Periodic review of life on Six Acres
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.
by rakeeter 
The other evening as Abigail and I were heading to ball practice via Hastings, we saw a tarantula sauntering across the road. It was almost to the other side and we easily avoided it. Then a few days ago Chris pointed out the one you see in the photo at the left. It was headed for the piñon just south of the 2005 driveway. Tarantulas are plentiful on SA but they are very shy and stay in their burrows all summer long. Only long about this time of year do they seem to be taken with the urge to go walk-about. I don’t know why that is. These are females, I believe, and it is unlikely they are mate shopping. They stand considerable risk from predators such as the tarantula hawk out in the open so what compels them to run that risk I don’t know. Continue reading “Tarantula time”
by rakeeter 
Rain fell this week, half an inch Tuesday and one and a half Thursday. There was also about half an inch that fell while we were in Garland. Things are looking up. The rain Thursday evening was particularly gratifying. There was a storm headed our way but Abigail and I still drove across town to her softball practice. It was sprinkling by the time we got there but the coach was on the diamond hitting balls to a handful of girls so Abigail joined them. The sprinkle gradually got heavier and while not close, there was lightening accompanying the storm. I was on the verge of summoning the Abster to the car when the coach finally called off practice. Half way home we drove out of the rain which was coming down pretty hard but had no sooner gotten home when it started raining on SA. It was good to see the little dry stream in the front run the length with water, probably the first time it’s done so since I put it in. Never mind that practically the whole yard was running with water also. Continue reading “Rain”
by rakeeter 
Much of this week was spent in the cool Sangre de Christo mountains of New Mexico. It started raining shortly after we arrived at the Shewberts’ cabin Tuesday and rained most of the afternoon. No sooner had we arrived than Phyllis got a call from her sister telling her that her husband was unresponsive. Gary and Phyllis left almost immediately and drove to Angel Fire where Phyllis’s sister and brother-in-law have their cabin. The rest of the time we were there they travelled back and forth between their cabin in Red River and the hospital in Santa Fe where the brother-in-law had been taken. We left Friday and the last we heard their brother-in-law’s condition was deteriorating. Continue reading “Mountain cool”