Bienvenidos

Man, what a weekend.  Was been busy from first light on Saturday until late Sunday night.  I have to go back to work just to get some rest.  Still, that's the way I prefer it - I'd rather be busy than bored.  

Hit the ground running on Saturday.  Up early, walked the dogs, short run, then off to the Farmer's Market.  Small, farmer's market at the old sugar plant where a lot of local farmers and artisan sell their stuff.  Our Golden foster group has negotiated a spot at the market just to promote our group.  Lots of happy, hot dogs.  Of course, being Goldens, they are always the center of attention.  

Came back and mowed the yard (good thing since it rained hard later in the day.  Then we threw on our country chic and headed off to the wedding.  Held on a local ranch/park down south of here.  Used to be a large ranch that was donated to the state as a park/museum/event area.  It is a working ranch with several older homes/barns and will host many corporate events.  They also have a small chapel for weddings.  Very nice affair.  

Of course, it wouldn't be a wedding without a longhorn steer.

    
I had a serious hankering for some good Mexican food so I hit the road to this little place I know.  Bit of a drive, but very good food, very popular, always open.  This place has been in business for many, many years (since 1941) that is open 24/7 (yes, 24 hours a day).  They are also located in a Mexican Market where you can find your ukulele or sombrero.  
   

This place is very popular and it seems like everyone goes there.  Of course, you never know WHO you will run into while strolling through the market.   

Springtime

Spring has sprung down here.  The oak out back is shedding all its leaves and fuzzy pollen leaving my patio furniture covered up.  Flowers are coming up all over, need to put out some fertilizer, remulch the beds, plant new flowers.  

Was trimming up the photinia out back two weeks ago when I noted a few "transients" had set up house in the bushes.  

Went back out this weekend to check on their progress.  Seems like we have a family moved in behind us.  
  

Mom!  What's for dinner?

Of course, the dogs were just enjoying some time in the sun.  

Yard dogs

Dirt tired

Made good progress this weekend on the beds.  Since I had Friday off, I scheduled Grayson’s annual checkup at the vet early and planned to have the mulch delivered right after the appointment.  Grayson came out with a clean bill of health (Thumbs Up!) and we were back on the road by 0930.  For some reason I cannot fathom, Grayson is not a big fan of going to the vet, but at least this time he didn’t have to stay overnight. 

I had hoped to have the mulch dropped by 1030 to get an early jump on the day before it started getting warm.  Of course, life has a way of changing your plans especially when the truck driver has a crappy GPS on his phone.  This guy was driving all over south Houston looking for my address (actually, my house is 5 miles from the mulch yard), after 5 phone calls, and more than a few cuss words, he finally showed up around 1400.  So, by the time he dropped his load, it was already in the mid-80s. It already has the makings of a warm summer and we are still 6 weeks away.   I was able to knock out about ½ the pile before heat stroke kicked in.  It’s been a while since I have done some serious dirt slinging like that and my back & shoulders reminded me of that fact the following morning.  Both dogs were a great help, serving like a line boss in the shade while I drug the wheelbarrow around the yard (Taking a water break, Boss).  I didn’t even try to run in the morning as I figured this was my exercise for the weekend.

The wife asks me why I don’t hire this job out (You’re too old to be doing that kind of stuff).  Maybe I am a bit stupid, but I sort of like doing this (occasionally).  In my mind, it’s honest work, honest sweat.  To me, something about the sweat equity that you put into a job makes you appreciate it more (and appreciate your indoor job no matter how crappy it may feel at times).  It reminds me of a valuable life lesson/epiphany my son got a few years back.   If you stay long enough in the scouts, you will eventually get tagged to help out on some kid’s Eagle project.  This is supposed to be one of the final tasks a candidate does before they can earn their Eagle.  Typical Eagle Projects are geared to help the community.  Some are with schools, others are with churches, while others will serve the local city park.  We’ve planted trees/bushes, installed a sprinkler system, built benches, rebuilt a baseball field, built a trail, and setup a orienteering course.  Most of these require the Scout to plan, coordinate, and execute the project without any adult help.  Typically, the projects are done when the kids are out of school and available (aka summer break).  Of course, by then, the temps are usually running in the mid-90s and humidity is way off the charts.  One summer, we signed up to help plant bushes bordering a local soccer field (to keep the cars from driving on the field and improve the park).  Since it was mid-July, we expected temperatures in the high 90s.  We had a big crew (25 kids & adults) cutting sod, roto-tilling beds, planning a row of bushes, and laying on mulch.  It was one of those days where everything you wore was either drenched or covered in mulch.  My son and I worked the entire day and towards the end, I made the casual comment that, some people do this every day for a living.  I think at that point he began to realize some of the benefits of getting a college education. 

Dishing up the dirt

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  Have a Margarita or Corona on me.  Funny thing about this "holiday" is that, while it is promoted big around here, they don't celebrate it in Mexico.  Methinks it is another one of those holidays contrived as an excuse to drink more alcohol (like St Patrick's Day).   


Ever started a blog post and just couldn't find an end?  You know, some of those where you bang out a neat thought and by the time you get to the end, it seems totally lame?  That's the way it's been this week.  I started three different themes this week and all three are still on the drawing board waiting for my muse to show up.  The week has been busy (again).  We just finished up our financial year at the office and you'd think things would slow down at the start of the new year, but you'd be wrong.  I've been deluged with a pile of reports, meetings, reviews, end-of-year analyses, audit reports, etc.  It's that time of year when we do annual reviews and I am in the middle of writing assessment for all my people (one of my 1/2 baked themes).  


I took off Friday to take care of some odd jobs.  Wanted to burn a day of vacation, had to take Grayson into the shop, was cleaning up the garage, intended to do some yard work, and had hoped to take my bride out for our anniversary dinner.  Yep.  It's that time again.  Time to renew the old contract, sign up for another year, slap on another coat of paint, dust off the dancing shoes and celebrate that momentous occasion from thirty two years ago.  32.  Wow.  Just writing that make me feel old.  There are countries that haven't been around that long.  When my bride and I said "I do", Carter was still in office, the Berlin Wall still stood, the US Hockey team defeated the Russians in the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid (Miracle on Ice), and gas was $1.25.  My how things have changed.  


As I inferred, I had hoped to take my bride out for dinner, but, after 32 years, you learn that life has plans and things change and you learn to roll with the punches.  My wife is taking care of her parents and had to work late last night which left us a narrow window for a late lunch/early dinner.  Instead of cramming in a "quickie", we chose option 3 to celebrate Sunday evening for a more relaxed gig.  Gives me a chance to go out for more flowers and chocolate.  


In the meantime, I know that each anniversary has certain traditional gifts (25 - Silver, 30 - Pearl).  So what do you get for your 32nd?  


How about.........Mulch?  

Ever few years, I rebuild our beds and replant bushes/flowers that got taken out by last year's drought.  Instead of hauling in 20-30 bags of mulch from Home Depot, it is cheaper to have a truck bring in a pile and I try to kill myself spreading the dirt.  I must be getting old, a few years ago, I could have knocked out this pile in half a day.  As it was, I did about 1/2 yesterday before I packed it in.  Plan to finish up this morning while it's cooler and go get some new plants/flowers.  

Playing in the dirt

One bed down

Of course, while waiting for the driver to find my house (got lost for 2 hours), I had to find something constructive to do to occupy my time...

St Arnold wind chime 

Beer music

  

Weekend fun

I'm still playing catch up from last week.  Took advantage of the great weather and spent most of my time in the yard this weekend trying to bring it back to life.  Last year's drought did a number on the grass and a few bushes and I am working to recover or replace some.  I'm planning to bring in a truckload of mulch and rebuild the beds in the back.  Last year I bought some Pavestone border blocks for one of the beds and I am planning to try a 2nd bed this year.  I wound up trimming the bushes back on Saturday.  Did the lawn yesterday, dogs loved spending the day outside.  Someday I hope to add a sprinkler system so I don't have to get up at 0400 every morning to move the sprinkler.    


We attended a BBQ cook off Saturday night.  Scored some VIP passes to a cook off for the local Ronald McDonald House. Some really nice BBQ from different teams, cold beer and a couple of great Texas bands (Roger Creager).  We haven't done a cook off in a while.  Each team has their own specialty to cook that you just had to sample.  Of course, everything was off the bone good, but after about 3 plates of brisket, ribs, chicken poppers, beans and potato salad, we were pretty much tapped out.     


Wedding update - Stephen and Rebecca were in town this weekend to meet with more wedding logistics.  .  The church and reception hall are locked down, now they are working on cake places.  They went to two tastings on Saturday and met with the minister on Sunday.  Lots of things to plan/arrange for their big day.  They are looking for a DJ and photographer next.  I don't recall all this chaos around our shindig, but, then again, it was almost 32 years ago and a lot of water has gone under that bridge.  From what they are gathering, each visit opens up a new avenue for expenses.  

Transformer Groom's Cake

What's your preference?

More Groom's Cake

Some of the groom's cakes were more expensive than the wedding cake.  


And they have settled on a destination for their honeymoon.  Care to guess where they are heading?  Sunny Caribbean?  Hawaii?  Southern Spain?  Europe?    




Nope - they've elected to go to ........ Sweden & Norway.  It's all about the Fjords.  

Fighting with the trees

Spring is here.
Spent a good portion of my weekend trying to recover the yard. It's my annual futile attempt to bring life back into the yard after a cold, dry winter. I mow, fertilize, spray, trim, rake, water, rebuild beds. But given the bugs, the heat, the drought and two large, highly prolific dogs, I might be more successful if I just paved over the yard (like a co-worker did).

This year I am trying to build up one of the beds with stone so I can replant the Vinca that died out in the last freeze. Almost 1/2 way done.

One of my challenges is with my trees. We set up camp at this house back in 1990 and there were a number of trees already on the lot. Five Arizona Ash in the front/side yard, one plum tree and one live oak in the back yard. Over the years, I've taken out three of the Ash trees and the plum (died due to freeze damage and disease). Replaced the side trees with two live oaks and one Bradford Pear on the side yard. In hindsight, we should have only put in two trees given that the oaks will probably overshadow the pear some day. I used to be an amateur arborist. Loved trees. At one point, I was going to major in Forestry but chose to be an engineer. I love trees, but some I am not a big fan of. Arizona Ash are in that category. They are cheap trees that builders plant at new houses to give the appearance of greenery. The builder planed a ton of them all over the neighborhood when this subdivision was being build back in the 70's. They are very messy trees with nasty habits. Drop leaves 3 times a year (and not just a few leaves). In spring, when they bud out, the drop all their seedlings all over the roof/driveway/yard. They have a bad root system and are prone to cause foundation problems and disease. They are also very "twiggy" and drop twigs all over the place. I typically spend big $$ to have them trimmed every few years, but they thrive on the attention. The two trees I have left are gargantuan and not easy to take out. I had a third mammoth on the side of the house (less than 5 feet from the breakfast room) that we took out 10 years back because it was dying and we were afraid that it might topple over during a high wind/hurricane.

In the back yard there is basically one huge Live Oak. This one has been my favorite, although it is a bit root bound. This is a very mature tree that covers most of the yard and has withstood several storms/hurricanes/bugs/squirrels. This tree stays green/full all winter long but around spring, drops all its leaves. Within about 2 weeks, the tree drops everything and starts sprouting new leaves.  One of the byproducts of this oak are the catkins.  Those are the fuzzy looking fronds that fall off the tree.  Started about three weeks ago and it has been raining catkins ever since.   

The male catkins of post oak release millions of pollen grains when they flower every spring.

Maybe it's the drought, maybe it was the hard freeze back in January, but we are being buried under a ton of these things.  I clear off the back patio only to have it completely covered within a day or two.  And every time the dogs go out, they seem to be covered in this stuff and bring it back in the house with them.  We're having to vacuum twice a day just to keep the floors clear.  On top of the mess, these produce a lot of oak pollen which is driving my hayfever through the roof.  Was up on the roof Sunday trying to blow off the accumulation and had to use a surgical mask just to breath.  These should pass in another week or two, but we really need a good rain and wind to clear the tree out.  A few years back after Hurricane Ike, we had a bumper crop of acorns, but they weren't as annoying as these catkins.