Saturday July 30th 2011

This is getting kind of boring!!!  Another hot and humid day but they call for a chance of rain!!  I didn’t water the garden which is very dry.  I did pick a couple ears of corn though…(it did rain a little late in the PM)

The corn isn’t very big and it isn’t completely filled out.  Sure tastes good though.  I’m going to have to start picking it and getting rid of the stalks so the others will get a little more water.

Work today was really slow!!  I think it is almost to hot for people to travel.  There was a person that called today for a reservation and they said they pack up and leave about 4AM so they can travel during the cool part of the day.  Can’t hardly blame him.

This morning we took a ride to Matthews to look around and see if we could find where Daniel and Kiley are moving to.  We sure hate to see them move, they are really good neighbors.  I had the camera and I didn’t take any pictures, bummer!

I think it is kind of funny that the day is so slow and nothing going on but at 6:58PM a camper comes in and then there are people that want to stand and talk.  I like to talk but I also like to leave on time.

Another lazy night!  Called Bren and talked to her for awhile and also called Dee, seems everyone in SD are doing fine!

Time to call it a night….Night Yall..

Friday July 29th 2011

Well today is going to be another hot one.  Kind of glad I’m working the office today.  I need to rest up from the last two days.

This morning I had a few things that I wanted to do.  I took the air conditioner apart and cleaned the evaporator coils and put it back together a couple of times.  The insulation over the coil was coming loose so I taped it up and hopefully it will stay up there.

I did some weeding and cut a couple really small Mimosa trees that were growing next to our mobile home.

The garden is getting dryer.  I’m not sure what all we will get.  I picked four ears of sweet corn and had two for lunch and they were very good even though they were really small.  I think the lack of water had something to do with it.

Work this afternoon went pretty good.  Kept kind of busy but not to  bad.  Nothing that was stressful for sure…

Nothing going on at home tonight and getting off at seven in the evening it is late and not much time to do anything.

We watched a little TV and called it a day….Night Y’all…

Thursday July 28th 2011

Our poor garden!!  It is so hot and dry out most of the plants wither during the day but they perk up some at night.  The tomato plants look great but aren’t doing a lot  There are tomatoes on them but they are very slow turning.  The Heirloom is probably the biggest plant and has lots of blossoms but no tomatoes.  Can’t figure that one out.

Today at work I will start on a mobile home that has a hole in the floor.  Mark took me over this morning and we assessed the situation. Doesn’t look to bad but pressed board and moisture don’t mix well at all.  Looks like there had been a leak at one time or another and the floor just gave way in that spot.  I ended up taking out a four by twelve foot section at the end of the mobile home which wasn’t easy.  They use staples to hold the flooring down and these staples were really in there tight.  Took me all morning to get the flooring up and get the piece under the wall even with the floor joist.  I’m starting to get sore and of course it isn’t real cool inside but we opened all the windows.

This afternoon I trimmed a tree while waiting for Mark to get back from Lowe’s and I also repaired some skirting on another trailer and finished a job at the other trailer where I had fixed the floor.  Had to put the carpeting under the floor molding between the kitchen and living room.

Mark got to fix the duct work for the air conditioner, I removed the skirting so he could get under the mobile home.  I really didn’t want to do that job.  The air conditioner works good, blowing cold air!

After that I replaced mini blinds which took me the rest of the day.  I had never seen mini blinds like these, they have three drawstrings on one side and one on the other.  The one is for raising half of the blinds to make a larger space to see out or see in… what ever.  Got them all up before quitting time though.

When I got home I decided to mow parts of the lawns.  What a dirty job! Dust blows everywhere!  Got it done though, I just didn’t want to do it tomorrow and get all dirty again before going to work.

Linda made another batch of green beans and ham!  Delicious!  These should last us a couple of days because I’m the only one eating them, well, she does eat just a little.  I sure don’t like her meals!  She is losing weight though and I guess that is what counts.

Tonight I will take it easy and watch a little TV if I can stay awake… I did get to see the weather and it looks like next week is going to be hotter than this week!  August is almost here!!!  Night Y”all..

Wednesday July 27th 2011

Well, same old thing today, going to get hot but I think I can handle it.

I slept in this morning until 6:40AM!!  I think I must have been pretty tired. Getting up even at 6AM doesn’t leave much time to do anything in the morning.  Sparky takes up a lot of my time.  He needs attention for an hour or so.

This morning at work I got to tinker with a golf cart that quit running yesterday. I started with the simple stuff like filling it up with gas etc. Can’t be easy.  I checked and it’s getting spark so I checked the gas lines.  Looked OK so I started taking the one off that was farthest away from the tank.   Looked pretty dry.  Mark suggested trying another fuel pump. Good idea, not possible though.  The hoses are just to short to reach and I’ve been working on this for over three days already this morning!  There was just no way to hook up the other pump so I took it off and put it back together.  It was already 12:40PM and I was all wet and greasy.  After getting it back together I decided to try it one more time and Viola! It started and ran.  I think the Lord did it, it sure wasn’t anything that I knew that I did.  I don’t think it runs right yet, Bits said it was either stop or wide open and she could smell gas, but the golf carts always stink.  Anyway, it is running for the time being.

This afternoon Grant and I went to Russell Street.  I started loading the last of the branches and before I was done, Grant was done.  The grass is really dry and not growing so we went on back to the RV Park.  After unloading, I sprayed Roundup again on the places I missed.  After that I pulled these weeds that seem to like Roundup…

If you let these grow the get about four feet tall and the roots go all over and start new plants.  If you mow them down they just spread out then the mower can’t get them.

After doing that I picked up some trash that was blowing around and figured it was about time to go home.

After work I stopped and looked at a pump and tank for the well.  I figured it was worth $175, not as big as I would like but it will work and hopefully pretty good.

I made some of my soup tonight, it is Ramen Soup with Okra in it.  The Okra really gives it a good taste I think.  Also had a chicken sandwich…

I don’t know why people say that Okra is slimy!  I don’t think it is, I think it is very good, hope it’s good for you!!

Not a lot going on tonight either, I’m tired so will take it easy…Night Y’all..

Tuesday July 26th 2011

It didn’t cool off a lot last night, not sure if got below 80 degrees.  It is warm this morning though and will probably get really hot.  Doesn’t seem to matter if the garden is watered or not, when the sun hits it for awhile the leaves wither and droop until the sun goes down. 

I picked some things from the garden, lots of Zucchini!  Had some Okra, string beans and a tomato.  I fixed one Zucchini for lunch with the Okra. The zucchini was probably eighteen inches long and weighed a couple pounds but was still very good.  I took a bunch to work again to try to give away, wasn’t to successful this time, I will probably end up throwing them away.  I also picked  a bunch of jalapeno peppers.  I will probably give them away also because we have a BUNCH of them!

I had to take a picture of my slippers that Bren and Darin gave me about a year and a half ago, I use them a lot in the morning and they have really been abused….

I really need to get me a pair of crocks.  I do a little gardening in the morning that is why they are so dirty.  I leave them outside now because they are really getting nasty.

Work again today didn’t go to bad but the golf cart won’t run.  Not sure why but Grant and I went over to the mobile home park and pulled it back to the shop, I may get to work on it tomorrow, probably the fuel filter or something like that.

Mark said his garden this year is the worst he has ever had.  He is going to mow down the string beans and corn and till it under. I think the heat and lack of water kind of did his garden in and it just didn’t do good.  Our garden isn’t very good either but I picked an ear of sweet corn and cooked it.  It wasn’t very big but is was very good.  I will probably start picking the corn now, should have quite a bit.

Work was slow today, I got to finish my book!  I did a few odd jobs but mostly kept cool in the office.

Daniel called me tonight and said there was a water pump with tank in the paper for sale so I will go check it out tomorrow to see what it looks like. I think I will put in a new well and want a new pump and a larger tank.  Ours works OK but I think a new one will be better.

Watered the garden again tonight.  I am still happy with the garden. We have gotten quite a bit of stuff from it and it has kept me kind of busy. Hopefully the tomatoes will start ripening soon. We have had a couple and they are delicious!

Nothing going on tonight so I guess I will sign off….Night Y’all….

Monday July 25th 2011

I woke up early today, guess it is anticipation of the trip back to Sikeston.  I did get to post my blog this morning for the last couple of days.  It looks like it is going to be a beautiful day!!

We got on the road about 9AM and now I’m tired.  I get tired when I drive though, guess we have made this trip so many times that it really isn’t exciting anymore.

In Peoria we drive past this little drive in called Lou’s.  We keep saying we are going to stop and get a hamburger so today we thought we would try it. It looked like it might be open and there was a lady out front so I asked and she said they opened at eleven, another twenty five minutes.  I can’t wait twenty five minutes.  Our drive takes us seven plus hours and we have to pick up Sparky before the kennel closes. Sooooo  not this time.

When we got into Missouri the price of gas drops about twenty to thirty cents a gallon so we filled up in Peavely MO.  Our little car is doing fine, averaging around forty miles to the gallon of gas!

Linda keeps saying she wants to stop in Kimmswick MO so I figure a few minutes won’t hurt…

Notice all the cars???

This is the Blue Owl Restaurant that she wanted to eat at but of course it is closed on Monday but she did get a menu!

Kimmswick is a quaint little town (tourist trap) that probably has a colorful history but it is closed on Monday. I tried!

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful.  I was really getting tired and was glad when we got Sparky and then got home.  Daniel said it rained last night but everything looked like it was as dry as unbuttered popcorn!  The garden was all wilted and really looking sickly but then, it is sunny and hot so I guess I can understand that.

I had a couple things I wanted to do after unpacking.  I wanted to flush the water heater so that took quite awhile, nothing is easy.  I really worked up a sweat but I used the water to water the garden then I checked to see what was ready to pick.  One tomato lots of Okra, lots of Zucchini and I’m not sure about the corn, it doesn’t look like it is quite ready yet.

After messing around in the garden I had to take a shower, I don’t know what I got into but it was really making me itch.

I need to rest up, I seem to be pretty tired tonight but I did stay awake until the weather, hot and getting hotter!  What a forecast!  Guess it’s better than cold and getting colder!

Time for bed….Night Y’all..

Sunday July 24th 2011

Well we had a great day yesterday at the reunion and had a safe trip to Rockton and back again.  Got to visit with Marilyn after we got back and shampooed her carpet.

Today is church day and we will go to Harvest Time.  I need to find a picture of Dalmus and Jane and Kara for the blog…

This picture was taken a couple of years ago, went to breakfast at “Egg Heaven” which was excellent!  Back to the here and now, we went to their house for dinner and as usual Jane made a great meal!  Had pork chops, chicken lasagna, rice pilaf, zucchini, and a zucchini cake with ice cream for desert.  Linda will have to get back on her diet even though she didn’t do to bad.

We spent the afternoon visiting and catching up on all the going on things here in Sterling and Rock Falls. 

At church tonight I met a really gorgeous young lady and she even gave me a hug…..eat your heart out Frank….

Actually this is Maggie, we have visited them in Texas when they still went down for the winter and always have a good time with Frank and Maggie! Spent a lot of time saying hi to everyone at church and just talking.  Sure makes us want to go back home but don’t think that is going to happen.  Sikeston is more or less our home now and we enjoy it there and I enjoy the job!

After church we headed back to the motel and going to take it easy for the night and I will probably post three days of the blog, haven’t done it for awhile..  Night Y’all….