Norris Family Blog

Overnight Stay

Pauline, Brent & Julie came over with their dogs Friday afternoon. We checked out Daisy and walked her around the pond a little. Daisy was interested in Julie, but once I bent down and let her check out the baby, she was fine and went on sniffing for rabbits or other wild animals. When Linda came home from the school, we loaded everyone in the pickup truck, buckled Julie's car seat in the middle of the truck's back seat and headed out to eat. Pauline wanted fish, so I headed to the Farmhouse Restaurant. Everywhere we passed was full of cars and boats down here for the holiday weekend. We had a short wait at the Farmhouse while they cleaned off a table, then we were seated and enjoyed our dinners. After we finished, we came back to the farm and talked about their planned trip to IN. Julie went to bed about 9 PM and the rest of us followed around 10 PM.
This morning, PB&J were up before daylight and Linda was taking a shower. They took the time to let Pauline feed Julie and they left before 6 AM. Stacey and I went to town for breakfast after they left.

Posted by at 10:00 AM
Categories: Current Events

Family Returns

We called Brent around noon and they were on their way home. I asked him to call us when they had made it through Louisville and told them we were going to eat in town. It was nearly 3 PM when he called and said they were about 100 miles from home, so Stacey and I gathered up the dogs and headed towards Smith's Grove in the HHR. We were nearing Pauline and Brent's house and noticed we were following them. Linda was driving their HHR, so we just stayed behind and followed them into the driveway. I let the dogs out as Brent and Pauline stepped out of their car. Pico and Poco went crazy because they were home and P&B were there too. We all unloaded their car and Linda put her stuff in our HHR, then we went inside and talked about their trip. Brent loaded his digital pictures onto his PC and we started checking those out. I held Julie a little bit as they were narrating about what had went on while they were in IN. Today I'm going to post just the pictures of the interior work being done on the 1956 Chevy by Maxwell's Trim Shop. Linda and Brent had drove to the shop to check out how the work was coming along. They seemed real happy with the job being done.

We stayed until about 7 PM and then headed home.

Posted by at 11:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

Mums Getting Close

After Linda came home from working at the school, we went to Columbia and ate, then returned to the farm. Stacey went inside and I backed the Mule out of the barn and pulled it around to the front hallway. Linda hooked Daisy to her lease and she jumped in the Mule. We rode to the mum patch to let Daisy run. It's still been in the 90s nearly every day and almost no rain in the last month, so the mums are not as big as they have been in past years. In fact, these are the smallest mums we have ever grown. The early mums are starting to bloom, but if we don't get a decent rain, it's going to be tough to dig them.

I closed the gate behind the Mule and Linda unhooked Daisy's leash and we let her run.

Daisy ran around the patch and checked the fence for a way out. After finding nothing to chase, she came back and we tried to get her to play with a ball, but no luck with that. She will come to us after a few whistles and calls. Daisy has become accustomed to riding in the Mule and she will jump in and set in the seat when she is ready to go.

Daisy is still a little spastic as when we are going down the road, if a big grasshopper flies across the front of the Mule, Daisy will attempt to jump out as we are moving. So we have to hold her on a short leash as we head home.

Posted by at 9:30 PM
Categories: Current Events

Checkup & Shopping

Stacey and I left the farm at 7 AM and we stopped in town, filled the HHR with gas and bought breakfast biscuits. We ate those as we drove towards Bowling Green for an appointment with Dr Zhu. At the Graves Gilbert Clinic we found a parking spot and went inside, checked in and went to the doctor's office. We were called in to the examination room and almost immediately, Dr Zhu came in to the room. He reviewed Stacey's records and read the run down that I had written about what had happened to Stacey since our last office visit. We talked about the involuntary movements and what we should do to keep those under control. Dr Zhu stayed until all the questions were answered. We even talked about the Pacers upcoming season. Dr Zhu doesn't think they have much of a chance this year. We made an appointment and left the office. We took the elevator downstairs to the lab. The technician drew blood and we were ready to leave. Amazing, we were out of there and back to the car before our scheduled appointment time of 9:15 AM. Stacey and I went to Aldi's and bought groceries, then to Sam's Club and bought more groceries. It was nearly 11 AM when I stopped at Wendy's and bought sandwiches to take to Pauline and Brent's house. We went inside and gave the sandwiches to Pauline and Brent while I held Julie. Brent had been to the 'doc in a box' due to a possible kidney stone or kidney infection, so I wanted to hear about how that had went and how he was feeling while P&B each ate a sandwich. Julie didn't like me holding her, so Pauline went to the bedroom and fed Julie. She came back and Julie was a better baby. Brent told me about the medication he was taking and that it was working. He was feeling better and ate another one of the sandwiches. Stacey and I ate a sandwich too. We stayed till about 1:30 PM and then left. On our way home, the next stop was in Glasgow at the Wal-Mart for more groceries, then some sandwiches for home at Arby's, then back on the Cumberland Parkway to Columbia. I stopped at a filling station and bought pop, then to the IGA store for more groceries. Finally we drove to the farm and pulled in the driveway to an unusual greeting. It was Daisy, she had dug her way out of the barn stall and was running along the driveway to follow us to the house. Well, at least she didn't leave, she stayed around. I put her back in the barn and plugged the hole where she had dug. We went inside and put some of the stuff away. Linda came home from working at the school and we ate the sandwiches. Later, we watched the Colts open the NFL Season. That was a neat way to begin the season, dropping the NFL Championship Banner from the top of the Hoosier Dome and having several music stars playing for free.

Posted by at 10:33 PM
Categories: Current Events

Run Daisy Run

Early this morning, I was sitting in the bedroom and notice a blur run by the window. It was Daisy, she was out of the barn stall again. I went to the back door and she was waiting on me. We walked down to the barn and I took a look at the stall. Sure enough, another hole under the stall's wall. I hooked Daisy to the leash and we went to the back of the barn and got in the Mule. I drove down to the boat shed and picked up a few cement blocks. I returned to the barn and placed the blocks along the wall and put Daisy back inside. After a couple of hours, Linda, Stacey and I loaded in the Mule and let Daisy out of the stall. She rode in the front with me and Stacey and Linda rode in the back. We went back towards the holler and as we neared the mouth, I unhooked Daisy and let her out. She ran like a deer, literally. She would run and leap, stop and turn, sniff, run some more and we could tell she was just happy to be loose. I drove on back to where we had planted the trees with Daisy following for a while, then leading the way even though she didn't know where we were going. I stopped in the opening and shut the Mule off. We watched as Daisy ran around, then headed up the side of a hill. We could hear her rustling through the dried leaves. Then she went out of hearing range. I said to Linda, "That maybe the last we hear of her." After a minute or two, we heard her heading back down the hill. She was panting severely when she came to the Mule and jumped in the front seat. We rode back to the house, gave Daisy a cool drink from the outside spicket and filled her bowl with food. Linda gave her a hamburger and she went in the barn stall without any problems. Later, Linda went to the day care and painted the bathroom. I went in a little later and helped put up a wall paper border. After Linda came back home, we took Daisy to another field and did the same routine with her. She loves to run and jump in the hay fields. Starting the Mule brings her back to us as she wants to ride. As long as that works, we'll be OK.

Posted by at 7:09 PM
Categories: Current Events

Daisy With Pictures

Today, we had some sprinkles of rain and it was mostly cloudy. We might have received 1/10 of an inch of rain. Daisy dug out of the crib again, but this time I had cement blocks already sitting there, ready to place in her hole. I put Daisy back in the stall and Stacey and I went to Albany and ate, then we stopped at the grocery store. When Linda came home we were just about ready to eat. After eating we took Daisy out of the stall and headed to the hay fields in the Mule. After crossing the creek, I stopped and let Daisy run through the paths I had cut around the fields.



She was all over the place, never stopping, hardly ever slowing down.

Posted by at 9:31 PM
Categories: Current Events

Eye Exams

Early Tuesday morning we finally had some rain at the farm. It was light rain and lasted till about 9:30 AM. I checked the rain gauge and there was a little under one half inch. Shortly before lunch, Linda and I rode down to the mum patch and checked them out. I dug one and didn't dig anymore as the ground was still too dry. The dirt was loose and fell from the roots when I lifted the plant off the shovel and placed it in the plastic pot. The little bit of rain will help them grow and bloom out, but more is still needed before I dig a lot of plants. I mowed the front yard and the barn lot since the rain had settled the dust.
Wednesday morning, Linda had scheduled eye exams for Stacey and her, so I drove them to Albany and we went inside the office. Linda sent me in with Stacey to see how she did because Linda was having an exam too. They checked Stacey and things went fairly well. It took about an hour and we were setting out in the waiting area until Linda finished. She came out, and they went and picked out frames, then we waited about 20 minutes and Stacey and Linda were called back inside to have their eyes dilated They put the drops in their eyes and we went back to the waiting room for about a half hour. They took them into the examination room and it took another half hour. Finally we paid, and left. It was after noon, that had taken over 3 hours. Linda and Stacey were wearing the dark glasses when we went into Burger King. They pulled those out of their regular glasses once inside. After eating, we returned to the farm and Linda's eyes were acting funny so she stayed inside. Later in the afternoon, I mowed while Linda was trimming and taking Daisy for a run.

Posted by at 8:56 PM
Categories: Current Events

Family Visit

Linda has started going to Pauline and Brent's house on Thursdays and Fridays to take care of Julie. She left Thursday morning around 5 AM. We didn't expect her back until late Friday night, but she surprised us around 10:30 Friday morning. P&B were planning on visiting us, so Linda came ahead with Julie. I took a few pictures of Julie during the day as we played with her and kept her fed, diapered and busy.

P&B came over after Pauline finished work. Brent has been having problems with his kidneys. He thinks it is kidney stones and has been to see a doctor once. It was bothering him when he arrived and continued through the night. We took it easy Saturday morning, with Brent doing couch time and Stacey reading Julie a book while Linda fixed breakfast.

Saturday afternoon, Brent began feeling a little better and he and I took a ride in the Triump around town. Later, everyone walked to the pond and Pauline and Linda worked on pulling plants out of the pond.

Sunday, Brent seem a bunch better and we took Daisy for a couple runs around the farm while we rode in the Mule. Linda fixed a nice chicken breast dinner for everyone before PB&J left for home around 5 PM on Sunday.

Posted by at 7:09 PM
Categories: Current Events

Tractor Bulldozing

Linda worked at the school, so Stacey and I went to Columbia to do some stuff. We filled the HHR with gas, bought Daisy a new choker chain collar, ate lunch, went to the grocery store and waited in line for road work. The highway crew was putting the giant cement trusses across the parkway to construct a bridge and we waited on them for 20 minutes going to Columbia. We went a different way going home, but another crew was working in a different part of Columbia and held us up for about 10 minutes on the way back. Regardless, we made it back to the farm and put away the groceries. Later, I had made plans with Steve Riddle to take the tractor to his farm on Jone's Ridge, so when he called I headed up there. After about a 15 minute ride and a 5 minute wait, Steve and Steve drove up and opened the gates. I started the tractor and began shoving downed tree limbs and brush down the hillside and out of their way. They were stringing 5 strands of barbed wire from tree to tree with metal T-posts in between.

I used the scoop on the tractor to pull the limbs out from between the trees and then push them into a pile and then shove them over the hillside. That left a nice clear spot for the guys to work. That was important, since when I was up there the night before, they had literally walked about 3 feet away from where a Diamond Back Rattlesnake was laying. Luckily, it didn't strike them. It did 'rattle' them though. Steve had me kill the rattlesnake with his shotgun.

I finished by shoving the debris from the depression into the woods and bush hogging the slope too. I talked to Steve and Steve a little while, drank a pop and headed home.

Posted by at 8:45 PM
Categories: Current Events

Thursday & Friday

Linda left for Smith's Grove early Thursday morning, so Stacey and I were on our own. We went to the bank, picked up Stacey's medicine and ate at Hamilton's BBQ. We stopped at the grocery store before returning to the farm. We took Daisy for a run around the fields and then put her back in the barn stall with a full bowl of water and food. In the late afternoon, we loaded Daisy in the back of the Mule and drove to Steve Riddle's farm on Jones' Ridge. We let Daisy run a little up there and talked a while. Then, we returned to the farm just before sunset. I used the grill to fry hamburgers while Stacey cooked the remaining meat for sloppy joes. We ate the hamburgers and put the sloppy joes in the fridge for the next day.
Friday morning we went to Grumpy's and met Jason Strange and Steve Riddle for breakfast. There were several others there and we all talked about the gossip concerning a meth bust in town. Back at the farm Stacey drove the Mule around the hay fields while Daisy ran. Linda came home around 6 PM after staying a couple of days with Pauline, Brent and Julie.

Posted by at 9:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

Digging Mums

Linda and Regina st arted digging mums Saturday and Sunday. They've put out the signs and set a few potted mums by the road and in front of the barn. Linda, Stacey and I went to Columbia and ate lunch today and stopped at the grocery store on the way back. After Linda worked at the day care and came home, Regina came over and said she had sold some of the mums off the wagon and had some orders to fill, so we went to the patch late Monday afternoon to dig more. We had about 20 plants dug and potted when someone stopped and bought 4 that we had dug. We dug until we couldn't see what to dig, then pulled the wagon back to Regina's front yard. The temperatures are still above 90 degrees during the daytime, so they have been leaving the wagon of mums in her front yard under the shade of the trees. Linda and Regina watered the mums while I talked to Steve Riddle, who pulled in the driveway.

Posted by at 9:04 PM
Categories: Current Events

Daisy = Pond Scum

Yesterday, Linda let Daisy run loose around the farm while she was setting the mums and pumpkins around the front of the barn.

Daisy stayed with Linda until she heard something at the pond. Linda went to see where Daisy had gone and found a mess. She came inside and picked up a camera to document the mess. We have found that Daisy is a frog hunter. She sneaks around the pond until she scares a frog into jumping in the water. The drought has the water so low in the pond that it's mostly muddy water. No matter, Daisy follows the frog into the muddy water like she's going to be able to catch it. She hasn't caught one yet and if she does she will probably spit it right back out. I've saw other dogs catch frogs and the warts on them make the dogs froth at the mouth and sling their heads around like crazy.

Linda had to hose her off afterwards.
This morning we left the house at 7 AM and went to Regina's yard to move mums into the back of her truck for her to take to town and give to the people that had ordered them. After loading her truck, we headed to the mum patch to dig mums and we took Daisy to let her run inside the fenced in patch. The patch is beginning to show color on most of the mums now, so we can show people what color they are buying. We dug enough to fill the black trailer with yellow mums, then took them to the hay wagon in Regina's yard and set them on the wagon. We're keeping most of the mums on the wagon in the shade.

We went inside our house, took our medicine, ate a quick bite for breakfast and went back to the mum patch. We dug and potted another trailer full, then hauled it to Regina's and again unload the mums to fill the hay wagon. Linda watered all the mums we had dug while I put Daisy back in the barn and unhooked the trailer.

We went inside and I fixed lunch before Linda left for the day care. We are about out of mums on the wagon now and Regina came home with orders for 15 more she needs to take tomorrow. Looks like we will be digging mums until dark again tonight.

Posted by at 5:07 PM
Categories: Current Events

They're Loaded

Linda is has been gone to Smith's Grove to babysit Julie since Thursday morning Stacey and I have been digging mums and setting them on the hay wagon. Regina has been taking mums to town and selling them too. Stacey and I went to Grumpy's for breakfast and we met Jason. We had a nice breakfast, then stopped at the bank, and then back to the farm. We dug another trailer full of mums and watered them before setting them on the hay wagon We went back to the house, cleaned up and went to Albany and picked up Stacey's new eyeglasses. She tried them out and had the technician fit them on her face. Stacey was happy with the way she could see and how the glasses changed tint when she went outside. We ate lunch before returning to the farm. We checked the hay wagon and needed to dig more mums, so we changed clothes and went and dug more. As we returned to water the latest batch, we noticed the truck was in the little house driveway with a car hauling trailer hooked behind. Brent, Julie and Linda were inside the house. I helped Brent load the 1965 Mustang on the trailer and chain it tightly so it wouldn't roll while being hauled. It took us a while to accomplish all that. Next, Linda wanted to load mums to take to her mom in IN, so we moved the boards and floor jack around to make room for those. Linda and Brent tried to put the cover on the back of the truck, but it wouldn't stretch enough to snap it down. We rolled it up and put it inside the Mustang. I guess they are going to try again in the daylight. Stacey cried trying to make up her mind whether to go or not go, but finally packed her stuff and went with them. They left the farm around 8:30 on their way back to Smith's Grove to stay the night and leave Saturday morning for IN to drop the Mustang off at Imon's house.

Posted by at 10:42 PM
Categories: Current Events

Half Of Hay Cut & Rolled

Saturday, I dug mums most of the day and Regina and Casey sold them off of the hay wagon in their front yard. Larry cut the hay down the creek Friday evening and Saturday. Sunday, I dug a few mums and mowed the front yard with the tractor and finish mower, then took Daisy for a run to see how the hay fields looked. To my surprise, they had raked, then rolled the hay and hauled it away. The fields were completely mowed and looked great. Daisy didn't know where to run first. She had been staying on the mowed paths along the edges of the fields, but now the paths were gone.

Daisy could run as far as she wanted and then she came back towards the Mule. I whistled for her and she came running. She is getting better in that aspect of her behavior.

We rode a little ways to another field and I let Daisy out of the Mule again. This is to let her know that every time I call her back, she isn't going to have to be put in the barn. She's learning fairly quickly what I expect from her. With the dry leaves on the hill sides I can hear her run almost to the top trailing squirrels or turkeys, then come busting back down the hill and pop out in the fields.

The leaves are beginning to change a little bit. The picture on the right is a copy of the other one, but with a warming filter used on it. Linda and Stacey returned from IN just before dark.