2011 Day One Hundred Eleven; Thursday...

Another bang up day...Property Management meeting this morning, short and sweet! No problemos! I like it.

Next was my Meals-On-Wheels delivery. Seven clients today, and they were pretty much all glad to see me. There is one client who has a 'helper' and that person is not my favorite (that is awful, right), but the 'helper' was not there today, so everything was great. And my favorite client asked me to check out some items for her, and there was nothing I could help her with (but I did call her case worker for help) and my client said she would give me a big KISS, so I got a smoochie while delivering my route today. What could be better?

Lunch appointment with one of my colleagues (hey Ed!) and that was fun. He is very interested in Green issues, so I had an opportunity to talk A LOT about my car, and this and that. Ed drove us to Whole Foods where I got a pretty decent charge (for free) on their ChargePoint system, so all-in-all it was GREAT. This is a photo of my lunch, which I have to tell you was really a lot better than it looks. Some kind of chicken, some noodles and some fruit. Not too bad. I am saving myself for dinner tonight, see a couple paragraphs below...

On the way back to the office, it is not a good sign to see the traffic lights on 'FLASH' and the new Police Department 'class' practicing how to direct traffic. I took the photo anyway, hoping I could start some stuff, but they did not notice, and we went on about our way, after the 'changing of the directors'. Everyone has to learn their jobs, so I will cut them all a break.

Friends of this journal are contacting me with donations for the friends of our Administrative Goddess Karla, who were burned out of their home in the wild fires last week. A BIG SHOUT OUT to Joe & Carolyn, the management and staff of the Steve F Austin InterContinental Hotel, and all the rest of you for your kindnesses, donations and prayers.

The second half of today's journal will be completed once I get home tonight. It is gonna be LATE, but it will be done before midnight. I cannot miss a day!

Okay, I am home, and it is WAY, WAY, WAY, WAY , WAY past my bedtime. It is after 11 and I just came back in from turning on the cattle's water in the pasture and cleaning the skimmer basket in the pool. Walking back to the house from the pasture was really kind of fun; very dark but the light in the pool was casting a glow onto the back of the house. Very ethereal. I enjoyed it very much. AND the wind is blowing pretty nicely out of the south, so the turbines are spinning away, and I love that sound as well. Thumpa-thumpa-thumpa. You have to experience it!

SO, tonight was the Austin Chapter of the Women's Council of REALTORS dinner/dance and it was pretty much a BLAST! Our agent Chris was one of the coordinators for the event, and it was just a really good time (at the Elk's Lodge). We were joined by another agent Sytha (who is just a dream), and we were also joined at our table by John and Susan. All told, we had a really fine time. This is a photo of Carrie and Chris burning up the dance floor. Great fun...

What is it about tiaras that I just cannot pass up? I am like a moth to a flame drawn to them. Like an alluring siren I am bound to crash my ship upon the boulders just for one ecstatic moment of bliss with a tiara. Whatever... Anyway, Susan brought a tiara with her to the function, so of course it was a photo op for me. This is one of the more discreet photos, you will have to pay me if you want to see the others.

Tomorrow will be a nice day at the office, a happy end to a really nice week.

Later dudes...

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

2011 - Day One Hundred Ten; Wednesday...

The score is now Chickens, 0; Evans, 1. Not that important of a defeat for the chickens, but it is an overwhelming victory for me. The morning glories are really coming up after having surrounded them with various fences and paraphernalia to thwart the chickens from scratching up the seeds. My next move was to surround the morning glory beds with a moat, but I think that might be unnecessary. I am still considering concertina wore, but I also think that might be uncalled for. This whole episode kind of reminds me of Jack Benny going down to his dungeons to look at his money. Either that or one of those Rube Goldberg scenarios. Whatever. I am still ahead on this latest FIASCO. Okay, we are ahead on the egg count too. Today we got four eggs, and I am considering making a pilgrimage on Friday to Buck Moore Feeds to see what kind of chicks they have in stock. I think there are four more chickens in our future.

The cattle are all doing well, so I am happy about that. The more I go back there, the more they all think I am bringing them feed. They still have just barely touched the bale of hay that is back there for them, so that is good, it means they are taking advantage of the grass that is available to them. The new calves are all doing well. This photo shows a three day old calf on the left, and a two week old calf on the right. We are really getting some pretty calves this year.

This is a photo of my hay-bale gardening experiment. I put out these five square bales of hay a couple weeks ago, cut holes in them with a chain saw (these bales are packed really tightly) and put dirt in the holes. Then I put in cantaloupe and watermelon seeds, and covered them with more dirt. Water thoroughly. Wait. Sure enough, the seeds are germinating. This is not a new idea, and I think technically you are supposed to use better hay than the kind I am using, but the theory is the same; the roots will grow into the hay and the hay will retain moisture to help the plants grow. It was just something to do with the hay bales that I was not using, and if I get a couple cantaloupes or watermelons, it was well worth the cost of the seeds. We shall see.

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

2011 - Day One Hundred Nine; Tuesday...

It has been a long day. Well, I find most days to be long when I get up before 4 in the morning. Crazy, but I was kind of worried about Daphne which made me restless and did not enjoy a peaceful sleep. And of course, I worried about her most of the day and at one point considered turning the car around to go check on her. BUT, I devised a plan that, if she were feeling sickly (in my opinion) when I got home (late) this afternoon, I would work with her in the morning and do what had to be done. ANYWAY, once I got home, Jody and I went back there to check on her, and she was seemingly doing just fine, and the calf was nursing and all seemed fine. She still had the placenta attached but it was seemingly dry and not nearly as fierce looking as it was last night. TO make a long story short, she let me get close enough to her that I could grab the placenta and removed most of it with no issues. Just a little smidge of placenta protruding now, so I am less concerned, and I expect all will be well from here on out. This is a photo of Daphne this afternoon (pre-grabbing) and her two-day-old calf that is yet un-named, but I am kind of liking Oreo or Todd. He just kind of looks like he could respond to either one. We shall see.

While we were out there, one of last years calves (Sleepy Head), son of Doodle Bug (I think, it is kind of hard to keep up sometimes) was hanging out in the tank, and that is the first time I had seen any of them actually in the tank. I know they go down there, but I had never witnessed it. I like this photo.

Tomorrow should be more calm than today. Today was kind of a Monday-Squared.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, CALVES IN THE TANK, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2010 - Day One Hundred Eight; Monday...

How many songs (sad ones) have been written about Mondays? Today was not a particularly bad day for me, the usual traffic challenges going in to the city. I had an early scheduled doctors appointment, and all was good. Blood pressure was GREAT, all signs are GO!

The Administrative Goddess in our office (Karla) has friends who home was DESTROYED in the wild fires near the Y in Oak Hill. So there were four adults and four children (all under the age of three, two less than a year) plus an assortment of pets all staying at Karla's house. KUDOS to the staff at the Steven F Austin Hotel and the Inter-Continental Hotel Group for stepping up and offering them refuge while they sort things out. Unfortunately, they will not be able to take advantage of it because they had found an extended-stay Hotel and had already paid their non-refundable fees and that was that. BUT, if you EVER need accommodations in Austin, I hope you will think of the Steven F Austin and the Inter-Continental Hotels wherever you go. I cannot imagine what it would be like to wake up one morning and try to determine if you were having a bad dream, or if it was really true that you have NOTHING left. I cannot imagine it, so we at Austin REAL Pros are going to do our best to make it better for that family. I think we can really make a difference. If you can think of something to do, let me know.

I made it home a little bit early this afternoon, and Jody and I went out to check the cattle. The newest calf is doing wonderfully well, but I am a little bit concerned about the mama Daphne. She still has a little bit of retained placenta (I never even knew there was such a thing until earlier this year), and I will not be home until late tomorrow night. With the temperature in the 90's, it concerns me that it will cause an infection and affect both mama and baby. I will keep an eye on it as best I can. I am (hopefully) just too much of a worrier. These cattle have gotten along perfectly well for generations without my help and/or worry. I am certain the breed will survive.

Speaking of the weather, what is it with this heat? Right now, the temperature is somewhere between 90 and 95 degrees. It is almost seven o'clock, and it depends on which nuclear powered weather station you want to lend credence to. It is so hot outside (How Hot Is It?) that the chickens are walking around with their wings outstretched. And I don't think they are trying to take flight. Jody got three eggs today, and there may be more tonight, you just never know.

Tomorrow will be a nice day (knock-wood). I have a luncheon meeting, and pretty much other than that it will be working in the office. Tomorrow evening I am going to attend a private function with one of the Austin City Council Candidates. It will be fun and informative, I am certain.

Deeds, Actions, Changes, MORE RETAINED PLACENTA (Yuck), Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day One Hundred Seven; Sunday...

A really busy day today, even though I did stay in bed until AFTER 8 o'clock. I said I stayed in bed, I did not say I was asleep.

By the time I finally did get up, I made coffee and went out and checked all my various meters and gauges, and came back in and read the paper. By the time all that was done, everyone else was up (our guests Jim and Bonnie dress MUCH more formally than we do) and we decided to venture in to Denny's in Jarrell. What would you like with your bacon, sir? I think I will have more bacon, thank you! So, I had eggs over easy, a short stack and two orders of bacon. Nothing spectacular, but it was satisfying.

When we got home, Jim and Bonnie were ready to get on the road, so they left to go and visit with some friends in Georgetown. I went back into the pastures to make sure all was good with the cattle (it was about 10 o'clock) and Jody and I messed around the house doing various chores, and then we decided to go run errands in various cities; Taylor, Hutto and Georgetown.

In Taylor, I first stopped at Tractor Supply to get a new float for the water trough where the cattle are now. No floats. I am going to make this story shorter and less boring by saying we also went to the Tractor in Georgetown, and they had no floats either. I was given a stern lecture about the fact that there were 2,000 floats in the warehouse, and they could easily sell 1,000 of them, but could I please tell them why there had floats in the warehouse and not int he store? I decided it was 'human error' but I am not certain that the man in the Georgetown store bought my theory. I think he was more of a 'black helicopter coming over the horizon' kind of guy. They are supposed to have floats on Tuesday, but I think I will wait until Wednesday just to be safe.

Okay, next stop was at Beall's where I bought a nice Dockers three piece suit. Everything seems to be on sale 'pre-Easter' so that is pretty nice. Next stop was the Lowe's store in Hutto, where we purchased (more) supplies to keep the chickens away from the beds of morning glories. See the story about this several paragraphs below.

If you want to hear the story of us standing in line for four hours at Lowe's, you are welcome to ask, but my voice might become a little shrill. I realize that is nothing out of the ordinary for many of you, but...

Next stop (after the Georgetown Tractor Supply) was the Dairy Queen, where we each had a hot fudge sundae, and we contemplated the thought of having TWO sundaes, since we had missed a sundae by not visiting the Dairy Queen on Saturday, but we exercised considerable restraint, and settled for one each.

Next stop was Kohl's where I TRIED to buy a very nice suit; they had the correct coat size, but not the correct pant size. Here again, we got to stand in line for QUITE a long time (whatever happened to customer service you ask? Well, I can tell you, it was sacrificed for the bottom line!), to be told that they had the correct size pants at their Round Rock store, but if I wanted them to be sent to the Georgetown store (approximately 15 miles away) it would take SIX WEEKS. So, we asked them (since their computer said they had ONE PAIR of the trousers in Round Rock) if they could call the Round Rock store to confirm that and hold them, but the phones were not working. Not sure which phones were not working, but obviously one of the stores had not paid their phone bill, and communication between stores was at a standstill. BUT, I could go to the KIOSK and order a pair of trousers, and they would be shipped to me between April 21st and 28th. I went to the KIOSK and order the coat and the trousers, which only took about 20 minutes. AND I got $30 worth of Kohl's Dollars which will be available for me to use TOMORROW! BUT, I did find a nice pair of trousers on sale for $10, and I just had to have them!

That was the end of our errands, and we headed home. SO, BRING ON THE CHICKENS! I figure I have spent about a hundred dollars to try and out-smart the chickens and to try to keep them from scratching around in the areas that I am trying to grow morning glories. I am prepared to go as high as $1,500, but I hope this will do it. If this works, I will next remove all the dead morning glory vines from the trellis, but I must be careful to try and collect all the morning glory seeds that are still clinging to the vines. I will try to save them for next year. I think that will be possible, but about this time next year I will be wondering WHERE DID I PUT THOSE FREAKIN' SEEDS that I spent hours last year harvesting? I know myself WAY TOO WELL! But, just let one of those chickens even try to get into this little area. Only time will tell.

I was inside watching the news stories about the wild fires in Oak Hill (still not clear on exactly what is happening there, I will pay better attention during the 10 o'clock news) when Ira came to say he was pretty much finished with the fence. We both went back there to check things out, and it all loos very nice, much better than it has been, and of course I was counting cattle. I only counted 12, and Ira said there was one cow way in the back. He said it was pretty unusual for one cow to be hanging away from the rest of the herd, but I told him she looked alert, no signs of trauma, but I thought she was getting ready to have a calf.

About thirty minutes later, Jody and I were getting ready to have dinner, and I told him I thought Daphne was getting ready to have a calf. I went out by the pool to empty the skimmer basket and I took the binoculars with me. I saw Daphne had some placenta hanging and saw a little black and white lump in the hay, and I went back in to tell Jody she had calved. The two (formerly) most recent calves were hanging around, very interested in what was going on. Jody and I got back there, and Daphne let me get right up to her calf, close enough that I could check HIM out to see that he is a bull calf. As I posted a little while ago on FaceBook, we have bull calves coming out of our WAZOOS! BUT, this calf is another beauty. Very nice...

The perfect ending to another great day on the edge of nowhere!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, NEW CALVES, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!

2011 - Day One Hundred Six; Saturday...

Helen, this is what the adolescent egg loaf looks like. Just wanted to document this for you! The day started out kind of early for a weekend. I needed to be up early because I was teaching a class in Austin beginning at 9 o'clock. So, in order to get there in time to make sure all the computers and everything else were working okay, I needed to leave the house at 7:30, which meant I had to have breakfast completed before that so I could get ready to go.

Everything went well, and I was back home just after 1 o'clock, and then we headed off to Round Rock to watch a bee 'dumping' (not sure if that is the right word). Basically it was a demonstration of how to get your 'package' bees into their new home. There were several people there (probably about 40 or more) and I was there just to learn a little bit (I was not getting any new bees this season), but my friend Jim was getting a 'package' of bees, so I was there to help him. Our friends from Houston went with me, so we all learned about bees, and then headed to Jim's house in Hyde Park. There were no incidents, although I was not taking any precautions. I look a little bit overdressed in this photo, totally suited up, and Jim has on nothing but a veil, not even gloves. I did not get this old by being stupid, and playing dress up is really a lot of fun!

We made it home by about 5 o'clock, and shortly after decided it was time to go into Georgetown for dinner. We headed off into Georgetown and went to the Catfish Parlour and all had a really nice meal. On the way home, we took the long route, and went through the Berry Creek Park and it was really a lovely evening just kind of wasting time. Wonderful.

We made it home (again) in time to sit out on the porch for a while, and the girls came up every now and then, but they were a little bit skittish. Finally Bonnie and I went out to see if we could get them into their pen, and I got Mini-Vera and handed her off to Bonnie. We herded them into their pen (mostly voluntarily) and they were pretty happy to get their food for the night. It is dark now, so I will need to go put them to bed for the night in just a few minutes. Jody got five eggs from them today, and still no more crushed or damaged eggs since we put the nest eggs in their nesting boxes. That would be really great if that solved the problem.

While we were at the bee demonstration, another friend of mine (Chris) told me how to go about integrating new chickens with an established flock. So, I am not a little bit more comfortable with the idea of adding about four more chickens to the flock.

Stay tuned.

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

2011 - Day One Hundred Five; Friday...

Yes, yes, it is Friday. I am really getting old, I CRAVE the weekends. Weekends are what I live for most, second only to eating. I love weekends, and I love eating; not necessarily in that order.

Our friends Jim and Bonnie are here visiting from Houston, and it is WAY past my bedtime right now. We had a wonderful dinner tonight at Montana Mike's in Georgetown, and we got home just before sunset to put the girls to bed, and we have been sitting out on the porch talking ever since. I have had an overload of wine this evening, I am working on my third glass of wine, so I am not responsible for anything that may be written tonight in this journal.

Jim and Bonnie also brought us this wonderful wind chime. It is fantastic, and we both love it. It fits right in with everything else in the yard and it makes noise too.

The coyotes were having a party out by the road this evening. Not very far from the front porch. It was interesting, neat and just a little bit unnerving. I love living on the farm. I need to get up early tomorrow (since it is a weekend) to go into Austin and te

ach a class. Then in the early afternoon, I am going to held another friend install three pounds of bees in his new hive. It will be fun!

Deeds, Actions, Changes, GOOD FRIENDS, Kindnesses, Whirled Peas, FUN!