Auburn Younguns' Vistit

What a Great Weekend!

What a fun weekend we had at Lonesome Pine Farm when seven Auburn University kids came for a visit over the weekend of October 17 - 19th.

Bradley had asked if he could bring some of his friends from school to the farm on this weekend. Of course, we readily agreed as we love to have any of our grandchildren to feel a part of the farm and to bring friends in to show them how the Old Folks live. This makes us proud that they feel comfortable doing so.

On Friday night two groups headed from the Loveliest Village on he Plains at different times. One group of two young ladies and Bradley that were able to get away about 3 pm. The other group of three guys and one young lady couldn't get away until around 6. Each group had some pretty bad driving conditions caused by light rains and quite a bit of fog for the second group. But, they all made it safe and sound. Sound!?!?!?!

The young ladies were Jordan Dailey of Trussville, AL, Kenda Early of Moundville, AL and Chelsea Ferguson of LaGrange, GA.

The guys were Charles Gentry of Houston, TX, Hunt Prothro of Miami and Connecticutt, Forest White of Mobile, and Bradley Hughes our Grandson.

When each group arrived we told them, "I'm Grand Paw and this is Grandmother." This was to put them at ease and to let them know that we'd done our usual "adoption" of them as "our other younguns." So, that was the way it went all weekend.

Grandmother had thought up all things that Bradley likes to eat and did a good job of guessing what the others would like. This is some special talent that Grandmothers have that us old Grand Paws don't have a clue to! So everyone was well fed before heading off to bed.

We had planned to let the girls sleep in the middle and front bedrooms and the guys sleep on the front porch and on pallets in the dining room. But, the girls decided to sleep 3 to the bed in the middle bedroom. That gave plenty of bed room for the guys not to sleep on the floor.

The adventures began on Saturday morning after a big breakfast so well planned out by Grandmother. As noted, she had everything from cereal, to eggs, grits, sausage and biscuits with all the fixings.

A little later they all decided to go down to the pond to check it out. Sylvia had come by for a few minutes and we decided to ride down so she could meet them all. When we got there, there were two of the guys up in the two pines on Jose's island who had a "damsel in distress" kidnapped over there. (They were making a movie on a little digital camera!) Captain Sport was aboard the Duncan ship and was leading the good guys over to rescue the DD (distressed damsel) !!! (Wild imaginations!)

Well, somehow, the Villains managed to escape across the flat and down to the swampland along Dunbar Creek. The chase continued all along the beaver dams and unknown numbers of water moccasins in that wilderness. They finally were spotted along the edge of the hayfield but they disappeared under the bridge. By the time the search party made it back to LPF headquarters, several were pretty scratched up and one had a number of fire ant bites. (A little Campho Phenique stopped the burning from the bites.)

After a great dinner (lunch for yankees) where Grandmother had good eats piled high on the dining table and everyone "et hardy!" Word got around that the Scalawags had been spotted at Sylvia's Quarry, so the pursuit continued.

Grand Paw transported them up the hill in Aunt Sylvia's old green pickup so they could still have enough energy to chase the Culprits up and down cliffs and earthen mountains. After about an hour of chasing, climbing, hopping, and jumping it was determined that the Meanies had been seen headed down past Providence Church and up to the community burial grounds on both sides above Duncan Hill.

Grand Paw transported them up to the cemetery where they scouted all over both sides to visit the internment sites of our ancestors and all the wonderful workers that worked on the farm over our lifetimes such as Lucy, Dennis and family, Tommy, Florence and Willie. The Baddies were finally captured as they emerged from an old gopher hole in the side of the cemetery where they'd crawled into and the old gopher turtle ran them out!!

After a session of Q & A and confession and apologies from the Criminals, they were judged to be ok guys. Then all of them "took in the town" of Millry. That took about 3 minutes!!! They made an appearance into Sookie's Convience Store and were "well looked over" by the customers there. They came home and ate supper, then decided to go back for another few minutes to finish up their exploration. They made pictures by the Halloween "Spider" made of a big roll of hay and black flexible drain pipes near City Hall. Then they ended the visit very appropriately by photographing themselves around the Caboose.

On Sunday morning, Grandmother led a procession of seven scrubbed up Other Younguns through the sanctuary and back to the College and Career Sunday School Classroom. Two of the guys had to leave between SS and Worship as one had to be back in Auburn to set up for services there that night. The others stayed for Worship, then back to Lonesome for dinner and preparing to head back the the Lovely Village.

We really did hate to see them leave. We thoroughly enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to another time when our newly adopted Other Younguns can return to the Old Folks Place.

W A R
E A G L E ! ! !

Note: I tried to insert some pictures of our Other Younguns into this blog but they worldn't work right.

Big Dance at Our House

We Had a Big Dance at Our House last Friday

We had been to Mobile all day last Friday, July 11th, to buy kitchen supplies and food stuff for VBS and other meals at the church. We loaded the church bus pretty heavily with the stuff for the kitchen. We got back to the church about 3 and got all the stuff unloaded and placed in the kitchen. Then, JoAnne and I came on home and rested a couple of hours before going back to the church to take choir members and spouses to Jordan's Fish Camp for an outing.

About 5 p.m., I noticed some heavy clouds beginning to appear to the west. Soon I began to hear some thunder. So, I shut my computer down and told JoAnne she should do the same. She wasn't moving very fast and I happened to be near her computer a few minutes later, so I turned her computer off.

Soon after that, about 5:30, we heard an instant boom along with the flash of lightening. I knew it had hit very close and looked around to see if anything was amiss. It was getting time to go to the church to get the bus out and go to Jordan's, so we headed on out in a very hard downpour of rain.

When we got home, I turned my computer on and found that it wouldn't get on line. I didn't think too much about that as it was a pretty common thing. JoAnne checked hers and she said that it wouldn't even come on. About that time, I realized that the phone lines were messed up and the coffee maker in the kitchen was off. The next day, I discovered that the well pump wasn't running.

To make a long story short, we took her computer to Best Buy in Mobile and they found that the motherboard was fried. Then we had them retrieve all the data from it. The phone company made 3 trips out here to get the problems fixed. Finally, they replaced the DSL line and we're replacing all the phones. We have replaced the coffee maker and had the pump serviced. And, we have ordered JoAnne a new Dell computer. There was no problem with her monitor, printer or speakers so we didn't order new ones.

Now, we have to settle up with our insurance agent to agree on the amount they'll cover of the $1,689.51 cost to get everything back up and running. There may be one or two other problems. One in particular is the possibility that the router that connects our comuters could be fried!

We're thankful that there wasn't any fire or anything more serious from the strike, and are thankful for insurance to cover most of the replacement costs.

I know that it is not true, but I'm in hopes that lightening will not strike in the same place twice!!!

The Mystery of The Lost Keys

"Where Are My Keys?"

Upon returning to Millry after our wonderful trip to Lubbock, TX for our granddaughter Cassie's wedding and getting to do our share of spoiling our Great Granddaughter, Button (Laura Kate Wiley), we stopped by the Post Office to retrieve a week's pile of mail.

JoAnne started to get her keys to open the PO Box. "Have you seen my keys?" "No." "I can't find them." Maybe they're in your other purse, we'll check on them when we get home."

Well, after we got home, we looked in both purses, through all the dirty clothes, in all the pockets in my briefcase and the suitcases, under the car seats, called the Motel where we stayed in Pearl, MS, called Andy and Robin. No keys!

I talked with Andy Thursday on our way back from Mobile for a doctor's appointment, and he said that they'd looked for them some around their house and in their car...No keys! He said that he'd do some more looking after he got home. On our way back home, I talked with the Ford place about replacement costs for the car key.... $29 for the key and $39 to program it to the car's computer. The PO key replacement is $70. The safe deposit key at the bank $90+. Plus, we will have to replace 2 church keys, 2 house keys, key to DTAB's house and a few more. Expensive loss!

About 6 Thursday evening, Andy called and said, "Found them!" They were in his office and something had been laid over them. JoAnne had apparently had them in her hands while in Andy's office Sunday and for some unknown reason had laid them down. Why? We have no clue.

But, we were feeling better than the Alka Seltzer commercial... "Plop, plop, fizz, fizz, Oh, what a relief it is" when Andy called.

It is amazing how some habits allow us to automatically do various things, then when we break the cycle of those habits, wild things happen!

Big John & John Boy

New Kid on the Farm !!!

Well, the old Craftsman riding mower has lost it's last wheel! I recently got tired of all the little problems that I've had with that mower and did something about it. There was constantly the problem that when I'd bump anything with one of the mower deck wheels, the wheel axle bolt would break off. I have replaced over 30 bolts and about 8 wheels. At other times, the wide roller on the front of the mower deck would lose it's retainer pin and break off. Twice the right front wheel bracket on the mower broke off and I had to weld it back on. Sears replaced the lift arm that raises and lowers the mower deck under warranty. I had to replace the fuel lines once. Other than that, it did fairly well!
Then one day, the drive belt came off and hung up. That was the magic broken straw!

I did some research on line and called the John Deere dealer in Lucedale, MS where I bought the big tractor. They gave me a price that they require from any place that sells mowers of $1,999.00 on a similar tractor/mower with a 48" cut width. So we took the trailer with one day when we had doctors appointments in Mobile and headed to Lucedale on our way home. It has a 48" mower deck, shuttle transmission and a 22 hp, two cylinder engine. And, of course, it is John Deere Yellow and Green!

I took the Craftsman to State Line, MS to a repair shop and they replaced the battery and drive belt at a cost of $118. Then I decided to make one more roadside cut with the Craftsman. When I got back to the shop, I discovered that the blades were completely worn out and one was bent down at each end. So, I had to order blades at a cost of $82. I knew I'd have to have good blades on it in order to be able to sell it.

A couple of weeks later, I cleaned it up really good and put a sign on the front listing it for sale for $650. After about a week, a guy that works for the City called and said that he wanted it and asked if I'd take $625 for it. So, being a kindhearted fellow, I "LET ER GO!"

As usual, I name things, animals and people, so I named it "John Boy" as the big tractor has the name of "Big John."

Memorial Day Weekend Ribs

We hadn't had any folks in for a meal in quite a while so, while at Sam's Club in Mobile on Thursday, we saw some good looking racks of ribs. We bought two packs of two racks each.

Friday morning, JoAnne cut each rack in two and put some type "rub" on them to season them. I put three chips of mesquite about the size of my little finger that I'd been soaking in water, near the heating element before starting to cook. I put the ribs on the smoker about 10:00. I checked on them a couple of times to make sure that they were cooking okay, and checked the temperature to be sure they were nearing the magic temperature of 170 to 175 degrees.

About 5:45, the temp was just right, so I took them up and brought them inside. Then we cut each riblet apart and stacked them on a large platter. Sib and Morris and Harold and Margaret Hartley came in around 6:00. The ribs were still warm and we were ready to eat. I think everyone, especially me, had "ample suffiency" of ribs, sauteed squash and onions, asparagus, creamed red potatoes, rolls and some really good rib sauce to slather on the ribs. I didn't put sauce on them while cooking as some folk like them without it.

I think I had the largest pile of bones left on my plate at the end of the meal! I don't think anyone left without going through a pretty large pile of good, gnawed bones!

All this wonderful meal was capped off with a plate of cheesecake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sib and Morris left after supper, and the Hartleys and us played one game of Continental Rummy and one of Ups.

What a pleasant evening!

The Rotten Dog

A new addition to our home occurred on Thanksgiving weekend, 2006 when Andy and Robin brought a very loving, year old dachshund named Winston. He is a “yard dog,” meaning three feet from the tip of his tail to the end of his nose. But, he is really a “house dog.”

One of the first things we did was to give him a new name. We brainstormed a large number of names, but none fit like JoAnne’s name for him as Sport. He is a sport alright with personality to boot.

He was mostly house broken and trained in several other things. One thing is that if we pick up a leash, he really gets excited because he knows that he’s going somewhere! He loves to ride and wants to go with me any time I head for my pickup truck.

JoAnne said that she really didn’t ever want another “house dog” but looking in those sad eyes, Sport won her heart as he did mine. He has truly become a member of our family. He loves to go to Mobile and visit his “cousin” Rusty, a long hair miniature dachshund. Both of them really play well with each other. Also, he and Lady, our long hair yellow dog that showed up at our house almost 7 years ago. They play and tussle around many times a day. Even though she is 6 times larger than he is, he never backs off to her and takes his tumbles in stride.

He loves to hop up in my recliner and jump against the back until he gets the back leaned back so he can climb atop the chair to get near me while I’m at my computer. He loves attention and loves to give attention. He can almost talk with you with those big brown eyes.

He’s a good Auburn fan and gets excited when the football team scores a touchdown. I’ll say, “Touchdown Auburn!” and he’ll start jumping around and yipping, indicating that he’s happy too! He still can’t come out with the words, “Mama” yet although he does get excited and yips when I try to get him to say it!

He loves to cuddle up with either of us in our lap and napping. Lots of the time, he will get one of his toys and bring it up in our lap to lay his head on when he naps.

He minds really well except when he has a hot trail of a rabbit or something and goes running off trailing whatever it is. If I call him back, he just keeps on going, but if I say, “Bye Sport!” he immediately comes back just as happy as can be. I guess he thinks he’s going to get to ride somewhere. When we leave home for any period of time, a few minutes, a couple of hours or all day, we put him in our bath room. He doesn’t seem to mind going in there to his bed. We always keep food and water bowls filled, but when he is in there alone he never eats, drinks or messes. I think he does play with his toys some.

If JoAnne and I embrace for a kiss, he will try to get between us and bark to let us know that he wants “sugar” too! He loves to give us “sugar” but when I say, “OK,” he hops down.

He has really become a huge part of our lives and JoAnne doesn’t mind the fact that he is a “house dog.” Of course, he enjoys being outside playing with Lady or digging holes trying to dig up moles which he did one time and brought it to the back door!

He is SOME Sport!!!!! Sport and Cousin Rusty!

A Look at Vehicle Gasoline Usage and Pricing

April 24, 2008

I have kept records on all the gasoline used in my last 5 pickup trucks, so I decided I’d work up the amounts of gasoline used in each vehicle, how much I’ve spent on gasoline and the average prices per gallon on each truck. It is quite interesting considering the enormous amount we are now paying for gasoline.

I had a 1977 Ford F-100 pickup that I bought used on 2/28/80 and traded it off on 3/1/85. I put 39,846 miles on that truck; used 2,847 gallons of gas for a cost of $3,465.95. I averaged 14.0 miles per gallon and spent from $1.039 to $1.329 per gallon for the gas.

On 3/1/85, I bought a used 1982 Ford F-100 pickup and traded it off on 1/21/89. I put 33,050 miles on that truck; used 2,458.7 gallons of gas for a cost of $2,564.47. I averaged 13.4 miles per gallons and spent from $0.889 to $1.099 per gallon for the gas.

On 1/21/89, bought a new 1989 Ford Ranger 4X4 and traded it off on 2/7/96. I put 139,242 miles on that truck; used 7,229.2 gallons of gas for a cost of $10,339.00. I averaged 19.2 miles per gallon and spent from $0.719 to $1.179 per gallon for the gas.

On 2/7/96, I bought a new 1996 Ford F-150 Super Cab and traded it off on 7/16/07. I put 226,380 miles on that truck; used 15,223.9 gallons of gas for a cost of $26,316.43. I averaged 15.76 miles per gallon and spent from $0.719 to $3.199 per gallon for the gas.

On 7/16/07, I bought a 2007 Program Ford F-150 Super crew. I still have that truck. I have put 15,087 miles on this truck; used 957.1 gallons of gas for a cost of $2,306.32, I have currently averaged 15.76 miles per gallon and have spent from $2.549 to $3.399 per gallon for the gas.

During the –years from 2/28/80 to today, the cost of gasoline has increased from a low of $0.719 to today’s cost of $3.599 per gallon, an increase of $2.78 per gallon with no end in sight as the prices soar daily for as much as $0.22 per gallon per day. The real kick in the head (and wallet) to all this is that the big oil conglomerates are making unheard of profits into the Billions per quarter year.

With the five trucks, I have driven 453,605 miles for a cost of $71,380.50!

These exorbitant prices are sending ALL things we have to purchase from gas to food, clothing, vehicles, building materials, tires, etc. through the roof. It especially hurts us retirees that are on fixed incomes. I don’t have a clue as to how high these prices will continue to skyrocket, especially if we elect a Democrat President and Congress that are promising huge tax increases that will further escalate all prices and cause this country to go into a real depression.

I don’t have a clue as to how we can turn this do nothing, spend, and spend government around. If anyone has a clue, please cue me in!!!