Trail pics of today

 Buzzards

Sunflowers always make a great photo.

 That is a bee in case you were wondering,

Mr. Toad must have thought he was camouflaged on the sidewalk. He wasn't.

Project update 8/7/2020

 Yup! another 3 days have passed

There is a bunch of stuff going on around here and it is more than a bit distracting. It's a good thing I do not get too excited about chaos and disorder.

Russ,81, putting up rafters.

Butch, wishing he could help but knowing he cannot. He has been able to do a few things.

Hunter is on this end.

Road trip

Time slips through my fingers like water through a sieve! My last blog entry was on the 29th and it seems that I went to sleep and woke up in August! So now we glance back and try to figure out what I did when and is it worth telling.

Aha! I remember with a bit of help from Butch. Gary was here from Monday through Thursday. Friday we didn't do much but Saturday we went to Marlene and Bernard's place in Terril Ia. I had picked up some meds for Marlene in Mexico and due mainly to the Covid-19 situation we had not taken them to her until Saturday. Yes, we were careful... Bernard said he had only been off the farm three times since March and those were for doctor appointments. Dwight and Carolyn were there and it was very pleasant getting caught up, enjoying a wonderful meal, and being treated to pies by Keri and many of you know what a treat that was. And then we also played cribbage! When Marlene and Bernard wintered in Harlingen TX we would see them several times throughout the season and eat and play cards so it has become a tradition with us. And we still miss them when we are in South Texas and remember them whenever we visit places we went to with them.

On our way home we stopped in Rockwell City to see my youngest sister Myrla. Myrla is the one who gifted us with her pool table and thus started our building something to house it. So we looked over the table again and got caught up on what was happening with "Mouse", that was her nickname as a child. She has always been a tiny thing.

You can see this hole in the trees as you approach Lohrville from the west. It accommodates the power lines which is perhaps why Butch always notices it 

Project update 7/29/2020

Busier than Normal-Gary, Golf, Etc.

It has been a busy week. Son Gary came on Monday from Missouri. He has more time off than normal and his RV is in our extra spot so he has his accommodations readily available. Butch and Rich had a golf outing set up but Butch had reinjured his leg/hip and was unable to make it so Rich and Gary played and Jason joined them. The three brothers have been enjoying their time together and it warms my heart to see it.

While Gary has been here he has helped out with this and that and in the evenings we have been playing CrossCrib, a cribbage board game. That game can get my blood to boil and I do not like my reaction to it. I remind myself it is always a good thing to be aware and to work on one's character flaws so it serves a purpose. 

On Thursday Gary and I went to Atlantic so he could play the Nishna Hills Golf Course as he, his brothers, and Butch are signed up for a tournament on the 15th. I went to see my good friend Sherri Clark because I had not seen or talked to her since her husband Randy's passing on April 25th. We played many, many rounds of golf with Randy and Sherri during our Cumberland IA years. 

Sherri and I followed along as Gary played the course and we talked while Gary played. Gary played VERY WELL and it was fun to watch him. Sherri and I enjoyed being outside and the conversation. It seems whenever Sherri and I are together there is always so much to say and we are never completely finished. Sherri shared her last minutes with Randy and it is a very moving and meaningful story. (The question always comes up, so I will say he did not die of Covid-19 but the complications of Covid being in all our lives in one way or another did play a part.)

Randy had 4 holes in one throughout his life. This bench commemorates three of them while the fourth took place on another golf course during a tournament. In case you do not notice the dates, his first and second holes-in-one took place on the same day, on the same hole exactly 5 years apart. This bench is on that hole, number 15.

Gary headed back to Missouri today and Butch and I are putzing around. I am trying to get caught up and a whole day away sends me into a bit of a tizzy.

Project update 7/28/2020

Things are happening even though it might not seem like it. My days seem to fill up quickly whether I am doing anything special or not.

The walls are up and sheeting has been applied. The rafters will be in next week, at least that is what they say at the lumberyard, the only one in town. Things have been moving along in a timely manner so far but those of you that have been through this kind of process in the past know how quickly that can change.

I ordered the sinks for the bathroom and the makeshift kitchen this morning.

Here are the latest pictures:

Electrical bill from 1967

Butch's dad was in the electrical business and a relative of one of his customers gave Leo a receipt/statement she found in the bottom of a box. It is now a very interesting family artifact.

Hurricane in Texas

Donna Gabbert is Mickey (Sanders) Starr's sister, and another Jefferson Iowa girl and she lives in Weslaco Texas. Many former Magnolia Park people follow Donna's blog as she keeps all of us updated on happenings in the Rio Grande Valley as well as the happenings in her own park. She lives there year-round and has for many years.

Here is what she had to say about Hurricane Hannah.

http://donnasramblingsatrve.blogspot.com/2020/07/july-26th.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DonnasRamblingsAtRve+%28Donna%27s+Ramblings+at+R.V.E.%29

Bike trail

This morning I walked the trail alone. I have Keri's company usually on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday but today Keri has two of her grandson's visiting. I must admit I have only been walking the trail on the days I have Keri's company so today was an exception. I listened to a book and took some pictures. It is very hot with a heat advisory so I pretty much had the trail to myself.

Mother Nature's artistic touch.

Some people avoid this canopied section just ahead. But I look forward to it.

Project update 7/25/2020

The wood part has begun. Butch helps Russ as much as he can but the truth of the matter is that he tends to do too much and then not only suffers but is unable to help and feels as though he is making no progress as far as his repaired femur is concerned. They told him at the git-go it would be at least 6 months before he could consider it healed and I am certain that meant if he behaved himself. I know it is hard for him to sit back and let others do stuff he was always able to do but he needs to learn or his old age is not going to be as much fun.

Our friend Russ is cut from the same cloth and does far more than he should as well. Hopefully, between the two of them and some help from others along the way, they will get this building built.

Here is the last series of pictures.

Project update 7/22/2020

Today was the day for the cement poor. The first big step has been taken. The first workers arrived shortly after 6:00 AM this morning. I knew Butch would want to know what was happening but I waited till 7:00AM to wake him.

Butch was focused and didn't have any idea I was taking his picture. That is his sparsely haired head in the center bottom of the picture

Pecan Bill

Our dear friend Bill Stilson, also known as Pecan Bill has passed away. Not from Covid which is always the question these days. Bill had a stroke many years ago and has dealt with the results of that the remainder of his life. And he dealt with that very well.

One of the ways he used his time was buying pecans in bulk and then picking and packing them to sell at the monthly garage sales in Magnolia Park in South Texas. Most days a walk by their patio would find him sitting at his table working on his pecans but he always took time to visit. Thus his nickname, Pecan Bill.

Bill was a happy person, always ready with a joke. He loved to hear them too. Always a fun and happy guy, never dwelling on the difficulties he endured that the rest of us never had to. He has been missed this past year especially, being the first year in twenty that he did not go to Texas. But he will be missed far into the future as well.

Getting a Haircut

34 deaths in one day!

This took place in Hidalgo County Texas which happens to be the county we are located in when we go south for the winter. The hospital Butch was in when he broke his leg is undoubtedly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and the other hospitals as well.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/22/us/hidalgo-county-south-texas-covid-19/index.html

This and That

The construction company doing the cement work is owned by the nephew, Jerry Dean Dennhardt, of one of the awesome 4-some who I run around with in my youth, Jean B. There was me, Mickey (Sanders) Starr, Jean (Bartley) Wetzel, Valeta (McKinley) True and we had many adventures together. The Bartley clan was a large and boisterous family and attracted much attention for a variety of reasons. Fun is one of them.

I lost my brother to a fire on Christmas night of 1957. His name was Richard Francis Brock and we called him Ricky. He was 10 years old and Jerry Dean and Ricky were best buds. One of the pleasures of living in your hometown is the connections you have and the warm feelings you receive when running into your past.

Another note of the day came about because of our lot next door being "disturbed"  and revealing a surprise. My father lived with his parents on the lot until he was 12 years old. Jason happened to run across a marble and we choose to believe it was one of my fathers.  And it could have been!

We are in the middle of a heatwave and a drought. For a few years now we have noticed that rain seems to go around us. Carroll, a town 30 miles west of us, and Boone, a town 30 miles east of us both seem to get rain while we remain high and dry. We do not know why this trend is happening and I for one am reluctant to complain, for fear the rain gods will try and rectify the situation by too great a degree. Thank God I did not go overboard with too many flowers. It has kept my watering chores to a minimum.

Health update. We are both happy and healthy. I recovered from my 2nd Shingle shot, although that arm still seems to itch more. Butch is doing okay too despite overdoing it by a long shot yesterday. He skipped out on his last therapy session but is scheduled for a make-up session on Monday. He will supposedly be through with therapy then but his overdoing it may have altered that plan. He still has a hitch in his get-a-long that was not there previously but time will take care of it.

Project update 7/18

Things are moving along much faster than we ever dreamed. It seems the people we are dealing with are having a slow period work-wise so we are getting more attention than we have ever been used to when it comes to getting a project off the ground so to speak. 

Last week Butch told Russ that we were ready to get things going so Russ started lining up the appropriate people to start the process. Then Butch and Russ staked things out. The next step was getting ready to have the cement poured, figuring we had plenty of time. On the 16th the Dennhardt Construction Company came to look over the expectations and said they would most likely be ready to get it started on Monday, the 21st. Lo and behold they turned up yesterday and it became a frenzy of activity. This sent Butch into a tailspin because he needed to get plumbing and other things laid out. So he skipped PT and managed to get things done. But wow what a workout for him. Jason happened to call and ask him to play golf and then got sidetracked to help which was a blessing.

Here are the pictures to date: Looking over the job...

Butch and Jason working on the plumbing.

 

From my selected photo spot.

Taken on the southeast corner.

The plumbing located at the southwest corner.

Looking North- 24' x 30'.

Useful Tool Info

This would make an excellent wedding gift, graduation gift, first apartment gift, first RV gift, and many others. This article was gleaned from www.rvtravel.com but I knew the usefulness of it could go far beyond that. Enjoy!

Barb B.

This article is not for the accomplished do-it-yourselfer, who likely can give us all advice on tool kits. This tip is for the people who can’t remember the last time they picked up a screwdriver. The list which follows is meant to give you a small working tool kit, with only a small investment, which will allow you to fix a lot of simple problems that crop up on an RV. These tools’ usage is pretty much self-explanatory, and none require any advanced skill for their use.

All of these tools are sold in any hardware store — but be sure to buy “decent” tools. Stay away from the $2-special table, because the metal in cheap tools is soft and poorly formed. And don’t be tempted by one of those “all-in-one” tool kits because they have stuff you don’t need and poor-quality versions of what you do need. Shop carefully, buy quality, and get familiar with the tools before you tuck them away for later use.

• Screwdriver, multi-blade — Get one of those six-way screwdrivers. You will have large and small Phillips, large and small slot, and 1/4-inch and 5/16-inch nut drivers, all in one tool.

• Pliers, locking slip-joint — A really great plier with a grip range around 0-3 inches. Good for pipes, squeezing stuff together and tearing stuff apart.

• Pliers, needle-nose — Good for twisting wire or fetching tiny things from remote cracks and crannies.

• Hammer, ball-peen — Just a small hammer for tapping, not a big pounder.

• Wrench, adjustable, small and large — Get two of these, sometimes called “Crescent” wrenches — but that’s a brand name like Kleenex. They will fit any nut or bolt, but they often won’t fit into spaces where the bolts are. You would need a set of wrenches and sockets for such versatility, and that’s beyond this “super-basic” toolset.

• Duct tape — Another universal tool. The only tape I use any more is the Gorilla brand, far superior to anything else I’ve tried.

• Utility knife with a retractable blade, and spare blades — Universal tool with many uses.

• Voltmeter — A principal electrical diagnostic tool. This is the only tool that needs a tiny bit of education to use, but it is invaluable (maybe even just to let a helper use it). It will tell you everything from your battery’s state of charge to whether you have a bad switch or connector.

• Inspection mirror — There are a lot of places that this comes in handy to peek into.

Yes, there are thousands of tools that you could buy and carry (and I carry hundreds) — but if I think back on what I grab first and use the most, this list covers 95% of them.

So there you go. Put everything in a sturdy case or soft-sided bag for safekeeping. For less than $100 or so, you can stuff this in a drawer or the back of a storage compartment and drag it out when something breaks. You’ll be a hero to yourself and your traveling companions!

Paring Down Space

This is from www.rvtravel.com. We have been longtime subscribers. There is a wealth of info for everyone even if you do not have an RV.

Clearing out clutter has been a lifelong pursuit for me. I do live in a small space.

https://www.rvtravel.com/trim-rv-weight-increven ase-storage-space/

New Project Begins

Surprise, surprise! I had given up on it ever happening but it has begun! We are building a new free-standing garage on our north lot. To back up a bit, the former owners of our house built on a closet on the north side, and in so doing they built one foot of it on the property to the north. Now since they owned it too I am sure they did not give it much thought but it has caused a wrinkle or two for us. For one thing, we could never sell that lot, not that we ever intended for that to happen. And it really hadn't been an issue up to this point but now we are marrying the two lots together forever and ever. Done!

Butch is standing in the middle of the space that will hold the building and Russ is standing on the far north edge. If you enlarge the picture you can see a stake on the south edge of the proposed building.

I plan to take a picture from the same spot as things progress. It will measure 24 x 30 feet and its main purpose will be to house a pool table. You might also notice how brown our grass is. We have not had any rain for a long time. It happens to be "raining" as I write this but Butch checked the rain gauge and the bottom of it isn't wet yet.

We are excited about our new project and hope to see it progress in a timely manner. Butch asked me to call my sister Myrla because it is her pool table that will be finding a new home in our building and she assured me it is still ours for the taking. Now we need to find a couple of strong guys to help us move it when the time comes....Hmmm, Do you think we will have the same trouble as someone who tries to have a "Painting Party"?