Monday, August 07, 2017
Farm Pics
We've had plenty of rain this summer and the farm is
really green as a result.
The
creek has slowed down a few times but continues to have water flowing.
The
view below was from our shelter house.
Tuesday, February 14, 2017
Grand Kids
Pauline had to make a trip to North Carolina to help another university
with their chemistry lab, so Brent drove her. Linda and Stacey went to
their house and stayed with Julie and Kyle. That way the kids could go
to school. P & B left on Sunday and returned Wednesday evening. Linda
and Stacey returned to the farm then.
Thursday, Brent called and
asked if we could keep Julie and Kyle because their school was being
closed for 5 days due to illness. We met them in Glasgow and picked up
Julie and Kyle, then returned to the farm.
Friday was chilly and the
kids played inside. We did take Daisy for a run though.
Saturday was
warmer, around 65 degrees and we headed outside early. The weather has
been so mild that the daffodils are up and blooming. Julie and Kyle
wanted to have a fire in the pit, so we hooked up the black trailer to
the Mule. We drove around the hay fields and they picked up dead limbs
that had fallen off the trees and landed along the trails. We took those
back to the fire pit and lit a fire. I let Julie and Kyle toss on wood
to keep the fire going all day. Julie and Linda raked up dried leaves
and burnt those during the day. They were damp enough to make lots of
smoke.
We
roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the fire. It was a nice day, so
nice that Julie didn't want to go inside. We picked up some more dead
limbs along the creek bank and threw them on the fire which rekindled
the flames as darkness approached.
Pauline
and Brent came over on Sunday. Brent rode a 4 wheeler with Julie, while
teaching her to drive. Later in the day, I rode along with Julie as she
took her first solo ride back in and out of the 'holler' across from the
house.
We
had three fires in three day and only lit it once. Julie was really
proud of that and enjoyed being the 'fire manager'. Kyle played on the
swing, in the creek and on the pile of gravel by the pole barn. They had
a good time. We met Pauline and Brent Tuesday evening, returned their
kids to them and traded our Jeep for their Traverse. I'm taking it for
free service at Don Franklin Burkesville for Brent.
Tuesday, November 03, 2015
Olevia's Childcare & Stacey's Birthday
Friday after school, we packed the Equinox and headed towards Daleville,
IN. Most of the trip was uneventful, but as we neared Indy, the traffic
came to a stop on I-65. We were at the 90 mile marker and an overhead
sign had notified everyone that there was a single lane of traffic at
the 97 mile marker. I transferred to the right hand lane and about a
mile later I exited the interstate to take IN 44 towards Shelbyville. In
Shelbyville I turned onto IN 9 for the rest of the way to Anderson.
Pizza and unpacking once at the Daleville house, then relax.
Saturday
morning came early as Kim called Linda and asked if she was ready for
her to pick Linda up. Linda said "No, we're going to eat breakfast
first, then Dave will bring me over to Lapel." So that was the way it
went, we all went to Lapel, arriving about 10 AM. Linda and Stacey
helped Kim with whatever she needed done while I hooked up the 4 PCs and
made sure they all worked one at a time. The electrician was a little
scared of having all 4 PCs running on one circuit. There were several
people there helping put things in place and get ready for the open
house later than evening. We had a light lunch of a coney dog, corn and
chips before I helped Jeremy attach the signs Linda and I had made to
the outside fences.
After
that, Stacey and I went back to the Daleville house and hung out. Linda
remained at the childcare location to hand out goody bags to the kids
and help with whatever was needed. Kim brought Linda home a little bit
after 10 PM. Kim seemed pleased with the turnout and happy that there
had been several people come to help her get the childcare ready to go.
Sunday
morning we had breakfast, then Linda called Imon to see what they had
going on. Fairly soon Linda K and Imon were knocking on the front door.
They came in and we chatted for a good while, then went to Bird's Smoke
House, where Imon bought our lunches. We ate, then sat there and talked
for another hour before splitting up with Imon and Linda K going to
Lowe's and us going back to the house in Daleville. Linda called her Mom
and took Stacey to see her in Pendleton. I watched the NASCAR Race
between naps. Mostly naps, LoL! Linda told me that she had a good visit
with Nana when they returned to the house about 9:30 PM.
Monday
morning we ate breakfast and slowly packed up to leave. Traffic through
Indy was pretty light and it was easy driving. We stopped at Edinburgh
and Linda went in several of the Outlet Mall's shops while I went inside
the Harley Davidson shop. I bought two coffee cups and returned to pick
up the girls. At Kingfish in Jeffersonville, we left all 4 windows down
about an inch with Coco inside the car. We went in this time because
Stacey wanted to celebrate her birthday by eating inside, so we went in
and ordered our meals, then Linda went back outside to see how warm the
car was getting. She said Coco would be fine, so we enjoyed our meals.
We
made it home a little before dark with the time change. I checked our
messages and had one from Chuck Anderson. He wanted to stop by on
Tuesday, so I called and we made plans for that to happen.
Tuesday
morning, Brent called before 8 AM to wish Stacey a Happy Birthday.
Around 10 AM, Chuck arrived with a Butler Sweatshirt and a couple
posters. He's trying to switch Stacey from the Pacers to the Boston
Celtics or the Butler Bulldogs. She told him that wasn't going to happen.
We
talked for a while, Linda fixed lunch and we talked after lunch. Chuck
was on his way to his winter residence in Florida and was stopping along
the way to see several friends. Before he left the door bell rang and
Stacey received a delivery of flowers and a white teddy bear from Jason
Strange. Chuck said good bye a little after 2 PM. Stacey received
several phone calls with birthday wishes the rest of the evening.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Valentine's Day
The three of us left the farm early in the HHR to watch the next to last
game that Kyle will play this year. The game was at 9 AM and we arrived
a few minutes before the start. Both teams showed marked improvement
with Kyle being involved more than anytime previously. After the game,
we went over to Pauline and Brent's house for about an hour, then we
headed back to the farm. Jason had asked Stacey to go out to eat with
him, Kristi & Bryant, Stephanie & Tommy, and then to go to a Travis
Tritt concert at the Plaza Theatre. Jason had also sent Stacey a bouquet
of roses for Valentine's Day.
We
picked up some Wendy's sandwiches at 11 AM for the ride back to the
farm. Linda helped Stacey with her hair and they eventually had
everything ready, so we took Stacey over to Jason's place at 3:30 PM. We
took a picture of Stacey and Jason while we talked to Stephanie, then we
headed home.
Stephanie
& Tommy brought Stacey back to the farm and dropped her off a little bit
before 11 PM. She came in the bedroom and told me she had a great time.
She said they had ate at Colton's Steakhouse and then went to the
concert. Stacey said Travis put on a good show, that he sang a lot of
his hits and the "sold out" crowd liked the show.
Monday, November 03, 2014
Happy Birthday Stacey
Jason came through again by sending flowers for Stacey.
They
arrived just in the nick of time as Stacey was calling him to ask if he
wanted to go out to eat with us. Jason was asking her, "Did you get
anything today?", and Stacey kept telling him, "No." But right then the
door bell rang and the dog started barking. It was a delivery, from
Jason, of flowers with a helium filled balloon. So they were able to
talk about it on the way to eat. But really, the main topic was the
fight between Jeff Gordon, Brad Kesoloski and their NASCAR pit crews.
Wednesday, June 04, 2014
Julie & Kyle Visit
Stacey, Linda and I went to Sam's Club Tuesday afternoon, and after
shopping, we stopped at Pauline and Brent's house to pick up Julie and
Kyle. We just stayed a few minutes, then loaded the kids in the car and
took them back to the farm.
This morning, Linda fixed breakfast and
before anything else could happen, Stacey began having some involuntary
movements in her arms. Linda called me in the bedroom and we decided to
give Stacey a 10 mg Valium to stop the seizure from continuing. About 25
minutes later, we gave another 10 mg of Valium. Within a half hour,
Stacey was setting up, watching TV, and talking. We monitored her the
rest of the day without her having any problems. We even took a short
Mule ride with everyone, let the kids throw rocks, Daisy run and then
back to the house. Stacey walked in and out of the house without help.
Kyle needed something to keep him busy, so I printed out some coloring
pages with the alphabet letters in the pictures. We sat down at the
breakfast bar and I gave him instructions about how to hold his crayon
and to use his other hand to hold his paper. He followed directions
fairly well about making little strokes too.
His
picture turned out great for a four year old without any help, just
voice directions. Linda's flower log is looking pretty too!
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Back Home
Saturday morning we woke to a rainy day. There were thunderstorms and
the rain was coming down steadily. I fixed breakfast. A little later,
Linda painted the trim in the hallway and the bathroom door. We decided
we would go home without visiting anyone because we were both sick and
didn't want to spread the dry cough we had to others. Alton Sneed
stopped by and we talked with him for about a half hour. He agreed to
mow Mom's yard again this year and to also mow the yard at the gray
house across the street. Linda and Stacey packed up our things and I
carried the stuff out to the HHR in the rain. We locked up the house and
headed towards Burkesville at 2 PM in a pouring rain. Linda slept in the
back seat all the way to Jeffersonville where I woke her to get ready
for King Fish. The sun was shinning as I parked and we all went inside
to eat. The food was delicious as always. After we ate, we continued on
to the farm and parked the HHR in the garage just before dark. We
carried in our clothes and left the tools in the car till morning.
Sunday
morning was hot and clear as I went outside early. The flowers at the
back of the house had bloomed while we were gone.
I
took Daisy for a run since she hadn't been out for a few days. A little
before lunch, Linda and I began mowing and we finished several hours
later. Just before dark, Linda had Coco outside and he found a "little
bitty bunny" in the flower beds. She said the bunny was squeaking and it
was like one of Coco's toys.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Early Arrivals
Friday morning the creek was out of it's banks because of the overnight
rains. Sunday night and Monday morning more storms dropped lots of rain
on the area. There were several tornado warnings close to Burkesville
during that time too. This morning, I drove the Mule around to see what
the mild flooding had done and found several places that needed some
work done with the tractor to get the ditches back in shape. I also
found some early arrivals. The daffodils down by the old smoke house
were up and blooming.
There
are a few other flowers sticking their shoots up through the ground, but
the daffodils were the only ones blooming.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Valentines Day
Linda drove the pickup truck to school so that Stacey and I could use
the HHR to drive to Bowling Green. We left a little after 10 AM and
drove to Mancino's for lunch, then over to Aldi's for some canned goods.
After that we stopped at Sam's Club and stocked up on the other items we
needed to supply our pantry. It took us a while to find everything,
checkout and then drive back the Cumberland Parkway to the farm. It was
nearly 3 PM when we pulled into the garage and began putting the
supplies away. Around 3:30 the door bell rang, I answered and it was a
flower delivery for Stacey. I called her to the door and she took the
flowers. I snapped a picture and she read the card.
Stacey
told me the flowers and card were from Jason. She went into the bedroom
and called Jason to thank him for the flowers. They talked a short time
and when she came out of the bedroom, she said he would call later at
their regular time. Linda came home after working and walking with Nancy
and while we were eating supper, Jason called.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Helping Our Neighbor
Linda and I had finished the side walk Saturday.
Sunday, she laid
down weed block around the flowers between the house and the new side
walk. I used the tractor to scoop up the river rocks and dump them into
several 5 gallon buckets with the ones that missed the buckets falling
back in the pile. I then set the full buckets in the empty scoop and
drove them to the edge of the side walk. I carried the buckets to where
ever Linda need more rocks to cover the weed block. We did this until we
had covered the entire flower bed with the round river rocks. I also
scooped up enough rocks to finish the two flower beds on the other end
of the house the same way, while Linda redid the square flower bed
outside the master bath window. Linda dug out around the flowers, then
laid down a weed block and covered it with mulch instead of rocks.
Monday,
after we had breakfast, I took the tractor to Connie and Bill's
construction site to move a small amount of dirt for him. After I
finished with the tractor, I told Linda I was going to help him a while
since Linda was taking Stacey for an eye doctor appointment. I rode the
ATV down to help Bill. He had fastened the sill plate to the foundation
and I helped cut 2 by 12s for the beams across the piers. Bill used his
fork truck to get the wood from the stack and lift it to where we could
transfer the 2 by 12s over to where we were working.
Then
we nailed one of the rim bands in place and started nailing the 2 by 12s
for floor joists in place. We were able to finish half of the floor
joists before we ran out of energy and time. Linda had came home and
dropped Stacey off, then went to work at the day care. When she returned
we took the Mule and let Daisy run, then stopped at Connie and Bill's to
see what Bill and I had done.
Friday, July 09, 2010
Dry Creek
We haven't been mowing at all because of the weather. The heat has been
in the 90s nearly every day for almost a month. There hasn't been enough
rain to keep the grass growing. The hay fields are still green with
Johnson grass, but the clover and fescue hasn't done much growing since
it was cut just after Memorial Day. The creek has a few pools of water
left, but no water is flowing. The blue herons are picking the small
minnows and fish out of the remaining pools. We interrupt them each day
we let Daisy run. They fly off when they hear us coming, make a large
circle and return as we drive away. The flowers have taken a huge hit
with the high heat and dry conditions, I'm glad we didn't grow mums this
year, it would have been a bad year with no rain and hardly any creek
water to use.
There
is rain in the forecast and it is showing up on the radar, but several
times that has happened and when it arrived in our area, we never
received any. Usually, hurricane season provides us with plenty of rain
showers.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Half Dozen Hummers
We've had a heat wave that has dried up most of the watering holes and
the creek has almost stopped flowing. There aren't many spots for
animals to find water and we've noticed the deer are coming down to the
creek to drink in the evenings. There are lots of flowers blooming, but
not much water to collect in the blossoms. Linda has been filling the
hummingbird feeder at the end of our front porch regularly. The hummers
have been emptying the feeder almost daily and we have purchased two
extra bags of sugar to make their food in order to keep them coming.
They are spunky little birds that will fight each other over a spot to
land on the feeder.
A
short rain shower that wasn't enough to create any water run off caused
the hummers to concentrate their efforts at the feeder for a while.
We've had more birds sitting on the feeder at one time in years past,
but their numbers are starting to increase this year.
It
is unreal how many tiny battles go on in the world that we hardly ever
notice. These hummers have to fight with each other, the ants and with
wasps, such as the one with the yellow legs in the first picture.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Lilies and Daisy
After breakfast, Linda and I went outside to let Daisy run before the
temperature climbed too high. I took the camera and took pictures of the
flower bed in front of Daisy's dog pen while Linda backed the Mule out
of the barn.
The
flower bed is mostly lilies that Kim and Kenny gave to us several years
ago. They have filled the bed nicely, I think. I also noticed that there
were honey bees working on the 'chigger bush' that was blooming in the
same flower bed.
Some
of the darkest colored lilies that I like real well were blooming along
with the many other colors.
As
Linda drove the Mule to the front of the barn Daisy was ready to go and
jumped in the back.
We
headed across the creek from the house and turned Daisy loose while we
helped the ATS road crew hook up a water pump to fill their truck from
the creek. They use the water in the truck to keep the dust down where
they are working and to wash the pavement where they have tracked mud
and dirt onto the highway.
After
the crew had started the pump and made sure it was working, we continued
across the creek and began riding around the hay fields and trimming low
hanging limbs with the loppers We took turns driving while the other
person was lopping from the passenger's seat in the Mule. Occasionally
we had to get out and cut some higher branches. We made it around one
field and back in the 'holler' and out before we were hot enough we quit
and just rode the rest of the way. Daisy had rolled in dark mud while we
were working, so we let her romp in the creek some more before putting
her in the back of the Mule and taking her back to the barn.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Buds and Dirt
With a lot of the flowers blooming and the trees beginning to bud, I
took the camera with me when I went outside. I walked around the end of
the house and took a couple pictures of the trees near the house.
I
walked to the barn and started the ATV and rode down to the fire pit and
took a few more pictures of the trees in that area.
As
I was riding around on the ATV, one of the highway relocation workers
flagged me down and asked if I wanted some top soil to put around the
pole barn. I said that I did and that I would stay down there and show
the dump truck driver where to dump the dirt. I had the driver dump the
dirt at the end of the pole barn where the large door is located.
After
dumping five truck loads at the end of the building, I had him dump the
dirt at the back side of the pole barn. Linda had saw what I was doing
and brought me breakfast and I ate between dump truck loads. I'm not
sure, but I think that there were around 12 truck loads of dirt dumped
and then I told them that was enough. I thanked the driver and the track
hoe operator. During the afternoon, the track hoe operator used the hoe
to bust up the concrete that was left from the shed I stored the boat
inside. He buried the pieces of concrete at the edge of the new road and
smoothed out the dirt. Near 5 PM, right before they quit for the day,
the dozer operator brought the dozer to the pole barn and spread out the
dirt. It took about twenty minutes and he was done. I told him I would
finish smoothing out the dirt with my tractor using the scoop or grader
box. I thanked the dozer operator and he parked his dozer and they were
done for the day. I used the tractor to move some of the dirt closer to
the building and pull some away. I also drug the scoop across the dirt
to smooth the tracks the dozer had left. Linda came down and took a look
and I quit as it was getting dark.
Sunday, April 04, 2010
Egg Hunt
Pauline, Brent, Julie, Kyle, Stacey and Linda returned from IN late
Saturday night. Julie and Kyle were sleeping in the car and had to be
carried inside. We talked about their trip for a while then went to bed
as they were all tired from the ride.
Linda fixed breakfast and
started a ham cooking in the oven, then we took Julie and went for a
ride in the Mule. Daisy went along and we let her run while we rode
around the hay fields. We stopped on a sand bar in the creek and let
Julie throw rocks into the water. After she had thrown a lot of rocks,
we hopped back into the Mule and finished our trip around the fields,
then rode back to the farm. Pauline, Kyle, Brent and Stacey were outside
and walking around the fire pit, so we stopped down there. I let Daisy
out of the Mule, but kept her on a leash, Julie jumped out and they told
her to start finding the plastic eggs they had hidden.
Once
Julie had found most of the eggs, we helped by pointing out where some
of the harder ones had been hidden until she had them all. Then Pauline
and Kyle watched as Julie and Linda popped the eggs apart and dropped
the candy and change into a container. We went to the house and had ham
sandwiches for lunch, then went back out and sat on the back porch while
Julie played. Nancy and Steve stopped for a few minutes on their way to
their farm on the ridge. PB&J+K left for home around 5 PM.
There
are 25 pictures of Julie hunting eggs that readers can see by clicking
this LINK.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Greening Up
The grass is growing faster and faster each day. We've started mowing and have been moving some flowers that the highway relocation would have taken. We didn't move them earlier because we didn't know they were there until they popped through the ground. I used the back hoe on the tractor to turn them over as Linda picked out the bulbs. Stacey and Linda planted them in another spot while I dug out the bottom piece of an electric pole that the company had just cut off at ground level. I dug around it, then Linda and I hooked a chain to the piece and lifted it out. We were both surprised about the piece being 6 feet long when I pulled it out. I have also used the back hoe to clear the sand and rock out of the ditches between the hay fields. Linda drove the Triumph TR3 to town for a meeting with the manager of the day care. It was just a perfect day, nearly 80 degrees and no humidity.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Flower Delivery & Kyle
Friday afternoon, the door bell rang and I asked Stacey to answer. She
went and opened the door, there stood a delivery man with a couple of
items. He passed Stacey a vase with cut flowers and a stuffed animal.
She thanked the guy and closed the door. Stacey opened the card that was
attached and the flowers and teddy bear were from Jason.
In
the evening, when Jason called from the basketball game, they only
talked a few minutes because it was hard to hear, then Stacey called
Jason back later to thank him for him sending the gifts.
This morning
after we had breakfast, Kyle was awake and in a decent mood, so I sat
him up in the car seat and took several pictures. He is remaining awake
a little more each day according to Pauline and Brent.
