Here's Cherie clowning around with my cowboy hat as we were preparing to leave Toledo to come build our home and life here in Texas. How good it is.3/24/09 Tuesday
Every day should be a busy day for me. There’s more than enough to do to keep me moving. Cherie’s ankle is still extremely painful and by the time she gets off work she can barely make it into the house. She is getting better about asking me to do stuff. Actually I’m getting better at detecting things I can do for her. She was worrying about finding time to talk to Paula at the Farm Bureau about switching our car insurance to them when I asked “Can’t I do that?”. Yes I can so that goes on my to do list for today.
I got a lot done on the side yard but still have to put up some more fencing to keep the dogs out of it. We plan on putting permanent fencing around the veranda so I’ll go ahead and make that a priority. Looking at what I’d tilled up and leveled yesterday there is no question this fencing will be required to get some grass growing. The area is a solid mass of paw prints and a few of the cavities they dig to lay in.
It’s a poop scoop day and while I’m in Midland I plan on repairing Genelle’s sprinkler system where her dogs chewed it up. It’s the same kind of stuff that I’ll use to create the drip feed irrigation here at the farm so I’ve been studying and becoming familiar with it. Parts are readily available at Lowe’s so that helps.
We are waiting now for the pipeline check to show up. Someone sent me an email about a tractor on Craig’s list for sale in Odessa. The asking price is only $1750 and it’s an old Ford that the advertisement says is similar to an 8 or 9 N model though he’s not sure. It does have a six cylinder gas engine, which should provide great power. It isn’t as heavy as the one in Brownwood and that one has a front end loader on it, which is really something I need. The Ford comes with a shredder, that’s always useful and I can make some extra money mowing with it but the loader trumps the shredder. Considering that most of the Ford tractors sell for $3,000 or more it would be nice to snap it up and resell it, making a thousand or two in the process. But that would prevent me from buying the other one so that’s not really an option. The tractor in Brownwood is an Allis Chalmers industrial tractor so looks pretty sturdy. Plus a diesel engine is a plus in my mind and could run on the bio-diesel fuel I eventually want to make. That can be produced for about fifty cents a gallon, a real cost saver over time, and the thought of running a machine on vegetable oil appeals to me and fits our overall philosophy on renewable energy.
If anyone wants to go in on the Ford with me we can split the profit when I sell it. Providing of course that it all checks out when I inspect it. Just a thought folks. This takes me back to the days I owned Corporate Liquidation, when I made good money finding deals like that. Of course back then I had 80,000 square feet of warehouse and could buy out whole businesses but even then I wouldn’t pass on small opportunities (Which is how I would have viewed the Ford tractor back then)
How I miss those days. I used to joke that I “Stole legally for a living” because I often could pay a dollar for something that I could sell for one hundred. But that’s all part of a life I destroyed so no sense missing it. I’m building a very different life now, one that is more peaceful and fulfilling. Actually, when I think about it, if I had Cherie in my life back then I would have been more peaceful and fulfilled anyway.
The road of our life has many mysteries in store. But it's an adventure I wouldn't trade anything for.One of the things I don’t write about as much as I should is how the love between Cherie and I is a continuing and very much a living thing. I am still amazed at seeing her here with me. I still hold her in my arms, look in her beautiful eyes and say “Damn… I can’t believe your here” (That would be saying “damn” in a good incredulous way) I still get teary eyed when I tell others our story. It just isn’t wearing off folks, it stays fresh and exciting and I stay amazed and grateful. When Cherie and I talk about just how bad of shape I was in when we first reunited it’s pretty clear that she was taking on a tremendous load back then. That shows just how much she loved me. A song came on the radio the other day and she told me of how she used to listen to it, think of me, and cry. For seventeen years she hurt and never imagined we would ever see each other again. And I never gave my heart away despite the many women who tried to get it. I flat told one of them that Cherie was my first love and that I’d never love like that again. I didn’t remember doing that but when, for some unexplainable reason, I introduced Cherie to the woman she told Cherie about me saying that.
I am a blessed man. Blessed in many unbelievable ways beyond all men. Even the fact that I’m alive is a miracle but that was just the start. The saga continues every day, the story just keeps getting better. And I am undeserving and remain humbled and grateful for every little thing, for every day I wake up. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an easy path paved with gold by any means, but our needs are met one way or another. Our needs, not our wants though they sometimes blend. You ought to see how Cherie loves driving a pickup truck. She’s owned little bitty cars all her life so this is a Big change (pun intended) for her. “I like my truck” she exclaims with a gleeful smile. How I love that smile. When Cherie’s happy I’m happy. Yesterday we had one of those fantastic West Texas sunsets that I love to record. I took dozens of pictures as I watched it evolve. That’s part of the wonder, to watch how it dramatically changes as the sun sinks lower beyond the horizon. It goes quick but I still have time to move around and frame several scenes with it. Then it’s time to pick out the ones I like the best and delete the others. That’s hard as I want to keep them all but only have so much room on this laptop. Here are some of them.
Click to enlarge. You can do this on all the pictures I put upI’ve got to motivate and not waste any time as I’m sure to run out of it before I finish what I plan. So see ya!
4 comments:
Hi Bob! I just wanted to offer another perspective on the tractor situation. When we purchased ours last year, off of Craigslist, we originally were planning on going with the 8N. We borrowed a friends and determined it just wasn't the work horse that we needed. We ended up going with a larger, newer Ford tractor, that was $4400, and the only regret is that it doesn't have a front end loader. It is almost a necessity. You can't imagine the number of times we wished we had one. It is on the list now. We did get a shredder for about $700 (we bought a new one at the tractor supply store here). If you had the extra money I'd say go for the 8N too, but since not, get the larger, sturdier one with the front end loader. It will help you accomplish your farm goals, and you won't regret having the front end loader, I promise. ;-)
http://queensedgefarm.blogspot.com/2008/10/updated-landcabin-pictures.html
This is a link to what our tractor looks like. It didn't come with the little awning, my husband added that after almost roasting his brain shredding the pasture. To purchase one was over $100.00 so with a little bit of scrap metal, he was able to weld this one together, and even made a cup holder, which my daughter insisted on. She got tired of walking to the field and standing on the side waiting for him to be ready for a drink. ;-)
The price of the Ford tractor makes it attractive because I can make about a grand at least on resale. Having a six cylinder leads me to believe it's bigger than an 8N, which I think have four cylinder motors but don't know for sure. The heavy Allis Chalmers is the one we want to buy for around here and the front end loader is the selling point. Good to see your babies doing well Amy. (Amy's blog address is at the top if any of Y'all want to see the pictures)
8/9N's have 4cyl flat head motors
dont worry about a brush hog, I can get them cheap, I got off of one at a auction at $50 and it sold for $75 so they are out there, I'll try and find you a mower a blade and a small disc in my travels,especially a disc cause you can do more with a disc in a hour then yo can do with your tiller in a week.
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