12/8 Anderson

We are having a great "fallish "  week end, sunny, a few clouds, no rain and no wind.  This week end fills the opposite side of the spectrum compared to the weather they had here last week end.  Three big storms blew through and when we arrived on Thursday night we saw first hand some of the havoc it created.  We had lawn furniture strewn all over the driveway and yard, roof shingles missing on the southside of the roof and soil is saturated.  I think I have everything back to normal?

Two weeks ago we started a string of back luck of sorts.   In our life, we are very lucky but we do hit periods of time when things go a little stray?  Everyone has mishaps of sorts and some are major and some are minor - - fortunately ours are minor.  This list represents relative life issues for us.  It really started two weeks ago (1) we leaving Anderson, all packed up and on our way out of the garage, for some reason I changed my routine and I did not let the garage door open and proceeded to back into the door before it was fully open.  Now, we have a nice crease on the roof.  (2) Kathy was on her way to work and was traveling 5-10 miles over the speed limit and proceeded to get a speeding ticket.  (3) during the storm last week end we had the most rainfall in the 20 years of so that we have been in Tracy.  I have been fighting a roof leak in the dining room for some time and with the water extra flow the ceiling caved in and now we have a 2' hole in the ceiling.  (4) when we arrived on Thursday here in Anderson we found 2 cows (Blackie and her buddy Red Angus).  The soil was saturated and they make holes in the yard everywhere they walked.  The holes were about the size of a cup on a putting green,  Guess I should mow the grass short and then use it as a putting green?  I would have hundreds of holes to work with.  The holes are not really a big issue - - I can probably back fill them with soil but the real issue is the fences that they destroyed while entering the yard.  I spend the full day yesterday repairing the fences and other storm related projects. (5)  last Friday I took Kathy's car into the tire shop to get the tires rotated and balanced - a task I get done every 10K miles.  Early in the week Kathy reported that the car had a shimmy at higher speeds.  We all know that this is usually a balance problem but I just got it balanced - what is up with that?



Blackie's imprint on the lawn.

Solutions - - (5) I took the car back to he tire shop on Thursday and they rebalanced the tires and now it is fine.  Not sure what happened there but the the problem was resolved and she is ready for her next tire rotation?  (4) we contacted the owner of the cows and said we do not want Blackie in the pasture.  They know she is a pain and totally  familiar with her antics - - I never really knew cows had much personality - wrong, she (Blackie)  has a very bad personally and causes trouble wherever she goes.  The cows were moved this morning and I feel very good about that.  I suspect that the cow owners will want to bring them back in the Spring after the grass recovers?  My words to the owner as they departed were "Blackie is note suited for this pasture and I do not want to see her back here".  It will be interesting to see how that plays out?

Bye bye Blackie!!!

 

 (3) we are working through the roof and ceiling repair - I contacted the building superintendent, he is out next door neighbor and he contacted the appropriate folks to take care of it. He said he would repair the hole but was not sure about the roof - 1 year warranty not sure how that will work out?

The hole

The mess - and now you've seen the whole mess!

2) Kathy has to pay the fine and then sign up for the online drivers school refresher - that should be fun? (1) we will get the car repaired during the Christmas break - anyone want to guess how much that little stunt will cost us?

Tango with garage door.

Reflecting back on the items I have just mentioned they seem pretty trivial in the greater scheme of life.  At any rate - I am hopeful that the trend for these kind of issues has passed?  As always, we will continue to share the good and back anomalies of our very simple life.  We like our simple life and are very thankful for what and who we are today!!

Now that Kathy has her studio put together she has turned to producing some art work or craft work not sure what the correct term might be.  She seems very comfortable and in harmony with the workspace.  We are slowing moving all her supplies and materials from Tracy.  She is quickly running out of space - it will be interesting to see how much additional space she may need in the future.  She still has much of her inventory of  art show items in the dining room (Anderson) and that will likely be the storage for that stuff in the future - many items and many of them are too large for the studio.



"Let the song of your soul give flight to your desires.  Are you listening?"

Golf was fun this week - very nice weather, a little cool in the early morning but warmed up quickly.  I had a little fog on Monday but none the rest of the week.  It is always interesting to drive into a fairway or green in the fog.  The results of your shot are only visible within 10 feet of so from the hole.  It is nice to have the knowledge of the course - distance and direction are not really a problem.  I picked up a good golf tip on the golf channel this week.  I happened to notice that my iron divots were pretty small and it turns out that is because the front of the iron is angled up.  The tip I got was to keep the iron flat on the strike which creates a square larger divot.  I just dropped my hands - closer to my knees on setup and swing and that flattened the shot out.  It gave me more distance, control and accuracy.  It will be nice to see it it continues to work for me next week? 

Enough babble already - - better get on with my week end chores.  Hope you have a great week!!

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)