7/13 Anderson

We are definitely deep into the summer season - - temps are hanging around the century mark and the lows set at 70 or so.  We usually get a little breeze to help keep things cooled down a bit but for some reason it has been pretty quiet this year.  We get locked into these low systems and things don't move very fast.  This week we were surpassed to get a little cooling from a tropical storm called Erik that was moving up the Pacific coast - it pushed onto land and ended up pushing moisture across the Sierras.  Seems like they got a nice shower each afternoon the temps were still pretty high but at least they got some moisture.  We did not get much of any breeze or cooling.

Fire nearby...

They closed off some streets nearby.
 

Speaking of  the summer season - I did learn a lesson this week end.  I have been picking blackberries for the last two weeks or so - have about 3 gallons in the freezer now and this Fall I will make up some of those great pies.  Lesson - - when we arrived I noticed that the birds had deposited little black/purple piles all alone the sidewalk and patio, they were resting on the rain gutters.  Guess their systems don't do a good job of digesting the berries.  Turns out that this was the perfect time for picking berries -  the birds certainly knew it and I suspected it would be the case.  The berries were definitely all rip and ready for picking.  With the temperature so high I don't think the berries will last long - those that get lots of sun dry up pretty quickly.  I think we got our share for the 2013 berry season.

Last week end I mowed the pasture - got tired of looking at the weeds.  We do have lots of grass on the irrigated areas but the rest of the pasture is pretty dry.  We don't have any cows now the fellow moved them and has not replaced them at this time.  I did spend the morning fixing the fences those cows sure take a toll on the fence.  They either push their head through for the green grass or just bust through to the adjacent pasture.  The fence does have a strand of barbed wire on the top but that does not seem to deter the critters.  I really do prefer horses to cows on the pasture.  I got a call from our irrigater who advised that another person is interested in putting more cows on the pasture.  Have to see how what happens - having animals does help  to keep the grass down.

Kathy is busy working with her artwork - lately she is generating postcards for other people in her art community.  They sign up to exchange  their artwork on postcards - seems like most of the people are in other countries.  Kathy is also working on several art journals.  She is very busy at work - lots of  folks are on vacation and she has lots of work.  She is still training some new people and that puts lots of extra work on her plate as she has her own work plus theirs as well.  The days pass quickly and she does enjoy staying busy.



Postcards done this weekend -  2 to go to reach my goal!
 

Postcards received
 

My current favorite by Gillian Lee Smith from the UK

Kathy got a Fitbit - this is a wristband with a pedometer that helps you track your activity.  It has a computer chip of course - wifi to her phone and computer for downloads data.  She has specific targets and it monitors her activity to see if  she achieves the goals.  Last Monday she asked me to wear it for my morning golf outing and chores.  I played 36 holes and collected 145 golf balls.  My stats for that activity, took 26,000 steps, walked 10.6 miles and consumed 2600 calories.  This was pretty typical for me - usually do 3 of those each week then 27 on the alternate days.  My exercise and weight seem to be pretty constant these days - that is a good thing.  On the golf ball inventory - - sold all the balls now I am building up again.  I have about 1200 ready for sale already.  I have them listed on Craigslist - 2 orders since the big sale during the second week of June.  Kathy sure likes the extra space that was cleared up! 

Not much else for news - - with regard to the frequency of future blogs.  I plan to generate them periodically - getting away from the alternate week schedule.  I really do enjoy sharing the activity of our life but don't to bore you all?   Watch this space!!

Reminder - we have a big birthday celebration this week for the little sister.  This is a big shout out to the birthday girl, hope you have a wonderful day - Happy Birthday.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)



6/16 Anderson - Happy Father's Day!!

We are definitely heading straight into summer - 1 week away and it feels like we are already there.  The temps have been hanging around 90 and low of 55 or so.  It is supposed to cool off this week but don't expect any rain - bummer.  We are very dry and sure need some moisture - looks like all that water is going to the East coast. 

Two week ago I noted that there would be more to come on the golf ball storage problem we are having.  That issue has been resolved - a week ago I got rid of 18K and today 12k, 30 K golf balls we have been hanging out in various storage spaces.   I contacted a fellow in Nevada and he came over to collect them from us.  They prefer to have dirty balls - mine are cleaned, sorted and packaged for resale.  We had to break the bags down -  that was a pain but we got the job done.  Kathy took some pics to show the stash - hard to believe we collected that many?  I will still collect golf balls and sell them on craigslist.  I am sure the inventory won't accumulate at the same rate?!  We are both glad to have the storage area back - I am sure we will find something to fill it!!

Two pictures on the left are the Tracy stash (18,000) the middle is the Anderson stash (12,000) and the right is one happy camper with an abundance of storage!!!
 

Kathy has been very busy at work, they are going through a voluntary reduction in force.  They have  a special separation package for those that have been with the lab for some time.  The purpose is to help with the budget issues they are having.  They did exceed their goal and it will help the budget but they should have done it early in the year - my guess it would have been a good break even point - now they are behind the 8 ball again.  Kathy lost two people and now she has 2 new folks to cover for the loss.  Kathy now has to train the new folks and get the assignments sorted out to get things rolling smoothy again.  The timing could not be any worse for her - they are getting ready to start closing out the budget year and bring in the new budget - this work does increase the workload for Kathy and her people.   Last week was filled with lots of extra work for Kathy to get her folks cleared out and she coordinated the retirement parties for them as well!!  She is very glad to have that behind her!!

The fellow that rents out pasture is having fits with his cows.  They are all pretty high strung and spook very easily.  In the adjacent pasture there is a herd of cows with calves.  They recently put a bull in the adjacent pasture and the cows in our pasture are all riled up.  One on them went through the fence 2 days ago - they were able to catch it and took it to their property.  They were going to move the other two that were in our pasture yesterday - those two bolted and went through the fence and into the adjacent pasture.  Now they are stuck with trying to sort out the cows accordingly.  The fellow said he is not bringing these cows back - he said he would be bringing cows that behave themselves.  It does not really bother us either way - - raising cows does have issues.  I am sure they are used to these kind of things.  Watch this space to a status on the misbehaving cows.

Kathy has a change in her alternate work schedule and we will be back up here next week end.  That works out fine as the neighborhood watch group are meeting Friday night.   This is a greet and meet meeting plus some open discussion about pushing forward on setting up some type of civilian patrol.  Many of the areas are taking on this activity with the cuts in budgets for the local police and sheriff departments their coverage is minimal and they are certainly understaffed for our area.  It will be nice to meet the neighbors and interesting to see if the patrol thing works out?

Not much else for news - - headed into the second half of the year already.  Hard to believe we have half of the year gone already and the end of year will be upon us before we know it!!?? 

Hope you all have a great week end and great week.  Happy Father's Day as well!!

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie  ( the cat)

6 /1 Anderson

We are kicking off the month of June with temperatures at the century mark.  Supposed to top that today but we have a slight breeze that should keep us below that mark.  Next week is filled with several 100 plus days - welcome Summer just a little early.  There was some rain last week - not much accumulation and it did not do much for improving the dry conditions.  We are in a red flag period this week end several of them this year already.  The number of fires is certainly up and it will not let up throughout  the summer months.

Kathy returned from her trip from Colorado - she had a good time and enjoyed seeing the families again.  She got to attend the high school graduation for her niece that was fun and reflective for her.  She also got to spend some quality time with family members - the time went quickly and I am sure she was not able to do all the things she wanted due to the lack of time?  She has enjoyed the reflective  week end ready to get back in to the routine after a little R &R.  This is a busy period at her work that they are going through some staff reductions which does not help the workload.  Things will work out fine and the end of year closing will be over before she knows it.

I was able to get lots of chores done last week in Tracy.  I did keep very busy and I did get most of the projects done that I had on my list.  Most of the work in the yard was done as  follow-up to the removal of the big trees in the yard.  Those pesky big trees were definitely a pain and we are glad to be done with them.  Neighbors liked the trees better than now but had little appreciation of the hassle and mess they created.  One of my big projects was to clean up the golf balls that were accumulating in the garage - I think there may have been about 4500 to clean?  Side issue, our washer went out so I had to clean out golf balls that were in the laundry room so they could get the old washer out and new one it.  I ended up moving about half of those balls to the spare bedroom closet - Kathy purged is some time go and I am sure she had plans to putting something in it but the balls are now residing for hopefully a short term storage.  Back to ball cleaning - I devoted 3 evenings ( 6 - 9)  to cleaning balls, made a good dent in the backlog.  I have about 300 soaking in the sink and another 10 bags (2000 balls) in the garage ready to get cleaned.  I do have the balls listed for sale but don't seem to be having much luck with that this year.  I need to find some place of offload a large batch of them.  I do have the ideas about that and will start making contacts - - watch this space.

Lots of yard work here in Anderson this week end - routine lawn and weed removal.  One project was to get rid of the blackberry plants that were burned down last Winter.  Those critters are tenacious - got rid of the vines but the root remains and they are producing new growth already.  I went back back and removed the roots for those plants and that should rid the area of future growth.  The removal really is a 2 part process - remove the vine then the roots.  It is much easier working with the roots don't have to deal with the prickly vines as much? 

The cows are doing very good - they have really put on some weight in the last couple of weeks.  We have lots of grass and they are enjoying it all.  The fellow that is renting the pasture came over and seems very happy with the cows and their accommodations.   Kathy and I have given them names already - each of them has a different personality.  They are not like the others cows that were here - only one that had a personality was Blackie and she was a major pain the backside.  These cows seem much more behaved and will be fine in the pasture. 

I did get to play golf several times last week - cooler mornings and the wind blew hard each day.  I am getting tired of the wind - seems to be pretty gentle when I start at 6:15 or so but by the time I finish up it is very strong.  Easy to forget that the spring and summer does have lots of wind!?   One of the course marshals wanted it clubs re-griped so I volunteered - he went to Mexico last week so I had his clubs.  It was a easy project and I think I had it all done in a hour or so.  The most difficult part is removing the old double stick tape from the club handle.  The process is very straight forward.  I think the course wanted bout $8 per club.  He paid $28 for the grips and I am not charging him anything for my labor.  He gets 12 re-grips for $28 that is a pretty good deal.  I hope he likes the new grips.  I talked him into the jumbo grips - hope he does not have much trouble adjusting?

Not much else for news - hope you all have a great week end and a wonderful week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat) 

5/18 Anderdson

On the cusp of Summer - 85 today and headed higher for the week.  We did have one cool day last week and even got a very small amount of rain.  It did rain pretty good in the bay area and here in Anderson but we did not get very much in Tracy.  When we arrived on Thursday evening there was a big storm front to the South - just missed us all we got was some thunder and a great light show. 

We now have 3 cows in our pasture - they have plenty of food and should be content until winter or so?  The owner of the cows installed barbed wire on the fence section South of the house.  Not sure why that section was missing all the cross section fence has barbed wire.  He did a good job and that wire should help keep the cows out of our yard.  I should have done that when the other cows were here - Blackie ( black Angus)  may not have bothered the yard so much?  The cows should be fine in the pasture and should venture into the adjacent pastures as they certainly have plenty to eat.  That said - still have to deal with the notion that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence??!

I spend the last two days working in the yard - things are starting to dry out but overall it is looking pretty good.  The irrigation sure helps and I did had water the trees again just to make sure they have plenty of water while we are gone.  We will get irrigation water again on Tuesday so that should do fine.  They are all doing great - - even the one that died last year has sprouts coming out of the base, I still need to get a replacement but I will let it go and transplant it in the future if it doesn't grow.  Yesterday, I had my first mishap with my tractor - zipping along and suddenly the blades were not turning and one of the idler pulleys was laying on the ground.  This is the 3rd season for the mower and the pulley should not have frozen up in that period of time.  I cleared the bearing and reinstalled it to finish the job - that is a sealed unit so I went ahead and ordered 2 more as replacements.  I will install them when we return next time.  My theory on why - I clean up the mower each time and water may be setting on those pulleys and the water may be penetrating them - they rust up and eventually freeze up and the bold comes off.  Given that theory, I will make sure that the pulleys are dry before I put  the mower up.

Kathy has finished here Journal {click HERE to link to YouTube video} and is now starting to create artwork that she will make available for  sale.  She just showed me a piece that she is creating for her niece.  She will give it to her when she goes out for her high school graduation - - next Friday.  Kathy feels that she has progressed to the next level in her work - I would certainly agree to that and she has lots of  older work to compare the progression of her skills.  I think she is surprised with the skill level that she has achieved.  I am sure her skill level will even increase more in the future.

Played golf several times last week - get out around 6:15 or so and seem to finish up with my first 18 around 9:00.  I then proceed for another hour or so.  I am usually off the course around 10:30 now with the longer days.  Recently I took my neighbor out for some golf tips - he had not played since high school.  We went through the basics then hit the greens and driving range.  He has a very bad back and was concerned  that the golf swing might create a problem for him.  He did very well  - very athletic and now has a very good golf swing and plenty of power without much back discomfort.  He is very athletic so the golf did not really seem to strain him that much.  He also rides his street bike 3 times a week and that definitely puts allot of stress on his back.  I did much push him to get out on the course - just advised that he knows my schedule and has a open invitation to join me whenever he wants.  Other golf items - not many sales for golf balls on Craiglist so I am going to reduce the price - currently asking $30.00 per 100 balls.  I am going to list them for $25.  Another sideline - one of golf marshals wanted to get his clubs re gripped.  They wanted $8.00 per club at the golf shop.  I offered to do them for free - ordered up a set of grips and should get them next week.  Does anyone need any golf balls - let me know and I will get them in the mail!!

Not much else for news - hope you all have a great week end and wonderful week

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat)

5/4/13 Anderson

So much for Spring - we just plowed through Winter and then on to Summer.  It has been over 90 most of the week and things are sure getting dry fast.  We have a fire warning already because it is so hot and dry.  There is some rain in the forecast starting tomorrow then on into the week.  I sure hope we get lots of rain - - I saw on the news that Northern Ca has a 17% of normal snow pack in the mountains.  We rely on that water for the summer use - going to be a hot and dry summer in these parts. 

Lots happening over the last two weeks (1) Tessie got her summer haircut  (2) the 4 big trees ( 2 front and 2 back)  in Tracy were removed  (3) we got new tenant for the pasture here in Anderson - looks like we will have some cows - prefer horses just hope that cows stay in the pasture and don't break through the fence.  The fellow that is using it lives down the street - quarter mile or so away and it will be easy for them to keep things under control .

Tessie sure likes her new doo - seems much more comfortable with the shorter hair and it is easier to keep her clean.  It will also be easier to keep her free from ticks and fleas - she did have a tick on her 2 weeks ago when she had long hair now it will be easier to check her out.  She likes to dig for critters here in Anderson so she gets pretty dirty - mostly her paws and legs.  Actually, Tessie has a split personality - in Tracy she constantly sleeps and spends some time outside.  In Anderson she rarely sleeps and spends most of her time awake and outside looking for some type of critter to bark  at or dig after.  She has a good life for sure!!.

 As I have mentioned in previous blogs, we were put on notice by the HOA that our 2 big pepper trees were too big for the back yard and should be removed.   We had to do something so we decided to get rid of them and the 2 big Willows in the front as well.  We got a contractor in to remove all the trees and the stumps - they finished the work in Thursday night and it sure makes a big difference.  Those big trees were just 10 years old and they definitely got very large.  The neighbors behind us will love the fact that they are gone  - - so twigs and peppers in their pool.  I will enjoy having the two nasty Willow trees out of the front.  They are all very messy trees and I will not miss the extra work that they required to keep clean.   It was a very expensive project but it had to be done.  They hauled off 2 truck loads of chips and 1 truck load of stumps that were too big to grind.  All them are gone but not forgotten - - - - - end of that story.

We have offered the pasture up to several of our neighbors - one of them has decided to put a couple of his cows on the pasture - the grass is really lush and the cows will have plenty of food through the summer.  In return for the pasture we now have someone to help us with the irrigation, keep and eye on the place, and we will even get a little rent to offset the irrigation cost.  This is a win - win for all and we are very happy to have them here as long as they stay put and don't break through the fence - if that happens I will put up more barbwire and hot wire on the fence. 

Kathy has been getting several postcards with original artwork from her classmates across the world - in exchange she has been busy with her post cards to send out in exchange.  One of the last assignments was to generate and send original artwork to other students.   This has been a very busy exercise for her but one she has enjoyed.  Give and receive that is a good thing.!!  Now that she is finished she can get back to her Journals. 



Golf ball sales are starting to pick up a little.  I was supposed to have a order here in Redding this week end but did not get a call back - their loss not mine.  Cute golf story - Wednesday I was playing golf and talking with the marshal - we came upon a 3 wheeled cart that had been abandoned.   The handle was broken off and missing but the rest of the cart was fine.  I asked the marshal to see if the cart handle was in the trash next to the tee box some distance away - yep - and he hauled it back to my car and I proceeded on with my golf.  At the end of the round - I met up again with the marshal - he thought I was foolish to take the cart as he did not think it could be fixed.  I told him I would contact the mfg and get the parts from them and have it up and running in a week or so.  Same day within an hour from the course I had broken the cart down found the broken pieces and ordered them from the mfg of course and yes the cost of those parts were free including free shipping.  The cart cost over 200 when new and I have been wanting a 3 wheeler now I have a used one that should work fine for me!!

Not much else for news - - one open item from past blogs was the status of the sweet gum trees next to the driveway that got heated up during the blackberry bush fire.  All the affected trees are starting to come back and are doing pretty good.  Now that we have irrigation they should do fine.  I did water them by hand this week end  - - looking forward to those trees reaching maturity.  They will be easy to manage and maintain when full grown - they grow fast!!

Hope you all have a nice week end and a great week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

4/20 Anderson

Very nice Spring  week end minus any sight of rain.  The temperature today is about 80 with a steady breeze.  It has been blowing all week no break at all for that wind.  We really do need some rain - the yard and pasture are starting to turn without any water.  I hand watered the trees each day by pouring 3 five gallon buckets on each tree.  Hope they survive the next two weeks without water.   I am concerned about the 20 sweet gum trees that are adjacent to the driveway.  I did give them a good soaking but that may not last for 2 weeks.  I suspect our irrigation water will be coming in a week or so - that will certainly help the trees and the pasture.  We don't have any animals on the pasture at this time so it looks pretty lush. 

They had the Kool April Night Cruise last night in Redding.  They had thousands of people lining the streets to watch the classics.  They had about 1400 vehicles this year - in years past the number was greater than 2000 vehicles.  The whole week is devoted to car show events and it will all be over on Sunday.  This event does bring in some good business for the locals and lots of fun for the old and young.   Here is a URL for some video showing the some of the cars on the cruise last night
http://www.redding.com/videos/detail/2013-kool-april-nites

Two weeks ago we had a couple of new calves from the cows in the adjoining pasture.  We now have 4 little ones to join the herd.  One of the other cows lost her calf and is still down.  People have provided the cow with water and food but she has not stood up in the 2 days that we have been here.  The vaulters are picking on the dead calf so they moved it to the berry patch nearby.  We speculate that the cow  had some kind of complications with the birth and was not able to tend to the calf.   Sometimes nature it is not very nice?

Kathy is busy creating art for her Journal - I think it has 30 pages or so and she is determined to fill it up with artwork.  In the interim she has created another Journal to work on after she finished this one.  This artwork sure keeps her busy and she enjoys the creativity and feedback from her artist community.  She continues to learn and grow with the class she is taking. 

Several weeks ago we got a letter from our HOA advising us that our pepper trees in the back yard at too big.  I did some trimming on the trees after that letter and last week we got our second notice - they acknowledged that some trimming was done but the tree canopy and root balls are much to big for the area and the branches are hanging over the neighbors fence.  We have had  issues with those neighbors for many years over those pepper trees - they have asked us many times to cut them down as the trees are very dirty and debris falls into their pool.  This issue is not going away so we will likely be forced to remove them in the future - expensive propotion at 2 K or more...  If  the truth were know, I would much prefer removing the two large trees in the front yard instead of the back yard.  Our lot is really not that large and we have a grand total of 32 trees last count.  Watch this space - - more to come on the fate of the pepper trees for sure!!

Finally got some golf ball sales last week, I was supposed to have a sale here in Redding yesterday but that did not work out.  I messed that sale up for sure - - request came in from Craigs list from a person named Stacey. I went back and forth with this person and at one point I suggested that she may like Noodles or Precept golf balls, those are favorites for the ladies.  I got a reply back announcing that this person was a male and his mother named it Stacey.  I did not respond back to the flub up - sure messed up that order, learned a lesson though.  I did play golf with some friends last Saturday at Los Positas in Livermore - we had a great time and it was nice to see them again. 

Not much else for news - - hope you have a nice week end and a great week.

More later.

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

April 6 - Anderson

Spring has bestowed many things upon us this week.  We finally got some rain - - not much a little goes a long way.  It has been very mild, a little windy and overcast most of the week.  The weather forecast is calling for 80 next week and the high this week was 65 or so?   Spring is certainly a beautiful time of the year in these parts.  We don't have any animals on the pasture so it looks especially green and nice.  We will soon start seeing the higher temperatures and the green will turn to golden brown as usual.  Not sure when we start the irrigation - likely around the 1st of May or so - that should help keep the pasture a little greener?

We have been here in Anderson all week on Spring Break - good time for Kathy to get recharged.  We did have a nice week sure went fast now we need to start thinking about getting back to our routine.  Kathy took some pics of the beautiful clouds and surroundings, we sure have some great sunrise and sunset sky's - each one is worth a picture so we just take the time out to enjoy them.

During the week one of Redding's finest peeps was caught on a video that ended up going viral on YouTube.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fUlFuwTueM&feature=player_detailpage.   As you can see this creative creature of nature was in the need for something at a local market and tried his best to gain entry into the establishment.  It was hard to believe that this was real - thought it might be scripted but then I came to the realization that it did happened in Redding and this kind of act seems pretty common in these times.  The local police and news put out a call for information on guy - hard to imagine he could hide out very long?   Sorry if you have already seen this  - just had to share it once again!!

Kathy has been very busy this week with her artwork.  She is working on big project - she made an art journal with 32 pages and she's working on filling it up.  The task is to create some type of artwork on each page.  She is over half way done and the process is slower than she realized - she has come to the conclusion that you can/t force art?!  When she finishes each page she posts it on her Facebook to share with her other art students, she likes the feedback.  On Wednesday or so - someone who is following her work has commissioned Kathy for a piece of art.  Kathy is in the middle of creating that work now and feels the pressure to perform.  She now feels the difference between practice and production.  Kathy's work/play and world is never boring for sure!!??

Art Journal Pages

Work In Progress - Blessed Virgin Mary Icon - patron wanted a contemporary version with a countenance of peace/joy

 

Finished
 

Early, I mentioned how nice this time of the year is - another need thing about the Spring is the arrival of new critters.  Sometime during the night or early morning one of the cows in the adjoining pasture had a new calf - interesting to watch how the mom and other cows take to the addition to the family.  It will be nice to watch this little one grow and I would imagine there will be more from the herd - we have about 6 adults and 6 yearlings in the herd.  Later today I will collect up the grass clippings and toss it over the fence for them - they seem to like trimmed grass, guess they don't have to work for it.  These cows have a interesting habit - they routinely gather in front of a big blueberry patch which faces our back yard.  The cows work their butts into the vines then move their heads side to side for a nice body/butt  scratch - those little prickly vines seem to produce a nice scratching post for the cows.   OK - fine, get a life, who spends their time watching cows scratch their backs and body?



Newest addition to the pasture

And another one, born just this afternoon!

Not much for news - - nice quiet week here, hope you had the same!!   Enjoy

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)