Not a Good Morning

The coffee pot quit yesterday.  Yup, nothing, just a light that said it was on but no coffee being made and the hot plate didn't even register a single BTU. 

 

Fortunately we had a used one my Mom gave us.  This thing is much fancier than anything I am used to. 

It has a 'thing' that makes steamed milk for all the hi-falutin' type coffees, all those 'chino' things, you know the frapacinos etc.  It was good to have this in an emergency to fall back on.  It worked.  However the pot is pretty small.  The wife got one cup and I got almost two.   That just isn't gonna cut it.  Not a good morning when you can't get your coffee and as much as you want.

We have extremely hard water here.  There is a lot of scale from the limestone that we live over and the water comes from. 

 Consequently there is a lot of buildup on coffee pots and anything that gets water, especially hot water, on it.  I would guess we have gone through 10 coffee makers in as many years.  We avoid the pricey ones for that matter.  We can usually buy 2-3 coffee pots for the price of one of the pricey ones and they last just as long.  Not only coffee pots are victims of the hard water, but it's especially hard on water heaters.  We are on number five since 1986.  Unfortunately we opted out of a water softener when we built the house.  We hadn't needed one at previous houses, even with the hard water in town, and thought that it would be the same here only 30 miles from where we lived previously.  WRONG. It is so much harder here than we even thought. Now the cost is prohibitive to us.  We make do anyway.

So we are considering a different way of making coffee that I know nothing about.  We just heard about it from one of Kim's relations.  They are more 'cosmopolitan' than our normal runnin' buddies.  They use something called a French Press. 

They say all you do is pour boiling water over your coffee, in the pot.  That would certainly relieve the dependency on coffee makers and having to replace them every year or so.  But it also means not being able to walk away from your coffee maker and letting it do all the work.   From what I have read it sounds great, if someone else does it.  I love coffee, but I am not sure I love it enough to use one of these.  Sounds like it would be a PITA at times.  I might get one anyway and use it occasionally.

Happy Trails

Getting Crowded

The county I live in is growing in population extremely fast.  Much to fast for me and it seems some of my family is having some of the same thoughts.  It is shocking to see the growth in our area and the traffic, oh. my. word. the traffic.  I was in the highway business and am pretty tuned in to traffic issues.  What I am seeing just blows my mind by the growth in traffic, not just where I live, but every where I travel in a 3 county area.  I see different numbers for population in our county and the numbers shock me.  They have more than doubled in the last 15 years or so.  It must be all those yankees that always bad mouth Texas and Texans that seem to be moving here.  They sure do tell us how dumb we are and how great it was back in so and so and they had no choice they HAD to move here. Yes, they have no problem saying something like that to your face with much disdain in their voice. 

There are predictions that in 10-15 years it will double again.  I just don't see where they will put them all.  We don't live as densely as areas on the east coast and up north, but this is Texas for crying out loud.  To the transplants, it won't seem like such a big deal to live so close to your neighbors that you can hear them fart in their own house and deal with stop and go traffic every where you go.  But to this native, who has never lived more than 25 miles from where he was born, it's down right distressing.

The son brought this subject up a couple weeks ago and it bothers him too.  This is the son that was ready to move to Dallas because it was bigger and more exciting.  The son who wanted to attend college at the largest university in the State and probably the nation.  Now he sings a different tune.  I guess having your own family will do that.  Our solution was that we would all move to a small town somewhere else (in Texas).  Since he works from home location isn't an issue.  However it is an issue for son number 2. 

Lots of suggestions and discussion about moving.  Fun to think about and talk about but, I am not sure I could just pull up stakes and leave my elderly parents with just my brother to look out for them.  So it would have to wait.  But, then I am not a spring chicken either.  I hate the idea of a move and all that entails.   ( I am talking myself out of it obviously) Waiting until that time, when my parents are gone, may be to long for me also.  All my grandparents except one lived into their mid to late 90's and one was almost 101.  I expect my parents to be of similar age from what I see.  That's still off aways.  That puts me near to my parents current age.  I can't imagine moving then.  But I really like Abilene or San Angelo, or maybe Brownwood, then there's.....

Happy Trails.

We're Good

Yes, we got great news at the surgeon's office yesterday.   

This is the first PSA test since my surgery.  No detectable PSA.  '0,' none, nada.  That is what we were hoping for.  Now we get sent back over to the regular Urologist for regular checks for the next 5 years. 

I have to say that I have a little regret we will be going back to him.  This is because this surgeon is probably the most cheerful and upbeat doctor I have ever been around.  I can tell he would be like this whether he was a doctor or not.  I had been told he was a 'character,' while that is certainly true, he is just a genuine good ole boy.  I could easily be friends with him and would enjoy his company even being 20 years younger than me.

We (I) will see the regular Urologist in 3 months.

The wife and I were discussing my reaction to the news and everything related to this particular doctor visit.  The way I react has changed so much over the years.  I had been a 'worrier' most of my life.  It took a long gradual length of time for that not to be true anymore.  I wasn't anxious at all about this visit other than wanting it behind me.  I was happy but not with the feeling of relief I used to generally feel with something weighty and then get good news.  Is it age?  Is it experience?  Is it perspective?  Or is it my Faith?  I believe it is a combination of all with most of the weight being given to my Faith.  I am not one to go into some long drawn out discussion on these things or even think on them much.  But, these have crossed my mind and I do consider them worthy of such.  Putting these thoughts into words is much harder than I would have thought.  I tend to ramble so I will spare you what my weak mind produces on these matters.  Your welcome.

Fellas, if you haven't had a prostate check in the last year, including the blood test, please schedule one.  You owe it to those that love you.

Happy Trails.

Doctor Appointment

Off to the Urologist.  Will get the results of the blood tests.  Hoping and praying for that '0'.

Happy Trails

Found Them

I think I found out what was feeding on my tomato blooms and my cilantro.  Snails!  Yes, pretty sure, there was one crawling around on my one cilantro plant and one on one of the tomato plants.  They are gone but I will keep an eye out for the slimy critters.  I have little to no knowledge of snails and what they eat.  But the evidence was condemning.  No, no picture of the actual miscreants but they were this type.  The shell was whiter than this one.

When I 'googled' snails I had no idea there were so many.  The ones I had are pretty common here and we see them all the time every where.  I'm glad we don't have those other monsters I saw.

There were many many more, more than I have wanted to know about.

If you know how to keep these out of a garden please, let me know.

Happy Trails

What the.....

I am trying to be completely organic with my garden.  This means No pesticides to keep the pests from enjoying the fruit of my labors.  My garden guru has told me that since he went entirely organic, he has less of a pest problem than he had previously.  The only thing he uses is liquid seaweed sprayed on the plants.

As it so happens I noticed that my tomato plants were missing most of the blooms they had sprouted. 

Not sure you can see it, top left quadrant.

Cut right off, could have done better with scissors.  I had spayed once when I noticed my cilantro/parsley had some chewing done to them.  Not good, not good at all.  Will try spraying more often, maybe everyday.  Then maybe a visit with my guru to see what he has to say.  Unfortunately my new air rifle I got for pests won't help one bit for this.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, Spring time in the Texas Hill Country is just spectacular.  What with the annual display of natures grandeur with the multitude of wild flowers that populate the State.  

The Texas Star part of the Bluebonnet

 

There is even a program to seed the more traveled roadways i.e. interstates with native wild flower seeds that entice visitors from other regions to travel here. 

I have only one minor complaint about this time of year.  Our Oak Trees.  I love them, but for about a month or more they are a major PITA.  Early Spring is the time they lose their leaves, not Fall.  They are never completely denuded.  New growth starts immediately.  These leaves are everywhere.  They aren't as easy to pick up as other leaves as they lay very flat.  You can never get everyone of them up.  Then there is the pollen.  Oh the pollen.  My black truck takes on an iridescent yellow green glow for about two weeks.  Then the tassels start to fall.  

Depending on the type Oak you have, you can have a couple inches of tassels on the ground.  We don't have those kind but we have a quite a bit.  They stick to Buster, especially the long hair on his paws.  Did I tell you he is an 'inside' dog most of the time.  Yeah, it's a mess, when he forgets to wipe his paws.

Happy Trails.

Hill Country Trip

Monday we hit the road for a few hours.  It is the peak of the Bluebonnet season here in Texas.  It's just one of those 'Texas' things.  You will see whole families on the side of the road looking and taking pictures. 

You will also see 'city folks' do some incredibly dumb things because they are so focused on the scenery.  You always have to watch for suddenly slowing traffic or totally stopped in the middle of the road, for no apparent reason.  People walking casually along taking pictures with not a care in the world, in the middle of the road.  Not to mention the trespassing.  I don't think the city folk understand how serious it is to trespass out in the sticks.  But hey wait, there are some Bluebonnets I need to walk in over that fence.

These are a few of my photos of the day.  Since it was a bit overcast I took the liberty of doing some HDR to these to bring out the colors.  Tried to make them as natural as I could but I still get a little overboard on it a bit.  Be sure and click on each to get the FULL size, it's worth it.

 

The last one is my back yard, can you see my lone Bluebonnet under the windmill?

Happy Trails