Comfort Above All Else!

 

Comfort Above All Else!

 

So now my hair is no longer in my face—or much of anywhere else, for that matter. Got a good, close haircut from Amber Poirot at Spa Bella salon. She seemed to understand that it was as close to driving me wild as bangs can get, so we got rid of them without making me look totally masculine—well, not a masculine haircut, at any rate. Some women look more masculine as they age just like some men begin to look somewhat different as they age—not exactly feminine, but not macho looking either. Ah, what the hey! Let us be comfortable above all else!

 

Got a text message from my son today telling me that his wife Tracy, Sr. Librarian at the Ft. Worth Library, will be presenting something called Free Business and Consumer Research Tools during Business Equity Week. Her part is on the 24^th of June. She did her master’s work on research and references, so she should be an interesting speaker. She knows her stuff and makes things pretty clear—at least clear enough that her mother-in-law can understand. Proud of her!

 

Put a call in a few minutes ago to see if Caleb could get over here to mow for me. Did some work in the yard early this morning and about did myself in. Had the other boys do some mowing and weed eating last week, but still wanted a few things to look a little sharper. Cleaned most of the walkway of the petunias and some weeds, and that helped. Clipped the Purple Sage back and threw the dead stuff in the trash bin. It seems to me that making things look neat is pretty much an art form. It is not quite enough to just mow or weed eat. My daddy used to say that neatness counts almost as much as getting the job done quickly. Probably more, in some situations. If something looks neat, and tidy, it makes everything look as if someone cares. Daddy’s expression used to be, “Don’t do a half-@ssed job!” But if we did not do something right—or to his satisfaction, he would tell us that we needed to “lick your calf over again!” Laughed about that this morning when talking to Connie. She was never around cows or cattlemen, so she had no idea that an old cow cleans her calf when it is born, then cleans it again, and then cleans it thoroughly even after it is a day or so old. Only about the time that the cow gets tired of being nursed does she ever stop cleaning her calf over. Thinking of how a good housewife will wipe down the counters, the cabinets, and even the floors even though they might have been cleaned just the morning before. But then, most housewives know those floors and counters are in constant contact with dirty hands and feet! My mom grew up in the country, too, so she knew what keeping clean floors meant.

 

It amazes me how many folks don’t mind clutter. What there is of clutter around here is about to get tackled next week. Connie said she would help me do the closet, so that is a major step in de-cluttering this house. It will take someone other than Connie to do the workshop, but that can wait until the heat waves have ceased to be so dangerous. Will take everything out of the workshop and see what really needs to be kept. Have oodles of stuff that does not really have a reason to be here any longer. May have to get Stephen Smith or Tim Malay to work over the air hose thing where it is beginning to crack. It was put there YEARS ago, so it has done well to keep working. Kinda would like to put a new motor on the big air compressor, but really don’t have a good reason to do so. It just bothers me that it does not work any longer. Betting that Tim would know how to fix the motor, but not sure he would want to mess with it. He is an electrician, however, and would understand what needs to be done to it—other than replacing it. Not sure that fits under the category of clutter, but don’t like to have things sitting around that can’t be used.

 

Coming back from the doctor’s office this morning and stopped by the mailbox. An envelope was in there from Shirley Taylor with some Bird of Paradise seeds in it. But it had a small problem. The envelope—PLUS the little plastic Ziplock bag—had holes in them. SOMEONE made holes in both. Go figure. The slices were too neat to have happened in any manner except on purpose. Now, let’s face it, the mail machines do have problems occasionally, but they don’t put neat little slices in the end of envelopes or into the baggy inside the envelope. So, told Shirley when calling to confirm receipt of the seeds that we may have Bird of Paradise trees from the California hills overlooking the Ramona Valley to Dickerson Hill overlooking Lake Wichita in Texas! She thought it was pretty amusing.

 

Speaking of Shirley, she and her husband Lee have just found out that Lee’s 92-year-old father, Bill, has cancer. Please say a prayer for their peace. No one asked for my opinion, but the cruelty that seems to accompany what is called “treatments” for cancer just boggles my mind. Someday folks are going to look back at our medical community and wonder what they were thinking! At least the doctors today don’t wear those bird beaks and burn incense around the rooms. But that may be next if the new Covid variants keep coming to us from China!

 

Jennifer was so excited that she let me know that she got into a pair of shorts that she wore years ago on a Hawaiian vacation. Not sure how many pounds she has lost on this Keto diet, but she has definitely changed shapes! That is half the battle, apparently. But she has also got all her cholesterol levels down to acceptable levels. If yours truly could stay away from sugar the way Jennifer has, my triglycerides would be in such shape that Dr. Blackwell would celebrate with me! But then, there is Banana Split ice cream! Sigh

 

Jennifer brought some hydration powders called Recharge when she came up recently. They work! And they taste good, too. If Lewis had had these things when he was sweating his brains out, he would have felt SO much better. It was one of the saddest things to see that man work from can to can’t in all kinds of weather. It simply amazes me that he was able to do it for all those years. He spent nearly 30 years working on Caterpillars in this kind of heat and in cold that hurt your bones just by stepping outside. Yep, he was a good man with a heart of gold or he would not have kept it up!

 

Looks like my friend AnnaBeth Graf is going to get another big drenching of rain. Whatever they want to call this latest storm front, it is dropping rain by the buckets on some places and am pretty sure that Diamondhead will get a goodly portion of it. Hope she does not need to go anywhere. Am pretty sure her sister was supposed to go in for aneurysm surgery sometime soon—or maybe already has. Not sure. And she does not answer her phone—Beth, not the sister.

 

Watered the flowers and Jerusalem Artichokes out front this morning. The flowers perked up and said, “Thank you so very much!” Maybe they will continue to do well for a while in this heat. Tomorrow morning or late this evening, the front flower bed needs a good soaking. The pots on the porch and ramp are already wet through, but the ground just takes up such a large amount of water that it pays to wait until the heat of the day can’t make it evaporate so quickly. That is the bad part—or one of the parts—of cutting the grass. If it is cut low right now, the heat is going to fry it! But then, it costs every time it has to be cut, and it is always tempting to cut it enough to make it last more than a week. Sigh

 

Some clouds are in the sky this afternoon and make me think of sitting outside this evening. Yeah, me and fifteen hundred mosquitoes! Would have to spray me and both dogs with Off to keep us from getting anemic rather quickly! Saw one of the hens trying to get a mosquito last night. She just was not quick enough! Wish they could eat mosquitoes like they do fleas!

 

Looking at the Trumpet Vine outside near where the old elm used to be. It has both the yellow trumpets and the orange trumpets on it. The yellow vines are not all that common at all, but the orange is what we had near us when we were growing up. Apparently, there are shades of deep red and other oranges as well. Trumpet vines and honeysuckle—two childhood special friends! Who did not use the trumpet vine blossoms for “fingers” or have the honeysuckle to taste from the torn flowers? Good memories.

 

The lilies are blooming in front of the house. One of the neighbors gave them to me three years ago. I was so close to tears and surprised at her thoughtfulness that saying anything was just too much! She was not, nor will ever be, one of my favorite people, but she does understand loss. Have spoken to her more than once when she lost a favorite dog. Caring for our critters is just something most of us have in common.

 

Driving my truck this morning made me wish carwashes were not so hard on a vehicle. We took this truck to the All-American Carwash once, and one of the idiots working there tore the mirror off the side of the truck because he thought it was one of those folding kinds. And boy was Lewis ticked! And the owner of the carwash was not going to pay to have it repaired either. One of the few times Lewis was willing to go to a legal solution to anything! Needless to say, it got repaired. Sitting here and thinking about the year that we had to deal with that. This truck is a 2001, so it is twenty years old now! And it still runs like a top! God blessed us so very much with Lewis’ good mechanical skills and with my son-in-law’s efforts to get the brakes repaired correctly. Boy! That was one scary affair with bad brakes and the idiot who told me that it would be safe to drive it that way! SO glad Gary knew what to do and who to take it to. Have learned not to trust some folks at all and others only as far as they can be thrown by a little ol’ lady!

 

Have not seen any wabbits out front this week since Jerry’s place got cut to the ground. Am hoping that they have moved on to the field below here and STAY there! Between the wabbits that bother the dogs and the rats that bother me, wildlife is not exactly welcome—except for some birds. The dogs keep having to chase the mallards out of the yard, however. The female waddled her way inside the chicken house the other day and almost made me afraid to watch. Thompson would have caught and killed her in a heartbeat if he had seen her. Am guessing that they are hungry, but no sense in feeding wildlife or they would become dependent on that kind of handout.

 

Speaking of handouts: one of the McDonald’s here can’t open the inside seating because they can’t get enough people to go to work for them. Yes, the wages are not great--$9.25 an hour—but if a person really needed to eat, it would seem to me that even less than $10 an hour is better than begging. Or maybe it is not. Hanan used to tell me that folks out in CA could make a good living by begging. Am not in the least bit surprised. But it is a shame that folks here in this part of the world would rather beg or get other kinds of handouts instead of working. If the current government gets its way, the socialistic ideas of a guaranteed income will cause so much trouble. Guaranteed medical treatment is one thing, but not having to work for a living just seems like causing problems with wildlife. Corn for the deer becomes corn for the wild hogs. And wild hogs tear up everything in sight just because they can. Some people are not all that different. Just sayin’.

 

Just noticed that even though nothing has been said that amounts to a hill of beans, this is the sixth page in Word formatting! Oh my. Ramble on, why don’t ya!

 

Count your blessings and praise the source of all of our lives! He loves us and proves it every day. Rest well, my friends. You are loved.