Heat, heat and more heat!

It has been awfully hot these past couple of days and looks like we have a couple of 100 plus degree days ahead of us.  I just don't know when I became a wimp!  I used to love hot summers, the hotter the better...not so much now :-(

DEL RIO, TX Weather Updated: Jun 02 8:06AM CDT

Mon   Jun 02

Sunny

Hi  99º

Lo  73º

CHANCE OF PRECIP   0%

Tue   Jun 03

Partly Cloudy

Hi  98º

Lo  74º

CHANCE OF PRECIP   0%

Wed   Jun 04

Sunny

Hi  101º

Lo  75º

CHANCE OF PRECIP   0%

Thu   Jun 05

Sunny

Hi  103º

Lo  75º

CHANCE OF PRECIP   0%

Fri   Jun 06

Partly Cloudy

Hi  103º

Lo  75º

CHANCE OF PRECIP

I have been so wrapped up watching the Spurs make their way to the NBA Finals that I am behind on a lot of things.  So much for my Brazilian soap operas,,,,jajajajaja :D

This evening I spent three hours watering and re-watering the trees as this heat wave is taking a toll on them as well.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

An exhausting day

Got up early to take care of all the errands and chores I did not get to yesterday.  I am pretty beat from all the research I have been doing on mother's chronic back pain, the heat and just plain physical fatigue.

Drove dad's old car into town and rolled both windows down...actually the heat was not so bad using this arrangement but then again it was only 98 degrees at the time.

True to my procrastinating ways...I usually put off buying my license plate tags to the last minute.  Was expecting a big crowd but there was only one person in front of me.  Living in a small town does have its advantages.

Went by the hospital to pick up a copy of mother's MRI for her upcoming appointment in San Angelo, Texas.  It paid to call ahead of time or I would have had to make two trips.  Was told I had to take a letter signed by her authorizing me to pick this up on her behalf along with her picture I.D. as well as mine.  It is good to see they have measures in place to protect patients records.

I went to HEB to pick up a couple of items, was going to use their free phone to call Mom.  It appears that either it was not working or they disconnected it :-(   Oh well...I am still not going to buy a cell phone!

For my European readers who ask that I keep posting the gasoline prices in the States...here are the going prices in Del Rio, Texas today.  I apologize for the poor quality...I took them through a dirty windshield! Click on the pictures to enlarge.

Late this afternoon I took a two hour nap, got up at 9:00 p.m. and had to go water the trees and plants that are looking pathetic with the three digit temperatures we have been experiencing lately.  It took me two hours to water them and I could have probably stayed out there a little longer.

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Late blooming purple sage

A year ago in the latter part of May 2012 the purple sage in the area had some beautiful blooms http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2012/05/sage-is-blooming.html   not so much this time around.  Only the sage by Walter's corral where I dump the water he refuses to drink has blooms of any significance this year.

The on going drought, lack of rain and red ants have taken their toll on the trees as well.  Mother has lost three pecan trees...even though I might have had a hand in that when I decided to prune them when I was not supposed to last year.  But Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh....let's keep that little secret to ourselves :-(

Got up at 7:00 a.m. to put out the trash and decided since I was already up might as well water the trees even though I watered them last night.   Yesterday (Tuesday) we got to 104 and today we reached 103 degrees so I wanted to make sure the trees, shrubs and plants had plenty of water.

Decided to make an early run to town before the heat of the day set in.  Tonight I watered the trees as well... as I might not be able to get to them...what with the NBA finals starting tomorrow.  GO SPURS GO!!!!!!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Whoever heard of watering trees in February?

I have been busy as a bee.  Speaking of bees...well more like wasps...they are already out and about and buzzing me!

Mother has been making comments about how full and lush our neighbor's trees are because he waters them every day.  Like I told her...he only has two trees...you have a lot more than that.  The only reason he waters them is because he is a "Nosy Rosie" who runs and grabs his water hose whenever he sees something so the neighbors wont think he is prying :D

Guess what I did this afternoon?  Yeah...I watered her trees and plants! I also hosed down our vehicles and my wonderful Kodiak canvas tent after those wicked winds on Thursday.  Made me wonder how strong the winds were down in Terlingua?

Mother's mini van is running good after her recent tune-up. He also fixed the lock on the sliding door and sold us some new (to us) hubcaps that make her look much better.  Hopefully the mini van as well as Dad's old car wont need his services anytime soon.

I have been thinking about starting a separate blog so I can document what is going on in Walter's world and maybe one day Val Verde County will form an animal abuse unit or at least follow up on cases that have been reported to them.  I am still kicking that idea around in my head.

Both last night and today a different horse (of the three that came last week) has come by to eat his hay and it has made him go crazy.  I don't blame him one bit.  His owner is not dumb, he knows if he has bales of hay outside of his corral, the sheriff will not be stopping by.  Apparently these horses that have come for a visit, are hungry too.  If the Deputies could only see that the bales do not get consumed at the rate that a horse of his stature would normally eat.

I heard Walter do his yell (sorry I do not know proper horse terminology) and I ran outside.  If I could hear it two lots down how come his owners did not?  Had to yell for that kid even though his father's vehicle was there.  I almost died laughing when he got a rope and was going to try to lasso that horse...yeah like he really knows how...horse didn't wait, he took off...jajajajajaja :D

Their family dog had the nerve to bark at me!

Good night.  May you all have Terlingua Dreams.

Mesquite Pods

Hi guys!  Had not been able to post since I have been busy raking and picking up the hundreds and hundreds of mesquite pods in Mom’s yard.  Seems that as soon as I think I am done…more fall and I have to start all over.

Got a funny e-mail from Ariana? Sorry if I messed up your name I am working from memory and you all know how bad mine is.  She was wondering if I was honeymooning with Charlie, jajajajajaja :D

I have been getting up at 6:30 a.m. to beat the heat and wacking weeds right and left.  I made the mistake of trimming two pecan trees and killed them in the process.  Who knew pecan trees should not be pruned in August?  I felt bad so I have been giving them plenty of water hoping they come back.

With that experience under my hat but knowing fully well it would not work on those horrible mesquite trees, I took to the task of pruning them as well hoping they would die!  Have I mentioned how much I detest mesquite trees? 

Did you know mesquite trees ooze reddish brown sap when you prune them?  They made my pruners sticky and NO they have not died off (sad face).

When the water meter sprung a leak it made the weeds on the street side of the fence grow so with weed eater in hand I decided to rectify that.  I did such a good job, I decided to do the whole fence.  Hopefully with the lack of rain and the temperature in the 100’s it wont soon grow back.



Before

AFTER

Mother has lots of trees spread over three lots and it takes me about an hour and a half to water them all.  I have been going out after the evening news when most of the neighbors are in bed or at least inside their house and watering her trees and plants.  By the time I come in, I take a shower and go to bed…too tired to go online.

I have been leaving for Houston since this past Monday but something always comes up.  As a matter of fact I was supposed to be on my way today, hopefully I will be able to leave soon.  I can only imagine the jungle I am going to find when I get there :-(

First Day of School

For some reason I could not sleep last night so started sorting through my computer pictures.  Mom could not sleep either so she and I looked at pictures for about an hour then called it a night.

We got up early this morning (for us) since she had a doctor’s appointment.  There we ran into this lady we know, who in turn introduced us to another couple.  I have yet to decide if I like going places and always running into familiar faces or whether I prefer the anonymity of the big city.

Afterward we went to Billy Bob’s favorite store, Wally World.  Actually she stayed in the car and I just went in to buy us some Blue Bell Ice Cream.  There was no way in the world I was going to go near the place this past weekend being it was the tax free holiday and millions of people were going to be shopping for back to school.

I was surprised there were so many kids there, thought school started today.  I asked the cashier and he said those were the kids that did not get their shots in time. No shot records, no school and indeed today was the first day of school.  I ask myself, how lazy can a parent be when they had all summer long to take care of this.  I believe the city even had a couple of free vaccination clinics...oh well it’s their kids future not mine.

I was so tired I even fell asleep during the news, guess my body really needed a nap.  Tonight I also got back to the task of watering all the trees after taking an eleven day break after the 4.47 inches we got back on August 11^th.

Good night.  Terlingua Dreams.