10 acres. BUT, it is done now, so that will be marked off the to-do list. There are a couple mesquites back there that I am going to have to poison later this spring once they bud out. I DO NOT want to get any mesquite started back there. I prefer to remain mesquite free.

We got six eggs out of the chickens today, so it was obviously a good day to be a chicken out here today. The owl is still up in the nest as well, and she is not nearly as skittish about us wandering back and forth as she used to be. I have not checked on the doves nest lately, but I will do that tomorrow. I took the pool cover off last weekend, and it has been CRAZY windy ever since then, and the pool filter has been working overtime. No big deal, but I am now back to skimming the pool on a daily basis.

One good thing about the wind is that the turbines are going crazy too, generating lots of electricity to send back to the grid. Perfect!

Lots of chores on tap for tomorrow.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, HORNY CATTLE, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy; Friday...

Here is another blast from the past. This one is dated 1974. I had long hair and the beard, and a New York City Subway token around my neck. Again, this one was done in New Orleans on another trip. I had some fun when I was a kid, and I have interesting stories. Just ask.

Today was the last day of the GRI class I was instructing. A really good group of people in the class, 33 of them that, it they could all get together and form a company, they would be a dynamic group. It was really an enjoyable two days, and I learned a lot from them.

Jody and I went back into Georgetown tonight to have dinner at Montana Mike's. I was feeling the need for dead meat, and that certainly satisfied the craving. We both brought home enough food for at least one more dinner, maybe two!

Four eggs from the girls today, they are all tucked comfortably in their coop. I am looking forward to sleeping a little longer in the morning.

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

2011 - Day Sixty Nine; Thursday...

Can you say OMG? OMG! Today is the 800th post to this journal. 800! I can really not comprehend that I have not missed a day in 800 day posting to this journal. I have posted in the middle of the Caribbean on a boat, in several cities across these wonderful United States, and never missed a day. Even though the blog name is 365daysofbill.com I have kept it going for a good while. I wonder if I have another 800 days in me? Only time will tell.

This is a photo of the class I was instructing today at the Board of REALTORS. Thirty-three really interesting folks; it was a great class, I enjoyed my time with them, and I think they enjoyed being there. I will be back tomorrow for the last day of their four day class. I hope they have learned some good stuff today, and that they will learn more tomorrow that will allow them to go off and make some money right now!

When I got home, Jody and I walked around our various 'gardens'. In the front, we have two different kinds of chard coming up, beets, and some lettuce. So far there is nothing coming up where we planted the okra. In the back, we have yellow squash coming up and CORN, but no signs of the zucchini yet. AND, there is no sign of the watermelon or cantaloupe, but we only planted those last Sunday. It will happen. We are (okay I am) very excited about the corn coming up. I think Jody is excited as well, maybe not as excited as I am. Now we just have to try and make sure that the chickens do not come along and eat the tender chutes.

Speaking of chickens, we got four eggs today, nice job!

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