Seeing the family in Marengo, IA

 70º here in Clarinda with sunny skies at 11:30 am Tuesday.

Had enjoyable weekend in Marengo with Cam & Patty, their kids and grandkids.

Easter eggs were hidden and found by the 2-year old and 6-year old great grandkids.

Played a bingo game that the kids could be involved in.

Great Grand's enjoyed the things Phyllis had gotten for them, some in Mexico.

Have most of the stuff from the deck, stored in the shop building over-winter, back on the deck.  This is wheeling the swing seat over.

Gave the Ash tree it's annual dose of Emerald Ash Borer treatment.

Will probably mow the yard today---since some neighbors have already done it to theirs.

Later, LC

Home in Clarinda, IA for a while

 60º with heavy overcast here in Clarinda, IA at 5:00 pm on Monday.

We finished our drive from La Feria, TX to Clarinda, IA about 11 am Sunday.  Had several days of driving in very high winds.  Not the best when you are towing a box behind your pickup.  Sunday had strong south winds and when we were driving the 40 miles between Hiawatha, KS and St. Joe, MO average MPG was 8.2 -- turned north at St. Joe and between there and Clarinda, even with several miles going west at times, averaged 12.2.  Quite a percentage different.  Was on the road 4 days and stayed in Passport America Parks 2 nights at the $20 and two nights in driveways of friends.  Not bad for motel costs!  More than makes up for the gas used.

Had a great supper with them, of their own raised beef!  And then spent the evening letting the women beat the men in most of the Pegs & Jokers games.

Before supper, I rode with Bill the short mile to his cattle yard where he topped off water for the cattle and fed the young bull he recently got.

Kathy has never turned away a cat, and many have multiplied on their farm---they have never had mouse problems!

While at our RV Park near Perkins, OK, we watched local news program on TV.  They never had a break for advertisments.........there were ads continually running on the side as they continued with the news, weather, and sports.  I'm sure it added much time to their actual content of broadcast.

We got to Harold & LaRhoda Neher's about 12:30 Saturday.  Ate lunch at the local Pizza Hut.  Then visited and played Pegs & Jokers.  LaRhoda had a salad & sandwich supper and we played some more Pegs & Jokers.  To keep the women happy, Harold & I let them win most of the games.  Sunday morning had an excellent egg casserole breakfast and we were on our final leg home from Texas.

Dumped all the tanks of the trailer down at the city's dumpsite near the airport and backed the trailer into the drive.  Took a bit of time to unload much of the pickup, including the 40 lbs. of 1015 Onions.  I had individually wrapped each onion to protect them while in the pickup and to extend the time before they need used.  Hung them up in the garage.

Then, We went up to the Presbyterian church and I sang with Linda's group -- Cantata.  I was sight reading, where the group had practiced for a month, but although there were 6 or 7 basses. there were only two tenors and Linda appreciated the help.

 I got along well, as Bob Keefer is a very strong tenor and I followed him well.

Afterwards we went with all the chorus and spouses to Linda & Ron's new house for cookies & punch.  Got a tour of their nice new home.

The gathering were all around the TV, watching the Iowa University Ladies Basketball team playing in the finals.

  

Today I cleaned the winter's collection of leaves off the deck and rolled the Softub out of the shop and got it filled with water, and the pump started.  It is heated only by the ambient heat from the circulating pump.  Was up to about 60º a bit ago, will be at 100º by sometime tomorrow.

More later, LCM

On the road - In Oklahoma for the night

 60º with rain in Perkins, OK at 8:15 pm Thursday.  Ran in rain much of the day, coming from Riesel, TX where we spent the night in our trailer.

I had moved our travel trailer up by the front door of our home a few days ago and had the hitch aimed back at the grass area so the door of the trailer was right across from the house front door.  Haven't had more than an inch of rain--a splash at a time--since last November when we had parked the trailer.  But, Tuesday afternoon and overnight we got about 4" of rain.  It had stopped with just under 3" Tuesday afternoon when we got home from our end-of-the-year Men & Women of A-Chord luncheon and gathering in McAllen.  I thought they had not predicted any more rain, so thought it would settle out by Wednesday morning when we wanted to leave for Iowa.  Well, we slept in the trailer as had washed bed clothes and pretty much got stuff out of the house.  Rain started about 12:30 am and rained until 7:30 am.  Was a mess.  We went ahead and

finished loading the pickup.

About 9 o'clock I put the pickup in 4-wheel drive and slowly made my way onto the grass/mud.  After many attempts, and making 3 or 4" deep ruts, got hooked up and backed the trailer out onto the street.  We pulled out of the park about 10:15 am, stopped at Sam's Club to fill up with gas and got on the road.

And covered Jan & Lynn's golf cart (Tried to put it in the Texas Room, but even with the doors off the hinges, it was still about an inch too wide).

Got as far as a Passport America RV Park near Riesel, TX about 7:30 pm.  Drove just over 530 miles, and with the trailer, that was long enough.

This morning left that park about 9 am and only had about 370 miles today and it was nearly all on Interstate.   But,,,,,,,,,,,,,ran in to construction after construction.  One of them we went about 4 miles in one hour--in pouring rain.  The other construction sites weren't that long, but was stopped, waiting many times.  Finally got to this park near Perkins, OK about 5:45 pm with only a light mist.  Was able to get set up before dark.

Tomorrow we will go to Bill & Kathy Connelly's place near Tescott, KS - NW of Saline, visit with them and stay in the driveway.  Saturday will drive from their place to Harold & LaRhoda Neher's place near Hiawatha, KS - visit with them, stay in the driveway and leave early Sunday morning for the last 100 miles to Clarinda.

High winds are forecast for here, with slight chance of rain overnight.

Should mention we had a good gathering of the Men & Women of A-Chord Tuesday.

It was Phyllis' birthday and I surprised her with a Rose and a birthday cake.

The Bella Mia Italian Restaurant has fabulous food and the 40-some, chorus members and spouses or friend, all enjoyed.  We also sang some 5 or 6 songs for the enjoyment of the staff and the other customers.  It started to rain real heavy just as we were leaving the restaurant and rained hard on us as we drove the 30 miles back to our place, dropping off another couple that we had picked up in Snow to Sun RV Resort in Weslaco.

Bob, our Director, thanked all of us for the season's performances.  Here he is directing us on one of the songs.  We had performed our last concert just on Sunday evening, the 26th, at Ranchero Village in Weslaco.

More later, LC

Packing up to head north -- last Men & Women of A-Chord concert tonight

 

  · Got this in an email this morning ...too fun not to share it!!

Mergatroyd ? Do you remember that word?

Would you believe the spell-checker did not recognize the word, Mergatroyd

Heavens to Mergatroyd!

The other day a not so elderly (I say 75) lady said something to her son about driving a Jalopy; and he looked at her quizzically and said, "What the heck is a Jalopy?" He had never heard of the word jalopy! She knew she was old ...But not that old.

Well, I hope you are Hunky Dory when you read this and chuckle.

About a month ago, I illuminated some old expressions that have become obsolete because of the inexorable march of technology.

These phrases included: Don't touch that dial; Carbon copy; You sound like a broken record; and Hung out to dry.

Back in the olden days we had a lot of moxie . We'd put on our best bib and tucker, to straighten up and fly right.

Heavens to Betsy!

Gee whillikers!

Jumping Jehoshaphat!

Holy Moley!

We were in like Flynn and living the life of Riley ; and even a regular guy couldn't accuse us of being a knucklehead, a nincompoop or a pill. Not for all the tea in China!

Back in the olden days, life used to be swell, but when's the last time anything was swell? Swell has gone the way of beehives, pageboys and the D.A.; of spats, knickers, fedoras, poodle skirts, saddle shoes, and pedal pushers.

Oh, my aching back! Kilroy was here, but he isn't anymore.

We wake up from what surely has been just a short nap, and before we can say, "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle!" Or, "This is a fine kettle of fish!" We discover that the words we grew up with, the words that seemed omnipresent, as oxygen, have vanished with scarcely a notice from our tongues and our pens and our keyboards.

Poof, go the words of our youth, the words we've left behind. We blink, and they're gone. Where have all those great phrases gone?

Long gone: Pshaw, The milkman did it. Hey! It's your nickel. Don't forget to pull the chain. Knee high to a grasshopper.

Well, Fiddlesticks! Going like sixty. I'll see you in the funny papers. Don't take any wooden nickels. Wake up and smell the roses.

It turns out there are more of these lost words and expressions than Carter has liver pills.

This can be disturbing stuff! (Carter's Little Liver Pills are gone too!)

Leaves us to wonder where Superman will find a phone booth.

See ya later, alligator! Okidoki .

You'll notice they left out "Monkey Business"!!!

***********************************************************************

88º and VERY MUGGY today - at 3:30 pm on Sunday.

Have spent much of last few days packing up and today started actually loading the back of the pickup.

Climbed the ladder and removed outdoor portion of the weather station. Is quite a ways up there for an old guy.

Lowered the two awnings we have, for the summer.

This last Friday we got two 20 lb. bags of sweet 1015 onions from Veggie Man Joe. Wrapped each onion in paper and put in smaller bags which can be laid around back of pickup and, hopefully, avoid bruising. Also got 20 lbs. of carrots and 36 green Avocados. Hope they all last for a while into the summer when we get back to Iowa.

Caught the temperature recording outside, in the sunshine, at 101º but by time got my camera out had "cooled" to 100 degrees.

This was Thursday. Friday cooled off and humidity came down to around 30% at one point. Humidity is back up today.

Thursday early evening we took Darlene and her Niece Kathy to Longhorn Cattle Company in San Benito for a "going home" dinner. Kathy flew down from Grand Rapids on Tuesday and is accompanying Darlene back to Grand Rapids where Darlene will stay with her granddaughter for a few days or week before going back north to West Branch, Michigan.

Friday morning we stopped at La Feria Café for a late breakfast on our way to delivering the two ladies to the Valley International Airport in Harlingen. Darlene called about 10 pm that they had made it.

Gail Ferguson, from Ansley, NE, tried crawfish from one of the local grocery stores. Was already cooked. Several were outside a motorhome trying them out and offered me some.

They are difficult to disassemble, and a bit messy.  The tiny bit of meat inside did taste good, though.  Phyllis tried just a bit and couldn't stomach it.

The only one Bougenvelia plant of the 5 we planted some 6 or 7 years ago that has survived the brainless management having all plants within 4 feet of the fence cut down a couple seasons ago.  By putting some tomato cages around the stump it kept the lawnmower guys from string killing it back.  Couple for the neighbor to the east have survived, also.

I planted this Aloe Vera plant as a tiny thing in 2011.  This is the first time I saw it bloom.

Will leave after bit for our last Barbershop Chorus performance of the season.  Seems like this winter season has gone to fast.. We have our end-of-year get together at an Italian Restaurant in McAllen on Tuesday which includes spouses or friends.  Think will be about 35-40 for the gathering.  Then, we head north.  Hope it warms up there.

LC

Returned from The Van Zandt County Bluegrass Festival to a cool bit of weather here in the Rio Grande Valley

 69º here in Kenwood with heavy overcast at 4:30 pm Monday -- was 52º when we got up this morning. We left Canton, TX yesterday morning just after 6 am and it was 31º at the time.  Guess winter isn't over with.

Drove the 520 miles back from Canton, TX yesterday, Sunday, and the last 150 miles, coming down Highway 77, never saw so much traffic.  Looked like the traffic in Dallas or Houston, or some big city.  We were wondering if it was some of the "Spring Break" people heading home.

We got to hear eight terrific bands Friday & Saturday Dueling Hearts, Riley Gilbreath & Lone Star Blue, Tin Top Road, Midnight Hollow, Sabine River Bend Bluegrass Band, That Dalton Gang, Springstreet, and The Kody Norris Show; and also Anthony Bonnette on Thursday evening after dinner served at the Canton Civic Center.

Anthony Bonnet

Our favorite - The Kody Norris Show.  Got to visit with them for some time at their Merchandise table.  Will see them again in Georgia and in Missouri.  Click HERE for one of their songs 

 That Dalton Gang  Click HERE for Dalton Gang

And CLICK HERE for another one

Springstreet -- a very fine group of men and good singers and musicians.  Beulah Land by Springstreet  Click on that link for one of the great songs we heard.  And, another HERE    Click HERE for Grandpa song. and HERE is another.

We are in the last couple weeks of being at our winter home now.  Working down the foodstuffs, deciding what to leave here and what to take north, getting ready to close up this house.  Then when we get back to our northern house we will have the reverse, opening up all the window coverings, stocking up on food, etc.    We drove to Costco in Pharr today to pick up last batch of meds that we will need for a few months.  Also, lining up what festivals we will be travelling to, with the travel trailer, this summer.  Some in North Carolina, Georgia, Missouri, and Nebraska -- at least at this time.

This picture, purloined from a Facebook memory of someone's, reminds me of the baking and canning, and cooking of my mom back in central Nebraska.

Will post later, LC

At VanZandt County Blegrass Festival

 39 degrees here in Canton, Texas at 8:45 am Saturday morning.  Drove the 540 miles here Thursday, leaving Kenwood at 5:10 am.  Was a rainy day and that evening, when we were in the Canton Civic Center at the Van Zandt County Bluegrass Festival at the first show of the festival, the storm sirens went off and the 50 or so people in the crowd all went to the restrooms for about 10 minutes until the all-clear was sounded.  There was considerable damage in the Dallas area, about 50 or 60 miles west of us.

Well, the computer is overloaded and running slow with converting files I recorded last night being converted to .mp3 files so can listen to in pickup.  So, will paste this, and then try later.

A big city New York lawyer went duck hunting in rural Texas. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence. As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing. The litigator responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm going into retrieve it." The old farmer replied. "This is my property, and you are not coming over here." The indignant lawyer said, "I am one of the best trial attorneys in the U.S. and, if you don't let me get that duck, I'll sue you and take everything you own." The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we do things in Texas. We settle small disagreements like this with the Texas Three Kick Rule." The lawyer asked, "What is the Texas Three Kick Rule?" The farmer replied, "Well, first I kick you three times and then you kick me three times, and so on, back and forth, until someone gives up." The attorney quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom. The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the city feller. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy work boot into the lawyer's shin and dropped him to his knees. His second kick landed square on the man's nose. The barrister was flat on his belly when the farmer's third kick to a kidney nearly caused him to give up. The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet and said, "Okay, you old coot, now it's my turn!" The old farmer smiled and said, "Naw, I give up. You can have the duck."

Am back at the festival, waiting for it to start today.   Saw this and think you should read it, too. 

"It’s 2023...I'm old, I am tired & I still have so many unanswered questions!!!! I haven’t found out who let the dogs out, where’s the beef, or how to get to Sesame Street. Don't know why Dora doesn’t just use Google Maps, why all the flavors of fruit loops taste exactly the same, or how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop!!! Why eggs are packaged in a flimsy carton but batteries are secured in plastic that’s tough as nails. What does the fox say or why “abbreviated” is such a long word. Why is there a D in ‘fridge’ but not in refrigerator, why lemon juice is made with artificial flavor, yet dish-washing liquid is made with real lemons. Or why they sterilize the needle for lethal injections & why do you have to “put your two cents in” but it’s only a “penny for your thoughts” where’s that extra penny going to??? Why does The Alphabet Song & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star have the same tune, why did you just try to sing those two previous songs??? And just what exactly is Victoria’s secret? and where is Waldo? Can you hear me now? And do you really think I am this witty??? I actually got this from a friend, who stole it from her brother’s girlfriend’s uncle’s cousin who lived next door to an old classmate’s mailman!!! Now it is your turn to take it from me... C

Enjoy the laugh. 😜"