More raking

This is where I left off raking yesterday.

3/5/09 Thursday
The slowdown yesterday took about three hours out of my day. The one Tuesday cost four hours. I’m making my list of things to do today. Cherie bought some notebooks I can keep in my back pocket so I can keep the list with me to refer to it as well as make notes of things I see or think of that I need to remember. It would be nice to find something similar a leather wallet to protect the notebook in my pocket.

One important happening out here I just realized that I failed to note in this journal. The truck our friends let us borrow has now been given to us. This is just one of the many tremendous blessings we have received over the last two years. Saying thank you just doesn’t seem like enough but Thank You. I’m not comfortable about revealing who blessed us for I’m sure they didn’t do it for public accolades. Not sure what accolade means but it seems to feel right.

We need to get our income taxes done. Cherie isn’t sure how to do it because we’ve received a big (at least for us) oil check last year so she will take it to our bank cause they help folks like us do their income tax.

After several calls I finally got through to the chimney company regarding the refund we are due from returning their products. Since we made the return we had to change our bankcard numbers due to identity theft so they were unable to credit our account. That should be something around three hundred dollars.
This area all the way to the house has taken me seven days to sow and rake under. With a tractor and implements to go with it I can do it in just a couple of hours. It represents about one tenth of what I plan on doing. There is lots more than this area already finished

If the pipeline deal goes through at $4800.00 we are seriously thinking about buying a tractor. It’ll have to be an old used one but I feel it will pay for itself quickly by enabling me to produce more from the garden. Regardless it will save me a lot of pain and hard work. Oh, I’ll still work hard but will get more done in dramatically less time. But we have learned not to count our eggs before they hatch so it’s a wait and see situation though I have strong confidence things will work out. If they do this blessing can be laid on the lap of Steve, who is helping us navigate this unfamiliar arena and is protecting our interests from those who might take advantage of our ignorance or my brain injury. I’m not saying at all that the other party was trying to do this but it’s good to make sure. My naïve idea that everyone out here in West Texas is trustworthy was shattered shortly after we arrived here two years ago. By far most are great people with integrity but there are always a few who take advantage.

Time to get to work. I hope to tear into the carburetor for the tiller today but we'll see. Otherwise it's more sowing and raking rye seed. Plus I need to start marking out the plots and get the seed starting stuff out and going. At some time I need to locate and price fertilizers to be ready to purchase when funds become available. I know I’ll need at least five hundred pounds of nitrogen plus micro nutrients and other stuff.




This is the latest drilling rig to set up near us. It is different from most of the others we've seen. One of our friends was telling us about how their mother gets a percentage of a well that is not on her property but near the property line because it does get oil from her property. I wonder how that works. Is there a chance we can get a piece of this action? Is it something I should investigate? Hey Janie, your in the business, what do you think?
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I just came in to get a pain pill and see it’s just about noon. I need to fix something to eat before I take off and forget. Not getting hungry makes it important to eat by the clock. Rascal and Trixie came in with me and are busily working on getting stickers out of their feet and fur. They must do this all day long because of how many stickers are out there. They are loud as they chew each sticker up, careful to not get them stuck in their soft tissues. This happens occasionally and it’s hard to watch. Rascal got a sticker stuck in hard between his cheek and gum. There was nothing we could do as we watched him desperately try to dislodge it because he wouldn’t stand still or let us reach in to get it.

Having this notebook with me is a big help. I’ve made several notes about things I need to get or do when I think about it. While I’m out raking or doing whatever I’m always thinking about stuff, but by the time I come in it’s forgotten. In Toledo we bought an expensive little recorder that can capture two or three hours of conversation. I bought it for the same reason, to record thoughts before I forgot them. It didn’t work out because I wouldn’t remember to take it, or if I did would forget I even had it with me. Back then I was in much worse shape. I wonder if I should try it again.

I dozed off as I wrote that so probably should take my nap. It’s early, usually I can wait till two or so. I still can but I’m in and settled so might as well take an hour to rest. It refreshes me and I usually have increased energy after.