Thur. 31st

Goodbye July. Hello August!

Otherwise, see last posting.

Wed update

I noticed that in many Eastern States the people who named the cities seemed to be too lazy to try to think up unique names - they just added North, South, East, West, or Center to an existing nearby city name and let it go at that. They is not common in Western States. Maybe people who traveled West to the Frontier had more individualism or something. You will need to enlarge the attached photo of the Cape Cod area to see the cities that I have noted. Look at maps of other Eastern States and you will find the practice to be oddly common. Weird!

Wed. 30th

Hot! That is spelled H-O-T!! We are putting water on the lawn just to keep the grass alive.

Nikki will be here in less than 2 weeks. She arrives late on the 10th of August and heads for NY on the 13th. When the trip is over, she will have driven from San Diego to New York City. That makes the trips to Muleshoe and Oklahoma seem like a drive around the block.

Nothing more to report. Bye!

Mon. 28th

On Friday a second auto crash in a few months occurred in from of the FH. It took out the fire hydrant and our water meter. Temporary water fix allowed us to stay open through the weekend. Today we watched the plumbers install new back flow valves and meter. We finally had water at about 4:45 p.m. just as visitors began arriving for a visitation.

I have to work tomorrow (Tuesday) because of vacations. It's gonna be a hot one!!

Bye!

Sun. 27th

The car thermometer at 4:00 pm showed a cool 102 degrees!! Flowers are wilting even though we are trying to water them often.

Jean did get the turtle. She said that it was an old female but Jean had her cleaned and fed after they were back in Alto.

Nothing to report. Bye!

Sat 26th

It is much too hot to be outside. We had no funerals today so it was a sit-and-drink-coffee day, oh, and some housecleaning. Nothing is scheduled for tomorrow so we may have another quiet day.

Our new funeral coach has arrived. Slightly bigger that the older one.

Nothing else to report. Bye!

Fri. 25th

Long day. I'm watching the Raccoon eat out back.

Just got a call from Jean. Yesterday,I found a small box turtle in the back yard and called her to ask if she wanted it. OF COURSE! So the turtle has been inside an old clothes hamper. I was intending to drive her (it is a girl turtle) to Alto after work but when I called Jean, no one answered. They were at a local diner. She and JD will be in Lufkin tomorrow so she will come by and get the turtle. I'll be at work and Linda will be at an event at the Expo Center so the turtle will be in the hamper outside the front door. All that for a turtle!!???

Ok, that's it folks!

Thur. 24th

Shucks! My 10 day week-end is coming to an end - I have to work the next four days. I see that we have a graveside tomorrow. Not bad, except for the heat.

I walked through the area where I might build the storage building and cut lots of vines. There really is not a good spot for the building. Too many big holes, trees, vines, and stuff. But we must have a storage building so I will proceed- probably after Nikki leaves in early August.

We had just enough rain to dampen the driveway! The radar showed lots in the area. BY THE WAY - check out the "interactive radar"at KTRE.COM. It is cool!! It uses the radar and satellite images over the Google Earth images. You can zoom in to any area in the country ( or maybe the world) and see if there is precipitation falling.

Out of here! Bye!

Wed. 23rd

We drove to Beaumont and back today. Visited with Jon's family and took Dyllin shopping for a few school clothes. We all went to Ryan's Steak House for our typical "lunch in Beaumont". While driving back this evening, we could see some huge thunder storms north of us. None were in Lufkin, as it turned out!! That means more sprinkler tomorrow.

Bye!

Tues 07-22-08

All the visitors have gone to their respective homes. We had to go to Wal-Mart and get a few things. Otherwise, the day was spent watering the lawn and watching the Raccoons.

Tomorrow we are going to Beaumont to visit and get Linda's haircut. Should be rainy tomorrow, especially in the Beaumont area. The hurricane may bring us a little rain but nothing other than that.

Out of here.

Bye!

21st

Nothing much. Took the car to KIA and had the oil changed and tires rotated & balanced. Ronnie, Tisha, Carolyn, and Wayne were here most of the day. We ordered pizza for supper. They just left.

Too hot to work outdoors. The "Storm" in the Gulf may bring us some rain during the week. That could bring a few hours of cooler temps.

Bye!

20th

We had company this week-end from Oklahoma and Muleshoe. Joann and Harold drove down Friday from Locust Grove, OK. Ronnie drove in from Muleshoe to get a tractor he had left at Wayne's last month. We had an enjoyable time. Joann & Harold left this morning and Ronnie will leave Tuesday.

OKAY! Here is our latest final decision. We should stay in this house, complete the projects we have planned to do from day-one, and forget about moving out of town. We need new gutters, a bridge, a storage building, and a roof over part of the patio deck. More dirt and grass should be added to some areas of the property and additional items (mostly junk) stored over the garage.

Bye!

Thursday

We did tour the house on Menefee this morning. It was not as nice as I had thought. It does have a lot of room. The garage has been enclosed and would be a fantastic train room. I think we would have to do a lot of renovating if we bought it. But, it does have everything we have been wanting: lots of storage in the floored attic with stairs (not a ladder), train in the garage, no close neighbors (on a corner with 0.753 acres), big yard, double carport, near everything, and it could be beautiful.

The we realized that we have not lived in the current house for more than two years so we might get hit with a big capitol gains tax if we sold the house in which we now live. There is ALWAYS a government hand grabbing for something we have!!

Joann and Harold arrive tomorrow for a visit and Ronnie is coming from Muleshoe. We should have a busy week-end.

Bye!

Wed.

We had a funeral in Diboll with burial on private property in Wells. Odd. The family had cleared a small area about the size of a house and we buried the lady there. The large family lives on the property in several neat homes. Now they have the family cemetery there.

We are going with our realtor to look at a house here in Lufkin tomorrow morning. It is not in the country but it has more room and storage than we have now.

Bye.

Tuesday??

Humm. We cut or pulled a few weeds from flower beds this morning, went to Wally World for a few things, and looked at a house on Menefee at Raguet. 3 Br, 3 Bth. 2600 Sq Ft, 0.753 acres in the city, third floor storage, slate roof, room for my trains!!

Tried to get our realtor to meet us there for a tour but she never called back. I work extra tomorrow so we may try Wednesday.

Bye!

Mon

We are having a HEAVY rain at the moment. Lightening & thunder & lots of rain.

I had planned to get the lumber for the bridge this week but now I have to work Wednesday = two church services in opposite ends of the county.

Nothing else to report. Bye.

Ho Hum

Hot day - nothing to report.

Sat

Worked until about 1:00 pm and then went to the Black reunion at Ratcliff Lake. It was just too hot to do much other than sit in the shade with a cold drink! Had a good visit and really enjoyed the company. Glad everybody could see me!!

Spent the remainder of the evening at home watering the grass and flowers.

Bye!

Thursday

We went to Ramona's today and then to her neighbor's to pick figs. I don't think I have mentioned this amazing discovery:

Wwwaaayyy back in 1963, while I was still a high school senior or had just graduated, I was working at Oakley-Metcalf Funeral Home. We had the ambulances then. One night we were called to a wreck on Hwy 59 North near the Angelina River Bridge. A Volkswagen Beetle had struck a huge bull that had wandered out of someone's pasture. A lady in the middle of the back seat was thrown through the sunroof of the Beetle. She landed in the roadway and was then struck by another vehicle trying to avoid the Beetle. That lady died. Ramona's neighbor was telling me that since her mother was killed in a wreck in 1963... I stopped her and asked where the wreck had happened and she said on Hwy 59 to Nacogdoches near the river bridge. I asked if her mother had been riding in a Volkswagen that struck a bull. She said that was it! I told her that I had been in the ambulance that transported several of the injured to the hospital. She then told me that she and her husband had been in the Beetle and both had been injured. I actually remember that a total of six people were in that little car and only a young girl was uninjured. This lady told me that the young girl was her sister.That accident and another on Hwy 59 below Diboll (both parents killed & two daughters survived) near the Neches River bridge are two that I vividly remember from those years.

Our home insurance agent told us not to buy a frame home if it is farther than 5 miles from the city and preferably buy only a brick house. Otherwise our insurance cost would just about double. Can't buy the Forest House!! Still thinking about one in Huntington.

Saturday is the big reunion at Ratcliff Lake. I have to work at least until noon unless we have several deaths Friday. Otherwise, we will arrive after 5:00 p.m.

No rain today! Bye!

Wed

Had to work today - 3 services and people on vacation. It was hot - super hot. May need to work tomorrow.

A realtor we know, and to whom we are actually related, called today and wants to appraise our house. She also asked us to look at a home for sale. We might.

Tuesday

Linda & I took the cat to the vet for shots. Never met a person as rude as the older lady running the front office. I thought a rain cloud had moved overhead so I peeked through the wooden shutters on the wall across the waiting room from her desk. (Small window about four feet off the floor.) She stated, "We don't open those!" I looked at her and asked, "We don't?" She said that they caused a glare. The window was sooooo dirty that very little sun could shine through. Linda's cousin asked how much was the charge for her dog's shots and the lady said, "55 dollars! You weren't listening!" This vet is on Locke Street.

Did get a small rain in the past hour. Just enough to leave wet spots on the deck.

Priced lumber for the bridge. Maddux Building Material was the least expensive by quiet a bit and they don't charge for local delivery. McCoy's was way too high and charged for local delivery. Lowe's was in the middle and I don't think they deliver.

Update to update

8:36 p.m.: Raccoon Kits are weaned at about two months. These four in our yard are then at least two months old. This is the first time we have seen them so today could be their first day to eat "real" food - at least human food. (checked the internet ref: baby raccoons)

Update

8:20 pm= we are watching a mother raccoon and her four youngsters eating in the back yard. Daddy raccoon is hanging around and watching. The little ones look like they are a few months old or less - can't tell for sure.

Mom ate first, let Dad eat a little, and then she left to get the little ones hiding nearby.

Monday 6:54 p.m.

RAIN - water falling from the sky in the form of large drops. Oops-it stopped? Will it resume???
Radar shows storm to the South moving North - toward us. Usually the rain storms split and go around us!! Yep, this one will likely do that!

We cleared more brush today. One can actually walk up to the edge of the creek and see all the trash now. What a pretty sight! Colorful plastics, a big piece of yellow carpet draped seductively across a rotting log, and something that is red and white plastic with a white metal frame of some kind. We even have high milage tires (black walls), a push mower, lumber, and plastic bags. Yum-Yum!!

Hum- still raining lightly. Will this one actually help--- THUNDER!~ Whoa, we may yet get some water. Thunder getting louder--- rain is very light.

Gotta go- Linda just announced that supper was ready.

PS: Nanna Puddin - I coated the pole with grease straight from my grease gun. They still managed to climb it with a running start.

NOTE: 7:07 p.m. -Rain is pouring down! A real gully washer!

Er--Sunday, I think.

Bought two swivel/rockers and glass topped table for the deck. They are comfy.

Nothing else happening. Slow, lazy day. Tomorrow, I need to go price lumber at another lumber yard and find out what they charge for delivery. MUST get the bridge built so we can use the property across the creek. I now plan to build a "Queenpost Truss" style bridge. Less lumber and it looks neat.

Bye!

Planning

Been standing out back by the creek with a cup of coffee trying to imagine a bridge crossing the creek without impeding the water flow. Think I have it! A "through truss" like the railroads use. It is not a complicated design. The frame is above the roadway and creates a bracing effect against the end supports to prevent sag in the middle. The entire bridge will need to be about 18 feet long and 5 feet wide. I found on the Internet that a 2"x8" board can span 13'4" and carry a good load. I plan to place 6 of the 2x8's one foot apart with a brace at 9 feet. Should be enough to support the lawn tractor and a trailer load of something - 1,000 pounds of less.

Squirrels are cute. Squirrels in bird feeders are a pain in the @#^^%**!!! I pile corn and sun flower seeds on the ground and in pans but, NO, we have one that MUST eat the same stuff from the bird feeder on the pole!!! He has learned to run when I walk onto the deck. The other three or four feed on the ground, as squirrels are supposed to do..

OUT OF HERE!

4th

I am full of Bar-B-Que ribs and good sausage cooked on our very own grill. I was surprised that it tasted soooooooo good!!

Carolyn ate with us since Wayne is in Muleshoe for about three weeks.

Looks like we have decided not to move. If we spot something terrific in the future, we might move, or if the city complains about our bridge and storage plans. Not going to get a permit - the construction will not cross or abut any other person's property, including the city.

Happy 4th. We might go see the firecracker display produced by Ross and Brenda tonight.

Thursday

I attended the funeral for Mrs. Audrey Tucker this morning at the O'Quinn Baptist Church. Ms Tucker was a member when we attended O'Quinn back there in the late 50's (That's the late 1950's). Her husband, S. M. Tucker, was a deacon. He died in 1983. I felt strange, being inside O'Quinn for the first time in probably 50 years! I actually recognized Ms Tucker's oldest daughter and her husband. Nothing stays the same or lasts forever.

Went down the road after the funeral to visit the fireworks tycoon. They are selling enough explosives to equip a good sized army. Maybe that's why Ross grew a beard and Brenda wears a turban...

After I spread an entire bag of fertilizer, we had an unexpected good, heavy rain. Now the grass will grow fast and mowing will follow.

Should we move or stay here!???! Really do need more room. I could build a storage building across the creek... the Corp of Engineers might complain...

Oh, well. We'll see if something pops up that we really like.

Wed.

Mowed, edged, trimmed, watered, rested.
Nothing new on the moving idea.

Tuesday

We looked at the outside of a house in Huntington today and plan to try to visit the place with a realtor tomorrow. The house was once owned, and probably designed, by an artist named Forman. She apparently had a studio built onto the two-car garage and another studio or plant room attached to the back. The yard (1.7 acres) appears to have been planted with several varieties of trees. The place looks great on the outside so we will try to see the inside.