2009 Blogs Jan-April

Thursday April 23, 2009
Reality bites! I received my Social Security acceptance letter today so I think I am officially getting old. I have made an immediate and visible change in my lifestyle starting last night. I chat in two chat rooms as a rule. iRV2 and RV-Dreams. I have decided to make an attempt to be in both rooms by 8:00 CT each night for about an hour to visit with our friends. Along with this we are going to attempt to visit each of the chatters as time and distance permit. We did this when our RV was new but lately have been less agressive travelers....this will change. Life is too short and the people we chat with are too nice to miss knowing them better. Stay tuned...we could show up anyplace at anytime. See ya' tonight! Thursday April 16, 2009 Things have progressed some this week toward the repair of our motorhome. We had it towed to a shop in Beaumont, about 20 miles from the ranch on the advise of Good Sam's Extended Service Plan staff. It was just running too bad to drive. The folks at Yates Truck and Auto Center called after having the rig for a couple of hours and told me what the problem was....I was shocked since a mobile mechanic had gone over the rig when the trouble first started to the tune of $200. Yates estimated the repairs at $850 which they completed in short order. We discussed other problems while it was in the shop and they changed the plugs and wires which were in pretty bad shape anyway and something I had planned to do myself at some point. The rig should be completed by Friday and we will be "Free To Roam" once again.

Sunday April 11, 2009
We did not get the motorhome to the shop as planned but then again the two things I hate most is a trip to the dentist and having the MH in the shop. Actually, I enjoy visiting my dentist and his staff, they do a great job. Last Sunday we moved the MH to the ranch in Beaumont. It is a short 40 mile trip and the rig ran.....I will leave it at that. My Brother In Law had surgery on his shoulder and we thought it would be handy if we were on the ranch while he recovered. That paid off since we found a stray bull in the "lease" pasture which caused some commotion for a couple of days. The Sheriff's Department Animal Control Division along with 3 of the cowboys (Dale and his daughter Jennie, Buzzie and KC, Ron and myself (I stayed clear with Jennie in case they needed backup). Anyway, they trailered the critter much to his dislike and hauled him off to a secure spot away from here. The rest of the week was routine and we began preparing for my sister Jo's "Annual Easter Egg Dye & Hunt". We expect 30 or more kids for egg dying and a "hot dog and burger" lunch. We also will take delivery of 1000 catfish fingerlings this afternoon. Photos will be posted tonight on the main page. Things will return to normal next week and we hope to take the rig in for needed repairs by weeks end. Sunday March 29, 2009 It has been quiet here. We have spend a few days watching it rain which is most welcomed. Due to the cool nights I have elected to hold off on the yard work a bit to let the grass recover a bit more from the dry winter. We plan to take the MH in this week to have it worked on and hope it will be a short and cheap fix.

Thursday March 19, 2009
It should be no surprise that I drive about 40 miles most weekdays to help my sister and her husband at their ranch in Beaumont and with the other things needing attention at their various business locations. This week has been a real challenge. The fog along the coast has been terrible. Each day this week there has been an accident along Highway 124 between High Island and Winnie (19 miles) and traffic on this road had grown beyond any I have seen since 1980 when we moved to the coast. There are still hundreds of container trucks of debris moving down the road, large loading equipment along the route as well as ranchers trying to prepare their land to house displaced cattle and crops. Add this to the commute of the many still not in houses after hurricane Ike and this makes for a pile of folks on this little country road. It is my hope that everyone just calms down and takes it easy until such time as things return to a normal pace if they ever do.

Sunday March 8, 2009
Terrible week here. I spent much of the week at the ranch cleaning the barn and working pen area. That relates to spreading poop across the land so the critters will have a clean place to make more deposits this year. Saturday we took the MH to Winnie, 19 miles North, to get fuel and propane....we are lucky we did not have to walk home. The MH spit, sputtered and backfired most of the trip. It will be in the shop next week for a couple of weeks I am sure. We cancelled our little trip to Kerrville but hope to make it up in April. Other than that, all is well.

Sunday March 1, 2009
A nice cool front blew in...and I mean "blew" with winds of 25-30 mph for three days but we are now having clear skies, temps in the 30's in the AM and 65+ in the daytime with mild breezes and low humidity. We will move the MH up to prepare for out trip to Kerrville. Since we have no food in the rig and it is in need of some attention it will be easier if located just outside the side door. I mowed the grass last week but don't think I will do much to it until we get home. We may take a trip down the beach today to see the progress on property and homes there. Sunday February 22, 2009 We managed to score a bit of rain yesterday...less than needed but we take what we can get. We are close to moving the MH to the door for our little trip to Kerrville. That is to say, moving it closer to the door to shorten the distance for loading clothes and food. We removed all of the groceries after IKE as some of it was beginning to come of age. I still have to find a spot for the HDTV convertor in case we want to watch exotic channels on antenna rather than satellite....I like local weather and Kerrville is just inside the "spot beam" for our Houston local channels which won't work in case of bad weather. We are looking forward to the outing and meeting new friends from the RV-Dreams chat room as well as visiting our current friends who will gather there for a while.

Sunday February 15, 2009
I have been a bit lax in my posting....sorry. Much of my time has been spent working on the house, not all hurricane damage but some, and chasing Peacocks at the ranch. We have had mild weather but little needed rain. I did manage to mow the yard today mostly for weed control as it is a bit early for "weed and feed" at this time. We will inventory the MH for our March trip shortly, and prepare for our trip to Kerrville and Georgetown, TX. We went to Lake Charles to play at the casino's there and held our own for a change. Two weeks later we received free concert tickets to see "Little Big Town" at Delta Downs in Vinton, La along with free hotel room and dinner so we went again. The show was great the room is small and it was a real party atmosphere. We left plenty of money so they will surely invite us back soon....LOL FEMA has opened a trailer park on land owned by High Island ISD, they have room for 125 one or two bedroom trailers and have already placed about 90 on the site. These are neighbors on the beach who have lost their homes to Hurricane Ike and will have two years to rebuild. It is kind of a boost for our little town of 350 and has made a difference in local traffic, church attendance and the line at our local convenience store. We welcome each of them and hope we can be of assistance if needed.

Thursday January 22, 2009
It has been a busy couple of weeks here. Not that we have done much work or actually accomplished much but busy none the less. The weather has been fine for a winter in TX with mild days and cool nights with temps in the upper 30's early mornings and 50-75 in the daytime. Ranch tasks have been routine, putting out hay, working on equipment and buildings and taking care of the new animals being born almost every day. We are empty nesters again as our daughters have relocated to places of their own after Ike upset the apple cart. Shari and me have been shopping for tile for the kitchen and dining room and decided to put laminate in the living/den area as we are just tired of the carpet. We pick up material on Tuesday (Tuesday is "old man's discount day" at Sutherland Lumber) and begin laying tile immediately. We will not rush this because tile is hard on us and we must take it easy. We will back pull the MH up to the steps so we can use the kitchen and dining area in the rig while the "stick house" kitchen is out of order. The exterior restoration of our house damaged by the storm will wait until Spring when more contractors are available to do small jobs but the fence will be done first.

Friday January 9, 2009
We cancelled our trip to Aransas Pass this week...there is going to be much effort on our home repair due to the damaged of Hurricane Ike. We are getting the front door repaired and the window replaced in the damaged bedroom. Next will be the replacement furniture and bedding for that room and then the flooring. The siding contractor will be here late next week to look at the siding and decide how much must be repaired. We will see. I found a spray on insulation product that is waterproof and insulates well. A friend has this on his house and it all stayed in place during IKE. His roof is gone but the underside is still insulated. Sorry! We are going to put in the fence ourselves due to the shortage of funds but we are used to doing this since it will be our fourth fence in five years. After that we will start to renew the plants and such to be ready for Spring to arrive.

Thursday January 1, 2009
It has been a bit hectic around here this week. Lucy and Miguel have found a house in Winnie to rent. It is small but well kept and will be a nice place for them to start over again. They are moving today and tomorrow. It is easy when there is little to move. We installed the fridge today and the living room, bedrooms and dining furniture will be delivered on Saturday which they purchased from two different stores. We had a quiet New Year's Eve with some Black Eye Peas, Sausage and Cabbage and went to sleep around 12:30 . Due to the fireworks ban there was little noise at midnight , just a few tug boat horns and some firecrackers in the distance. Until 1:45 AM when the two dogs next door decided to try to kill each other. We are not sure what set them off but their owners were on the ground, one had each dog trying to contain them...it was not normal for these dogs who normally just bark at what moves in the night and keep to themselves. They got them under control and back in the house and we went back inside. It could have made a great episode of "Animals Gone Wild....Dog Edition"...LOL We took a drive into Beaumont to pick up our latest suggestion from our doctor. On his recommendation we started on Glucosamine/Chondroitin (1500mg / 1200mg) each day and drinking Mangasteen Juice (2 oz each day) and two tablespoons of Black Cherry Juice. The result should be less joint pain, better metabolism and general better health. Our doc does lots of research on such things and is confident that we will both experience results in a few weeks. I have to do something and I refuse to admit I am getting old. I hope everyone a Happy and Safe 2009.