Progress Reports.

 Progress Reports.

 

Well, Maggie Sewell had 31 staples removed this morning and took a nice LONG nap afterwards. Can bet that was hurting somewhat. But at least she is on the mend as far as this part goes. Physical Therapy comes a bit later. My sister-in-law went to get a new wrist and hand brace today and then went for PT. She is restricted on what she can or can’t do, but at least she is getting to move things just a bit with her fingers. Sterling has had these danged shingles for well over a month now and the church is still trying to keep them fed as they get pretty tired of bacon and eggs every time they get hungry—but at least that is one thing Sterling can make right. My cousin Eba in North Carolina and her husband Ray are on their way to Florida to see her mother and celebrate her birthday—97 or 98 maybe. Anyway, they were on the east side of Florida, so they did not get blown away or flooded. Eba is just concerned about the availability of gasoline and clear roads to get to that part of Florida. Let’s just say a prayer for all those folks down there.

 

My grand-nephew Jacob is improving to the point that they may eventually be able to take him off of the immunosuppressant drugs. His mother is just so happy for him. He is a freshman in high school this year. He has also been able to help his dad on the farm some this year—driving the equipment probably. That’s about what we did at that age.

 

Took Rudy to see the vet this morning. Should have waited to closer to his appointment. He acted as if he were totally starved when he got home. He is not even 20 pounds of dog, but he feels much heavier when picked up in that carrier! Anyway, Patty was satisfied that he was going to be ok after she talked to the vet.

 

Talked to number one son this afternoon while he was driving home and listened to him tell some of those other drivers where to drive. He sounds so much like his daddy when he does that. “Well, build a fence around it and milk that sucker, why don’t you!” That was one of Lewis’ favorites. Lance just wants them to “pick a lane—any lane!” Right now, Southwest Parkway is marked off with these white tape looking things sticking up in the air. Coming back from the vet, it made me want to tell some of those folks that the markers were for lanes, not for practicing polo! Be glad when the construction is finished on that pavement.

 

Just put my chickens up. Figured out which pullet is laying eggs for me. She is a naked-neck Turken. Sweet little hen. Be glad when the rest of them start laying. Still have not gone to Walmart for file holder boxes—they make great nests. But if worse comes to worse, can always Amazon some! What would we do without that service?

 

Still praying for rain on this dry and dusty hill. Wipe the kitchen counter in the morning and the layer of dust is right back by afternoon. I don’t even think it matters to me any longer. Who knows! Maybe we can plant ‘tators in all that dust! Maybe God has His plans for that dust.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Slightly Cooler.

 Slightly Cooler.

 

While Florida gets soaked and Georgia pulls up the carpets from the wet floors, this part of Texas just sits here wishing for rain. It is only slightly cooler here since the temps have not gone back up quite as high as they have been. But what we really, really need is rain—bunches of it over a few days’ time, preferably. But most likely, we will just take whatever the good Lord sends and be thankful if it is not accompanied by down bursts or tornadoes.

 

Tomorrow morning, Patty’s Rudy has to go see the vet, so that will get me up and out. Then either Friday or Saturday—sometime in the next week at least—it will be time to have the truck inspected. Everything is supposed to be back online for that situation now. It amazes me that an entire network can go down like that and folks could have been given tickets because their vehicles had not been inspected!! Crazy!

 

Two hen-sized eggs and one pullet egg today. Mary Rhoads brought me a bale of hay to use to make nests for the pullets. Still need to go to Walmart or somewhere and pick up a couple of plastic crates for nests. Hens do better in enclosed spaces for some reason. They like to pretend to hide. But they also like to lay their eggs where another hen has laid hers. Funny critters.

 

Recently, we heard something about the city of Wichita Falls selling water from Lake Kemp to a power plant in Oklaunion, west of us. Two articles have been on the local pages lately about water that would be used—water that is considered “non-consumable.” Not exactly sure what that means. Untreated waste water maybe? And if it is water from Lake Kemp (one of two sources for our drinking water) why would we be able to sell water to anyone if we are in drought conditions? Honestly do not understand some of the headlines or the reasoning behind the allocation of resources. Will be happy to see the hydrogen power plant in operation where the old coal plant was before because people out that direction need the jobs available. Just know that ALL of West Texas needs clean water and plants to filter and clean all of it. Small communities need water just like big cities, but they don’t have the influence to make that happen unless they can get grants from the government. Even replacing the infrastructure is terribly expensive, so grants to take care of that part of the problem have to be included in any requests. Now, here in WF, the ground cracks open every time we have a bad dry spell. When the ground cracks, the pipes in the ground also fail—big surprise! Water shoots all over the place and digs holes in the streets like a cannon through Jello! Eventually, even WF will end up having to replace all these water lines. A city can’t expand or continue to replace infrastructure without paying for it.

 

Keep thinking more and more about conditions in this old world. As much as we would like to be self-reliant, it simply is not all that easy to take care of ourselves with the way the world is currently developing. Just a look at the news from the big cities—NYC, Portland, any city in New Mexico, Arizona, or California—these cities have been inundated with illegal aliens—the criminally inclined. No amount of government support will make a change for the better. Little towns or big cities, we all have to face the realities of this invasion. The powdered drugs can be dusted in any place we put our hands. Isn’t that just reassuring! And our children are not safe in the schools—from PreK to college level. Nope, all we can do at this point is pray that God’s kingdom should come quickly! We know that there are others who love God as we do. That reassurance helps, but when we get right down to it, each of us has to ask for protection along with forgiveness. Let’s keep that in the forefront of our thoughts.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

 

 

Using MSWord.

 Using MSWord.

 

Seems like a person should not be getting more forgetful as age creeps up on us, but sometimes not using something very often makes it feel as if a program or whatever is just as new as the first time it was opened. That is about how it feels today. Thought about asking someone to send me a copy of some legal papers she had received so that it could be saved in a way that they could be edited. Then it dawned on me that my computer and the particular version of MSWord that is on this thing automatically asks if the document should be open to editing. Well, duh. Not everyone has the same up-to-date program. Have seen what happens when a person tries to use an older version of Word in a newer layout. Not so great. Oh well. What she had to do was print out the documents and go from there.

 

Talked to Sterling a bit ago and asked how things were going. He is still broken out all over so he has trouble wearing a shirt and then was dumb enough to go out and mow the danged Bermuda grass in his yard. He is VERY allergic to Bermuda grass. So, he had to get all the grass out of his hair and off his body. At least he was not wearing a shirt that would have to be thrown in the trash. That stuff is just like fiberglass—sticks to everything.

 

Hope you will say hey to my sister-in-law Jacqui. Will be sending her an invitation to read this mess after getting this typed up tonight. Sat outside to talk to Sterling and told him how wonderful it felt not to feel half-baked tonight. He reminded me that anyone seeing him outside without his shirt on would always know that he was “on the level” because the “bubble” was in the middle—Little Debbie cakes, ya know!

 

Let my phone get down to the red line last night before thinking to plug it into the charger. Duh. Honestly can’t remember shtuff worth a darned. Seems like my days start with all kinds of good intentions and just go south from there if the least little thing disrupts my routine. Today Patty called to tell me that she had changed the date for taking Rudy to the vet. Just told her she would have to call me that morning and remind me to come get him. It doesn’t take much for me to get time and dates messed up. Oh well.

 

Michelle Malay came for a nice visit today. Love that lady! She has a puppy named Henry that is going to be a BIG dog—Bloodhound. Sent home an entire basket of toys for him to chew on since mine have semi-outgrown them. Two of them make noise, too! In the background, when she called to let me know she got home ok, could hear the hounds fussing. Henry does NOT share his toys, thank you very much! Can’t imagine having a floor full of Bloodhounds! Stepping over these two dogs is about all a person can handle, but when the floor is totally COVERED in dogs! At least there are a couple of spaces between these two of mine.

 

Praying for rain tonight. Feel so sorry for the folks in Florida, but you can bet it will take another couple of hurricanes before our part of Texas will even get a good rain. Don’t know why these things work out that someone has to get hit bad before anyone else can take a deep breath and get a bit of rain. But at least a few clouds are back in the north of us tonight. May God bless those in the storm’s path in Florida and the East Coast, and may we get the rain we so desperately need.

 

Be grateful tonight for all the many blessings that God has given us. May we each be a blessing to others that God may look on His children and smile.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Life As We Know (Knew) It.

 Life As We Know (Knew) It.

 

Once upon a time we had hot and dry summers. Then autumn would come along and the rains would cool things down and make it easier to be outside. We used to go to the library in Henrietta during the summer and bring back arm loads of books to read. After all, we could not go outside comfortably except early in the morning. Then the weather would start getting cold. The cold could be pretty hard. We never had quite enough blankets, and maybe pajamas were not something Mom thought about sewing. We grew so fast, it probably would have meant sewing new ones each winter. It was hard to keep Sterling in blue jeans as it was. And girls were not generally allowed to wear pants—at least not to school. Now talk about a DUMB rule. Our legs got cold under those dresses even with a slip on. And they did not make long socks until tights or those other kinds of long underwear came along—leotards! And, again, we grew too fast to make it reasonable to buy more than one pair. Not sure if the climate has changed that much or if we are just more likely to flip our noses in the air at anyone thinking that we should wear a certain type of clothing. Folks wear all sorts of things—or, in some cases, DON’T wear much. But the world is not all Walmart fashion! Some of us still try to dress decently—no matter the temperature.

 

Other things have changed in this ol’ world. Talked to two different people today about the divorces happening and how both parties have refused to argue about things. It is sad, but it is also true that not everyone knows how to be loving or giving. And when one person blames everything on the other in a marriage, it becomes nearly impossible for the situation to improve or become reasonable. And then there are the children—even adult children who are involved on one side or the other. Not everyone is blessed with a good mate who cares so very much as Lewis did. For all his faults—and mine—we had a good marriage. He was never a narcissist who only thought of himself. I loved Lewis and would have done just about anything for him. And he knew it. We did finally have to compromise and get him a set of those headphones for his TV so the old woman could live in the same house, but otherwise, we really did not have any fusses. He handled the money until he decided to teach me how to take care of things in case he died. And if something was on my wish list, he would try to take care of it. Of course, the Mustang was a car instead of a four-legged animal, but that was ok, too. My prayer for those who are in sad situations with a mate is that God would lead them to settle kindly and with honesty. For those who are dishonest, they deserve what the law will take from them. And it will.

 

Families have changed drastically over the years. Small families seem to have become even smaller, and large families don’t even know all of their cousins. Mother-in-law used to tease some of her nephews about dating in Oklahoma and Texas. Family members were scattered throughout both states! If a person comes from a smaller town like Petrolia, almost everyone there is a cousin to someone else in that town! That is true all over this country! And with the advent of sperm donors—oh dear! Folks will need to have DNA testing before marriage pretty soon if not already! But whoever is our kinfolk and wherever we live, we all have at least one common factor: we each are a child of God. Some don’t seem to consider that fact—if they ever thought of it at all—but it is true whether we married the person or just live close by. We each need to live with a kind attitude that allows others to be what they want to be—as long as they are not hurting anyone else in the process. My children have given me so much love that it behooves me to listen to them and their opinions, but they also know that despite the fact that they think the old woman may have slipped a cog upstairs, she still has her own personality and way of doing things. So, chickens roam the hill, dogs sleep in the bedroom, and a silly blog gets written nearly every day. And so far, they have been pretty understanding. Let us hope that the children of other folks can be as kind to their parents or step-parents.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Little Tasks.

 Little Tasks.

 

Made up my mind last night while trying to sleep that at least two little jobs would get done today. Got the handles put on the work-shop doors first thing. Not without some disgust at the sorry state of drill bits! The Philips bit was already sorely squished out of shape and just did not work. Traded out the one in the little drill for the one in the big drill. Now to go on Amazon and try to find some double-sided drill bits with both Philips and flat-blade bits on the same bit. Lance said that nearly all such bits come from overseas. Anything made in the U.S. is almost priced out of a person’s budget. Figures. The other task was clipping the doggone Western soapberry sprouts out of the east fence. Got all of them clipped down to the ground level except for one on the other side of the fence. Will have to walk down there along the road to get to that one. Good exercise.

 

Went down to Patty’s this morning to take her some cantaloupe. Ordered two from United Supermarkets and ended up with FOUR again. They were $2.50 a piece, so ordered two. For some reason that meant they put four in the order. This is twice that has happened. Not sure what the old woman is doing wrong, but maybe they are just meant to be shared. Anyway, told Patty that it made me so happy that her silver tape was working to keep the freaking wild birds out of my chicken coop and out of the feed!! Who knew that would be so effective!

 

One of the orders from Amazon lately included two of those lick ball treats that go inside a plastic ball. The single ball is not a problem for Sylvia. She somehow just bites the thing out of the ball and eats it. However, the last one went inside a double ball, and she is fighting it for all she is worth. Have to laugh at her and her biting and whoofs that mean she is frustrated.

 

We had some lovely cloud cover this morning early on, and here it is nearly noon and it hasn’t hit 100 degrees yet! Not sure what the weather will be like the rest of the week, but this is a good start! Sorry that Florida looks like it is in line for a “hurry cane.” And now Jennifer has sent me a video of the rain down at her house (five p.m.). Now that is just bragging and making some comparisons. Thought she was taught to be sweet {and she IS} but she made me feel so envious!!

 

Maybe some of you might understand how an old woman feels when she knows that she knows a word-term, but simply cannot remember to save herself! Know those miniature porkypines?—hedgehogs! Daughter-in-law had one named Pierce—pretty cute. But for some reason, when trying to think of the critters name—the species, not that one she had—it just will not come to mind. Wrote it down a bit ago so that maybe it would not be so hard to remember. Other words or terms come along like that every so often, but this one has been on my mind for some reason. Sigh.

 

Asked a minister friend to do some research for me. This young man came by the house (Jehovah’s Witness) and said that God told Moses to engrave Job’s name with a metal stylus in stone. Haven’t read through Job again yet to find that one, but at least my Bible is a large print. My concordance, unfortunately, is tiny print that hurts to even try to read. Seems a verse is in there somewhere that says that God will give us each a new name that He will put upon a stone and no one else will know it. [Sterling found it: Rev. 2:17] But here my memory goes again—no sense in even trying to dig that one out of the tiny print. But still want to find it! Maybe ChapKen will find it for me. Or not. Guess it is a good thing that Paul said that all things considered—whatever the flack each sect might propose—he only knew Christ and Him crucified and resurrected! Just talked to Sterling (who is still miserable) and he said he would look through Revelation and see if he could find the stones. Since our faith is built on the Rock, it makes sense that our names would be in stones.

 

May those of you who are hurting be comforted and those who are comforting others be blessed with a good attitude.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Cheesecake.

 Cheesecake.

 

Ummm. Nothing like cheesecake. Patty got a couple of those little Philly cheesecakes that come in plastic tubs—tiny bites with graham crackers to spill across the top. Those things are just enough to make a person long for a GOOD piece of cheesecake! Anyway, we now have a full-sized cheesecake to share. Even had a can of blueberry pie filling to dab on each piece! Took Patty some in a container this morning along with a small container of my latest macaroni invention with cauliflower, cheese, sour cream, butter, 4-cheese Alfredo sauce, black olives, and canned chicken breast. Forgot to tell her to add salt and pepper, but she did and was happy with it. Sometimes these little gastronomic experiments work out just fine.

 

Saw a comment from Maggie Sewell that makes me think she is mighty sore while she is trying to heal up a bit from having shoulder replacement surgery. Dadgum! Years ago, this kind of thing would have been a permanent disability. At least she has a pretty good chance of having full use of that side again. She will still need our prayers, however.

 

Sterling is still one miserable old man with his danged shingles. He simply can’t get easy and can’t sleep either. He tries, and he does go to sleep, but wakes up hurting just the same. At least Jacqui seems to be doing fairly well after her surgery on her arm and hand. Don’t think either one of them should be driving right now, so am hoping that one of the family is doing the meal shopping for them. May God bless them.

 

We had THUNDER today. A bit of wind blew, but all we could really do was enjoy the smell and a bit of cloud cover. Everything out there is still as dry as dust and as brown as year-old corral droppings. May God remember us.

 

Have not looked for any local news, but sit here hoping that all has gone well with the bike race here in WF today. Seems Rider won the game last night with Old High. They apparently had a fly-over by some planes. Not sure how that got set up, but now Hirschi High wants one, too. Whatever makes folks happy.

 

It seems the ocean is hotter than it should be by more than a few degrees, so now the tropical storms are turning into hurricanes. This is usually the only way we get any decent rain in this part of Texas when the hurricanes start coming in off the Gulf. Sorry for those who live in the path of those storms, but we are getting more than a little bit desperate for rain. The ground has cracked open wide enough to separate hills from mountains in our part of the world! Wouldn’t be a bit surprised if the Wichita River just went underground to meet the Red somewhere south of Texas!

 

Used a gem-dandy light that Michelle Malay gave me for reading books at night to see to put things together when doing my new furniture. Would it surprise any of you older folks to realize that a light makes it easier to see things even in the daylight? Wonder if God gave us His Light to help us see the reality of what rebellion did to His perfect world.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Pretty Ribbons!

 Pretty Ribbons!

 

Went out and tied up some more silver ribbons to wiggle in the wind. Not sure it has done much good so far, but at least an entire flock of doves have not descended on the feed bins this morning. Have netting on the way from Amazon to put over the door of the coop. The hens will figure it out quickly, but maybe it will keep the wild birds out. Meanwhile it appears that Christmas came early out in the back yard.

 

Not sure if the Rider—Old High football game is tonight or tomorrow night, but this IS the weekend for the Hotter ‘N’ Hell Hundred bike race. Just praying that no one gets hurt or that no one dies in this heat. Right this red-hot minute, it is 107 on top of my house according to the weather station that Clint and Sandy Robertson gave me. Really like that gizmo! The wind speed is the part that tickles me. Sometimes the gusts are just unreal out here on this hill.

 

Have some macaroni on cooking that will make several meals around here this weekend. Really like cooking up a batch of something that CAN be frozen if the mood strikes me. We will see how this turns out. Putting in various things—black olives and some kind of sauce that comes in a jar—usually tends to be fairly edible for more than once. (Needed salt and pepper, but otherwise yum!)

 

My poor chickens and even my dogs are miserable in this heat. Not like the hens and pullets can come inside out of the heat. They walk around with their beaks open and their wings out to their sides trying to cool off—the chickens, not the dogs. The dogs just lie down on the floor and pant. The old woman got the groceries unloaded and got in the shower to cool off. The danged water was as hot as anything (out of the cold faucet), but at least it was wet.

 

Looked online to try to find out when we would be able to get our vehicle inspections done. Apparently, the computers went down on the 23^rd of August. My truck won’t need to be done until the end of September, so there’s that. If they can’t get things to work before it goes out, not my fault! Supposedly we will stop having inspections in 2025 anyway. Might just be a bit sooner, hmm.

 

Sitting here looking at a picture taken in Scotland back in 2014 near Castle Kilchurn. That was a cold day in our trip, but absolutely would love to do it again! March is lambing season in Scotland. Well, here, too. Seeing the sheep marked with colors in Scotland reminds me that they don’t fence off places there like we do here in Texas. They have fences, but not like ours. Imagine trying to keep sheep inside pastures in Texas with just a stone fence! How they do it in Scotland is beyond me. Wonder if those folks have to contend with coyotes. [Not according to wiki]

 

Let’s pray for rain for those of us suffering from heat and drought. May God bless those who are being harmed by wildfires, floods, and hurricanes. May our health be improved and our minds put at peace.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

 

 

StateWide Frustrations!

 State-Wide Frustrations!

 

Went to get my truck inspected this morning. Seems the machines to register the things are down all over Texas. Now is that not just the dangedest situation you ever heard of. It would make sense that certain machines or entities would be down—voting machines, IRS machines, postal machines, banks, even UPS and FedEx recording machines—but surely not state inspections machines or Amazon! That is as bad as not being able to order from Walmart!!! Guess next time a call to Weaver’s before making a trip over there will make more sense.

 

Sterling called me last night. He is so danged miserable with those shingles that he can’t sleep, but he has been getting up at night and making rocking chairs. Might as well do something useful while being miserable is his thinking. Then he told me to count myself blessed. Always do—if for no other reason than NOT having those danged shingles! But he reminded me that none of my chickens have died in the heat so far. Nephew Danny has four houses on one farm with 80,000 chickens in each house—and that is only on ONE farm. They are losing a thousand birds a day to the heat because with the high humidity; the AC fans in the houses can not cool the chickens enough to keep them alive. Now the loss itself is horrible, but think about walking through those houses and having to pick up that many dead birds to dispose of in the incinerators! What a horrible job to tire a person down who would already be depressed by the loss of the stock! And this is STATE-wide! Look for the price of chicken to go through the roof, Dear Hearts. We may all have to start buying that Chinese pork.

 

Went by Sutherlands on the way to the feed store. Took all the hardware not needed for the furniture back and got my money back for those, only to use it on about 25 pounds of grass seed. Eventually—good Lord willing—we will get some rain. With nearly a half-acre of land here, would like to see it growing something this winter and next spring. It will be easy enough to shut the gate and keep the hens out after scattering the seeds, but the wild birds may have a feast anyway. Patty gave me some silver tape to put around to keep the danged wild birds out of my chicken house and maybe away from the water bowls. Eventually will get those feeders that can be kept out with just little cups on them. NOT that the wild birds would have any trouble figuring those out. Same kind of things for the water tanks with pecking spots for water are available. Just have not spent that kind of money for any just yet. Guess that may be the next item on the agenda.

 

Not going to pat myself on the back for putting the furniture together all by myself since it seemed to require so much whining and griping. But it looks pretty good in the living room. Have kept the dogs out of there for a while, but will eventually have to tell them that the new little couch is not a place for a dog. Have two good chairs in there for reading, but it simply is cooler in my office on the west side of the house right now.

 

Hotter ‘N’ Hell is this weekend in WF, so no one with a sound mind should be in town without absolutely having to be here. The restaurants will be full, the hotels full, and the streets full. Guess that is a good thing, all things considered. Pray that everyone will be safe and not have any problems!

 

We all know that God is in control, but Satan still has some time left to cause problems, so we need to do our best to protect ourselves and families from his influence. Know that prayer makes a difference.

 

Maggie Sewell got to come home from the hospital, so now she is in for some healing time. Let’s remember all of our friends, family, and those who come into contact with us that they will be blessed.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Suggestions?

 Suggestions?

 

My neighbor just left with his screw driver and a suggestion for my house. He thinks that insulation blown into the attic would make a huge difference in the heat and cooling departments. Hanan used to want me to let him rent some kind of machine and blow the stuff up there, but it always made me remember all that stuff in the air when the tornado hit back in ’79. Silly ol’ woman worries about fiberglass when the ceilings are between me and that stuff. Clint also said that a white roof would reflect the heat better than the dark colors. Well, that is pretty much already a fact since it is a new roof anyway. Not like that is going to be changed in the next ten or fifteen years! So, have any of you ever used one of those machines where you pour in the stuff and blow it into the attic? It may be that the guys who do the lawns around here will soon be insulation appliers for my house and Patty’s as well!

 

Patty was attempting to get the wild birds to stay away from her car and came up with two or three things that seem to have worked so far: a plastic owl whose head bobbles, some stiff twisted silver things that move in the wind, and some silver tape. She has plenty of tape left, so this is going to be the next experiment around here to keep the wild birds out of the feed bins. Doubt that will work on the water bowls, but it might. Poor birds are just not really getting any sympathy from the old woman!

 

Vacuumed the living room, hall, and office earlier and moved the dog bed to an area between my desk and the sewing table. Thompson is not thrilled with the idea of HALF of his bed being folded up. It really needs to be taken apart and washed and then restuffed. But so MANY things need to be done like that. Thought maybe the truck would get inspected today, but somehow that did not happen either. Sigh. Guess maybe a list that can be checked off might help—probably would end up checking off the list with a great big slash or tossing it instead! Attitude!

 

Made some instant mashed potatoes and some brown gravy, but was not paying attention and put the gravy mix into the larger bowl, so now my potatoes are brown. Still tastes good, so no loss there. Even so, it makes me realize why it is a good thing that no one depends on my cooking these days! Ditzy ol’ woman!

 

Do you know that if you are busy being grateful that it is really hard to be depressed? Even the tough things that happen to us can have a brighter outcome than we might think, so it never hurts to look for the possible good in a situation. Not many of us ever had the problems Job had, but he was smart enough and faithful enough to never blame God. My own problems are almost nearly always my own fault. Can’t do much about drought and extreme weather, but at least stuff like that makes me appreciate it when comparing it to the bad winter we had. Still would rather have this heat as opposed to being trapped inside with ice and extreme cold. And we always still must remember that God loves us no matter how doofless we might be.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Best of All Possible Worlds?

 Best of All Possible Worlds?

 

Here it is 8:30 and the temperature out on the deck is still 100 degrees. And we even have some cloud cover. Amazing! Not sure why the heat hangs on so, but there it is! At least the hens and pullets are not panting drastically and attempting to cool themselves by letting their wings stick out from their bodies. Having little puddles of water under the deck and around their water bowls seems to help just a bit. They don’t mind wading.

 

This has been one of those days. Have not accomplished anything at all. In fact, the kitchen door knob came off in my hand earlier. Sitting here shaking my head. Oh well. Tried to “fix” it and had no luck with that, so maybe Lance can put things right when he shows up this weekend. Hate having to ask him to come up in this kind of weather, but don’t have a list of handy men that can be called upon. Oh, one guy that works for an oil company would come if it was a drastic situation, but having the door knob fall off is not really drastic.

 

Got another pullet egg today. That just makes me smile. Eventually they will have to have their own laying nests, but so far, they are using the ones in the coop. Not that the hens would mind. It is simply too hot to lay eggs!

 

Had to go down to the west end of the road and pick up a trash bag and throw it in my bin. My guess is that the trash man threw it over the top and did not allow for the light weight, so it just kept going all the way over! No biggie.

 

Neighbors are home from Boise, so now they may be here for a while—well, unless they get homesick for another son. They have three good boys.

 

Plan to go get the truck inspected tomorrow. Have to be sure the insurance certificate is in the console. Want to get this done now and maybe wash the truck later. Wonder if it would rain if the truck is washed? Wouldn’t that be wonderful!

 

The “news” is not very new and not very encouraging. Meanwhile, we will watch the storm cells coming up the Gulf and pray for rain for our area and for protection from floods on those folks right along the coast line. The prediction is for “buckets” of rain for them.

 

Have not called Maggie Sewell’s husband to see about her, but you can bet she is sore and uncomfortable right now. Let’s pray that she heals quickly and completely. Then we remember others like Karen S. and her son Nate, Tami Yonts, and the grand-daughter of Diann Dennis who is at St. Jude’s. God hears our prayers. But we must ask.

 

May God bring all of our children to Him and lead them in His way.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Interesting Tidbits! Oil Spill Clean-Up!

 Interesting Tidbits! Oil Spill Clean-Up!

 

A team of French and Japanese environmental scientists has found that one kind of oil-eating microbe reshapes droplets to optimize biodegradation. In their study, reported in the journal Science, the group isolated Alcanivorax borkumensis bacteria specimens in a lab setting, fed them crude oil, and then watched how they worked together to eat the oil as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

Prior research has shown that there are many microbes living in the ocean that feed on oil, eventually cleaning away oil not cleaned up by human efforts. Prior research has also shown that such microbes are not able to consume crude oil until it disperses into droplets, which can take a long time. In this new effort, the researchers sought to learn more about the process of crude oil consumption by sea microbes. To that end, they collected A. borkumensis specimens and tested them in their lab.

Under a microscope, the research team observed that A. borkumensis formed biofilms around oil droplets—but they did so in two major ways. In one experiment, A. borkumensis samples that had not been exposed to crude oil before were introduced to simple crude oil droplets. Groups of the bacteria converged on a droplet, forming a sphere. The sphere shape persisted until the entire oil droplet had been consumed.

But when the team exposed samples with experience consuming crude oil, their behavior was much more advanced. Initially, upon converging on a droplet, a sphere formed—but then finger-like protrusions formed, radiating out from the sphere, each completely covered with bacteria. The result was much faster, more efficient consumption of the droplet.

Now most of you might not know that one of the things that fascinated me as a child was weeds and what they could do besides just irritating the farmers. If life had do-overs, this old girl would be a micro-biologist. SO much comes from plants that can feed folks, prevent diseases, ward off insects that bite, and act as weed retardants or even fire retardants. We have forgotten so much that was just common sense to some of our ancestors. Remedies for bites, cuts, colds and flu, and ulcers of the digestive tract were things they knew how to handle with what God gave them out there on the prairie and in the woods. Today foragers find things to eat—remember Euell Gibbons?—and even supply some upscale restaurants with what most of us would consider weeds. Too many young folks today think that all foods come from the supermarket!! Sigh.

Remember Maggie Sewell in your prayers tonight. Surgery on her shoulder in the morning. Meanwhile, pray that those who need to have patience will be blessed with kind and loving thoughts. Then too, our communities are going to have to come together like families to rebuild and help those who want to live in the various places that have been burnt off the maps or swept away in floods. May God give us the common sense to do things the most economical and swiftest ways so that lives may not be so totally disrupted. Pray for the children who have no schools now or books or any other thing to bring a feeling of normalcy to their lives. Each neighborhood will have to provide themselves with teachers, carpenters, plumbers, and all the supplies that are needed to rebuild. Pray that someone comes up with the funds for bringing together good designs and ample supplies for rebuilding. May God inspire some of the 1% to help the 98% with whatever is needed. Our government is incapable of doing anything as it is needed without causing problems or shuffling funds off to their own pockets. Sorry. That is just my opinion, but too often it is true.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

 

Do We Have Eyes That See?

 Do We Have Eyes That See?

 

Of all the things that happen in this ol’ world, this year has been significantly different in that it seems like the natural disasters have ganged up on us. Fires have brought unprecedented damages to many countries. Floods have done the same. Volcanos have erupted; and storms have dropped water by the bucket on areas that have no way to allow run-off of that water. And this afternoon, that far east state of California got another earthquake to make things interesting. A friend has a grandson in the Navy—in San Diego while the ship is in dry dock. Who knows what the flooding will do to the folks who live close to the ocean out there. Saw a warning out of Mississippi about fires that shocked me. They get rain out that way, so it seems strange that my friend Beth might be watching out for fires on her little hill. And yes, we are still in a drought. Parched! Having to conserve energy in the evening hours because of the extreme heat. No longer even bother to look at the temperature gauges. Just know it won’t get any better for several weeks yet. May God take mercy upon us.

 

All we can do is pray. We know that some may turn to God with all the trials brought upon us, but let us pray that we may truly know who is the One in charge. Each of our actions—or lack thereof—has a reaction, a consequence. We can see the power of prayer in our lives and in the lives of those around us. When we think that “all we can do is pray,” remember that ALL that prayer is heard. The answers may not come as we think they might, but the timing may just be off a little bit. Or maybe the answer is a better one that we just don’t see right away. Trust Him. He knows what is right for us and when things need to happen.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Half-Baked.

 Half-Baked.

 

Just a wee bit of headache and feeling rather bleah, so short and gripey tonight. No, Jo Ann, the old woman should have taken you up on your offer of help to put that mess together. Sitting on a cushion on the floor has not done wonders for an old, grumpy woman. Think two pieces of the furniture will be easy to assemble, but just not feeling like getting that up close and personal with the floor today. Maybe tomorrow.

 

Got another pullet egg today! Amazed that any would already be laying this soon. May have oceans of eggs within another month, but right now just grin every time one appears in the nest.

 

Gave Thompson a bath with the vet-approved oatmeal type shampoo. But he goes over to the trough and just climbs in and soaks rather often. Kinda hard to keep the dead grass out of the house at this point. Sigh. Gotta love ‘em.

 

Praying for rain for this dried up land out there. Sad to see everything so brown. Trees dying for lack of water or from grasshopper destruction. Wonder if folks would want to hire out these ravenous chickens for such work? If they would just mind and stay where the insects are, it might work out just fine. Towns hire goats out to eat down the brush, after all. Insect control via hen makes sense to me—naturally! HA!

 

May you all find happiness in the little things that are truly blessings from God. Jennifer found a couple of new birds in her tree out front and the delight was in her voice. Such things may be small, but life is made from such wonders!

 

Let your prayers be lifted up each day with gratitude. The best defense against depression is going outside, cleaning up something that looks messy, or cleaning up a drawer in a desk that might be a bit cluttered, accomplishing some small thing each day that makes it obvious that you care about life. God knows our hearts.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Surprise Visit.

 Surprise Visit.

 

The FedEx man brought my furniture this morning. Carefully took everything out of that ONE great big box that he slid inside for me. Took the two large pieces of box out to the trash bin and pushed those inside to be hauled off. Looked in every corner to try to find the hardware for these pieces and could not find it. Went over to Sutherland’s and bought the metric sized stuff to use. Came home and started messing with putting things together and FOUND the silly bag of hardware. That means another trip to Sutherland’s to return the hardware bought from them. Deep sigh. Finally sat back down on the floor to start putting things together and hurt so badly that a muscle relaxer and lying down seemed the best solution. But then the phone rang. Had a very welcome visitor. Jo Ann Hobbs brought me a vanilla shake from Braum’s and stayed to talk awhile. SO nice to see her and talk with her. We both miss her son. Jerry was such a sweet guy, and how life treated him was simply horrible. It seemed like the officers who had met up with him were so infuriated that he was given millions for being in prison for five years for something he did not do. But he would have given all that money up gladly to have had his daughter alive. The money he was given was because of the treatment he had received. Imagine being in solitaire on Death Row with only your thoughts for an unforeseeable length of time!

 

This furniture may be a bit complicated to put together, but the old woman is determined to do it herself. Maybe it will stay together pretty well. Here’s hoping. At least it matches the floor and curtains. But it is going to take a cushion down on the floor for me to be able to get down there to work on it. My favorite muscle is giving me fits!

 

Coming back from Sutherlands, my truck just managed somehow to pull into Chicken Express. Some chicken tenders, tators with gravy, and OKRA came home with me! Imagine that! Always think of my daughter-in-law whenever okra comes home with me. She loves fried okra. The melons and things like okra are the only really good reason for summer. But even as horribly hot and dry as it has been, it is still better than freezing to death or being unable to get to my hens to give them water and feed. Reminded Jo Ann that the only reason my critters made it through the bad ice and snow storm a couple of years ago was due to the help from Jerry. He made a path for me and dug out the doorways to the hen houses. Guess we should all feel blessed that we still have electricity for the AC units and water from our lakes.

 

Jo Ann said that WF was thinking about selling water from Lake Kemp to some company for their cooling units. If you have ever seen raised eyebrows or horror-stricken expressions, think of the folks who heard this stupidity in Wichita Falls. Talk about asinine! We are on water restrictions and the city wants to SELL our water!

 

Shaking my head and asking God for His mercy on our lands and people. Fires everywhere, storms coming up the coasts, and gangs bringing their Uzis across the border of Texas to attack our police officers and anyone who tries to stop them! We are seriously under attack here in this state. Drug lords know what they are doing even if our government does not! May God protect our LEOs and military support.

 

Not everything is bleak in my part of the world. Yes, the wild birds are indulging in chicken bath water. The hens have covered a rug on the deck with feathers and the stuff that comes out the backend of their bodies, but they still make me laugh. Oh, and the egg picked up yesterday was either a pullet egg or one of the hens laying her last egg. Suspect it was a pullet egg, but this is SO early! But several of the pullets are showing combs and lots of color right now. Maybe it is the breeds that lay early? It would tickle me pea green if it is a pullet egg!

 

Maggie Sewell goes in for shoulder surgery this next Tuesday. She has been hoping that they would not change anything else and let her get this over and done with. After next week, my sister-in-law Jacqui starts therapy on her right hand so she will be using those new knuckles. Hoping she will grit her teeth and build up some new muscles. Know it has been a little frustrating for her not to be able to use that hand. Anyway, we all must be patient with one another right now in whatever circumstances we find ourselves. Life simply can be extra hard at times. But our Father always cares.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Never Expect Things to Happen.

 Never Expect Things to Happen.

 

Today the new little couch, table, and stool were supposed to be here. Expected them early today, but it is now after three and nothing has shown up. Hmm. Have a feeling it will take some doing to put the pieces together, but not sure. Just would like for them to show up sometime today. Such is life and expectations.

 

5:45 and no delivery. Sigh

 

Read some news about the Hawaii thing. Over 1000 still missing. Very distressful and horrifying that they can’t find these people. If it truly was the fault of the electric company for not turning off the power during extreme winds from the hurricane, you can bet that they won’t be in business much longer. Wonder how hard it would be to put electric lines below ground. Maybe someday soon power will be sent through the air instead of across lines.

 

Walked out back to give the chickens fresh water. Had heard the wild birds earlier doing their thing, so knew the water would be filthy. The gauge out on the deck said 120 degrees. It physically hurt to be in that kind of light. My head got hot. Guess a hat would be the next step for going outside during the day. Seems like mornings are the only time it is fit to be out of the house.

 

Got my laundry done last night since sleep didn’t happen until sometime after three. Not sure what that was all about, but sometimes it just happens that way. Even Lance says he has problems sleeping. But something makes me suspect sleep apnea with him.

 

Tomorrow is Friday—trash day. Too bad that having the trash bin dumped will be the highlight of that day! But that is about par for my life lately. Routines that make it possible to think that somehow life is controlled by what we want to do or have done. At least if we wake up in the morning, we can thank God for another day. Looking at pictures posted by Diann Dennis of the streams on her family’s land and imagining just how cold that water would be makes me wish we had that sort of thing in this part of the world. Now moving to Arkansas will never happen, but all that clean, clear water is just wonderful. We just have to pray for rain right now to make life possible here in Texas.

 

Let us pray for those who mourn—Jackie who has lost her husband, the many in Hawaii whose families have disappeared, the many in the Ukraine who have lost their menfolk as soldiers, the many refugees who die trying to find a better place to live. We must not lose hope, but our hope has to be in God. No other help is certain now or in the future.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Playing Footsie.

 Playing Footsie.

 

It has come to my notice on more than one occasion that the floor has appendages spread about somewhat unevenly over its surface—that means stepping over two big ol’ dogs and dancing my way across the room or even sticking my feet under my desk. Occasionally, not by my design, my feet or ankles or legs get a tongue bath. Salt on the surface? Whatever it takes, these dogs have a serious issue with my feet and legs going without a lick bath. We have had cats that did this sort of thing, but each of them was not quite as persistent and the baths were not as extensive as those showered upon us by the dogs. And since only one ol’ woman lives here, the legs seldom go a day without a good lick bath. Oh well.

 

Sterling has a new doctor who doubled up on his prescription which now seems to be doing some good. Just talked to him and he said that he persuaded Jacqui to come out in the shop with him while he piddled around. They have been going out to eat most of their meals, but Sterling has lost down to 169 pounds of orneriness. Told him it would be nice if his sister would lose down that far. He thinks if she moved to Arkansas, she would lose weight. Kinda doubt that. But at least he has some help up there on his hilltop. His good friend George came yesterday and mowed the grass for him, and his son Terry did the weed-eating. Told him we would have to have that five inches of rain he got this past few days before we would even HAVE anything green around here! Danged dry and supposed to get hotter than blue blazes tomorrow. SIGH.

 

Got the feed put in bins this morning and put some DE in the trough under the chicks’ roost. They had enough cedar chips in there that it had not begun to stink, but the DE kills any kind of bug that might get up there. Every time a feed bin is moved, the hens chase the crickets and assorted bugs. You’d think eventually they would get all of them!

 

Have a shipment of furniture supposed to be here tomorrow. Looking forward to that! The couch should be the easiest to move around since it is not made like those long, heavy things. It has cushions that can be removed. Just hoping that it is also comfortable. Nothing like hoping.

 

Picked up some peaches and other veggies from United this morning. Ordered some Ritz crackers made with veggies. Not bad at all. Would be excellent with cream cheese or some kind of veggie dip. The peaches were freestone and white but quite tasty. Hope to use the seeds to plant this fall or next spring. Saw a video on how to break the seeds open and make the kernel sprout by putting it in the fridge for several days. Had forgotten that stone seeds have to have cold weather for a while in order to sprout. Learn something every day.

 

Patty was asking me if my kids would know how to take care of themselves if our country lost power supplies and all that involves. Thought about it for a bit and told her that in all probability, even the old woman might not know how to take care of water and fire in a way that would be safe. Have seen how water can be put through sand, gravel, etc. in order to strain out the bad stuff, but even then, it would have to be boiled. Being able to keep a fire lit might not be the easiest thing either. Of course, right now a magnifying glass and a couple of sticks would do the trick! In reading the book Dr. Zhivago, he went into the neighborhood and took down fence panels to keep their fire going. Imagine what would happen in a city like NY or even one of the CA places. Not enough wood in either of those places to build a decent fire. Or if there were, they would probably burn the entire city down.

 

It sometimes is too easy to think about the possibilities of an entire nation being brought down by power loss or by other means that return folks to basics. Not trying to be morbid or fatalistic, but knowing how to take of one’s self makes a difference. Self-reliance brings a certain degree of confidence.

 

Still praying for rain. It would probably be boiling by tomorrow if any came down. May God bless us soon with cooler weather. Meanwhile, pray for the children, teachers, and parents as school starts again.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

Rug RATS!!

 Rug RATS!!

 

Just came in and stripped out of my sopping wet clothes. Takes very little of that outside stuff to make an old woman “glisten.” Yeah, right! Let’s just say SWEAT and let it go at that. Perspiration is for those who do not clean out the hen house. The dogs followed me in and put their wet tracks all over the rug across the kitchen. Love ‘em, but dang they are messy!

 

Realized that dehydration might be a problem when my hands started shaking, but now have a big mug of water with stuff in it. Really like the “Liquid IV” that is made for hydrating, but this stuff is not anything like as expensive. Coffee has a tendency to be dehydrating, but that won’t usually keep me from drinking at least a cup or two nearly every morning. But not today. Had a Dr Pepper.

 

A trip to TSC was a little expensive this morning. And yes, they had chicks, and no, none came home with me. Feed is so freaking expensive. Kinda like going to the grocery store!! Guess the price of everything is just about enough to keep a person either hungry or poor—well, broke. Poor denotes totally out and out lacking in everything. The old woman is neither poor or even broke, but she does gripe about how prices are reducing her inclination to buy anything extra.

 

This morning—for some stupid reason—a program about San Francisco caught my eye as the news went by about Maui and other places. SO sad to watch the numbers climb in that death toll. Anyway, it seems that no one with any common sense would visit California right now. Mobs or gangs have begun to attack stores and wipe out their inventory—in broad daylight and with owners or managers trying to stop them. A mob of 30 black-clad hoodlums went into an upscale store and stole every high-priced thing that they could grab. In the streets, folks are being car-jacked. Unless a person were armed with a good automatic gun, it is not safe to drive down the streets. This chaos was blamed on the Democrats and government of CA, but in my opinion, the blame can be put on Satan and on the lack of honor or honesty. Politics and criminality have come to be one and the same—not that anything has ever changed that much in either category.

 

Patty was telling me about some guy here in WF who has two more years before he can retire and start getting that retirement check. According to him, the students are out of control—destroying school property and intimidating others (not sure if that included teachers, but would it be surprising if not). Our fair city does not have enough police officers right now to just handle the volume of dead bodies being found, the shootings, the fires, and the robberies. And our folks normally support the officers in any way possible. Then there is Clay County. Whoo boy! May God bless those folks and bring them a sheriff who is honorable and honest.

 

Did not tell Patty about the fire across the street behind me last night. Not sure if it was the bail bondsman who lost his license or someone he knows, but the person had a big fire started out in the yard where it was easy to see from my deck. Stood there watching and hoping it did not get away from him. My grass is cut low, but grass will burn, even cut low. And you can bet his firepit was not anything more than bricks or that type of stone. And no, it did not seem wise to call the fire department. Nosy ol’ neighbor is trying not to call any attention to this place on the hill.

 

May wait until early morning to unload the feed and diatomaceous earth from my truck. It will still be hot at 6:30, but it will not get better as the day goes by. The DE will be placed in the trough under the chicks’ roost. It keeps down on flies, bugs, and smells. Put the bag of oyster shell out for the hens already. They have begun to lay eggs with thinner shells now. That goes with getting older. But they can stay and live out their lives here whether or not they lay eggs. They are good company.

 

Two more things: First: the judge in Montana who decided that permits should not be given to fossil fuel companies—coal, oil, etc.—without first considering the effect on the environment! Reaction to a suit brought by young people who say that it is their Constitutional right to a better environment. Second thing: Harvard is attempting to teach their students how to apply for food stamps. Amazing.

 

On a local level, folks still must pray for rain and avoid starting fires. May God bless those currently besieged by fires, floods, and other natural disasters. May we give praise to God for all He gives us. And may our fellowmen know of kindnesses to both give and receive.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.

The Dust Bunny Battle!

 The Dust Bunny Battle!

 

This morning was spent in some serious contention with dirt, dust bunnies, and assorted debris. Mopping started with the Swiffer being out of juice, so, having learned how to replace the fluid without having to purchase the expensive stuff, the old woman heated water in a Pyrex cup in order to remove its lid. Filled the bottle with mostly water before putting in some good cleaning mixture. Then the battle began! Some of the dust bunnies had escaped the Shark—in fact, the Shark had gobbled so many in chunks that it had to have its little canister dumped. But after mopping with the Swiffer, it seemed that there were more dust bunnies. Dust pan and broom to the rescue! Then the UPS man arrived with a large package that stirred up a different kind of debris—paper pills and tape messes. Anyway, after vacuuming the bedroom, office, living room, and kitchen, the sweat factor had accomplished what the dust bunnies could not—the old woman had to give up, throw her wet duds in the hamper, and take a cold shower! Cold—as in hot water from the cold faucet! Imagine that.

 

Texting my niece in Illinois convinced me that not everyone is dealing with miserable heat. She said their temperatures had been in the 90s. Told her ours were in the 100-plus category. Such a difference! Today actually has been half-way decent.

 

Texting my sister-in-law in Arkansas brought some good news. Sterling is feeling a bit better, and Jacqui is only somewhat uncomfortable with her knuckles where the doctor cut into them to straighten them out. She did not say anything about the carpal tunnel cut so maybe it was a bit like the other cuts. At least that seemed to be what she meant. Texting is not the greatest way to communicate. Don’t know why we didn’t just talk, but that’s how it was. Just glad to know that both are doing ok. When asked if Sterling was keeping her well fed, she said, “Oh yes! Sonic is just down the street!”

 

Guess the old woman has Walmart to thank for getting me up and at it this morning. My phone tingled with a text message saying my purchase was on its way. The box got here before noon, but the 6:15 wake up text made it sound as if the truck was out on the road already! Oh well. Considering how much stuff was done this morning, maybe a thank you note to Walmart might be appropriate.

 

Made some Mango-Ginger tea to drink today. Really enjoy that stuff. It has no caffeine and just tastes good. Lewis always liked his orange pekoe-pekoe or whatever that stuff was. He drank tea by the pitcher and his wife drank coffee by the pot. Now my coffee is decaffeinated. Sigh. It is still good, but has no perking quality about it. Perk-me-ups might not be good for old folks, all things considered, but once in a while a real cup of coffee is good just to see if my motor still runs.

 

Thankful today for the lack of broiler heating from the sun, but still praying for rain. Dear Hearts, that rain makes a BIG difference in life around these parts. Feeling for those who have been burned out or flooded out, but still asking God to wet us down thoroughly. We hope for no more downbursts to destroy property, but we could certainly enjoy watching the rain come down right now.

 

Let us rejoice in the many blessings of life, love, family, and the health we need to appreciate all of those. Pray for this poor world.

 

Rest well, my friends. You are loved.