10-20 Anderson

We finally found the fall season and we enjoyed the last 10 days here in Anderson.  The days have been very nice with temperatures running 75 or so during the day and 55  at night.  The fall and spring are really very nice in these parts - hard to beat it anywhere?!!

Looks like the rain might be headed in tomorrow and then more to follow during the week.  We can certainly use the rain - great timing as we had our last irrigation water for the year last Tuesday.  I was able to handle that job for a change - 8:00 to 12:00 midnight.  We did not have much of a moon for light but I did not have much of a problem making my way around the pasture.  I got very good coverage and it was nice to do it myself for a change.  During the week I opened up some of the drainage areas and those improvements seemed to help a lot.  I still have a problem of getting water to the side and back pasture to fit that problem will require some additional piping. I talked with one of the land owners behind us and he said he applied for a grant to improve the drainage across the back pasture - not sure what that will do for us but anything will be a improvement.  I did look on google to check the height of our land from corner to corner - - at the main water inlet we are at 32 meters then we go to 31 m and finally 30 m  at the far opposing corner.  The pasture is pretty flat but we do have some natural drainage. 

We arrived in Anderson on the evening of the 10th.  Kathy had her Roses and  Rust show on Saturday the 13th.  She was able to set up on Friday and tear down immediately after on Saturday.  She did about 60% of her last years sales.  They had a good crowd but the folks did not seem to be buying much?  All the vendors experienced a reduced level of sales this year compared to last.  Kathy's inventory was a carry over from 2 shows last year with some new items.  She did not have bigger items this time and that may have been a factor in her reduced sales as well.  She seemed to have lots of interest in her stuff but fewer takers.  The verdict is still out on whether this will be the last show or if she will continue with this activity?  It is lots of work and the payoff is pretty minimal!!??  For pics of the show, click {here}


One of Kathy's projects this week was to remove the carpet in her studio and paint the floor - that is what she did  and the results are great - see for yourself!!??

Like all things - she worked very hard at doing the very best that she could and fruits of her labors certainly show.  The job is finished and she will be able to put the furniture and other "stuff" back when we return next time.

The other big project for Kathy was to take Rilee's high school pictures for the yearbook.  She started that project on Monday over 360 pics then they had to be edited which takes considerable time and effort.  The final proofs were turned over to Rilee on Thursday and then the final selection has to be made which will be put in a collage and send to the printer (school).

We have added cows once again to the herd - total count today is 3 horses and 5 cows and 4 of those cows will be having calves in the next 3-5 months. Those cows are certainly a challenge - we have little to no grass on the pasture so the cows naturally go through the fence to the neighbors who have plenty on their pasture that has not been grazed in 1 year or more. One of the mama cows - "Blacky" is the worst, nothing stops that beast, she goes wherever she wants even into my nice green back yard grass. It is a challenge to keep her out - when we are gone I am sure she will "make hay" of it as well. We are hopeful this cow situation is temporary, don't want to spend the winter and spring dealing with those critters!! Broc the youngest horse seems to stir things up - he always want to run and get the other excited. He that that today and Kathy was able to get the activity captured on her new I5. She did a great job and sure likes her new phone - - happy b-day early Kathy!!   Check out the video below taken with her new iPhone:

I did get to play golf once -went over to Churn Creek - - the other course Tucker was very busy.  Had a very nice time and it was nice to get out.  On Friday of last week I had a interesting experience with regard to the golf balls.  I got two emails from Craigslist for golf balls.  One gave me a phone number - told him I had lots of balls, he said he wanted 500, I said that would be fine and I would deliver  them.  Took him 650 total and he wanted them all - - very nice sale for me, I gave him a reduced price of $20 per hundred and he was fine with that.  The next  note came in call and it was from Redding as well - - - - - fellow wanted 100 balls and I delivered them to him on Saturday morning - took 200 and he wanted them all - again I sold them for $20.00 per hundred.  That total of 850 balls did not put a dent in the inventory here in Anderson - - - - - .  Funny thing about both of these - I have been advertising golf balls here in Redding/Anderson for 2 years on Craigslist  and have never had a request, got two on the same day and I was in town to make the sale.  That is what I call dumb luck!!??

Lastly - - so what have I been up too all week - you got it yard and pasture chores.  Major project was to physically dig up all the blackberry bushes in the pasture and put them in the burn pile.  I did that all except a few along the main road in the front pasture.  I think it looks great and I am now ready for the rain and more beautiful grass.  (Photo from iPhone)

Enough already - hope you have a great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy and Tessie

10-6 Anderson

Fall has finally arrived  yesterday we turned the corner and finally had a cool day - high at 78 and the same for today and into the week.  We may even get some rain on Sunday and Monday, that will be very nice for a change.  We got our irrigation water on Tuesday and we are at the end of the season for that as well - - run from April to October and we have mother nature to carry us through the rest of the year.  The pasture is doing very good, seems to be better each year.

I am the eliminator this week end, all out attack on moles and blackberry bushes that rest on our pasture fence.  Talk about a love -  hate relationship, love those little blackberries during the middle of the summer but hate the wild bushes that they come from.  Each year I spend countless hours trying to eliminate them, not very friendly either, the prickly vines are hard to work with and I have to sacrifice my body to battle them.  OH yes - the little moles, they are creating a terrible problem in my back yard so I am chasing them out with poison, I have tried  some of the home remedies ammonia, caster oil, etc but that did not work, had to resort to the hard stuff, got some poison and baited the holes in the yard.  They are pretty smart critters and it will take some time to rid the yard of them - it will be nice to have them gone!!  Tessie should be doing that job she does sniff and dig a little for them but nothing very aggressive.

Kathy is very busy preparing for the Roses and Rust show in a week or so. The show is next Saturday at the Redding Civic Center - she is looking forward to it.  She has done several and likes this venue the best - working outside at the various barns is not much fun especially in the hot summer.  We will be taking off some extra time for the show them follow up with a little extra time to just rest and relax a little to get ready for the holiday season and end of the year.  We are not doing very good on vacation - need to plan more and make that happen.  Not that Kathy does not have vacation days - she seems to always be at the max and is probably loosing days at this point. 

Have to add just a small note about the debate or should I say lack of debate?  This whole election process has gotten to be a little out of control.  The money they have spend over a 100 million and it will likely go to 200 million with advertisements filled with false statements and innuendos.  Then we have the debate and neither candidate is able to give us much tangible information from which we can make a sound decision.  Our country is not in good shape and more needs to be done by both parties to make it better.  Excuse me - my phone just rang once again with one of those annoying folks who wants me to get out and vote - - the ballot will soon be in the mail so quit bothering me.  This next 4 years will be very interesting as the last !!  I have to admit the picture is not as gloomy as it was 4 years ago but we are still a long way from where we should be, hopefully we will get there without a 7 trillion dollar deficit.  Better stop now I am approaching enemy territory on both sides??!!     WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Golf was very good as usual - last Monday I was able to play with two of the older fellows one has been fighting cancer.  They are both 80 and doing very good - they sure enjoy their golf and I am proud of them both - they give it their best shot.  My game seems to be improving -finally decided it was time to slow tings down - back swing for starters and that really makes a big difference.  I have theory about this here golf game - - the thing that affects your golf swing the most is " tension" if you are too relaxed throughout throughout your swing it will not be very good.  Conversely, if you are  totally relaxed you will swing freely and your balls will drive straight and true - amazing how much more distance you get with little or no effort!!??  Yes - the secret is making it happen - you will have to figure that one out yourself??!!

Enough babble - - hope you have a great week.

More later

Ron,. Kathy, Tessie and Sammie