Lost it

I had a long post about things I encountered and discussed with the wife this past weekend.  Somehow I hit something on my keyboard and it was all gone.  No idea what I did.  Frustrating to say the least.  Maybe good for you as I was moralizing a bit.  Either way I couldn't bring it back.  I don't have to the patience to sit here and put that together again.

So I will head out to do a bit of yard work to get it in shape for the BBQ we will have Mother's' Day.

Happy Trails

Hopeful

This Friday is hopefully the last doctor appointment either of us has for awhile.  I actually have another in July with the Urologist as I do every 6 months to verify there is no return of my prostate cancer.  The one Friday is with a GI, one that comes every 5 years so he can look around inside me and make sure there is no colon cancer.  Yes, that's right, I am prepping today for that.  Not leaving the house and trying to keep from starving on a clear liquid diet.  K had the same thing om Wednesday.  So we have been a bit occupied.  

Since the two smoker/pits I had been using were pretty much useless, I will have them hauled off.  Found guy that will do it for free.  He scraps the iron, that is how he makes money on that deal.  I am expecting his call any moment.  I had to get the heaviest one off the patio.  In doing so it has to come down three wooden steps I built.  The thing is so heavy and the wood so old, it broke two steps.  That was what I did the other day, replace the steps completely.  

I had to get that done pretty quick since Buster uses them all the time to get in and out of the house.  he could have easily hurt himself.  

I will put the new pit to use the day before Mother's day.  We will have the family over for brisket etc.  I am anxious to see how this new one works.  Only draw back is the Grandkids will not be here.  They will be on their way back from visiting Great Grandparents in Arizona.

The garden is lush.  Plenty of bloome and even several tomatoes have appeared.  I don't see any of the stink bugs we had last year and am hoping we won't.  Not sure if it's the Marigolds or something else.

Yes, I need to weed and weedeat around the border.  It will have to wait until next week....or so.  Don't judge me.

Happy Trails

Gators and Whataburger

Only in Texas.  A massive gator was trying to cross the road near Cleveland, Texas.  They had to get someone to move him.  Every time a vehicle would pass he would raise up and hiss at them, impeding traffic instead of moving on his way.  I can see a new special on the Whataburger menu now.

A gator and Whataburger in the same photo, nowhere else but Texas.

All 11' 6" inches of a possible gatorburger with cheese.  You want fries with that?  That's a big boy.  He was safely removed, only his dignity was hurt.

It reminds me of the time my Grandfather and his brother-in-law, my Uncle Billy, caught one while running trotlines South of town.  They hauled him up to the house and got some photos and then someone called the newspaper and they came out.  I have a photo and a copy of the article somewhere, but unfortunately it's one of those things you never see until you run across it again.  I have no idea where it is.  It was a big boy too.  9' long.  Not as big as this one but still pretty big for two old men to haul home in the back of their Ford pickup just because they could.  No idea what became of it.  No, I am sure it lived on, I know they didn't kill it.  It was illegal to do so then, there were no seasons for hunting them as now.  Funny how some things can spur your memories.

Happy Trails

Yard Work

I am going to attempt to enter the jungle of my yard and get it cut to a manageable length.  I finally feel well enough to at least use the lawn tractor.  The weed eater may have to wait another week.  I will wear one of those doctor type masks to keep from breathing in the tons of dust and pollen that are lurking in the stalks.  I can get choked up pretty fast still.  

WE have a friend that is in the hospital and is in very serious condition.  At this exact time last year he had the same issues and we almost lost him.  Somehow he has gotten septic and his kidneys shut down and they have to put him on dialysis.  Only problem with that is his blood pressure is so low they can't.  With all the poison in his blood he has pretty much been unconscious around the clock.  They were finally able to stabilize the BP and get him on those machines.  He has improved somewhat but is still out.  We have been trying to support his wife as she has been pretty distraught and is thinking the worst.  Not much we can do but other than be there and she can talk when she wants to unload. You can see the change in her when she is able to unburden.  So don't ever think your presence is not helpful when you have a friend in need.  Just being there does more than you may ever know.  Believe me, from one who has a lot of experience with this.  Sometimes we make excuses to avoid this things because they can be heart wrenching or hard on us.  We don't always know what to say.  But remember, you don't do this for you.  You don't have to say anything, just be there.  They will know and be uplifted by that.  You will feel better in the long run.

Happy Trails.

Falling Behind

I continue to get better from the Epizooti that has taken up residence inside me.  The main issue right now is the coughing has increased as my body tries to expel this plague.  I think I will wait at least another day before I try to tackle the badly need yard work in the jungle of my yard.  The dust/pollen will play havoc with me at this point.

I still am itching to try out the new smoker/grill yet I need to make a trip to pick up the appropriate beef parts to try out.  Sheesh I am just falling behinder everyday.  The house is a wreck and just filthy as we haven't been up to being able to keep up with things for the last few weeks.  Amazing how fast things can get away from you.  I feel a bit overwhelmed with so much on my plate.  It may not sound like much here but I don't list everything.  That's my story anyway.

We took my little fur buddy Buster, to the groomer today.  We have been trying to get him for his summer cut and he just flat out stunk.  He rarely gets stinky but this time, whew.  He got into something sour smelling and we can't figure out what it is.  Neither of us was well enough to give him a much needed bath.  If he was an outside dog, no problem.  But he is right with us ALL the time.  He is more like a piece of velcro stuck to my leg as I wander around the house.  

A photo of Buster from earlier days.

Todays results

We were going to try a new groomer much closer to us but they wouldn't take a dog over ten years old if they hadn't seen him before.  They have only been there a few months so they probably haven't seen ANY dogs over ten years old.  They say the liability is too much.  He is going fourteen.  I guess there is a lot of stress on them and the older they are the harder it is on them.  I know he was pretty nervous when we dropped him off.  His back legs were trembling.  Things like this never upset him before.  Now that he is older we try to be more mindful of the things that cause issues for him.  Who knows, maybe the groomer is something we will do without if he is that nervous.  But once I got him home an on familiar territory he immediately started licking himself.  I flip him over to check him out and he got clipped, in the worst place.  Not bleeding anymore but he is very raw.  He had very long hair and I know it is hard to see those 'parts' on a male dog but geez.  I applied some Neosporin and it seems to be relieved of pain, not licking anymore.   I am not as happy as when we picked him up.  We have our own clippers but they just don't get the job done like we need it to be done.  His aging is really starting to show in his physical abilities.  

Happy Trails

The Caravan

That caravan of immigrants that has been winding its way through Mexico from Central America to the US border has arrived.  Well at least part of them have.  One bus load has arrived in Tijuana, Mexico on the Southern border of Commiefornia of all places. There are four more busloads about 450 miles South still heading that way.  The caravan has reduced from 1500 seeking asylum to 600.  They say that the reduction of numbers was caused by Trump's 'tweets' about refusing them entrance.  Really? Tweets do that?  Well good on him then, he is more powerful than most realize.  Maybe we could supplement our border guards with some electronic signs that show Trump's tweets to those that might be thinking about crossing.  Might be cheaper than a wall.  Just think Jumbotrons all along the border spaced as needed.  *sarcasm voice*

The news has been almost non existent about this caravan for the last few weeks.  Not sure why the lefties have stopped covering it, maybe it was those bad ole tweets that scared them off.  I am guessing a new wave of stories will hit the wires about the dire straits of these folks.  Some may be true but others you will probably find Soros behind or the Governor of Commiefornia.  This could get interesting.

I am doing a ton better.  Almost two full days of those meds from the doc and I fell almost normal.  But I am not pushing it.  I don't want any sort of relapse.  Next week I have a scope procedure.  yeah, that one.  I want that over with ASAP.  A relapse would probably postpone that.  No, just no.  

So the yard is looking like we have abandoned the house and will look even worse by the time I feel well enough to get after it.  I left my garden alone almost too long.  Managed to get some water on it before it was too late but I could tell the plants were stressed.  I do have some small green tomatoes making appearances.  I'll be glad to stop buying those tasteless market tomatoes.  Blech.

Happy Trails

Finally

Well, thankfully I was wrong about the Doc not being able to help me.  He told me that he knew I must be really sick because I never come see him when I am sick, which is true.  I don't usually stay sick long enough to get in to see him anyway.  He gave me a few meds, antibiotic and steroids and a shot in the butt.  I felt so much better by last evening when I had been crashing.  This morning is even better.  I still have several days of meds to complete so I won't do anything to aggravate whatever this is, like doing badly needed yard work and breathing in the tons of pollen and dust.  The wife even offered to cut the grass if I showed her how to work the mower.  That has never happened, not even once.  That is how bad the yard needs attention and she has never been a nag about how it looks and leaves me alone to do my own thing.  She is such a blessing to me.

I am itching to get the new smoker/pit fired up with brisket on the grill.  I am anxious to repay some kindnesses shown to us from our recent surgeries that were done for us.  They are way overdue.  But I want to test if first and I will BBQ one and have the kids over first.  Yes, this will include the Daughter-in-law that is broken, she doesn't like beef.  I may cook her a chicken.  I got some heat resistant insulation for around the lid that seemed to allow too much smoke out during the seasoning of the pit.  I also got a cover for it.  Just need to make a run to the store and get the beef and more charcoal.  Yes, I use some commercial charcoal along with my oak wood.  I get a more consistent fire that way.  The heat is easier to control also.  I also bought some of the rub from Cooper's BBQ in Llano we ate at a few weeks ago.  Not sure at all about this rub, it is very different but I like their BBQ so I will try this out also.  It is saltier than any I have ever eaten and has more black pepper in it and what I think is garlic powder.  No 'reddish' color that I am used to using.  We will see.

Happy Trails