Garden news, chicken cleaning, good friends

While we were on the Polk Ranch over the weekend the owner asked me if I would like some garlic. There was patch in the front year of the old ranch house that she wanted to get rid of but did not necessarily want to throw out. Her husband dug them up Saturday morning as we were out for our ride so I packed them in the bed of the truck and hauled then back to Chico.

I planted them in the garden yesterday evening as Mama and I were straightening up around the house and in the back yard. There were more than I had anticipated. All in all, there were about twenty bulbs. If Mama and I are careful we should have garlic for our personal use for many years to come.

Speaking of the garden, Mama and I will have to dig potatoes this week. The plants are dying above ground so we know they are finished below ground. The last time we dug just two hills we ended up with enough potatoes for a couple meals. I do not know how many pounds of potatoes we will get out of the five rows we will dig this week – but it could be more than we are prepared for.

Mama will also have to pick strawberries in the next couple days. We put out thirty plants and now have about seventy five. If the weather holds for a few weeks we should be able to make our own strawberry freezer jam with the strawberries from our own garden. That’s exciting! I will get to pick figs shortly after we get back from Alaska – probably enough for a couple jars of preserves. That’s exciting too!

Mama and I took time last night to dust the chickens. We found mites on one bird so we treated the whole flock. We got a pretty good dusting ourselves as we tried to put the Seven Dust on each of the birds. I believe we mostly succeeded but next time we will wait until after dark when the birds have settled on the roost. They may be less prone to fight us at that time.

As Mama and out were out working in the yard our neighbor to the south stopped by. He had invited us to put Daisy and Dash with his cattle so Daisy could get bred by his bull. We were going to let down a patch of fence so she could mingle but he told us that he has the cattle on a second separate pasture right now.

In order to get her to the herd he is going to come to our barn and load her and Dash up in his stock trailer and take her to the pasture where he is keeping the bull. That is a kindness way beyond what we would have expected – or would have ever thought to ask. The Lord has given us very good neighbors here in Chico. That should happen Thursday night.

Mama and Victoria are going to pick up Victoria’s car today. It has been at the mechanic in Bowie. He found the problem she was having and corrected it in the most economical way he could find. We now know the root problem and can quickly address it if the same issues develop again. That’s a good thing since Victoria is heading to Florida to stay with Cori as she struggles with issues with her pregnancy.

Victoria got a leave of absence from work so she could get the time off. It will do both sisters good to have that time together.

Trail ride

Mama, Victoria and I thoroughly enjoyed this past weekend. We traveled to Quitaque, TX  which sits at the southern edge of Caprock Canyons. There is a ranch house on the Polk Ranch about five miles outside of the town that is rented out to trail riders with access to the 7,000 acres of the park as well as the 2,500 privately owned acres of the ranch.

We traveled in caravan with Danny Benson and a couple from Decatur who run a horse training facility just a few miles south of town, Ben and Kelly. Each trailer had three horses and all the tack to outfit them and at least two more. There was not much time wasted after we got to the ranch. We unloaded, got the horses ready for a ride and headed out into the juniper trees. The weather was beautiful. The mosquitos were horrible.

Ben gave me and Mama some pointers along the way and I think I picked up more information on proper handling of a horse on that one ride than ever before in my life. We headed into the creek that runs across the property through a small canyon – enjoying ourselves thoroughly in spite of the mosquitos – when Mama’s horse decided to lay down on her. The horse realized his mistake and quickly got up on all fours but not before he spilled Mama off.

Mama was able to get off while the horse was down and did not suffer any harm but it provided an awkward moment for all of us – especially Danny who owns the horse. The fact that the horse chose a soft sandbar for his attempt to roll was a blessing for Mama. The horse had been chosen for Mama because he was felt completely trustworthy for the ride. Danny was embarrassed and apologetic for the remainder of the time we were there. But is goes to show that there is no perfect horse. They can be unpredictable even if what they do is without malice.

Mama had to walk for a few minutes to calm her nerves but we found a spot for her to remount and continue the ride. One of the challenges us newbies faced was that all of the horses we were riding were very tall. Mama, Victoria and I were all too short or too stiff to remount without a small step to give us a leg up. Every time a hat blew off or Victoria dropped her lens cap someone else had to dismount to pick it up. All of the riders were very gracious about it.

Saturday mornings ride was plagued by mosquitos. The horses were suffering terribly from the pests even though we sprayed them with a strong repellent before we left the corral. Danny took Mama, Victoria and I back to the farmhouse early because he felt bad for the horses. Even at that, we were out for a little over two hours. Since we were a little saddle sore from the ride the day before none of us complained.

After a late dinner Saturday evening we headed home. It was a good trip. Good fellowship. Good food. Great horses. Beautiful scenery. New friendships with solid believers. Lots of pictures and even more very good memories.

No signal, slogging through

The internet provider that I contacted over a month ago finally came to the house to evaluate the possibility of getting service. He was not able to get a signal. I did not hold out much hope so there was no extreme disappointment on my part; however, when Jake stays with us later this summer he will feel differently.

Mama told me the technician told her it was not the trees that were the problem, it was a geography issue. Where the house sits there is not a tower close enough to give us any signal. Oh, well. We tried. There is an effort in progress to get more service to our area but I am not holding my breath that it will happen soon.

While the technician was up on our roof a very large branch fell out of one of the trees on the driveway. Fortunately it was not one of the dead ones near the garage. When I got home I had to get the chainsaw and cut it up into manageable pieces. We will move the firewood sized pieces to the growing pile I am accumulating and keep back the branches for a bonfire for Jake.

The storm passed over us last night – which is a good thing because we got over two inches of rain the night before – and dumped over two inches on parts of north Ft. Worth; mainly where my boss lives. From the forecast it looks like we are just about through with the constant rain. There are more sunny days predicted for next week that rainy ones. That has not happened since late March. The rain has been a mixed blessing, but as the summer progresses we will all be thankful for what we have in full tanks, ponds and lakes.

Even the quarry on the property that is right next to us is full to overflowing. I have been told that there are some record sized bass in it so I will have to check it out. It looks like a perfect place to try kayaking with Mama. Perfect because it is large, it is full, it is close and it is free. I am also anxious to try fly fishing and our little tank and the quarry lake will give me that opportunity – someday.

More heavy, dangerous storms are forecast for this weekend but we are pressing on with the trail ride. Danny has promised that we will not be disappointed with the gathering even if we do not get to do much riding. With the sudden nature of the storms here, I have asked Mama to pack a couple extra outfits for each of us in case we get soaked while we are out.

It is my experience that there is not much place to hide from the rain while on horseback.

Car issues, soft ground, outing this weekend

Last night Mama and I took Victoria’s car to the mechanic in Bowie. It has continued to die on her at odd times; not totally die but cut back to just above coasting rpms because of an engine failsafe alarm. We have always been able to get the car back to normal operation but we are never sure what causes the failsafe to kick in. Hopefully Roger can tell us what is going on and get it corrected.

While we were there we took the van to Allen’s Texaco to get the inspection done and they had Mama pull into the center bay of the garage. By the time anyone asked what she needed one of the employees had drained the oil assuming that she wanted an oil change. We ended up splitting the cost of the oil change with the garage and getting the paper for the inspection so I can get the registration done today. I should be good on oil for a while since I just got the oil changed a few weeks ago.

Lee Allen and his father own the property that abuts to the farm in Bowie. While we were waiting for the oil to be added we got to talking about how wet everything is and I mentioned that Danny Benson told me he had gotten his tractor stuck in the pasture and that he had asked Lee to borrow his tractor to pull the stuck one out. Lee quickly said “no” because he could see the sequence of events of getting both tractors stuck.

Right now, as Lee put it, “there is no bottom out there.” What that means is that there is no firm ground under the very soggy surface. Even in the back yard in Chico I can barely walk in certain places because the ground is so soft. I can take a rod and push it down three feet into the ground without putting too much force on it. That’s soft. It will take weeks for the ground to firm up enough to be back to normal.

Mama and Victoria are both excited about the outing we have this weekend. We are meeting Danny Benson – the man that bought our farm in Bowie – and some friends of his to go trail riding at Cap Rock Canyon State Park. He is supplying all the horses and tack, the place to stay and the meal Friday evening. All Mama and I have to do is prepare breakfast Saturday morning. His daughter is also coming on the excursion so Victoria will have someone about her age to pal up with…maybe. Right now, planning for that trip is the focus of Mama’s attention. I suppose it should be since we are leaving Friday morning.

We are a bit worried about the constant rain interfering with the trail ride but Danny assures us we will stay out of the rain as much as possible. We are staying in a fully furnished cabin in the park so we will not be roughing it at all. We are told that if we stay to the high ground we should be able to get in some good rides and see some scenic vistas. That should be fun.

If it rains too much we will stay in the cabin and visit. Danny tells us that all the participants are solid Christian folks whose company we will thoroughly enjoy. I am hoping that when we end up in a theological discussion over the course of the weekend we can use our recently acquired knowledge from FBI to add to the discourse.

That would thrill Mama and Victoria.

Bad phone, house repairs, clearing the road

Before I left the office Friday I was getting help with my iPhone from the IT department. Through their help I ended up getting my profile wiped off the phone and they could not get it back before I left the office. That loss does not affect most things on the phone but it did wipe out all my contact information so I could not get numbers for anyone from the lists I normally have and it kept me from getting any email throughout the weekend – which was not necessarily a bad thing. Hopefully, I can get it restored today.

I worked all day Saturday installing ceiling fans. The one in the laundry room was especially difficult because I had to remount the box it would attach to. That required crawling in and out of the attic numerous times to find it, reinforce it and put the insulation and vapor barrier back the way I found it. It took me over three hours to get it done but it turned out nicely once finished. I had to change once I was done because of the amount of insulation that had collected on the very sweaty shirt. The other two ceiling fans that I installed took about an hour each.

I also hung a light for Mama in the front entryway before we left to go to a graduation at the church school. That kept us out until just before dark on Saturday night so as we turned onto our county road we were surprised to see that the roadway was completely blocked by something. That something turned out to be branches from a long dead tree that had fallen and brought the vines attached to them – from both sides of the road – down onto the road.

After studying it for a minute and trying to pull the mass out of the way I pulled enough of the vine cover aside to get the truck on our side of the blockage and we attached a rope o the vines and pulled them with the truck. That did not go as planned. Just as we were making some headway the rope broke and the mass fell back onto the road – a complete curtain of vines across the roadway.

I ended up sending Mama and Victoria to the house for a saw, which they could not find. They brought me a hacksaw. It worked. The vine I identified as the main source of frustration was over an inch thick. It was some type of grape vine but tangled up in the mass was ample poison ivy. Once the main vine was cut we were able to pull the huge mass to one side of the road. At some point in the near future we will have to get the tree taken down and vines it is supporting cleared out. Hopefully, the county road crews will do that for us.

Yesterday Mama and I worked before the rain to move some of the gravel that had washed up on our road. We used the tractor – which I was barely able to get out of the barn across the soft ground – to scoop up the mass of gravel. In all we got five bucket loads from the roadway. That cleared the hump we were driving over and it almost filled the low spots at where our driveway meets the road.

There is still more we can get, but that was a good beginning.

Renovations, Mam’s fall

When we bought the house we are in now there were four large mirrors in the bathroom but they were brass looking and ornate. Mama did not like that look so I took them down – the painters needed them out of the way anyway - and we have been storing them for reuse. Mama has had it in mind for months now to get them in shape to rehang.

Over the past several days Mama has been working on those mirrors to get them textured and painted. She had them almost ready on Tuesday but one of the two was not completely dry. Last night they were ready to install. I got them up without too much trouble. Mama was pleased but it only served to get her fired up about getting a lot of other little things done.

I started to install a new ceiling fan in our bedroom but the ceiling under the old ceiling fan needed to be scraped and painted. Since the fan had not been taken down while the painters were in the house – they needed the light it provided in the room - the ceiling under the housing of the fan still had the popcorn on it. Mama does not like that at all. We decide to go to Lowe’s to get a medallion to cover the ugly ceiling and put it up before I installed the new fan – which has a much smaller part that attaches to the ceiling. Mama is painting that medallion today.

The fifteen dollar medallion ended up costing me another hundred dollars because the fan needed a light kit and the entry need a new light and the transition trim from the kitchen to the sunken living room needed to be replaced. I stopped her there. We will have to wait a bit before some of the other little things that aggravate her get addressed; before Alfredo and his wife come for a visit next month.

After we got back from Lowes we got the hay and feed I had had Mama buy earlier that day out of the back of the truck. Our one lone cow is getting thin looking as she nurses her not so little bull calf and I have no more round bales to give her. So we paid the premium price for square bales to supplement until the ground is dry enough to get another round bale to her.

We will be picking up several bales this afternoon but I cannot get them to the barn without burying the tractor which is heavy enough without a thousand pound bale scooped up in the bucket. We bought enough small bales to get by until the middle of next week. It will just require a little more work on Mama’s and my part.

As we were taking the feed – loaded in a wheelbarrow - through the gate at the back of the carport Mama, who was trying to walk with me to steady the bales of hay, caught her foot on the discharge shield of her mower and fell down hard. Fortunately, she did not hit any obstacles in her fall but she landed on her left side with her arm under her as she fell.

By the time we finished at the barn and got back to the house her elbow was starting to bruise and her shoulder was hurting. She is going to be very sore today.

 

So much rain

Mama called me yesterday morning to tell me we had gotten four inches of rain overnight Tuesday night. I thought it had been quite a bit. After I had been at work for a couple hours I found out that two of the ladies I work with had lost power in the height of the storm and one on them had been flooded out of her home. One of the two had some significant damage to buildings on her farm from a small tornado that touched down briefly during the height of the storm. Fortunately, her house was spared.

At church last night we learned that one of the ladies who does FBI with us and her husband had to take shelter in their cellar – ‘fraidy hole – Tuesday night because a tornado had formed right over their property. Fortunately, it dissipated and did not touch down. She still seemed to shudder as she recounted the event to us. That makes five people I know that have been affected by tornados in the recent bout of storms.

The Lord has been very gracious to me and Mama – Victoria as well. Her little house has not suffered any damage other than one shingle being blown off of the front porch roof. Every night this week I have gone to bed with the lightning flashes piercing through the closed blinds; counting the time until I hear the thunder, if I hear it at all. The house muffles the thunder to the point that Mama and I are not usually aware of it through the night.

The old timers used to say that it took a hurricane to break a drought. That has not been the case this year, nor would I wish it, but this is pretty close. The good part of what we are experiencing this year is that the drought is over, the lakes are full and the daily damage and heavy downpours have not been in the same area night after night.

Over the course of May the intensity of the recurring storms has shifted across north Texas allowing each successive damaged or flooded area to recover somewhat between storms. For example, friends of ours at church that suffered some severe hail damage from a storm last Thursday have gotten only one half inch of rain since then while Mama and I have gotten nearly seven inches.

Mama was talking last night as we drove away from the house about getting the tractor out and scooping up some of the gravel that has washed up onto our county road and putting it where we need it. I had to tell her that I did not think we would get the tractor out of the barn without causing a lot of damage to our own roadways on the property.

The tractor is quite heavy and will make very deep ruts as we cross the property. Those ruts then fill with water as it continues to rain, making the ground even softer and very soon we have another problem to deal with. So we will continue to drive over the misplaced gravel for a few more days. At least until we have a few days of either no rain or very light rain to allow the ground to dry out a bit.

I penciled that project in for mid-July.