Saturday Mumblings

Was up early, Donna slept in until about 06:00am,it turned out to be a pretty good day with temps in the high 70’s and sunny most of the day, I went to Lowes and got oil, a filter, plugs, and an air cleaner filter for John Deere. I tried to get new blades but since I have a larger and odd size deck they have to be ordered, so I just waited till I got home and ordered the blades direct from Deere. It takes three blades and it is $50 for the set. I then gave John his tune up and filled him with gas and we went out and did a couple of hours of mowing, it still has a couple areas that will have to wait as they are under a couple inches of water.

After that I flushed all the water lines on the fiver, and filled the water heater and fresh water tank was flushed and filled with fresh water, the pump is working fine and all connections look tight, so now the only systems not checked are the fridge, I will turn it on later in the week and then get some drinks and frozen stuff for it.Then I will turn the propane on and check the furnace some morning early when it is in the 50’s. That should do it and it will be ready for the road.

Donna took some pictures on the way home from the truck company near Lambert Field, ( St Louis Airport) she had to drive and shoot so they are not the greatest.

Pretty much shows the force of the tornado, again we were really lucky compared to our Southern neighbors as we had no deaths due to the storm.

A couple of people were worried about Rigg’s and Sadie after their blog entry yesterday and their mention of Stitches, these were the stitches related to their neutering and not from some accident. Sadie does like to give Rigg’s a nip on the ear when she is playing with him but he doesn’t seem to mind and it’s never broke the skin, Much like puppies do when they are nursing.

It’s about 04:00pm and the sun has disappeared and dark clouds have taken it’s place, hope we don’t get much more rain.

Donna just left for the restaurant. so now I am thinking of something quick and easy to make for supper for just me tonight, the kid’s are going out to eat.

That is a sign of the modern generation nobody cooks at home, they must eat out three nights a week, when I was growing up we didn’t eat out three times a year. I still prefer the taste of my own stuff over a lot of restaurant food.

Well that’s it from the Ranch for today, Hope everyone is having a great weekend. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

TGIF.

Well I missed my Thursday post, just couldn’t get to the laptop until after dinner and then I decided I would let it go until today, There was nothing really to say it was another cloudy day, but today the sun has been out and it is inching toward 70 degrees.

Up early and had coffee, waiting to see how the back yard looks before I try to do some cutting today, I hope the sunny weather holds out for a little while, we have just had so much rain in the last few weeks the water had no where to go or soak in. when it finally does it will be green for awhile.

Rigg’s and Sadie pestered all morning about not being in a blog for awhile so I finally broke down and said okay. Here they are.

Hi, Its Riggs and Sadie.  Guess we need to catch everyone up and what we have been doing.

Even though I am still a big muscular boy, sorry to say I am no longer a 'stud'.

I am after all a boy and there were a couple of days when Sadie was looking so cute I just had to keep

chasing after her.  Mom was really upset with me and kept yelling for me to leave Sadie alone, but

just couldn’t help myself.

Yes, Riggs you really were bothering me a lot, in fact you were scaring me a little bit. I know you would

never hurt me but you just wouldn't leave me alone. 

I know, but did you have to clamp down on my ear and start shaking like you were trying to kill something.

That hurt !  All I know is a couple of days later Dad took me to the doctor. I took a nap and woke up with

stitches.  I'm tough they didn’t hurt but I sure felt funny.  And for several days I wasn’t allowed to play with

you and wasn’t allowed to run.  But I'm feeling fine now.

I know you bounced back pretty quick.  Speaking of bouncing, why did you stick your nose under my tummy

and then flip me up and out of the chair.  I mean good thing I have cat like reflexes and land on my feet or

I could have been hurt.

You were sitting on MY Mom's lap and that's my place.  I didn’t want to crush you by sitting on top of you, so

I just flipped you out of the way.

Guess you going to the doctor gave Andy an idea because I was the next one to go.  Same thing, took a

nap and woke up with stitches.   I didn’t feel too good for a few days.

I know I was really worried about you....I tried to take care of you the best I could....I didn’t try any play or tug

see the sad and concerned look I have.

I know you were very good to me. I'm just not big and strong like you.

Well after all you are my sister and I have to watch out for you.  But you know sometimes I get

blamed for what you do.  Take the marker that got chewed up, I'm the one that got yelled at. If Dad

would only have checked tongues he would have been able to tell it was you and not me!  But finally

Mom figured it out when she found the cap and went to throw it away, she knew my big teeth couldn't

make those little bites.  And what about Andy's shoe, he thought I did it until Mom told him she had taken

the shoes away from you before.  He thought they were too big for you, but Mom told him she saw you

running down the hall with your head as high as you could get it and the shoe draped over your back !

Well what ? Do you think I'm going to admit it.  Much more fun watching you get yelled at.  Besides when

someone yells at me I get scared and start shaking, I just can't help it, and you are so big it just doesn’t bother you.

Hey I heard Jodie, Coco, and Sandy are in a sorority....and that’s just for girls and they wont let you join. Even though I'm not a lab like them or you, maybe they will let me in?

I don't know Sadie, they are MY friends, they don't know you and just 'cause you're a girl doesn't mean you

can join.  But they are really nice, so I'll ask them next time I see them.  Though you'd better not be getting

me into any more trouble.

Now, did I tell anyone that you were the one that moved the bird's cage about a foot across the floor?  And

don’t I always play with you ?  And am I not the one that gets yelled at if I get a little over zealous and bite

and growl too much. After all look at this picture....I'm so fast I'm just a blur !

That you are lil sis.  Well guess we have 'yapped' enough for now.  Just wanted to let everyone know we are doing good and we’ll 'bark' to everyone later. Rigg’s & Sadie….

Well that’s about it from the Weeb Ranch here in Dardenne Prairie as you can see the two fur baby's will keep you hopping, but we wouldn’t want it any other way, it’s Friday and the pizza shell is defrosting, I’m going to make a big square Old Forge PA. style pizza tonight and maybe wash it down with a couple of High Life Lights, It doesn’t get any better than that here. on the Ranch. Everyone be safe out there. Sa & Donna……

 

Wednesday Musings.

Up at 04:30AM had coffee with my bride and then she left for the truck company,Tonight she has restaurant duty also, it was another cool cloudy day with on and off rain, didn’t leave the house, my Son Andy took Nicole to school and picked her up, he said it was just wet and nasty both ways. Supposedly Friday and Sat we should have some sun, but it is going to take a lot of it to dry the ground up around here.

I’m still bumming out a little about not being able to post pictures of Nicole, she is just so photogenic, and I guess since I spent my life in a uniform of some sort and over 30plus years in Law enforcement, that I just don’t want to or just out right refuse to live in fear ,I think the right way is for anyone that would think to harm my family, should be the ones in fear. I also agree that most child abductions are from relatives or ex spouses and a very small number of sexual predators. Today a child has more of a chance of being shot at school in a supposedly safe environment than they do of being abducted by a stranger off the street who happened to see a picture on the internet. Oh well enough of a rant. just disappointment coming through, sorry..

Donna and have have about decided on a nice vacation for two in the 5th wheel from June 16th to June 26th, we are hoping to go up to the Upper Wisconsin area and visit with Karen & Steveo, do some Wisconsin style camping.

On the way up to cut the travel miles we would like also to stop and visit, Donna & Dennis in Sandwich Il. which is semi on the way, Sam wants to eat and have a beer in the Train Car. So we will have to see if this fits into everyone's schedule,

In May we are haven some bloggers stop for a week and I hope we can talk Judy and Emma into a visit on the way to here summer stay in Illinois, if not we will find a way to visit where she is camped out for the summer on a weekend.

Not much else for today here in Dardenne Prairie,

I hope everyone is getting better weather than us. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Tuesday Notes.

Up early and coffee with my bride, Then at 05:30AM Donna left for the truck company, she said yesterday on the way home she got to see the destruction at the airport and the neighborhoods around it, She said it truly looks like a war zone with police out patrolling the battered ruins on foot looking more like soldiers than cops.It is really amazing that with all the homes and property ruined not one fatality and very few wounded. The Lord was truly looking over those people on Good Friday.

Today the rain finally quit about 10:00AM and by noon the sun was peeking through a little at a time and the temps edged toward the upper 60’s, I said this is as good as it gets for today and went down and started to take the plow off and put the belly deck under Johns Deere, Then when I went to start it after getting everything pinned up, He didn’t want to start, Can’t blame him,he was put away 3 weeks ago after a hard session of plowing and that is absolutely the roughest duty he has. He will hum along with the deck humming and cutting contently all day, but the harsh  starts and battering he gets plowing and pushing snow till he stalls is really tough work and it takes a lot more out of his battery.So I put the charger on him for an hour and then went back sown to the garage and he fired right up, We then went out and cut a little in one of the higher areas where the wind had dried most of the water. It will be several days before I can get into some area and that is if we have some sunny and windy days to dry up the standing water, plus the ground is saturated so even with low tire pressure you can still get stuck.

Nicole just got home from school and is doing home work.Her Mom, Samantha told Donna she doesn’t want her pictures on the Internet because she is afraid of some psycho finding out where she lives and snatching her. I truly don’t feel that is much of a danger, but its her Mom and I will respect her wishes no matter how much I enjoy sharing the fun I have that little cutie pie.

I don’t believe there has ever been a recorded case of something like this happening to a blogger, but I have heard of others that won’t put there kids or grandkids pictures on their blogs, so I will respect Samantha’s wishes.

Other that that not much going on, now that John is ready for duty I can cross that off the to do list.

I hope maybe we will start with some more warmer weather. Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Monday Meanderings.

Up early with Donna and had my coffee, Donna headed out to the truck company and took my good truck, her Escape has a tire that has a slow leak so I told her to leave it and I would take it to the tire store. At 08:00AM I was sitting in front of the door to Child’s Tire and my buddy Mike pulled it right in and found a nail in it, 30 minutes and $20 dollars later I was on my way home, with hopefully no more leaks. Not much to say about the day it rained most of the day and was in the 60’s temp wise.

Donna just got home from work and we are have Tortellini's for supper.

We went out to dinner at the Longhorn restaurant last night and everyone except poor Donna had a great steak, she said her’s was seasoned with so much pepper it burned her mouth, she was not a happy camper, I was so proud of Nicole, she again joined Grandpa in the clean plate club.

                            Sam & Donna

Donna got a picture of our new tenants in the bird motel by our wood rack. Mom is sitting on her eggs while Dad is outside having a smoke break.

All in all a good Easter around the Weeb Ranch.

Hoping by the end of the week the sun will return and I can start catching up on the mowing, I hate it when you start out and already your playing catch up with the grass.

It takes two or three cuts before you get the messy look out. Some of those tall 6 inch sprouts are wild onion grass, who knows where it come from but you sure can smell it when you run the tractor over it. We only see it at the beginning of spring around here.

Well that’s about it for today. even Rigg’s is tiring of all the rain, and just sits by the door and looks now without pestering to go out every few minutes.

Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Sunday Notes-Happy Easter

Easter dawned as a cold and rainy day , again, had my coffee with Donna and then waited for Nicole to wake up and start her hunt for her basket. Don’t know where Andy & Samantha had hid it but she found it in no time and brought it into the kitchen for Grandpa to see.  Notice the Easter Jammies.

            Nicole with her Easter basket.

After she was dressed and her Mom, Samantha had a chance to go out and hide them, We had the traditional Easter Egg hunt in the back yard, the rain had stopped but it was still cold and wet, notice the grass is tall from not being able to get it mowed from two weeks of rain.

The results of a successful hunt, notice Rigg’s is checking it out.

Rigg’s and Sadie had a good day, although no baskets for them, they aren’t allowed chocolates like Grandpa, but they did get a doggie treat. Rigg’s and Sadie started playing with a pull toy and Sadie got to demonstrate her technique for getting a toy away from Big Brother Rigg’s.

                   First she tries to pull.

     Then comes the sneak attack to the head.

               When that doesn’t work go for the ears.

         That usually gets Rigg’s attention.

                            Okay I got you now.

As usual Gentle Ben Rigg’s lets his little sister Sadie win..

The whole time the game is going Sadie is growling like crazy and Rigg’s doesn’t make a sound. Don’t know if you can notice it in the picture but Sadie had her Easter grooming yesterday and got a summer haircut, she looked so cute in the short time she had her bows tied in her hair.

Been trying to find a Red, White and Blue patriotic bandanna for Rigg’s before our first camping trip he is so handsome with it and we lost the one or the washer ate the one he had last summer. I would also like to find a Canadian Maple leaf bandanna before we go to Canada so if any of my Canuck friends see one in a pet store either grab it or get a website where I can order it.

Tonight, Donna & I, and Andy & Samantha and Nicole are all going out to dinner as a family for the holiday. We are looking forward to a great dinner out.

Besides the continuing rain, it was a cold and wet day here in Dardenne Prairie, supposed to be like this until Thursday. reminds me of 1993 when we had all the floods here, I hope that doesn’t repeat itself. Be safe out there and enjoy your holiday. Sam & Donna….

Saturday Mumblings.

First of all I want to thank those that e-mailed us when they were concerned about the severe Good Friday Storms and Tornadoes that hit the Metro St Louis/St Charles Mo area. First and foremost the Weeb Ranch and Dardenne Prairie escaped without any major damage although a tornado touched down and destroyed several homes in New Melle Mo. about 15 miles from us on Hwy Z.  All the family and Grands are safe so we gave thanks this morning for the Lord watching over us.

Here is a link to the Newspaper web story Total Devastation,  St Louis Lambert Airport may reopen Sunday, All the pictures on the web are copyrighted so they can’t be posted on a blog. As far as the storm here at the Ranch, The tornado sirens went off about 06:00PM it started to rain hard and both Rigg’s and Sadie knew something wasn’t right, Sadie made a bee line for Grandpa’s arms and Rigg’s laid on my feet. Funny how animals can sense something out of the ordinary in the weather. The rain really started to come down and the wind picked up you could hear the turbines in the roof sounded like they were going to lift off any second, the news said the winds gusted to 80mph in St Charles County, then after about 15 minutes it got quiet again except for a steady rain.

From the looks of the TV this morning it was like a war zone in my old patrol area in the Dellwood-Ferguson area.They said it was the worst storm in 40 years and I can remember the tornado that touched down 40 years ago there and how it looked and all the work we had for weeks  trying to get it cleaned up.

I went out and looked at the trailer & truck today and didn’t see any damage, even the  tress held up with just a few branches blown down.

Donna is going to the restaurant tonight, and Nicole came back today so we will have one Grand here for Easter Morning.

I hope everyone will have a Happy Easter and even if you have diabetes like me, you can enjoy a sugarless treat.

Be safe out there.. Sam & Donna.

TGIF

Got up and had coffee with my bride, after she was off to work, I found out that Nicole didn’t have school today, Easter Break, so she was going to her Dad’s to spend Easter weekend there. Adam is spending the weekend with his Mother and her family, so we will have another weekend without kid’s, Although Donna will make each of them a small basket from the Bunny for when they come over next.

It rained all day until about 04:30PM and then finally the sun is trying to peek through, we are supposed to have showers until next Wednesday I have to wait again for the ground to dry.

Not much to report, Rigg’s got his monthly application of flea stuff down his spine today, he doesn’t care for that at all. and has to be bribed with treats to stand still when he see’s me coming with the little flea applicator.

Then you have to watch him for an hour or so until it is ingested into his pores or he will try to rub it off on the rug. He was pretty good though this time and only got caught a couple time trying to roll on the rug.

Tomorrow it will be Sadie's turn but her medicine is for dogs under ten pounds, Rigg’s is for dog’s over 75. They go by weight how strong the stuff is.

Aside from it being a “No Meat Day, I will have to scramble for supper, I may just have left over cheese pizza. to Stay in good Grace. Be safe out there and have a great and Blessed Easter weekend. Sam & Donna…

Thursday Happenings.

Finally the sun came out this morning about 10:00AM, although the temps are in the low 50’s so still a little cool, the week is flying by as it does every week.

The pictures below are actually a test of the instructions RICK gave me on changing the default size of my pictures, Thanks Rick it worked just like you said, you’re the man.

The pictures themselves are two of my favorites of my late brother Rick, who died of cancer in Dec 0f 2009.

Sam, Rick & twin Bill, 1955 at Grandpa Genett’s house next to the tracks.

Rick in about 2005 racing carts with his buddies.

I sure miss that guy if it had anything to do with motors or racing he was into it. Life is sure short..

I hope someday that Adam & Nicole & Chris will have memories to share like I do.

I was hoping the temps would get up so the grass would dry I really need to get the Deck on John Deere and get out there and start mowing, I am starting my own Prairie ground in my back yard.

My son Andy went to get Nicole at school so I am sitting here waiting for her to get home, after homework, I will see if she wants to take Sadie and I’ll take Rigg’s for a walk.

Right now Sadie is tormenting Rigg’s by trying to steal one of his stuffed toys he is holding she will jump up on top of his head, and nip his ears and then his jowls the whole time growling like she is a big toughie,  Rigg’s doesn’t make a sound and just keeps pulling on the toy.

Someday I will figure out the video part of my Canon and share this with you, he is just so good with her.

I see where Rod in KC, dewinterized his MH. I may do that this weekend, and get the frig fired up and all the other systems checked like the furnace, I did fire up the A/C last weekend and it is working, so Once all is checked It will be ready to roll, Frozen food will be stocked, also beer & soda, so if we decide on a quick trip it just takes a short stop at the store on the way out for the stuff that would spoil. Actually this is late in the year for us as I have had years when I made a short trip in the end of March to shoot some trains, and not worried about freezing, we just had a long cold winter this year, another example of global warming.

Well that’s about it for today, another slow day at the Weeb Ranch. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Wednesday Musings.

Up for coffee with my bride, then waited until 06:45AM and got Nicole off to school, Wednesday is The Walking School Bus Day so I took her to the Augusta American Legion which is where they walk from to school. Glad I wasn’t walking it was only about 43 degrees and damp, no rain but you could feel the dampness in the air, I had Nicole where her coat. To cloudy to get a picture of their walk, so I waited until she got home and took a picture of her in her special tee shirt that each kid wears on Wednesday for the walk.

Rigg’s just wanted a good scratch, Nicole and Sadie  sat for the picture.

If you look close at the cook island behind Nicole you will see one of those PA. pizza shells thawing, Even though it’s not Friday, by special request I am making a pizza tonight for Nicole & I.

A few of you out there have bought new laptops in the last few months, Personally I love the Dell Inspiron I got a few weeks back for Donna, I had looked all over on the Web, Wal-Mart, Best Buys, private computer companies, But I took Rick’s RICK_PAULETTES_RV_JOURNAL advice and ordered direct from Dell, they not only have the best price and give a discount, but yesterday I received a coupon good for ten percent off any accessory I might want. Just seem to be a good company to do business with.

The one thing I have to get used to is the different versions of programs that are in Windows 7,The Live Writer you download is different than the version in XP and so is the Picasso Program. Maybe it has to do with Windows 7 being 64 bit instead of 32. It will just take a little getting used to. The one thing you notice right away is the speed difference with the 2.63gig processor speed and 4gig of ram when you compare it to the old Latitude Laptop I use, with 1.2gig processor speed and 1 gig of ram. This new one is lightening fast, Although I never complained about the old one and it seemed fast at the time, there is no comparison.

The weather is supposed to turn warmer on Fri, Sat. & Sun. so maybe I can get some mowing done, with all the rain the ground is saturated and there are several low spots that you can get the tractor stuck in.

Nothing much doing around the Weeb Ranch today to cold. Donna is going in to the restaurant tonight so it will be a normal kid night tonight with Nicole and Grandpa,( that counts as two) we’re counting on Adam coming for the weekend so then the kid population should go up.

Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna….

Tuesday Notes.

Up early, had coffee with my bride, the news on TV said severe thunderstorms and hail heading our way so when Donna left for work I put the truck in the garage for the morning. Andy took Nicole to school in the car.Right after he got back we started with thunder storms but I never saw any hail to speak of.

It was really a slow day around here Rigg’s & Sadie got some quality rug time just to be pals.

                             Rigg’s & Sadie.

This afternoon I decided I needed a short project so I made a bracket to hold the cover on the top of Adam’s AK47 pellet rifle, amazing what you can do with a piece of metal coat hanger and a couple of good sized pliers.

Where the square hole is there was a plastic snap that Adam broke off, I think the metal bracket will outlast the gun.

Not much else to report the Ranch is quiet now, Nicole is doing homework and donna just got home and is making Gnocchi  and pasta sauce for dinner, sounds good to me.

Everyone be safe out there. Sam & Donna..

Monday Meanderings.

We started off with coffee, then Donna heading for the truck company, I got Nicole off to school at 07:00AM and was home by 08:00AM did some blogging and then sat around the house as was cloudy and looked like rain, By about 03:00PM the sun came out and it turned into a nice afternoon with temps in the high 70’s, Samantha and Andy went to get Nicole at school so I decided to to see why my left stop & turn bulb wasn’t lighting on the trailer. I checked the trailer wiring and it was fine, so I started looking at the truck, I was disappointed to find out that back in 2004 when I bought it and had the dealer that and sold us our old fiver, switch the hitch and brakes over, they had done what I now found to be a shoddy job, When I ordered my truck I ordered the heavy duty trailer package with the 5th wheel wiring harness for wiring the plug inside the bed, Well they did put the socket inside the bed, but they didn’t use the fiver harness which has appropriately large wires for the added lights. It was still wire tied to the frame at the front of the box. They ran a four wire bundle down under the rear of the truck and then used those plastic snap connecters to wire into the tail lights wires, after 6 or 7 years those crimp connectors are all corroded and that was what the problem was, I had to take it all apart and clean the wires to shiny brass and then for now I used  twist connectors and then covered it all in electric tape to keep the water out. When I have time I will run the factory 5th wheel harness to the socket in the bed and do it right like it should have been done. I wonder why dealers always seem to take the easy way out. That’s all you read about on other blogs for every dealer that does a good job there are five that get complaints.  Anyway I was glad to see it was a truck problem and not a trailer wiring problem, in visually inspecting the trailer wiring they run the big cable that connects to truck up under the bed into a metal junction box like in home wiring and then everything is done and color coded inside the box with twist connecters instead of those crimp types that give you trouble, it reminds me of house wiring, and this is the 12 volt wiring. I also like that the 12 volt fuse all have a red led next to the fuse that lights if the fuse blows, another nice touch. Did I mention that this dealer New Freedom RV is out of business , I wonder why. I bought my new fiver from Bill Thomas RV in Wentzville MO. and I must say there service department did the Dometic recall for me, and also ordered some parts and sent them to my house, they were also helpful last year when the A/C didn’t start and I was already at the Lake and told me what to do first before getting a technician out. So far no complaints with them.

I got done with the work around 04:30PM and just as I was washing up Donna got home from work and she had some sub sandwiches for supper. Great luck for me as I got out of cooking for one night. She said she called and when no one answered she figured I was out side working.

Now all I have to due is add water and check all the lines for leaks and flush the pink stuff out and then fire up the fridge and the fiver will be combat ready for the summer. I am getting the itch to take it up to the railroad tracks for a couple days of train photography. Like my Mom used to say if it’s BIG, Noisy and Stinky, Boys will like it.

Everyone have a great week. be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Sat/Sun Ramblings

Missed my Saturday blog yesterday and so I decide to combine them today.

I want to welcome my 103rd follower JANET & WAYNE, they are veteran campers with tent & popup experience, the just bought a tow vehicle, (Chev Duramax) and are now looking at fivers to go with it, I know since that’s the combination several of us have that they will love it. You guys came to the right place here in blogland, lots of information on fivers out there. I see you are fellow Missourians, There are also several out here in blogland  so maybe we can all meet someday. We live here at the Weeb ranch in Dardenne Prairie MO. which is in St Charles County on the east end of the state. were only a couple miles off I-70 and I-64. We hope you enjoy our blog here.

Today I moved the fiver back to it’s pad so I could get John Deere out and get it ready for cutting, tomorrow I will be doing it’s spring tuneup and getting the plow off and the cutting deck on. It’s still a little too wet to cut yet but we are supposed to have a couple days of 80 degree weather and if there's any kind of wind that should dry some the the higher ground up.

While I was piddling with the trailer since I had it hitched up I checked all the lights and found that my left side rear signals weren’t flashing, I checked the junction box under the bed and it was all tight so now I will check the socket at the truck and see if there is power there.

It was quite at the ranch no kid’s this week. but Grand parents need a break once in awhile too.

Donna is making a pot roast for supper, I love the smell of the house when a pot roast is simmering away all afternoon. makes you hungry just waiting for suppertime to roll around.

Well that’s about it for today, hope everyone had a good weekend. Be safe out there.. Sam & Donna..

TGIF.

Well the week is coming to an end, Donna headed out for the truck company, and then I took Nicole to school, it was rainy and nasty so we went slower than on a dry day.

Didn’t get much accomplished in the way of anything as it rained on and off most of the day.

Samantha got off early so she and Andy picked up Nicole from school and then dropped her at her Dad’s for his weekend.

I pretty much played around with the computers downstairs, I put another hard drive in the Dell desktop, the disk they give you to restore the operating system on Dells does not include any drivers, so you first have to download everything before you start and put in on a cd.

I put my laptop down on my office desk in the cheapo docking station I found on E-Bay and then after I had the Desktop loaded I gave it to my son to replace and old Pentium II 900 meg tower he had, with about 300meg of ram,

The Dell desktop is a Pentium 4 with 1 gig of ram so it will be quite a bit faster for him.It also has a DVD burner versus a cd on his old one.

I can use the laptop in the dock and when I want to take it with me it just comes out of the dock with the push of a button.

The new one will be Donna’s for when we make trips and I use  it when I want to do something quick without going downstairs to the office.

That’s about it for today Everyone be safe out there, Sam & Donna.

Thursday Happenings.

Up at 04:30AM, had coffee and then Donna headed out for her usual day , the truck company ,then the restaurant.

Got Nicole up at 06:00AM so she could shower and have breakfast and still hit the door by 07:00AM sharp, Boy that kid sleeps like a log, I remember when I used to be like that and donna would complain how hard it was to wake me,now my body clock does it for me.

Didn’t do much today, just blogged a little and watched a movie. Then at 01:30PM I went to Walgreens for a prescription for Donna, and also a surprise for Nicky. I know I will have her spoiled in no time. But it just takes some small little thing to bring a great big smile to her face and you can just see how much she loves it.

We got back and she started on her homework and here I am at the blog.

They are having an Easter egg Hunt on Holy Saturday at the Dardenne Prairie City Hall, I just saw the sign on the way home from school so I asked Nicole if she was interested and she of course said yes.

After her homework was done then it was time for the present, Grandpa got her a Bubble Fan, and a big bottle of bubble fluid.

Looks like she has got it down to making big bubbles.

Well that’s about it around the Weeb Ranch, Hope everyone will have a good night like here.

Be safe out there. Sam & Donna.

Wednesday Musings.

Up as usual, had coffee with Donna and then she was off to the truck company & then the restaurant, Nicole and I left about 30 minutes early as they had another Walk the Bus Day, took her to the American Legion Post parking lot and then when they were ready they all set out like a mini parade to the school grounds, the kid’s love it.

On back stopped at Lowes and then Auto Zone to look for some sort of step to replace the step bars that rusted out. I found single steps got each door for $28 a piece and they are silver aluminum and will not rust. So now I have another project to install.

No pictures today, took the camera with me, but nothing creative popped up in front of me. Just one of those slow days. Finally took the six bags of salt out of the back of the truck, and stacked it in the garage, They are 80 lbs a piece and add weight over the rear axle in the winter plus they are handy there when you have to spread it on the driveway.

Not much else going on. I see some of our friends that were snow birding or vacationing are now safe at home, Boy we haven’t even left yet. My trip to PA this winter and then all the bad weather just killed it for us this year.

That’s about it for today. be safe out there. Sam & Donna…

Tuesday Notes

Up early as usual and Donna was off to the truck company, at 07:00AM Grandpa & Nicole were off to Augusta Elementary, since it is 25.7 miles from the door of the Weeb Ranch to the door of the school, Nicole usually snoozes most of the way there,a  Grandpa sets the cruise and snoozes on the way home.(just kidding).

Today was just a piddle day and I went out and just like last year the fan on the trailer A/C wouldn’t run after setting all winter. My son Andy crawled up the roof and took the cover off and sprayed Wd-40 and turned it by hand and then it ran normally again. We have a Dometic A/C on this trailer and our last one had a 13.500btu Coleman, never had to do this with the Coleman and it lasted from 1993 to 2006 when we got this trailer. It also would freeze you out. This unit is a 13500btu also and barely carries the trailer. I know when it comes time to replace it I will put a 15.500 Coleman unit on it.

When we got home from school, Grandma had stopped somewhere and run into the bunny, (Easter) she brought home some gifts that the bunny had for Nicole including a stuffed bunny and some bubble making stuff for Easter.

Here are some shots taken of the bubble making in the backyard.

                           Is life great or what.

I have to tell you all, I was never Blessed with a daughter, We had 4 boys, I guess that God figured I was better raising boys. Our one son Tim had a daughter right off but then moved to New Jersey so we had very limited contact with his daughter our first Granddaughter. Who is 18 now.

Funny how life works, but now that Nicole has come into our lives, it is just one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. As if you can’t tell I truly adore this little lady and enjoy every minute we can spend together, she has instant laughter just watching her at play and how she enjoys such little things in life makes me feel so good. and she is just such a good and cute kid. You couldn’t have had one made to order any better than this. God I love her and treasure the time God is giving me with her. So if I bore you, sorry. but she is the girl that has captured Grandpa’s heart.

When I went to pick her  up today I saw two little things that stood out at her school, the first was a flower, the only one I saw on the grounds, don’t know how it got there but it adds a nice touch of beauty.

Also there is a bell that was saved from the original one room school house in Augusta, it is now in front of the Augusta Elementary school.

Look at the casting mark. Rumsey MFG CO. St Louis MO. 1883. This bell is 128 years old, That is so neat to have a bit of history and know kids were getting schooling even back then.

Back in the 1880s not very many kids even got any formal schooling so I thought this said a lot for this little German Farm town to even have had a school back then.

Well that’s about it for today from the Weeb Ranch, centrally located in Dardenne Prairie Mo. Hope everyone is having a great week. Be safe out there. Sam & Donna..