Rain, Rain and more Rain...

It has been raining practically non-stop since late Friday night.  We really need the rain but not this much in such a short time frame.  What happens when it rains in south Val Verde county? Well, of course, the signal on my worthless DISH goes out...both TV and Internet.

 I can not believe a city the size of Del Rio has such unreliable service when my Terlingua friends out deep in the desert outback have excellent connectivity...go figure!

I really hate to see all those precious gallons of water go to waste and as preparation for my future desert life, I put out as many containers, 5-gallon buckets, ice chests, trash cans and anything that could serve as my rainwater catchment and storage.

At the suggestion of one of my readers, I purchased a five dollar Tracfone some time ago.  Loved it, it was a no frills phone and very easy to use.  However, I was notified that my 2G phone would no longer work after December 31, 2016.  They did send a free replacement phone but it was a smartphone and I really did not want it.  I have over 2000 minutes leftover since I hardly use the darn thing, I only have it in case of an emergency as we constantly travel to San Antonio and back.

I have no idea how people can write posts using their smartphones.  I tried since my home internet was dead but failed, not that that should come as a surprise to anyone :D

Without further ado....


Strike Two - Post for Thursday, December 1, 2016

Administered the three tranquilizer pills to Tammie hidden in a hot dog early Thursday morning. This time I was very hopeful of succeeding as she laid down to sleep next to Oscar after having breakfast. They were next to dad's old car.  Both looked to be fast asleep but Oscar saw me lurking around and his movements woke her up.

As you can see Terlita does not have a high clearance

She, of course, took off and ended up under Terlita (my non-working camping van).  Terlita is parked in the carport/garage in an unlevel spot.  In some areas, it has a 7-inch clearance and in others 8 inches.

I would have had to get on my belly, wait until she was passed out and then dragged her out and carried her to my vehicle. That is if she was within arms reach, as I am not exactly Twiggy (famous model in the 60's) to be able to contour my body to fit into such a tight space.

Folks...that just did not happen!  First of all, she never passed out and secondly, I could not risk trying to get her out without her biting me. For those new to this blog...I do not have health insurance and a trip to the hospital is not in my budget.

Not within arms reach under Terlita

I truly care for this dog but not at the risk of personal injury to myself. On the positive side, each day she seems to have fewer quills on her face.  She is taking antibiotics, anti-inflammatory and pain medication, so she is not suffering and actually is doing quite well under the circumstances.

Today she is down to four quills.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Rain / Electronic Receipts / Fire Ants

Woke up to a cool, cloudy and rainy morning...it felt so much like...Spring!  We got .19" of rain and I managed to collect around 30 gallons in my rain catchment for dummies.  As you know it is comprised of various buckets, containers and trash cans.  I did say it was for dummies...didn't I?  :D

Did you know that you now have the option to receive electronic receipts of your purchases at Home Depot?  What a great idea, now I don't have to stuff them in shoe boxes and they will be a lot easier to find if need be.

Yesterday I managed to kill three large red ant fire ant mounds even though here in Del Rio they are not mounds but a hole in the ground where the darn things hoard their catch.  Today I found another one in the north part of the property and exterminated it as well.  Maybe now the trees will have a chance to thrive.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

We got rain!

I have gotten to the point that I no longer believe weather forecasters...they are always wrong!  Kept on getting weather alerts this afternoon but 3:00 p.m. came and went and nothing.  Finally at 5:40 p.m. it began to pour and along with it came pea size hail.  Of course I could not find my camera so was not able to capture any of the hail.

Looking to the south of the property

My poor flowers :-(

 

This is the spot where my Kodiak Canvas tent used to be

Looking to the north of the property.
This is where Cliff and friends have so kindly freed
up a lot of room by cutting down pesky mesquites trees :-)

Per Weatherbug we got .06 of an inch but it seemed like a lot more.  The high today was 91 and the low 69 with winds at the peak of the storm from the NW at 38 mph.  It dropped 18 degrees real quick like.

Set up my rain catchment system for Dummies :D

I hope you too were the recipient of some liquid gold.  It was really needed in this part of West Texas.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

A Windy Thursday

It was a very windy day...per Weatherbug, we had gusts up to 41 m.p.h.  Thankfully we also had mild temperatures.  High of 78 and low of 62.

Had errands to run, so I fired up dad's old car and headed to town.  I have mentioned many times before that I only go to Walmart on Thursday.  In my personal experience it is the perfect day because people have not been paid yet and are waiting for Friday and the weekend to hit the store.

Shoeless Joe,  if you are reading this and think that 4:00 a.m. is good any day of the week to visit said store...you are probably right...but that was when I lived in Houston and could still see well at night.  I now limit my visits to daylight hours :)

My rain catchment system for Dummies yield 4.5 gallons of murky water.

Gasoline prices have been holding steady this week.  Of course,  if you buy a store cash card at HEB, Stripes or Walmart they will knock .12 cents off the price per gallon...I don't play those games...I like one price whether I choose cash, credit, or any other form of payment!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Rain Catchment for Dummies

We finally got a couple of sprinkles late this afternoon... .03 inches to be exact...or basically nothing.  Decided I would catch me some of this liquid gold for my yet to plant petunias and miscellaneous flowers.

Problem is I do not have rain catchment like my friends in Terlingua.  So I improvised a Rain Catchment System for Dummies :D

How long has it been since I went to Home Depot to buy my petunias and begonias...a week or two?  Darn, need to plant them...they are getting big!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.