2011 - Day Eighty Two; Wednesday...

Another wreck. How do these things happen. It looks like the light colored car was heading in the same direction as me, and it looks like it hit the dark colored car, but I am not sure how that could have happened. Maybe if the light colored car was making a left turn and hit the dark colored car, BUT, even though it looks like the light colored car could have been turning into a driveway (on the University of Texas Campus), it is a driveway for maintenance vehicles (like golf carts). Anyway, it amazes me how these wrecks can happen when they are just not logical. That was the first of two wrecks I saw today, the other involved a motor vehicle and a bicyclist. No photos of that one, but it did not look good. AND, neither of the wrecks were during my commute to or from Austin, but regardless, a wreck is a wreck, and it is not ever a good thing.

The above photo was taken after I had picked up my client Barry and his partner Luke and headed them off to their closing. The second wreck was after the closing, and I was heading the back to their apartment. It was kind of like a Twilight Zone episode, except instead of us being witnesses to things that would happen in the future, we were witnessing a series of events that had already happened and wished we could have prevented. Okay, so the more I think of it, maybe it really was not like the Twilight Zone. Whatever. ANYWAY, this is a photo of Luke and Barry after the closing. Not only did they get to walk away with keys to their new home, but they got to load up on candy and chips courtesy of the Title Company. I personally restrained myself from taking more than a half-dozen packets of M&M's. Considerable restraint on my part!

I stopped on my way into town this morning to pick up my car. I AM SO HAPPY TO HAVE MY CAR BACK, even though they could not replicate the problem, and the service order they gave me is kind of vague. Maybe it is only vague because I don't speak 'service repair orders', but I have it back, but I will always be a little wary that the problem could resurface. I ended up putting $40 worth of gas in the loaner car to travel LESS than 250 miles. That is only one of the reasons that I am happy to have my car back.

Made it home with no extraordinary issues, and as I was about to turn into the driveway, I noticed a purple place in the beds near the road. I assumed that there must be the first blooms of Iris, and decided I would go out later and take a picture. I also noticed there is some bloom on the sage bushes by the drive, which is an indicator that we will have rain soon. That will be wonderful. SO, after the news and catching up on e-mails, I walked out to the road and there was indeed ONE Iris blooming, but as I walked down the fence-line, there is also a wisteria bush blooming that I did not even know was there. Weird! But really pretty and I love the scent of the wisteria. That and Mountain Laurel make me thing of Grape Soda and bubble-gum. Two of my favorites. Imagine that.

My horoscope today says (in part) that I should 'come out of hiding and bring your quirks into the light'. I don't know about you, but I think that could be dangerous!

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

2011 - Day Eighty One...

So, this is why I am ALMOST always early to get places. Okay, well, this is why I almost ALWAYS LEAVE early so I can hopefully get somewhere on time. Traffic was kind of interesting. This was the third 'incident' on the way in this morning, and after this, it was pretty darn smooth sailing! By the time I passed this wreck, the traffic going my way had thinned enough that we hardly slowed down the rest of the way into the city.

Lots of activity today, and I also had my bi-monthly MasterMind meeting today as well, and that is always a treat. I am privileged to be associated with a great group of colleagues, and it is wonderful to be able to sit down, be calm, and discuss what it going on with our markets, what is happening here and there, and getting great ideas for marketing ourselves and getting more business and being more productive. Let's hear it for TeamHope Masterminds, thanks for everything you do for me.

I will be getting my car back tomorrow, and I have to tell you I am in shock about the amount of gas this loaner drinks. I have to take it back tomorrow morning with the same amount of gas that it had in it when I checked it out. So far I have driven just about 215 miles, and I put 25 dollars worth of gas in it today, and I am going to have to put another $15 (at least) in it tomorrow when I return it. I have been using $30 a week in gas with the VOLT, and the VOLT takes premium, too. I am spoiled to have a car with a 9 gallon gas tank. I have no idea how big the tank is on the loaner but it has to be HUGE. I do not know how people cannot be more conservative with their fossil-fuel consumption. There is a lesson to be learned here.

Just got home from the Williamson County Area Beekeepers Association monthy meeting. Good interesting information. I am looking forward to harvesting a good bit of honey this year, hopefully at least 200 pounds in a few weeks or so, and another pull in the fall. We shall see.

FYI: It seems the spell-check function is not working tonight, so if there are spelling or grammar errors, it is not because I did not try to fix it.

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

2011 - Day Eighty; Monday...

im·per·ti·nent - [im-pur-tn-uhnt]– adjective
1. intrusive or presumptuous, as persons or their actions; insolently rude; uncivil: a brash, impertinent youth.
2. see also chicken.

Yep, the chickens are getting more and more impertinent by the day. I think it is the time of year, and with Daylight Savings Time, I have having to adjust MY schedule (which is ruled by the clock) to fit their schedule (which is ruled TOTALLY by the sun. If it is still pretty light outside, they want to stay outside, no matter what we bribe them with. Jody got four eggs today, and after I got home, I was out watering plants, and I had a cell phone call. I was sitting on the bench by the path, and one of the Vera's came up and was wanting to talk. I tried to ignore her, and the next thing I knew she flew up on my shoulder demanding attention. Later on, I thought I would try to feed them, but one of the black and whites would have no part of it, so I gave up and waited until after dinner.

Here is the update on the car; this morning when I got in the car to take it into the dealer for service, the power steering was back. BUT, I took it any way, and I am now driving this behemoth called a Chevrolet Traverse. I actually got a loaner car, and they offered it, I did not have to pout or anything. It is big, it is nice, but it is not getting 90+ miles to the gallon that the Volt achieves. I got gas in the Volt this morning, and that was my MPG for the last tank of gas. Hopefully, I will get it back tomorrow; they said they had been consulting with Detroit about all the computer codes that had been generated since yesterday on the car. Very interesting. I can certainly tell you that I am totally happy with the customer service that has been provided by COVERT CHEVROLET IN HUTTO. Good job. Just remember to plug the car in when you finish.

This is our first rose of the season, we planted this bush last year from Home Depot, and it flourished nicely, and is putting up new shoots and buds. I think our new theory of watering things ONLY up close to the house will be a good one, and transplanting or giving away things up by the road. We shall see. There are lots of plants blooming in Austin, but the temperatures there are a pretty good bit higher than out here, and our winter was several degrees more frigid than they experienced with all the traffic and such. Whatever...

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

2011 - Day Seventy Nine; Sunday...

Before...this is what this particular area up by the road looked like this morning when Miguel and I started working on it. About two hours later, it looked (to me) much better. I know everyone does not like things to have a manicured look, and that is certainly not what I am trying to achieve, but I do like things around the farm to at least look as if they are 'looked after' and not just left to grow wild. We also trimmed under the willow tree up by the road (another instance of a planting that is not native to this area) and we also dug reservoirs around the four fruit trees at the road (planted in a really awful spot if you are trying to maintain them) and reservoirs around all the pecan trees (six more examples of being planted in a place that is not the greatest). Then we (okay Miguel) cleaned out the water tank and got it flowing nicely, and we watered all the trees.

This is what the area looks like after the work. In between times, Jody and I headed to Georgetown for hot-fudge sundaes, and then back. Miguel and I fed the cattle and started to clean out the feed shed, but we really did not make a lot of progress on that. I was out there pretty steady from 8 in the morning until after four o'clock this afternoon (except for the hot-fudge break), and I know we did a lot of work, but it does not look like it. There is a lot of stuff that 'needs-done' around here!

The chickens were in a disagreeable mood most of the day. Jody and I were heading off to Thorndale for dinner tonight, and I tried to get them in their pen about five, and they were not at all interested, so I left them to their own devices, and when we got home, they were all on their roost. I had no question that they would go in their coop when they were ready, I was just concerned about predators having them trapped in their coops. But everything turned out just fine.

We had a nice dinner in Thorndale, and we were joined by Chris ( one of our agents) and we all had a nice visit. On the way home, I was looking at a wisteria vine in front of a house on Highway 79 and drifted over onto the shoulder. I hit those little divot things in the pavement that is to warn you that you are crossing over onto the shoulder, and steered back onto the road. AND MY POWER STEERING WENT OUT! Crazy! So, instead of doing the chores I was intending to do tomorrow morning, I will be visiting the dealer and getting that fixed. I assume a hose vibrated off and lost the hydraulic fluid for the power steering. Not a good sign, does not make me feel comfortable that if you roll over that 'vibrating thing' on the side of the road, things fall apart or come loose on your car. We will see what the have to say in the morning.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, POWER STEERING ISSUES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Eight; Saturday...

Another day of pseudo-accomplishments. I taught a class of six this morning in the finer arts of TREC Ethics, and even though the number of attendees was small, we are making progress. These folks were really interested in the topics I was sharing with them, and we all walked away from the class with new information and insight into what it takes to really represent our clients in a real estate transaction. On the third Saturday of April, I will be teaching the TREC Legal Update, which will also be held benefiting TREPAC, so if you need those MCE credits to renew your license, please let me know, and I will fill you in on all the details.

I got home from class just shortly after 1 o'clock, and Jody was still out running errands. He got home about a half-hour later, and we headed off to Georgetown where we both (again, I am SO predictable) enjoyed hot fudge sundaes at the Dairy Queen. After that, we were off to pick up this years bee keeping supplies. I purchased an extractor this year, so I am ready for the spring honey harvest. We are expecting about 250 pounds of honey to be harvested this spring, and more in the fall, so that will be really exciting. This morning (in the dark, about 6 o'clock) as I was doing my morning chores (meter reading rituals and those types of things), I went into the front barn and suited up to remove the entry reducers on the hives. Yesterday, one of the hives was 'bearding' which basically means it is too hot inside the hives, so I took the reducers away from their entrances, so they will have more circulation inside the hives. When I extract honey from the hives (probably in two to three weeks) I will also change the bottom boards to 'screened' bottom boards, which will also help the circulation, and will also help to rid the hives of 'Verona mites'. It's a bee thing...

Speaking of bees, if you look closely in this picture, you will see one of my precious little darlings. This is a type of pear tree (that's what we think, anyway) in the front yard, and the bees find it particularly attractive. They are also very fond of the Loquat out in the yard too, but it has not started blooming yet. You would be surprised...if there is a bloom, there will most likely be scores of bees too.

Jody and I have finished dinner, the kitchen is clean (whatever) and we are sitting out on the front porch waiting to see the moon. The moon is supposed to be the closest it has been to us in the past twenty years, and since we have an unobstructed view, we are looking forward to it. Also, while I was typing just a few minutes ago, Jody told me to look up, and the Owl was just flying into its' nest. It is truly a majestic creature, HUGE but very beautiful and dignified. Very nice.

Okay, I have a totally new opinion on why we find broken eggs in the chicken coop, and I am now leaning towards blaming it all on the chicken snakes. I need to do some research on chicken snakes, but I am now of the opinion that the chicken snakes get in the hen house and and try to get an egg in their mouths, and are incapable of getting it out of the nesting box, but they crush the egg while trying to remove it (eat it?). SO, some research is in order, and I will report back to you subsequently.

Have a nice night, and go take a look at the moon. You will be glad you did!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, GREAT HORNED OWLS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Seven; Friday...

That high pitched shriek you undoubtedly heard last night was just me screaming like a girl when I came upon this snake out in the front year. Not a poisonous snake or anything, just a chicken snake. They don't really bother the chickens, they are just after their eggs. SO, this afternoon (I took the day off) I went out to let the chickens loose, and there was the snake in the chickens pen. I have given new thoughts to the broken eggs we occasionally have in the coop, and now I think it might be the result of this or that chicken snake (I am certain where there is one there is most likely more) getting into the coop and pulling eggs out of the nesting boxes. Not certain of this, but it is just another theory.

This is a photo of the flags and the nearly full moon last night. If the photograph is not the best, it is because I use a camera that is no where near the best, and of course there is me; I am no where near being a good photographer. I like to crop the photos before I take the picture, and whatever I get is what I get. No editing for me, just point, get closer, and shoot. Usually it does not come out too badly and if they turn out really badly, no one sees them, so what is the big deal?

Jody and I went off to run errands and we returned six hours later having accomplished little of nothing. We put a lot of miles on Jody's truck, and really made practically no progress on anything we had intended. BUT, we did get a few things accomplished; we went to the Dairy Queen in Georgetown and had hot fudge sundaes (there is a totally different crew working the week days) and we made it to Home Depot where we got some callas and some geraniums, and we went to Tractor Supply where I got some suspenders, AND we went to Taylor twice (don't ask), but anyway, we are home and life is good.

I did get the sign from the old farm put up here at the new farm, it has only been two and a half years to get it put up. We (okay I) decided today we need to pace ourselves, because if we ever get everything done around here that needs to be done, one of us will decide it is time to move, and we don't really want that. BUT, I am proud that the sign is up, and it looks great.

Tomorrow I will be teaching a quick class at the Board of REALTORS and that will be fun. Later in the afternoon we will go BACK to the Dairy Queen (it is the weekend FGS), and then we will go off to retrieve some beekeeping supplies that I ordered a while back. The Williamson County Area Beekeepers Association members all placed separate orders, and then a couple of the members went to Paris, Texas to pick it all up, to save us all a good bit in shipping. Yippee!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, J B ACRES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day Seventy Six; Thursday...

On this St. Patrick's day, I am not so much participating in driving the snakes out of anywhere as much as I am herding chickens from one pace to another. This is a photo of the patio chickens, taking refuge in the shade, and it is still March. Okay, it is March AND it is 80 degrees outside (with a wind-chill of 78*). We got them a little less than a year ago, and they have been through one Texas summer, but just like everything else, the older you get the tougher it is to survive a Texas summer. I am still trying to cope with consequences of 'springing-forward' last week.

BUT, my solution to that is to take the day off tomorrow. Austin is a ZOO right now, with South By Southwest, March Madness, Spring Break and (probably) dozens of other things going on. Streets are closed or blocked, traffic is grid-locked, and many of us (and many of us are not) are complaining about everything EXPECT the millions and millions of dollars that these folks are dropping into our economy. Thanks a million!

So, I have all kinds of chores scheduled for tomorrow, much of them depending on power tools and extension cords. Over the weekend, I plan on cleaning out the feed shed, cutting down some brush in the front field, MAYBE removing the entrance reducers on the bee hives, planting some Amaryllis, weeding (oh help me), cutting grass, planting some more cantaloupe seeds, and generally just doing all kinds of things that need to be done around the farm. Manna from heaven!

There will also be trips to Tractor Supply (suspenders), Home Depot (for geraniums) and Warehouse Pool Supply (parts, you always need parts). I am TOTALLY looking forward to it.

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