The Pups

Today we woke to temps in the 60's and dry air.  It made for a great walk with the pups.  They were even a bit more frisky.  It will still get into the mid 90's today but with much less humidity which makes it much more bearable.  

Speaking of the pups. We have renamed Abby (the new pup) to Maggie.  We have never liked that name and we both agree it just isn't a good fit for her.  We called her a lot of other names than Abby anyway so we felt a change was in order.  We knew that changing her name may present difficulties, so choosing a name that sounded similar was our goal and we came up with Maggie.  She doesn't notice any different.  We sometimes call her Abby anyway out of habit.  So far so good.

We are going on a short road trip in October and can't take the dogs.  Our first choice is Son #1 and his family.  They love Snickers to death so they are a natural pick but adding Maggie to the mix they seem a little reluctant.  She is very timid and stays hidden when they have been around.  I understand and don't want them to feel pressured.  The other alternative is a commercial kennel near us.  This has it's own issues that gives great concern to 'K.'  We need to get this resolved this week so we have time to make reservations there or somewhere else.  I don't want to cancel our plans but we have done that in the past too.  

Today or at least this morning will be spent cleaning the house, once I get off this.  With two dogs now, the house gets much dirtier very quickly along with the youngest Granddaughter being here for two nights.  Lots of vacuuming and mopping is in my future and then a trip to get groceries.  I'm tired already just thinking about it lol.

Happy Trails

Wacky Weather, the Garden and CBD

This morning was the first cool morning since Spring.  A sure sign Fall is coming and very welcome my walk.  We had 70* but with 90% humidity with a very clear sky.  Weird.  Usually with 90% humidity we have very cloudy skies.  We missed most of the rain that has been scattered around the area for the last week.  But the cloud cover has keep the heat way down.  Unusual for August which is traditionally the hottest month here.  It seems May and August switched roles this year.  

Not a lot been happening here, I did get started on the Honey Do list since the weather was a bit cooler.  Trimmed a bunch of limbs that were hanging over my fence in the back.  There is a vacant lot behind us that has quite a bit of foliage.  I also hammered down nails in the fence that work their way back out and then took some linseed oil to very small parts of it.  Hope that helps it resist the water a little more and it brightened it up some and it is not the dull grey it had been.  

I am having some issues with my tomatoes.  The few tomatoes I get are very spotty, mostly on top.  In the past I tell it was stink bugs.  They would get on the tomatoes and sting them and leave those spots but all over, not just on top.  I sent a pic to one of my friends that has more experience than I with tomatoes.  First thing he said was stink bugs.  There are no stink bugs, at all.  With that info he said he had no idea.  So we have been cutting the top half off the tomatoes before we use them.  I will try to do some research soon to see if there is something I can do about it.  The potatoes I planted have sprouted.  Very pleased with that.  I hope there is enough warm weather they can do their thing and have a decent harvest.

If you know what this is please let me know.

I am hoping to find some heritage tomatoes for next year.  None of the nurseries sell them so I need to find a source.  I don't really want to try growing them from seed.  But I will start looking around and see what I need to do.  

I have been considering CBD gummies for my chronic pain in my shoulders caused by the crushed discs in my neck.  It has been really bad lately.  I know nothing other than the advertisements that have all the BS.  I take mostly ibuprofen and acetaminophen or both most nights in order to sleep a little.  I need an alternative due to the worry about the damage those pain relievers can cause.  Today I think I will visit a store near me that sells that CBD stuff and see what they have to say.

Happy Trails 

Honey Do List Grows

I started making a list of things I have been putting off until cooler weather comes along.  It started out with just 3 things and has more than doubled in as many days.  Most of the things on the list will take multiple days of work.  So even though the list may be short (but it keeps growing) they will take some time to accomplish.  Hopefully we won't have as cold of a fall/winter as we have had the past two years.  That way I can get most of them done.  Number one on the list is to finish up painting the house.  Yes, it's been at least 3 years since I started but I don't have a lot left to do, it's just that the areas needing the paint are the hardest to do physically for my old wore out body.  Most will be high up on an extended ladder around 16'.  It will require many many ups and downs of the ladder.  But once it's done I should be good for a few years.  Then I will hire it done if it even needs it again in my lifetime.  I just don't want to fall off the ladder again being much older now, so I have to have a spotter and there is only one available...my lovely wife.

I still marvel at my laziness.  I never used to let things sit due to weather/heat/cod issues.  I was the type that if I had something that needed to be done it gone done in short order if I could afford it.  Age creeps up on us all and affects us all in different degrees.  I have an Uncle that is ten years older (pushing 80) and I know he can outwork me and most men half his age.  I feel older than he looks.

Mom's 90th Birthday Party went pretty well and she seemed pleased but tired early.  We went over Monday to set up her Life Alert we convinced her to get.  She was still pretty tired from the party and I could see some of the instructions were confusing her.  All the attention just wore her out evidently.  She seemed better later in the day but I could see she was spent before we left.

She is talking more and more about moving somewhere.  She will go with 'K' and my sister-in-law to look at some places.  So the ball is rolling but we still have some obstacles that are mostly things that really are no issue but to her they are huge.  She is saying it will take a year for her to move.  That may kill us all.

Happy Trails

Plumbers

Over the last couple weeks we had been experiencing water pipes knocking inside our walls when we would run water or flush.  Sometimes it was really bad.  So bad you would think they were going to rattle loose from their connections.  I have grown up with that happening a few times in other houses and was always told it was air in the lines.  I got on the www to see what I could do about that.  Drain the lines and let the water run for a bit.  After 3 tries it was still doing it to varying degrees.  Some info I read said to wait a couple weeks and it 'might' correct itself.  But it was pretty bad and things I read said it could cause leaks at connections plus 'K' was more worried than I was.  A call was placed and they showed up early on the same day.  When does that ever happen?  They diagnosed it pretty quickly.  A faulty PRV.  They got it changed out and also found a leak in the pipe next to it.  It took less than an hour for them to get it changed out and fix the leak.  No more knocking and 'K' is happy.  

That makes three times I have had a plumber out this year.  I haven't called a plumber out that many times in my entire life.  A water heater, a leaky supply line I couldn't get to and now this PRV.  The PRV cost me half of what another company would have charged me.  I didn't have to dig or bend over and stress my wore out back.  Plus I found a great plumbing company that is very close.  I hope I don't need them any time soon but I know I can rely on them if and when.  

OK, we're off to get the Granddaughter and groceries and probably Whataburger.

Happy Trails

90 Years Old

Today is my Mother's birthday.  Ninety years old.  We were planning to go see her but she has other plans with her sister and niece.  That's OK, we are having a birthday party for her on Saturday at my nephews home.  She is very healthy but she does have some issues with confusion and memory.  It is not just long term memory.  She has no trouble remembering people.  

She doesn't drive much anymore.  She probably shouldn't drive at all.  She mentioned to us the other day she didn't recognize where she was one day and kept driving until she got someplace she did recognize.  This was in an area she has been in most of her life.  But since she doesn't get out much and hasn't for years now that was understandable to me.  Things have grown and changed in her area, in fact all over town, to the point I don't recognize areas anymore.  I don't get lost since I am aware of where I am, it's just not like it was the last time I was there a few years ago.  However, I can see this being an issue in the future.  I am placing a device in her car that will allow me to see where it is.  Her living so far from us makes it even harder to stay on top of things.

An assisted living facility is in the very near future.  She and my Dad did that once a few years ago and it was a fiasco.  So she has very definite opinions that make it difficult for us.  Same as last time.  We hope to move her nearer my brother and I if we can get her to understand why her choices aren't the best.  

There is much much more I could say and I may have said too much already.  I start writing and things come out that maybe shouldn't.  To me they complete the story and I don't quite know how to put it all down without intruding on her privacy.  Just know this is more complicated than it sounds here.  But the sooner we get her somewhere the better IMO.  

My Garden and Something for you to Read

We woke up to the end of a rain shower surprisingly.  It delayed my walk with the pups about an hour.  I checked the gauge when I got back, only 0.20.  The results sure looked like more than that.  But we did a get another 0.50 a day or two earlier.  Not near what we need but it sure helps and I am thankful.  

The garden is crazy.  All I have are tomato plants now.  They are not producing a lot but I get one or two every day or so.  That's great.  The plants themselves are doing much too well.  There is so much foliage there isn't enough sunlight getting in and then there is the heat, so production suffers.  Most everyone I know has already pulled theirs out.  I will let mine go into Fall and I'll hope to harvest more then.  I will probably have to prune a bunch.  This is how they look now:

That's a little over 7' at the tallest.  

On to something else.  This should give you something to think about.  I think the writer hits it out of the park.  Please take a little time to read this article in the American Spectator by Melissa McCarthy.  https://spectator.org/does-donald-trump-have-jeffrey-epstein-client-list/

Happy Trails

The Wild Life

Actually just wildlife.  We have an abundance of wildlife in our neighborhood.  There are Whitetail Deer, Gray Fox, Raccoons, Ringtail Cats, Possums, Coyotes and numerous birds including birds of prey, Great Owls, various hawks.  These are the ones that I have actually seen.  Others here have taken and posted photos of Bobcats, Mountain Lions and porcupines.  Sorry no Chupacabras yet.  Oh and at least one wild Turkey many years ago in my back yard, beautiful.  

We live next to the Camp Bullis military facility.  It is huge and has many acres of undeveloped land that harbor a lot of this wildlife.  I am not sure how they get through that fence though.  

Deer are the most dense.  We could do without a few hundred and you most likely wouldn't see much of a difference.  As beautiful and fun to watch as they are they do present their own problems.  They will eat everything you have growing.  If you want a lush yard with lots of shrubs and flowers it will be a battle.  The deer will win.  Even the deer proof stuff gets eaten during years like this.  Then you feel sorry for them so you feed them 'deer' corn.  FYI, deer corn is just corn.  It's not formulated especially for deer.  They love it, yes.  But it is basically just candy to them.  It attracts them and you get to see them and feel good about helping the deer when they are hungry because, 'well gee, they were here first'.  Well guess what, you aren't helping them at all.  They get no nutritional value from corn.  You also make them less fearful of humans.  This is dangerous for the deer.  You'll have to think bout that, I won't spell that out for you here.  They also leave us a lot of presents in the yard.  You can't walk around out there watthour stepping in it if you're not careful.  With the yard as dead as it is now, it really shows up.  Taller grass at least hides it.  Luckily there is no smell most of the time.  Sometimes it's not so great.

This morning I found this little one, just born last night or this morning.  Can barely walk yet.  Don't ask how I know.

We have also had some issues with hawks in the trees in our yard.  They perch there and wait.  The feathers of their victims are there for us to see.  There were at least 3 running together when I saw them first.  Probably an adult and two young ones.  One was huge.  So we have to go outside with the dogs so they don't become a quick easy meal every time they want out.  I have no doubt that the big hawk could carry off Abby at 12 lbs.  Maybe not but I'm not ready to live with the idea she got eaten by anything.

Abby trying to boss me around:

Abby not happy I am trying to ignore her

Then there is the family of foxes I have seen the last month.  They have been seen playing in the front yard.  They are probably the ones marking the top rail of the fence with their scat.  Probably at taunt to the dogs barking at them.

Sorry no hawk photos they are too keen of eyesight for me to get close enough.

This is getting long so I will stop today.

Happy Trails