Not Feeling 100% As Of Late

     It's less than 2 weeks from cataract surgery on my right eye and I'm feeling a bit under the weather. Supposedly the flu season is winding down and no, I didn't get the shot. I'd heard it was only around 30 % effective so I figured, "Why bother?"

     Anyway I'm feeling a bit weakened and only today must have blown out of my nose or hacked up a gallon of snot and show no signs of running out of the stuff.
     It has been raining so much lately that I have mushrooms, mold and mildew growing in my compost buckets & bins. Therefore, I am hopeful that I'm simply having seasonal allergy symptoms because of all the spores. At any rate, I'll not allow my not being in tip top shape interfere with getting my eyes fixed. That is something that I can't wait much longer for... Not the procedure but the results!

     I've had to lay some planks across the paths I most often walk in my back yard doe to all the rain having soaked the ground to keep from sinking in up to my ankles. But nothing is going to stop this redneck from enjoying any bit of Sunshine I can get,

     There are so many things I need to do, want to do but "flying solo" makes difficult. Working full time, night shift puts me at a disadvantage but I'll find a way to make it an advantage.

What In The Wide, Wide World Of Weather Is Going On Here?

     I'm sorry I have nothing better to discuss than the weather but what is going on here? This time about a month ago we were having record setting low temps, ice and snow  Nowadays, we're having rain and clouds, no real Sunshine predicted for the next week (and have had none to speak of for the past week). That said, we've had 3 or 4 or 5 days of record setting high temps and are expected to have another few days of the same. Cloudy but record setting warm weather. I'm not at all complaining. After a month of running my heater 24/7 I'll more than gladly take a few days of having the doors open and letting in some near or above 80 degree free air in the house and let some of the staleness out.

     Meanwhile, I just ordered a few pounds of clover seed to replant my yard. I'll mow the front and back (more like shave it) to give the clover a chance to take root. Anyway, I got 2 pounds of crimson and 5 of white. There are a couple reasons I would prefer a clover lawn over grass.
     A#1 Clover doesn't grow as tall and "weedy looking" as grass so I may be able to let it go longer w/o mowing.
     B#2 Clover makes flowers and bees love to make honey from clover. Honeybees are in trouble nowadays from what I gather and they are important pollinators for most if not all our food crops. So helping the honeybees benefits us all, right?

     Last year I had a mass of butterflies in my herb garden. Indeed, I have never seen so many of the critters in one place before. When  semi harvested my herb seeds, I tossed most into the garden where they grew and scattered the rest about the back yard to grow freely where they wished.

     Who knows? Perhaps with the herbs and clover I may in time become a beekeeper and harvest some home grown honey.

More Craziness In My Little World

     Well, well.... It seems there is never an end to the craziness in my little world.  But I would have it no other way, I reckon. I had some technical difficulties with my internet service provider but got them straightened out with (fairly) minimal irritation.

     We're looking at the 8 day forecast and seeing just a few brief moments of Sunshine. I'll take the moist, warm & clouds over Sunny and freezing any day.  At least when the ground is a bit soggy I have easy weed pulling. I fetched home a few large cardboard boxes to lay over some of my raised beds to mulch them for a while and stunt if not kill weeds. I'll need a few more to top the remaining beds but I can get plenty tonight at work.

     I did find a "dig hole" by the edge of the foundation of my home that I believe the field mice have been using as an entry point. I'll get some mothballs tomorrow, dump about half a box in and fill it with dirt.

     Meanwhile, I've received the seed company's latest catalog and I am browsing through looking at all the varieties of veggies. Mainly I am looking to avoid whenever possible, hybrids. I believe the great famine of Revelation is gonna come when all the man made hybrids and GMO crops (man trying to play God) fail .Heirloom varieties and native foods are gonna be all that's left for us to eat.

     Squirrel, it's the new red meat, Alligator is the new white meat, at least in these parts. I've eaten squirrels, cotton tail and swamp jack or marsh rabbits, raccoon, possum, turtle. Never yet ate a gator nor a snake but have no qualms whatsoever about doing so. Armadillos (or possum on the half shell)  have been said to carry leprosy so I'll keep them as a last resort as far as meat goes. I've never eaten a rat (although we do sometimes call squirrels "bushy tailed tree rats). And I've never eaten anything we here in America commonly refer to as "pets".

     The Weather Channel was saying we may be in for Winter Storm beginning with "O"...That's 15 named Winter storms this year (or season) already. Grab a few buckets and plant a container garden, kids. It doesn't require a prophet the status of Samuel to see the prices of everything is gonna be higher this year then the same time last year.

God bless you and us all. I love you.

Valentine's Day 2018

     Today is Saint Valentine's Day and I do not have a valentine. Not complaining, just stating the facts. Let's face it. With a foot plus long gray beard there are probably a dozen women in America, most of them in jail who would look at me and say, "Yeah, I'll take a chance on that". But I'm happy enough living without a significant other.
     The main thing February 14 means to me is the day I bought "Sexy Red" , my 2014 Honda CR-V.  In the 4 years I've had her, I've put a mere 16,000 miles plus a few on her. Seems I really don't go much of anywhere except to work and back. At the rate I'm going it'll take another 21 years for me to reach 100,000 miles!

     Meanwhile, we're on a high swing in the local temperature even though we're getting very little Sunshine. and can expect little for at least the next week. For the time being I'll take warm & cloudy over ass biting cold and Sunny.

     I've been digging through my seed stash to see what all I want to plant come Spring. I'll for sure have plenty of okra. I'd love to put up a few jars of home made salsa so I'll need peppers and tomatoes. My mater crops have thus far been "hit or miss" growing from seeds and seedlings so I may actually buy some larger plants along with starting seeds earlier in the year this time around.
     My greens growing efforts thus far would discourage a lesser redneck but I'll keep trying a wee adjustment yearly until I hit the magic combination. I'll still have to buy my ham hocks but someday I'll grow my own collard greens!

     I'm looking for grand results from my cataract surgery so I may get in a bit of squirrel hunting when they're back in season. With God's blessings, I may even visit a local lake or 2 for a bit of frogging.

     There are just so many "if" factors at present. I'll just keep my faith in God and trust in Him. Keep me in your prayers if you have them and I'll do the same for you.

SO Ready To Garden

     Kids, I am so ready to get my fingers and toes in the dirt, I am almost rabid! I was talking to one of my buddies at work, Joel about getting our gardens started  He and I are pretty much both wanting to grow the redneck staples: maters, peppers and okra
.     I told him out of last year's okra crop (I only could find late in the season one packet of seed) so I let 100% of the crop go to seed. I'll give him enough okra seed to plant more than he wants and let him know anybody close to him are welcome to a share as well.
     The main difference between our gardening wants is he thought about planting corn which I just don't have space for and he wants purple hull peas. He said he didn't know where to find seed and was astounded when I suggested the local co-op!

     We joked about when times get hard, those with seeds will be rich men. Hey! When okra seeds become currency, I'll be a very wealthy man, indeed!
     I'm not asking or expecting anything whatsoever in return for my okra seeds but should any who get some of them offer anything in return.... if and only IF I can use it, I'll accept with all gratitude.

     Before I had to get rid of my ducks and geese, I gave away the eggs  couldn't use. Anything I have an excess of I share. That's the way God planned it. That's the way God said it should be.

     Even if you live in a tiny apartment, you have room for a bucket garden or two to have a tomato plant or such. Feel the earth in your hands. It is alive... God is alive!
   

Helping Spread The Good Word

     Well, it came time to renew my automobile insurance once again. New, I knew I'd signed up for automatic renewal but wasn't quite so sure about automatic payment. To be on the safe side I called my insurance company and I was signed up for automatic payments.
     The young (sounding) lady I chatted with and I had a grand time actually. When she told me to go ahead and put my new insurance cards in my car I told her I keep mine not in my glove box nor console but in my Bible which I keep in the car. Automobile insurance inside more important insurance as it were.
     Well, she thought that was a grand idea. (She said she has 2 kids and her glove box & console are always full of their crap). Then she said she has a Bible in top of her fridge that she's gonna put in her car to keep her auto insurance papers in to use as I do as a book marker.

     I also told her if she ever goes through a check point for licence, registration & insurance, it may just help a little when "Officer Friendly" sees you keep all your stuff in the Good Book!

     I told y'all before, I was given a King James as I was about to leave the tool store parking lot. A month or so later I began reading Psalms then went :back to the start... Genesis. Twenty or so minutes a day and I went from Genesis 1:1  to Revelation 22:21 in about 8 or 9 months, my best guess. I read Revelation again and am now back in Exodus, seeing and understanding things I missed previously.

     I'm having a grand time studying this time through as having read through once before, I am picking up on all kinds of things I missed the first time.
     In closing this post, all I can say is if you have a Bible, don't let it just sit and collect dust If you don't have one, buy one. It'll be the best investment you ever made.

 B.I.B.L.E.
Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Got My Eyeballs Measured & Such

     Ii is now yesterday morning I went and got my eyeballs measured for future cataract surgery. I'll be going in March 12 to have my right eye done first as it is by far the worse of the pair.
     My regular eye doctor gave me impression that the two operations would be just a couple of days apart but they'll actually be about a week apart. Anyway, I go in March 12 for the first cutting, sucking and replacing. Then back the next morning for a follow up check. Then they'll set up a time for lens replacement #2.

     Meanwhile, my brother's dementia continues to worsen. I told Mom that once I get my eyesight back to an acceptable level I could have Kenny stay with me at least on my nights off, to take some pressure off of her. Having him here 2 nights a week certainly be better for her, perhaps for him but not whatsoever for me. I have always been a bit of a loner,. It would be Hell sharing my home with anyone, much less one with dementia but he is after all, my brother. The Bible says, "No greater love has a man than he who gives his life for his brother" or close to that. If I have to give up some of my freedom to keep my brother out of an "assisted living center" then that's what I'll do.
     Nowadays, it seems Kenny's greatest love is his (dare I say, ugly) Boston Terrier, Fancy who lives with our step mom. I call her "Flat Nose" ... the dog, not our step Mom! But anyway, any time I sit on the sofa, lay on the bed or go out in the yard, my kids are with me. Sometimes to the point I need time away from them!
     Perhaps with another lap to lay upon they'll not my under my feet all the time, brother can have someone to be with and not brood on being away from his dog. Everybody is happy, happy, happy!
     At least happy enough!
   

Spring?

     I keep a close eye on the weather reports, more than anything else in the news as it effects me more than anything else in the news. Almost of my driving is at night or early morning, this time of year before the Sun comes up. So I want to know if there is gonna be fog, rain, ice or anything else to make my daily commute to and from work more difficult.
     I didn't give a damn about the World Series, I don't have any money on the Super Bowl (although I hope and believe the Patriots will take it). I only turn on the TV while prepping and dressing for work to see what the weather is gonna be on my way there and back home.

     According to the latest, I couldn't be happier than a hog in a trough full of slop! A full 7 day forecast with nary a night's low below freezing! We may get some rain and wind but no "frost on the punkin" makes me a happy redneck. Both my gas and electric bills came in the mail the other day and I am afraid to open either of them. With a breeze blowing I can easily stand above 80 in the Summer but my old, narrow white butt can't take below 72 in the Winter unless I'm outside and then not for long. That's why people moved into caves and then built houses,right? To stay warm in the Winter.

     When I lived in Colorado, in my 20's I could take the cold and snow up to my butt. Now I'm 58 years of age and I can still take the heat but not the cold.

     Looking out the back window the sky is white with overcast and cloud so I reckon I'll have to fetch my laundry inside to dry it. The Sun was out when I hung the clothes on the line but we're supposed to have rain (weather gal said late afternoon and nighttime but she may have missed by a few hours). I'll hand my stuff on the heater vents so they'll dry and be nice and toasty when I get ready to put em on. And the hot air blowing on my wet clothes will put a little humidity back in the air in the house. Killing two birds with one rock, eh?

Time To Replace Some Stuff... Again

     One of the joys of life (I say that with all intended sarcasm) is having things wear out and need replacing.
     Any of you who have read some of my later posts here know I'll be getting the natural lenses in my eyeballs replaced soon due to cataracts with bright, new, shiny plastic ones. A procedure I do not look forward to but am expecting grand results.

     Meanwhile, stuff around the homestead wears out and needs replacing as well. On one of my days off last week, I put something in my microwave oven, mashed the button and saw an unexpected light show. Arcs and sparks all in that rascal! I wiped her clean and tried again with same results so off to the curb with the old.
     Thursday night at work I kept looking at my wristwatch, waiting for lunchtime and thinking time  was dragging. Finally I pulled out my cell phone and checked the time. and saw that my wristwatch had stopped. Hey, I needed to go get a new microwave oven anyway so may as well get a new watch at the same time. Real men don't shop. We go into a store, make our purchase and get out!
     My black britches for work were wearing thin. One pair was still in decent shape but the other was getting a hole in the nee. So, one microwave oven, one wristwatch and a pair of britches and I was back on the road.

     I saw my friend who works there and she told me I should have gotten me some new work shoes as well as mine are admittedly looking rather worn. I agreed saying that I noticed that and meant to get some new soon (if not today). The main thing is I needed 4 thing and got 3. The old song says 2 out of 3 ain't bad. For me, 4 out of 4 is outstanding!

Eyeball Update

     Okay, I had an appointment for January 22 to get my eyeballs measured for future cataract surgery and I had a brain fart. Somehow I convinced myself that the 22nd  was on a Tuesday instead of Monday. To make a long ordeal into a short tale, I finally contacted the Vision Correction Center and got a new appointment scheduled.
   
     I'm to be there at 9:15 this coming Wednesday to get my eyeballs measured Then they'll do their calculations (I don't know, maybe wave dead chicken feet and some voodoo spells) and figure out what new prescription lenses they want to implant into my eyeballs.
     I must admit after Dr. Taylor saying they'll cut open my eyeballs "stick like a little vacuum cleaner in and suck out (my) lenses, then slide in new ones" I am in NO way looking forward to the procedure but am excited about the possible results.

     I thought I had normal vision until I went to get my driver's license learner's permit  at age 16. The lady at the DMV told me to look into a machine and read the numbers. Hell, I didn't see any numbers whatsoever.  When I got my first pair of eyeglasses I stepped out and told my brother, "Wow! Look! There are leaves on the trees!"  He was like "Yeah". I had never seen leaves at a distance and trees were just big brown things with bigger green thing on top. Now I'm being told I can possibly drive without needing eyeglasses or contact lenses? Better vision at age 58 than I had at age 17 or younger?

Who couldn't be exited about that?I know any surgical procedure has some risk involved. But the Holy Spirit is within me and Jesus has me by the hand, Father God will be watching over me. So look out, world! Here I come and I can see you now!

Ground Hog Day

     Well, today is February 2, 2018... Ground Hog Day and it seems old Phil saw his shadow so supposedly we'll have another 6 weeks of Winter.I must admit I've already had about enough of the cold weather. Do I put any stock on some large rodent seeing his shadow or not being a reliable weather forecast?  Nope.The weather this year so far has been so extreme (world wide) I can't put any faith in any forecasts. It's gonna do what it's gonna do.

     Years ago when I lived in Louisiana, on Ground Hog Day, one of the local radio stations was having a contest and the grand prize was 50 pounds of ground hog meat. Before anybody freaks out, I figured out what they meant rather quickly. It was pork sausage... Get it? Ground hog!

     Anyway, I'm looking forward to a week of no nightly lows below freezing again so I can get back to digging in the dirt. A while back I purchased some ginseng seeds. Since I've added the portable carports to my back yard, one of my raised beds gets not a lot of sunshine and since I've heard  "'sang" as the old timers call it likes shade I think I'll try making that one my ginseng patch. It won't command high dollar like wild grown root but I'm not trying to grow it for sale but rather for my own use. It is supposed to be good for all kinds of ailments and Lord knows the older I get the more ailments I have!
     I've a few buckets of compost ready to dump in along with some dead potted plants and the soil thereof. I've seen a few bags of leaves on the curb in front of houses that have oak trees so I'll fetch them up to fill the bed to a depth of about 12" and on an average week I bring home about 10 pots worth of coffee grounds to mix in.

    All in all, I think we're gonna have a good year in the gardens. I also bought a butt load of salsify, or oyster root seeds which I'll dedicate a full 6' x 6' garden to and packed in about a quart and a half of okra seeds from last year's harvest. The okra seeds sold out early in the stores last year and I was lucky to find the last packet, tucked behind some other crap. I possibly could make a dollar or two selling mine but I think I'll just tell my friends that I have plenty and give the seeds to my friends, perhaps along with the hint that should they have any excess produce to keep me in mind. That's the way I feel family, friends and neighbors should be, Share and share alike, right? Love thy neighbor.
 
     Looking forward to a grand Spring, mild Summer and bountiful harvest.  But as Jesus himself said, "Father, not my will but thy will be done".