December 31, 2009

Christmas and Sophia's First Birthday

It was not easy being there for Sophia's first birthday. Instead of spending part of Christmas Day with the Wylie's of Garland, we spent it getting to and spending the night in Wichita Falls. The roads were passable but there was just too much traffic for them to handle. Most of 287 south of Electra was essentially one lane, the other lane(s) being covered with ice and snow. But make it we did in time to celebrate Sophia's birthday. Joyce, Kari and the girls stayed on a few days but Chris and I made the trek back the next day. We went though Oklahoma City and encountered no weather-related difficulties.

It was another short work-week, just Monday through Wednesday. Even so there wasn't much going on in the

office. The lingering snow and ice added excitement to my early morning gallops through the neighborhood. Monday morning was about 20 degrees at 6 a.m. but the air was calm so it was comfortable running. Wednesday morning it was 30 degrees at 6 a.m. but there was a southwest wind which made it much more uncomfortable, especially running into the wind.

The people painting 2005 have been busy covering the floors and other things that aren't supposed to be painted. The prep work is the most time-consuming, as anyone who has done much painting knows. There is still lots to be done but it still looks like it will be finished by the end of January.

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Sunday, December 20, 2009

Culowee

Yesterday was about as nice a day as one could ask for in mid-December. I hauled three more loads of dirt and dumped them on the caved-in septic tank. It still needs a little more. We've been really dry so I ran water down the west irrigation ditch to give the trees along there a little drink. We're supposed to be fairly warm for the next couple of days but Joyce is busy with wrapping presents and other Christmas activities and may not have time to water other trees. Chris helped by raking leaves along both sides of the southwest fence and in the pond. I ran water in the pond to water the trees surrounding it. That section of fence, particularly on the outside, collects

leaves, mostly from Quadrille Park, and trash so it was great to get it cleaned up. No doubt it's a job that will have to be repeated before summer.

2005 is beginning to shape up nicely. Most of the trim work is done and the cabinets are in. The carpet has been taken up as the workers clean up in preparation for painting and the floors are mostly in pretty good shape. As I predicted in October, the remodel probably won't be finished much if any before the end of January but I think the finished product is going to be really nice.

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December 13, 2009

Your genial blogger is safely home, arrived on schedule Tuesday, in fact, and was collected by my loving wife. The flight home was torture since I got stuck in the middle seat. Didn't get much sleep. If someone had offered me the choice between a little waterboarding and the 14-15 hours I was stuck in that seat I'd have signed up for the waterboarding without hesitation. Don't mean to complain, just stating the facts.

Yesterday I planted the trees I ordered from Arbor Day two or three months ago. In the past I've planted the bare-root seedlings I've gotten from Arbor Day directly into the ground and the survival rate using this method has been abysmal. This time I planted the

bald cypress, plum, river birch, five forsythias and red maple in containers in my tree nursery. You may recall my mentioning putting a tree nursery on the south side of the shop under the drip line of the roof. The idea is to put the seedlings where they can be watered more easily when they are young and tender and give them a year or two to develop their roots. It also has the advantage of not taking much work to pot them so if they don't survive I'm not out a lot of work. If they do survive and prosper I can at my leisure transplant them to the their permanent growing place. We'll see if this approach works any better. I like planting trees and seeing them grow but we have a lot of trees on SA so I can afford to be patient and selective about what I add to our tree portfolio.

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December 7, 2009

Australia Day 5

Melbourne is a pretty good town. Lots of people, lots of foot traffic. Mostly anglos but Asians run a close second, it seemed to me. Not many black folk. Only saw one woman in muslim garb. Actually, she just had her head and face below the eyes covered with a scarf. I didn't make it to the botanical garden as I planned but I did spend some time at the Melbourne Museum. It was pretty interesting but there were an awful lot of school kids there making the commotion school kids usually do.

So here are the impressions I'm left with.

• Australians are friendly and open folk, fairly relaxed.
• The country I saw is impressive.
• The weather this time of year is nice but I did have some trouble at times keeping warm. I guess that's because the air is cool and the sun is hot so if the sun is shinning on you you are too warm but the next minute the sun will go behind the clouds and a breeze will pick up and you're cold again.
• Driving on the left side of the road is doable but not much fun.
• Stuff is more expensive here. I've spent $70 for less than a tank and a half of gas for the Corolla. A sandwich and water for lunch will cost $10-13. There is practically no rate exchange advantage right now either.
• The flight is long but if you can sleep and the plane isn't packed full it isn't unbearable.
• Five nights in Australia isn't much considering the travel time and airfare but for me its OK. I'm ready to get home.

Penni said her family moved to a farm west of the Great Dividing Range, nearly on the edge of the Outback when

she was 15. We were talking about kangaroos and she said there was a female red on the place. The reds are the big ones. Seems the roo was docile enough except when in heat. Then she was really scary. There was also an emu named Eddie. Eddie was a curious bird and Penni remembers her father working under the hood of their car and Eddie sauntering over to peer into the engine well to see what was going on. Penni had a little dog named Vegemite and when she was in church, which was across the street from their place, she would watch out the window as Eddie and Vegemite chased each other up and down inside their fence. First Eddie would chase Vegemite one direction. Then they'd turn around and Vegemite would chase Eddie the other direction. They would keep that up all through church, giving Penni something more interesting than the sermon.

Miscellany

• Advertising slogan on the back of Land Cruiser: Adventure before dementia
• At the Hotel Sophia you have to put your room key in a slot above the main light switch to get the electricity flowing to the whole room including telephone.
• Doesn't seem too Christmasy here
• Australian radio is just as obnoxious as American radio
• It seems the good folks of Melbourne are concerned that they've had some 30 or so murders since 2003. That's just a lively weekend in Chicago. Maybe they need some hope and change.
• The Melbourne Museum features a lot of information on the aboriginal people and how they were treated at the hands of the whites. It certainly rivals in its ferocity the treatment of indigenous people in America.

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December 6, 2009

Australia Day 4

It was with no small sense of relief that I turned my rental car in this afternoon. My plan was to drive back to Melbourne via the GOR taking my time and seeing the sights as I went. I still didn't have a room for the night and was hoping Hotel Sophia would have something. If so, I planned to check in, then return the rental car to save a day on it and to divest myself of the risk I ran anytime I was driving. There's no free parking around the hotel anyway. There is some sort of law that says the rental car company can automatically hit your credit card for $3,000 for this and $2,000 for that if you have an accident, regardless of who is at fault. I'm beginning to believe accidents with rental cars are not uncommon given the number of tourists who come to Australia from parts of the world where they drive on the right side. Coming back on the GOR I realized the danger wasn't so much me doing something stupid as some other non-Aussie doing something stupid. I see a lot of Asian tourists. Anyway, for $35 a day the rental car company reduces the charge to zero in the case of an accident. I elected not to pay that and I'm glad not to have to drive anymore.

The Hotel Sophia was able to accommodate me but I had a dickens of time getting out of the city and on the road to the airport. The tour book says Melbourne is laid out very well in a grid but it neglected to mention the traffic circles. I couldn't follow the directions the desk clerk at the hotel gave me but I eventually spotted airport signs and was able to follow them while only getting honked at once. I can only digest so much information at one time and they should have known I didn't know where I was going.

The film crew was back bright and early this morning. Michael had another day of walking and filming but they started with some interview at the Aire Valley

Guest House. I was up when they got there but was still in my room checking emails. When I opened the door to my room to go hunt up some coffee I almost walked right into a film session. Michael was being interviewed in the room across the hall and there was a cameraman right outside my door. I think I just managed to avoid a faux pas, making noise on the set. Its interesting how all these people can be running around but when it's lights and action they go into super quiet mode, not speaking above a whisper if they speak at all and not moving around unless they have to. I'm sure through practice it is second nature to them but I had a hard time remembering not to make a commotion.

I feel fortunate I got caught up in the circumstances at the Aire house. First of all, the film crew wanted to book the house exclusively but they already had my reservation and Martin and Annabel wouldn't cancel it. Consequently I was the only guest. The rest of the premises were taken up with the Miltons and the production folk. Because three year old Matilda and three year old James ( Martin and Annabel's son) played together, Penni and Annabel were thrown together and formed a friendship on very short notice. By the end of the first day we were all together Penni and Annabel had hatched up a scheme where Annabel and Martin would get a night off and Penni would take care of me as well as take care of her own family. Annabel prepared the food and all Penni had to do was cook and serve it. So last night while Martin, Annabel and their kids had an evening out, the five of us enjoyed a pleasant dinner together. I slipped into grandpa mode while Penni took on the role one of my daughters would under circumstances where Joyce was off somewhere and someone needed to take care of Dad/Grandpa.

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December 5, 2009

Australia Day 3

Last night's dinner was home-style with Martin and Annabel joining Michael, Penni and me. This was after the little ones were bedded down for the night. I enjoyed the conversation very much but, like driving on the left side of the road, I have to concentrate more on what is being said to understand given the different accent. Turns out Martin, the former banker is also a former concert cellist. He hadn't played for 25 years until just recently when he helped out with a junior high gig. I told him I played cello in high school but I don't think he was impressed.

Kathryn's vest and Genna's hat came in handy today on my 14.5 kilometer jaunt along the GOW. I shoved the sandwich and apple Martin made me for lunch in one of the many pockets.

I also put a rain poncho in another and it came in very handy when a rain squall blew in off the Southern Ocean just as I was crossing Johanna beach. I followed Martin to the end of the segment I was going to walk, left my car and rode back to the start with him so my car would be waiting form me when I finished the walk.

Not sure what tomorrow will bring. I'm scheduled to pull up stakes and head back to Melbourne but I can't get a confirmation from the Hotel Sophia that I've got a room booked. I'd like to turn in my rental car and ride the shuttle to the hotel so I don't have to mess with driving in the city and finding parking places. Melbourne has a trolly system that ought to work just fine for my purposes.

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December 4, 2009

Australia Day 2

Things were really jumping around here this morning. A film crew showed up to film a segment of a documentary on the GOR and the Great Ocean Walk. I guess that would be the GOW. Maybe the film is entirely about the GOW. I'm not sure. Anyway, they've gotten various celebrities involved in each segment and the ones for this segment were Michael Milton and Katarina Witt. I don't know how many people were in the film crew. Young men and a even a few young women kept appearing. They had Michael, wife Penny, 3-year old Matilda and 1-year old Angus (Rowdy) greeted on the front porch by Martin and Annabel, proprietors of the Aire Valley Guest House. They had another session with Michael and Katarina on the balcony. It was all very interesting. I sat there and had my breakfast while all the hubbub was going on. About the time I headed out Michael and the film crew headed out to film him walking a segment of the GOW. He and his family are staying here tonight. I think/hope we'll be having dinner soon.

This country is as pretty as any I've ever seen. It sort of reminds me of the Berner Oberland, northern California and northern New Mexico all at the same time. I've read that Australia was once part of Gondwanaland and when it began to separate from the Antarctic deep trenches were created. These filled with water and in time these

lakes silted in and the silt became sandstone. Some movement caused the Otway range to be thrown up out of this sandstone. The hills aren't nearly has high and steep as the Swiss Alps or even the Sangre De Christos in New Mexico but they are lush and green, mostly covered with trees with lots of streams pouring from them. The park folks do an excellent job with the trails. I spent the afternoon wandering over the Otway Fly Treetop Walk and the Triplet Falls trail. I can only speculate why they call it the Otway Fly. Flies are a constant around here. However, I wouldn't call attention to them if I were them.

Yesterday I neglected to mention that the folks at Melbourne International really have their marketing down. I think of we Americans as carrying the marketing shakedown to its limits but I've not seen anything to compare with the duty-free area at Tullamarine. International travellers are forced to walk through the duty-free area Not a little shop discretely off to the side, mind you, but something similar to walking through, oh, say, Dillards. On top of that there was a natiely dressed gentleman with a microphone haranguing the weary travellers, carnival barker style. He was assuring us that we "had to act now" since once we passed through customs we couldn't come back.

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December 3, 2009

Australia Day 1

Well, I made it. Everything came off without a hitch. That is, all the travel arrangements. VAustralia is a very nice airline. They've just started up in Australia in the last year or so and the plane was practically new. Amenities included a touch-screen TV thingy in the back of the seat in front of you where you could choose from movies, TV, games - stuff like that. The cabin crew members were pleasant and helpful, a bit more like good waiters in a restaurant and a bit less like school crossing guards than some other airlines I've flown. The best part, though, was the fact that the plane wasn't full. It was a wide body aircraft and I had a center row of three seats to myself so I was able to enjoy a relatively comfortable sleeping position curled up across all three seats. We were served two decent meals,dinner and breakfast, and the babies were about as benign as babies can be in an enclosed space. That all contributed to me arriving in Melbourne in relatively good shape.

Getting through customs wasn't bad and it wasn't until I collected my rental that the real fun started. It is a Toyota something or other, a nice little car except that everything is backwards. The steering wheel is on the right and I shift gears with my left hand, all six of them. The only thing that saved me was that the clutch, gas and brake were in their accustomed places. It is always a challenge to navigate in new territory, watching highway signs and trying to remember what route to follow but doing that while stirring gears with my left

hand and trying to stay to the left just about put me on overload. Fortunately I mostly drove on divided highways. The hardest thing was the turn signal. It and the windshield wipers are opposite to what I'm used to so every time I changed lanes I turned on the windshield wipers. I tried to do as little as possible of that. In Oz they call it overtaking rather than passing. I didn't do much overtaking, preferring instead to just follow the vehicle in front of me. I noticed on the GOR that signs saying "Drive on the left in Australia" were posted frequently. The GOR is a two-lane winding road and a tourist destination and apparently enough people forget which side to drive on to warrant posting signs. In one of the towns I drove through a kid wasn't paying attention and swerved into my lane. No big deal, he recovered in plenty of time but when my driving survival instincts kicked in I didn't know whether to throw up my hands or wind my watch.

As I said I was feeling rested and ready when we landed and it wasn't until about the time I was getting close to my lodgings that I hit the wall. The time difference is basically figured by adding 24 hours, then subtracting seven. So about 3 o'clock in the afternoon my body felt like it was 10 p.m. My hostess Annabelle served me some tea straight away and then I took a brief nap. I'll try to observe local hours this evening and see if I can adjust. The wind is blowing all to be damned. Feels like home.

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November 26, 2009

Thanksgiving

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November 25, 2009

Trip to the Arboretum

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November 22, 2009

The Hole

Progress on 2005 for the week just past included getting the insulation blown in and the sheet rock up. It's interesting how the insulation in applied. It is sprayed to the underside of the roof and on the outer walls as a liquid. It looks very much like spraying paint as it's applied. If you think of taking a can of spray paint and spraying the paint on something you'll have a good idea of how it looks as it is applied. However this liquid immediately begins to expand. Within seconds it has expanded to a dept of several inches. In fact, the workman has to come back with a tool that shaves off what protrudes beyond the studs so there is a flat surface for the sheet rock to go on. They don't do that on the roof, of course. The result should be greatly improved heat and cool retention and reduced heating and cooling bills.

Next week the walls will get taped and textured. Saturday Kari and Joyce met with the man who will paint the interior. He's also the man who did the plans. He's helping choose the colors and the floor tile and they needed to review his recommendations. Kari is staying with the blue room/pink room/green room theme, which I think is a nice idea. I don't know what she'll do for the other rooms, perhaps choose the remaining colors of the rainbow.

A mental disconnect occurred when the sheet rock was delivered Thursday. As yet I haven't been able to pin down just who is to blame for the truck bearing the sheet rock to be driven around to the back of the house. I was working away in the office when Joyce came and said she'd just seen a tow truck leave the place. When I investigated I discovered the sheet rock truck at the back door and when I asked the two young men why they'd driven it back there they said the front steps were too steep for carrying the sheet rock into the house. When I asked how they got the truck back there they said they drove it around the south side and that a man in a white truck told them to do that. The truck they drove was a fair-sized vehicle and with a load of sheet rock it was very heavy. When I retraced their route I saw that no trees had been damaged but that they'd broken through the concrete cover of one of the old, ah, septic tanks. That explained the tow truck since the truck would have fallen in up to the axle. As you can imagine

I wasn't happy. For a while I had been thinking a little trailer to hitch to the tractor would be useful. The hole or depression left when the truck broke through the concrete spurred me to action. No way was I willing for someone to come in and fix the problem even though AAA lumber (it was their truck) has offered to repair the damage. They would just exacerbate the problem with whatever equipment they used. All that really needed to be done was the hole filled in. Oh, I had to bust off some pieces of concrete, corners that were left sticking up at or above ground level. However, I wasn't going to fill the hole one wheelbarrow load at a time either. You'll recall we have plenty of fill material left over from the man cave excavation. So Saturday morning I went to Home Depot and bought a John Deere trailer that hooked right up to the tractor. Yes, I still had to shovel the dirt into the trailer but the trailer tips up so when I backed it up to the hole I could just tip it up to dump it. That saved a lot of work. Abigail steered the tractor and spotted for me as I backed up to the hole. We put in four loads, probably equivalent to three or four times that many wheel barrow loads, and though we didn't finish it is no longer a hazard. As it was it would have been exciting for someone or something stepping off in it in the dark.

If all goes according to plan I will leave for Melbourne, Australia Tuesday, December 1 and arrive on Thursday, December 3. I will return on the following Tuesday, leaving Melbourne on Tuesday and arriving in Amarillo on Tuesday. Once in Melbourne, I will pick up a rental car and drive to the Aire Valley Guest House, my accommodations for the first three nights. That will be my base of operations as I explore the Great Ocean Road. There is also a Great Ocean Walk which I intend to hike as time permits. While I will spend five nights in Australia, I only have hotel reservations for three nights. I've left the remaining two nights open and will decide when I'm there whether to head west along the GOR or maybe spend a day or two taking in Melbourne. It will be just me and my camera. I'm taking my laptop so I can keep this space updated as I go. I figure I'll be OK if I survive the first day. They drive on the left side of the road in Australia and that is bound to take some getting used to.

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November 15, 2009

Planting a tree for Andreas

Clearly it was a case of racial profiling. A man in a blue uniform asked me if I minded if he patted me down. This was in the Amarillo airport. I was sitting in the waiting area, reading a magazine and waiting for my flight. I had already been through security. There was a woman in a blue uniform performing the same indignity on random female passengers. I assumed the fellow was from the TSA or whatever it is called. He mumbled something about random selection. Partial disrobing to go through security isn't enough? The lady sitting next to me said she was glad I wasn't a terrorist after I sat back down. They won't find any terrorists applying that procedure to elderly white guys. It's all just look-see pidgin. I'm bothered about how quickly I agreed, stood up and assumed the position. Seems like I should have at least asked for ID or a little more explanation. I really need to slow my metamorphosis into a sheep. Baaa.

Last week at the conference and trade show I worked in Dallas I listened to speakers Marcus Luttrell and Jerry Greenfield. Both were very interesting but on quite different topics. Marcus pretty much condensed his book Lone Survivor into a 45 minute talk. He did a good job. Maybe having already read the book helped me keep up with his fast-paced narrative. He got a standing O before and after. Jerry did a good job, too. He gave a brief history of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream, then he handed out Ben & Jerry's ice cream, which would alone have made me favorably disposed toward him. All I new about he and partner Ben Cohen was that they were a couple of meddling, aging

hippies. I got that impression second-hand which is always dangerous. Turns out, though, that their idea of using business to benefit others while at the same time benefitting the business and the owners there of coincides with my anti-government, which is to say anti-coercion, views of relying on individuals to do what's right. Maybe the cherry garcia colored my thinking but I actually formed that opinion before I found out that ice cream would be handed out after the session.

Hans and Elisabeth have been visiting this past week. Yesterday they pitched in to help us plant the pistache we bought in memory of Andreas. They went with Joyce and me Thursday evening to buy it. Everyone helped and we're all looking forward to watching it grow and prosper over the years. The day was cool and overcast, but there was little wind so it was ideal for working outside. Joyce and I also planted tulips and daffodils around the pistache east of 1911 and a couple of the fruit trees in the meadow.

The remodel is moving along pretty good. The windows are in except for the kitchen, living room and west pink room windows. This coming week they are scheduled to spray in the foam insulation. That and new windows should make the house pretty snug. If the insulation is taken care of early in the week there's a good chance they'll get started on the sheet rocking. Then it may begin to look like a house again. There are some new pictures that were added to the previous batch.

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November 8, 2009

Little Foxes

When I headed out Monday morning to meet Kari for our run there was whiff of skunk in the air. There was a full moon and I used its light to carefully watch where I was walking. Didn't want to stumble over an upset skunk. As I walked down the street I saw an owl fly above the tree tops in front of the Howards'. It was a good sized fellow and was well illuminated by the street light in their yard. I wonder if there was a connection between the eau de skunk and the owl?

Saturday was an exceptionally nice day and we used it to get a few things done around the place. Joyce did a lot of watering. Plumbers dug a trench to replace the old gas line from the meter to the house and the ground was pretty dry so we felt a little watering was in order. I spent most of my day moving stuff out of the 2005 garage into the shop. All I got done was the bench in the southwest

corner. It took so long because there was so much little stuff and I assimilated it as I went. Kari helped me wipe the accumulated dust of the decades off some of the stuff. We have a new policy now of not buying anything, maybe ever again, because we probably already have it somewhere among all the stuff from 2005, if not among our own stuff.

Speaking of 2005, things are coming along. They pretty much finished the wiring last week. This coming week I think they'll try to get the insulation and sheetrock installed. The new windows are sitting in the garage and they may get those installed as well.

I'll be spending Sunday and Monday night this coming week at the Anatole in Dallas. We're showing our wares at a software conference.

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November 1, 2009

Halloween

Not much Halloween traffic at 1911 Saturday night. Only a couple of monsters interrupted my movie-watching, ice cream-eating debauchery. Must admit, those two that showed up were pretty cute. They and their parents had been to the Zoo Boo or Boo Zoo, which sounded like a lot of fun when they described it. This was the Amarillo zoo and there were stations set up with various critters on exhibit accompanied by a homo sapiens dressed to mimic the exhibited creature and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. It's my understanding there was a pretty good crowd but not so many people as to make it unpleasant.

The remodel goes apace. The tear-out has been completed and the place is a wreck, but the plumbers have installed the tankless water heater outside the old half-bath window. That's right, it is mounted on the wall on the outside. It is an interesting arrangement and I'll be curious to see how it works out. The initial cost of those is quite a bit higher than the usual hot water tank but supposedly they are more energy efficient since the only time they heat water is when hot water is needed. The bad news is that after the plumbers got it installed and did their testing, they discovered that the gas line from the street to the house leaks and will have to be replaced. That will be a significant expense we hadn't counted on plus putting the new line in will deface poor old SA. Oh well. I was looking through some slides of SA Genna and Ronald took in the early 70's and it is humbling to see how good it looked back then. Some of the slides were taken in October so it was pretty easy to do a direct comparison. It showed just how much of the plantings have been lost since then.

Wonderful weather Saturday. It started out chilly but calm and warmed up as the day went along. It was ideal for Halloween evening. Chris helped me move Genna's hutch thingy from our garage to the man cave. Joyce had thought she might use it as Genna had for a sewing station so it was moved to 1911 when we cleared out 2005. There were four men handling that move. Joyce decided it just wouldn't fit and I feel it is too nice a piece to just give to some charity so we put it in the man cave. No small task, that. Besides being bulky it is very heavy. We used Genna's two-wheeler to get it to the shop but getting it down the stairs into the basement was the real challenge. We put it on its side and slid it down the stairs a step at a time so we didn't really have to handle its weight. The real difficulty came when we got to the bottom and had to negotiate the turn. We managed to do that without mangling it, the stairs, the wall or ourselves though. Oh, we got a little paint from the edge of the stairs on one side of it but that will probably come off with a little elbow grease. I was thinking someone would want it someday and I would put it down in the man cave until that day. If and when somebody does want it, I will take it apart to move it. No way will we try to manhandle it back up the stairs.

Chris also helped me finish harvesting the pine straw beneath the two big Austrian pines. This time of year they shed them pretty good and the wind helps bring them down. We got the fruit trees in the orchard mulched. They've been mulched before but it has been several years so it was good to remulch them. I'm hoping there will be enough needles fall for at least a second harvest. There are other trees on the place that can use a mulching or re-mulching.

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October 25, 2009

Pecan Yellow Phase

We had sunshine earlier and took a nice walk with Kaylee and the Sopapia while Jill went to church with K,C,A&R. Now it is cloudy and the north wind is scattering leaves. Fallish.

Saturday evening we went to the WT game with the Brokenbeks and a good time was had by all, at least those all that were cheering for WT. The Buffs held their opponent Angelo State to 15 points and put up 43 themselves. After enduring losses the first three games we saw, it was nice to watch them whup up on somebody. In fact, Angelo State was their third win in a row. Last week they journeyed to Abilene to face number one ranked Abilene Christian and whupped up on them, too. It got chilly after the sun went down but there wasn't any wind and Joyce and I snuggled up under our blanky and were satisfied.

Saturday I concentrated on fixing the overflow plate in Joyce's tub. I think I mentioned this before. The two screws that hold the plate on rusted out and the heads twisted off. There was nothing to grab on to to remove the rest of the screw so I could replace the plate. I tried a Grabit but got nowhere. This happened back during the summer and I never had time to really concentrate on getting it fixed. Saturday it was do or die. Some time a go on a visit to Lowes I talked to a helpful fellow about my problem, that I couldn't get at the PVC piece that would need to be replaced if I couldn't get the screws out except for going through the bedroom wall. He suggested I try drilling a new set of holes but it didn't look to me like there was enough meat to do that.

He also suggested using penetrating oil and a hair dryer to try to break loose the screws. I tried that but wasn't getting anywhere. I only had the slightest piece of screw to get pliers on so I couldn't apply much torque. Finally I took a 1/16 inch drill and drilled a hole next to the screws at 12, 3 and 9 o'clock. That allowed the oil to penetrate a little better and finally loosen the screws so I could back them out. From there is was a simple task to replace the plate and screws with new ones. It is a relief to get that off my todo list.

My trip to Orlando went OK. Thursday was kind of a long day, starting at 4 a.m. and ending with my falling into bed about 11:30. The flight from Dallas to Amarillo was delayed and the prop plane we flew on didn't make the trip as fast as the jets do.

While we were at the game, the rest of the crew had a weenie roast. It was a very nice evening for it and Jill reported that the little folks had a good time running and playing.

They've removed the kitchen cabinets and HVAC at 2005 plus they've begun to frame for the new windows. Most of the old windows are out, including the living room window. The back porch window is still in. There was also some work done by electricians. I think they've done the initial set up for the panel in the garage. No work was done Friday. I'm not sure why.

Joyce said we got over an inch of rain while I was gone. We needed that.

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October 18, 2009

2005 Remodel - The Tear Out

Saturday was OK if you like sunshine, 75 degrees and light wind. I took advantage of it to do something about the front door. It was showing some weathering, you see, mostly on the lower half where the winter sun hits it and occasionally rain or snow will blow against it. I used fine sandpaper to prep it but realized after doing so that if I just applied the polyurethane I bought for it the bottom part wasn't going to look good. Even the light sanding on the weathered part took the finish almost to bare wood. At Sherwin-Williams I got a lot of iffy answers when I showed them on my camera pictures I had taken of the door. One of the options they kinda, sorta gave me was to try to match the stain so I got some color cards and found that if golden oak wasn't an exact match it was hard to tell the difference. I applied that and low and behold it matched right up. Sure beat stripping the whole front of the door, which was on of the the other options offered.

Our big news of the week was they started on the 2005 remodel. That is the hard part from a spectators point of view. Poor old 2005, it don't look so good. We keep telling ourselves how wonderful it will be when it is finished, and it will be, but for now it's a leap of faith. Kari and Chris are excited about the remodel and moving in once it's done. There will still be things to be done. There always are with an old house, but it should be quite livable.

Speaking of livable, I've been taking my ease on the back porch lately. To me it's more pleasant out there

with the change in furniture. The plants crowd a little more than one would want, but that's just temporary. Meanwhile in the man cave I applied stuff to clean up Genna's book cases we brought down from 2005 and have started loading them with books, culling them as I go. Most paperbacks don't make the cut. Neither do books about women and their feelings, challenges, thoughts, etc. There will be a decent library down there when I'm finished and it will be open to friends and family who care to avail themselves.

The cabinet maker advised that the kitchen cabinets in 2005 wouldn't be in very good shape after they are removed. Something about them being built on-site and the way they are fastened to the wall. He'll remove the counter top and I'll have him build new cabinets in the man cave to accommodate it. Since we won't actually be replicating the old kitchen, I don't think there is any point to putting Mom's stove down there. With the way Kari is setting up her kitchen and dining area in 2005, that is where any congregations involving prepared meals will take place. All we really need in the man cave is the microwave and toaster oven Genna left. In other words, we just need to heat something, not cook it. We'll probably get a little frig for drinks but that's about it. We could always add an oven in the future if it turns out we need one. So, I'm going to part ways with Mom's stove and spare myself the expense of repairing it and moving it down to the man cave. I saw the same stove on eBay with bids up to $198 but if I find someone who wants it they can have it for the taking.

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October 11, 2009

October grapes

One evening last week when the clouds were beginning to thin when the setting sun suddenly set them on fire. It was as if a prairie fire sprang up and sweeping across the plains was reflected in the sky. It quickly passed leaving smoldering clouds fading into dusk.

2005 is empty now except for some stuff still in the garage. We hired a couple of young bucks that work for the SIPS manufacturer to help us with the heavy furniture. Between the four of us (that's including Chris and me), we not only moved the big stuff out of 2005, but we also move the futons from the 1911 back porch to the man cave and the furniture from the TV room at 2005 to the back porch at 1911, all in less than two hours. Those futons will come in handy if anyone ever needs to sleep in the man cave and the TV room furniture goes very nicely on the back porch. The futons were really too big and bulky for it and couldn't very easily be made into beds. They were also hard to clean around and the corner spiders were bad about nesting under them. We also put the remaining house plants from 2005 on the back porch. That may be temporary, though. Kari thinks she might want them after the remodel. We were glad to be able to make use of the TV room furniture and not

have to give it up. We did give up the TV and Genna's little case thingy. Kari is keeping her Grandpa's chair and it got put in the temporary storage provided by the pod we rented.

The pod was delivered Friday and placed on the north side of the driveway at 2005. That made it handy for putting the furniture K&C are going to keep in it. It will be just as handy in a few months when it is time to put the furniture back in the house. A large limb got knocked off the pear tree in the front yard when they were backing in but other than that I think everyone is satisfied with the arrangement. Looks odd, though.

Joyce didn't feel like celebrating her birthday Friday so we just had pizza at our house. Chris had been in San Francisco for several days and was on his way home but wouldn't get here until Saturday morning. At noon Kari and Rebecca were at our house and with the cold and drizzle we thought a fire sounded good for the evening happy hour. By the time happy hour rolled around, though, the skies had cleared and it wasn't quite as inviting. I made one anyway and by sunset it was nice to have it as we laid around the living room.

Next week I'll be in Orlando on business. I'll actually leave Tuesday morning and return Thursday evening. Abigail had a soccer game Saturday so apparently she's healed up from the tree mishap. We're looking forward to Jill & Daughters being here next weekend. Joyce will fly to Dallas Thursday and drive back with them Friday, then reverse that a week later.

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October 4, 2009

Misfortune struck this week. Abigail fell out of a tree and scuffed herself pretty good. Her little face is somewhat the worse for wear but perhaps there won't be any lasting marks. She has to wear her right arm in a sling because she broke her collarbone. She and a friend were climbing in a tree at the friend's house when the friend who was on a branch above Abigail fell and dragged Abigail down with her as she instinctively grasped at anything to save herself. The friend was bruised but otherwise unhurt. Abigail isn't bothered too much by her injuries and only has to keep her arm in the sling a couple of weeks. She had to be admonished several times yesterday to keep her arm in the sling and stop using it so I guess it doesn't cause her much if any discomfort.

Yesterday morning I went with K&C to meet with the building contractor who is going to remodel 2005 for them. He's the same fellow who built the shop. They scaled back the plans they formulated last summer but even still it won't be cheap. Nevertheless, I think they are pretty excited about getting it done. The first step is to get everything out of 2005 and that's what I spent the day on before and after the meeting. We cleared out the garage except for the west and north perimeter so there is some place to put the stuff that will go back into the house once the remodel is finished. The Pathfinder

went to the shop and I'm pleased that it fits in there nicely, as I planned on when I designed the shop. A certain amount of stuff went to the shop, including some that went in the loft and some that went in the man cave. More will follow. There is also a category of items that will go to the Salvation Army or some other charitable organization and, of course, there is some stuff that will be tossed or recycled. They want to get going on the remodel so the pressure is on to get the house ready for the wrecking crew.

Friday evening we had dinner with the Brokenbeks and went to the Amarillo Club with them afterward. There is quite a view of the city lights from up there and we got to watch the moon rise over Amarillo. Saturday night we celebrated Rebecca's third birthday at the Zbinden house. Rebecca and Abigail had played all afternoon around 2005 while the rest of us worked, so Rebecca didn't get her accustomed nap. Kari did put her down when they got home and Joyce got her up when we got there. She was a little slow to get started but in good spirits when it came time for blowing out the candles and opening presents. She didn't suffer the melt-down she did last year when we sang happy birthday to her. In fact, she seemed to enjoy herself. Janice got back from a month in Wisconsin and joined us for the celebration.

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September 27, 2009

Going back to the 912 march in Washington DC a couple of weeks ago. Of all the signs, the one that sticks in my mind said:

No health insurance
My problem
My business

It's been cool most of the week but it looks like it will warm up over the weekend. We got nearly half an inch of rain one day last week. By noon the grass was noticeably greener. Amazing how the native grass has adapted to take advantage of the least opportunity for a little photosynthesis.

The weekend has indeed been drop-dead gorgeous; clear skies and light winds, cool mornings and warm afternoons. We went to the WT game with Art & Marilyn Saturday evening. The wins have been scarce for the Buffs this season, but this week's game was exciting.

The Buffaloes fought back to tie it up but lost in overtime.

In spite of the cool evenings this week I still got out and did my weed-yoga. Maybe the bending and stretching involved in reaching and pulling weeds is good for me. Anyway, I'm making a dent in the weeds and I tell myself that will pay off next year. We'll see.

This morning I spent a little time getting my mountain bike into riding condition. Last Sunday Abigail and I went for a ride and I got a flat tire when we were in Sam Houston park. That meant I got to walk home pushing my bike. The flat was caused when the valve on a new tube failed. Actually, it was the area around the tube. The valve had slipped causing pressure on the base of the valve. The rubber broke and whoosh went the air. I replaced the tube and also replaced the back tire and tube which were pretty old and showing wear. Abigail said we ought to ride every weekend and I wanted to be ready if we sally forth again today.

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September 20, 2009

One morning this week

You may want to go back to last week's offering and read what Joyce had to say about the rally and march.

Did I mention when I was driving to Oklahoma City a couple of weeks ago I was passed at least three different times by buses from Mexico headed east on I-40? I was doing the speed limit, 70 mph. The buses were doing at least 80 mph. I didn't notice any west-bound.

One morning as I walked to the shop before sunup I saw three foxes gamboling around the garden gate. When they saw me they sat on their haunches and watched me walk by as though they expected me to perform some little trick for their amusement. It was too early for tricks so I had to disappoint them.

SA is quietly slipping into fall. We've had northerly breezes most of the week which keep things cool and cuts down on the highway noise. It was raining when we got in Sunday and though it only amounted to maybe an eighth of an inch the grass responded immediately by greening up a little. That has since faded. I don't mind the dryness. Dry and cool is a pretty good combination in my view. The grass and weeds don't grow and I'm able to catch up on the weeds, or will eventually.

Joyce and I attended a townhall meeting this morning after breakfast. It was held by our congressman. He's a pretty conservative guy representing a pretty conservative area so there were no fireworks. There was a pretty good turnout. They had a couple of microphones set up so people could speak their piece. There were some intelligent questions and observations and some not so intelligent. One poor old fat gal couldn't stand in

line so she dragged up a chair and sat in line instead. Not being able to move very fast she wound up at the back of the line when it formed. We had already heard from a number of people and exceeded the time the townhall was supposed to last by the time she made it to the front of the line. Being the judgmental type and also getting kind of tired of some of the blather I told Joyce I wanted to leave when she got to the head of the line. There were two mics and two lines and the congressman was alternating between the two. However, when fat gal got to the front of the line she proceeded to as her question even though it wasn't her turn. The congressman didn't know who the hell asked the question since he was expecting to get the question from the other line and fat gal was sitting down. He finally spotted her, though. My fears were realized when she asked whether ACORN was Democrat or Republican. Who the hell cares? The congressman reasonably replied they weren't necessarily either but tended to support liberals, which is like saying I kind of like ice cream. The congressman managed to direct the attention back to the other line for their question/comment. In the mean time, fat gal sat there clearly intending to share more gems with us. An odd looking fellow (he had his khakis stuffed in the top of his cowboy boots) who had previously asked a question or commented, I can't remember about what, came over and took the mic out of fat gal's hand. I guess he didn't want her to ask anymore questions. Since he just put the mic back into the stand, fat gal just got up off her chair and grabbed it again. I decided pants-in-boots and fat gal weren't going to get into it anymore and if we stayed we'd just have to listen to more inanities from fat gal so we left.

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September 12, 2009

Washington, D.C. 9/12 Tea Party

We came, we saw, we had dinner. We feel we did our bit as part of the multitude and it was a multitude. People came from all over. The smell of cannabis was thick in the air. Music pounded in our ears and worked the crowd into a frenzy. There were knife fights and a couple of lynchings. I felt bad about the one that was in a wheel chair. I don't know if the politicians paid any attention. I understand the prez was out of town on business. Anyway, it was a helluva party.

Now, as for the important stuff, we always have dinner at La Tasca and Clyde's when we're in DC and they were up to their usual high standards. La Tasca is Spanish cuisine and we were served by Luis from Guatemala. Nice fellow who liked my shirt because he said the design on it was Mayan hieroglyphics or whatever they are called. Who new? La Tasca features tapas. The menu says these were pieces of bread the farmers put on the top of their wine glasses to keep the flies out as they unwound at the local watering hole after a long day in the fields. Over time the bartenders started adding tasty morsels to the bread and this evolved into the tapas we enjoyed at La Tasca. The shrimp and salmon, two different tapas, were delicious but I've had better scollops. Saturday evening after a long day of rabble rousing we enjoyed an excellent dinner at Clyde's. Joyce had the filet mignon and I had the chicken. We both had the creme brulee.

After the march and listening to a number of speakers we wandered back up Pennsylvania Avenue to gawk at the White House. There was a little girl and a dog that came out and played on the White House lawn. The cops shewed the people away from the fence before they came out. Fortunately we were on the other side of the street so we didn't have to move. We assume the little girl was one of the Obama kids and the dog was the first dog.

Our flights were uneventful on Friday and we hope tomorrow's go as well. We've scheduled a taxi pickup for 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. It will be a short night, it seems.

This is Joyce's take on the rally and march.
Saturday, September 12 in Washington DC was a beautiful day., cloudy with a high of about 75. The march was to start with folks gathering at Freedom Plaza at 9:00, then at 11:30 march down Pennsylvania Ave. to the Capitol. The rally with speakers was scheduled to start at 1:00. We left the hotel in plenty of time to find our way to the gathering. We walked down New York Ave. to 13th St., turned left and headed to the plaza. As soon as we turned the corner we were amazed at the number of people already there. There were hundreds of people, many with signs, flags, some in period costumes and many more in colorful t-shirts with their message of why they were there.

We saw some Texas flags across the way and off we went to join the Texans. It took awhile to get through the crowd and shortly after joining our fellow Texans the crowd started to move. We learned later that the police had the march start early because there were more people than there was room. As we marched along we were able to see what kind of people had come all the way to DC to try to take a stand and draw line in the sand. What we saw were lots of old folks like us, but also lots of young folks, lots of families with their children. We saw people of all races and from all states. One wise Latina lady wore a t-shirt that had many signatures of her friends and family that were not able to

come with her, but were with her in spirit. It was a huge crowd of people just like you and me.

At the time we did not know it, but we were pretty close to the front of the march. By the time we got to the Capitol, though, a huge crowd was already there and all the area around where the rally was held was full. We could not get close enough to see any of the speakers or entertainment and could not even hear all that well. We were following the people onto a grassy area near the Capitol and it was really buggy. I walked over to a large sidewalk trying to get away from the bugs. A nice Park Police lady told me I had to step back on to the grass because our permit did not cover the side walk. By now I think we outnumbered the bugs and it wasn't too bad. We stayed in this area for a short time enjoying the different signs and t-shirts and trying to hear what speakers were saying. We walked around trying to get a better view. By then the Park Police were on the other side of a fence and the sidewalk was covered with people. I think the police were a bit overwhelmed, but the people were all so nice I doubt the police really cared. While we were in this area the word spread that the Park Police estimated the crowd to be about 1.2 million.

We stayed in the area of the rally watching people enjoying themselves and noticing how careful everyone was not to leave any litter on the ground. All the trash containers were overflowing and people were trying to mash the trash down so more would fit. I saw one little lady walk over with her own thrash bag and tie it to the container to help hold more trash. Most people just took their trash with them when they left.

We started walking away from the Capitol area around 2:15 and I noticed people with signs and t-shirts were still coming in. I read later that many buses were turned away because there weren't enough permits to accommodate them all. These buses had to find parking outside DC and then the people had catch the Metro (subway) into DC. That explained why people were still trying to get to the rally that late in the game.

After we left the rally we walked up Pennsylvania Avenue to take a look at the White House. This was my first trip to DC and we didn't have enough time to see much. I hope to be able to go back sometime to enjoy this beautiful city that is so full of our history. I am so thankful we were able to be there with so many concerned citizens and I pray this is the beginning of a turnaround for our Republic.

We flew in to Reagan about 3:30 on Friday and Flew out of Dullus early Sunday morning. We had a pretty easy time and were not too tired when we got home at about noon. I heard about a group that rode a bus from Florida for seventeen hours to attend the march and rally and then got right back on the bus and headed home. We heard a lady from California say she flew in that morning and was flying back home that night. You know a lot of people really wanted to be in Washington for this event to put in so much effort , time and money. We wanted to be there because we fear for our grand children's future if things don't turn around soon.

We were really disappointed to get back to our room after the march , turn on the TV and hear the media say there were tens of thousands of people there . We saw hundreds of thousands and I know the media know the truth even if they won't admit it.

I hope this sheds a little light on the week end. Wish you could have been there.

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September 6, 2009

Sunset

Six Acres was at its peak for a few hours Thursday morning. The whole place was mowed but the grass was still green. Not that weird green of most over-watered residential lawns and commercial landscaping but the soft green of the native grasses, blue gramma and buffalo. The green has been fading rapidly ever since because it is so dry but it still looks good to me because I don't have to mow it. Now I can concentrate my efforts on keeping the weeds from distributing their seeds.

Friday I drove to Oklahoma City to see a client. The nearly nine hours on the road for the round trip was broken up by about a half hour's worth of work and lunch. I was glad to get home about 5:15 and start my three-day weekend. You'll recall last week I wrote about driving from Salt Lake City to Elko, Nevada. Two similar drives in that they both were straight east and west on an interstate highways, I-80 and I-40. I noticed a couple of interesting differences, though. The speed limit on I-40 in Texas and Oklahoma is 70 mph. On I-80 in Utah and Nevada it is 75 mph. At 70 mph in Texas-Oklahoma the trucks often pass you. Technically speaking the truck speed limit in Texas is 65, but I cavil. In Utah-Nevada they don't. Along I-40 one sees a lot of trucks and they are almost all in the standard truck/trailer configuration. Along I-80 triple-trailers are common. These are truck with three trailers, as the name implies, and that is the name used by road signs. They are more like trains than

trucks. I don't know why one configuration is common a few hundred miles north and almost unknown south of there. No doubt there is a good reason but it isn't obvious to me.

Another comment left over from last week: While I've seen this part of the world green from the air before, I've never seen it as green as it was last week. Even the walls of the draws, breaks and canyons were covered in green. Only the river beds and rock outcroppings intruded on the otherwise unbroken green carpet.

Yesterday Joyce and I cleaned the lily pool. Last year I purchased a small submersible pump and that helped a lot. Chris and his girls showed up to help. We filled a tub with water and when the water level in the pond got low enough to impede the fish, we helped the girls catch them and put them in the tub. We later put the four biggest back in the lily pond and took the fifth one up to the well pond to keep the solitary remaining fish there company. So now the lily pond is clear and the fish show up well. The lilies have been blooming nicely all summer. One of the three lobes doesn't have a lily in it and we probably should have divided the one that has gotten a little overgrown and planted half of it in the lilyless lobe, but we didn't.

One usually sees tarantulas out for a stroll this time of year but I haven't seen any. Joyce did see three foxes in the back yard one morning recently.

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August 30, 2009

Gayfeather

This week involved a little traveling. Elko, Nevada was my destination. It is a couple of hundred miles west of Salt Lake City along I-80 and I was there to install or software at the school district. From Amarillo I flew Southwest to Denver where I changed planes to continue on to SLC. On the flight I was reading Lone Survivor and was on the part where the SEAL team is fighting the Taliban. I was engrossed in the story, reading about RPGs slamming into the SEALs position on the side of the mountain, when the pilot slammed the plane into the runway with a crash. That would have been startling enough without it punctuating the story. Quite exciting. On the way home a couple of days later I again got so engrossed in the book while waiting for my flight from Denver to Amarillo I lost track of time and had to be paged.

A couple of different times in the airport I saw what appeared to be a father travelling with his little girl, just the two of them. I'd guess both girls were in the 5 to 7 range. I noticed them when I walked into the men's room. Each time they were standing in the corner of the room containing the line of urinals while Dad shook the dew off his lily pad, so to speak. Must have been quite an education for a little girl to see all the men standing solemnly before the porcelain altar.

I don't know what Dad did when the little girl needed to use the facilities.

No rain this week, but plenty of mowing, none-the-less. If we don't get more rain this mowing may last a while. We struggle valiantly to keep the weeds from seeding out. The highway is rife with weeds and it is dismaying to see so many seed heads so close to SA. I haven't looked at the easement to the east since last weekend and I'm a little afraid to.

We went to the first of five WT football games with the Brokenbeks yesterday evening. We got a little warm sitting in the stands until the sun dropped low enough where we were in the shadow of the stadium. Then it was a very comfortable evening. Unfortunately the Buffs were outgunned. The Central Valley (Michigan) Lakers are rated first or second in the nation in Division II. They won by a couple of touchdowns but it seemed to me the Buffs played them closer than the final score indicated. Art was ready to go by the end of the third quarter so we got out before the traffic got too bad. We took sandwiches for our dinner and ate them at half-time. Despite the two girls in front of us who stood practically the whole time blocking our view we had a pleasant evening.

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August 23, 2009

Monday we got another inch of rain, in two half-inch installments. In this part of the world we need to take the rain whenever we can get it, but...

Tuesday evening when I went out to mow ( I was rained out Monday evening) the mosquitoes descended on me like some biblical plague. I needed a couple of extra arms just to swat continuously. They've been bad all week and if it doesn't stop raining (we had an eighth of inch last night and another half inch a couple of nights ago besides those mentioned above) they'll probably be with us until the first freeze.

We're seeing a hummingbird regularly at the feeder. In fact we saw two Saturday evening as we were having dinner. One was at the feeder and another came and chased it away, or maybe it was the other way around. They are interesting buy not colorful.

So, how's the mowing going, you ask. As of today the whole place has been mowed since last Saturday. Trouble is, the south half already needs to be mowed again. It's not going to get mowed, though, before next weekend. I'll be travelling to Elko, Nevada this week so that will take away a couple of evenings. Next Saturday we'll jump on it again.

Speaking of next Saturday, we will attend the first WT football game of the year that evening with Art and Marilyn. We bought season tickets so we've committed to attending all the home games. The season pass also included some other sports like soccer, volleyball and basketball but I don't know how many of those games we'll attend. A&M are big

football fans. We enjoyed going to the one game with them last season and it should be fun going to the games with them this year. As a matter of fact, we went to the museum in Canyon with them Thursday evening. Marilyn saw an ad in the paper that said the admission would be half price and there would be ice cream. Well, that was enough for us to drop what we were doing and spend the evening poking around the museum. I learned quite a bit about the Panhandle oil industry, at least for however long I can retain it.

Happy hour was at our place Friday evening. K,C&A were a little late getting there because it was meet the teacher night at school. However, they showed up before the pizza did. Abigail wanted to play my cornet, was quite insistent in fact. She's played it before and I don't know what sparked her interest this time. I told her she was just about old enough to take up an instrument and Kari said she's looking for a piano teacher.

Chris's brother Andreas passed away Monday morning, his cancer finally getting the best of him. Chris spent week before last with him, as Andreas was nearing the end. I got to know him a little bit during the two trips he made to Amarillo in the last year or so. He was Rebecca's godfather and made it a point to come see her, realizing he wouldn't get many opportunities. It is sad enough when someone close to someone you are close to dies, but it is worse for me when they are relatively young. That must be very difficult for his parents. That may be the worst thing that can happen to a parent, to lose one of their children.

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August 16, 2009

Clyde's Award

If you watch closely, you can actually see the grass growing. We got an inch of rain in two half-inch installments through the week then another inch in the wee hours Saturday morning. The day dawned bright and clear though so Chris and I were able to get the south end mowed, me mowing and he trimming. It looks pretty good, green and all.

We had our first customer at the hummingbird feed Renee gave us. We were having lunch, I think, when it came. I've seen it once since.

Friday night we went with Art and Marilyn Brokenbek to the Amarillo Club to see Elvis. He was in good form and we enjoyed his performance. After his show he came back out and impersonated a regular entertainer who sang, played a little guitar and keyboard. He was pretty good but obviously a fake. The view from the Amarillo Club is of, well, Amarillo, and pretty much two-dimensional as views tend to be in this part of the world, unless you include the sky which one must because that is often where the action is and that was the case that night as a couple of thunder storms moved through town.

Tuesday we went down to Canyon to watch Clyde get an award for being one of the best damn park rangers in the whole cotton-picking state. He had to share the limelight with people from other state agencies who were also receiving awards but did so with the equanimity we've all come to expect from him.

My professional reach has broadened lately. Last

week I spent time helping a customer in Dublin and another in Sidney without leaving the man cave. The week before that I had occasion to call up a vendor in Germany. We use their Web meeting software and needed immediate help when it stopped working. Everyone spoke English, including me.

After sitting for a week the grape juice has settled out nicely, and, I might added, interestingly. The bottom layer of sediment, about half an inch thick, was the horrid green the juice was when we first squeezed the grapes. Then there was a white layer about a third as thick as the green layer and finally a brown layer about the same thickness as the white. The juice was mostly clear with a reddish tint. Joyce followed some instructions she found on the internet for making grape juice and we now have several jars of a drinkable if tart beverage. We had a glass with breakfast Sunday morning.

I've been making good use of the Netflix membership Kari and Jill gave me for Father's Day. Each week I get a movie, watch it usually Saturday night, then return it. As I've thought of movies I'd like to see I've added them to my queue but I don't look at my queue so I don't know which movie I'm going to get each week. Saturday night I watched Lost in Translation. At some point I'll have worked my way through the movies I've seen and want to see again and then I guess I'll have to try new movies. That can be good and bad, but probably bad more often than not. Now that's pessimistic, isn't it. Anyway, I'm enjoying Netflix.

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August 9, 2009

Disney Cruise

Maybe I should have waited but I've learned more from my mistakes than my successes. Joyce and I harvested the grapes Saturday morning. None of the books I've read talk much about when to harvest and while a lot of the grapes weren't ripe, a lot of them were and had been for a while. This is the first year we've let the vines bear fruit and we collected the equivalent of about three dishpans full. One of the vines was about two weeks behind the others and we left those grapes. We'll just let them go and see what happens.

After collecting the grapes we mashed them through a strainer and collected the juice in a jug. We got almost a gallon of a vile-looking green liquid and put it in the frig to settle. It is looking a lot better than when we first put it in the jug as the detritus settles out. The objective isn't wine. It's grape juice. Wine is the ultimate objective but at this point we're just learning to grow and harvest grapes. Our vines are still young and have some growing to do if they are going to produce enough for a gallon of wine per vine, which is what one might expect in a good year according to what I've read.

While we don't know for sure yet, we think we harvested the grapes too soon. We also picked Joyce's table grapes and found that the bunches came off without cutting them. Maybe that's how you know the bunch is ready, if you don't have to cut it. Maybe the idea is to make several passes through the vineyard as the grapes ripen collecting those that come off without clipping

the vine. Maybe the ones we left will enlighten us.

Kathy, Devon and two of Devon's children are visiting. They are staying in a hotel and seeing the sights. Yesterday they went to the botanical garden here in Amarillo and were complimentary of it. I've never been but shall make a point to go first chance I get. This morning they went to Palo Duro Canyon to a a cowboy breakfast. Joyce and I were invited but needed to get some work done so we let them go without us. I hope they enjoyed themselves.

The nice rain we got last weekend was just a pleasant memory by mid-week. The weather turned hot and windy. That's a combination guaranteed to weed out the weak. Where the grass was shaded part of the day and thus had a chance to benefit from the moisture, it grew. In the open it hardly grew at all. The blue gramma just put up seed stems. As a result SA looks hairy but the grass isn't very long. I'll probably start another round of mowing next week but it won't be very satisfying. Mowing near-dormant grass doesn't leave the place looking nice and green.

The foxes are a common sight these days. Both mornings Kari and I ran we saw them and one morning after a workout when I was outside cooling off there was one in the meadow and one in the driveway. One of them is fairly bold and the other is shy. Maybe it was the bolder one we saw sitting on the sandpile watching us lug the containers and jug of grape juice to the house around 2 Saturday afternoon.

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August 2, 2009

Some pics

It's been a cool, stormy week climaxed with a thunderstorm during the night last night that dumped over an inch of rain on us. I don't remember hearing any wind and didn't see evidence of any this morning but there was a lot of thunder and lightning. Earlier in the week, Tuesday I think, a storm blew in around 7:30 and there were substantial gusts associated with it. It looked like the corn and sunflowers would be blown flat but they weren't. Joyce got the dogs and cats fed and put away and I curtailed my evenings work so we managed to get into the house before it started raining hard. We got some rain every night except Thursday night and totaled over an inch and a half for the week. We also had a couple of over-night lows of 60 degrees. Thursday morning when I went out for my gallop around the neighborhood the breeze was out of the north and it was 60 degrees, borderline comfortable for running.

That same morning a fox sat in the Howards' yard and watched me as I made my way back home on my cool-down walk. One day at lunch I watched a couple of them messing around in the enclosure. Thursday evening I was cleaning up the strip along the street getting ready to mow it. I saw a baby dove hunkered down in the grass. Maybe it had been dislodged by the wind. Joyce took it to the house to get it out of the way of the mower and to escape the cats that were following her around. The next morning she put it outside with some birdseed hoping maybe some adult doves would be attracted to the seed, notice the baby and take it under their wing. That didn't happen and the next time she checked on it it had expired.

One morning when I was out for a jog at first light I saw an elderly gentleman driving a funny little car that was not much more than a golf cart.

It was apocalyptic. The elderly driving their Obamacars to their Obamacare end-of-life counseling.

Chris helped trim the Russian olive on the south side of the pond and cut up and cart off the piece of trunk that blew down last year. We couldn't get the chain saw to run so we used an ax and the pole saw to cut it into two pieces. It was far too much for us to handle as one piece. The first piece was probably a foot or more in diameter and five feet long but we managed to hoist it into the pickup. The second piece was shorter but, as part of the base of the tree, far thicker. By standing it on end we were able to tip it over into the wheelbarrow and then wheel it over to the truck. By parking the truck in the street with the tailgate towards SA and the back wheels at the lowest point where the drive meets the street, the tailgate was lower than the wheelbarrow when we wheeled the stump up to it and we could tip the thing into the bed without having to lift it. Getting it out at the chipping site was easy, too. We just tipped it up again and let it fall out the back.

Joyce picked the Z-fam at the airport yesterday afternoon and we had dinner with them last night. They had a really good time on their cruise and Kari said they wished they'd had a couple more days. We're glad to have them home.

Recently I noticed that the rain was eroding the caliche piles. There are three lines of piles so that there are two valleys between them and the runoff had cut little gullies. I sought to prevent further erosion by damming up both valleys on each end. I misunderestimated the amount of water that would build up behind my little dams during a downpour such as we had last night. Yellow caliche mud was washed all the way to the back fence when the dam on the east end gave way.

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July 26, 2009

Birthday weekend

Let's start with the animals. There has been a least one hummingbird in the area lately. This morning I hung the hummingbird feeder Renee gave me yesterday when we went down to visit she and Clyde. I put it in front of the picture window in the kitchen. We hope they find it soon. One morning recently I glanced out the kitchen window and saw a wren. It was smaller than the Carolinas I'm used to. Maybe it was a young one. One day last week on my way back to the office from lunch I saw a cottontail next to the east end of the enclosure. That would have been a common site just a few years ago but lately there haven't been any of the little boogers on the place. They are my favorite. Friday evening after I got home from the office I saw a fox come from the house or the porch or around from the side of the house and bound over the fence in front of the house. This morning Joyce was coming back from the shop early after letting the cats out and came face to face with one that may have been coming from the garden. They had a staring contest that I believe Joyce won. Finally, there was a lizard trying to sunbathe in the late afternoon sun next to the back step while I was grilling fish. It kept slithering under the step when it saw me. Then it would sneak back out and try to get a little more sun.

It was 60 degrees by my thermometer one morning this week when I walked to work. We got half an inch of rain a day or to before that. If we could get half an inch each week that would be just about right; enough to keep anything with any drought-tolerance at all doing OK but not enough to encourage the weeds

and the mosquitoes. Yesterday in Quitaque it was 103 by Clyde's pickup. It felt it. Today it has cooled down into the 80s and rain is forecast.

Yesterday morning I took K,C,A&R to the airport for the first leg of their journey to Orlando. They are off on a Disney cruise. Disney's willingness to accommodate people with Rebecca's dietary restrictions means Kari can relax more than she could if she had to constantly be worried about getting Rebecca fed without doing her in. Friday afternoon I took a long lunch hour and Kari and I went nursery hopping. I was in the market for some hosta to plant by the bird dripper in the back. We found what we were looking for at of all places Southerland Lumber. The nurseries were sold out but Southerland's had quite a few and they were cheap. We got four and I planted them this morning. That spot gets a pretty good shot of late afternoon soon so they probably won't do well there. I wanted to try anyway. We'll see. We also went to Barnes & Noble where I picked out a book from Chris and one from Jill. Jill got me one titled Whatever You Do, Don't Run, written by an African safari guide. I've started reading that one and it is very interesting. Chris gave me Green Hell. That one's about how the political left is going to make our lives miserable with their conservation and energy agenda. Kathy sent me a nice Braum's gift card. Hmmm, wonder what I should use that for. Kari gave me the hostas and I've already mentioned the hummingbird feed C&R gave me. I think I did pretty well.

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July 19, 2009

While waiting for pizza Friday night Abigail told me a little about Native Wisdom Camp she attended last week at Wild Cat Bluff. There was something about climbing a tree and sliding back down the trunk. There weren't many prairie dogs in the prairie dog town but they saw a couple of snakes, a bull snake and a coach whip. It isn't easy to get Abigail to tell about something she's done and there were distractions so maybe I didn't get a complete rundown of the camp's activities. She said she enjoyed it so I guess that's good enough.

Joyce and I have made arrangements to travel to Washington D.C. September 11. We'll be there to lend our meager support to those trying to grab the attention of our elected representatives on September 12. We'll return on September 13 so it will be a short visit. Fact is we don't really want to go at all but feel like we must take some action to thwart the statists' power grab. Nationalized health care, cap and trade, stimulus, budget deficits; it's all a bit much. So, while we'd rather being doing something else, we'll join others who are concerned enough for the country to take action.

Yesterday was fairly productive but I didn't get too ambitious. Although last week the weather cooled off a little and we got half an inch of rain, I decided to let the north end ride at least another week. I did mow the strip between the driveway and the enclosure and the orchard but that was it. It's spider time. That is, it is the time of year when the spiders are particularly prevalent so I spent some time yesterday morning chasing them out of the shop. I'm tolerant of the kinds of spiders that live outside but occasionally make a wrong turn and wind up indoors. There are, however, a couple of varieties that seek to live indoors and they don't if I catch them. I also sprayed some broadleaf weed killer. The little bit of moisture we had a couple of days ago and the calm air yesterday morning made ideal conditions. I mostly sought out the bine weed. There is still plenty around but gradually I'm getting it killed off. I may never completely rid the place of it

but I feel like I'm getting it under control. One can't let up, though.

The garden is beginning to produce, At least there is squash. The Zbindens eat a lot of that so Joyce planted quite a bit. The corn and sunflowers are getting high. Chris spent Saturday afternoon rigging up a watering system for the corn patch. Joyce got him to try a pepper to see if they were getting ripe. Apparently he lit up like a Christmas tree. Joyce said the pepper was pretty hot, judging from his reaction.

We've taken to closing our gate in the evening. Something scattered our trash around the backyard early last week. I suspected the basset hound that lives down the street and occasionally gets out of its yard. Turns out it was a couple of other dogs. We saw them tear into the neighbors trash left by the street. Joyce picked it up so it wouldn't blow into our yard, That was Tuesday. When the same thing happened Friday she left if for the neighbors to deal with. So far they haven't really.

One evening last week Chris reported that a couple of the rolls of chain link we had stacked under the junipers in the east lane were missing. Someone had been working in the alley/easement and apparently decided to help themselves. While I wasn't terribly attached to the chain line, I didn't feel I could ignore someone coming on the place and making off with something so I knocked on the door of the house on Goliad where the work was being done. I told the woman who came to the door that I wanted my property back. When I hadn't heard from anyone by noon the next day I reported the matter to the police. A cop came, took the report and then he visited with the woman. That evening the rolls appeared in the lane again. Chris and I restacked them so as far as I'm concerned the matter is closed. One thing about it, though. Those rolls were heavy and hard to handle so whoever was chucking them over the fence must be stout fellows. I hope that's the last I hear of them.

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July 12, 2009

Lean, mean mowin' machine

Our weather has been warm and dry, lately. We hit 105 here on SA one day last week and have been above 100 a time or two more. Currently it is a relatively mild 98. Down in the subterain I work away in cool comfort, with maybe just a ceiling fan going in the afternoon. The temperature down there is about 75, a couple of degrees cooler than our house. It's pleasant to think about the money I'm saving by not running an air conditioner. The savings will probably pay for the basement in 100 years or so. Then it will be all gravy.

Joyce has been racing around the place trying to keep things watered. Anything not drought tolerant or too newly planted to have established itself is at risk. Needless to say the mowing has slowed down. I mowed the south end yesterday for cosmetic reasons. We'll probably just let the north end ride until we get more rain (or snow, you never know when a dry spell well set in). Even the weeds are suffering and growing very slowly if at all. Maybe I'll get caught up on them.

Last week I mentioned cleaning out the well pond. It stays clear now and the lone fish in it didn't have many hiding places. There was a piece of cinder block by the well house and Joyce had me put in the pond so the fish would have a place to hide. Today I visited the well house several times as I was running water down

the irrigation ditch and I noticed that the fish had taken to the new feature in its habitat. Just its tail was visible. There's another piece of cinder block in our back yard. Maybe I'll finish the cleaning and put that piece in there as well. Maybe we'll even get another fish so the one we have won't be lonely. Then maybe I'll work on the lily pond. Got a lot of free time on my hands now that there isn't as much mowing to do.

We didn't celebrate Abigail's eighth birthday until Friday evening. She chose Chuck E Cheese's and Janice brought Parker and Riley who are in town visiting. I think they had a pretty good time. I left soon after the cake was served.

Kari and Jill gave me a six months Netflix subscription for Father's Day and I've been getting some movies from them. Last night I watched the Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean starring Paul Newman. I only saw that once, probably close to 40 years ago. Kathy and I went to the drive in to see it, if you can believe that. For some reason it is never shown on TV. I wonder what determines that? Some movies are shown frequently but some are seldom shown and this one I've never seen. I enjoyed it as much last night as I did the first time I saw it. I recommend it but you may have to hunt to find it.

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July 5, 2009

One of the locals

Rain that threatened to interrupt our 4th of July picnic yesterday finally came during the night, about half an inch. I was unaware of it until I got up this morning. At one point we took the stuff that we didn't want to get rained on in the garage but the storm that John was monitoring on his cell phone never amounted to anything in our area. So, we had a pretty nice day for it. Not too hot, mostly cloudy. Chris set up the pool and slip and slide and the kids had a pretty good time with that in spite of the chilly water. Us old folks sat in the shade and chatted. We dined on watermelon, chips and hot sauce, various vegetables with dip, cherries, grapes, strawberries, hot dogs and half a dozen varieties of ice cream. Grady and Barbara even brought a cake.

Joyce's niece Sherry and her husband Bruce like to play volleyball and we got up a pretty good game. Kari and Chris played but Jill and Dave were too occupied with babies to participate. Abigail and Parker played, too. Abigail played organized volleyball this spring and was able to serve well, at least from a little closer to the net than normal. Parker could also play and managed to return a few balls. It was enough fun that we thought we might get together more than once a year.

Friday I moved the Rubbermade cabinet from 1911 to the north side of the shop. We use the cabinet for various gardening implements and chemicals, fertilizers, herbicides, that sort of thing. It will be handier down there. Before bringing it down, I rearranged the old candy shop table I had stuck back there as I sorted and squared away things in the shop. It's a sturdy two-layer table so after putting it where I wanted it I stacked the scrap lumber I saved from Dad's collection in the barn and from the shop construction on it so it won't be quite as exposed to the weather and will be easily accessible. I had had it stacked underneath the junipers to the north of the shop and getting it out from under there improved the aesthetics in the area, in my view.

Yesterday morning I cleaned out the well pond. We lost all but a couple of fish last winter when temperatures dropped into the teens and the pond froze. There was so much crud in the bottom of the pond that it limited the depth of the water enough so the fish couldn't avoid the ice. I probably removed at least a foot of muck from the bottom. It is interesting that the bottom six inches or so was a dense silt or sand and not the easiest thing to shovel. Anyway, the lone surviving fish now has some breathing room, literally.

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June 28, 2009

Rake, mow, trim. That is my life these days. First I have to rake the twigs blown down by the wind that accompanies the rain we've been getting (another 3/4 inch yesterday), then I mow and trim. With Chris's help yesterday and by staying after it every evening this past week, the whole place has been mowed. The grass is green and parklike. It looks about as goods as it ever does and that brings almost enough satisfaction to compensate for the work.

Jill and her girls are here to entertain us. Joyce flew to Dallas Wednesday and drove home with Jill, Kaylee and Sophia. It has been pretty lively around her ever since. With Dave joining us on Thursday, the Wylies will stay through the 4th and wend their way home next Sunday.

Lately I've been debating getting a new mower, one of the zero-turn models. The impetus is faster mowing. I have experimented with different range management practices including letting the grass grow tall. My theory was that the tall grass shaded the ground better than mown grass and therefore preserved moisture better. I found that while that cut down on the number of times I had to mow during the season, it made for a lot of work when it did come time to mow. The mower had to go over the ground twice to get an even cut because so much of the tall grass was simply pushed over that the blades couldn't get a good whack at it. Also, the long grass had to be raked, a time and energy consuming process. Furthermore I don't think the longer grass did, in fact, preserve the moisture better. Some reading I've done said that mowing the grass causes it to grow thicker and while that would shade the ground at least as well as letting it grow longer, it would also discourage weed better. It seems many types of weeds need direct sunlight to germinate. That's why you see areas of disturbed ground rife with weeds.

So, now I'm operating on the theory that keeping the grass mowed properly results in thicker turf and fewer weeds. It also results in a lot of mowing when the rain comes. When it stops raining, of course, the grass stops growing and the mowing slows down or even becomes unnecessary. That means I need to be able to mow quickly but the amount of time spent mowing isn't consistent over the growing season. To do it right, the twigs have to be raked first and the trimmer has to be used after mowing. These two operations take nearly as much time as the mowing itself and a new and faster mower wouldn't help with that. What's more, I can easily see getting a new mower and it stops raining. Then my investment will just sit. Probably if I breakdown and get a new mower it will stop raining but if I stick with what I've got it will continue to rain. I hope that doesn't sound too cynical.

Have I mentioned the weed burner Joyce gave me for Father's Day? I've been using it some and I think it is going to come in real handy. It is easier than pulling weeds but it is slower than spraying. However, it can clobber both broadleaf and grassy weeds and is useful for places like the garden where a herbicide couldn't be used. It is also handier than mixing up a batch of herbicide, particularly for spot weeding. I can carry it on the chili wagon and have it available everywhere I go. It would not work well, however, in dry conditions.

Friday evening we accompanied Art & Marilyn to the Amarillo Club where they are members. It is on the 31st floor of one of our skyscrapers and the view from there is very interesting. One can pretty much see the whole town and then some. A&M like to dance and the club has a dance band on weekends. Joyce and I were content to watch while they cut a rug.

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June 21, 2009

The State SA - A Tour of the Place On the First Day of Summer

It is the first day of summer and this is the state of SA. We've had 2.5 inches of rain since mid-week last week and it's time to start mowing again. Unfortunately there were high winds associated with several of the storms so before the grass can be mowed, the twigs must be raked. Maybe it won't be as bad as the first mow of the season but it will still slow the process.

Yesterday would have been a good day to start if it weren't raining. I did take advantage of that to get some rearranging done in the shop. Abigail spent the night with us and she helped me get the train going. It still needs work, the track connections cleaned at least, but for the first time in over 50 years the train made it around the track.

This morning I jumped on the yard maintenance (that would be 1911 yard, you understand) and despite raking a couple of bags of twigs, I finished the mowing and trimming with enough time left to ride out to Wildcat Bluff. I replaced the tire that let me down last

time I tried to do that and had no trouble this time.

Janice is convalescing with us after knee surgery. She had to spend last weekend in the hospital because of some complications but perhaps she's on the road to recovery now.

I neglected to mention that when we were playing golf week before last at Ross Rogers one of the group found the remains of a prairie rattler about 10-12 inches long. It was squashed flat. However, its presence implies that there are adults and, no doubt, other young about, a sobering thought.

Around dinner time one of the stormy evenings this past week there were a couple of foxes in the xeriscape in front. They messed around a little bit, then climbed up in the juniper next to the driveway. One didn't stay long but the other sat up there quite a while. It's amazing how easily they climb the trees. I guess they take a toll on the baby birds.

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June 14, 2009

Friday on the golf course near a pond I witnessed a red-wing blackbird beating the tar out of a cow bird. It was a heart-warming spectacle. I was on the golf course because Wes Kirton called me Wednesday to invite me to play Friday afternoon with him and some other slackers. Not having a good excuse other than work, I accepted. It was a lovely afternoon on the High Plains and I enjoyed my self in spite of the usual struggles, mostly in my short game.

Chris and I hit a pretty good lick yesterday cleaning up the east lane. The north end was getting pretty weedy as it does so we got that cleaned up. We also picked fallen limbs and raked up twigs. Chris made two trips to the chipper site and brought back a load of mulch each time. The first load we put down starting on the south end of the east lane and extended it north. Rather than try to cover the whole lane, we made a nice trail about two people wide next to the tree line. When finished that will give people a place to walk when the lane is muddy and will also benefit the trees by holding a little more moisture. The second trip he made was about quitting time and I didn't expect him to bring back another load. I cleaned up and was in the house enjoying some refreshment when he

came back. Since I'd already called it a day he just parked the pickup in the shop. I spread that load of mulch this morning.

While there has been some storming in the area, we haven't had any appreciable moisture since week before last and it has started to dry out. I finally finished up the first round of mowing this past week and I'm not sure I'll need to mow again until we get some more rain. One cloudy afternoon recently Joyce looked out the window and saw what she at first thought was one of her cats lying on the front porch. She thought it odd for the cat to be there that time of day. They usually start congregating on the front porch around dinner time. Then she realized it wasn't a cat but a fox. As she watched, it sauntered over to the piece of driftwood in the xeriscape in front and pinched a loaf. Then she saw another fox on the porch and it too walked out into the grass and took a dump while she watched. Judging from their droppings, neither fox was feeling well. We rarely see them out during the day and it is really unusual for them to be that close to the house in broad daylight. With this whole place at their disposal, it doesn't seem very neighborly that they should use our yard for a toilet.

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June 7, 2009

SA is looking pretty good, especially the south end, which got mowed last weekend and greened up nicely with the two half-inch showers we got last week. Chris and I worked on the north end yesterday but didn't finish mowing. I'll try to do that Monday evening. All that remains it the pasture plus some trimming.

Yesterday morning before we started in on the mowing I got the Austrian pines sprayed and several other trees wrapped. Last year the pine-tip moths got into some of the smaller Austrian pines and didn't do them any good at all. That variety is prone to moth infestation I've read. Hopefully I sprayed early enough to ward off the villains. I'll have to spray each month through September, I think. As for the wrapping, that included the two pistache and the Shumard Oak on the west side. I also staked the oak. I had been depending on the bamboo stick that came with it but realized that wasn't doing the job because the crown relative to the spindly trunk was too much, especially exposed to the west wind like it is.

Friday evening we had dinner with Art and Marilyn Brockenbeck at Cheddars. That is down in the new shopping area where Western Plaza was. What that is called slips my mind. I liked Cheddars well enough and it is certainly handy. Not that we lacked for places to eat. After dinner we came back here and had ice cream and brownies for dessert. A&M brought Grandmother Rockwell's sewing machine over when they came. Apparently Grandmother gave it to Ethel. I guess Ethel was ready to give it up and A&M thought we might like to have it. They told Joyce when they saw her at church several Sundays ago they had it and would we like it. Joyce told them yes so now it's sitting in the garage.

This morning I put the new tire and tube that I bought Friday on my mountain bike. I'm still trying to get 1911 area up to snuff so I didn't have time to ride it. Now that it is ready to ride and I'm getting 1911 into acceptable shape, maybe I can work that in next Sunday.

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May 25, 2009

Memorial Day Weekend

So there I was on my way to Wildcat Bluff Sunday morning, just stroking along on my bicycle when the front tire went flat. I wanted to see how easily I could get to Wildcat Bluff by bicycle. It turns out it is very easy and a pleasant ride. By following the rail trail and others I can do it with a minimum amount of time spent on the street and in traffic. The route goes down through the medical center area so it is picturesque. I got hissed at by a goose but I just hissed back at it. I knew the tire wasn't holding air very well. I just didn't know how long. Not long enough I found out. I called Joyce who was on her way home from church. She got the pickup and fetched me home.

Two new trees were added to SA this Memorial Day weekend in honor of those no longer with us; a bald cypress and a Chinese pistache. The pistache went east of 1911 where a siberian elm was back in the day and where I had a tree nursery until recently. The ground there is easy to work, having been spaded up not too long ago, and the tree should show nicely out the sunroom window.

The bald cypress went on the east side of the pond where there once was a willow. I dug out the remains of the stump. It was rotted so it was easy to do. I had to haul in some dirt from the basement excavation to fill in around the tree. Both trees were 10 gallon-size.

That's a good-sized tree but still small enough for me to manhandle without doing myself in.

Saturday morning after breakfast Joyce and I went to a gun show at the Civic Center. We had never been to a gun show and thought our life-experience portfolio was lacking because of it. It was an older, heavily male crowd. The Department of Homeland Security plants were easy to spot. They were dressed in black pantsuits, wore dark shades and kept talking to their sleeves.

Monday morning early we headed for the cemeteries to check on the folks and leave the flowers we rounded up Sunday evening. Joyce said Mom used to just get an old jar and go around the house collecting flowers to take to the cemetery so that's what we did. We even added a few wild flowers, galardia, I think. Between cemeteries we stopped for breakfast. After visiting Memorial we went to Llano where Joyce's folks are buried. Then we visited Riverland and Genna's Overlook.

The country was pretty and green on the Canadian and there were lots of wild flowers. Surprisingly, though, we didn't see much wildlife. A box turtle and a small coachwip were it. No deer. No rabbits. Seemed strange.

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May 17, 2009

Congratulations to Abigail for winning second place this week in a city-wide creative writing contest among second graders. She was given a choice of topics and chose to write something involving a racoon. Unfortunately the authorities kept the story so we haven't gotten to read it.

Another gloomy Saturday. We've had a string of those but your intrepid blogger was undeterred. I'd already planned to get the mowing equipment ready for the season and that kept me indoors out of the drizzle. You have no idea how pleasant it was to have all the mowers and all the tools together in one clean and ample working space. Before the shop, I would have to take the mowers to my garage and back when done. It may not sound like a big deal, especially since I had to do it only once a year, but it was. The light is better in the shop and there is more working area. The work benches are handy. Anyway, that's how I spent my day. I sort of planned to do some mowing but it never cleared up and it took me all day to service the mowers anyway. After lunch Joyce and I went to the various places to round up the service items needed. That included a trip to the John Deer dealer out on the Canyon expressway for oil, oil filter, air filter and a belt. We treated ourselves to John Deer t-shirts while we were there. Then we moved on to a couple of other places to get air filters for the other mowers. There was also a stop at Home Depot so we could make our weekly contribution to that fine institution. So, in spite of not getting any mowing done, everything is ready for the mowing season.

Speaking of mowing, my latest tactic in my war with the weeds is to mow them with the old Craftsman push mower that has a catcher. The theory is that there will

be less seed dispersal by catching the weeds and disposing of them rather than cutting them and letting the seeds lie on the ground. Even if the seeds are green I think they go ahead and ripen. Of course, I've seen a weed put up a seed head 12 inches off the ground. Then, after that gets mowed, it compensates by sprouting seed heads close to the ground and below the mower blades. Maybe it is getting dry enough they won't have the umph to put out new seed heads. One can dream.

Interesting weather we had Friday. When I walked home from work it was hotter than blazes but shortly after I got home a cool front moved in and started dropping the temperature so that we had an overnight low down in the 50's.

Walking back home after running with Kari Wednesday morning I saw an SUV driving slowly toward me. It eventually stopped. As I got closer I saw some trash next to it and wondered if the driver had thrown it out. I didn't see them do it but I also didn't see the trash in the street when Kari and I walked that way just a minute or two before. As I drew even with the vehicle, the driver, a young woman dressed in office attire, threw some more trash out the window. She had obviously stopped at one of the fast food joints close by and, having finished her breakfast, was busily disposing of the sack, napkins and so forth. I was shocked. I told her to stop throwing her trash on the street. Then I told her to get out and pick up what she had already thrown out. She rolled her eyes at me but I think she picked it up. At least I heard the car door slam as I walked on home. It is beyond me how someone could be so thoughtless. She didn't look like white trash but she must not have been far removed from that condition.

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May 10, 2009

Various

It's another gloomy weekend, like last weekend. No rain, though. We're going to need some soon, I think, but I have mixed emotions about that since I slapped four mosquitoes while working outside the other evening.

I'm feeling somewhat relieved now that the garden is nearly planted and the new beds south of the shop are ready to be planted. In addition to the rectangular bed frame I built several weeks ago, I built a six by six tiered bed. Building the beds is easy relative to filling them with dirt. Luckily Chris helped me with that since it took over two pickup loads of dirt plus the bags of compost we added to it to fill both beds. As usual I'm stove in today but would have been even more rurnt if Chris hadn't helped me and I wouldn't have gotten both beds done. As it is, they are ready for Joyce to plant and next weekend I can get my mowers serviced so I can begin mowing weeds. Last week I ruminated on why the weeds haven't taken over long before now. Driving around town I see lots of the same kind of weeds I'm fighting so it isn't just SA. I wonder if prairie fires kill weed seeds and the lack of fires lets the weeds run wild?

There are a number of plants on the back porch at 2005 and I'm going to find a home for them before next winter. Without those plants I can turn off the water and heat to the house and save the expense. Last year the

gas alone was over $300 and nearly that much just for November through March. I'm sure the plants could be purchased several times over for that. If someone were going to occupy the house for a period of time, the gas and water could easily be turned back on, but it is unlikely anyone will during cold weather.

Some of Genna's showier iris are blooming now and are really pretty. The peonies by the back porch are also blooming. Joyce tries to water a little around 2005 but that is about all the maintenance it gets. Even 1911 isn't getting much attention right now and it shows. Oh well, who cares. We do the best we can and don't worry about it if things look a little scruffy. Maybe in due time we'll shape them up. Last week I spent the evening weeding, either digging them or spraying them, and I'll probably do the same this week. Last week the evenings were pleasant for working outside. It won't be long before it will be hot. Thursday evening Joyce and I "went to Sears" and I bought a shower curtain for the shop. I need to take a towel down there and some soap, then I'll be ready to hose myself off after getting all lathered up working on the place. It is already nice to have my work clothes down there so I can change there rather than at the house. I always feel like I'm introducing crud into my bedroom when I change out of my work clothes there.

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May 3, 2009

Friday morning it was so foggy I couldn't see 2005. The gloom, though not the fog, has persisted all weekend. Some sunshine is predicted for this afternoon. Perhaps then I'll get out and do some of what needs doing. SA is looking pretty shaggy and unkempt right now. The warmer weather and the rain a couple of weeks ago has greened the place up nicely. The weeds don't stand as much as they did but they are prevalent. I feel like I'm losing the battle with them. The worst are the grassy weeds. Though I've tried to control them through pulling, they increase exponentially. That brings up the question: Why, since this place has been here for 63 years as SA and for millennium as just land, aren't the weeds covering the place already? To my knowledge there was never any but sporadic effort a weed abatement. It would seem like they would have long ago covered the place. Some of them seem new, though. Take for example foxtails. They started showing up since we've been back. Why so recent? Where were they before? Have conditions changed to their liking and, if so, what conditions is it they like? If there are more birds because there are more trees and the birds are introducing new weed varieties, why wouldn't that have happened some time ago? The tree size and number hasn't changed significantly In the last decade or two. Do weeds wax and wane like some insect populations? I don't see any of the horse weed in the pasture that we had several years ago. I fought them vigorously. Did I succeed in eradicating them? This year the wild onion is taking over. They have been fairly common in the pasture but their population has exploded this year. Did circumstances favor them over the last 12 months or so? There is a new weed, don't know what it is called, fairly common but not in great abundance until this spring. Now it blankets the area east of the dog run and is common all over the place.

Even Chris felt compelled to pull some yesterday. The only thing I can think of to do is to stay after them but not let them overwhelm me if I can help it. Best to accept that there will always be some.

Joyce and I had a pretty good time in the Reno area last weekend. We arrived before noon Saturday and drove to the Lake Tahoe area to sightsee. We got half way around the lake when our rental vehicle overheated and refused to stay running. We had to twiddle our thumbs for a couple of hours while the brought another one out from Reno. By the time we got going again, we were ready to finish our circumnavigation of the lake and find some place for dinner. When we were there in 1997 we found a nice lakeside restaurant. This time we couldn't find anything that looked worth a try so we meandered back to Reno and found a restaurant there. Joyce rested and gambled the remainder of the time there while I worked the trade show which was the reason for our being there in the first place.

Yesterday Chris and I got the garden mulched and the bean poles put up. It is now ready for Joyce to plant. Rain was threatened early so we didn't get started on it until afternoon. I spent the morning in the shop putting up the tool box Dad made. That is the big, red wooden box that was hanging on the wall in the garage at 2005. Dave helped me take it down and transport it to the shop when he was here at Easter. Yesterday I got it hung up on the wall. Last night Dad came to me in a dream. I asked him how he liked the shop and the rearranging I was doing. He said something to the effect that it was nice but he didn't know where anything was since it had been moved around. The process of assimilation continues. Still much to be done, but less than there was.

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April 19, 2009

Saturday morning a mallard hen splashed down in the puddle left in the pond by the inch and half rain we got Thursday night. The drake landed outside the enclosure fence, just to the south. The hen took off as soon as she saw me. I was raking twigs before adding to the water in the pond. It was a nice, calm morning and warm enough for outdoor activity. Our weather has really been iffy lately. For instance, today the temperature is in the 60's but the wind makes it unpleasant to be outside. Abigail had an upset stomach when it was time to go to church this morning and I was pressed into babysitting duty. Jill has been battling some sort of cold and didn't try to go with Kari to church this morning.

So, back to yesterday. Joyce and I took advantage of the nice day to work in the garden. She planted her strawberries in the pyramid we set up a couple of weeks ago, or was it three? She also planted the rhubarb she ordered. I spaded a bed on the south side of the shop big enough to accommodate one of the two plants she got.

The other she planted in the flower bed by front porch at 2005. I spent most of my time getting the garden ready to plant. I raked and pulled weeds and loosened the soil and worked in the soil amendments Joyce bought and then I had to lie down a while. Since we'll be out of town next weekend, it was good that we got the garden nearly ready for planting. The next step is put down the special paper to control weeds and cover it with mulch to keep it from blowing away. That shouldn't take too long if weather permits when we get back. Joyce shoots for the first of May to start planting and we may get pretty close to it this year.

Jill, Kaylee and Sophia have been keeping the old folks company the last few weeks. Last weekend we celebrated Easter on Saturday at Kari's house. Janice, her kids and grandkids, joined our side of the family including Hans and Elisabeth. The weather was lousy so all 2000 kids were inside. It was a lively afternoon.

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March 29, 2009

March Blizzard

By the end of the day, Friday's blizzard may be just a memory. There was considerable melting under clear skies yesterday and a windy 69 degrees is predicted for today. The cold weather nailed any fruit trees that were foolish enough to respond to some of the warm days we had earlier in the month. We're disappointed, of course, but looking on the bright side and knowing that what is done is done and nothing can change it, those trees are still young, most of them anyway, and getting their fruit nipped off means their energy will go into growing stronger this year rather than into producing fruit. So we got to enjoy a beautiful blizzard Friday. I say enjoy because we don't have to get out in it, except for my short jaunt to the office. K,C,A&R came over for pizza Friday evening. I got a fire going and we had a pleasant time hunkered down against the storm. Joyce had bought ready-to-cook pizzas the day before so we were set.

Last Saturday Joyce and I installed a strawberry pyramid on the south side of the shop. That consisted of three concentric circles of edging that we filled with dirt and layered like a wedding cake. The kit came with a sprinkler attached to a length of tubing so we could run it from the base through the dirt to the top, plug a hose into it and sprinkle the entire apparatus. We got the dirt from the piles excavated for the basement and added some store-bought compost/dirt to it to improve on it. We intend to build another one though we'll likely use something other than another kit. The kit was expensive compared to what comes in it. The edging is fragile and maybe the regular steel edging available at a store would work better and be cheaper. We also plan to build a rectangular raised bed in the same are out of lumber left over from the shop construction. The really fun part in these projects is moving the dirt. The pickup comes in handy but it still takes a lot of shoveling.

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March 15, 2--9

What can happen when friends share pics...

Another day in soon-to-be paradise. Now that that dastardly Bush has been banished and those dirty rat Republicans are on the run I'm confident that President Obama and his team of experts will get the country on track toward happiness for all. Here on our little corner we've gone from snow yesterday morning to sunshine this morning. K,C,A&R came over for happy hour (well, all hours will be happy now that the people have placed their faith in the righteous left ) Friday evening. It was snowing then so we built a nice fire and hunkered down to eat a little pizza. It was pizza left over from the day before when we ordered it from Hungry Howie's as a fund raiser for Abigail's school. Pizza two nights in a row! Life is good! It was beautiful watching the snow fall from the snow room. Joyce got home from the garage sale in time to join us. She had been occupied with that for the last two or three weeks, first helping Janice collect stuff to put in it, then setting it up at the Civic Center and manning the booth, then finally packing up what didn't sell and what they didn't want to give away to the people who will collect stuff at the end of the garage sale and cart it off. She's probably glad to have that behind her.

Yesterday after breakfast I had to look around for something to do that didn't involve getting muddy. There were a couple of inches of wet snow on the ground and it was about 30 degrees, but the air was calm so outdoor work was possible. Fortunately I have this handy shop so I don't actually have to work outside when I don't want to. I hauled the bin I made last summer to hold stuff waiting to go through shredder onto the shop driveway

so I could correct a design error. I hadn't braced it properly and the wind had worked on it till it looked like a derelict out building on an abandon farm. It took me all morning to add the bracing but it needed to be done and it was something I could do while avoiding the mud. I did have to brush snow off it and the scrap lumber I used but the sun came out and helped dry it off. It sure was nice to have a dry place to work where all the necessary tools and supplies are at hand and I don't have to run back and forth to the house. I'm also glad I built it before my wealth got redistributed, not that I don't think that's good for everybody. It's just a little harder to make such investments when you don't have anything to invest. Of course, if I had been smart I would have taken out a mortgage and then you might be helping me pay it back.

It looks like it will warm up this afternoon and the forecast looks good for mild temperatures all week. We've got a couple of trees to plant, or I should say a tree and a bush. The tree is a cherry tree and it will replace one of the same kind that didn't survive last summer. The other is a cherry bush, I believe. It's something that Joyce saw in a catalog and thought looked interesting. I'll also spread some more preemergent. I put down three bags last weekend and one yesterday. I have one left. As you can imagine, I have to be selective, spot treating rather than general application. We can live with a few weeds but where they've gotten out of control, or did last year, I'm hoping a spot treatment will be enough to get them back in line. They'll take over if you let them, you know.

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February 28, 2009

Meandering around the Florida Panhandle

Tuesday we only drove a few hours. When we finally stopped for the night Monday night we had been on the road for 13 hours and Tallahassee was still nearly 150 miles farther east. Though we were glad to check into a motel and have a nice dinner, neither of us felt like the long hours in the saddle were too onerous. Maybe that was because we didn't feel we had to get to a particular destination and could stop just about anytime we wanted to. Still, it was nice not to have to spend so much time getting to Wakulla Springs. I don't know why they say "Springs" plural. We were told there was just one spring flowing about 200,000 gallons a minute to form the 14-mile long Wakulla River. I'll admit that is a lot of water but it was still just one spring.

We were fortunate to have pleasant weather. It started out cool Tuesday morning but warmed up to a pleasant afternoon some of which we spent taking a boat ride on the Wakulla River. We saw lots of fish like mullet and alligator gar, lots of birds like coot and anhinga (snake bird) and, of course, lots of gators. They have one that was called Old Joe preserved in a glass case in the lobby. They say he was over 11 feet long and 200 years old. He never hurt anyone but a poacher shot him in 1966 and despite a $5,000 reward the perpetrator has never been caught. There are some pretty nice trails around the lodge and Joyce and I got in a good walk after breakfast before heading on to Carrabelle.

We had no problem finding the Old Carrabelle Hotel. Carrabelle isn't a very big place. We were early getting there so we had lunch at Wicked Willy's before checking in. Kathy and Skip bought the hotel and turned it into a B&B. When we first saw it we were skeptical but the inside is really nicely done. K&S are very nice people but apparently they have other jobs. Kathy told us she is a realtor. They don't live in the hotel and there were no other guests. We spent a quiet evening watching TV and reading. We had dinner at The Fisherman's Wife. It is a trailer built as a portable kitchen and it is parked on the waterfront. It is apparently run literally by the fisherman's wife. The family has several fishing boats and the menu comes right from the gulf. We got a platter so we could sample several things and sat down at a picnic table in the parking lot to eat it. They don't offer indoor dining. No sooner had we

unwrapped our food than the noseeums descended on us and we had to eat in the car to escape them. The food was delicious.

From Carrabelle we drove a short distance down the coast to Appalachacola. We were early but were able to check into the Gibson Inn anyway. That gave us all afternoon to prowl around the town. Appalachacola is a good walking town. It is a good sized town but the downtown area is rustic, interesting and easily walkable. There were lots of us geezers roaming around. Our wandering took us to the Orman House just in time for a tour. It's a state park now, I think. The ranger who lead the tour really enjoyed talking about the place and the people that lived there. It was a good snapshot of the antebellum south.

While the drive from Garland to the area we infested for three days was long it was worth it. The best breakfast was clearly the exploded biscuits at 2 Als in Carrabelle. Best lunch was the scallops and blackened shrimp at Tamara's Restaurant Floridita in Appalachacola. Tamara's also had the best deserts. We had one after lunch, an ice cream and caramel thingy with a Spanish name I don't quite remember. We wanted to try somewhere else for dinner but went back to Tamara's for the banana split after dinner. There wasn't much ice cream, the banana was fried and they added some other things like kiwi, strawberries, mango and so forth. Delicious. Best dinner was the one we got at the Fisherman's Wife. True, the prime rib at the Wakulla Lodge was very good but the spinach tasted like alfalfa. Also the shrimp basekt we had at the Seafood Grill in Appalachacola was excellent but we still have to go with the platter at The Fisherman's Wife. We enjoyed our walk on the beach at Carrabelle and wandering around Appalachacola so I guess those are a toss up for best activity. For most interesting again a tie, this time between the manatee and the owl. We followed the coast highway up nearly to Pennsacola on the drive home. West of Appalachacola the beach front is much more developed. From Panama City through Destin to Pennsacola the development almost blocks out the sun. I wonder how many mortgages along there I'm going to help pay.

We of course enjoyed the time we got to spend with the Wylies coming and going. A good trip all around.

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February 15, 2009

By the fire...

We've been treated to some cold weather the last few days and we've taken advantage of it to enjoy some nice fires to warm our bones. Rebecca and Abigail spent Friday evening and Saturday morning with us while their parents celebrated the 20 year anniversary of their acknowledgement that they were more than just friends. We took the girls home and Joyce spent the night with them there, the easier to administer to each individual need. Then after they all got up Saturday morning they came back here for cinamon rolls. It was a nice time together.

Yesterday morning after breakfast I went down to the shop and cleaned up the shower. At long last someone came and finished the installation. What was left was the edges where the shower opening in front met the walls. I guess there had been some confusion on how best to do that plus it was one of those small jobs tradesman often don't want to mess with. The fellow who managed the whole project was thinking along the lines of using tile for the interface. He had a tile man come out and look at it to find out what needed to be done so he could put the tile up. Then he had the carpenter who did the trim on the project come out to get it ready to tile. The carpenter suggested he use PVC board instead of setting it up for tile . That sounded good to me so I had him do it that way. He used wood trim for the transition from wall to PVC board and the PVC board for the transition from wood trim to shower. It came out looking pretty good to me. I'll have to paint it but I think I can handle that. Anyway, once that was done I wanted to clean the construction crud out of the shower and get it ready to use when warm weather returns. It will be nice to shower off at the shop after a Saturday's work on the place and especially after an eveningss work during the week. I get so sweaty and dirty I hate to go into my bathroom at the house. This way I won't have to. The

standard of tidiness at the shop doesn't have to equal the standard of tidiness for the house.

Last Sunday afternoon Joyce and I did some rearranging in the garage. We bought another shelf to go on the east wall. We had left a large gap when we first put those shelves up to accommodate bigger stuff but what happened was stuff got piled on other stuff. By putting another shelf in we were better able to utilize the space. It was just a matter of buying another shelf since the wall supports were already there. We took all the stuff off the shelves and then put much of it back on but in much better order. Some of it didn't go back up and was relegated to the landfill. I had moved all the stuff off the shelves on the west side that belonged down at the shop so we gained more shelf space there, too, to help get things organized. A couple of weeks ago Joyce bought a freezer at Lowes and put it in the garage. They were offering free delivery at the time and would also pickup the old appliance if you were replacing one. We took advantage of that to get them to haul off the old refrigerator at 2005. I was really glad to get that done because two young bucks with a furniture dolly and a truck with a tailgate lift handled it much more easily than I could.

Yesterday afternoon Joyce and I put down landscaping cloth and mulch around the raspberries we transplanted last weekend. We used brick left over from the shop for a border. I'm hoping that makes maintenance a lot easier. After that little project Chris helped me shred the accumulation of wood plant matter, mostly from the garden. We had cleared it out last fall and put it in a bin next to the compost area to let it dry out. It took us an hour or so of dusty, nasty work to get it done but I guess doing that once a year isn't too bad.

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February 8, 2009

Northwest New Mexico

Last week's trip to Northwest New Mexico worked out well. The weather was good and the software installation for the Ramah Navajo School Board went well. The Navajos I worked with were nice folks. It was a pleasure working with them. There is a first-class visitors center at Grants that among other things gives the visitor eight different suggested tours of the region. Some parts are accessible by vehicle, at least those of the high-clearance variety, while other parts are pretty much accessible only by foot. The country is high at around 7,000 feet and rolling. Pinon, juniper and Douglas fir are prevalent though they never quite constitute a dense forest. There is quite a bit of open area as well. It seems like it would be a fascinating area to spend time camping and hiking. At five to six hours west on I-40 from Amarillo it is reasonably accessible, too. Maybe I can manage to escape the gravitational pull of SA sometime and pay it a visit.

Speaking of escaping the gravitational pull of SA, Joyce and I are planning a trip from the Texas Panhandle to the Florida Panhandle at the end of the month. One of Genna's magazines about travel suggested a tour of that area so we thought we would give it a try. It will give us a chance to stop by and visit the Wylies both going and coming and the traverse, though long, will pass through country we haven't seen before. By going in late February we'll avoid the heat and the spring-break crowds. Spring is a busy time on SA so we wouldn't want to wait much later in the season anyway.

Last Sunday we enjoyed the hospitality of Art and Marilyn Brokenbek for the Super Bowl. They got some pizzas from a place that makes them to take home and bake so they came right out of the oven. Delicious. They have a nice new home on the south side of town not far from the church Joyce and the gang attend. The

Brokenbeks also attend that church. A&M are good company and we enjoyed a pleasant evening, although I would have preferred for the Cardinals to win.

Yesterday's weather was as pleasant as one could ask for. We both overslept and were late getting to breakfast. I guess I was still a little tired from my trip and Joyce had spent a lot of time at the clinic over the last couple of days. Kari and Rebecca have been under the weather. Yesterday afternoon we transplanted the raspberry bushes planted around the pheasant cage in the enclosure. There were three $50 bushes and several $12 bushes planted around the outside of the cage frame. The $12 bushes were doing nothing but spreading so we just eliminated those. The good three were prospering but it was obvious we would have to cover them with netting if we wanted any berries. Also, the arrangement was a maintenance headache when it rained and I had to mow. So we moved them inside the cage frame where we can drape the netting over the frame and maybe keep a few berries for ourselves. I just hope they survive the transplanting.

It is very dry. We've had no useful moisture since maybe September and though we were in very good shape going into winter, eventually that moisture dissipated. We've had some moderate days recently that allowed Joyce to start watering everything. Yesterday I ran water down the southwest ditch. We only have two goldfish left in the well pond because I let the water get too low while Joyce was gone and there wasn't enough water between the mud at the bottom and the surface for most of the fish to survive the ice when we had some extended temperatures in the teens. We did have eight. I guess I better clean out the mud when the weather warms up so the survivors have a little more wiggle room. We have a chance of rain over the next couple of days. I hope it materializes.

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February 1, 2009

Tisn't a very nice day today: cool and breezy. That's why I've found a sunny place at the kitchen table. Art and Marilyn Brokenbek invited us to watch the Super Bowl at their place and I may not venture outside until then. There is plenty to do inside, books to read, blogs to update, guitars to abuse. Yesterday was a more pleasant day, warmer, but still windy. Joyce did some watering and I removed one of the candy shop tables from the shop. I had cleared it off last weekend. That makes it a little less congested in the garage area. I also loaded up some trimmings and hauled them to the brush site. Chris and I transplanted the trees I had raised in the spot east of 1911 along the south edge of SA and in the process trimmed some limbs off the old junipers so we could get the new ones planted where we wanted them. I got those limbs picked up and added to them more that I trimmed back from the lane. It was a decent load.

Abigail spent Friday night with us and she and her grandma broke in the sewing machine Abigail got for Christmas. She's been chomping at the bit to try it out but Grandma has been gone so she had to wait. Because of the little dab of snow we got Monday Abigail's basketball practice was cancelled. The gym was still available, though, and at Abigail's invitation I went with her, her mother and her sister to practice on her own. Wednesday Kari was a little under the weather so I took Abigail to her regular practice. The team she played yesterday was pretty good. Several of them were pretty big and a couple of those could play. One of them was a woman among girls. Kari says everyone is supposed to be in the second grade and they may be but they must have started school late. I'm not making excuses for Abigail's team. There was at least one

normal-sized girl, probably a couple of inches shorter than Abigail, who could run the length of the court while dribbling. Other girls try to do that but the ball usually gets away from them or their opponents catch up to them. This little girl, and for that matter one of the biggest girls, were gone if they got the ball on a fast break and they made the basket when they got there. Maybe the competition evens out as all the girls get older but right now it seems like some of the girls are just way ahead of Abigail and her teammates.

Wednesday I'll drive to Grants, New Mexico, spend the night and drive on to Pine Hill, New Mexico the next day where I will install our software at the Ramah Navajo School Board administration office. I'm not looking forward to the five hour drive west on I-40 but Pine Hill is in the back country and I'm hoping the terrain there will be fairly interesting. I'll come home Friday unless I get through early enough Thursday.

Things are working out pretty well in the man cave. Early last week the overnight lows were in the low teens and the highs weren't a heck of a lot higher. The temperature stayed about 56 degrees down there regardless. That is too cold for just working at a desk but I've figured out how to warm up my corner with space heaters and I'm comfortable. Also, I'm adapting to Genna's desk but I used it as an excuse to replace my monitor with an LCD monitor, you know, the flat screen kind. The Sony monitor I've been using for six years probably would last from here on but its size front to back kept it from fitting that desk very well. I kept getting nose prints on the screen. The new monitor solves that problem. I installed it yesterday morning and I'm looking forward to testing it out this week. I have no doubt it will be just the thing.

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January 25, 2009

Joyce got home from Garland yesterday. Although she is glad to be home she'll miss Sophia and them plus now she has to take down the Christmas decorations. I'd gotten to where I didn't even notice them.

We've a bad day or a good today, depending on how you look at it. It is cold outside and there is enough wind to make it feel even colder. We had much the same weather yesterday but it started out at 15 degrees whereas today it was about 27. Yesterday I did some odds and ends in the house and worked some in the shop. I didn't spend any time outside nor will I today. Union rules say I don't work outside when it is this cold. We had some nice weather along through the week. Thursday was unbeatable. I wanted to play hooky but it is tax season and I was busy all week helping customers with their tax forms.

Abigail has a basketball game today and we plan to go watch. I've been to all her games so far. They are fairly entertaining. I am surprised at how aggressive some if not most of the girls are. At yesterday's game there was a little girl on the other team that would just come take the ball right away from whoever had it and if there was a pass or a rebound anywhere close she came down with it. She was about Abigail's size, which is to say she was as tall as just about anybody out there but

she didn't seem to have any skills that were ahead of everyone else. She just seemed to have a killer instinct. Frankly she could have been called anytime for her style of defense. She was so close to whoever she was guarding and would impede them with her arms practically around them. Maybe not at this level but eventually someone will break her of that. That's what elbows are for, you know.

Officing in the basement is working out pretty well. I use a space heater under the desk and another one behind me and manage to stay comfortable without heating the whole room. I'm also gradually getting settled in to the new arrangement. I have a couple of drawers of small stuff still down at 2005 that I need to move and put in the drawers of the new desk. Then I will have all my office stuff out of 2005. Genna's rolltop desk will still be down there as will a few other things - books, pictures, etc.- left over from my childhood and from when Dad occupied the knotty pine room. There is still quite a bit of stuff in the pink room, Genna's stuff mostly, but without her desk and recliner, there is a lot less. I guess I'll concentrate on emptying out the garage before I worry too much about the house. I'm hoping there is a lot of stuff in the garage than can be donated. Sometimes it seems like this process might go on forever.

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January 18, 2009

It looks like today will be a nice day. It is already up to 50 degrees from 38 when I got up this morning and it is only 10:30. The wind promises to be reasonable as well. I just serviced Joyce's and Kari's cats. They seem to be prospering, even Cotton who is taking his food seriously once again. He looks OK and may even return to the portly gentleman we used to know.

I spent last week in Connecticut hobnobbing with my Yankee colleagues. Last Sunday I spent a pleasant evening with Bryant and Betsy. Betsy has a new kitchen she is justifiably proud of and she put it to good use preparing a nutritious dinner. Bryant got a microscope for Christmas and is cultivating all sorts of fauna to study. I'm interested in that myself but we never got around to visiting his lab. It is in his barn and I guess the prospect of going out into the cold trumped our curiosity. The annual meeting went well but Lou provided way too much food, both her own and that which was brought in. There were too many sweets and I couldn't restrain myself. It just seems when I'm away from home and my routine, my self-discipline erodes alarmingly. Oh, well.

This bachelor thing is OK for a while, but I think things are gradually deteriorating without the woman of the house here. Kari has helped me with food a lot but I need to get out today and collect some of the staples I've run out of. I'm getting pretty good at laundry and keeping up with the dirty dishes is no problem.

Yesterday I went with the Zbindens to Abigail's basketball game, her first. They only allow the teams to play man, or girl I should say, defense. In fact each player on both teams wears a color-coded wrist ban

that corresponds to the color of someone on the other team. Then before they start play they line both teams up opposite each other and make first one then the other team turn their backs so the other team has a chance to see the number of the girl wearing the corresponding color wrist ban. They also make the opposing team run to their goal after their opponent rebounds or steals the ball. That gives the team on offense the chance to bring the ball down the court unimpeded. Abigail played well to my untrained eye. She stayed on her girl and forced some bad passes. She dribbled well and managed to pass to a teammate rather than to the other team, something that didn't happen often. She also took a shot when she got open. It didn't go down but it was a good try anyway. Her team has a fundamental problem. The coach's daughter is far ahead of everyone else in ball handling and she plays the equivalent of a point guard, which she should, although I don't think anyone is actually playing a position. It is more of a free-for-all. Since this little girl brings the ball down each time and she won't pass to a teammate, the other girls only get their hands on the ball if they rebound it and at least against the team they played yesterday that didn't happen much. Problem is, missy point guard is short and rarely is able to get a shot over her opponent. Abigail is the tallest girl on her team but the opposition fielded some much larger girls. Of the many times the coach's daughter brought the ball down the court, she only made a couple of baskets. The usual outcome was that her shot was blocked or they took the ball away from her because she just held on to it. I hope her coach/mom gets that corrected. Her mom played basketball and has obviously worked with her a lot but nobody overcomes five on one.

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