A rainy day. I like it.

12/10/07 Monday
Woke up with the type of soreness in the muscles that you get when you work out in the gym. Strangely enough I like that as it tell me I got some good exercise and reminds me of the days I worked out and practiced martial arts. But if you look at how much I did outside it doesn’t look like much. I know I worked hard and was sweating and huffing and puffing but it doesn’t take much to do that nowadays. I don’t think I will ever get back into the shape I was in before the coma. I’ve regained most of the seventy pounds I lost then but a lot of it was fat. The year on this farm has been wonderful in helping me lose that and build up some muscle mass. If we join the church we can access the gym they have and that would be good if we got off our ass and went. I’m still wrestling with the doctrine of eternal security. The acceptance of that is a requirement for joining the church. I went online to study on it the other day but it is still not settled in my mind. I should sit down and talk with someone about it, but I won’t pretend to accept it just to join.

The high is to make it up to thirty seven degrees today and it will be rainy. I’ll be going out to finish sowing seed after cleaning the puppy room. I’m sure that some of you would think I’m nuts for going out in this weather but it really doesn’t bother me. In fact I kind of like it and it’s great for working hard as it helps me keep cool. I have a harder time with the heat. You can always put more clothes on to stay warm but you can only take off just so much to keep cool and it doesn’t help anyway. I just want to take advantage of this moisture in the soil. That’s farming. Your time is often dictated by the weather and you can’t afford to sit back and be comfortable.
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Hey Barbara, Sure I would love the heirloom seeds you offered in the comments last post but just remembered I didn't give you an address. You can send them to bob westbrook, PO box 1176, Stanton Texas, 79782
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2:19 – I’m slowing down a bit but also have one of those headaches that is at the level of putting me to bed with the drapes closed and anything that makes noise, like a TV, off except the fans that bring the heat from the fire into the room. I turned them down a little. In fact I’m going to turn one off and the other down another notch right now. Cold doesn’t bother me but the sound of a fan sure does right now. I may be a tough little bugger but this sure puts me down. Haven’t had one in a while and they don’t come as often as they used to.

I got some raking done but am only halfway there. I may not be able to finish it today, probably won’t. There was still the light mist that covers the glasses every fifteen or twenty minutes out so that was no problem. In fact the slight amount of wet in the soil seems to make it cover the seeds better.

I took the garbage to the landfill as I often do on Monday. Here’s a picture of what I came back with. I took five bags of garbage and came back with more than I left with. There were a couple hundred of the stakes they used for boll weevil traps around the cotton fields. I grabbed maybe a hundred of them. They will be great to make trellises for tomatoes and other plants next season. Of course I grabbed any garden hose I saw to continue linking them together for watering crops. A little here and a little there all adds up. Then there were a couple of the hospital bed meal trays that had been thrown away. I grabbed one as these are real handy in a shop. You can raise and lower them to whatever height is good and they have little drawers where you can keep tools and stuff. I used to have one in my old woodshop in Toledo.

Cherie is running into Midland to mail some packages to family in Toledo. I’m going to try and sleep. Hopefully this headache will go away so I can get back to work.

A White Elephant?

Can you see the two indians? (Click to enlarge)


12/9/07 Sunday
What a good time we had. The white elephant thing was fun. The way it works is everyone brings a gift and then everyone takes a number. Starting with the first number we would pick out a wrapped gift under the tree and open it. The next number then has the option of claiming any opened gift or picking one out from the tree. I was the first one to “Claim” another’s gift. It was a headset radio. The lady who’s gift I claimed then had the right to pick and open another gift or claim someone else’s. It didn’t take long for someone to claim my gift. I think it was the next person up so I had a chance to open another one. At some point I got a skinny foot long reindeer or puppy (Hard to tell). Almost looked like a stuffed tube sock with ears and little feet. It had a squeeker thing that made a peculiar puppy sound so I began abusing that. Kind of like a kid with a noisy toy. That wasn’t no where as noisy as the big old fashioned alarm clock with two ringer bells on top. The fun now was to try and get someone to claim your gift, if you didn’t want it that is. I don’t remember how many gifts passed through my hands but it was a bunch. I ended up with some coasters I can put pictures in. Cherie announced “We’d like to keep this one” cause she likes it. Works for me cause I have perhaps 3,000 pictures stored on this computer now so can print them up anytime I want.

Pastor Dyer came to the party with his watch. I invited him to sit at our table and was glad he accepted the offer. “You’re the Westbrooks aren’t you?” he said as he sat down. Wow, he knew us. Perhaps someone told him our name at the party or something but it was nice for him to know it. Of course part of me wonders like I always do if he heard good or bad. It’s part of the insecurity I live with. Can’t help it, it’s just there but I don’t let it get to me. I think I talked his ear off. Told him the story of the coma and how Cherie and I got back together. I’m sure it gets old after a while but it’s something I can talk about when nervous in new situations. I didn’t do too bad at the party. There was lots of commotion but Don sat on my left and of course Cherie was with me so I was able to stay focused and not get overwhelmed by it all. As long as there are familiar things or people around I’m fine. It got a little tough when it came time for the gift exchange. Cherie recognizes this and sat me down in a corner kind of out of the way. I was confused about how it all worked but she advised me and we were able to watch a few people take their turns before my number came up. So I did fine, relaxed, got involved, and had a grand old time. I don’t think anyone knew how hard it was for me and I’m glad. So what do I do? I write about it here. Duh!!! Oh well, it’s my journal, my record of what goes on so honesty keeps it right.

At the end, when everyone was calling it a night I perked up mentally. Talked with Don and Wally about the tractor, showing them the quote and all that came with it. We also talked to John and Cindy about Chuck and Lillian’s needs of desires for Christmas. I think we talked to Dave about it too and gave him Miracles shoe size but it’s a little mixed up in my memory. It was foggy and cold when we left. Part of that weather change that rolled in around five yesterday.

This morning Cherie got up at 5:00 to make pear bread for the Sunday school snacks. I took the puppies out for their walk but that didn’t last long. There was a stiff wind coupled with the fog that was more like a thick mist that coated my glasses. That made the cold pronounced enough to make my eyes water. Yep, the walk didn’t last long. But everything is damp now and that is good for the seeds I’ve been putting down. As soon as I came in I got a fire started. Haven’t needed one for a few days but we’ll probably keep the wood stove fired up for a while. It sure makes things toasty warm in the back room where it is and the fans move the heat to the rest of the house.

So we had pear bread, pineapple upside down cake, a cheese ball and crackers, and veggies with dip for the snack thing. It went over well as I new it would. Cherie wasn’t nearly as confident so when she realized it was greatly accepted it put a big smile on her face. Raising both arms in victory she exclaimed “I did GOOD”. God I love to see her smile. Church was great as always. It is so nice to rush to get to church on time because you know the sermon will be good and want to hear it.

Right now I’m bundled up. I’ve got my sweats on underneath the jeans and a quilted flannel shirt on top of a warm t-shirt. With the Carhartt jacket Steve gave me and a knit cap with a baseball hat on top to keep the wet off my glasses I’m good to go. I still have fifty pounds of rye seed and now the wildflower mix to get planted and need to get it while the getting is good. It’s still misting out enough to require windshield wipers when you drive and could well rain tonight so it’s a prime time for planting. Cherie’s keeping a pot of hot coffee going so that will help keep me warmed up. The temperature gauge outside the window says it’s in the low thirties but I don’t know how accurate it is. Doesn’t matter, I have work to do.

Just a note. On the way home from church we saw that Dave Decker has a John Deere tractor out on his lot next to the interstate for sale. It’s the exact same model as the one we are looking at except it is four wheel drive instead of two. It’s got a front end loader and shredder attached as well. I called him up to see what he wants for it. $16,500.00 without the shredder. And it’s a few years old. When I told him about the Georgetown deal he couldn’t believe it. “I paid more than that for my tractor by itself. I don’t know how they can do that!” he said. It confirms how good of a deal it is.

It’s time to go out and get cold and wet so see ya later
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I got the last of the seed out except a little I’m saving in case it’s needed. I dressed a little too warm so had to take the Carhartt off and put on a light windbreaker. As it got darker I stepped up the pace to get as much done as possible. By the time it was too dark to see the ground I was soaking wet from sweat. The flannel shirt and windbreaker are both hanging in the back room near the woodstove to dry out. There is a winter storm warning out now for the area with freezing rain predicted. I still need to rake in the rest of the area I seeded, only got about twenty percent of it done. We will see what it’s like in the morning. Never did get to the wildflower seeds. In the catalog we ordered those seeds from they talked about mixing the seeds with sand to use as a carrier with the broadcast spreader. Then it said to use a roller to press the seeds in the ground. I have a 55 gallon plastic drum I picked up at the landfill that I think I will use to roll the seed down. I’ll try it on the rye seed as well to see what kind of difference it makes. All part of learning more.

The things that excite me

12/8/07 Saturday
OK, I never got back to the journal yesterday. Nothing unusual there. This morning I got right on the rye seed, raking and spreading some more of it. I put more seed down on an area that I must not have done a good job on. It’s an eight foot wide strip so I suspect the broadcast spreader (Thanks Don for telling me what it’s called) messed up. I worried that raking the new seed in would trash the rye that had managed to come up but it didn’t seem to. Little by little this is all coming along. I want to plant the wildflower mix soon but am not sure when that should be done. Now or in the spring? Also we got a pound of a wildlife habitat blend that looks exciting. (Oh, the things that excite me now. I’ve sure changed since the accident) It contains ten different types of plants that range from native grasses to some that grow four to six feet tall. I’ll plant that in a large curve over the backside of the five acres. In my imagination they will distract wildlife from getting into the crops. I know it’s stuff designed to attract wildlife but I figure there is going to be five acres or so of yummy delicacies anyway so maybe they will eat more of the other stuff. I don’t know, I like wildlife anyway though I would like to keep the coyotes out of the melons.

I baked a pineapple upside down cake for the Sunday school class tomorrow. We volunteered to bring the snacks. I like that. It feels good to be a part of something, to be one of the gang so to speak. It feels real good. Tonight is the Christmas party for the Sunday school class. They will have something called a “White Elephant” gift exchange. Never heard of that before. Actually I could have and it’s part of the memory loss but probably not because I never was active in the type of social circles where that would have come up.

I’m tired and need to rest up for the Christmas party.

Up before dawn

Click to enlarge

12/7/07 Friday
We were up before dawn as we usually are. The puppies have a way of making sure of that, especially now that we don’t lock them in the puppy room. They seem to be fairly potty trained and we haven’t had lots of problems there. Besides we just love to be around them and they love to be around us. Right now Rascal is sleeping on the bed next to me. Snuck up here while I was taking a bath.



I got some great pictures of the now upright oil rig this morning. It’s hard to get a clear one when the sun is still just thinking about coming over the horizon. That’s because the shutter speed is so slow as the camera seeks enough light to make an image. I held it against the power line pole to steady it. Still had to delete four or five of the pictures because they were so blurry. It’s too bad I couldn’t get the crescent moon in better. That would have been a killer shot if it was framed next to the oil rig like the one I took of the other rig last month or so.



I got out early to broadcast and rake in some more rye seed. That’s a good thing because now the wind is whipping and with the cotton fields bare the sand is too. It was almost still this morning. I set up two sprinklers in tandem (I think that’s the word to use) but with two sprinklers on one hose there isn’t much water pressure so they barely have enough to go around. Of course I’ve got seven water hoses all linked together to get the water out where I need it. That doesn’t help I’m sure. Eventually we’ll have a better system to irrigate the crops. The water hoses I got at the landfill. They had been thrown out because of splits and breaks in them. I put new ends on them to make them usable. Several of them are brittle from the West Texas sun but as long as I am careful seem to be holding up. At forty or fifty bucks for a long hose this is about the only way I can get them.

I took some pictures of how this project is coming. Of course I take pictures of everything as it helps me remember. I went back in this journal and looked to see when I started. It was November 7th that I first rented the tractor to till this five acres. Today is December 7th so it has been exactly one month now. The rye germinates in five days so there is a visible progression where you can see what areas I planted first. I’m down to the last of the rye seed so should be done with that soon. It’s a slow process doing it by hand in the first place but add to that the fact that there are days I can’t work because of slowdowns or needing to do other things and you can understand why it’s taking so long. Once we get a tractor this kind of thing can be done in one or two days. I look forward to that.

I was talking to Don yesterday or the day before. Called to make sure he was doing ok. I told him that we have found a fantastic deal for a tractor. He reiterated his desire to cover the first six months of payments to get us through the lean winter time before we can start making some money with the tractor and harvesting crops. Once we reach that point it’s all downhill from there and we will not only be able to cover the payments but to pay him back as well.

In the course of the conversation the subject of my pain came up. I assured him I can handle it but it got me to thinking so I thought I would elucidate on that a bit. My tolerance for pain is exceptionally high. It’s not that I don’t feel it, I just don’t let it stop me. I grit my teeth and push through. My entire life has been one of enduring pain. Spankings were a daily part of my childhood and they weren’t the ordinary swat or two. Hell my dad made a special paddle just for me and mom would whip me with a thin quarter inch belt that left long red welts. I’d rather get spanked by my dad with the paddle. That didn’t hurt as much. Back then paddling was still a common punishment in school, usually administered by the coach or principle. I was always in trouble and it frustrated them to no end when I was paddled because it didn’t bother me and I would just grin. Oh I was a stinker for sure.

The first time I broke my neck was when I was in high school in Big Spring. I hit a car on my motorcycle at about forty miles per hour. You could see where my body hit the quarter panel where it was crushed showing clearly the bend in my knees. I suspect this caused another of the several brain injuries the doctors see evidence of in the MRI’s. I just limped the bike home and stayed in bed for two weeks. Never went to a doctor or anything. Had chronic neck pain with regular episodes were I couldn’t turn my head for years after that. Actually until I broke the neck the second time.

It was in the Texas prison system where I learned how to work. Just a word to explain as I reveal more of my past. Eventually I suppose it will be another book. I was nineteen when I was sent to prison. It was 1975. At the urging of a judge I enlisted on my seventeenth birthday and served in the military till the end of the Vietnam war when they had a reduction in force that allowed me to get out before my four year term. I was already a rebellious kid and got into trouble pretty quick. I had been hustling others by selling ground up aspirin and Alka-Seltzer as cocaine. When we were pulled over one night I gave the little tin foil packet that I sold for ten dollars to the guy I was with to hide down his pants. When searched it was found. He told the police it was mine and, having this strange sense of honor that has always been a part of me, I admitted it was despite knowing I could have gotten away with it. For that I was given a ten year sentence for possession of cocaine, even though it wasn’t, that was probated. I never reported for probation and skipped town. When I came back through I was picked up, my probation was violated and I was sent to prison with ten years to do.

What a wake up call that was. I’m sure it’s the same now but back then hard labor was a mandatory part of a prison stay. Unless physically unable every inmate starts out doing field labor. I was loaded onto a trailer with several hundred others and taken to a field where we were divided up into squads. Then I was handed a hoe made of a piece of steel welded on a short section of pipe. The handle was a fairly straight branch about two and a half inches thick with the bark removed. We were lined up chest to back and then started pounding the earth in a steady rhythm. With each stroke the entire line would back half a step. My hands had never seen anything close to this kind of work. I quickly got blisters, which soon burst, then came the blood blisters. All the while pounding the ground with the guard on his horse behind us and the inmate “enforcers” called lead row and tail row on either side keeping everything moving. Soon the blood blisters burst and my hands were slipping on my own blood as I struggled to hold on the now slick handle. There was no stopping. It took a few weeks before my hands toughened up enough to handle this. Oh, there was pain, every muscle and every joint ached all through the night.

It was there I became a Christian. It was there I decided to change my life. I volunteered to join a program called Operation Kick It. We were transported under armed guard to schools all over Texas where I recounted this story along with telling how I ended up in prison. It was a powerful program that I believe helped many a teen understand the consequences of poor decision making and change the direction of their lives.

After that I went to Bible college to pursue the ministry. It was there I met and fell in love with Cherie. Upon graduation we moved to Toledo. It was there I had the accident that caused the brain injury that led to our divorce. I fell thirty feet out of a tree landing on my head. I broke my back, neck, and had a concussion. When I came too seconds later I insisted on getting up and walking into the house with only some assistance holding me up. Of course the adrenaline was flowing, helping me do this. I wouldn’t let them call an ambulance despite the pain until I had to go to the bathroom. Making the short trek to the bathroom was much harder than walking inside had been. I don’t remember who but there were two people holding me up. When I went to sit on the toilette the pain was so intense everything went black and I passed out. When I woke a moment later I said “You can call the ambulance now”. At the hospital the doctor came in with the x-rays and asked “When did you break your neck before”. He showed me where the break had been and the bone knit back together.

It was years later that I fell off the pallet racking in my warehouse. It knocked me out. When I woke up I couldn’t use my right arm as it hurt too much. After a few days of bearing with it an employee brought me some pain pills that helped a lot. Unfortunately they were highly addictive Oxycontin. My secretary told me that I went through a drastic personality change then. I believe her words were “You became an instant ass hole”. Another clear sign of a TBI. (traumatic brain injury) When I had the accident that put me in a coma (And broke my neck the third time) I was of course given a full battery of x-rays and stuff. There they saw where my ribs had been broken and had only partially healed.

The point is, I’m a tough little bugger. To use the saying made famous in the old TV show “The Guns of Will Sonnet”, “No brag, just fact”. Sure I hurt, I hurt twenty four hours a day, but I don’t let that stop me. There are times it gets bad enough I must lay down. I have pain medication but am very careful with it, only taking it when I absolutely need to. So I don’t let it stop me but it sure slows me down. Fact is my slowdowns (petite seizures) and the fatigue that often requires me to take a nap midday keep me from getting things done more than the pain does. The bad turn off the lights and crawl into bed headaches do to but they don’t happen that often.

Speaking of fatigue, it’s 2:30 and I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open as I write this so will take a nap now. I don’t know why but I felt that this would be a good thing to write about. Be back in a couple of hours.

Bright chilly morning

Please click to enlarge. I try to put this picture up on a regular basis. For you new readers I carved this in St. Louis where I first lived after waking from the coma. This is the philosophy I now live by. When you die and are brought back, when you lose everything but gain life, you change how you view the world.


12/6/07 Thursday
It’s another bright chilly day. The temperatures are fluctuating forty degrees or so between the nighttime low and afternoon high. I like it. I know that Wayne, my friend with MS in Toledo, would love the cool temperatures too as the MS makes him extremely sensitive to heat. I need to give him a call and suggest he get a safety deposit box to store his cash in if he draws it out of the bank like he said he would. That’s much safer and smarter than hiding it under the bed. Especially in Toledo.



What was left of my car



Cherie has gone to Janie’s to do some of our laundry and more cleaning. What a blessing it is for them to give her this job. I love win/win situations. They need the help and we could use the extra cash. This way we can afford to get some Christmas presents for those we care for.




I went for my morning walk with the puppies. It won’t be long before they are no longer officially puppies but I suspect we will always call them that. It was so gratifying to see them run after the birds on the five acres I tilled up. There are still lots of those nasty grass stickers there but not like before. Now they have room to run and run they do. Before the only area they could do so was in Bud’s cotton field next door. They still run there and it is all freshly disked so they don’t have to go through the cotton plants. But I would rather they not because as the growing season starts again he will be spraying the herbicides and pesticides they use. There is no way that will be good for the puppies. You know, Hang on while I go take some pictures of these two tremendous blessings in our lives. What companions they are. They love us without conditions. Animals, or at least pets, are much purer than most humans in that regard. I suppose you could say they are more Christ like than many who wear the Christian label. Hell they are better than I am for sure.

It is such a thrill to see how the rye is coming up. What a satisfying thing it is to see the beginning fruit of ones labor. I will spend much of today spreading the remaining hundred and thirty or so pounds of seed I have left. That’s all there is to be had as I got the last of it at the Co-op.

We ordered the wildflower seed mix and it should get here today. That will be real nice when it begins to bloom this spring. It is so nice to have this place where we can build and create, where we can take pride in the beauty we are able to produce. Life is so much simpler now. I have recovered much of my memory now and recall the life I had before the accident. Oh, I was the busy executive, the successful business owner who carried those enterprises I started and built from scratch as badges on my lapel. “Look at me” was in the swagger I put on for the world. What vanity that was. How I can relate to the writings of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes in the bible. Now I live a much humbler and simple life and it brings a joy I seldom experienced back then. Just watching the puppies run brings tears to my eyes. I foresee great things for this farm in the future but hope to remain humble and grateful if they come to pass. If they don’t I am still blessed. Life with little far exceeds life with much for I am content with what I have. What a gift being content is. You just can’t buy that.

This morning's sunrise. Note the new oil rig still in process of being put up. It seems to be bigger than the last one


So today I plan on planting more rye and perhaps doing some more digging in my search for the water line. I also need to finish up rebuilding the tiller motor. I’ve gotten a good start on the paper I am writing on my vision for this place. Perhaps I’ll just post the beginning which quickly covers the main points without going into the details. I also want to use that when I ask friends for help getting a tractor. That is an uncomfortable thing and I fear it will cause some to distance themselves. Because of that fear we are almost done with the year and the best opportunity and prices may be past.

Moving well

12/5/07 Wednesday
We got up and moving well this morning. I took the puppies for their walk and looked at how the rye is doing. It’s doing great but there are big blanks where the spreader did a poor job. I might have to reseed those areas. There is a good chance of rain in a few days so I think I’ll pick up a hundred more pounds of seed. That still won’t cover all I have left but will get a big chunk of it.

We went into Stanton to take care of some stuff. First stop was the hospital to start the paperwork to help Cherie with her hospital bill. Then we stopped at the FSA office to clear up a puzzle regarding the end date of our CRP program. We got a paper from the NCRS, a branch of FSA where my cousin Darryl works, that had the date as 2014 instead of 2011. The FSA guy said it was probably just a mistake. Unfortunately no one was in at the NCRS office so we couldn’t get it cleared up. Will get it done eventually.

After that we stopped at the water analysis place. The lady there couldn’t give me lots of detailed information as another person does the actual lab tests. She was able to tell us that the water wasn’t bad at all except perhaps the sulfite levels. I’ll go online and learn about that.

With all that done we headed to Midland. There we first went to the Co-op to pick up some more rye seed. They were out of it but I had noticed some broken bags on a skid and asked about that. Two of them were the last bags of rye they had and I got them both for $18. One was only half full but it was still a great price.

Then we stopped by Sam’s to pick up what we decided would be a good Christmas gift for Cherie’s two sisters. They read this blog so I can’t say what that is. We also found a deal on an Irish cream, one of the luxuries I treat myself to around Christmas time. Usually it is Bailey’s but that costs seventeen bucks and change if your lucky to get it on sale. They had a gift pack with two nice etched glasses next to just the bottles and only one price displayed. $11.88. I figured that was just for the bottle and that the gift pack was more but just in case I put both in the cart. When she checked the price at the checkout they were both the same price. That’s a no brainer. “You can keep the bottle. I’ll take the gift pack” I told her. She was surprised too. She asked about it and I told her it’s the best coffee creamer in the world, at least I think so. That and a little poured on top of some vanilla ice cream is killer.

We dropped by Janie’s to pick up some dog food they didn’t need anymore as their dog guy suggested something else for their high strung bird dog and puppy. Cool, saved us another thirty five dollars or more in dog food. And we buy the cheap stuff but this is higher quality. Little things can be big blessings.

There is another oil rig going up. They are punching as many holes as fast as they can into the earth around here. There is so much oil being pumped out I wonder if the earth will sink down. We were both surprised at how close this one is to the one that they just finished drilling. You can just see the edge of it on the right hand side of the picture. The pump jack (I think that’s what they are called) they are still installing is just out of the picture.
M

Time flies

12/4/07 Tuesday
My how time seems to fly by. It’s hard to believe that we are approaching another year along with another Christmas. Christmas isn’t our favorite time of year by any means. I have few good memories of Christmas and the good ones bring sadness. That is because many of them were with the two boys I raised as my own from the second marriage. Now there is little to no contact with them partly due to the nasty divorce and for that matter the sometimes not too pleasant seventeen years of marriage. Christmas is for children and family. We have our two puppies for children and only my sister communicates with me on my family’s side. At least Cherie has her family.

It was a pain pill morning, I suppose because of the digging I did yesterday. When I took the dogs for their morning romp I looked over the area I spread the rye seed in. It is so gratifying to see the fruits of ones labor. I am thrilled to see the rye sprouting all over. The sprouts come up a purplish color so are not very visible. I can’t wait for them to turn green. It’s all exciting for me. Such a simple thing, I know, but exciting none the less. Last years garden was just to learn how so this is my first real serious venture at farming. It may only be five acres but I’ll call it farming anyway.

I tried to call Wayne in Toledo but got no answer. Then I tried to call Sharon but her number has changed so had no luck there. She said she was being threatened again, probably from the guy who was put in prison for attacking her. He’s one of the lowlife crack dealing lifetime criminals that there are so many of in Toledo. Sharon has been to everyone of his parole hearings to keep him from being released. Despite changing her address and phone numbers the court system keeps revealing this information, claiming he has a legal right to know. How messed up is that.

Today I will take the paperwork on the oil lease to Patrick Duffy. I may not have to because we got our first check from the oil company for the well. $29.00 isn’t much but perhaps this is the last detail that needs to be settled in order to close the estate and get the remaining money released. I don’t know how much that will be but every little bit helps. There was $15,000 left in the account when I talked to McGilvray last, but I don’t know if his fee or what else will be taken out of it plus it will be split between my brother and I. Perhaps it will be enough to help buy the tractor.

I may or may not continue my search for the water line. That depends on my pain level. I am running a seven on the bob scale, which is my average level of cognizance.
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I hear something gnawing in the wall as I write. Nuts. That means another rat has invaded. As much as I hate poison I may have to resort to it. There is another one that is digging under the counter in the old henhouse. I put out a rat trap with no luck so far. Will put fresh peanut butter on it to see if that helps. Whatever is digging flung dirt on the trap last night. How I miss Skittles, the feral cat that had wandered in and stayed for a while before disappearing, probably eaten by coyotes. He sure kept the rat population down.
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Got the mail and the water analysis was in it. Unfortunately the numbers are all gobbldygook to me. Don’t have a clue what it means. I’ll have to go in to the place to see if they can explain it to me. I talked to Wayne. He said he didn’t want to give us the loan that would keep him from having his Social Security check cut. At first he said he didn’t care if the check was cut cause he could live on less. When I told him that wasn’t the brightest thing he said he would just pull the money out of the bank and hide it. I’ve done the best I can for him but he’s a big boy and can do what he wants. I just know the MS reduces his mental capacity but there is nothing more I can do.

Diggin a hole

12/3/07 Monday
There was more I was going to write yesterday but I’m pretty slow right now so it just isn’t there. There is lots of the rye sprouting up. I spent a lot of time raking this morning. Yesterday I called Wayne. He was tired and just getting ready to go to sleep so it wasn’t a good time. He got my letter about a loan and asked about some of the pictures I included. I asked when he would like me to call back and he said in a couple of days. It’s noon here and with this slow down I must lay down. Hope it doesn’t last long or drain to much energy.
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Cherie went into Midland to do laundry. Despite being slow and feeling like crap I went back out to get something done. I know I told Cherie that I would take a nap but it’s hard for me to sit still when there is so much that needs to be done. So I went out and reset the sprinklers. Then I grabbed the shovel and went out to find the water line from the well. I’ve been thinking about this for some time now. Don’t have a clue where the water line is buried but am making an educated guess based on where the well is situated in reference to the power lines.


So I dug. And I dug. This hole is waist high now. I dug till I hurt to much to dig anymore. Never found a thing. Now I am back inside and will take a nap for sure. Have a headache along with the other pain so took a pain pill and some aspirin.

Got a bit behind

12/2/07 Sunday
Good morning Y’all. I’m a little slow this morning, running a five on the bob scale. I’ll probably clear up some by the time we get to church. At least I hope so. Now, to fill in the last two days as best I can.

Friday, after I recovered some from the slowdown I went into Midland to fill the tank on the truck as I usually do on the first of the month when my check comes. HEB had gas for $2.92 a gallon, a lot better than the $3.10 it was in Stanton. Still it was $86.00 to fill up the truck. One tenth of my monthly income for one tank of gas, give or take a couple of bucks. Ouch.

After filling up I went to get Cherie for our once a month go out for dinner we try to do when the check comes. She had been cleaning at Steve and Janie’s but had the impression she was supposed to wait because Janie wanted to talk with her. That blew the plans to beat the Friday crowd to the restaurants. So we waited with some confusion about if we needed to or when Janie would come home. Steve was there and asked if I wanted a beer. I accepted. Steve went into the TV room and turning it on sat down with Zoie, their new puppy. There is no question that Zoie brings a lot of joy into their lives. Kind of like a new born baby.

My insecurity and uncertainty is usually increased following a slowdown but I seem to have been more unsure of where I stand anyway. This is unfortunate and probably has no basis for truth but it is the kind of thing I must constantly deal with anyway. You can go back to the earlier parts of this journal and see that insecurity showing up often. But in many cases it had foundation as we were rejected by the Cedar Creek church and those in it whom we had grown close to. Then our experience at first church of Stanton didn’t help either. So it is hard for me to feel safe even when there is no reason not to.

So I took a seat out in the living room so as not to intrude on Steve and his time with Zoie. Steve called out “Bob, you can come in if you want”. That helped a lot so with the invitation I went in and sat down. Cherie, as insecure as I am, came in to talk but had to be convinced to sit on the couch. We are such a pair.

Eventually Janie made it home. The two of them have so much on their plate it consumes even their “free” time. That is a misnomer. I don’t think they have much of what you would call free time. Come to find out I don’t think Janie had wanted Cherie to wait so they could talk. Perhaps she did but it didn’t come out. They invited us out for dinner and it was decided to go to KD barbecue. I haven’t been to the regular restaurant before though I did stop at their other building to get a sandwich to go.

It was a confusing place to me as the set up is not at all like a regular restaurant. They don’t have plates, just hand you a tray. Then there is an array of meats from brisket to sausage prepared several different ways. It is hard for me to make choices when I am not real sharp so I kept it simple. I wasn’t sure what to do with the barbecue sauce and there wasn’t anyone getting any that I could watch and learn so I just slathered it on the meat really self conscious I was doing it wrong. Steve followed me and put his in a cup. He assured me I was ok.

The food was really good. There was a lot going on and of course Janie knows people who are there dining. Then a lady recognizes me and comes up to say “Hi”. She knows Cherie as well but neither one of us can figure out where we know her from. And we didn’t ask, not wanting to be embarrassed about not remembering someone who knew us so well. So I guess that’s a sign we are becoming a part of this small town as we run into people who know us more often.

I was drained from the earlier slowdown and Steve was definitely working on being exhausted. Janie should have been but if so hid it well. Besides that, I don’t think my social skills were up to par so had to work to be conversational. Hate it when that happens, which is fairly often. So after a while I pretty much announced I was tired, needed to go home, and that it was the end of the evening. And it was. It was a good time and I thanked them for dinner but I don’t think any of us were really up to par. It would be nice just to spend a quiet evening with them, perhaps playing on the guitars or talking about spiritual things or something. I think they need some time like that but time is a rare commodity nowadays.

That was Friday. Yesterday I worked on raking the rye seed in. I think I did that Friday as well. I got everything done except the border of the five acre plot. I might get to that today. Friday night we were blessed with a nice light rain. It wet everything down so should help germinate the rye. The areas I first planted and watered are starting to come up now. I love to see the green starting to grow. It also shows how sporadic my seeding efforts have been.

There are lots of blank spots and areas where the seed has been concentrated. My original method of raking by dragging the rake behind me with a sack filled with twenty pounds of dirt worked but not that well. Seeing that I decided to rake in the remainder acre or so by hand. This is much more physically demanding but I think will be rewarded by a larger percentage of the seed sprouting and a more even coverage. But even that won’t totally compensate for the sporadic way the spreader scattered out seed. I figure that by next Thursday or Friday we will begin seeing a sea of green.


Yesterday we visited the homebound old couple we agreed to spend time with for the homebound ministry for the first time. We took them a poinsettia and gift bag that had been prepared ahead of time by those in the ministry. I feel good about getting involved but was pretty awkward when it came to sitting down and having a conversation. I’m glad Cherie was there. The guy asked if I was a Cowboy fan wanting to talk about football. Nuts. I don’t follow football at all. Fortunately I had just caught a portion of a TV show dedicated to the Cowboys so heard their record was 11-1. All in all I had a hard time contributing to the conversation. They noticed how I had to get up and walk every now and then along with the difficulty I had standing up. I explained that I had broken my neck three times and back once along with being partially paralyzed from the accident. Anyway they invited us back though Grace, the woman, seemed to direct that to Cherie.

Pretty slow at the moment

This mornings sunrise

11/29/07 Thursday
On the news this morning was a story about a lady with Asperger’s syndrome who had finished in fifth place in some kind of beauty contest. Can’t remember what exactly the contest was but it was a big deal. I like to see stories that raise awareness of both Asperger’s and TBI as they are both issues I live with and have most of my life. The part I like is the fact she has risen beyond this and done quite well in spite of it. Having this mild form of autism doesn’t mean you are stupid or unable to accomplish anything, it just means you have to try harder.

11/30/07 Friday
It’s 3:11 now. I am going through a major slowdown. Operating at a three on the bob scale. Ears are ringing bad and I am typing this in slow motion. Want to make a note that Don came and visited yesterday. The doctor said he needed to get on his feet a little now. That’s a good sign indicating that the healing of the fractures is progressing finally. He was glad to hear that so called to see if I was up to a visit. I’m always up for a visit unless enduring one of the go to bed and hide headaches. I’d even accept a visit now but wouldn’t be much company.

I raked more of the rye seed in yesterday and today. Ran the sprinklers. Because of being slow can’t remember if I ran them yesterday but they are running right now. There is lots of it coming up now. It is good to see.

Oh, just thought to note that I took Don over to Chuck and Lillian’s. Was going to in the beginning paragraph but forgot. Lillian was home so we talked. Don’t know what about. But both Don and I can’t stand up to long so were glad to get in the truck.


I went with Cherie and finished the last cotton field. It was particularly hard on my back. Had to take a pain pill when we got home. I took the camera. Saw lots of tumbleweeds. Ever since reading about the lady who makes over $40,000 a year selling tumbleweeds I notice them more. There must be a thousand dollars of them in this cotton field. When I get the website up I will put in a section to sell tumbleweeds. Amy may help me set it up. She offered but I haven’t gotten back with her on it.






I’ve been wanting to get a picture of one of the wind electric generators for some time now. There is a whole bunch that are going to be set up. You can see them laid out for miles in this area. I had Cherie stand next to one to give you an idea just how big they are.

Took lots of sunrise and sunset pictures. I have to lay back down so will just put these on.

Good sunrise greeting.

11/28/07 Wednesday
Woke up to the sounds of the puppies wrestling around. The little buggers had stolen a whole roll of toilet paper from the bathroom. All that was left were shreds spread all over the place. They heard about it and in the process of my expressing my displeasure Cherie woke up. “What’s going on?” she groggily said. Probably not the best way to wake up. But we are up.

Today we go to the cotton fields. There are only two left that haven’t been harvested, at least not when Cherie last checked. They may be done by now as all the farmers are pushing hard to get their cotton done. We will know when we get there. This will probably be the last cotton survey except for the two fields Cherie has to glean after they are harvested. Hope it’s not too muddy.

We were greeted with a great sunset this morning so I thought I would share it with you all.
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We got some of the cotton survey done. Worked till noon. Went into Stanton to have one of the best hamburgers along with the best malt to be found in these parts. That is at the downtown drug store. Then we came home. The ground was wet so I did most of the counting and picking from a standing position instead of sitting on the ground and scooting my butt down the row. That killed me. Had to take a pain pill and lay down. I did snip off the rest of the basil to harvest the seeds for next year. Plan on surrounding the place in basil as it helps keep some of the bugs away I’m told. Cherie had gone into Midland. Janie and Steve want her to do lots of cleaning, several days worth from the sound of it. We still need to do some more cotton work so she wants to get a head start on Janie’s.
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Didn’t write much today. I raked some more of the rye seed this evening till the sun went down and it got to dark to see. The puppies were helping me of course. They do a great job of supervising.

Cherie just called. She said she had a flat tire so pulled into a gas station and put air into it. That has me worried as she is driving home. I hope the tire doesn’t go flat or blow.

Another bright morning

11/27/07 Tuesday
It’s another bright morning with a frost covering the ground. The rye seems to be holding up very well despite the snow and frosts. I am a little disturbed this morning. Some home stuff I won’t talk about. I have a tendency to focus on things more than I should. It is a common problem for those of us with TBI. Perhaps by recognizing it I will be able to balance back out. But it makes things hard on Cherie when I do this.

I never made it over to Chuck and Lillian’s yesterday so will hopefully get out there today. I did get some of the tiller motor back together but have much more to do. It is a slow process as I am unable to remember taking it apart. I remember I took it apart but not what piece came from where or the order it was dismantled. So I slowly figure it out and carefully look over the parts. Hopefully everything will be done alright. Getting the piston in the cylinder without what is called a cylinder sleeve was a big, big, challenge. I took the metal strip from a measuring tape that was already broken and, wrapping it around the piston, managed to get the piston in one ring level at a time. Used the rubber mallet to encourage it. That is not the right way but I do the best I can with what I have. Buying a cylinder sleeve for a one time use is just not in the rather tight budget. We will see.
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This morning Cherie went to Midland to do some housework for Janie. When she started the car to warm it up I heard a loud steady noise from in the house so ran out to see what it was. It stopped before I got out so didn’t know if it came from the car or not so shut it off to be sure. Popping the hood I checked the oil. While doing so the sound resumed so I learned it came from where they were working on the oil well that had just been drilled. But it was a good thing as it was because there was no oil registering on the dipstick at all. Her car was out of oil. Not good at all. I keep meaning to check it cause I know her car uses oil but as it is with me I keep forgetting. I told Cherie to mark her calendar for me to check oil every two weeks. That is how it has to be. If anything is to happen it pretty much has to be in a written schedule. Otherwise it just doesn’t happen.

I just got back from the John Deere dealer and picked up the quote. I was surprised to see that it almost matches the one for the Mahindra tractor except it doesn’t include a trailer. The trailer is important as it allows me to transport the tractor to potential jobs, thus providing additional income.
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I’m tired and it’s getting late, at least by my standards. It’s 10:30. There was a time in my life that this was when the party was just getting started. Glad to see those days are gone. I’ll have to think hard to remember what else happened today. I went to the landfill and didn’t come back with anything. That’s new. There wasn’t any mail to speak of. After checking mail I dropped by the John Deere dealer and I see I already mentioned that earlier. Then I went home and grabbed the camera. I wanted to take some pictures of Chuck and Lillian’s place to go with some measurements so we can have a better idea of the material needs for a new roof.

I also wanted to get some pictures of this place. It belongs to Carol Yader and he had worked there with my grandmother back when it was a grocery store or something like that. This building is right on the interstate and is a stones throw (literally) from the west bound exit. And it is next to FM 829, the road our place is on. That’s the overpass for 829 right behind it. There is a half acre or so lot that goes with it. What a perfect place for a farmer’s market and store to sell our produce. I know Carol said he was going to put it on the market but have no idea if it sold or how much he would want for it. It’s all part of this dream I have, or at least can be a part of it.


I went to Midland to mail a letter to Wayne in Toledo. While there Cherie called and asked if I could run by Janie’s house as the Maytag repairman was going to show up and she was at the grocery store. That was fine and I was glad to be able to help. Mike from next door was outside when I pulled up so we talked a bit. He asked how things were going. I told him about the farm and how we were trying to get a tractor. Mike made a suggestion that caught me by surprise.





“How about I do a golf tournament to raise money for you?”. Mike is a golf pro and he began to tell me of the many charity tournaments he has put on to raise funds for different needs including a guy with a bad cancer. Once he played something like 820 holes of golf in one day, eight hours non stop. It beat a Guinness world record but they didn’t have anyone to send down and verify it. The idea really has merit. But is it right to put on a fundraiser for yourself? That seems off key for some reason but I really don’t know.

That’s all I can remember now so goodnight.

building a farm

11/26/07 Monday
It is a great morning. I am always thankful for times of lucidity and I am running a good eight or nine on the bob scale. As always I hope it stays. There have been times when I go for days without a slowdown.

It is a bright cloudless morning. The temperatures dropped to 27 degrees last night but it will warm to nearly sixty today. The puppies and I went for our morning walk. Haven’t done that in a few days so they were thrilled. We walked all the way to the well as I wanted to check on the wrapping/insulation job I did. Particularly I wanted to see if the rat or whatever had dug back under the tank. There was no sign of that, which is a relief. I wrapped a blanket around the plastic I used to protect the insulation from rain. I did this because the West Texas sun makes short work of plastics. They become brittle and disintegrate. So hopefully this job will last more than one season.

Another thing I did at the well was walked off how many paces the pipe leading to the house is from the line of telephone poles that mark the border. It is fourteen paces and that is how far the mysterious hole that had an inverted pressure cooker pot in it that I found not far from our outdoor spigot is. I suspect I will find the water pipe and perhaps a cut off when I dig farther. I had dug a three foot hole there when we first moved in to see what was under this marked spot. However the dirt has drifted four feet high right there so I may have six or more feet to dig. That is a lot of digging, almost as deep as I am tall, and will be hard on me but as always I will do what I have to do. I might be lucky and find something at four or five feet.

If I do then I can be fairly confident that the pipe runs in a straight line from the well so I will be able to accurately determine where to dig out in the future five acre truck farm. Thus I can tap in to access water closer to where I will plant. This way I can rent a trencher and lay pipe as the first step in building a drip feed irrigation system. Dirt and water are the key elements in successful farming. That and some hard work. It’s all part of building the framework, the foundations of this farm. The alternative is to piece together hundreds of feet of garden hose, like I have been doing up to this point. A hundred foot garden hose costs fifty buck or so and I think that’s for the cheap stuff that doesn’t last. I’ve got eight or nine hoses that people had thrown away in the landfill that I replaced the ends on or spliced together.

All this will cost money of course. That brings up the next thing I wish to bring up. Several people have suggested and also requested that I set up a PayPal account so they can send donations. It is a concept I hadn’t considered but in retrospect not a bad idea. So last night Cherie worked hard to figure out how to do all that. We now have the account and Cherie managed to put the PayPal icon on the blog. I haven’t seen it yet but if it’s there you should be able to click on it and make a donation, which will be deposited directly into our account.

So with that in mind I will present some of the needs we have to build this farm. One of the important investments is windbreak trees. These are vital to provide protection from the ever present and sometimes violent West Texas winds. One of the tricks I’ve learned from one of the “native” gardeners out here is to cut the bottoms out of those plastic buckets plants from a nursery come in. Then you push them securely into the ground around each plant. In this case he was referring to pepper plants.

When we went to check out the apple orchard near Lubbock we stopped at the Texas Forest Service nursery. They have a wide variety of trees available, some specifically for windbreaks. The best one for our area is the Eastern Red Cedar. They come ready to plant in a square paper tube in lots of thirty. I was surprised to learn thirty trees only costs $55.00. They suggest planting them ten feet apart so it would take fifty trees to cover each side of our five acres. This five acre plot is a square 528 feet long per side so 200 trees would surround it.

In addition they recommend a shrub be planted on the outside of each row. The two mentioned in their literature as being ideal for that are Aromatic Sumac and Lilac. Unfortunately they are not listed on the order form for the West Texas nursery so I presume they must be purchased from another location. The Texas Forest Service brochure says “The Texas A&M University System” under the title. I don’t know what the prices would be or if they are available but would like to find out. They do have “Smooth Sumac” available from the West Texas nursery. It is labeled as a tall shrub or tree but no mention is made about use as an outside row windbreak shrub. The price however is attractive at fifty seedlings for $30.00. All these seedlings are one year old. Shipping and handling is $9.11 per 30 trees of the Red Cedar. The trees will be shipped in February though we may just drive up there and pick them up.

So if any of you would like to help us buy windbreak trees you can do so through the PayPal Donate button thing. Being new at this I don’t know if there is a place to specify what the donation is for but will eventually learn. If not please drop us an email at bobcarver2@yahoo.com I suppose it would be a good idea to set up an email address just for Westbrook Farms and perhaps a blog as well. I tried a blog just for the farm but never found the time or remembered to post so let it go.

One of the other needs for building this farm is irrigation. In fact the windbreak trees will require that. I need to locate sources of material to build the in ground drip feed systems such as we saw at the apple orchard. The hose is really not that expensive. I saw some with emitters already installed for something like thirty bucks for a hundred feet at Lowe’s or Home Depot but it was gone when I went there a week or so ago.

Other than that our major need is a tractor. That will be a bit harder to get (Duh!!! You think?) but it will happen. God will provide.

I’ve got some soil samples to dig this morning so we can send them in to be tested. I also want to dig to find the water pipe from the well. That I will probably do bit by bit. The tiller is waiting for me to finish rebuilding the motor so perhaps I can get to it today as well. I will be running out to Chuck and Lillian’s to take some measurements. Probably ought to do that this morning before I get all involved with other stuff. So time to get moving.

Winter wonderland

11/25/07 Sunday
So far it’s been a fantastic morning as far as my cognizance goes. I’ve been running a strong nine out of ten on the bob scale. How I wish I could stay this way. Sunday school was…well I was sharp so everything was good. The lesson was on the last part of Mathew covering the death and resurrection. I had to stop myself from answering all the questions the teacher asks to get everyone involved. I didn’t need to have my bible open to answer. There was so much I wanted to say but it wasn’t my place so restrained myself.









Wally, Dave, and I stayed after and talked about what can be done for Chuck and Lillian. There is a need for leadership in this as there is in any situation. I want to jump in and do so but can’t depend on myself to stay sharp or follow through. It is real frustrating to not trust yourself. How I want to just be healed and remain at the level of cognizance I am currently enjoying. Every year I am a bit better so perhaps I’ll get there. I’ve said many times before that I would gladly live in a wheelchair in exchange for a sharp mind. I’m not kidding.





Anyway, Cherie and I need to go visit with Chuck and Lillian. I need to get measurements on the house so we can determine the amount of materials needed for the roof. One of the things Wally suggested was to break this whole thing up into individual segments like the roof, then siding, and whatever else. That is the best way to approach it. The thought of getting a team of folks together to provide the labor is one I would like to push simply because I believe that physical participation is the best way to do this. Not for Chuck and Lillian as much as for the participants. There is a blessing that comes from getting your hands dirty and being up close and personal with giving. It is easy to just give money and keep a distance and for some that is the best they can do, but to be close to the ones you are helping really helps you understand and reach out more effectively.

It was beautiful this morning with how the snow built up on everything. I can’t help it but I love the snow, at least on this level. I don’t love some of the danger or discomfort it can cause others and it’s a pain sometimes but I see beauty here. The snow is melting rapidly and will be gone before the days end. Here today and gone tomorrow. It’s a muddy mess now and so are the puppies. In this weather they are kept in the puppy room or at least the kitchen area till they dry off.

Here they are on the couch. Little buggers snuck up there and made themselves comfortable.

I am looking forward to what this moisture will do for the four hundred and fifty pounds of rye seed I’ve got out. The parts I had been watering with the sprinklers were sprouting when the snow came but that is only a tenth of what is out there. It will be so cool to have a sea of green out here. How I look forward to building this farm and the rye is only a first step.

For those of you who haven’t been here for a while or are new readers the rye grain is to fight off the weeds that have been growing here thirty years. In the spring I will till it under on the spots where I will be planting vegetables and whatever else, thus making fertile mulched bed rows. In the isles in between the rows I will roll the rye down flat. This will kill it and leave a ground cover that will inhibit further weed growth.

Somehow I’ve got to figure out how to harvest the rye grain. It’s not like I can use a regular harvester like they use on wheat and rye because there is only five acres and I’ll only be able to harvest a portion of that. I need to go online and research that. Perhaps I can build something. There was a mention of making one out of a lawnmower I saw somewhere. I like these challenges. I would be pretty bored without them and it is these things that make life interesting and perhaps even fun.



This is where my offices for two of my companies, Westbrook Marketing and Corporate Liquidation, were.


As we were leaving church Wally asked how we were doing. That launched me as I am prone to do when sharp. I talked about building this farm and how I was trying to get a tractor. I don’t think he could get a word in edgewise as I ran down my plans and ambitions. I can’t help it as I am passionate about achieving this goal, about building not just the farm but the life that goes with it. I am motivated by many aspects of this. I want to stand on my own two feet. I don’t want the stigma, that I suspect some have, of being on disability and perhaps of using or abusing that.
The remains of what had one time been my 8,000 square foot woodshop in my warehouse. It was pretty much picked through while I was in a coma and for the year it took me to get back to Toledo. I had sold most of the equipment before the accident


I want to take back the destruction the drugs and alcohol caused when I demolished everything I had accomplished at one time. That was a lot. There were three companies that had employed a total of 127 people during one year that I had started from scratch. A reputation, something you can’t put a price on or buy, of being an astute businessman with integrity. The nice house in Michigan and second marriage I don’t really care about, only the two sons I raised and there I have great sorrow. I also destroyed the thin window of opportunity I had to restore a relationship with my father, a relationship I never really had my entire life. Perhaps if I do something with this place he will talk to me. Just once would be nice.

I love this tree. It is the lone survivor of the trees that had one time made up my grandmother's orchard. I've been taking pictures of it for over a year now in all sorts of conditions. One of these days I'll put together an album of just this tree


I am slowing down now. Tired as I usually am in the middle of the day and have the ringing ears dizzy feel that is often a precursor to a partial seizure. It was a good run though. Been up and sharp since four this morning so that makes twelve hours as it is 3:50 now. I will post and lay down.

Snow gone but coming back

11/24/07 Saturday
It was pretty painful to sit up and get out of bed this morning. Residuals from cooking chili yesterday I suppose. But the arthritis in my finger joints was making itself known last night in an unmistakable way. So perhaps it is all the weather rolling through that is aggravating this. When I think about it I’m sure it is a combination of work and weather causing this increase in pain. The finger joints are swollen and hurting this morning also. I took one of the pills I avoid as much as I can. There is always much to do so I don’t want to be slowed down.

All the snow is gone now. It pretty much melted away yesterday. The puppies stay a muddy mess so are relegated to the kitchen living room area when we bring them in, at least till the dry off. The white parts of their fur has become that West Texas shade of red from the dirt. They need a bath but I don’t think it will happen anytime soon. Maybe when it warms up and dries out I’ll fill up their pool and get out the hose. There is another storm front coming through today. It promises to bring another batch of snow but the temperatures will hover just at the freezing point, going below at night. I am really curious to see how the rye does with this. There is still fifty pounds of seed left that I will have to use after I see what if anything comes up. There were some patches of rye growing from the first areas I planted. I suspect that will be the most effected by the freeze. I’ll let you know.

We have made quite a dent in our firewood keeping the house warm these last few days. Maybe weeks, that’s the kind of thing that gets real hazy because of my memory issues. I just know we have used a lot of wood because the pile is way down. There is plenty more wood. The pile by the trailer is mostly the mystery wood I got permission to cut down the road. When I was visiting Don and Cynthia the asked what kind it was. “It’s not Elm is it?” Cynthia asked. I didn’t know but they have an elm tree in their back yard so I went out to look at the leaves. Yep, it’s elm. Cynthia told me that elm smells nasty when burned. I haven’t smelled anything bad in the house but that is good news because if you can smell the wood burning it means the woodstove is leaking fumes into the house. I did notice a less than pleasant smell outside so now understand where it came from. Elm isn’t the best burning wood. It burns quick and leaves lots of ash but it burns and makes heat so works for me. I just have to feed the fire and clean out the stove more often. We are grateful Amy for this woodstove you got us. Thanks again.
I'm sure Bud (in the pick up) thought I was crazy out there in my sweatpants, slippers, and no shirt taking this picture. I'm sure that by now they are sure I'm a few pints shy of a gallon


Right now we are preparing to go into Midland where we will return the wallet and slippers along with a pair of jeans that still have the tags on them Steve and Janie gave us. Nope, I just looked in the bag and there is a receipt so they are jeans we bought that were the wrong size. That probably means I bought them cause I can never remember what size I wear and usually have Cherie write it on a piece of paper when I go to the store. Cherie is almost done putting her face on so I best get dressed and ready to go. Heaven forbid she is ready before me. That just doesn’t happen. Uhmm…well…Ok it happens but not if I can help it. Got ta go.