Seeds and Hens.

 Seeds and Hens.

 

So, some folks wanted hollyhock seeds—including my daughter—and a lady who let me ride her mare last year wanted a couple of Marans. Now it will be necessary to keep up only two hens for a while. They just about go bananas when more than two are locked up, but now it will be easier—at least that is my hope. And now the hollyhock seeds are being harvested, maybe fifteen dozen little plants won’t come up this next season.

 

Jennifer told me earlier that she really wished my hens were down there to clean up the army worms. The City of Mansfield is having to close their parks to spray for the silly buggers. Nasty, squishy things underfoot, ya know. Remembering one year that the birds around here finally gave up eating every miller flying through the air—which later became more worms. Those cycles are just relentless.

 

Apparently, my youngest Ostand grandson has moved into a rather nice apartment place near the UTA campus. Right now, he is having to take care of his friend’s cat while the friend is back at home taking care of his parents’ animals. Jenn is hoping that Reece will see that it is totally unfair to an animal to be cooped up in one room. Listening to Connie talk about her cats makes me feel that they need plenty of room to run and climb. But then, she also talks about having an entire handful of purrs each morning when Amelia wants her attention. Yes, animals are definitely worth it.

 

It came a downpour in Arlington while Jenn was helping Reece get settled in his new apartment. Don’t think they got that much rain where Jenn lives, but at least things got cooled down a bit. It did the same here early this morning. SO nice! Maybe the rain won’t cause too much humidity.

 

Talked to my granddaughter about her first airplane travel and her vacation in Florida. On the beach with that crystal clear water every day was her favorite part. That’s pretty understandable. Unless it is a good river in the Hill Country, we just don’t have that much in the way of clear water. Of course, where we grew up near the Red River, nothing was clear. In fact, any water that was running looked a bit like cocoa—red or muddy. It was called Clay County for more than one reason—a man’s name notwithstanding.

 

Got my car insurance bill today. It certainly does improve the cost if only one vehicle is on one’s policy! Germania really does a good job of insuring things for folks like me. The agents have always been super nice, too.

 

Steamed some broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots to go with some fajita meat that was cooked earlier this week. The dogs helped eat the stuff. Did ya know that dogs will eat broccoli and cauliflower? These two dogs are not just real picky. They don’t eat pickles or cucumbers if they are not upside down on the kitchen floor covered in chicken salad coatings. And they don’t care for green olives, thank you very much. Black olives, maybe, but definitely not green ones! To me it is amazing that they will eat cooked broccoli. It does not smell good when it is cooked, so maybe that is why they like it.

 

Jenn was talking to me and suddenly exclaimed that the humming bird was back and sitting on the feeder. He/she just sat on the thing and slurped up all the nectar it could hold. Then it fought off another hummer. Jenn brought more nectar from her fridge and laughed. Brain freeze! But it did not stop both birds from sucking up that stuff. This is the time of year that they are trying to stock up on body energy so that they can fly south later this next month or so. Not really sure where they go exactly. They used to stop at a town close to Houston where everyone had planted flowers especially for the hummers and their migration. But then that little town got blown off the map in the last bad hurricane. So not sure where the hummers are stocking up now.

 

My friend AnnaBeth texted me earlier and tried to wish me a happy Shabbat. But her phone did not appreciate the word or tried to put in its own version of what it thought she was trying to type. Technology and an interesting vocabulary simply do not always mesh. Anyway, she was trying to be very positive—and we did not even mention ANY type of politics, but she was sad about the results of all the children being hospitalized near her. She said one of her son’s co-workers got the virus recently. Praying that AnnaBeth does not get even a tiny inkling of illness in her home! Being 80 years old is an accomplishment for many of us. We can thank God for what it took to get us to this point. But let’s face it, we are more vulnerable than we used to be. Even wearing a mask and staying away from other people can only do so much to protect us. We still have to watch our step, drink plenty of fluids, and eat the right kind of food. Then we have to also try to have a positive outlook on life. Sometimes that makes the difference in how we feel emotionally as well as physically. Let us remember to try to be encouraging to others. It makes the world a sweeter place.

 

Waking up at 4:30 in the morning is a rather large pain in the derriere. If one could just roll back over and go back to sleep, it would be a different story. But by 8:30, my office had been rearranged and the floor cleaned. It did make a difference, but a bunch of that stuff is now sitting on the kitchen table. The printer is going to Jennifer’s house. A small, wooden box will go to Lance’s oldest. The irrigation system (was in the workshop, not office) will go to Gary’s house. Another wooden box will go to Jennifer’s house. Anyway, slowly but surely things are getting shuffled. Lance and Tracy call that “shtuff shuffling.” They have furniture from Tracy’s parents that has moved back and forth a few times. Not sure but what one piece ended up here. Oh well.

 

Hand sewed a burlap bag today to put the garlic in to hang in the workshop. The bag came wrapped around a book from the Texas History site. Their books are very expensive—at least $39 is expensive to me. Anyway, those books are very enjoyable for anyone who loves Texas and Texas history. It really would be great if our library here in WF had these books. It occurred to me to give my copies to the library, but now both of the ones bought this year have disappeared. Think a certain horse shoer has one of them. Will have to ask him. It’s terrible not to be able to remember who could have been one that yours truly loaned a book. Oh well.

 

Met Donny Anderson’s son D.G. He looks like a taller, lighter-weight version of Donny. Patty had him working. Not much changes, does it.

 

Think maybe an ice pack will be a good solution for some of the morning exercise. Anyway, it is easy to keep the ice pack on if a movie is on at the same time. Will be watching Murdoch Mysteries if you need me.

 

Rest well and enjoy each day as it comes. May God continue to bless you. You are loved.