by rakeeter 
Joyce and I were alarmed to get a text from Kari Saturday morning saying there was a peeping Tom on SA. There was no other information so we kept on with our rat killing. Later Kari texted the picture at left, a Texas brown tarantula on a ramble attempting to climb over 2005.
The experience was so horrifying it aged Abigail 75 years.
by rakeeter 
After consulting the forecast for Friday, I decided Wednesday evening to visit Wildcat Bluff Thursday morning instead of Friday. The forecast was correct and it rained Friday morning and into the afternoon. I needed to change oil and sharpen blades of all three mowers so I took advantage of the rain and got that taken care of. Although we only accumulated half an inch, it was a slow soaker and, coming on top of last weekend’s rain plus the cool and overcast weather, it was a beneficial amount. This week I hope to mow the place for the last time this season. Continue reading “Rainy day”
by rakeeter 
If things had gone according to plan, Joyce and I would be winding our way to Red River now. Unfortunately, we were planning on visiting the Shewberts there but one of their friends passed away Saturday and they were returning to Amarillo for the funeral this week. It’s my understanding the weather has been chilly in Red River, a contrast to the 90’s we’ve had all week, so maybe it’s just as well our trip got postponed. Gary and I are keen to play a little golf so we’ll look for another opportunity to make the trip soon. Continue reading “Dog days”
by rakeeter 
Just when it looked like it would never rain again, it did. It had really gotten dry since the rain we had in July and we’d missed out on some of the chances in the interim, but it puckered up and hit us with a shower Friday evening about chicken time. The next morning when I checked the gauges there were four tenths of an inch in the toad on the southeast side of the house and an inch in the gauge on the fence which is on the west side of 1911. The garden gauge also had about four tenths and Kari’s gauge had an inch. It isn’t outside the realm of possibility that there could be a significant difference between the north end of SA and the south end, but over half an inch from one side of the house to the other is hard to believe. Saturday afternoon we got another shower, this time about six tenths of an inch and that seemed pretty uniform over the whole place. Needless to say we’ll take what we can get. Continue reading “A little rain”
by rakeeter 
Our neighbors finally concluded their sojourn among the heathen and returned to good ol’ Amarillo. They spent the last two days of their trip in Paris, a bit of a surprise for Abigail and Rebecca since they hadn’t been told beforehand that they would be going to Paris. Hans and Elisabeth accompanied them from Aeschii to Basil and A&R just assumed they were headed home. Instead they bid H&E goodbye and got on a train to Paris. Even then, A&R didn’t know they weren’t headed home by a different route. When finally told, Abigail was delighted but li’l r was disappointed. She was looking forward to seeing Tino the dog, Gramma and Grampa, probably in that order. Her parents placated her by telling her they would find some fun stuff to do. They saw some of the sights — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and so on — but not without drama in trying to find a decent, or at least, not disgusting venue for Rebecca to potty while they roamed the city. I’m told the Parisians do not share the tidiness of their Teutonic neighbors, Germany and Switzerland. Continue reading “Homecoming”