OCTOBER 2021

So here we are in October.  Already.  

We are spending the first day of October filling in ditches that Donnie dug with a machine yesterday for our new water and electrical lines going from the house to the barn.  Rain isn't predicted until Monday, so maybe we'll get them filled up.

Hi.........it's fall here too...........

Congratulations on your new pipe line for water and electricity DONNIE & ARK,
that should help a lot this winter. Your field looks beautiful.
It's a cool comfortable morning here in AZ but will be 90 degrees by 4P. We find that a great day.

Oh my goodness, the holidays are coming.......Another year.

Everybody have a great day.............

Beautiful trench ARK. Much quicker and probably straighter than if he would have had to dig it by hand. Beautiful backdrop of trees with just a hint of color starting. I spy a tractor with a front loader in the background. What size is it?

We are starting our seasonal Soup Friday at work today. For the next 6 months or so once a month we will have Soup Friday where someone brings in a crock of soup, someone else the bread, another fruit or salad or something to go along with the soup and of course someone brings dessert. We rotate who brings what so everyone brings everything at least once. I got the fruit / salad choice this time. I decided on mixed fruit then decided to include some cottage cheese, mainly because I like fresh fruit and cottage cheese. Then I decided to include some vanilla yogurt because I like fresh fruit mixed with yogurt. I figure we can have a little fruit bar going to make it how you like it. We always have too much food. The chicken noodle soup smells delicious. Lunch in an hour. Yum.

During the heat of the summer, it seemed to be a long time. But, now that October is here, it seems so short. I took the last jet ski ride of the summer. It's a simply perfect day, mid 70s with a clear bright blue sky. Some of the trees are just beginning to change color. There wasn't much boat traffic, and I had the lake mostly to myself to run as fast as I wanted. And, I did. I made three fast laps around the big lake, probably doing about 60. There is something about doing it that makes me feel good.
It's the kind of day that I thank God for providing.

Ark, your trench looks great. The tractor should make the back-filling process go a little faster and better than doing it by hand. The new lines will make work at the barn a lot easier too.

Indy, having a lunch like that would make one Friday a month worth going to work for.

INDYAPP
 Donnie's tractor is a John Deer 3000 series 36 hp tractor.    In the tractor world, it is known as a "piss ant yuppie tractor".     But it is big enough for what we need it to do, most of the time.  We did have to buy special smaller sized hay making equipment, it won't handle the regular sized hay equipment, but then it gets great gas mileage.   Donnie can make hay on our fields using about 10 gallons of diesel.  The former hay guys used to burn about 50 gallons of diesel on our fields with their big tractors.  So we'll be happy with our little tractor.  



ELLEN:
 The water pipe and electric wire are in the ground and now Donnie is into pushing the dirt back into the hole with the tractor.  Then we will be thumping, thumping, thumping to make sure it is packed in and spreading some grass seed.  This is the first trench.  The second trench will have coaxial cables, computer cable, and some low voltage power lines.  Donnie's antenna project.  It should be a good one.   He is going to have video down at the barn so I can check the horses at night on my computer, and we may put in some arena LED lights.  Retirement isn't too relaxing yet....

Happy Fall Y'all.  This is my favorite season, pumpkin everything to snack on.  Yummmmmm  Love to watch the trees change colors.

ARK:  Donnie looks like he is enjoying himself on his tractor.  Men and their big toys.

ELLEN:  So sorry your fun season on the water is at the end.  INDY APP:  The soup Fridays sound wonderful.

GRAYMARE:  Do the trees change out your way?  When I read your post about how ill your freind was and you didn't know it made me think about Ann GDOLDMARE.  I was so shocked when Mike emailed me that she has passed.  She never shared a thing about being so ill.  2 years on Oct 22.  

Me & my crazy girlfriends are planning a dress up Halloween Tea Party.  I dug out all my old cowgirl stuff.  Surprised to find that I could still fit in a couple of my horse show western cowgirl shirts.  Not my favorite one though. Darn it.  Dusted off my hat & found my old Stick Horse Maxx.  Maxx has been with me since 1986, he is a old horsie.  Cleaned up my NBHA district champion belt buckle.  Ordered a Lone Ranger Mask and I am set to play cowgirl.  I had to borrow a belt from George though, not sure what on earth I did with my western belts.  George said I gave them away.  Maybe I did.

Have a great October.  

Thanks for the pic of Donnie and the tractor ARK. The Kubota I bought at auction last year is just a bit small for what I need it to do. It has a hard time with the brush hog. It over heats. So I'm starting to look at something a little bigger. Buying new is out of my price range so I'll be looking for a bargain at farmer estate sales or something. Yours looks about the size I'll be looking for.

The Halloween Tea Party sounds fun ManyGates. I think the Lone Ranger mask adds just the right touch. Have fun.

TRUDY:
I was shocked about Ann, too. I never heard what her illness was, hopefully it was something quick. It was so sad. She would respond to my posts on Facebook and those pop up in memory posts now and then.
Your Halloween party sounds like such fun! Donnie and I went to a costume party a gazillion years ago where I dressed up as a cowboy bad guy with black hat and painted on mustache. Donnie went as a ninja in a karate class outfit. We got to the party and were the only ones dressed up, they had decided not to do the costume part and neglected to tell us. That's okay, said I in my mascara mustache....


INDYAPP:
I don't know how Donnie got along before we got that tractor, he uses it constantly. I hope you find just the right one for you.

GRAYMARE:
I hope your friend is doing okay. What a shock for her.

ELLEN:
So far the boat interest has not disappeared. He is looking at YouTube videos of the intercontinental waterway. I suspect we are going to be building a boat, but it can't start until several house projects are finished.

Ark, just a suggestion.... Instead of building a boat from scratch, maybe look for an older boat that needs to be restored. My cousins attend several antique outboard motor shows every summer. Some of those guys have boats they have restored to new condition. It becomes a matter of stripping the paint and varnish, replacing rotten boards, and refinishing. That would take a lot less time and money than building new.
As for costs, the motors are the most expensive thing about them. Even small outboards are several thousand dollars new.
Whatever he decides to do, I hope he has a great time doing it.

ARK:  I'm not sure what caused Ann's passing.  I knew she had a recent knee replacement not long before she passed so suddenly.  I had just spoke with her and she was talking about going to the fair in a wheelchair and being pushed around, the next thing I knew, Mike was emailing me saying she had passed.  I'm thinking blood clot from the surgery.  He never said and I didn't want to nag at him. 
I miss her.  

That is funny about the Halloween story, I would have just celebrated being the only people in costume but that's my crazy personality.  

TRUDY:
 I bet you are right about Ann.  
 Actually, we stayed in costume during the party...for one thing, washing off a mascara mustache takes a little while.... ....When we were in college we went to a Halloween party where Donnie was dressed as a martian with green skin and aluminum foil helmet.  His face and hands' skin was covered in green eye shadow.  It took us days to get that green completely off!   I wish this photo was in color.



1976: Donnie the Martian


ELLEN:
 Actually Donnie helped his dad restore his fishing boat years ago.  He is thinking of borrowing it from his brother for awhile this coming spring.   The process of building the boat is what interests him right now.  Neither of us are into fishing or speeding along.

Love the Pic

TRUDY,  our trees turn color but later than yours do..............ours are late October
through December.........unless the nights get very cold sooner then their chlorophyllhyl
gets them down and off sooner..........

Cool pic ARK...............funny memory for sure with you guys.

Our temps are very nice right now and yard work catch up is good............we're
making a new flower bed for spring so we are letting a small patch of grass
die out, and then will  fertilize and plant.

Everyone have a great day............start eating fudge as the holidays are coming...........

LOLOLOL I was running an errand in town when I saw lots of police car lights, and the traffic was backed up because of road repairs being made. When I got to it, there was a car turned sideways to the road. The funny part was that the front wheels of the car was buried in wet cement. Since there was no other damage to the car, I'm assuming the driver was okay. I wasn't quick enough to get a picture of it.
I'm guessing the repair crew was swearing about having to redo that section of concrete.

Oh ELLEN, that's funny........nothing like fresh cement in your axels...........

I had pulled up to the right side of two turn lanes. There was a guy in a truck beside me. We both rolled down our windows to laugh. The tow truck was in the process of winching the car up onto the flatbed.
I thought there might be a picture in the local online news, but so far, nothing.

ELLEN:  That is hysterical.  Guess they were taught a good lesson.  You CAN'T drive thru wet cement.  LOL  Just when we think people can't get any dumber, someone proves us wrong.  

ARK:  Great Halloween photo.  I'll try to remember to post a photo of us old crazy girls in our costumes after the party next Saturday.

GRAYMARE:  Our leaves are turning turning turning. People are flocking to New England to see the leaves. That always amazes me, I guess country living has spoiled me I don't have to travel to see colorful leaves.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Trudy, I don't have to travel to see colored leaves either. But soooo many people do. In southern Indiana there is the little town of Nashville, located in Brown County. Just a little wide spot in the road in the middle of some hills. The "leaf watchers" by the thousands flock to that town in great numbers in the fall. The roads are lined with people trying to get into the town to the little crafters' shops. People who live in the area stay home so they don't have to fight the traffic.
Our leaves are just beginning to change color. The peak color will probably be in about a week or so.

I thought this was really cute this afternoon.............

The neighborhood kids were out riding bikes and scooters all in a group of about 6 or 8.
So along comes a little one on a skateboard on her hands and knees paddling like it's a
boat.  She was singing away about monkeys I think and just really cute and happy.
She was 50-60 feet behind and didn't care one hoot...........

Everybody have as much fun.    

We haven't had any frosts to start the leaves turning. Some have turned that turn because of the light changing, but not the ones that depend on temp. We are mostly still green.


GRAYMARE:
That little girl must have been a cutie! Kind of reminds me of the Ramona character in the Beverly Cleary books. I loved those books! :-)



Well Cactus Jack did something new yesterday. He wears the same grazing muzzle as the horses do, they look like little laundry baskets hanging from their halters. Yesterday he managed to get his foot into the basket and then couldn't get it out or lift his head. From a distance he looked like he was grazing, but he was actually trapped.
I called him several times and he didn't lift his head, so I went across the field to him. Poor guy couldn't move. Luckily he was calm and let me take the halter apart so I could get him out of it. Other than being a bit sweaty, he was okay. I suspect one of the horses would have killed themselves trying to escape.

My place is ready for winter. On Sunday, my cousins came to pull out my jet ski, the lift, and the dock. I always hate to see that because it means that winter is on the way.
We borrowed a neighbor's pontoon and took a ride. As we rode along the lakes, LOTS of boats and pontoons were no longer by their docks. They are probably sitting in storage with a covering of blue plastic shrink wrap, waiting for spring. In the next 6 weeks, there will only be a few die hard permanent residents who still have boats in the water.

We haven't even come close to frost yet. Night time temperatures have remained in the 50s and 60s. I know that can't last much longer. I did turn on the furnace for one day a couple of weeks ago, but not since. With the serious increase in natural gas, I'm hoping to not turn it on for a while longer.

So far our stores are well stocked.  Haven't been to Wally so don't know about that one.
We eat basic foods that are commonly found, meat, potatoes, fruit, salads, milk, etc and sweets.
We have a lot of frozen meat and I noticed the prices have gone way up so at some
point I will have to buy more...............I noticed bacon is sky high and, of course beef.
My plan is to hit sales when I can.

No kids out riding today..................BORING.

Is there anything America won't argue over?

Take care..............have a great evening................by the way, anyone see Big Sky?

Rain, rain, go away. Come again some other day......
It's been raining and raining with more to come. The grass is still green and growing a little bit. The cottonwoods are almost bare, but the other trees are just beginning to think about changing color. It's cooler.
I started knitting again, after taking time off from knitting since about 3 months ago. Just a little baby blanket. No recipient in mind. Just knitting.

Our prices are way up, just like everybody else's. Hate it.

I mostly grocery shop at Krogers with a little done at WalMart. The biggest worry I have had over stock shortages has been wet cat and dog food. You can barely find the kind my cats or dog like. I ended up buying a few cases of catfood on Amazon at a good price, then noticed the prices going up rather drastically a few days later. I can eat beans and survive, but my cats need decent catfood. The dog could probably eat just dry food, but after ThunderPuff had a urinary track problem a few years ago, he has to eat wet food and special urinary track dryfood. Since he is a food vacuum, I have to feed the other cats the same thing or he would eat their food and possibly get another infection. So the shortage problem has affected us. If they would eat eggs, I would be all set. Our chickens are laying maniacs.


Ivan and I went on a trail ride at Pandapas Pond Park today. Butter wouldn't melt in his mouth! The horse was so incredibly mellow. We rode with just one other horse. Ivan seems happier with just one horse rather than a crowd. My friend asked me if I had given Ivan Valium, he was so mellow. nooooo..... We rode for two hours. I am going to feel that tomorrow.


Donnie was with our truck reading a book while we were out riding. He watched some guy hop out of his car and start jogging away towards a trail. The guy forgot to put his car in park and the car started rolling backward toward a drop off into the woods. Donnie yelled to the guy who saw the problem, ran back and just barely got the car stopped in time. A very grateful guy...