My Dad

Today is my Dad’s birthday.

Never mind how old he is.

He is timeless.

He is my foundation.

And my example.

He is firm and unshakable in his love.

For his wife.

For his children.

For his family.

For his Gospel.

And yet he continues to grow.

To reach out to experience new things

new places

new methods

new ideas.

He doesn’t let anything slow him down.

Ok, we are ALL getting a bit slower,

but that’s not a bad thing.

Taking a moment to reflect, 

to enjoy,

to remember,

to imagine the possibilities.

He taught me to reach out.

With my mind,

with my heart,

with my talents.

Always expanding,

always learning,

always loving.

You can choose your path.

You can walk it with eagerness,

and confidence,

and with compassion.

Always looking up.

To our Father,

to the possibilities,

to the beauty.

These are the things our Dad taught

me that I hold dear in my heart

and try my best to emulate.

A smile changes the whole world.

And your smile means the world to me.

Happy Birthday Dad.

I love you!

Prepping and Random Thoughts

I'm getting ready for "The Big Trip".

Yes, it gets Capital Letters.

I needed a bunch of chicken feed.

I have 13 little babies (who aren't so little

any more - they are teenagers now...)

and they are getting "special"

Chick Starter / Grower.

I've never done that before.

I just fed them the same stuff

everybody else was getting.

There's something to this special feed stuff.

These girls are GROWING.

Or time is flying faster than I'm paying

attention to and they are older

than I remember...

LOL

Anyhow.

I needed 50# of that.

And 50# of layer for the others.

I bought 100# at the feed mill

2 weeks ago, but we aren't going

to have enough to make it til

my next trip to the mill.

And I needed 50# of alfalfa cubes

to soak for the horses.

I was going to make a trip into town

to the local Tractor Supply.

If I run up the highway, I can be there in

about 20 minutes.

But loading / unloading 50# bags in and out

of my trunk in my VW isn't fun.

So I decided to take a road trip in the Trooper!

I love that little truck!

It still starts right up and runs great.

But I don't think I trust it on the highway.

The tires are OLD.

And I wouldn't like them to blow out

while doing highway speeds.

(That's assuming the truck can DO highway speeds.)

So I took "surface roads".

The air conditioning died in it...

in 1992.

For real.

I used to buzz around town with FOUR

car seats and 4 little boys.

All the giant windows open,

hair flying,

books on tape playing,

it was AWESOME.

(and hot)

The only updating the truck has had is a 

really nice stereo we added when Kyle

was using it as his daily driver.

So today I plugged in my phone

and played The Piano Guys at full blast

as I bopped around town.

Windows open,

hair flying,

It was really fun!

It also took 2 hours.

(I went to WalMart and hit TWO

school zones on the way home...)

I had planned to take Beau with me

because I was also going to Town Hall 

to drop off some typing and an invoice,

but decided to leave him home.

Good choice.

And now,

I'm prepping food for Rod and Kyle

while Mom is prepping for a "little procedure"

(HA!)

My hands are cutting chicken

and my thoughts are in Tucson.

There is bacon in the oven,

chicken nuggets in the fry pan,

jalapeno poppers in the air fryer,

and ...

I just looked up and saw a cow in the yard.

Luckily not MY cow in MY yard.

Brock's cows are out again.

Sigh.

Anyhow.

There WILL be deconstructed stuffed

green peppers in little freezer trays,

And "loaded fotato" (cauliflower, bacon chunks,

chicken chunks, cheese and a yummy sauce).

And country style ribs.

And steak.

Sometime between today and tomorrow.

This was lunch yesterday.

Konjac noodles, left over steak,

diced zucchini, and a little feta cheese.

It was yummy.

I eat it with chop sticks.

Feels more authentic.

And takes longer,

And is FUN.

(Food should be fun!) 

Rollin' To Boulder

I'm sitting in my classroom.

My students are reviewing Chapter 5.

I am BORED.

I pulled out my laptop and wished

Moana a Happy Birthday.

And then I checked

the weather for this weekend in

BOULDER COLORADO.

80's with 50% Humidity.

HEAVEN!!!!!

And why do I care?

Cuz Nancy and I are taking a

"spur of the moment, spontaneous,

we can cuz we are OLD are OLD 

people do stuff like this"

trip.

To Boulder!

Totally random.

Cuz the south is NASTY in August.

We were actually going to meet

in Boise since Rozann loved it there...

We were both flying through Denver

in order to get there, so we decided

to just meet in DENVER!

And then Nanc found a lovely little

Air BnB in Boulder,

so we decided, why not?

I'm not excited AT ALL!

Except for dreaming about it

every. single. night.

We have no plans.

Except our little place is a one bedroom

with no kitchen.

So we are going to eat out.

And it has a pretty little stream.

So we are going to sit out.

And it's very close to the hiking trails.

So we might walk out.

We are both bringing our Kindles.

We might read out.

Or we might nap.

Or we might sketch.

Or we might talk.

Or we might shop.

Or we might.... who knows???

I can't wait!

This has been an awesome year!

I got to spend an amazing weekend with Soni and her girls

and then I got to hit Tucson and visit

Mom and Dad

and Sondra came

 and Rozann and Greg and their kids 

and Nancy and Reid and their kids and grands,

and even GARY was there!

(First time since Sundance!)

And now another weekend with Nancy.

This whole retired thing is amazing!

Never before have I had the kind of time

it takes to travel and spend time with the people I love.

I highly recommend it!

Hopefully I remember to take a bunch of pictures.

Which I will share when I get back.

But first I have to go teach my students

some more insurance stuff.

"Working" This Week

I got a phone call on Friday

asking if I could work down at

Town Hall again this week.

The secretary was going to be out

for this entire week.

She would only need me from 10 - 2.

Sure!

I got there about 10:00 on Monday morning

and Deb (the Town Treasurer) said she forgot

that Matt, her assistant was also out

for the week and could I work a little

longer each day than we had originally planned.

Yesterday I worked from 10-4.

Work being a relative term.

Last time they had a big project 

for me to do.

This time I have been answering the phones.

They ring a couple times each hour.

Maybe.

I made some changes on a town resolution

in preparation for the town council meeting

Monday night. That took 2 minutes.

And I made a run to Chick-Fil-A for

everybody at lunch time.

Other than that - I read a book.

Today I got there at 10 again and the Town

Administrator said "Oh good! You are here!

I have a big project for you!"

Yea! I'd way rather be busy.

Turns out his big project was xeroxing

a large personnel file for an attorney

up in Orlando. It took 20 minutes.

Then he needed it mailed.

So I hopped in my truck (I drove our old

Isuzu Trooper today just for fun)

and went up the road to the Post Office

and mailed it for him.

As long as I was only 2 blocks from my house,

I stopped by and wrote a check for my farrier

who decided to change my Thursday appointment

to today. He just lets himself into the property.

The horses all know that when you open the

gate into the barn, they are supposed to go

stand in their own stalls.

It's pretty easy.

I just leave his check under a magnet on a 

metal filing cabinet we have out there.

There was a LOW flying helicopter buzzing

our property, so when I got back to Town Hall

I asked them about it. The Town Fire Chief

happened to be there and he said it was

mosquito control, dropping pellets.

Weird!

But glad they are doing something

about all the mosquitoes!

Hope it works!

I spent the rest of the day reading 

a book and listening to the roof 

sounding like it was going to cave

in on me.

We had a roofing crew there yesterday

and today putting a new roof on Town Hall.

It's an OLD building.

About 3:30 Deb came and told me she

was leaving for the day to take her dog

to the vet. Then Denine, the Building Dept

manager came by to tell me Doug (the Town

Administrator) wanted to shut down and send

everybody home because the smell of the 

roof tar was giving him a headache.

Since Deb, Denine and Doug are the only people

there, if they leave, I need to leave too!

About that time, Daryl dropped by.

He's the Code Inspector.

Incidentally, the lady I'm covering for is

DOROTHY!

Yup.

Debby, Denine, Dorothy, Doug & Daryl.

I could never work there full time.

Unless I changed my name to...

Delila?

Hahahahahaha

Anyhow.

I'm back there again tomorrow.

I've downloaded a couple of new books

to my Kindle, since its unlikely they will

have anything for me to do again.

Deb said she thought of a great project

for me, but when she got to the office

this morning, she couldn't remember what it was.

Maybe she'll remember tomorrow.

Anyhow.

That's what I've been doing this week.

Hope you have been more productive 

than I have!

Have a great Wednesday!

I Swear All We Do Is Drive

Today found me back on the road again.

This time I took our black truck

(Rod usually drives it, so today he drove the Trooper)

and headed up to our feed mill.

It's a nice drive.

Only 80 miles one way.

Which is just a short hop.

When you figure over the weekend I drove

to Tampa and back.

150 miles one way.

And tomorrow I'm heading down to West Palm.

A 110 mile trip.

And of course the ranch is 200 miles.
(Kyle came home today... he has
been up there since Monday.)
He tried camping, now he is doing
the "hotel thing".
Showers and actual beds are good things!

So 80 miles feels like a short hop!

I had a good book to listen to on tape.

Read by a lady with a strong English accent.

So I've been thinking / talking in "English"

all day long!

Listening to books sure makes the miles

go by more quickly.

Also, when I was done picking up the feed,

Sondra called and we had a nice visit for

a couple of minutes while I was in the drive-thru

ordering some lunch for the road home.

The guys at the feed mill are really sweet.

I just pull my truck in and somebody

comes out and backs it into the loading bay

for me. It's better for their loading bay

and my tailgate that way.

Backing with an audience

It appears I'm not the only one with
backing issues....

Wednesday

It's just Wednesday.

The day after Rod's birthday.

The day the Trim Healthy Poddy is released.

(They do a weekly podcast, I listen to it

while I stand at the sink and wash eggs...)

The day I stand at the sink and wash eggs.

(hahahahaha)

This morning I sat in my chair and started

my morning workout video (which I am 

LOVING, by the way)

and my text message notification went off.

(Mine is a door bell because it freaks Beau out.)

(I'm a mean Mommy)

It was Nancy!

We texted back and forth for a few minutes

and then gave up and picked up the phone.

Had a nice visit!

Until she walked into a spider web.

(Ahem - did you LIVE????)

As soon as I hung up, Kyle called.

He was having some truck issues and needed

a sounding board. I'm good at listening.

Mostly because I just listen.

I don't try to diagnose or fix.

Cuz I have NO IDEA what he's talking about.

Hahahahahahaha

We had a nice visit until Linda, her daughter Gina,

Son-in-law Colton, and new granddaughter, Lucy

showed up at the ranch.

They were there yesterday! And they are there

again today! Who knew!

Hopefully they have a nice visit and he gets a handle

on whatever is wrong with his truck.

He's coming home tomorrow - so will probably

spend the weekend working on it.

THEN I sat down in my chair and did my workout.

Just an hour or 2 late.

But that's ok, I loved chatting with family!

(Somewhere in there I fed all the critters too....)

They were happy.

(The critters)

Roxy was running around under my feet 

and didn't make the picture.

The brown cow and Beau were playing together.

They like each other.

They both have rubber noses.

This is Beau's other favorite place.

(Well, this is the cow trough, he is equally fond 

of the horse trough...)

This is what we do for fun during the day.

Just hang around in the cow pasture,

visiting the animals,

sitting in the shade (or the water,

as the case may be...).

Hope your Wednesday is as happy and peaceful!

Happy Birthday to my DARLING!

Today is my darling husband's birthday.

None ya business how old!

(and let's not discuss my "C" in math either, ok?)

But I do really know how old he is...

LOL

He has been working incredibly hard.

I nearly said "lately".

But that's not true.

He is ALWAYS working incredibly hard.

He is the hardest working human I know.

And considering I know Kyle, that's saying something!

He is working both jobs again today.

But decided to come home early tonight,

so we can go out to dinner 

and celebrate the day of his birth.

He is the best thing that ever happened to me.

He grounds me, keeps me on the straight 

and narrow, and makes my life fantastic.

He is thoughtful, kind, loving, considerate,

the King of Ministering,

and the best Dad around.

And yes, none of these pictures are particularly

flattering, but he is either at work, working,

or he is at home, working.

We'll try for a selfie tonight!

No promises.

LOL

Happy Birthday my Darling!!!!

I love you!!!

FUN Food Prep

I don't really like to cook.

I like to READ about cooking.

I like to WATCH videos about cooking.

I like to THINK about cooking.

But I don't actually like to cook.

It's the prep work.

I just don't have the attention span

necessary to do, say, cinnamon rolls.

I made them once.

They were fantastic.

Good thing,

cuz that memory has to last my family,

well, for eternity.

LOL

My rule of thumb is it has to go from

concept to table in 20 minutes

or its a non-starter for me.

That's why I love my air fryer 

and pressure cooker.

I can get it started and then walk away.

However,

I'm going out of town again this weekend.

And Rod really needs more in the fridge

than... nothing.

So...

This morning I decided to make some stuff.

I was watching a food blogger I like,

a young Mom of 4.

And she uses this nifty little gadget.

Looked like fun, it was on sale, and I had

a gift card for Bed Bath and Beyond,

so I picked it up.

And then it sat on my kitchen shelf for...

maybe a year. And a half.

Or six months.

Who remembers.

Anyhow, as I started chopping veggies this morning,

(I HATE chopping ANYTHING!)

My knife skills are laughable.

And standing in one spot on my tile floors

hurts my back after... one green pepper.

(ha! Not really, but it sounded good...)

I bought a new little rug to stand on.

Beau commandeered it.

Anytime I'm in the kitchen, he plops himself 

down right there on the little rug

"the Lady" obviously purchased for HIM.

Whatever.

I happened to glance over and see my gadget!

Eureka!

I didn't take any pictures "mid-chopping"

because frankly I was having too much fun.

You just lay your, whatever, I did tri colored peppers,

that little onion you see up there, and a bunch of celery.

Lay it on the metal grid, close the lid and

give it a good sharp WHACK with your palm.

VERY SATISFYING!

(And SUPER noisy! Beau actually moved 

to the living room!)

(I WIN!!)

That's three large colored peppers.

They were on sale at the organic market when

Kyle and I were there Wednesday.

He needed fancy soap.

I needed more Mrs. Meyers cleaner.

And I bought some lemon essential oil to put

in my magnesium gel. That stuff works like magic

on sore / stiff muscles (I'm working out again)

but smells like something DIED.

I'm going to see if I can at least get it to smell

like a LEMON died. 

Hahahahaha

(I think mine got old - I bought a new bottle

and it only faintly smells, I'm going to put

in some lemon and see if I can hide the smell.)

Anyhow.

The peppers were on sale and looked

so pretty! So I bought them.

And Kyle got himself a lemon basil plant,

and also a little mint plant.

They are in his bedroom for now,

making it smell AMAZING.

Back to the peppers.

Don't they look lovely?

And all uniformly chopped!

Cuz that's important.

Ha!

I made up a cream sauce - mayo,

apple cider vinegar, stevia sweetener, onion and garlic powders,

and a couple tsp of dried parsley.

Next came the celery and onions.

And then a box of Dreamfields elbow macaroni

that I cooked up while I was chopping.

Doesn't that look yummy?

I love this cold pasta salad, especially in the summer.

It's quick and easy and I try to make it

once a week, but chopping the veggies

puts me off so I don't always get it done.

But now, there's NO excuse!

I was having so much fun, I decided to chop up the rest

of the celery (using a smaller grid for tinier pieces)

and then figured why not, and did my apples

on that thing too! Made a big batch of

my other favorite. Trim Healthy Waldorf Salad. 

Green apple, celery, a tiny bit of walnuts

mixed into fat free cottage cheese.

Makes a big batch that I just keep in the fridge

for lunches or snacks.

It makes a cottage cheese tub full, plus

enough for one serving.

But I already had my breakfast cooking,

and since the apple is a carb and my breakfast

was a fat (farm fresh eggs, turkey bacon and okra

in the air fryer) the two don't go together,

so it's chilling in the fridge waiting to be eaten

as a snack in 3 hours.

Plus I have a nice little baggie started of stuff

to toss in my next pressure cooker batch of

beef bone broth.

(Or chicken, whichever bones I have first...)

Onion skin is FULL of flavor and vitamin C.

I wouldn't EAT it, but it does wonders for

broth / stock making.

************************************************************

In other news.

Can you believe this was FIVE YEARS AGO?

That was such a fun time together!

The Tractor Has Landed

Kyle drove up to the ranch this morning.

Without me!

Since he is planning to spend the night.

Anyhow.

The purpose of the trip was to get the new tractor.

Mission accomplished!

He got it all loaded onto the trailer.

Barely.

Luckily it's only 15 miles from the dealership

to the ranch - so he just drove carefully

and got there safe and sound.

(Like he was going to do anything else...)

When he got to the property, he was worried

that it might still be pretty wet / muddy,

so he decided to unload the tractor

out at the front gate.

This is the property.

Except it is GREEN.

See the pin at the top?

Under the pin is the hay barn.

Now imagine going to the left to the fenceline,

and then following the fenceline to the top.

That's where you enter the property.

And that's where he parked the tractor.

(Well, after mowing the WAAY overgrown

stuff there outside of the gate...)

Then he drove his truck up to the hay barn 

and parked it there.

Then he realized he had to go get the tractor.

So he called me and started walking.

SIX MINUTES LATER

he finally arrived at the tractor!

It's a LONG walk!

(and it was "feels like" 105 out there...)

Actually in the low 90's,

but with our high humidity,

it really does feel pretty toasty.

Anyhow.

He hopped in,

turned on the A/C

(aaaaaaah)

and headed back up to the hay barn,

mowing as he went.

*And chatting with me until I said it was

just too loud and I would talk to him later.

The first thing he wants to do is

mow the "33 acre" pasture.

Believe me.

It's a LONG way.

He was going to drive the UTV out there,

park it and then walk back and get the tractor

so he could just use the UTV to run back and

forth when he needed to.

But that is a LONG way!

(hahahaha)

He figures it will take about 30 minutes

(or more) to walk all the way out there.

I'll be interested to talk to him tonight

and find out what he ended up doing.

*btw - where it says 33, that's not the whole

rectangle, just the one that looks sort of green-ish.

Then there is a 22 acre pasture,

then there is... 18? acres?

I can't remember the exact sizes.

This place is pretty HUGE.

But he is super excited to finally be there

and doing something more than just walking / driving around.

His plan is to mow until... whenever.

Then drive into town and get some dinner,

then come back out to the property and

pitch his tent up on the tractor trailer.

He bought a nice comfy pillow top air mattress,

he plans to set up his tent and then

watch some TV on his phone.

I bet he just falls asleep.

Can't wait to hear all his adventures!

Another "Busy" Weekend

It's been a busy week.

Mostly I watched Kyle work.

(grin)

Our little farm is surrounded by wooden fence.

Rod and Kyle built it years ago.

And here in the HUMID south,

it gets looking old, grey and covered in...

algae? fungus? mold?

Who knows.

But it gets looking rough.

Kyle got out there with the pressure washer

(my fingers nearly typed pressure cooker! LOL)

Wow!

Check out the difference!

It looks a GAZILLION times better!

Thanks Kyle!

*********************************************

Then he cleaned the garage.

Lots of construction debris from the tiny house build.

And, of course, lots of just "accumulation" from life

in general.

Looks much better now.

No pictures though.

*********************************************

Today he is over at Linda's city farm,

mowing her pastures.

With all the rain we've been getting lately,

the grass is growing like crazy.

I might even break out our mower and do our yard 

later on today.

Or I might wait and "let" Rod do it.

Seriously.

He loves his new mower and is kind of sad

when he doesn't get a chance to ride on it.

Our property has been SUPER wet.

Like puddles in the yard and MUD in the pastures.

I "lost" my boots several times the other day

out in the cow pasture.

It didn't rain at all yesterday,

and today it's nearly back to normal.

Still some puddles in the horse pasture,

but it's lower than most of the rest, so thats

not unusual. But it's well on its way to 

being nice and dry again.

The benefits of living on a sand bar.

And this afternoon I'm going to pack up and

head over to Tampa to spend the weekend

teaching 3 instructors how to use the new system.

(And I've downloaded a couple of new books to read...)

I'm "on" for 30 minutes at the start of class 

and again for about 15 minutes at the end.

Other than that... I'll probably sit in the next

room and read a book.

He has a fairly small room and when I was

there subbing for him a month or two ago,

it was PACKED. No room for random

"non-students". Which is ok by me.

I've heard it all before.

*grin

My mouth is feeling better.

I put Carmex on my cold sore and although

it never bubbled up, it still took a week

for it to go away.

This new one I started with Carmex and then

suddenly remembered my Trim Healthy 

Bountiful Balm. Duh!

Rubbed it in, and the next morning it

was almost totally gone!

Silly me.

I'm bringing my tin of BB with me.

On the off chance I get another one.

HA! And yet ANOTHER Road Trip.

Is it any wonder my lips are in a state

of constant fever blistering?

I get cold sores when I'm stressed.

Overly tired.

Sunburned.

And it appears, when I travel too much.

The one that popped up LAST week during

the trip to the ranch with Linda is in the

final (peeled yesterday) stages.

This morning my bottom lip is sporting

a nice new baby cold sore.

Complete with itching and burning.

Grrrrrrr.

Because, you see, yesterday Kyle and I

made a "run" up to the ranch

in his new car!

What a great little car that is!

Comfy, nice COLD a/c,

plenty of leg room.

(not to mention a back seat and a 

hatchback so LOTS of storage space)

and 40+ mpg!

The whole 400 mile trip cost him $30!

SWEET!!!

The purpose of the trip was multi-faceted.

Partly for Kyle to have an opportunity

to be on the property without either Linda

or Ronnie (the gentleman who was the manager)

or D, the old owner. Just him. (And me)

Also he wanted to get some measurements

for where he wants to put the cow working chutes, etc.

And there was a tractor in the neighboring town

he wanted to take a look at.

We started with the tractor, mostly because he wanted to.

hahahahaha

It's a pretty nice tractor!

2017, less than 400 hours on it.

Clean.

Enclosed cab with A/C and ready for a radio.

(has speakers, just needs a head unit...)

(I have no idea what I just said, but its

what Kyle said... lol)

Anyhow.

We drove up, saw it out on the lot so walked

over and poked around. Got inside and checked

out everything, including the new car smell

still in there!

Then we walked into the dealership,

asked to speak with Michael (who has been talking

to Linda's daughter Gina - who lives in Logan)

and he just handed Kyle the keys and said

go give her a run!

I stayed in and chatted with him.

Discovered that we have been hanging out 

in the "old" part of town.

Chiefland (the town we were in) has a "new"

part! Who knew!  Complete with a Super WalMart,

actual restaurants and fast food, etc.

We still like the charm of the "old" part,

but its good to know Kyle won't have to drive

30 minutes into Gainesville to get groceries!

(There is a Save-A-Lot right there in Bronson

that he will probably get his groceries from,

but other stuff like oil for his truck, etc can come

from Walmart...)

Anyhow.

He drove the tractor around for a bit,

came in and said, I talked to the Boss Lady 

and she said "We'll take it!"

Mission accomplished!

He has a tractor!

They will deliver it for him, unless he wants

to drive up there with his trailer.

I imagine he'll just have them deliver it so he

can get started mowing.

The property NEEDS it!

Ronnie has quit doing anything but driving

around, counting babies and checking the

water troughs to make sure they are staying full.

(There are multiple wells on the property,

each pasture has its own giant waterer, with automatic

floats in them so they stay full, but with all the 

summer storms we have been having this summer,

the power sometimes pops on one of the wells

and you have to go back and pop the breaker.)

Of course with all the summer storms, the

troughs are staying full on their own anyhow.

After buying the tractor, we headed to the property.

The cows and their babies were all the way

in the BACK of the property in a 22 acre pasture

that was leased out to a guy who was growing

peanuts on it. He was killed in a car accident

last year, so the land is just sitting there.

Lots of peanut plants growing, but also lots of other

random weeds and stuff.

It's pretty tall.

And perfect for hiding new born calves.

We know there were 11 on there last week,

but we could only count 8.

I'm pretty sure the rest of them were just 

hiding from us and our UTV.

But we didn't want to chance "rounding them up"

in that tall "grass" and running over somebody.

So we called it 8 and moved on.

See the babies?

Yeah, me neither.

Those are all Mamas you can see.

I just can't get over how pretty the property is.

And GREEN!

This rain is awesome!

The pond was a good foot higher than it was

just last week. But the hole its in is HUGE,

so there's no way it can flood.

Well...

I guess it could... if it rained for 40 days

and 40 nights.

But otherwise, I think we're safe.

Linda and I left the UTV in the hay barn

last week, so we just hopped in.

Well, first we had to remove some wild life

and dry off the seats...

Shall we name her Charlotte?

Or get some Raid spider killer.

She had several friends.

They are called banana spiders.

And they are BIG.

She was actually the smallest one.

Kyle carefully removed the edge of her web

from the UTV and then we drove away.

Fast.

hahahahahahahaha

We spent about an hour just driving around,

checking all the fence lines,

driving into each pasture,

several of which we hadn't even been in before!

Drove around the old windmill (it still works,

just has been unhooked since they have electric

wells, but good to know he has a backup system

in case of a longer power outage - ie: hurricane...)

It is on one of the only low spots on the property

and was surrounded by several inches of water,

one of the only spots on the property we ran into flooding.

The property is significantly higher than the neighbors.

Some of the other properties around us were pretty flooded,

but except for around the windmill, theirs is good.

He got a good sense of what he wanted to do

as soon as he gets up there.

First order of business - MOW.

Then there are a lot of BIG oak trees all around

the perimeter that haven't had any attention

paid to them in a good many years,

they need to be trimmed up so he can get the

tractor under them.

And there are some fences that need some minor repairs.

And of course he needs to build the 

cow working pens and chutes,

but he is still trying to plan out what he

thinks will be the best way to do it.

Since he isn't going to use metal panels

like what Ronnie had, he is going to build

permanent stuff with wood, he needs to be

pretty sure what he's doing before he does it.

Meanwhile, I know you are wondering about his house.

Yeah.

Maybe the source of all my stress induced cold sores.

Turns out the county the property is located in

has some ridiculously picky laws. Even on giant

pieces of privately owned land.

And a tiny house violates each and every one of them.

Who knew!

Here in our county (and in nearly every other county

in the state) you are free to do whatever you want

on agricultural land.

But Levy county?

Nope.

So the "house" has become the "office"

and will move to the property in the future.

And will have to be taken off the trailer and

installed on the ground.

Meanwhile, Linda is going to have to get a 

mobile home for him to live in until she

decides what she wants to do for permanent

housing. Neither of them are very fond of the

mobile home idea.

But it will have to do for now.

And the sooner, the better.

He can't live on the property until the county

signs off on whatever he is living in.

And there are no other places to live that are

closer than Gainesville. (there is one motel in

Bronson, and I wouldn't put my worst enemy there.)

And it is actually cheaper to drive back and forth

from here (thanks to his little car) than it is to

stay up there. (naturally)

So.....

back to the drawing board a little bit.

We were supposed to look at a mobile home

in Ocala yesterday, but ran out of time.

And as Kyle said,

it doesn't really matter what it looks like.

Buy it, get it on the property and I'll live in it.

(He has considered the tent option, but I'm sure

the county wouldn't approve of THAT!)

(grin)

Meanwhile (again), Linda has gone up to

North Carolina (or South Carolina... I can't ever

keep those straight...) to visit her daughter and

celebrate her granddaughter's 2nd birthday. 

Thank goodness for phone calls.

And texts.

And picture sharing.

Ain't technology grand?

Nice to be able to go on with your life

but still be in touch so nothing gets messed up.

Meanwhile the neighbor has a bunch of cows

in a field of stuff we can't identify.

Looks like cattails.

But it's not as beefy.

I have no idea what it is!

But the cows seem to like it....

Better get on with my day.

Looks like more rain here,

and I need to get some feed for my horse.

*Buddy gets special feed cuz he's old.

So is Andy, but Buddy's teeth are falling out,

and Andy doesn't seem to have lost any of his...