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Posted on Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Voting & Sod
Linda worked all day at the day care because school was out due to it
being election day. Stacey and I went to the bank in town and then
stopped at the polling location to vote. Stacey voted first, with a
little direction from the poll worker to point out how the electronic
voting machine worked. Then it was my turn, I voted then we picked up
the food that Regina needed us to take to Jone's Ridge. Regina is an
election sheriff and had to stay at the polling place all day. One of
the Home Makers Club members had a family member pass away and Linda had
made a dish for us to take to her house, so we took Regina's dishes at
the same time. We delivered the dishes, then returned to the farm. We
noticed a guy was spraying water on the sod they had laid in front of
the little house and Regina's house. An odd thing they're doing is only
putting sod in front of the houses, so part of our yard has sod and the
part in front of the barn has none. 
Posted on Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Stacey's Birthday
As we were eating the pancakes that Linda fixed for breakfast, I asked
Stacey what she wanted to do on her birthday. She said she wanted to go
to the Peddlers' Mall and also eat some where. I went in to the computer
and mapped out a route to take us to three Peddlers' Malls. The first
one was in Campbellsville. After shopping there, we rode to Danville,
where we ate lunch at Applebees. Stacey had the roast beef "Sliders" and
Linda and I had the "2 for $20" sirloin steak meals. The next Peddlers'
Mall was also in Danville, only a few blocks from where we ate. We
stopped at Paul's Place before shopping at the third Peddlers' Mall in
Sommerset.
It
was a rainy 200 mile trip, but Stacey enjoyed it! When we returned to
the farm, Jason called and had sent flowers to Stacey for her birthday.
Thanks
for all the 'birthday wishes' to Stacey on FaceBook! Linda called Stacey
into her desk and they read them together.
Posted on Saturday, November 06, 2010
Club Dinner
Brent and his family came over later Friday night. Saturday, Pauline
fixed breakfast while Linda was beginning to get things ready for the
Cumberland River Cruisers Dinner. Brent and I took Julie and Kyle for a
short ride in the Mule with Daisy running along. We put Daisy back in
the barn and Julie wanted a pop sickle, it was a little chilly for Kyle,
so we let Brent and Kyle go back inside the house and Julie and I went
to the pole barn and she ate a pop sickle. Around 11 AM, Brent, Linda
and I went to the cafeteria and setup the tables with table cloths and
the decorations Linda had made, then returned to the farm. Linda had
made a banana pudding and a corn casserole and Pauline had made a peach
cobbler to take to the dinner. I had volunteered to fix two hams, which
Linda baked, then I sliced and put on two trays. We loaded all the food,
the laptop, the shirts, the kids and drove to the grade school cafeteria
at 5 PM to open the doors for others. The dinner started at 6 PM and we
had a short club meeting before the dinner.
After
the short meeting, a prayer was said and then the dinner began. There
was lots of good food to enjoy. The CRC gave away shirts, hats, and
cooler cups as door prizes after most people had finished eating. The
dinner was over and cleaned up at 8 PM.
Posted on Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Slough Removed
Sunday morning, we had breakfast and waited a little while before going
outside. The weather was a lot warmer than Thursday and Friday had been.
Brent and I were in t-shirts and Julie, Stacey and Linda were wearing
sweatshirts. We took the Mule down to the equipment shed, loaded in the
chain saws and a long chain, then hooked the black trailer on the back.
I drove the tractor and they followed. We went down the road and across
the creek to the other farm ground. I first pushed a dead tree, that had
fell into the field, back into the woods. Then we moved farther down the
hillside to where a live oak tree had fell over on the hillside. Brent
and I each took a chain saw and climbed partially up the side of the
hill to cut some of the limbs off the fallen tree. We then went down to
level ground, Brent hooked up the chain to the tree and the scoop on the
front of the tractor. I began pulling the tree down the hill side with
the tractor. The tree slid down the hill side until it caught on a tree
that was still standing. I pulled harder with the tractor. The tree was
stuck. I pulled the tractor forward and then backed up quickly. BAM! The
chain broke and came flying back at me, striking my fingers on the
steering wheel. OUCH! That smarted, but no broken fingers. I shook it
off and we went back to work. Brent climbed back up the hill side and
cut the limb again, then we hooked the broken chain back to the tree and
pulled it on down the hill side with the tractor. We cut off the smaller
limbs and Julie, Stacey and Linda loaded the pieces on the black trailer
as we cut. I pushed the remaining log back along the tree line and we
went back to the shed. We put the chain saws and stuff up, backed the
trailer of wood near the wood shed and went back inside the house. We
had lunch before Brent and his family left for home about 1:30 PM.
Monday,
I had talked to a guy about clearing out some small scrub trees in the slough
down at the other farm. He had agreed to do it, but said it would be
nearly dark by the time he got around to doing it. I said it didn't
matter to me as long as it was done. I watched as he headed over there
in the bull dozer, then I put on a sweat shirt and drove over in the
Mule. I watched as the dozer would shove over 5 or 6 trees, then back up
and lower the blade, push the root balls out of the ground, group them
into a bundle and shove the bundle into the pile just past the end of
the slough. The dozer made several pushes until he had the entire 300
foot long line of trees pushed into one pile at the end. He then cut a
bit of dirt and pushed it back the other way into the holes that the
tree root balls had left. I paid him and told him to finish up as he
thought it should be, he had already done enough for what I paid. I went
to the house because I was getting cold just sitting out there.
The
pictures are from this morning when Linda and I went to see how it
looked. There will be some work for me to do with the tractor, but it
won't be too bad. After we burn the pile, I'll have to spread some dirt
out that will be left from the root balls. I am extremely happy with the
results.
Posted on Thursday, November 11, 2010
Wood Cutting
The last two days I have used the disk on the back of the tractor and
disked the area where the slough was located. It has brought broken
pieces of limbs to the top and smoothed the dirt out. I'm going to sow
it with fescue seeds and let it rain on the area a few times, then we
should be able to pick up the largest pieces of wood that are left
visible. The rest will hopefully rot away. Stacey and Linda have pulled
the log splitter behind a 4-wheeler and the black trailer behind the
Mule down to the other farm. I drove the tractor and used it to turn the
tree over and get rid of the debris. I used the chain saws to cut the
tree that fell into pieces short enough for the wood stove. Then Linda
and Stacey rolled the pieces down the slope to the side of the log
splitter. I split the pieces and threw them on the black trailer. The
girls kept rolling more pieces over to me as I split the wood into the
size we burn.
Stacey
drove the Mule back to the farm while Linda rode the 4-wheeler pulling
the log splitter and I drove the tractor. I put the tractor in the shed,
then backed the trailer into the wood shed and we all unloaded and
stacked the wood. We made a total of four trips with the Mule and
trailer and ended up with a stack in the wood shed that was 12 feet long
and 4 feet high and a second stack that was half that long. We will burn
it next year after the wood has seasoned. Seasoned wood burns better and
cleaner in our stove.
Posted on Monday, November 15, 2010
Progress On The 56 Chevy
Brent and I had reached the limit of our knowledge while working on the
engine in the 1956 Chevy. I borrowed a trailer and towed
the car from Brent's place to DC Auto Service to have Dave Neff work
on it. After a few weeks of working on it in his spare time, he called
me and said he had tried the HEI distributor and coils, but couldn't get
those to produce spark, so he put the point distributor back in the
engine, replaced the points and put on an old style coil. The car had
started and he had made a few more adjustments to the timing. I drove to
town and stopped to see what was up.
You
can see and hear it run at this page.
Posted on Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A Lot Of Driving
Around 8 PM, Brent called and said he needed us to come over and pick up
Julie and Kyle so that he could take Pauline to the hospital. Pauline
was having trouble breathing. We quickly put the dog in the cage and
left in the HHR. Linda talked to Brent on the cell phone and he said
that Rita had come over to stay with the kids until we arrived and that
he was headed to the hospital with Pauline. We made it to their house by
9:30 and took the kids back to the farm with us after thanking Rita for
her help.
This morning we had sticky buns for breakfast, then Stacey
and I left for Bowling Green about 8:15 AM. We drove to the
Graves-Gilbert Clinic for Stacey's appointment with Dr Zhu. We checked
in with the receptionist, then went and sat in the hall outside the
office door.
We
waited for over an hour, then Stacey was taken in and saw Dr Zhu in the
examination room. Dr Zhu made a change to the appointment schedule after
talking with us. He lengthened the time between appointments to a year
apart. Of course, he said if Stacey had any problems to bring her in for
a check up. He used his laptop to order blood tests at the lab
downstairs and said he would have the office girls to call us with the
results. OK, we went downstairs and about a half hour later, Stacey
walked out after having her blood drawn. We left the clinic and called
Brent to see how they were doing. I asked if they needed anything from
the grocery, he said no. Stacey and I stopped at Arby's and bought 10
sandwiches to take to them. We stopped at the grocery and bought some
fudge bars and sherbet, then picked up canned soup and some stuff for
snacks for Pauline and Brent. We took the sandwiches and groceries to
their house and ate a sandwich with them and listened to what had
happened at the hospital. Pauline had been diagnosed with pneumonia and
Brent had strep throat.We stayed about an hour, then left for Bowling
Green again. Our next stop was at Aldi's for groceries.
We
bought enough to fill a cart, then loaded the stuff in the HHR and
Stacey returned the cart for her quarter. Next, it was over to Sam's
Club, where we bought more groceries and a folding table. We about had
the HHR full, so we headed back towards Burkesville on the Cumberland
Parkway. We stopped at Wal-Mart and bought more groceries, including
some baby food for Kyle, then up to McDonalds for McRibs (they're back)
and finally to the farm. We pulled in the garage, I had drove 245 miles
and it was 6:30 PM. We ate the sandwiches before unloading the car.
Linda gave Julie a breathing treatment and Kyle went to bed.
Posted on Thursday, November 18, 2010
Grand Kids Playing
We were up early, so I fixed breakfast. I gave Julie cereal that she
wanted, then cooked 4 sausage and cut them into small pieces. I chopped
up half of a green pepper and a small onion and cooked those until they
were transparent. I cracked eggs and whisked them. I chopped four
jalapeños into small pieces, added those and a piece of pepper jack
cheese crumbled into the eggs. I seasoned the eggs with pepper and Cajun
seasoning, then put the sausage in the skillet with the onion and green
peppers. I stirred it around to mix it all together, then poured the egg
mixture in on top. I stirred the mixture with the spatula until the eggs
were nearly done. Then I pressed it into the bottom of the skillet and
sprinkled cheese over the top. I turned the heat off and let the cheese
melt on top, then dipped out a serving for Linda and one for me. I fixed
Stacey a bowl of cereal before we began to eat. Kyle had already had a
couple tubs of baby food, but he ate some of the egg scramble with
Linda. This was first served to us by our niece Shelly. I think I've
made it as close as I could to the way she made it. After we ate, Julie
played in the living room on the new table from Sam's Club as Kyle moved
around the living room in the walker.
Kyle's
face was showing up a little orange because he had ate carrots as one of
his breakfast foods. A while later, Kyle took a bath, then Julie took
one. In the afternoon, we took them in the Mule and rode around the
fields while Daisy ran. Julie and I gave Daisy water and fed her after
Linda and Kyle went back in the house.
Posted on Friday, November 19, 2010
Fix'em Up Truck
Friday, I had agreed to tow a trailer to TN and pick up an old truck for
Randy. He is a guy that lives in Burkesville and a member in the
Cumberland River Cruisers Car Club. We met at 8 AM in front of DC Auto
Service and I hooked up Dave Neff's trailer and we headed to TN. We
drove past Cookeville and turned west on I-40 for about 15 miles to the
exit for Smithsville. We headed south towards the town and across the
lake where we parked and waited for the owner of the truck. He met us
about 10 minutes after we arrived and we followed him to where the truck
was parked. I backed the trailer to the front of the truck and hooked up
a chain and used the battery powered winch to pull the truck on the
trailer. Randy and I chained the truck to the trailer, then Randy paid
the man and took the signed title. We stopped in Cookeville and ate
lunch, then drove back to Burkesville. We parked in the street near
Randy's son's house and unloaded the truck off the trailer. We pushed it
to start the truck rolling down the driveway and then chocked the tire
with a brick. Randy was happy he finally had the truck where he could
begin working on it to get it running and on the road.
We
took the trailer back to DC Auto Service and Randy laid out his plans
for the truck. He had it fixed in about 20 minutes, in his mind, but it
will take a lot longer to get the real thing done. I think this is the
way a lot of projects start, with a dream,
and sometimes the dream
comes true.
Posted on Saturday, November 20, 2010
Grand Kids Go Home
Pauline had instant messaged with Linda and I Friday evening and said
she was feeling well enough for their kids to return home. Linda wanted
to walk in a benefit for a woman she used to work with at Warren East
Middle school that had died, so they were going to leave early. While
Linda was getting Julie and Kyle ready to leave, I made everyone
breakfast. Julie wasn't real eager to get up and leave the farm at 6:30
AM, but she was cooperating.
Julie
and Stacey walked out to the garage and buckled in, then I carried Kyle
in his car seat out to the HHR, snapped his seat into the base and Linda
drove out of the garage and to Pauline and Brent's house. I stayed
inside for a while, then used the tractor to pull a fallen tree off the
side of the hill and push the busted limbs back into the woods. I also
went to Phil Garmon's place and talked to them a while about how the
deer hunting was going. I guess they had killed two does and not seen
anything else. Later, I helped Bill Pollick put six windows in the house
he is building. Linda and Stacey came home around 8 PM.
Posted on Monday, November 22, 2010
NASCAR Fantasy League & More Firewood
Sunday, I drove the Mule to the other side of the creek with the
chainsaws in the back, parked and began working on the tree that had
fell and that I had pulled off the hillside and into the field. I cut
the tree into lengths short enough for the wood stove and went back to
the house. Stacey and I watched part of the football game, which the
Titans lost, then watched some of the Colts game, which they also lost,
then we watched the NASCAR race. The race was exciting for Stacey as her
favorite driver won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship for the fifth
time in a row, which has never been done. Jason and her had a
conversation later in the evening about NASCAR. Jason won our Norris
Family Blog NASCAR Fantasy League by having the two best finishing
drivers throughout the entire season, but Stacey had the actual NASCAR
Champion as her driver, so there were zingers being exchanged during
that conversation.
Monday, after breakfast, Stacey, Linda and I drove
the Mule, with the trailer attached, and a 4-wheeler, with the log
splitter hooked behind, over to the tree I had cut up. I split the wood
into pieces for the stove and threw it on the trailer as the girls
rolled more pieces to me. We hauled them to the wood shed and unloaded
and stacked the wood in the shed. Linda quit and went to walk with Nancy
and then to work at the day care while Stacey and I finished the job by
using the tractor to pick up the pieces that weren't good enough to burn
in the stove. We scooped them up and took them to the fire pit to burn
when we have a bonfire. We put the equipment away and went inside to
watch TV just before dark.
Posted on Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Have A Happy Thanksgiving
The last few days it has been really warm, even early in the mornings,
so I have been taking Daisy for her runs a little after 8 AM. We stop at
the creek and let her out of the Mule, then cross the creek and drive
slowly around the fields while Daisy sniffs everywhere she has time to
go. Occasionally she finds a mole or something to chase like a squirrel,
but usually she just randomly runs while keeping the Mule in hearing
distance.
Stacey,
Linda and I hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving. Enjoy your time with
your family and friends and drive safely.
Posted on Saturday, November 27, 2010
Thanksgiving Day & Christmas Parade
We went to Pauline and Brent's house for Thanksgiving a little before
noon. Pauline's sister, Beth, and her parents, Larry and Dorothy were
there for dinner too. We had a nice dinner with turkey and ham as the
main dishes. There were several really tasty side dishes for everyone to
enjoy. It was easy to get our fill and then try to enjoy the three
different types of pies. We played with the kids after the dinner was
over until it was time to head home. We left a little after 6 PM and
drove home in a light rain.
Friday was a day for recovery, not much
got done, it was chilly outside and we mostly burned wood in the stove
and watched movies on TV.
We had agreed to drive the Mustang in the
Marrowbone Christmas Parade with several of the other Cumberland River
Cruisers, so we had brought the car up the hill and left it in the
garage. We cleaned it up a little, put the top up and Stacey, Linda and
I drove to town to meet the rest of the people going to the parade. Once
we were in town, we parked and waited on the other Cruisers to arrive so
we could cruise as a group to Marrowbone. Odis Young stopped and said he
was going to pick up Jason, so Stacey rode with him. Everyone that was
going finally arrived, so we headed over to Marrowbone and parked in the
parking lot in front of the church while the organizers arranged the
order of the parade. Linda and I put the top down on the Mustang and set
our bucket of candy between the seats.
The
parade started at 11 AM and we fell in line as we were directed. As we
drove through town, we tossed candy to the youngsters along the route.
We almost ran out of candy, but had a few pieces left when we made it to
the turn around area. We put the top up on the car and drove back
through town, picked up Stacey and headed back to the farm. You can see
all the pictures I took at the parade by clicking HERE.
Posted on Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Rain But Warm
It began raining yesterday at dark, rained all night and the temperature
went up to around 65 degrees. This morning, I went to the garage and
started the Mule and took a ride while it was still raining. It felt
like spring time.
So
far, the ditches seem to be working properly and creek has remained in
its banks. I figure that there will be times when the crossing I
constructed in front of the equipment shed will restrict the water and
it will flow over the top, but I'm hoping it will handle the flow most
of the time. The weather is supposed to change and the temperature drop
most of the day into the mid 40s by tonight.
