Sipriano / Little bird / Rain

Last week I was mulling whether or not to call Pollito and his drunk sidekick as the weeds and baby mesquite had gotten out of hand with all the recent rains. It was around 10:00 a.m. I was using my new hoe to try to clear some of the weeds when I circled around the back of the house as the weeds were too high to go through the front yard to get my gloves.

We do not have dogs, but all the neighbors do, and if someone walks by (very few people walk) they will let you know it. I happened to get a glimpse of a male riding a bicycle. Out here in the boonies, a person riding a bicycle is up to no good. It is usually gang members tagging the fences. I did not go to the front of the house and the dogs kept on barking. That could only mean that the person was still there.

I decided I did not need to hide and walked around the front only to see a big hefty guy standing by the fence apparently waiting on me. He saw I was leary so he took off his sunglasses and cap and said...remember me?... I am Sipriano the guy that worked with the County that picked up all the tree limbs that the guy you hired didn't. 

That put me at ease as I did remember him as he helped me back in December 2021 when that worthless yardman and his even more worthless worker (the scary guy) did not complete the job they were hired to do. I even wrote a letter to the County Commissioner praising Sipriano for going above and beyond his job duties to help me.

He told me that he had been by several times as he saw that my yard needed mowing but he never saw me outside and the gate was chained and locked. He said he was not working and needed a job. So I offered him one. A few glitches here and there mainly with his hired help (his young cousin) who was sick and tired of working in the sun and was hot...so he took him home. Why do young people not want to work? On the second day, he brought his son who just got out of fifth grade and that kid worked harder than his cousin who looked to be in his late teens.

While they were working they captured a very tame bird that most likely got out of his cage. They asked if he was mine...told them I could not have birds with all my cats so they were welcome to him before the cats decided they wanted a snack.

We have had so much rain, these were the latest figures...that is until last night. We had a very strong storm that began at 11:30 p.m. and ended Saturday at 1:20 a.m. The saturation has been unbelievable east of San Antonio.

I was watching a YouTube video from Campervan Kevin and loved how he and his friends went back to basics and tent, car, as well as van-camped...well except for Carolyn who took her RV. I am so envious!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtegjH6RftI&t=884s

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Free-range Chickens / Attacked by Fire Ants / Victor Wembanyama

Wednesday is trash day in our neighborhood and they have no set time for making their rounds. Sometimes they come very early other times not so much, I did not want to put the trash out because we were expecting showers last night/early this morning. The cats like to sleep on top of the trash can,  as it perches them high off the ground when sleeping on the back porch.

It did in fact rain but apparently not very much but that only worsened the humidity factor. One of the neighbor's (Walter's worthless former owner) free-range chicken and her chicks were making so much noise they woke me up. What is the fascination with having chickens when their feed is so expensive that you are better off purchasing the eggs at the store? Not to mention that he never asked permission to allow those chickens to come to my mother's house or for that matter the other neighbors' property.

You can see the black mother chicken but it is hard to see her chicks with the overgrown weeds and mesquite trees on the south side of the property. For clearing all this I will probably have to hire "Pollito" and his "drunk sidekick"...sigh...😒

I put out the trash, fed the cats, and set out to tackle the weeds when all of a sudden I felt a terrible pain in my foot. Though it has been a heck of a long time I instinctively knew I had fallen prey to a bite from fire ants...they do not call them that for nothing....grrrrr!!!!

I came inside and Googled what I was supposed to do.  After cleaning the area, applying lemon juice, and not feeling any comfort I slapped on some mint toothpaste and that eased the pain a bit. I was so mad I looked up how to kill them without poison. Boiled water and poured it on their mound though they do not actually have a mound but a hole in the ground. Did it work? Only for a while by the afternoon they were once again up and around. 😡

These are the rain totals we have had so far this month...

We are expecting more rain tomorrow and this weekend so do not know when I will get around to tackling the weeds. Unfortunately, I am having a lot of trouble trying to upload pictures to this post...I have no idea what is going on with Blogger...will try again tomorrow.

I wanted to congratulate the San Antonio Spurs for winning the lottery that allows them to select the first 2023 NBA draft pick Victor Wembanyama. He is a 7-foot-4, 19-year-old from France. Even CNN covered this story.

Even KSAT SA-Live had a good time with this story. They used a measuring tape to compare his height and arm span to one of their co-hosts...Jennifer Tobias-Struski.

San Antonio and surrounding area fans went crazy last night (I include myself) when it was announced that the Spurs got the first pick. People were out in the streets honking and celebrating like we had won another championship. Today fans were calling to buy season tickets all day long. It certainly feels great to receive some good news for a change!

On this happy note...Good night...May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Early morning gully washer / Eggs are affordable again

Rain is in the forecast this week and the weatherman warned that some might be severe. I woke up at 5:06 a.m. and considered turning on Morning Joe but decided to keep on sleeping. I am always amazed at my good hearing...something I got from my Dad. I am blind as a bat but at least I can hear. 😒

Last night I fell asleep in the living room recliner watching YouTube videos so was closer to the kitchen when I started to hear a dripping sound. How could that be when it wasn't raining? It was coming from the vent hood where we have a leak. I had placed an old metal pot to catch the drip and it paid off...I was able to hear it and by now was wide awake. Then the skies opened up and we had a heck of a gully washer.

This afternoon I needed to run some errands in town. My first stop was going to be HEB followed by the Post Office. However, as you always hear me complain...the HEB parking lot was full...you have to get there early in the morning. We need another store for the people who live in the north part of town so those of us in South Del Rio can have this store to ourselves...😉

Needed to pick up some items at Walmart and to my surprise noticed that egg prices had gone down and were affordable again. 18 large Cage Free Brown eggs $3.94.

I bought the 18 eggs carton of extra large white eggs for $2.04. I had not bought any since October 2022.

I am glad I purchased my cans of Great Value corn and various green beans for .50 cents last month as they have gone up to .64 cents.

I laugh at this brand of tomato sauce that is made in México and am surprised that Velveeta Cheese has not sued them. Though spelled Val Vita the names sound very much the same. This item was also high as Joe V's Smart Shop...owned by HEB...sells these for 5/$1.00 in Houston, Texas. I know that I am "obsessed with this store" but it was my favorite when I lived in Space City, USA. I check their ad weekly for price comparison though there is no comparison with the prices at Joe V's.

One of the items I wanted to purchase at HEB was potato salad so I had to settle for Walmart's. I forgot that they make theirs with onions and though I like them...they should not go in potato salad IMHO.

Gasoline is also on the rise...$2.959 for Unleaded and $3.129 a gallon for Diesel.

For those people that come for recreation to Lake Amistad, here are the lake levels. Hopefully, the current rains will be beneficial. This evening we had another shower but nothing like the one this morning.

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

Foul weather / Blogger Problems

We had some wild weather last week and it looks like it will continue this week as well. A little after lunch we had an electrical storm that of course left us without power but at least it was not for long. We have had so much precipitation that I no longer have bins or containers to capture more for my primitive rain catchment.

The rain catchment is not just to save water but because water ponds here as well. 

Just look at all the new weeds that have popped up and are waiting for me to try out the new hoe I bought recently at a price I could not pass up of only $7.03.

I thought these were cute but when I looked at the price decided they were not cute enough to justify paying $49.98.

Just look at my vacant lot behind the cinder block fence...those darn mesquite trees are green and lush...grrrrrrrrr!! 😭

Has anyone been having problems with Blogger comments lately? I had 5 comments in the Spam Folder and when I went to look 4 of them were mine and 1 was from a blogger but these date back to 2013. Today I had an additional three comments in Spam but those too are old.

Last week when I checked my Reading List it had pages and pages of old posts from blogger Dave of Living Out Here going back 11 years. I am sure he did not do eleven years of updates. What is up Blogger?

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid

We dodged a bullet / Hot and Humid

Yesterday we were under a Severe Weather Alert which is not rare for this area as it is our rainy season. The word that brings fear to my ears is "hail". The last severe hail storm we had was about two years ago and it did a number on Dad's old car and the roof.

The severe storms had two strong cells and originated in La Serrania de Coahuila. Ciudad Acuña/Del Rio was going to be the beneficiary of the first cell and Piedras Negras/Eagle Pass the second cell.

I decided to feed the cats early before the storms hit. It did not take long for the sky to turn dark and then the thunder began. My mother's house is on the southern tip of Val Verde County. Her house is closer to México than to HEB so we hear the Mexican alarms when they go off...when they did...I hurried inside. Funny thing the City of Del Rio alarms never went off and if they did...I did not hear them.

Thankfully the severe storms never arrived and all we got was thunder and drizzle. The 6:00 p.m. news said the strong cell moved 20 miles south and hit Brackettville, Texas...so we dodged a bullet yesterday.

Today it was very hot and humid. Del Rio reached 100 degrees this afternoon and you could feel it. It is the first 100-degree day in 2023. I needed to go to the post office but not with this heat!

There was an explosion at Deer Park, Texas this afternoon in one of their refineries. My best friend lives there so I reached out to her. She texted me to let me know they were in North Carolina for her granddaughter's graduation.

I can not believe how fast time has flown by. I remember when she was born and now she is graduating from college! It definitively made me feel old. Congratulations Angelina! 🎓

Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Aunty Acid