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Posted on Sunday, April 05, 2009
Almost Easter
I've missed posting a few days due to an illness and going to the doctor
a couple of times, but there wasn't a whole lot happening, so I haven't
had much to say anyway. Friday evening Pauline, Brent and Julie arrived.
Saturday
morning when Nancy and Steve stopped, they said we had cows eating
across the creek in our hay fields. We looked outside and there were
about 15 nice size cows munching on the hay. They were nearly ready to
cross the creek and get on the road, so Brent and I went up the road to
the neighbor's house to see if they were his cows. They weren't, but by
the time we returned to the farm, the guy that owned the cows had
arrived and was driving them back into the 'holler'. We helped by riding
the ATVs and herding them along to the back of the 'holler' where he
drove them up the hill and over to Little Renoux Creek. We started a
small bonfire about 6 PM and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows until a
little after 10 PM with PB&J, Nancy and Steve.
Sunday morning,
Brent gave Julie a bath and then Linda gave her an Easter Basket since
they were going to be gone next week.
After
breakfast, someone rang the door bell and said the cows were in the hay
fields again. This time Linda and I drove over to Little Renoux Creek
and found Charlie King's place and told him his cows were in our fields.
He said he would be over in a little while on a horse to drive the cows
home. We returned to the farm and used the Mule and ATVs to drive the
cows back into the 'holler' and waited about a half hour for Charlie to
ride over. He took over the cattle drive and we returned to the fire pit
and picked up sticks and burnt leaves while Julie and the dogs played.
Back
inside the house, we had lunch, Julie changed outfits and then Pauline
and Brent helped Julie color eggs. We gave Brent a head start so he
could hide the eggs, then we all went back down to the fire pit and
helped Julie find the plastic eggs. It really didn't take long for her
to pickup on the idea and then she was an excellent egg hunter. We let
her find them all and then hid some of them again since she was having
such a good time.
Linda
has always made Easter a fun time for our kids, nephews and nieces. Now,
our granddaughter, Julie had a great time and so did Linda and I.
Posted on Friday, April 10, 2009
Tornadoes In KY And TN
Earlier in the day the National Weather Service issued a Tornado Watch for most of central TN and southern KY. Around 11 AM the weather forecasters on TV started interrupting programs with reports of Tornado Warnings. Soon after the reports started coming in of funnel clouds and then a tornado on the ground. The severe weather was about 2 hours away from our location. As the storms got closer, we put our vehicles in the barns and remained inside to watch the warnings. About 1:15 PM, we decided to move to the smoke house in case we needed to move into the safety of the cellar. Regina had joined us after putting her truck in the barn too. We took pop to drink, lawn chairs, our pills and the laptop computer. I was able to keep the internet connection alive the entire time and monitor the NWS radar from the cellar. Linda and Regina continued to chat during the thunderstorm that lasted about an hour and a half. The weather never really turned nasty, but we did receive some hard rain, thunder and lightening. I managed to write this post while setting in the comfort of the smoke house with the cellar just a few steps away. We never went down into the cellar, just sat up top and listened to the rain on the tin roof. There were over 100 houses destroyed near Nashville and at least 2 deaths.
Posted on Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Trips
Stacey and Linda left the house around 10:30 AM and picked up Regina at
her house on their way to IN. They plan on dropping off Regina at her
sister's house in Chesterfield and then staying with Linda's Mom in
Pendleton. Chuck Anderson had sent Stacey two tickets to a Pacer game
that Linda and Stacey will go watch in Indianapolis on Monday. After
they had left, I showered and dressed, picked up Coco, loaded a push
mower in the back and drove the truck to Pauline, Brent and Julie's
house for an Easter Egg Hunt. Pauline's Mom and Dad were there and they
all were eating dinner when I arrived. After they finished dinner, we
had a piece of Easter Bunny Cake, then went outside and watched Julie
hunt the eggs Brent had hid. Dorthy and Larry were tickled at Julie
hunting the eggs and each time she found one she would say, "nother
one". It was cute!
Dorthy
and Larry's dog, Buddy, was there and Coco, Pico and Poco all romped in
the yard as Brent and I unloaded the push mower and started it. Back
inside, I gave Pauline the pictures and Easter Cards of Julie that Linda
and I had made at Wal-Mart. After a while, I said good bye and returned
to the farm with Coco.
Posted on Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Pacer Game
While Stacey and Linda were in IN visiting family, they attended a Pacer
game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Our friend, Chuck Anderson had
sent two tickets and passes for Stacey and Linda to get in Conseco
Fieldhouse early. He had also arranged for a host to meet them and take
them to court side during early warm ups. I believe Chuck had included
some cards for discounts at the Pacer's Home Court gift shop too.
Some
of the Pacers were out early shooting around and Stacey managed to get
Quinn Buckner and Jarret Jack to autograph a program. LeBron James was
shooting layups for the Cavaliers right before the game when Linda took
the picture above and to the right. The pictures below are some of the
action during the game.
Stacey
had a great time and Linda enjoyed going to the game too. All of us wish
to thank Chuck for his generosity and for the extra effort in making it
a memorable experience for Stacey.
Posted on Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Travelers Return
Regina, Stacey and Linda made it home about 4:30 PM all in one piece. Linda said they all had a good time and saw several people while they were in IN. Regina stayed with her sister, Ruby, in Chesterfield while Stacey and Linda stayed in Pendleton with Linda's Mom. Linda also saw her brothers, Abner and Imon, during the trip. Stacey and Linda visited with Derek, Lana and Frank for a little bit and stopped to see Zack, Kim and Kenny too. They had fun but it seemed like they were glad to be home.
Posted on Saturday, April 18, 2009
Jason's Birthday
Stephanie and Jason came over with their friend Jason Whited to pick
Stacey up. Jason Strange was turning 28 and he had made plans with
Stacey. Stacey had a few birthday presents and a card she gave to Jason
before they left.
We
went outside and were talking about flowers and other things while
Stacey and Jason were sitting in our porch swing waiting to go to
Glasgow. They were going to see a movie and then to have dinner.
Stephanie told us they were going to watch Paul Blart: Mall Cop and
would eat after the movie, then bring Stacey back to the farm.
They
drove away and we left to help our neighbors move some cows from one
farm to another. Nancy and Steve had talked to us the previous evening
about giving them a hand taking their cows from out on Jone's Ridge to
Nancy's Mom and Dad's farm behind their house. We met them as they were
about to unload the first group of cows, then we helped get the second
group loaded in the horse trailer. We followed them and watched as they
turned the cows loose in the fresh pasture.
The
cows settled down and began eating right away. A couple of the cows
started eating beneath the fence and touched an electric fence that
Steve had installed to keep them from leaning on the fence. The fence
startled the cows which moved away quickly. It was working just like it
was supposed to work. A little later we had went back home and Nancy and
Steve returned our flat bed trailer they had borrowed and Linda and I
talked with them about how the cattle drive had went. Stephanie brought
Stacey home and Jason and Stacey told us about the movie and their
dinner before saying good bye. Stacey and I watched the NASCAR race from
Phoenix and Jason's favorite driver, Mark Martin won. It was Martin's
first win in 95 races and it was on Jason's birthday.
Posted on Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Lawyer Appointment
We started the day by taking Stacey to have breakfast with Jason. We discussed the recent NASCAR victory by Mark Martin and several other things as we ate. After breakfast, we told Jason bye and went straight to see a lawyer concerning defending us against a law suit filed by a lawyer for the Transportation Dept of KY. They are intending to condemn part of our farm because they can't come to terms with us for the purchase of 1.12 acres of land, two buildings, several trees, and a few other improvements. We talked with the lawyer about 30 minutes and told him that we've made several attempts at settling with the state, but they won't negotiate, so our decision was to hire a lawyer and try to obtain a fair price for our property. He will make an appearance in court for us on Thursday. It sounds as if it will be a costly matter for us as we will have to pay for an appraiser and the lawyer taking 1/3 of any settlement above the original offer. In the afternoon, Linda went to work at the day care and Stacey drove the Mule and followed me on the tractor to mow around Regina's old house. I also mowed in the 'holler' behind her old house where the guys from Knoxville hunt turkey and deer. They stopped Saturday and paid me for keeping the place mowed a few times each year.
Posted on Thursday, April 23, 2009
Court Date
We went to the Cumberland County Justice Center today for our lawyer to appear in front of the judge. We walked through the metal detectors and went upstairs to the courtroom. There were several law officers sitting in the courtroom and our lawyer was already involved in a proceeding. We watched about 10 minutes and the judge began reading the cases for the Transportation Cabinet against our neighbors and us. The judge read our names, the transportation lawyer spoke, our lawyer spoke, the judge agreed with the proposal by the transportation lawyer and it was over. Our lawyer waved for us to follow him out of the courtroom and then he spoke with us and the two other families he had just represented. He told us all it might be 30 days or it might be a week till the highway relocation crews began coming on our property.
Posted on Sunday, April 26, 2009
Beautiful Weekend
The weather this weekend was beautiful and the temperatures were around
85 all three days. Pauline, Brent and Julie came over around dark Friday
evening and called and ordered pizza, then went and picked it up while
we played with Julie.
Saturday morning we went outside early and took
a few pops with us down to the creek bank and set in the shade of one of
the plum trees till almost noon. We really didn't do anything but
occasionally take Julie for a ride on a 4 wheeler or in the Mule. We
went back to the house and ate lunch then all of us took short naps
while Julie slept. When Julie woke, we went out on the back porch and
watched her play on the large rocks behind the house and the birds peck
around the feeders.
Sunday
morning, we had just finished ham and egg omelets for breakfast when
Steve Riddle stopped by the house and gave us a loaf of bread. He said
that Nancy had been baking and he brought one to us. We talked a while
and I thanked him, then he left and I went back inside. Brent helped me
put the disk on the back of the tractor and I used it to disk Regina's
garden spot. Pauline, Julie and Stacey took Daisy for a run while I was
disking. We finished and put the dog back in the pen and went inside.
Later, Marna Boblitt and her friend, Vern, stopped by for a visit. We
knew her from IN and also when both our families had moved to KY to
finish our required 30 years with GM at the Corvette Plant in Bowling
Green. Marna had moved back to IN, but was headed to Gatlinburg to enjoy
some time off work. They visited with us for a couple hours and then
went on to go through the Corvette Museum in Bowling Green. Pauline,
Brent and Julie left for home about 4 PM.
Posted on Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Property Condemned
A letter arrived in the mail from the Cumberland County Circuit Court and part of our farm has been condemned by the court for the KY Transportation Cabinet. I'm not sure if we have 30 days or if the Cumberland County Sheriff will be here sooner to vacate us from our property. In one part of the letter it says we have 30 days, but in another part it says the Cumberland County Sheriff may evict us any time after a deposit is made to the Cumberland County Circuit Court. The money has already been deposited with the court. The letter also states that if we don't move our personal property, it will be moved for us at our expense.
