Road Trip Part 1 - Laugh Across Texas

A dear family friend passed away. When I was given the news I immediately knew my dad would want to attend the service and offered to drive them to the far northwest corner of the Texas Panhandle. While we were waiting for information of time and location, two of my sisters let it be known they would like to go, too. Plans were made and we met at my Dad's house after lunch on the Sunday before the planned memorial service on Monday. And thus began our road trip!

I failed to get a group picture before we left Dad's house so took one when we stopped at McDonald's in Vernon. A much needed cool front had made its way into Texas that morning and we were enjoying the dryer, cooler temperature. When you've been suffering through so many days in a row of 100+ temps this summer as we have, low 90's and upper 80's feels great!

Hold on to your hat! It was really windy...

After we paid for our snacks, what do we see but a mural of Roy Orbison! Turns out he was born in Vernon.

That's a pretty good likeness. My sister wondered if she would be given a discount if she showed her I.D. since her last name is Orbison. I told her to "go for it", but she didn't.

By the time we got to Amarillo, we thought it was time to find something to eat besides snacks. When we were growing up, we always ate Sunday supper at The Pancake House. My sister suggested this place and it was a winner!


And LOOK! Everyone at our table qualified for their senior menu! And, we didn't even mind 'cause as it says right on the menu - Seniority has its privileges!

That's a good looking group of privileged citizens!

We had reservations for the night in Dalhart and were glad to arrive after our 8 hours of travel.

Whoever thought of the complimentary breakfast had a really great idea! we certainly enjoyed ours.

Well, Hello friend! I've enjoyed pancakes from these wonderful little machines before...

But this spread had quite a selection and I went for something else. Yum, Yum, Eat'm up!

All packed and ready to head out Monday. It was a nice cool and sunny kind of Texas Panhandle morning.

We enjoy being together and tend to do a lot of laughing and this trip was no different. As one of my sisters wrote on another blog, sometimes we had to lower the window to let all the laughter out!

So, with my apologies to Ernest Tubb... this sums it up!

When we laugh together, my world's in disguise
It's a fairy-land tale that's come true
And when y'all look at me with those laugh sparkled eyes
I can laugh across Texas with you.

Laugh across Texas with y'all in the car
Laugh across Texas with y'all
Telling stories and tales, with giggles and gales
I can laugh across Texas with y'all.

My heartaches and troubles are just up and gone
The moment y'all come into view
And with y'all in the car, I can laugh on and on
I can laugh across Texas with you.

~Nancy~

Grindin'

Very soon after Mark and Hattie moved into their home, the lone tree in their back yard blew down in a bad storm, laying down a few sections of their fence in the process. We were fortunate enough that the tree fell into the alley, and before we could get the chain saw out - a city crew swooped in and cut up the tree and threw it into a truck and left us with nothing but a three foot tall stump in the back yard (that, and the wrecked fence which Mark and I fixed shortly there after...). A bit later, I borrowed another chain saw and we cut the back yard stump down even with the ground, and Mark also took out a large yaupon in the front flower bed near the front door.

This summer Mark was determined to rent a stump grinder and finally rid themselves of these two stumps. With a couple of days of summer left - he finally decided to get 'er done! We drove to the rental place early in the morning and picked up the smaller of the two units they had available.

Of course, first order of business was to peruse the operator's manual. Didn't really learn anything more than what we knew already...

The unit consists of a gasoline motor mounted over two wheels, with the operator handles to one end and a cutter wheel mounted at the other end. You position the grinder such that the cutter wheel just reaches the near edge of the top of the stump. There is a brake lever on the left side which you engage to lock-in the left wheel only. This provides a pivot point which you use to sweep the cutter wheel side-to-side as it tears into the stump material.

A closer shot of the cutter wheel beginning to do its business. You take small "bites" at a time as you sweep the cutter back and forth across the stump's edge. Once you complete this location's cutting, you disengage the cutter, release the brake, and move the unit to the next position to cut some more.

Here you see we've worked our way completely around the stump at least once, chiseling away the material.

The process is repeated over and over until you run out of wooden stump material to grind. What you are left with is a hole with lots of dirt and wood chips piled all around.

Once you've ground it all up, it is simply a matter of filling the hole back in with the dirt and wood chips, and then encourage the grass to take over!

Here's Mark working on the yaupon stump in the front flower bed. This yaupon had been a large, multi-trunk bush - but we found that when we got down into the stump part, it was just a large ball of wood. But, the machine was very powerful and little by little, we got the job done here as well.

Using this machine certainly does not take the work out of the job - it is very tiring! Though we got the job completed by around noon - it was still quite hot. Horsing around the cutter and applying upward pressure on the handle to engage the cutter was still pretty exhausting. However, it would have taken days to dig out these stumps by hand using pick axes and shovels! In the end, we were glad we had the mechanical beast to help us get it done...

Tom

A Little Dab (of paint) Will Do Ya

My sister Marcene and I visited with our Dad and his wife Lucille last Friday. They are always busy going somewhere or doing something so we were glad they were available for us to drop by and take them to lunch. It was sort of a last minute decision.

Below is a picture of Lucille's latest project. She took an old dresser that was being used for storage out in their shop, updated it and then moved it into their bedroom. It was part of the bedroom set two of my sisters used when we were growing up. By removing the mirror, painting over the maple stained wood with this dark red color, and changing the drawer pulls, they now have a great looking piece of furniture! They have added storage and since it no longer LOOKS like a dresser, doesn't compete with the dresser that is a part of their own bedroom furniture.

I thought it turned out great!
~Nancy~

Oh Deer! Happy Birthday!

A couple of weeks ago, the taxidermist in Hamilton, Texas called to let Tom know the deer trophy from last November was completed and ready for pick-up. Since we were going to be going down to New Braunfels last week, we decided to drive the scenic route and pick it up.

Wish we could have timed it for a break at the Koffee Kup in Hico, but it was too late for breakfast and too early for lunch when we happened by. We settled for a soft drink at the gas station across the street.

We found the place and after admiring the taxidermist's handiwork, headed on to Lampasas where we stopped for lunch at a BBQ place.

Don't you think it looks nice? We have it hanging above the bookcases in the office.

Every thing is soooo very dry! Instead of summertime green landscape, it looks like winter time when the only thing green are the cedar and liveoak trees. Sad.

We were making our trip to New Braunfels to help Tom's mom celebrate her 92nd birthday! For her birthday dinner, Linda and Larry, John and DD and their daughter Debi, Tom and I and Wilma ate at Ryan's Buffet. It is her favorite place to eat and since it offers a wide variety of foods everyone ate well.

We headed home Saturday after lunch and for once I-35 actually flowed. There was a good bit of traffic, but we were able to go the speed limit the whole way. Nice visit, but we were glad to be home.
~Nancy~

Keeping Cool!

As you are no doubt aware, north Texas is in its "head in the oven on high heat" season we have every year. This year, it seems to have arrived a little earlier than most years. The weather forecast is the same each day - temps near 100 with no clouds to break the unrelenting sun bearing down on all who are unfortunate enough to be outdoors. Well, Monday our solar screens arrived! We ordered these screens for all the windows across the front of the house (the house faces west/southwest) as well as around the northwest corner of the house. Here some of the screens are laid out on the grass in preparation for installation.


The screens are simply placed over the exterior of the windows (at least, with the window types we have) and are attached with self-tapping sheet metal screws.

Purely for aesthetics sake, we even ordered screens for these three "windows" which have attic space behind them.

Two men did the job quickly. Our house was the 2nd on their list of installs this day. They had just come from another install of 42 screens on a home! Our job was a breeze compared to that!

Lone Star Solar Screens was the company we chose. We used them ~10 years ago on our previous home as well - and they held up very nicely the first time, so we are a repeat customer...

Here is the finished product. Notice the "grids" put on all the windows which can be seen from the street. They match up exactly where the grids are located on the windows they cover.

Looking at the northwest corner of the house. Behind the fence are two bathroom windows which we also had screened, as they catch the late afternoon sun.

It is hard to describe how much difference these screens make. It may not make a whale of a lot of difference in the A/C bill month to month, but it does make a VAST difference in the comfort of a room protected by these screens. If you have windows which take the brunt of the afternoon sun, we highly recommend them!

Tom

At The Pool

I met Hattie and Charlotte at our neighborhood pool yesterday for the first time since it opened for the summer. Charlotte seemed to like it fine so hope we have lots of fun times ahead!
~Nancy~

We've been a little busy!

I recently gained legal guardianship of my aunt. She had always lived at home until this past March when she was moved to a nursing home in west Texas. Two weeks after moving, the lady who cared for her unexpectedly passed away leaving my aunt in legal limbo. After a family meeting of her 5 nieces and her sister, it was determined Tom and I were in a good position to oversee her care. So, the legal process began. A lawyer was hired and he guided us through the process of obtaining legal guardianship. We decided to take a trip out to visit with her to see how she was doing and where she was living.

I must say, we found her to be in a very nice facility surrounded by very caring people. And, she was doing well, though quite forgetful of present day things. Now, past goings on? She remembered those things very well. We had taken our laptop with us and some of our time spent with her was looking at pictures from the 1950's and 60's that I had scanned in a few years ago. She knew everyone in all the pictures! Didn't miss a one.



A few days before our court date with the judge for the guardianship hearing, my aunt broke her leg about 3 inches below the hip joint. We don't know if she fell and the bone fractured, or if she fell because of the fracture but I guess that doesn't really matter. The end result was our receiving a phone call from a hospital in Lubbock, clearing our calendar, and traveling there to see about her. We got to the hospital just has she was getting to her room from recovery and ended up staying for nine days while she recovered from her fall and surgery to repair the leg.

We had decided that she should move to our area so we could better care for her so the natural transition to the new facility was upon discharge from the hospital. And she traveled in style!


Non-stop all the way!! We followed in our car. Good thing we had a full tank of fuel at the beginning of the trip. The low fuel light came on after we left the new facility and were driving the short distance to our house!

She has since settled into the new routine and is getting much needed physical therapy. You can see she no longer has her glasses. They were lost in the shuffle of ambulances when she was first transported to the local hospital and then on to the one in Lubbock when she broke her leg. New ones are on order but haven't arrived as of yet.

This past Monday morning we joined in with the singing devotional being conducted in the dining room. My aunt really did enjoy the singing. The songs we sang were some of the older songs and everyone knew them and enjoyed them. I think that was the first time I'd ever sung only one verse Just As I Am!

Taking over someone else's business has been a real education! And, I couldn't have done it alone. Thanks, Tom, for all your wonderful help in making phone calls and gathering all the needed information and organizing it in such a way that everything is at our fingertips!
~Nancy~

Happy, Happy Day

After our office computer died and we had the Marathon Comparison Shop Night (see May 20th post), Tom ordered a new computer to be delivered the following Tuesday. Monday morning found us scurrying around clearing our calendar, quickly packing and driving to Lubbock after finding out my 86 year old aunt had fallen and broken her hip. Thanks to a good friend who agreed to come wait for the computer delivery on Tuesday, the new machine was waiting for us upon our return 9 days later.

It wasn't until yesterday that Tom was able to begin the arduous task of setting up the new computer and moving all the backed up files over and getting things "just right". Yea for our back-up hard drive!

Our son and his family came over for supper last night and he helped Tom do some things with the computer. Of course, Little Bit wanted to help but since she is all fingers right now the doors to the office had to be closed. She would pat on the glass and say Da Da Da Da because she could see her daddy.

We have moved my aunt to a facility near where we live. It is both skilled nursing (which she needs now) and long term care so hopefully she won't have to move.
~Nancy~

Wait, Wait, Wait

Nancy and I have been in Lubbock, TX, this week staying with Aunt Sarah while she has been in the hospital. It is very apparent to me that the city of Lubbock has gone "cheap" when it comes to their traffic light system. We've had occasion to be at many different intersections controlled by traffic lights as we come and go from the hospital. NONE we have encountered seem to have any "smarts" built in to them regarding actual traffic demand. If you come up to a red light, you will sit there at that red as the system gives all the other traffic directions their FULL cycle - even when no other traffic is around!

I guess things just naturally move at a little "slower" pace around here compared to the Dallas area, so folks just don't seem to mind too much! Just seems a waste to idle so long at a red light when there isn't a need to do so - particularly when it costs nearly $4 a gallon…

Tom

Sad, Sad Day

The office computer died today. A moment of silence, please........
It was a good machine and lived to a ripe old age of eight years old. Wonder what the equivalent is in human years? Probably 102.

We went looking for a replacement this evening and it didn't take long for us (me) to get overwhelmed trying to comparison shop. Thankfully, it was time for all the stores to close forcing us to go home. Tom is now on the laptop comparing the machines he looked at in the stores. (I'm on his iPad)
~Nancy~

Where Has The Time Gone???

It has been one year and 19 days since we moved into this house. Whew! Trying to find a place for everything and deciding what to keep and what to discard has not been easy... mainly because it is hard to decide what to discard. I'm not exactly a packrat, but I do tend to keep things. Now, it's all getting muddled in my head. I'll think of something and I know where it was in the old house and where it MIGHT be in this house IF I HAVEN'T GOTTEN RID OF IT!
~Nancy~

Perfect Pancakes!

We were out of town last week and this was what we found when we went down for our breakfast at the motel. It is an automatic pancake maker! I loved it! At the push of a button you are rewarded with two pancakes that come out Just Right. The picture on the side of the machine shows you the sequence of development and the little window below the picture shows you exactly how close your two pancakes are to being rolled out the end. One of our sons had mentioned the pancake machine to us but this was the first time we'd seen one. I give it Two Thumbs Up!
~Nancy~

Playing Ball With Poppy

Diversions...

We have four gutter downspouts in the front of our house that "dump" directly into the front flower bed. Even with splash troughs placed beneath where the downspouts end, during heavy rains the water flow would result in a lot of washout in the bed. So, I opted to run some drain pipe underneath the bed itself and have the downspouts feed directly into the pipe. The first order of business was to remove the one curved piece of downspout at the bottom and then dig a trench in which the 4" drain pipe would run out just past the flowerbed into the grass area where a "pop-up" drain would be located at the end of the pipe. Where the pop-up was, I used a post hole digger to cut a deeper spot which would be filled with gravel...

Here is the completed trench, with the downspout adapter in place, ready for the length of drain pipe with pop-up adapter to be put in place. Note the cut-out area just into the lawn grass - which is where the pop-up drain will be.

Here is one downspout diversion completed, and I was smoothing out the dirt back over where the pipe had been run.

A little closer shot of the pop-up adapter at the end of the pipe. As water travels down the pipe during rain, the center section of the green pop-up will be forced up and the water will flow directly into the grass.

Of course, when you've turned the "big 6-0" as I have, you have to pace yourself when doing manual labor!

Here is how the pop-up area looks before putting down the pipe and pop-up adapter. The pop-up device sits in a 90 degree elbow. The bottom of that elbow has a slit opening (approximately 1/4" wide by 1" long) so that when the rain stops, the last bit of water in the pipe itself is allowed to drain out the bottom. With a 4" or so deep hole below this elbow, filled with gravel, that water should be allowed to drain without the dirt/mud clogging it up. At least, that's the theory!

Here's the same hole, with the elbow and pop-up in place where it will reside at the end of the drain pipe.

Making a measurement to cut the drain pipe itself...

Measuring and then cutting the pipe to the desired length...

Assembling the pieces (just dry fit, no glue needed) and dropping them all into their places comes next.

Here's what happens when you get a little too "horsey" with your post hole digger, and there happens to be a sprinkler system pipe and hose right where you are digging! This, of course, was unexpected, and required a "time out" from the job at hand to run get 4 elbow fittings, primer, and PVC glue to fix my boo-boo! This is not the first time I've done this...

Here's the fix all in place, and I hand dug the hole underneath where the broken irrigation pipe was located - so that I could put a liberal pile of gravel underneath the pop-up adapter.

The job (as most jobs seem to these days) took more effort than I had expected, but I did get it all done. Now, maybe it will actually rain again and I can confirm that it works as expected!

Cheers, Tom

The Toy Closet

We have a toy closet. It takes up two-thirds of the closet in the front bedroom. Many of the toys are ones I kept that belonged to our sons when they were growing up. Other toys we've added along the way for our older grandchildren. I think there is plenty to keep all ages busy.

This morning I introduced our youngest grandbaby to The Toy Closet. She is ALMOST walking but manages to get anywhere she wants to go by crawling very skillfully and confidently. Until this morning we've always kept all the doors to the bedrooms and bathrooms closed when she was visiting so she could crawl all over and stay out of harm's way. This morning I left the door to the front bedroom open and let her follow me down the hall and into the room with The Toy Closet. It was fun watching her explore. Before she comes again, I need to rearrange the closet some and move all the toys that are appropriate for her down on her level so she can help herself.

See the brown bear by her right foot. My Aunt Sarah gave that to us several years ago. When you squeeze his paws, feet, and ears, he quotes a Bible verse. Of course, Little Bit didn't know what the bear was saying, but she thought it was funny to have it "talking" to her!
~Nancy~