by rakeeter 
On Halloween Joyce and I dressed up as a couple of old fogies and waited to see if we got any trick-or-treaters. There was only a pair of salty-looking pirates prowling around the neighborhood but that’s more than we usually get. Continue reading “Trick-or-treat”
by rakeeter 
We had some really nice fall days this week and Joyce and I took advantage of one to tear down the garden. In past years we’ve shredded the tomato vines, okra stalks and so on but this year Joyce wanted to try loading it all up in the pickup and taking it to the dump, the theory being insect pests and such would be removed from the garden rather than allowed to possibly survive in the compost. Time will tell whether that works out but it’s worth a try. We filled the pickup to capacity with the garden detritus and also the pond grass and cattails I pulled a couple of weeks ago plus the sunflowers we grew here and there. We trucked it off to the dump only to find that there was a line of trucks and trailers half way to Canyon waiting to to weigh in. The dump has one set of scales and vehicles weigh when they come in and again when they come out so they get a net weight of the load to calculate the charge. Our stuff would not have been charged for since it is the kind of thing the garbage trucks would pick up along the street but it appeared we would have to wait in line anyway both coming and going. We decided to take it to one of the brush sites instead. Though the load was pretty brushy, we figured it would be construed as yard waste, which is supposed to go to the dump. That’s why we took it there in the first place, but, under the circumstances, we felt justified in bending the rules a little. The first site we visited was closed because they were in the process of shredding the accumulation but the second site was available and we were able to handle our business without interference. Continue reading “Goodbye garden”
by rakeeter 
Wednesday I rode with Kari to Abigail’s volleyball game against Lorenzo de Zavala Middle School. Abigail started and played the entire first game so we got to see her play more than in all other games this season combined. As the season has gone along the coach has been teaching them new tricks and there is a lot more strategy employed than at the start of the season. I recall that the level of play the first game wasn’t any different than the previous year’s Kids, Inc games. That is to say, many serves didn’t make it over the net and those that did were only returned about half the time. Somewhere along the way the games got much more competitive and entertaining. The teams don’t miss many serves and most serves are returned. Abigail is a setter, which means her job is to get the ball up in the air close to the net so a teammate can bang it into the opponent’s court making it too hot for the opponent to handle. At least, that’s the theory. The players at this level still aren’t able to jump high enough and hit the ball hard enough to have the desired effect very often. Abigail did a good job and though her team let themselves get way down in the first game, they fought back, even taking it to game point, before falling short. Continue reading “Winter prep”
by rakeeter 
On the way to Petco last Sunday to buy a couple of fish for her birthday, li’l r asked me where I would be when she was my age. Hmmm, how to answer that? Slow roasting? Celestial choir practice? I took the easy way out and told her I would have gone to my, er, reward. So then she asked where I would be when she was her mother’s age. I told her most likely the same place. I don’t know where those questions came from. Continue reading “Inquiring minds”
by rakeeter 
Vivian (3) and Rebecca (7) celebrated birthdays this week. We called Vivian Monday evening to wish her happy birthday. It wasn’t easy to understand her but Jill was on the line to help translate. Maybe it’s hard for her to understand us, too. Li’l r was at the rat pizza joint with her folks when I showed up to take Abigail to ball practice. The rest of them were headed to an open house after. Rebecca grabbed me and sat me down in one of the little attractions they have which took our picture and printed it on a credit card-sized card. It was just a head shot and we had to put ours together to get both into the pic. If she keeps up with it, it should provide a few laughs over the years.
Arty B and I moseyed out to the ranch one morning last week to shoot off our pistols without upsetting anyone. It was a nice morning, like most of the mornings lately, and I was glad to see that the range was in much better shape than when we were there in early summer. Although it was dry, Riverland had clearly gotten some good rain. Some of the roads were deeply rutted and the grass and weeds were tall. Unfortunately the flies and mosquitoes were out in force which caused us to cut short our target practice.
Abigail went to a party Friday night, a sleep over for those allowed that privilege, which the Abster wasn’t. She told me they went to Goodwill with $7 each and bought things to make a costume out of, which they later wore to the mall. I couldn’t quite follow Abigail’s description of her costume but I did gather that it was too tight, especially since she wore her close underneath it. There was something about a thong, a wedgee, butt cheeks and the hope that none of the myriad pictures taken and posted to Facebook caught her from behind.
Joyce caught Rojo servicing one of the chickens the other day. He’s a young and healthy rooster and will no doubt make short work of his 16 virgins. The two elder chickens, Joyce’s pets, are allowed out of the chicken yard most of the day. Joyce doesn’t let the others out yet I suppose because she’s not sure they are accustomed enough to the chickenhouse to not cause problems getting them put up in the evening. It is comical to watch Joyce and her buds. Wherever they happen to be, they come arunning when she comes out of the house because she often is carrying a treat for them. They will escort her all the way to the shop.
Rebecca celebrated her birthday with friends Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, the place was green and Grampa was giving rides in the trailer behind the tractor. Kari stumbled across some John Deere- themed party plates and napkins so that was the theme of the party. The ride went over pretty well and I made many a circuit with a trailer load of young’uns.