Non Stop All Weekend Long

I put in sixty hours of work on the job during the five day work week. During the two day weekend I put in a little over forty. It is non stop from Friday evening to Sunday night. Not all that is work though, I do take time to do some cool stuff.

After finally dragging our tired bodies in the house late yesterday evening I asked the wife, "What do you think it would have been like if you would have married a normal guy?"
Her response was simple, "Boring."

Friday night after we loaded the truck for the cook off we had some friends come over to sit by the fire and relax a long week away. There is just something about kicking your feet up, watching the flames dance in the dark and enjoying life.

Early Saturday morning we were unloading and getting ready to cook. The chili cook off went just as I figured, the wife kicked my butt again. This time I have no excuses, she flat out beat me fair and square along with over three quarters of the other cooks. This has been harder than I thought. I pride myself on my food and really thought I was going to walk right in and be a super star. I am just getting spanked over and over again like a red headed step child.
It's almost like golf, at fist when I grabbed a club, walked up and hit the ball it actually went close to where I wanted it. After playing for a while, studying and learning how to play I started to suck worse and worse. I think I am over thinking it. Maybe I just need to go and cook chili instead of analyzing every little detail.
I have only failed at two things in my life. One was when I ran for City Council and the other is Cooking Chili.

Straight from the cook off to "Music in the park", where we sat with friends and listened to a free concert. Good music, good friends and cold beer, is there anything better than that?   

 Early Sunday morning I busted everyone out of bed with much resistance to go fishing. After they were all up and alive we had a great time, but that first few minutes was touch and go.

Check out my huge catch of the day. It's not much bigger than the minnow I was using and look at that hat I'm sporting, "I'm sexy and I know it."
The other pictures are of the oldest girl BEB. The youngest girl and the wife was there as well. The middle one stayed asleep because she had to get to work early. 

Why were we not in Church you ask, well let me tell you this, I have spent a lot of time behind the pulpit preaching and more time sitting in the pews listening and I can honestly say, I have never felt closest to my creator, my family and myself as I do when I sit on the creek bank thanking him for this opportunity to be with them and to be alive. That's my kind of church right there my friends. I don't need to sit inside four walls listening to a guy with different views than I have telling me how I need to live.

Sunday evening was spent over at my Mom and Dad's doing some back porch sitting and just living. It was great end to a wonderful weekend.

What I left out of the post was all the work. Even though we had a great weekend and did many things, we still have a homestead to run. Between going here and there we mowed, fenced, built, cleaned, fed, watered, moved animals around and gardened. All that is pretty much a given.
The wife did get one of her projects completed and the oldest girl finished her project. I will post pictures of them both.

More storms tonight coming through so when I get home I will need to batten down the hatches. I hope all my friends up in Oklahoma fared well last night.     

Good Country Living

Wow, what a weekend. Just an easy going, doing what I wanted weekend. No deadlines, no pressure, no stress.

Saturday morning I woke to the smell of pancakes and sausage. That in it's self is a good enough reason to have a great day.
Daylight broke and we were all down at the creek. The water levels are way down and we had to go a little out of the way to find deep enough water to fish in, but we found some. 

The sand bass were running in about two feet of water and we took advantage of it. The middle girl caught the fist fish of the day and gave it a good luck kiss, hoping for more of the same. The oldest girl came up from A&M bringing her boyfriend along with her and he caught the biggest fish of the day.

The season has started, from now until it gets too hot we will be down at the creek every weekend. The crappie will be running in a week or two, then the catfish.
At the end of the season we will hold a huge fish fry for all the friends and family like we do every year. That is some good living right there. We have been waiting all winter to get back to creek and now it's time.

  I didn't get much accomplished on the roof of the big bird hotel. Being it's eight sided it takes a while just to go around it once. The boards may be getting shorter, but it's still a pain in the butt. I did have some help though, the oldest girl and her boyfriend (I guess I'm starting to like the boy, but I will never admit it) hung around after fishing so I put them to work until I ran out of planks, I guess you could say I under estimated a little, so it's just going to have to wait till next weekend after fishing.
We have more rains coming in mid week so I am not even going to try it.

The back yard was dry enough to mow late yesterday afternoon, but the front is still holding water in spots. It's going to get away from me if I don't get a chance to mow it. I need to adopt a bunch of kids I guess. Mine all are gone or have jobs and don't have the time to help old dad out much anymore. Lets see, I need one for the lawn care, one that can build, one to weed the gardens and one to care for the animals. So I need to foster about four kids. No wait, that would be called a sweet shop then. LOL 

I do have to brag about this though. I have been looking for a generator for a long time and every time I get the money I just can't make myself buy one. I look at it as money just sitting.
I ran across this 8500 watt generator Saturday evening. Brand new, only been ran a total of ten minutes, $1200.00 if you bought it new from the store. The guy told me he bought it for his shop, but did not need it and it was going to sit for another three years until a time where he might. I picked it up, put gas in it and the thing started on the first pull. We negotiated the price and I ended up giving him a hundred dollar bill for it. I almost feel guilty about it, almost.

I got more to tell, but I don't want to bore you any more this time.
See ya on the flip side,
MDR   

Just A Phase I Guess

"When y'all get out of this phase in life, I want some of these decorations" My oldest (BEB) told me over the weekend.
Am I really that predictable? 

This weekend was our first at home chili cook off and I can say with out a doubt it was a success. It was out of the normal and completely out of the box. One of my friends that joined us told me he thought it was so cool that we do stuff like this because his family never does.

This ended up being almost a three day even with set up on Friday night, cooking and all that most of the day Saturday and then clean up Sunday.

First place went to our teammate Rhonda, I got second and my mom won third.
Even though it was windy and cold outside, we were tucked away in my dad's nice warm shop. Big thanks to him and mom for providing a spot to hold all those folks and to have a great time.

Next weekend is our first official cook off of the year. We will going up against some real tough competition and seasoned chili cooking veterans. I am looking to take home first place, but if I don't then I will use the excuse that it's about the fun and not the winning.

So anyway, the kids think this is just a new phase I am going through and it will come to an end just like all the rest. Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, I don't know yet, but I am having fun with it so far and that's all that matters. Who knows how long it will last.  

Check back in a couple of days because I am right in the middle of a new solar build. I think you might like it.      

Family Preparedness, Must Read

Everyone preps for different reasons.
Your reason may be on a huge complex scale like prepping for the end of the world where you will need years of essential products stored away, or you could be prepping for something as simple as a three day power outage where a small food pantry is all you need to store the required elements to sustain life.
 I for one have always said I am doing all this for "IT", with "it" being whatever "it" may be, large or small.

Last night the wife and I were talking about food consumption and how the money budgeted for food was not buying near as much as it was last year. It seams like we bring home less and less bags every trip but are still spending the same amount of money. She said with a fearful look, "This summer is going to kill us."

This it is folks, my "IT". Summer time, when all the kids will be out of school and at home. We stock up all year for those few super hot months in the summer where there is nothing else to do besides sit in the house and eat.
At the end, only dust will cover the shelves where the 50 cans of Vienna Sausages now sit. Empty wrappers of bread sticks, chips and pork rinds will litter the floor and will need to be cleaned with a street sweeper like the day after Mardi Gras. A lone cereal bag will get caught in the breeze of the fan sending it spinning across the floor like a tumble weed in a West Texas ghost town.
The fist day back to school the wife and I will survey the damage and debate calling in the Red Cross to help out in the recovery efforts. One dog will be missing, the others left in fear days before the event struck.

Wading through the aftermath I am sure it will happen. I will find what is left of my candy stash I thought I hid so well. I will grab the empty wrappers in each hand, will drop to my knees, shake my fist to the heavens and cry out "WHY, OH WHY"

There will be nothing else to do except rebuild.

Enjoy the rest of your day. 

          

I Know I Shouldn't Tell This But......

I sit here, Sunday evening at about 7:00 reflecting the weekend in it entirety and this is what I came up with.

After we set everything up at the show yesterday morning we still had four hours before it even started so I decided to jump in the truck and run up to the next town to the gun show. I don't get a chance to go to many of them so I figured why not. After all, I would be back in time for the pig show.

I found a firearm I really wanted and have wanted for some time now.  Oh how my mouth watered while I held and stroked it. I set it down, walked away and came right back to it, several times.
I looked over at the wife, back at the weapon and back at the wife over and over.
"Your birthday is Tuesday, just get it" she said.

"Don't you tell me that!" I told her right back.

"You know dad, this would be an impulse buy you might regret tomorrow." The oldest, BEB, said to me. Yes she came up for the weekend to celebrate my birthday and to support Wee in the show. "Put it down, walk away and come back tomorrow if you still want it" she added. She is so smart.

A few more minutes with the gun and several attempts to justify it, I did put it down and walked away. I found the wife over at the stun guns and she was about to do the same thing I almost did. I walked out with every intention of being back today and bringing home my baby.
Today I am the proud owner of the money I would have spent. Yes, I miss holding it and I never got to even call her mine or run a round through her, but maybe some day.

Speaking of celebrating my birthday, remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned we were having a birthday party and that my sister decided to celebrate her wedding on that day, well she did.
All and all the barn party last night was a good time, but I would have never put that burden on my Mom and Dad. Even though she did most of the cooking, hosting a party that big is draining and after everyone goes home, the clean up is over the top.
I think the high light of the evening was when her beautiful $175.00 wedding cake was used in a food fight. Good times right there.
Boy she was fighting mad, but what did she expect, it was a birthday bash.       

Weekend Adventures

First off I want to say thank you to all who supported and left comments on DFW's guest post. It was fun and I have invited her to do it again anytime. 

This last month the oldest has been home from college and it has gone by really quick. We were so busy with work and living we did not get the chance to hang out have fun together as much as I wanted. Plus the weather was really bad for most of the month making it where we couldn't do anything even if we wanted to.  
Several times we did get to sit down at the supper table together as a family and once or twice she did get the chance to come outside and help me on the projects. She even completed one of my projects herself while I worked beside her on another. That's good memories right there.
I think it will be just as hard to say goodby this Sunday as it was the first time I did it a few months ago, but she will be back for the summer and I already have some fun things planned (I've got a few camping sites and fishing holes I have been wanting to try out).
Anyway I am sure your tired of hearing about it so I will get off the pity bus and pull my big girl panties up and get on with the post.

If the weather holds and the wind dies down I plan to stain the Bathhouse Saturday afternoon.
I am also wanting to plumb in the sink and pressurize the system so I can check for any mishaps I might have done.
I still need to paint the water heater box, hang the lanterns, install the solar lighting, make a round curtain rod, make the name plates, fix the window and a few more other things I hope to get to this weekend. I also have a little added something the middle girl is going to paint for me on one of the outside walls, I think y'all will really like it.  
I still have a lot to do on it before I can call it complete but maybe, just maybe I can take my first shower in it Sunday night depending on if it is sunny or not.