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Posted on Thursday, April 03, 2008

Visiting Julie And Returns

Linda was supposed to babysit for Julie on Thursday and then come home, so she asked if Stacey and I wanted to go along. The weathermen were forecasting rain for most of the day, so Stacey and I went along. After a little longer than an hour drive, we arrived at PB&J's house. Pauline was almost ready to leave for her job and Brent was just hanging around playing with Julie. Pauline left about 15 minutes after we arrived, but Brent said the school where he worked was on Spring Break and he wasn't going in to work. Linda and I asked why the heck we had come over and he explained he thought we were going to Illinois on Friday and leaving from there. Linda said that trip had been canceled. We decided we would go to Bowling Green after Julie took her morning nap. A little after 10 AM we loaded into our HHR and drove to town. Our first stop was at the new Harbor Freight store. I needed to exchange an item, so Brent and I went inside and exchanged the small charger for two 'float chargers' that I will use to hopefully keep the batteries in the 4 wheelers from going bad in winter time. We left and headed to Sears at the mall. Brent called Pauline and she agreed to meet us there for lunch. Brent returned a set of tools he had bought and used my Craftsman Card to save $10 on his purchase. I returned a set of socket extensions and bought a set of tools that came in a blow molded tool box. Brent took the tool sets out to the HHR while I carried Julie and we headed to the food court to meet Pauline. He caught up and when we made our way to the food court it was packed with kids from 3 separate schools that were on Spring Break. Pauline had arrived slightly earlier than us and had her food before we did, so she ate with Julie while we all went to separate food vendors to pick our lunches. Each of us had to stand in line with probably 10 people in front of us when we entered the lines. Finally, we were all able to get our orders and eat. After finishing lunch, Pauline said so long and headed back to her job. The rest of us shopped a little bit at the mall, then loaded in the car and went to Sam's Club. So, we shopped and paid for our items there, loaded them in the car and headed back to the house. Back at PB&J's house, Linda helped me put the tools in the correct places in my new tool box while Stacey helped Brent place his set in their places. Julie took a nap while that was going on. She woke up and Linda fed her and we played with her a little while. She is walking behind her little push car really well, but can't turn it yet. Julie is just over 9 months old and had been for a checkup the day before with the doctor saying she was doing fine and giving Pauline and Brent a few pointers on some things to be doing. Not giving her a bottle any longer was one of the recommendations, with the doctor saying it will be easier to stop it now than later. I picked up my new tool box with all the tools in place and was carrying it to the car. As I went out the door all the drawers fell out and the tools fell all over the porch. About 260 tools laying all over the place. Linda, Brent, Stacey and I picked them up and again put them in their proper place in the box. It was around 4:30 PM when Stacey, Linda and I along with Missy headed back to the farm. It had rained off and on most of the day and as I drove home we noticed a lot of the creeks were muddy and flooding out of their banks. We stopped to eat in Glasgow before driving the rest of the way home arriving just before dark.

Posted by at 10:30 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Friday, April 04, 2008

Old Timers Games

Stacey, Linda and I attended an 'Old Timers' basketball game. I was surprised at the amount of people there. Stacey went up to set with Jason in the Marrowbone section, while Linda and I found two seats in the normally reserved section. As game time neared, it was standing room only, the entire gym was filled. The high school used to be fed by 3 elementary schools, Kettle, Marrowbone and Burkesville. They divided the players up according to which school they had attended. The players had been out of school for at least 10 years, most a lot longer. Jason's mom, Stephanie was one of the cheerleaders for Marrowbone. The cheerleaders even did their old cheers and built pyramids, although some weren't able to be lifted up any longer. It was great fun and the crowd loved the antics. The competition was still in the players, but their bodies wouldn't always do what they wanted them to do. During the time between the two games they showed old pictures of the teams and cheerleaders on a large screen for the crowd to view while playing appropriate music. The entire event was for our local 'Relay For Life' charity that benefits cancer patients. Now, I'm guessing, but I'll say that is one of the best fund raising activities they have ever had, if not financially, for sure in entertainment value.

Posted by at 10:32 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Saturday, April 05, 2008

Batteries and Debris

During the previous two days rain had prevented us from going outside and we had done some shopping. I had purchased 3 new batteries for the ATVs, so after fixing breakfast for us, I went to the hay shed to install the batteries. Stacey went along to help me and brought her iPod, so I hooked it to the radio to play music while we worked. I filled the batteries with the acid and hooked them to each 4-wheeler, then started them and let Stacey and Linda ride them around a little as I continued to install the rest of the batteries. All but one of the ATVs started after the new batteries were in place. I hooked the snatch strap to the one that wouldn't start and Linda pulled me down the road to the mum patch to get it running. It popped and cracked a few times, then finally began running. We unhooked the strap and I drove it back to the hay shed. We filled them with gas and let them run a few minutes, then shut them off and restarted to make sure they were ready to use. Stacey was eager to take a ride around the farm, so we each started one of the ATVs and headed across the road and through the creek. The water was still a little high, but safe to cross. Stacey led us around the hay fields and I surveyed the debris the creek had dropped in the hay fields again. It wasn't really bad this time, but will require the tractor to shove the stuff out of the fields again. Water was flowing off the sides of the hills and there were piles of leaves where they had washed down to the bottom. There had been a slight blockage that had built up upstream from the culvert tiles I had placed in the ditch. The water had overflowed the ditch and the crossing I had built. The dirt will need replacing again. I'm glad I have the scoop and small backhoe that mounts on the tractor to do those jobs or it would cost me money to have it done.

Posted by at 7:30 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Sunday, April 06, 2008

Debris and ATV Ride

The weather was nicer this morning so after Linda fixed breakfast, I took the Ford tractor and went across the creek to work on straightening up some of the mess that the rain water had done. The creek had been out of it's banks and flowing through the hay fields, so there were several places that had debris left by the high water.
  
I used the scoop on the tractor to scrape the debris into piles and shove it back to the creek banks. Then I worked on the ditch that runs along the edge of the hill and hay field. I took the back hoe and dug the gravel and pulled it over to the side of the ATV path between the hill and hay field. After finishing that, I put the tractor in the hay shed and Stacey and I drove the Mule to take Daisy for a run. We crossed the creek and Stacey unhooked Daisy and she hopped out of the back of the Mule.
 
 
Daisy was playing in the water and seemed to like it more than usual. I guess it was because the temperatures were in the lower 70s, so she was getting hot running up and down the hillsides. After letting her run for about a half hour we took Daisy back to the barn and went inside for a little bit. Linda came back inside and wanted to take an ATV ride so we went back outside and all took off on the 4-wheelers. We headed back across the creek and down the other side, picking our way along the creek bank until we made it to the other farm.
  
  
It was easy to notice the hay is starting to turn real green and to grow as we rode around the fields. And when we returned home and parked the ATVs in the barn, I noticed as I walked to the house that one of our trees has started to bloom.
 
It was about 2 weeks later last year that we had a hard freeze that damaged a lot of trees and killed plants. Maybe we will be lucky this year and avoid a killing freeze.

Posted by at 9:02 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Wednesday, April 09, 2008

Stacey and New Grass Beds

Tuesday morning started with meeting Jason for breakfast with Stacey, Linda and me at Jone's Restaurant. We had fun talking about NASCAR and the NBA and things that Stacey and Jason liked. After breakfast, I drove home and parked the HHR in the garage and I noticed Stacey said something to Linda as she got out and went straight in the house. As I followed, I found Stacey laying in the bed with Linda beside her. I realized that Stacey was having some problems with involuntary movements in her arms. After watching a few minutes I laid down beside her while Linda did something else. The movements had increased in frequency and strength so I gave Stacey 15 mg of Valium per Dr Zhu's instructions. She reacted in about 7 to 10 minutes. Her movements stopped and her mind seemed to return to normal functioning. We watched her until late in the afternoon and nothing else happened. Linda and I decided to plant some ornamental grass I had ordered several months ago from Michigan Bulb. We gathered up the tools and then set Stacey in a lawn chair so we could work and watch her at the same time and began on the two beds. I ran the tiller through both patches first, then raked the ground smooth. Linda rolled out the weed block and cut it to length. I measured and cut the spots in the weed block for the plants and Linda planted them. Linda and I laid the pavers around the beds and then I used the scoop on the tractor to bring a half scoop of rocks to the new beds. Linda and I shoveled just enough of the rocks out of the scoop onto the weed block to hold it down. I put the tractor up while Linda put up the Mule and we quit for the night as it was getting close to dark.
   
Wednesday morning Linda fixed us a sausage biscuit for breakfast and about 7:45 AM Stacey began having problems again. I gave her 15 mg Valium, but this time the movements continued for a while. A half hour later Linda gave her another 10 mg Valium and it slowed the movements down some. After about an hour, they finally subsided and Stacey took a nap for a little bit. She woke up shortly and seemed to be better. Of course the Valium had her a little groggy, but it was better than her having a seizure and a trip to the hospital. We ate lunch at home and Linda and I took turns keeping an eye on Stacey while the other one did some odd jobs.

Posted by at 8:34 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008

Severe Weather

It began raining early this morning before daylight. Linda and Stacey were over at Pauline and Brent's house taking care of Julie, so I drank some coffee and about 8:30 AM went to the hay shed. I started the old 8N tractor and pulled it out of the shed. I moved the Ford tractor into the spot where the 8N had been sitting and removed the back hoe attachment. I let it down on cement blocks and slowly pulled the tractor away from the back hoe. I shut the tractor off and tried to remove the pump from the PTO, but it was stuck. I headed to the house for a can of WD-40 as Linda pulled the HHR in the garage with Stacey, Julie, Pico and Poco inside. After talking a minute or two, I grabbed the spray can and headed back to the shed. After spraying the slip ring for the pump, it slid off the PTO shaft easily. I parked the tractor back in the other stall and started the 8N and pulled it back into the shed in front of the back hoe attachment. I went to the house as it was raining a little harder. Julie was playing in the living room and Linda was watching her. I set down and let her get used to me a little, then started playing with her too. Our weather radio alarm sounded and it was a warning for a severe thunderstorm. The satellite TV was going off and on as often happens when it rains hard. The Nashville TV stations were warning of radar indicated tornadoes in the area. I checked the radar on the NWS site and it looked like most of the extreme weather was going to the south of us. Our weather radio signaled a tornado watch for our area. We experienced very hard rain and some wind, but nothing severe. It wasn't long until the creek was nearing the top of it's banks and a little bit later it was flowing through our upper hay field.
   
   
Nashville reported there were over 30 homes destroyed in various areas in TN.

Posted by at 2:57 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008

Julie Visits and More

Our granddaughter, Julie stayed with us Friday night and Saturday night too. Saturday during the day, Linda called and asked Stephanie if we could pick up Jason after he worked. She said that would be OK, so we picked him up in front of Houchens a little after 11 AM. Jason hopped in the back seat as he usually does, but Julie was in her car seat in the middle and she isn't used to very many strangers, so Linda and Jason had to trade seats. Julie was OK riding between Linda and Stacey. I drove to Columbia and we ate at Betty's Fine Dining Restaurant. Jason seemed to enjoy the place as it has a shelf near the ceiling almost all the way around the dinning room with NASCAR replica cars on it. There are at least 100 and probably more. After eating we took Jason home and so that Stephanie could see how Julie had grown. They were getting ready for their other son, Bryant, to go to the prom that evening. Pauline and Brent called later to see how things were going with Julie and their dogs. We told them all was OK and talked a little bit about the wedding they were attending in Nashville.
Sunday, Pauline and Brent arrived and we could tell they had missed Julie. They didn't have time to talk much because they were playing with her. They eventually slowed down and told us how the wedding had went and what else had been going on. Brent and I worked on the 56 Chevy a little, then took a test drive and made it down the road and back. Brent had replaced a fuel filter and now the car would continue running. We ate lunch of turkey breast that Linda's Mom had sent us. It was really the best turkey I've eaten. Brent and I drove the 56 to town and filled it up with gas to see if it would cause the car to quit running. Linda and Brent had found a exercise machine on a local sales web site and Brent called about it. He and I took the truck to Baxter TN to take a look at the machine. Brent bought it, so we loaded it in the back of the truck and headed back home. The entire trip took three hours. PB&J decided to stay Sunday night too. Pauline was going to have LASIK eye surgery on Monday, so they were going to be off work anyway. They left early Monday morning to get home in time to change clothes and get to Pauline's eye doctor appointment.
Click the following link to watch the flash movie of Julie Learning To Walk.

Posted by at 10:58 AM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Mum Beginnings

Linda was working with the string trimmer and I had been mowing with the tractor and the riding mower most of the morning. We took a break and along with Stacey went to Subway for lunch, then came home and went inside. Linda and I decided what kind and color of mums we were going to order, then I called and ordered 1,000 mums. After ordering, I went to the hay shed and took the Ford tractor across the road and removed the bush hog from the back, then drove to the barn down by the mum patch and hooked to the two bottom plow. I laid off a place for a small garden and then the patch for the mums. The ground was slightly wet but seemed to break up fairly well. After I finished the plowing, Stacey and I washed the 1956 Chevy because Brent and I had drove it in a little bit of rain last weekend. We had replaced a fuel filter and we wanted to see if the problem with the car stalling had been caused by the fuel filter being clogged. Evidently, that was the problem because we drove it to town twice and I've drove it into town once since replacing the filter and the car has made it everytime.
  

Posted by at 8:51 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Friday, April 18, 2008

Stacey Celebrates With Jason

I had told Steve Riddle that I would ride along when he went to pick up the metal barn siding for the shed I had helped build on his farm. He called a little after 8 AM and then picked me up. We stopped to eat breakfast in town and Stacey's friend, Jason was eating also. I wished him Happy Birthday and then Steve and I ate and headed to TN. After the ride, we went inside the office and Steve told them what he wanted. I was standing there listening when Tony Boils came in and we started talking. Tony and his Dad had built our house. Tony was telling me that his son, Anthony was having some trouble. Anthony has autism and as he was maturing it was getting worse recently. Tony thought that they had it smoothed out now though, but said it had been rough. He asked how Stacey was doing and I told him a little about how Stacey had been. About then, Steve was ready to have his order loaded. We watched the guy and gal load the metal, then we strapped it down and headed back to Burkesville. Steve dropped me off at the farm and I went inside and let Missy out, ate a sandwich for lunch then went back outside. I started the tractor and plowed the patch for the pumpkins. It was still a little too wet, but I managed to finish the patch anyway. I took the plow off the back of the tractor and scooped up some of the gravel out of the creek to cover the area where we go in and out at the gate. I put the tractor in the hay shed and then drove out to Steve's farm on the ridge. They had finished painting the old building's roof and were working on putting up an outdoor security light. I helped with that for a while, then headed home. I went inside and set down with the ceiling fan on to cool off. Sat there about five minutes and then Linda and Stacey came home. Around 6 PM, Stephannie, Jason and Tommy stopped by to pick up Stacey. They were going to eat and wanted Stacey to go along to celebrate Jason's birthday. Stacey gave Jason a birthday present and card and he opened both before they left.
  
While they were gone, Linda and I went to Burkesville and ate, then went back home to wait on them to return. Tommy, Stephannie, Jason and Stacey returned and told us about where they went and we also talked a while longer. Stacey and Jason seemed to have had a good time.

Posted by at 9:45 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Sunday, April 20, 2008

The Weekend

Stacey, Linda and I went to town to meet Jason and his Dad, David Strange at Jone's Restaurant on Saturday. We were a little earlier than Jason and his Dad, but they arrived shortly after we did. We set down and ordered and then talked while our food was being prepared and brought to the table. David was born and raised in Burkesville, but now lives a little south of Bowling Green in Plano, KY. He has a business that installs swiming pools and also does the upkeep on them. Jason has told us he helps his Dad sometimes when he stays with him on the weekends. We finished our lunch and continued to talk for a while about Jason and Stacey and how they liked a lot of the same things and how they were a little bit similar in their lives. It was good to meet David and get to know him since Jason talks about him a lot of the time. He bought our lunch and we said thanks and we headed back to the farm. Jason and his Dad were going to his house in Plano for the weekend.
Sunday, we just messed around at the farm. I took the 1956 Chevy for a ride in to town and back. Then Linda and I tried to start the Triumph TR3. The battery would wind it over but it still wouldn't start, so Linda used the Mule to pull it down the road with me driving and it started. I drove it back to the house, then north to the county line and back. It started several times, so Linda drove it down the road to Salem Park and back.
 

Posted by at 9:03 PM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Friday, April 25, 2008

Julie Walking

Linda brought Julie home with her this morning and said that Julie had been walking for a few days. She said Pauline and Brent called it a 'Frankenstein' walk because of her arms being out in front of her, but I think she's doing excellent. Of course, I would, I'm her grandparent. You can see for yourself in the video below...


Posted by at 11:27 AM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Saturday, April 26, 2008

Riding

Julie had came home with Linda Friday morning, so Pauline and Brent arrived early Saturday morning anxious to see Julie. They played with her inside while we had a light rain shower. When Julie laid down for a morning nap, Pauline and Linda began working on the tractor quilt blocks and Brent and I went to the garage to adjust the clutch in the 1956 Chevy. It took about 20 minutes and we were ready for a test ride. I drove to town and the clutch was working correctly, so Brent drove back to the farm, then back to town and we changed drivers again. When I began driving again, I did a short burn out and then said, the clutch was working the way it should, then continued back to the farm. Julie was up and the girls wanted to go to a shop in Albany for some quilting supplies, so we took the truck since it was the only vehicle that would carry all six of us. First we ate lunch at a Mexican place and the food was great. Then we stopped at a place that sells all sorts of stuff, from windows and doors, shoes, pedal cars, planting material, hardware, to nuts and bolts. After scrounging around in there for about a half hour, we stopped at the store for the quilting supplies. Linda and Pauline could have stayed in there for hours, but Brent and I were having trouble keeping Julie happy. After about 45 minutes the girls checked out and we headed back to the farm. The sky had cleared and it was a nice day outside, so we did some things outside. Brent and I cut a tree that was falling into the edge of the hay field. It was small and only took us about 15 minutes to pile the limbs on the black trailer and pull them to the edge of the creek. As we returned the trailer and chainsaws to the barn we noticed an old cat laying beside a group of birdhouses and bird feeders Linda and I had made. It looked like he was waiting on supper to come flying home.

Linda had bought a homemade wagon to use to pull Julie, so they loaded her and a Care Bear in the seat, strapped her down and pulled her up and down the walkway.
   
Pauline and Brent took a ride in the TR3 into town and picked them up a malt at the local ice cream shack.

Then returned to the farm and we added a quart of oil to the motor and we took a lap around Little Renoux Creek to make sure the oil pressure was OK. I also noticed that there were a few hummingbirds feeding at Linda's new bird feeder.

So, the hummingbirds are back and so are the purple martins. I guess, summer is here, oh, and it was in the 80s this week.

Posted by at 10:56 AM
Categories: Current Events


Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Flowers

We went to town Tuesday to meet Jason for breakfast and talked about what had been going on with him. Afterwards we rode over close to Glasgow and drove through a farm that sold used machinery and some new. The place was out in the country and they had quite a bit of newer equipment, but the old stuff looked like mostly trade in pieces. We continued to Glasgow and went shopping a while, then to Ben and Elmer's Tractor Sales. I picked up a couple of product handouts for hay balers and rakes and talked to a salesman about the prices, then we left and went to Mancino's for lunch. We returned to the farm and Linda went to work at the day care.
Wednesday morning, we headed to near Greensburg to buy flowers for decorating around the house. There is a small greenhouse there that has nice flowers and we've done our flower shopping there the last 3 years. Linda picked out the stuff she wanted and we loaded it in the HHR, but just barely. We stopped in Columbia and ate lunch before returning to the farm. Once home, I unloaded the flowers and then used the Mule with the trailer to haul the cement pots from inside the barn to the front sidewalk. Linda planted the flowers in the pots and a few other places.

   

Posted by at 7:58 PM
Categories: Current Events