An Old Goat Ranch in Texas

[terry.dinerman]

The Pack -

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

So sorry for your doggie, 14 years is a good long life for a dog but is always too short for us humans that have to suffer the melancholy of their passing. I thought for the longest that you were going to tell us of a snake bite but somehow glad that that, wasn't the bringer of Bob.

 

[terry.dinerman]

So sorry for your doggie, 14 years is a good long life for a dog but is always too short for us humans that have to suffer the melancholy of their passing. I thought for the longest that you were going to tell us of a snake bite but somehow glad that that, wasn't the bringer of Bob.

Yes indeed ... dogs give us so much ...

It's very telling that when you lose a dog, you begin to miss every dog you ever had all over again ... they really do become a part of you ...

No, it wasn't a snake that done Dottie in ... just time ...

Dottie was wise in the ways of snakes ... the yard at our home in the bottom-land forests of Brazoria County saw its share of copper-heads, which she dispatched swiftly, expertly, and consumed with gusto, keeping our yard safe for the kids in the process ... how she never got bitten was another one of her mysteries, like her abilities to predict the weather ...

Even Bob could not deny Dotties charm ... he waited till her her work was done and her spring finally wound down ... and took her gently ...

Terry

 

[BayouMan]

Hey Terry,
It has been over a month now and we haven't heard from you. Hope all are doing well and can't wait to hear more on your project.
Mike

 

[terry.dinerman]

Hey Terry,
It has been over a month now and we haven't heard from you. Hope all are doing well and can't wait to hear more on your project.
Mike

Hi Mike!

Well, it's a sort of a "Good News / Bad News" thing....

The "Good News" is:

I am on an extended vacation until the end of July...this is going to allow me enough time to FINISH the water system at The Old Goat Ranch.

The "Bad News" is:

My counterpart aboard ship broke his collarbone when he bounced off the highway having gone off the high-side on his motorcycle and needs the extra time to mend.

Being a Good Medic he was dressed for success in full leathers and a brain bucket so the collarbone and a little bark was all.

The endgame is: He gets to keep all is marbles, a bunch of metal plates and screws in his shoulder and the trashed helmet as a memento...a GOOD THING.

(Sorry SOB messed up a good 650 Triumph learning about the delicate interplay between Gravity, Centripetal Force, and Coefficients of Friction....)

SO - Right now I am up at TOGR....it is as hot as a pancake griddle here in Central Texas, the whole county is on fire and the work is the usual mixed bag of pitfalls and paramounts...

I promise the usual exhaustive coverage as soon as I can get my fingers unbent from where they are stuck on the shovel....I will be taking an extended 8 week deployment to ballance out the schedule and will have plenty of time to write.

Go sit in the shade and drink something cool ... then tell somebody you love them.

Terry

 

[BayouMan]

Hey Terry,

I plan on finding all of the shade I can. Just spent about an hour on my tractor and I was soaking wet.
Good luck on your shovel project and can't wait to read the rest of the story!
Mike

 

[terry.dinerman]

WATER!


You won't live in Texas for very long before you find that there are just four liquids worth fighting over;

Blood, Water, Petroleum and Shiner Beer.

My obligations to Kith and Kin are currently up to date, I had enough Shiner over this long vacation to last a little while, and I can now get a cool drink of clear sweet water all the way in the back of The Old Goat Ranch, so it's time I got back to helping produce some petroleum.

Sweet!

I'm not used to having this much time on my hands, as well as some cash to spend ... being able to slow the usual frantic pace down a notch has been wonderful.

After a couple of days chillin down on the Coast, I headed up to TOGR to get started .... I stopped in at the Big Plumbing House in Huntsville to order 1500 feet of pipe and a big pile of assorted fittings.

Tho all the area municipalities and private water companies use gasket sealed pipe for their water systems, the small-ish 2 inch material was a special order, and would take a few days to round up, so I had some time to prepare the right-o-way, rent a trencher and get ready to dive in.

I left my order in the care of the Big Plumbing House folks and headed on to MIL and FIL's house with the customary offering of burnt mammal flesh and pickled vegetables.

My work schedule pretty much dictates that work at The Old Goat Ranch always starts with a little grounds-keeping, and in spite of the drought, what little rain we received had produced a wonderful crop of goat-weed which was almost elbow high in my utility right-o-way.

While mowing I noted that the pine-bark beetles had continued their march thru our property, with several more trees falling victim and threatening to fall on our fences, or my head as I cut trenches and would therefore have to be dealt with immediatly.

So once the mowing was done, I began the amateur forestry.

I mean, how hard can it be? I watch all those TV shows, right?

Tree #1 was along the fence-line I share with Good Neighbor Joe, a split-trunk pine tree with one part already down across the driveway and the other still standing, though precariously.

I got the downed trunk bucked into sections and the Little Green Giant made short work of pushing the segments off into the brush-fencing. I turned my attention to the piece of trunk still standing, about 2 feet across and 20 or so feet high.

Though not a Tree-Guy by any stretch of the imagination, I have cut a bunch of smallish trees down and I can handle a chain-saw pretty well, or at least I HAVE handled one repeatedly over many years without losing any significant body parts.

So I made my "Guestimations" cut the notch, made my back-cut and watched as the tree did a lovely pirouette and dropped directly across the fence, 180 degrees from where I was trying to put it ...

Off in the distance I could hear the deer laughing ...

I consoled myself by rounding up my fence mending tools and cleaning up ... several trees had come down on Good Neighbor Joe's side of the fence as well, so after cutting up the mess and mending the wire, I spent a little extra time pushing all the scattered debris on his side up into some burn piles ... the way the beetles are going, I doubt that soon, there will be many pines left.

Just about the time I was done with mending the fence, Joe himself wandered up to see what was what and when he found out I had another, bigger tree to drop, he offered his help, and the help of his $20,000 chain saw.

Apparently, GNJ (Good Neighbor Joe) had recently purchased a new Toyota, and got the dealer to throw in a big new Stihl chain saw (which they also sold at this dealership) instead of a set of floor mats.

So, OF COURSE, he claims he bought a $20,000 chainsaw, and they threw in a car ...

It works for me ...

GNJ loaded up his $20K saw and rolled on up to Tree #2.

Tree #2 was going to be different ... Not only had I engaged the help of a far more experienced Tree Guy than myself, but I had strung out a 150 foot length of wire rope to anchor the tree to my Little Green Giant and help guide it's fall ...

What could possibly go wrong ...

I hooked up the cable and positioned the tractor as GNJ made his "Guestimations" cut the notch, made the back-cut and then we both watched as the tree did a lovely pirouette and dropped directly across the fence, 180 degrees from where we were trying to put it ....

Like the Old Philosopher said, "...it was Deja Vu all over again...."

More laughter could be heard from the woods ....

Joe was pretty upset about the whole thing but since I was wanting to put a gate in that fenceline ANYWAY and no-one got hurt, I chalked it up as "No Hurt, No Foul" ... and I never forget what the Old Philosopher said about times like these ....

"Good judgement comes from experience .... and experience comes from poor judgement ... "

I did get to watch his face from my vantage point on the tractor and THAT ALONE was worth a little fence-wire....

GNJ's $20K saw did a fine job at bucking that tree, which was well in excess of 24 in diameter at the base ... and he loaned me his fancy wire stretcher to help close up the fence ....

So now, with 6 possible runs of fence on the property to drop trees thru, I now only have 3 more to go .... nothing like progress ...

Just about the time I had cleaned up the mess from Tree #2 and was biginning to wonder about Tree #3, the Big Plumbing House called and kept me from ruining anymore fences ....

....it was time to go pick up the pipe.

 

[terry.dinerman]

Here are some views of an impressive load of pipe, my poor pine tree #2, and Good Neighbor Joe at work...

 

[Arkaybee]

Alright now, the saga continues. Glad you're back at it on TOGR.
Gaining that experience the "old philosopher" speaks of is quite the experience isn't it?

Welcome back Terry.

Arkaybee

 

[terry.dinerman]

Alright now, the saga continues. Glad you're back at it on TOGR.
Gaining that experience the "old philosopher" speaks of is quite the experience isn't it?

Welcome back Terry.

Arkaybee

It's been one helluva ride, to be sure...

T