8/24 Anderson

We are definitely heading into the fall season!!   The temperatures are dropping at night and during the day.  The temp now is 74 with a slight breeze from the South - perfect!!  We have the back doors open and the breeze is really keeping us cool for the day.  It did get up to 91 yesterday but don't think it will make that today.  The hills and mountains have lots of clouds and lots of smoke.  We have two or three fires burning in the area - just 3 for the 50 or so that are burning in the Western states.  This high fire period was certainly predicted - no rain, lots of fuel from years without any fires and now mother nature is taking charge once again.  Seems like we hear about 2-5 fires in the area each day and I suspect that will continue for some time to come - at least until the rains start in October.

Fire near Yosemite - Picture taken in downtown Groveland on Aug 22nd.
 

Lassen Peak hidden in a shroud of smoke

 

Kathy had a very hard week last week and sure is enjoying the week end to unwind a little.  They are in the middle of budgets - close out 13 and bring in 14.   Being a government lab - they are dealing with the pesk
y sequestration issue once again.  They did have some luck with the voluntary terminations but they will probably offer up another one next year again to take the strain off the budget cuts that are forthcoming.  They continue to have problems with their overall staffing - when one of their researchers runs out of money or is finished with their project they are put into a pool and carried until funding or projects becomes available.  That system has worked in the past but now with all the project and budget cuts they can't afford to carry those folks.  Hard management decisions needed to tackle the issue head on!!?? 

Worked on the yard yesterday and a little today.  Everything is looking pretty good - we still don't have any cows or horses on the pasture.  The grass is getting pretty high and we have lots of folks poking around to see if the pasture is available.  I did sign a contract with a neighbor who has had cows on the pasture (moved them because they wanted to roam into the adjacent pasture) and does help with our irrigation.  I am committed to him for this year - just now sure what his plans are for the rest of the year?   I already mowed half of it which has grown back and will mow the rest of it in a month or so.  This is the 1st year we have not had animals on the pasture and I am amazed with the difference, that grass and some weeds sure get tall and thick.  The mowing will definitely be a challenge for me and my little mower?

Kathy and I are looking forward to the next couple of weeks.  She is taking some extra days off and we will have at least 3 weeks in which we will be here in Anderson for long week ends.  Next week end we have a special celebration - party time for our 25th wedding anniversary.  It is also 25 years for us to be in California.  That will be fun - hard to believe it has been 25 years, how time does pass so quickly.

Yesterday, Kathy and I took on a big project - we cleaned and polished the wooden floors.  The last time we did that was 2.5 years ago when we moved in.  This time we used some home remedy ( vinegar, lemon, olive oil and water)  and the floors look very good.  It as a lot of work but definitely worth the effort.  It looks so nice - makes everything seem new and fresh, suspect we will change to frequency to at least quarterly.  We used several different tools - steaming mop and lots of rags and elbow grease.  We both ended up with blisters on our knees - talked about using knee pads but nixed that idea, should be essential next time.  At any rate the job is done and we are very pleased with the results.

Not much else for news from these parts - - hope you all have a enjoyable week end and great week,

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

8/10 Anderson

The last 2 weeks have been very nice - temps are topping out in the mid 80s - about 10 degrees below the average for this time of the year.  The mornings are cool, days are pleasant and the nights are perfect for sleeping.  These are the temps that we usually get in the Spring and Fall, guess mother nature is changing things around a little.  The long range forecast call for 100 on Tuesday here in Anderson and mid 90s for the Tracy area.  Today it is 80 and a nice breeze out of the Northwest - very nice - about the same yesterday maybe a little cooler.  I am ready for Fall  - bring in on.

Last week we were notified that there is a mountain lion in our neighborhood.  The lion has killed several cats and even attacked the neighbors horses.  I think the critter is hanging out in our pasture and the adjoining pasture.  Over the last month while picking blackberries I have noticed several areas the grass has been flattened out.  We don't have any cows or horses on the pasture at this time so it has to be another big animal. 2 weeks ago I picked up a big scat pile next to our driveway.  I thought at the time it might be a coyote but it was too big for that animal - never really equated it with a mountain lion.  Kathy was escorting Tessie by leash late at night on our last visit and noticed a pair of glowing eyes peering at her from the pasture about 2 feet off the ground.  She ran for the door!  Tessie has had several barking episodes at night - hard to know what she is barking at, could be  cow, cat, rabbit, coyote or lion or a 2 legged animal for that matter?  Kathy borrowed a big spotlight - glows at 500 - 1000 watts or more.  We have only seen a rabbit thus far no sign of a lion this week end thus far?!!   I suspect one of these spotlights will be in our future?



Pasture full of Queen Anne's Lace

Speaking of berry picking - yes I was at it again.  This is the end of berry picking season - got 2.5 gallons this week end.  I used the new method of harvesting - pick the cluster then bring them back and sort at my own leisure.  The berries were not that good this week end - many of  them have dried out in the sun and those that are ready fall off when I pull the cluster out of the vines.  I am happy with this years harvest - I see blackberry pies in out future.  We still have 1 pie in the freezer from last year's batch - we will eat that one during out labor day week end. 

Kathy is very busy at work - the old year is closing down and the new year in quickly approaching.  She is still working with her new people so her workload is essentially doubled.  The training will continue through the new budget year then things should slow down a little for her.  She is having a hard time with her schedule - lots of hours of work, lots of time walking and not much time for her artwork.  She is making up for that this week end - she is in her studio and working diligently.  her artwork certainly keeps her occupied with not real thoughts of work - that is a good thing.  She is very lucky to be able to get away from the office stuff - the nice 3 day week ends work well for her.  This is the perfect work/life balance that works for her!!

The last two weeks have been filled with lots of trips to the dentist.  I finally got the implant completed.  Last Monday, I started to get a striking pain in my lower left jaw - thought is was a abscess?  I have had them before and this one was triggered by cold - a nice cold drink of iced tea gave me a jolt of pain which cleared as soon as the cold was removed.   I went to my dentist on Wednesday to check it out - she could not pinpoint the problem so she sent me to the periodontist on Thursday and yes a root canal was completed which corrected the condition.  I have accumulated considerable investment over the years and looks like my mouth will continue to invest more in the future.  I probably should have gone the way of dentures (Kathy says, "NO,NO!!!")  many years ago but have been fighting to keep original choppers - am paying he price.  I think the decision was a good one? (Kathy says, "yes!")

Happy Anniversary, John and Pat -- 57 years!!!  Congratulations!!!

Not much else for new from these parts.  Hope you all have a great week end and wonderful week.

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie ( the cat)

7/27 Anderson

We are sure having a warm week end in these parts - - 106 for the last 2 days and more of the same for tomorrow.  It did not cool down last night either, supposed to get down to 70 but I think we may have gotten down to 75 or so, hot restless night for us.  We did use the A/C and that definitely helped keep us a little cooler.  Mother nature is teasing us - North and East we see these big black and fluffy clouds - moisture coming up from the South monsoon and the high country is getting lots of rain.  Those clouds are also kicking up the humidity so our 106 feels much warmer.  This sunset picture last night gives you some idea of the clouds that are surrounding us.  It looks like the temperature may be cooling down to the mid 90s next week.

Kathy and I had busy weeks - she is very busy at work and lately she has been walking at work whenever she gets a chance.  She uses her fitbit to monitor her steps and other stats.  She had several days last week where she exceeded her goal of 10K steps - got over 22K on several occasions.  In addition to the extra walking at work she also walks when she gets home.  That extra exercise is putting a squeeze on her artwork in Tracy.  She is definitely committed to the extra exercise - now with the days getting shorter that will also get in the way of more exercise.  During the week I was busy with the routine chores - mostly yard work but I did manage to get one of the cars smogged and also got the new Comcast router activated for our wireless service.  The old router was fast enough ( 25 megs) for us but they ungraded the service in our area and sent the updated router (100 megs).  I had problems with the activation initially and tried to get tech support.  They could not figure out the problem and sent me to a 3rd party tech support who wanted to charge me.  I was not receptive to that so researched the problem and activated it myself.  The service does seem faster but frankly I don't see much difference - I don't think I utilize the service which requires that kind of speed?

Tessie has a new buddy here in Anderson ...



Flower

So far she has been sprayed 2 times and had we let her out yesterday she would have gotten it again.  This critter was not afraid of us - I tried to get rid of  it and did not cooperate and stood it's ground.  I finally got the water hose and that seemed to do the trick.  Now that the pasture is mowed the critters do  not have much area to hide - now they hang out in our yard.  We have lots of critters in the yard - moles, rabbits, cats, and lots of birds.  Lately ,we have had lots of turkey vulchers hanging out in the adjacent pasture.  Tessie sees these critters flying and starts chasing and barking at them as well.  Essentially she chases most anything that is running or moving quickly.  She has a hay day with the small calves in the adjacent pasture - actually she has becomes buds with them, they are very inquisitive with her. 

Two weeks ago I mentioned that the black berry picking was at the peak - not the case those berries are still going strong.  Yesterday, I picked a gallon after spending several hours in the yard.   At the end of that activity I felt really weird - came inside with my cash of berries.  I was talking with Kathy and she noticed my confused state and was (arms wrapped around me) leading me to lie down when I went down to the floor.  She helped me get cooled off and get hydrated - that was pretty strange.  I knew that I had exceeded my limits.  I did learn a lesson and today I went back for more berries- this time I changed my harvest methods.  Instead of picking each berry separately, I took my clippers and two 5 gallon buckets.  The cluster of berries are very ripe and over  50 percent of the berries on a cluster are ripe.  I collected 10 gallons of berry clusters - brought the buckets back and picked the berries off.  That part of the job I did while sitting in the shade - all nice and cool.  I think I will use this method in the future - have to wait later in the season but it is sure much easier.  I got 2 gallons of berries from my 10 gallons of clusters and the time was about the same as yesterday and I only got 1 gallon of berries.  Most importantly - I did not have to spend so much time in the heat!!  The freezer is overflowing with berries - maybe I will make some more pies soon.

Photo Credit:  Ron Duncan
 

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

More later

Ron, Kathy, Tessie and Sammie (the cat) 

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)