Happy Birthday Jimbo!

Even though he doesn't read my blog.

LOL.

31.

Yes, 31 years ago today

we brought a little red headed squirt

into the world.

He was the first Buffaloe grandchild.

And not spoiled AT ALL.

31 years ago we were ALL younger.

But we are all so much wiser now...

Hahahaha.

He still has red hair, but you'd never

know it because he lives with a hat on.

He is still well loved.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JIMBO!

All Legal Now

While I was in Tucson earlier this year,

Rod sent me an article explaining

the new "Real ID" stuff they are requiring

in order to fly, starting later this year.

Of course, my drivers license is a

gazillion years old.

Florida lets you renew online for 10 years

or better. So I don't have the nifty

little gold star in the corner.

And, of course, in order to renew my

license and get the coveted gold star,

I have to go IN to the DMV and 

provide all sorts of documents.

One of which is my Resident Alien

card originally issued in 1979.

And we all know that those cards have

started expiring and need to be

renewed each 10 years for a gazillion $.

So...

I did a bunch of searching online.

(From the "spare" laptop at the Town Hall

so it couldn't be traced back to me...

just being paranoid..)

Resident Alien cards issued prior to 1980

DO NOT EXPIRE!

(And if they ever change the rules and they

DO expire in the future, it doesn't effect

your status as a legal alien, it just costs

$540 to renew!)

Phew!

So today was the day.

I went to the Post Office to drop off

some mail for Rod.

Then to the doctor's office to pay

Rod's doctor bill from a couple of weeks

ago when he was sick.

And then off to the DMV.

When I was there a couple of weeks ago

for Kyle's CDL physical, 

there wasn't ANYONE in the waiting room.

She said it had been that way for a couple

of weeks!

I made an appointment for 1:15, but went

early on the off chance they weren't

busy again today and I could get in and

out earlier.

But when I got there, the room was FULL.

I was 30 minutes early, but I brought

my Kindle, so I didn't really care.

I got called up to the window at 1:10.

Gave her my old driver's license,

my resident alien card,

and my birth certificate.

She said she also needed my Social 

Security card. Which I saw in my 

other wallet this morning while I was

getting my green card and my birth certificate.

But I didn't listen to the "little voice"

and left it in my old wallet.

Ok, do you have two pieces of mail

showing your current address?

Not ON me.

Do you have your vehicle registration?

Yup, in my car.

I'll run get it.

I haven't been pulled over since I was

pregnant with JIM!

(So 31 years ago this week!)

I opened my glove box and opened my

little book that I "thought" had all my

stuff in it.

There was my insurance card...

but no registration.

I dug around until I finally found it.

Brought it back in.

Luckily she was REALLY nice,

because it was actually the registration

for my other VW - and expired in 2016.

But all she REALLY needed was the

address, so she took it.

Tested my eye sight (20/20).

Took my picture. (super cute)

Asked all the standard questions,

and then ground to a halt.

Her computer was telling her something

she wasn't happy with.

She started doing some research

about immigration stuff.

I leaned in and told her that cards issued

prior to 1980 don't expire.

She said, Oh yeah, that's not what I'm

concerned about. I'll be right back.

Gotta go see my manager.

Luckily I had my Kindle because she

was gone for a LONG time.

Turns out, my green card says my name

is Buffaloe. But the immigration page

says my name is Stoddard.

But I've been Buffaloe for 38 years!

So she did a bunch of stuff.

And then I asked if there was any way she

could print me a new registration card since

I obviously don't know where my current

one is. She said sure, but it would be $3.

Since I was already spending $65 for a new

license I didn't mind that.

While she was doing some other stuff,

I glanced at my brand new registration paper.

And then I pointed to where it said it

EXPIRED on 11/24/18!

Is that correct????

Yup.

She apologized for not noticing it earlier.

And then charged me $89 to renew it.

So I walked out of there with a new 

little sticker for my car,

I went ahead and got one for Rod's car

since his expires in a couple of months

anyway,  a significantly lighter wallet,

and a brand new drivers license

with the all important gold star!

She even let me keep the original one!

I'm older.

But I think I still look pretty good.

And I don't have to worry about 

getting on an airplane.

Happy Memorial Day!

We are all "off" today.

I'm sitting in my big easy chair.

Doing school paper work,

filing expense reports,

that sort of thing.

(Ok, hanging out on FB and watching

T-Tapp videos... lol.)

I had a LARGE class this month.

We had 95 student pre-registered.

And 35 of them showed up!

It was TIGHT.

But they were good about it.

I had several who had some timing issues.

(If you are late, you lose the entire 5 hours

for that session - and late means 8:01.

Like, seriously! I had a couple who were

3 or 4 minutes late and lost the hours.

They weren't happy.

But it's the law.

You'd think if that happened to you, you

would make an effort to be EARLY for the

rest of the sessions.

Nope.

They are allowed to "miss" 10 hours out of

the 40 hours total. And I had a hand full

who couldn't manage to get it together

and lost 15 or even 20 hours all because of

being late to class.

They don't get to take the final exam.

I ended up testing 26 students.

(27, but the extra was somebody who failed

another instructor's class, she failed again and

I don't count people like that cuz it's not

my fault... lol...)

Out of my 26, I passed 19!

That's pretty good!

But I was TIRED when I pulled in at 11 last night.

Rod and Kyle spent all day Saturday

fixing the farm truck.

It now has working brakes.

And all new fluids in ... everything.

Then Kyle spent Sunday building 

his roller thing he designed.

Two 55 gallon drums and a cool

frame and tow bar so he can fill it with

water and compressed air

(to keep the steel from collapsing)

and drag it behind the tractor and 

flatten the fields he has plowed.

This morning he painted the frame

so it doesn't rust.

Then he and Rod went to Lowes and got ...

some other stuff.

(grin)

He's going to load his car onto his trailer

along with the roller

and head to the ranch a bit later.

He needs the trailer up there anyway

because he had a tire go bad and needs

to take it to his trailer people up there.

So he's just going to kill a bunch of birds

on one trip.

(hahahaha)

There just isn't any rest for folks who

have lots to do and an amazing

work ethic.

He has to get back up there because

he has another pasture (20 acres) that

he needs to plow, drag and roll before

he can put down grass seed.

And he'd like to get it done before

the "rainy" season gets started.

They say it starts in June.

Which is this weekend.

And it will take at least 2 weeks or more

to do what he needs to get done.

So...

GET BACK TO WORK!

(He's been sitting on the couch for 20 minutes.

That's it for him!)

Ranch Trip

I drove up to the ranch yesterday morning.

The plan was to weigh and fly spray all

the cows and then turn around and 

drive back home again.

But the cows had a different plan.

It was HOT.

And they weren't having any of it!

They were quite happy laying in the

shade waaaay back in the back of the pasture.

We got them to follow the CanAm

part of the way, but when they realized we

wanted them to get in the alley and walk

all the way to the front

they said 

NOPE.

Well, 5 of them cooperated.

So we worked those 5 and let them back out.

And then we went back in the house.

At 2:00 we drove into Gainesville to pick up

the tractor that FINALLY has a fresh new

windshield all installed.

YEA!

It's a TINY little parking lot.

On Wed when Kyle had to drop off the tractor,

he had to pull his giant truck/trailer into the

teeny tiny parking lot and then do a 

"blind back" out into the street by himself.

But when we got there on Thurs,
a truck and trailer were

already in the only spot in the lot,

so he just parked on the street.

It wasn't any fun to load up his tractor

out there.

A lady very nearly ran him over.

But he got it done.

And we got the tractor back to the ranch.

About 7:30 the cows finally decided it was

cool enough to follow us up to the front.

Well, all but a reluctant 7.

They just turned around and went back to the shade.

But we got the vast majority of them.

Once you get them up to the facility,

it's slick as a whistle.

We got them all weighed and sprayed and 

let loose again just as the last rays of the sun

disappeared over the horizon.

By that time it was 8:50.

So I blew up Kyle's air mattress in his spare room

and settled in for the night.

We got up this morning,

loaded the farm truck onto his big flatbed trailer,

and headed south to our house.

The truck is only 6 inches narrower than the trailer.

It takes an amazing driver (Kyle) to load

something that wide on the trailer.

Meanwhile.

The building continues.

Slowly.

The guys showed up Thursday morning

and finished bringing in the fill dirt

and smoothed it out in preparation for

the concrete floor.

And then they LEFT!

Later in the day we heard that he has an

appointment for concrete.

Next THURSDAY!

This build is dragggggggging.

The builders are terrific.

But these concrete guys aren't worth much.

Even the company owner said he doesn't

like to use them much... but he did for this

job. No idea why. Somebody's brother-in-law?

Or something?

Anyhow.

Because the building isn't done,

Kyle can't work on the truck there.

That's why he had to drag it to our place.

And then he'll have to drive it back.

But that means his car will be here.

So if he has another problem with the truck,

he will be stuck.

Did I tell you about the truck?
Oh yeah.
No.
Reader's Digest version.
It broke.
Ha.

On Wednesday Kyle took the tractor
to the dealer to get the
windshield fixed. He hooked his trailer to the
farm truck to take it over there.
But on the way back, the brake caliper on the
right front started dragging.
The brake fluid boiled. The rotor glazed.
The whole thing smoked and luckily didn't catch fire.
I stayed on the phone with him while he limped
back to the ranch, unhooked the trailer, and
jumped in his car and drove to our place.
(A 4 hour drive)
Switched to his truck.
And then Linda called, she broke something
at the Melbourne farm, so he headed over there
to fix it, and then headed back up to the ranch,
arriving there at 11:30 pm.
After a day that started at 7:30.

It has been a long week.
So he and I drove home together.
(Well, each in our own vehicle...)
And he is going to fix the truck.
And he is going to build a "roller" out
of two 55 gallon drums so he can roll
the pasture he just finished plowing so the
seed doesn't just lay on the top.
And then he is going to TAKE MONDAY OFF.

I'm teaching.
But I'll be back late Sunday night.
We might all just spend Monday napping.

A look at the building with his house
in the background so you get a feel
for where it sits on the property.
I'm standing next to his little garden
which is next to the cattle facility.
It will be awesome when its done.
In August.
(just kidding.)
(I hope.)

Summer is Here

It was already 80 outside when I

went out to feed the horses.

The dogs were still in the garage

in their crates.

*If I let them out they bark at the

horses while they are coming

into the barn.

It's annoying.

Anyhow.

While the horses were eating, I got

the leaf rake, the pitch fork and

a manure rake and the wheelbarrow.

And then I went out into the

pasture and picked up all the

roots and sticks and chunks of

palm tree that were in the big piles

of dirt Kyle brought from his jobs.

I got a full wheelbarrow!

Then I came in to sit down for a minute.

And looked down!

Yikes!

Hahahaha

After I fed the dogs and let them out

they splayed out in the sunshine.

Who knows where Roxy is...

but Shadow is in the grass,

Bandit and Beau are on the concrete.

Meanwhile, I'm in the house

with a big batch of black beans

cooking in my pressure cooker.

I make a big batch every couple of weeks

and then put them in freezer bags in the freezer.

Cheaper and tastier than canned black beans.

I used the last bag the other night when

we had the missionaries over for dinner.

The dishes are done.

I'm getting ready to toss some clothes

in the washer.

And yes, my feet are still dirty...

so the shower is up next.

Sunflowers & Ice Cream

The neighbors planted a bunch of 

sunflowers to sell with their weekly

produce shares.

They are tall enough that I can see

them from my house.

There are a LOT of them!

He planted them at different times

so these ones will be ready for

sale this week,

and the further down the row you get

the less ready they are.

They should have flowers for

a couple of weeks.

Which makes ME happy.

LOL

Something else that makes me happy...

Nailing the blueberry ice cream!

And having some left after dinner!

YEA!

Busy Bee

We are having the Elders over

for dinner tonight.

Thursday is our night...

It's the night Rod is off early.

Although every other Thursday he

has to drive down to Vero Beach

for High Council meetings.

Anyway.

Also, Mother Hubbard's cupboards

were looking a little bare.

Yesterday I made a dozen deviled eggs

for Rod's lunches.

And the day before I made some

homemade chocolate covered marshmallows.

But today I whipped up a couple of

cans of chickpeas in the air fryer.

Time to clean the air fryer again!

Makes for a good little grab and go

energy bite.

And they are pretty tasty!

I just rinsed them and then tossed them

in a little Lowry's Season Salt.

40 minutes in the air fryer.

Just hit start and forget about them.

The basket rotates so I don't have to worry

about stirring them.

I also made up a "Giant Blueberry Pancake"

for Rod to eat for breakfasts.

This 9x13 pan makes 8 single servings that

he can just grab, stick in the microwave for

a minute and top with some sugar free maple syrup.

(And toss a couple fresh blueberries on top

as long as we have them!)

Speaking of blueberries.

Even after all the ice cream,

baked goods,

hand fulls,

etc

we still have a box and a third left.

I put a bunch into a big 2 quart glass

jar in the fridge for munching on.

And the rest went onto cookie sheets

in the freezer for enjoying later.

Those will go in a giant zippie bag once they are frozen.

They last us for most of the year.

(Mostly because I get burned out on blueberry stuff,

switch to something else and then forget they are there!)

We actually have 2 quart bags left from last year's crop!

I'll be using some of those for tonight's

fresh blueberry ice cream.

And then I got out my Shark steamer and cleaned 

all the tile floors.

It does a really good job, but unlike my

wet swiffer, it is just water so there's no

"clean" smell when I'm done.

So I grabbed my essential oil I used to diffuse

and put a drop in there.

And now my house smells very refreshingly

eucalyptus and clove.

It won't last very long.

But neither will my clean floor.

Lilies

Kyle is sitting around today.

Bored.

The windshield isn't in yet.

The concrete crew hasn't brought in the

dirt for the pad.

He was out driving around,

checking fences,

checking cows,

and look what he found!

He's going to mark where they are so

after he builds his patio,

he's going to dig up the bulbs and

plant them in his planters.

Aren't they beautiful?

Kyle's Saga Continues

So he fell in the sink hole last week.

Then on Tuesday he came home for his
DOT physical for his CDL license
and had a flat tire in Linda's truck on the way
back up to the ranch.
Drove back here (he was 1.5 hours away so
less than half...), swapped for his truck
and drove back to the ranch.
LONG day.

Yesterday the bearings in his disker froze up.

He spent the afternoon finding, buying and

fixing that.

Got it all fixed and this morning he 

FINALLY finished the big 33 acre pasture.

He had to stay up at the ranch this weekend

because the concrete guys were coming

this morning to form so they can pour

the concrete floor in his building.

So... he decided to go across the street

and get the new 20 acre parcel they just bought

mowed so he can start plowing it and 

getting it ready for seeding.

On his first lap he brushed up against

a tree and must have hit the perfect

"sweet spot" because a branch hit his

exhaust stack, whipped around and

broke his windshield.

Into a hundred gazillion pieces.

And it's Saturday.

So all the tractor places are closed.

But meanwhile, his big flatbed trailer

is here at our farm.

He's going to need that to haul his

tractor into wherever he's getting it fixed.

So it looks like another trip south.

Guess I'll make another batch of

blueberry ice cream.

Poor guy.

At least he has a big new building with a 

roof that he can park under.

(And they told him today he has to bring

in $800 worth of fill dirt to bring the

floor up / level before they can pour

the concrete, so he doesn't care if the glass

gets on the ground there.

They are just going to cover it with dirt

and then concrete...)

Always looking for the silver lining.

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

UPDATE:
Kyle drove home Saturday afternoon, getting
here about 6. Earlier in the week Linda ran her
diesel mule (side-by-side ATV) out of fuel, so
he stopped at her farm first and got that fixed.

Then he headed here and we had BBQ steaks,
onions, veggies and fresh blueberry ice cream
for dinner and then we all headed to bed.

This morning he got his big trailer and hooked
it up to his truck and headed back to the ranch.
Just as Rod was leaving church (I had to stay to
do a Needs Analysis on a ward member), Kyle texted
to say he had a flat on his trailer.
Luckily he was all the way up at Ocala,
was able to pull into a Lowe's parking lot
and get the tire changed.
He is now safely back at his ranch.

GOOD GRIEF!
I'm pretty sure he would appreciate being
remembered in your prayers.
And he'll be glad when May is in the books.

Taco(less) Tuesday

I had TWO Lorenza's for dinner yesterday.

So I might skip the whole Taco Tuesday thing.

(Not that I ever do it anyway... lol)

Kyle dropped by today.

4 hours to drive here.

8 minutes with a D.O.T. doctor for his

bi-annual physical.

4 hours to drive back.

So he stopped at the house and I

gave him a big ol' bowl of 

home spun blueberry ice cream.

I didn't take a picture because

ice cream isn't really pretty.

But it sure is GOOD!

Probably by the time he gets back

there tonight he will have a roof!

Then the next thing they do is put down

the concrete floor.

And THEN they build the walls.

Yup, that's weird.

But that's how they do it.

Hahahaha.

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

Kyle just called.
He made it 1.5 hours up the highway
to Titusville (home of Kennedy Space Center)
and the truck started vibrating real bad.

Yup.
Front passenger side tire is ballooned and
ready to blow.
He limped to the next exit and into
an old service station and
is trying to change it.
The teeny tiny 2# bottle jack that came
with the truck just   b a r e l y  lifts this
big ol' diesel dually.
(He's driving Linda's farm truck because
he discovered ants in his car and put
out ant bait thingies and they are
SWARMING all over in there...)
But he got it off the ground.

Fingers crossed the spare isn't flat.
The tires are from 2012.
Granted, they don't put a lot of miles
on the truck, but they are pretty
dry rotted.
Poor Linda is going to need
to put 6 new tires on there
pretty soon.
Or sell it.
Or both.

(Awesome... the spare is dated 2007!)
Luckily (ok, not luck, he's pretty savvy)
he stopped next to the vacuum / air pump
thing at the service station.
However it takes $1.50 in quarters
and he only has $1.25.
(Like my play-by-play?)
So he just walked inside and got a
couple dollars worth of quarters.

Got the tire on, got some air in it...
decided to turn around and come home.
He'll swap it out for his truck.
It will be a LONG day though.

Happy Monday!

We had a nice, relaxing weekend.

Saturday was the blueberry farm

and a run into town for feed.

Sunday is so nice these days!

We are on the "late" schedule

so we get to sleep in,

feed the animals at a relaxed pace,

and then spend some time together

before heading off to church.

My voice was still pretty squeaky,

but I did manage to visit with 

some of the folks I don't see often.

Home to put a roast in the

pressure cooker with some

onions and potatoes.

A HUGE rain storm blew in,

so Kyle waited for the worst of

it to move on and then he headed

north to the ranch.

He needed to be at the property

in order to let the building guys

in this morning so couldn't

drive up on Monday like he usually does.

I put a bag of frozen green beans

in the microwave to get them good

and hot and then into the airfryer for

about 30 minutes.

They get so yummy and crunchy!

We call them bean fries.

A little bit of butter coconut oil and

some everything bagel seasonings

and they made a great side dish!

I was going to make some blueberry

ice cream, but when I pulled the inner

liner out of the freezer I discovered that

I froze the wrong one.

We had an electric ice cream maker

several years ago, but it broke.

And I guess I kept the liner in the big 

freezer in the tack room.

So when we cleaned it out, I put it

on top of the garage freezer while it

was FULL of beef.

I forgot the "current" machine liner was

still out in the tack room, on top of the

other freezer.

Oops.

I made up the ice cream, but the liner

wasn't frozen, even last night when it

was time to make it...

I'm sure it's frozen solid now, so I'll

put the ice cream on at 8:00 so it will

be perfect when Rod gets home tonight.

We'll have a dish of ice cream

while we watch our favorite show.

(When Calls the Heart)

The ice cream tasted REALLY good

when I first whirred it up.

It's resting in the fridge in a 2 quart

mason jar.

1 cup unsweet almond milk

1 cup half & half

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/4 cup Pyure organic stevia

2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp pink salt

1 Tablespoon vegetable glycerin

1/2 tsp gluccomannan

Put it all in the blender and whir it up.

I add the last item while it's running.

The glycerin keeps it from freezing solid

and the gluccomannan (gluccie) is a thickener.

You could use xanthan gum, or even arrowroot starch.

Or whatever you usually use... I've been

using it for 5 years so I've forgotten

what normal people use... lol.

I added some blueberries and whirred them up too.

When I put it in the ice cream machine

I'll add more frozen blueberries (from last year)

when it's nearly frozen so they don't just

fall to the bottom.

Anyhow.

It's Monday, so time to get to work.

I need to do some laundry,

the roomba finished vacuuming, so I'm

going to break out the steam cleaner

and wash all the floors.

And I might try a new recipe I saw

last week... but we'll see.

Oh, and I'm going to make a giant

baked blueberry pancake for Rod's

breakfasts this week.

Happy Monday!

Blueberries!

Rod and I took his little VW up

to his brother, Tim's blueberry farm.

It is technically a "u-pick"

and there were LOTS of people

picking berries and having a great time.

We, however, bought two boxes

of already picked berries.

We brought Beau with us and

dogs aren't allowed in the fields.

Darn.

(grin)

When we got home we put some in a little

bowl and I whipped up some heavy cream.

It was YUMMY!

And an update on Kyle's building...

They only worked a couple of hours yesterday

because it started to rain.

Kyle said they left those rolls of bubble plastic

on the roof and when the storm came through

it blew EVERYWHERE.

He was out there trying to wrap it around

the posts to keep it from just ripping off...

The gusts were fun!

Raining

It's raining.

Oh, and there was some thunder!

It shouldn't last too long though.

Just a little green/yellow blob 

on the radar screen.

But.

While Mother Nature is watering my new trees,

and Rosie the Roomba is vacuuming my house,

(she got into my bathroom and had a jolly time

on our carpets... LOTS of good sand in there!)

I'm going to sit quietly in my big chair

and look out the window and

type a blog post.

I'd better hurry,

the rain seems to be slowing down a little.

So.

Updates.

Kyle's "close of business" photo yesterday.

Notice the sunset beginning off to the right.

He figures he has about 20 more hours in this 

pasture before he's done with the bottom plow.

And then he will need to disc and drag.

So another week, probably.

This particular pasture is their largest at 33 acres.

Meanwhile,

up at the building, they have all the trusses up

and are starting to lay aluminum roof panels!

The building is 40' x 60' so it's a good sized space.

Notice the larger openings for his 16' doors.

These guys are QUICK!

In other news...

Rod pulled a package of ribeye steaks out of the freezer

over the weekend, but they ended up ordering pizza

and eating at Panda Express.

So there the steaks sat.

So I cooked them.

But I put bleu cheese and butter on them and

did them in my older model air fryer.

Rod's not a big fan of bleu cheese.

So I ate them.

One for lunch on Wed, and one for lunch on Thursday!

I did the green beans in the rotating basket in my

other air fryer, with a spritz of butter coconut oil

and some of my new smoked salt flakes.

YUM!

(And then I added a bunch of "everything bagel" seasoning.)

Yes, it was a large hunk of steak,

but there was also a good deal of fat.

Not to mention the bone.

So the dogs got that part.

The orange lidded bottle is my new salt.

It arrived in a cellophane bag in this box.

And since I live in Humid World,

I transferred it to a jar.

It's DELICIOUS though!

Oh! And I also bought THREE bottles

of Greg's fabulous chicken seasoning.

I gave one to Kyle to take up to the ranch,

and kept the others for me.

Used it in my faux sous vide egg bites

that I made in my pressure cooker yesterday.

Yum.

So yeah.

I was making these egg bites yesterday.

I had the recipe on my iPad. (screen shot)

I always put my iPad on top of my canisters

when I'm using it as a recipe book.

But yesterday I didn't.

No conscious thought behind that, I just

plopped it down on the counter and started cooking.

And knocked over a jar of jalapeno bits right

onto the keyboard.

So now it types lines and lines of equal signs.

Le Sigh.

What a dope.

It's a company iPad and keyboard, so I can't get

away with replacing it with a cheaper model.

But it's only $45 and I have a couple of 

Amazon gift cards from living in hotels last year...

But still!

Hahahahaha

Have a GREAT weekend!

And don't spill anything on your keyboard!

It stinks! (like jalapeno)

Comments are BACK!!!!!

YEA!!!!

Rozann was able to comment yesterday...

I don't know what changed,

but I'm super excited!

Ahem.

Anyhow.

1. I'm feeling so much better!

Still have an occasional cough,

but like 5 a day instead of

5 a minute.

My voice sounds a bit like I've smoked

4 packs a day for 20 years,

but now it's "sexy" instead of "mousey"

and I'm ok with that.

(Although Beau is pretty much the only

one I talk to during the day... lol.)

2. Kyle's building is coming 

right along!

These guys are good at what they do!

Once they get started, there's no stopping them!

It's only day two!

He is working on plowing up his back pastures

to prepare them for putting down 

grass seed for this summer's grazing season.

He wants to have the seed in the ground

the first week of June since that's the

start of rainy season (according to the

local extension agent...)

The new bottom plow is doing a really good job.

But it's S L O W work.

He can only drive about 2 miles an hour.

Luckily his tractor has a closed in cab

with air conditioning and a very comfortable

seat, so he gets in, turns on his audible book

and gets started.

He has to really stay focused, 

watching in front and behind to make sure

he's going straight,

his plow isn't getting caught on anything,

the grass/dirt isn't balling up under

the tines...

and, of course, he's not falling in a sinkhole!

It's a LONG day.

He figures he'll be driving his tractor

an average of 12-14 hours per day

for the entire month of May.

He will take a day off to come home because

he needs to get a D.O.T. physical to keep

his truck license current, and we need

to do the "weigh and spray" thing again

mid-month.

But otherwise....

he's going to be "living" in his tractor.

So if you have any good book recommendations!

He loves the Work and the Glory / pioneer type books.

Not a big "mystery" reader.

But mostly he just really likes a good story.

Randomness

Let's see...

1. I have 74 scrubbies!

I am out of yarn, but I might make

a run into town later today and

get a couple more balls so I can

finish the box.

2. I LOVE Rozann's laughing baby ringtone.

So the other day I searched and found it.

And installed it on my phone.

Hope you don't mind!

I also picked a new text sound.

It's a rooster crowing.

Drives Beau crazy.

Which I think is funny.

And because the laughing baby can't help

but bring a smile to my face each time

I hear it, I don't even MIND those stupid

robo / spam calls anymore!

Bring 'em on!

I laugh with the baby for a sec, and then

delete the call.

Thanks for the grin.

3. Kyle survived the sink hole incident.

(See yesterday's post if you haven't already...)

And has moved on to his next ... thing.

The crew came out to get started building his

new out building to house his tractor, etc.

In the midst of the sink hole thing,

he came up to the front of the property to get

the tank to rescue himself and noticed a

minor issue.

Each of these posts are cemented into the ground.

Each of these posts are 11 feet apart.

He has two 16 foot roll-up doors going in.

Not sure how THAT is supposed to work...

Hahahaha

So it was back on the phone to the daughter who

was in charge of ordering the building.

This morning he was out there waiting when the

crew showed up. Brought his drawing with him,

talked to the crew foreman and they got it all 

figured out. They are going to pull 2 of the posts,

reset them the right distance, and then make a steel

header to go over the door.

He was grateful Kyle caught it early enough that

it was a minor inconvenience instead of after they

already had the roof trusses on.

The "big man" came out to find out what's 

going on and when Kyle talked to him,

he was really pleasant and reassured him that

it wasn't going to be a big deal.

They already have 2 17.5' beams fabricated

out in the yard so with some minor adjustments

they will be ready to go. 

Won't even impact their timeline.

So...

another crisis averted.

Whew!

Just meant instead of getting started 

on his tractor this morning early like

he had planned, he had to stay up

at the front of the property and is

about 2.5 hours behind schedule.

Plus the 3 hours from the sinkhole yesterday...

And they are forecasting rain for the rest of 

the week starting late tonight or early tomorrow.

He is watching his window close.

And its stressing him out a bit.

Welcome to ranching.

(But he still loves it...)

Ok, it's 11:00.

Time to get my breakfast eaten.

(I've been on the phone all morning...

got the horses fed, the kitchen floor washed

and the dishwasher going...

but I'm a little behind myself...)