Total Disgust

I tried to watch the Texas State House proceedings on Saturday when they convened to consider impeachment of the Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton.  What a complete waste of time.  In short, this was nothing but a witch hunt dreamed up but the current Texas Speaker of the House.  Some call him a RINO.  I think it's worse than that.  I believe he is a Democrat that runs as a Republican in order to gain his office.  The impeachment is more than just retaliation for Paxton's call for the speaker's resignation after videos of him appeared online.  These videos show that he is not in control of his faculties.  He appears drunk while conducting business as speaker of the house of the Texas legislature.  They say that that was in and of itself and illegal act.  If it was, where were those that enforce the law and why wasn't he removed from office instead of being asked to resign.  What a joke.  60 So called republicans sided with the speaker to vote for impeachment.  While many think Texas is a conservative state, they obviously don't follow what happens in this RINO house of representatives.  But I digress.  I believe the main reason for this sham is that 'they' are after Paxton due to his efforts against the Biden administration.  He had been very successful and has other things still in the works.  They want him gone and they orchestrated this BS.

How did my representative vote?  NO.  This is the first time I have had a true conservative that actually represents my views.  

Not feeling very Happy Trails today.  Thanks for coming by.

Morning Routine Changes

With the weather getting warmer my 'schedule' is a bit off.  I have been waking around 5:30 AM (sometimes much sooner) and will doze until 6 or 6:30.  Usually pain will force me to get up sooner than I want.  'K' also will get up about the same time.  She doesn't sleep well either and then there are the dogs that just wait for any movement or sign of life to jump on us.  Once that happens any additional sleep will NOT happen.  We have been taking advantage of the early get up times to get the dogs walked before the heat hits.  Times for that will get even earlier as the heat increases.  Not sure 'K' will tolerate walking before the sun rises like I have done in the past.  I hope she does.  It's been cool but also very humid.  It's pleasant but we get pretty sweaty anyway due to the humidity that has been running 80-90%.

We have pretty much finished with the garage clean out.  There is a lot more room but not near as much as I had hoped.  With all the rain we have had I have been cutting the grass more often.  And the Bermuda seed has been sprouting and starting to fill in bare patches of the yard.  The deer seem to be eating some of it, the newer sprouts from what I can tell.  Not a lot I can do about that.  Way too many deer and I don't stay outside long enough to chase them off.  I am thinking about getting one of those motion detector sprinklers to help keep them away.  Not sure I want to spend 70$ for that.

The 4 year old Granddaughter will be here starting Thursday and will be here at least through Sunday maybe Monday.  That is usually a good thing but we haven't had her that long before.  But the parents have a show in Houston they need to be at and she certainly would not enjoy that while they work.  We are happy to oblige, especially since Mom will be home from school for the Summer and we will get her less than usual.  

Happy Trails

My Heart Breaks

Once again I find myself forgetting to write a post.  I get busy with a chore or two and it keeps going for the better part of the day.  Thus this blog gets forgotten.  My foggy brain?  Maybe.  So what was I doing this time?  Still working on clearing out the garage for the most part.  I am making headway.  A little at a time.

Hope all the Mothers had a great Mothers day.  Ours was pretty quiet.  We had gone over to Son#1's on Saturday.  He grilled some steaks and we had a good time visiting.  We came home after church on Sunday and ate some of my homemade enchiladas and not much else.

On that note, things have not gone very well with my Mother over the last couple weeks. I think her mental abilities have declined some more.  She is now transferring memories, if that is what it's called.  Things that actually happened but she insists it was someone else when it was actually her.  And of course it's a very bad memory.    It is heart breaking.  'K' is at the doctor with her this morning.  She has not allowed anyone to go with her the last two visits.  We don't even know what the doctor told her or med changes he prescribed or why.  Then she will call 'K' and have her call the doctor's office to ask them what they told her to do.  This time 'K' told her she would be there to go with her and there was no argument.  I am not sure if she was even aware that she didn't let her go before.  But we need to find out what he says/prescribes.

Happy Trails

Garage Clean Out

We have been cleaning out things in the garage lately.  It is crammed full of things we don't or rarely ever use.  That storage has hopefully changed.  We have filled at least one of those 96 gallon trash cans with mostly things that were in the garage.  There are still a lot of things that need to go.  We work on one area at a time trying to free up space.  We are seeing some progress.  There is still much that needs to be tossed.  This will take multiple days/weeks.  Once the trash can gets semi full we stop in order to have space for our regular trash.  And then it starts all over again.  The real trick will be when we get to the shelves of things left over from 'K's' business.  If we can make a big dent there we can proceed with other plans.  No, I'm not picking on 'K,' I have my own share of things, tools and hardware I rarely ever touch anymore but I find very hard to turn lose.  There will almost always be a need at one time or another for a tool or hardware to repair things around the house.  But I am tossing some.  Miter saws (the hand variety) a couple other hand saws I have never used and a few other things I still have not gone through.  Especially random hardware.  I am finding so much of that that was always saved for later then more was bought since I didn't remember I had it or couldn't find it.  I am so bad about doing that.  But the less I try to undertake now days. and hire it done, the less I need or collect these things.  Hopefully.

I need to head out to the grocery and to Home Depot today.  The plan for HD is not to buy anything I will have to store in the garage.  LOL.  I do need some root killer for my Septic System.  I will try to find something other than the copper sulfate I have used in the past.  I am not sure that doesn't degrade my concrete tank.  The last time I had it pumped that there was a big Sulphur smell when they opened the lid.  They had no idea why it did that but I remembered I had used copper sulphate numerous times previously.  The concrete lid was brittle and fell apart and seemed to have a yellow cast to it.  I will look for something different.

Happy Trails

Spectacular Weather

The weather here has been pretty great.  Beautiful days.  But it has been a mix with some rain.  We missed getting much with the recent storms that saw some huge hail all around  us but nothing but a sprinkle here.  We did get a few more dead limbs from that freeze fall out of the trees from the winds.  The big ones are still hanging on.

We drove up to Bandera to visit with some long time friends we don't get to see much.  They offered to feed me ribs so I accepted.  This is my SPECOPs friend that I learn a lot from.  So down to earth for such a brilliant mind.  You can't help but like him.  And his wife compliments that.  We don't get to see them as much as we like as he is so busy doing doctor stuff.  The visit was great but we do get into talking about the things that bother us about how our world is going.  We are of like mind in that regard.  Neither of us stress too much about the things we can't control.

I've been pretty busy with minor chores around the house.  This cool dry weather just increases my energy somehow.  I start passing out on the couch even earlier than usual.  But I feel pretty good for some one with so many health things being an issue.  For that I am so very thankful and am reminded to give thanks in my prayers.

The youngest Granddaughter is here for a couple days and has been here off and on a little more than usual.  Her Dad is at a show in Las Vegas promoting his self published works and with Mom a teacher it doesn't work out so well for a four year old.  But we are glad to have her, she brightens things around here and makes us smile a lot.  What a blessing she is and has been.  

Things seem to be going OK for my Mom.  We have no real idea how her doctor visit went since she won't let any of us attend.  The transcript we wanted was useless.  It didn't even list the appointment scheduled for today.  Fortunately they call us as a reminder.  She is going to this one today by herself also.  We try to get her to write things down to ask the doctor about such as refills on meds etc.  She can't really tell us anything about her visit or about the meds he prescribed.  She absolutely doesn't want any of us there for those visits.  So we have to just turn her loose for now, there isn't much we can do without stressing her out more and causing heartache.  At least that is how it will go for now.

We are off to Costco with a huge list.  Chaching $$$

Happy Trails

Nothing Much-Grass Seed-Garden

It has been pretty quiet around here, just mundane chores around the outside mostly.  I have some Bermuda seed planted in the bad spots in the yard.  It has finally made an appearance after almost 2 weeks.  Thanks in part to the mixture of some rain and sunshine.  However it is not as abundant as I had hope for.  In the past all I did was broadcast it on the bad spots and watered it daily.  I did the same this time yet results are not as prolific as previous.  Evidently there is way too much dead matter above the soil for it to take root.  I should have scarified the ground more than I did.  Even though we have raked leaves multiple times, it appears to not be enough.  And I certainly didn't do it after spreading the seeds.  The instructions on the bag would have been a good place to start is seems.  So I will wait a few weeks for the new sprouts to take better hold and go back with more seed along with the increased scarifying of the ground where the seed has failed to get started.  I thought I knew what I was doing based on previous successful efforts.  

The garden is doing pretty great.  Tomato plants have gone into high gear with the rain/sun mix.  Although it probably could be better but the weather has turned off cooler and cloudier of late.  Onions are doing OK but my potatoes have exploded.  They were sprouting within 3 days of planting.  Last year it was more than 2 weeks.  No idea why the change.  I just plant 'em and give a little fertilizer and water and get out of the way.  I hope this is an indication the actual potatoes will develop into larger ones this time.  I used the gold variety again since the Russets last fall were a huge bust.

My Mother has a follow up doctor appointment today.  She insisted on going alone this time.  She apparently thinks 'K' or my Sister-in-law being there hampers things.  Unfortunately she remembers nothing from the previous visits.  She has not followed his previous instructions since she doesn't remember them and argues when she is told about them.  Hopefully he can get her to understand why he wants her to do the things he prescribed.  But she seems to be going in with a combative approach even though she remembers nothing but what we have told her.  We have taken measures to hopefully get the transcript of her appointment so things don't go to far off the rails.  Yes, he has someone record the visit.  Smart man since he deals mostly with elderly.

'K' surprised me with a road-trip request.  I was certainly not prepared.  I can't blame her.  We have been pretty much homebodies for the last 15 years and the stress of dealing with my Mother lately has added to the desire to get out of town.  However the place/time she chose is not conducive to avoiding hot weather.  I have offered a compromise for October.  Inviting some family would add to the fun and giving them more time to plan make it more appealing.  She thought that was a great idea.  I gotta try to keep from sandbagging us, but I'm a planner and 'K' is more a spur of the moment type.  I look at all the things that could be an issue, she looks at very few-just go and let things deal with themselves, I wish I could do that.  How we ever get along is a wonder.

Happy Trails

On The Roof Again

Sunday with the family was good.  Mom was a no show.  When 'K' spoke to her Saturday she said she had no recollection of saying she would come.  She was too tired to come.  

Trying to catch up on yard work is the constant theme this time of year.  Most of it is centered on raking and bagging a bajillion oak leaves.  I usually let them lay and hit them with the mower.  However, they are so thick and there is little to no grass after the brutal Summer and the 3 days of ice earlier this year.  I just had to get down a little further so I can plant some grass seed on the bare patches.  'K' loves to rake and bag leaves, it relaxes her she says.  Well OK don't let me stop you.  Yes I help but she really does a lot of it.  The big pile of firewood I got from all the broken limbs from the ice storm is finally making it's way to the back yard next to the other pile.  I have easily filled one of those 4' wood racks and could fill another 2.  This wood will need to cure before it's useable for fires or BBQ.  I had to climb up on the roof and remove the oak leaves and tassels from the roof valleys.  They get so full they can back up rain water under the shingles.  I don't want that again.  The tassels block the gutter covers and become useless.  It's not an easy thing to do for a wore out 70 year old to climb up on that roof.

Not much else going on...yet.

Happy Trails