rustyshakelford
Veteran Member
Can't remember if you have a septic guy but if not, I can get you a guy I work withs number. He is great and is top notch. Everything is looking great.
Brett
An Old Goat Ranch in Texas
- Thread starter terry.dinerman
- Start date
- Views: 171204
Can't remember if you have a septic guy but if not, I can get you a guy I work withs number. He is great and is top notch. Everything is looking great.
Brett
rustyshakelford
Veteran Member
Can't remember if you have a septic guy but if not, I can get you a guy I work withs number. He is great and is top notch. Everything is looking great.
Brett
OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
I have one quote, Brett...I would be delighted to entertain another...this fellow close to Bedias? (College Station / Huntsville )
T
rustyshakelford
Veteran Member
No. He's out of magnolia. Big poppa joes waste water
281-252-0777
Great people. Family business. He's a full time fireman that has a very successful septic business.
Brett
rustyshakelford
Veteran Member
No. He's out of magnolia. Big poppa joes waste water
281-252-0777
Great people. Family business. He's a full time fireman that has a very successful septic business.
Brett
BoFuller
Veteran Member
OP
terry.dinerman
Gold Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2009
- Messages
- 405
- Tractor
- 1990 - JD 870
Hello Again, Gentle Readers-
And Thank You, Bo
If not for a prod from BoFuller I might still be bumbling around in that gray twilight of instant gratification that a nearly intellectually lethal combination of a new smartphone, my first real tablet computer and "Facebook" has become for me.
It seems these incredible communications upgrades carry with them the potential for fundamental shifts in ones intellectual lifestyle, as it is so much easier to air your thoughts on-the-fly, rather than sit down with a cuppa-something and construct a proper story, it begets a creative laziness that I will have to reconcile.
Right - Mea Culpa - Now that I am back aboard ship stuck at a desk, I have no excuses.
_________________________________________________________
Work at the Old Goat Ranch has continued at its usual breakneck pace, which means stuff gets done as soon as I get around to it. This is how it should be, a labor of love not haste.
As things worked out, I needed to take a bit of time and help out at the MIL and FIL's house, so a relaxed approach is the only way to go.
One morning early in June, FIL felt a bit faint after his morning walk, and MIL, ever-vigilant, actually got the old guy to go to his doctor. This was a Very Good Thing too, since as one thing lead to another, FIL's physicians awarded him a triple bypass for his trouble.
Not that many 85 year-old men can say they qualify for this sort of retread, but FIL, by his physicians accounts, should have a good bit of mileage left, if they just clear up the plumbing issues.
The operation went brilliantly with FIL's surgeon stating "...he made me look good..."
Since the major reason for Precious Bride and I to be relocating to Bedias is to help MIL and FIL maintain their independence, it was time to see to a few of their needs. Making it easier to get around their house had now taken on a greater urgency.
Their house is a beautiful little cottage that started out as a kit house back in the late 40's, and according to the local historians, was ordered at the local lumberyard from a mill Louisiana, delivered as several large bunks of banded materials at the local railroad freight spur, then hauled across town by tractor to the home site where some assembly was required.
Over the years, the bones of the cypress foundation beams and long-leaf yellow pine framing has been covered over with more modern materials. The house now sports vinyl siding these days over its "car siding" clapboards, but the character can still be seen in the interior doors, narrow plank oak floors and especially the "Craftsman Style" trim-work
Very few changes really needed to be made to improve the interior access for my now 80-something In-laws. Replacing a few doorknobs, fixing some handrails and improving the lights made quite a difference but getting in and out of the house was another story.
Being a typical "house on blocks" common to the area, there is a small cast concrete stair unit at the front door, and a small wooden porch at the rear providing in total no less than three sets of slippery stairs on which old hips may be broken.
The concrete steps were sound, if uninteresting, but the two sets of steps coming off of the porch were decidedly rickety, and leading from the porch to the outbuildings was a deteriorating wooden sidewalk.
This would not do at all and I was determined that at least the wooden steps and sidewalk needed to become ramps, and the walkways replaced with slip resistant concrete.
After a long chat with MIL and FIL, we decided to leave the front as it is. The concrete steps and railings are still to her liking and MIL did not like the thought of changing the white picket-fence look of the front of their house by putting up a long ramp.
No problem.
A few sketches later we had our plan, and it took just a couple of days for my carpenter Charles and I to build it.
As it turns out, once the offending steps were demo'd the heart of the little deck was still in good shape and the railings just needed a little reinforcement rather than a complete demolition. The photo says it all. A Happy MIL is priceless....
Tho long an advocate of "Universal Access" design, I am always impressed with the results. I had no idea of the number of access issues those stairs and walkways had been causing my In-Laws until they began to relate all the little stories regarding how much easier this-or-that has become.
FIL is back to being as busy as ever, so much so that his recovery from his surgery has been nothing short of remarkable due to his high level of physical activity and MIL is delighted to be able to do the endless little errands back and forth to their various outbuildings without worrying about negotiating those steps.
The "Big Thing" was a surprise, however.
The single outstanding feature of the ramp, according to MIL / FIL and all their friends, is the lighting.
I ran LED rope lights under the handrail, and connected them up to a solar sensor?ow, when they come home in the evenings, the ramps are lit from end to end with a gentle glow.
Sweet! It is the little touches after all.
___________________________________________
Out at our place, since my last substantial report back in July, the building has been closed up, and thus far the winter rains have not found a way in. The sheet steel materials and sealing system from the local steel manufacturer have done very well indeed.
Say all you want about the economy of scale, those folks are as good as the national brands and at popular prices, and if I have a question, I can sit down with an engineer and get answers over a cup of coffee.
Precious Bride and I celebrated locking the door for the first time with a Photo Op we like to call "Bedias Gothic" (with apologies to Grant Wood)
We had spent that day planting chestnut, black walnut, crape myrtle tree and native grasses around the Ranch replacing a few of the dozens of trees we lost in the drought / oak blight / pine borer Massacree of the last couple of summers.
Planting trees has always been one the most healing and hopeful of activities for me and as a favorite philosopher of mine liked to say, "...you can only really touch eternity by kissing a baby or planting a tree..."
Of particular note is the completion of the large fixed windows at either end of the Great Room. This one of Precious Brides Great Design Ideas.
Rather than ordering custom window units or glazing them with glass or sheet polycarbonate, I found an extruded polycarbonate sheet product designed for glazing greenhouses. The stuff is a multi-layer honeycomb sort of design that can be up to 3 layers thick, clear enough to transmit the light I am looking for and immensely strong.
The multiple cells in the construction give it the look of the old fashioned cast glass panels used as privacy glass backintheday, perhaps best described as a mini-blind look today, and the multi-layer construction provides the insulation value I wanted to prevent condensation issues at a whole lot cheaper than putting up several layers of Lexan.
Finding the Right Stuff is a Good Thing.
Anyway - Being able to make another one of Precious Brides design ideas a reality is icing on the cake. Flooding our little nest with light is going to provide a lot of simple pleasure.
Finally getting around to closing up the building has had another benefit. I can put down my tools and just close the door and lock up at the end of the day or at a moments notice if need be and keep things orderly. Stick-building the deadlight windows was a breeze with the tools and materials so close at hand. As the inevitable carpentry compromises reveal themselves, it is far too easy to just custom mill a bit of trim and make it all work right then and there. I can't wait to tangle with the cabinetry and finish trim.
Here is an interior panorama shot from the front door:
I love this place. Everything I have ever learned about building is finding a way to express itself.
Everyone has something they're good at. Some people sculpt, write, draw, sing, dance, play an instrument.
This apparently is my Fine Art. I build stuff
The next step, on my return to the States in January, is to hook up the utilities. Power first, than the water sewer and gas, and if the weather is too sloppy for dirtwork, the interior framing beckons.
Of course, the cool wet winters is still perfect for planting a few more trees.
_______________________________________________________
Naturally, a month of working around the Ranch cannot go by without some sort of Adventure, and this month was no exception
Out here in the Country, neighbors watch out for each other. Good Neighbor Joe has kept a close eye on our little place all this time, and it finally came to pass that I could partially return the favor.
Joe and his Light-of-Love had attend to some personal business out of town so Joe asked if I might keep an eye on six yearling calves he had just moved onto his pasture. Nothing big, just throw a little feed once a day and make sure their water didn't freeze up.
NO PROBLEM.
Except for the small issue of - I HATE COWS!!! - I never want any form of livestock large enough to knock me over, thus it is an OLD GOAT RANCH I am working on, NOT A COW RANCH.
Since Joe place and mine share a fence, its was no trouble at all to stop by in the afternoons and tend to the little herd. Tho a bit rangy and skittish at first, since they were still pretty new at being cows, the calves soon recognized my trucks sound as the dinner bell and responded accordingly. My visits soon became routine for them. Sort of.
Winters around Bedias are cool and wet, days of slow gentle misty rain that soak slowly into the scorched earth, left hardened by the furnace heat of summer into concrete, and render it once more into soil, soft and suitable for growing things.
...and getting your truck stuck in the mud.
Joe's pasture was beginning to get a little sloppy and my truck is 2-wheel drive, so it came to pass that one afternoon, I decided it was time to just walk
I put a feed bag on my shoulder and went on about my business. The Herd, having noted my trucks arrival at the usual time, was making its way from the green grass at the far end of the field to the feed trough about 100 yards away from the gate.
We were about to gently meet for our daily date with the feed bag, but today, as I approached the trough, I managed to slip and stumble (in some cow crap no doubt) and nearly fell on my azz.
...and the crowd went WILD.
When the feed bag hit the ground with WHUMP!! the little knot of six calves exploded like a covey of 800 pound quail, dashing around madly in all directions, bucking wildly, howling in cow anguish and all of them still headed at me in a general sort of way.
Did I tell you I HATE COWS? Yes indeed. Hate em
Now I have been told more than once by various Battle Buddies that when properly motivated, I can jump like a gazelle.
Apparently the prospect of being run over by a herd of cows is right up there with incoming artillery fire. I was up and cleared the the feed bunk in a single bound, and then back again, trying to keep the trough in between me and the leather-bound lunatics who were still stomping around in circles around me. I forget how many trips I final had to take over the bunk, but finally, one of the big brown idiots kicked the feed bag open and all foolishness ground to an immediate halt when the sweet smell of molasses went up and the herd dove on the sweet feed, forgetting immediately whateverthehellitwas that had wound them up so badly.
I took the opportunity to quietly slip out the gate.
Yeah - HATE COWS.
I dutifully reported the little episode to Joe, who tried not to laugh TOO hard. He is a Gentleman, after all, but even in my own minds-eye, it was one of those moments I really wish, was on video. I coulda been a YouTube sensation.
Joe of course, gently chided me for my city-boy ways, and recommended a stout walking stick as accompaniment to any further hikes thru the pasture and asked if I wanted to keep a few cows on my place just for practice.
Nope. No cows in my pasture, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I like mine chopped to bits under plastic wrap on a little foam tray.
_____________________________________________________________
It was just one of those months were everything went Our Way for a change.
Even Precious Bride and I getting the "Zombie Flu" worked out in our favor. Despite being good Health Care Providers and getting this years Flu Shot, this bug snuck in under the radar and got us. Not a terribly debilitating flu, but enough to keep us indoors for a few days.
Not a GREAT way to get some Alone Time. But You Take What You Can Get....
In our favor, rather than pack up and do the whole Family Feast thing for Thanksgiving and risk infecting the Tribe, I sent my Precious Dafter and several of my famous Buttermilk Pies as our representatives.
No complaints were noted around the council fires, as all faces were too full of pie.
For me and PB, I whipped up our own little feast.
I am a pretty good cook and especially so with game. Our friends and family like to test me by saving bits and pieces of their harvest that would normally go out on the gut pile, just to see what I can do with it.
This years entry in the Road Kill Cafe Hall of Fame was a neck of venison submitted by my Brother-in-law. This particular dainty had been resting quietly in the freezer for some time, and was as old and tough a chunk of West Texas mule deer as I have ever seen.
Challenge Accepted.
It takes a full day on the back of the stove in my favorite cauldron amongst the onions, taters, carrots, spices and wine to turn a piece of meat you can hardly scratch with a butcher knife, into "Venison Bourguignon" such that Julia Child would demand seconds
All it takes is patience.
So while the family did the covered-dish thing, Precious Bride and I had:
Cheese Board with Olives
Venison Bourguignon - Whitetail Deer Neck-bone Braised in Red Wine
Fresh Irish Soda Bread
Barley with Onions
Becker Vineyards "Iconoclast" Cabernet Savignon
Buttermilk Pie
Coffee
So while the Tribe feasted, we suffered quietly in our solitude.
Until Black Friday, when we had leftovers:
Mushroom / Barley Soup
Shredded Venison and Goat Cheese Pannini on Rustic Bread
Leinenkugel's "Snowdrift Vanilla Porter"
Buttermilk Pie w/ Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
Black Coffee
Is it "Feed a cold and starve a fever"? Or the other way round?
Whatever - I fed em both - Having a few days to just spoil Precious Bride was a rarer treat than Thanksgiving and I LIKE spoiling her. Any excuse is good for me.
___________________________________________________________
Once over the Zombie Flu, it was getting close to deployment time again - But even at the late date, the gifts of this exceptional month were not over.
After a lifetime of watching her Mom, Dad and friends drop uncounted forks to race across town in Fire Trucks, Ambulances and Police cars to flaunt Darwin, interfere with Natural Selection and Save People from their flawed decision making, (often against their will), my most Precious Daughter, Caitlan, has been accepted by the Lake Jackson Police Department in the position of Dispatcher.
She has commenced her training, to eventually become that voice of sanity and order that can often make the difference between life and death to both the Responders as well as the Callers out here on the pointy end of the spear.
It only took ONE 8 hour shift in Communications during my Paramedic training to convince me that Dispatcher is the one Emergency Services Job I would rather not have to do...and true to form, My Precious Daughter started her training during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays...prime time.
The Down Side of this turn of events is how Cait, being officially an adult for some years now, can be let in on the Higher Mysteries of the Craft, and every Cop, Firefighter, Medic or City Employee in town seems to have some deep need to share all the horrible stories they have been collecting over the years regarding her parents conduct on various calls.
All of our secrets are out, and I don't know if she can ever look at us the same way again <snicker!!!!>
But I don't care! I am so proud of her I could burst...!!!
_______________________________________________
So - For a change, my Gratitude has vastly exceeded my Expectations, and it has been a very Good Month indeed...
I am back out on The Love Boat...tending my African family and plotting and planning next months efforts.
Till next time, Gentle Readers, Be Careful Out There - and don't let the cows getcha...
Terry
And Thank You, Bo
If not for a prod from BoFuller I might still be bumbling around in that gray twilight of instant gratification that a nearly intellectually lethal combination of a new smartphone, my first real tablet computer and "Facebook" has become for me.
It seems these incredible communications upgrades carry with them the potential for fundamental shifts in ones intellectual lifestyle, as it is so much easier to air your thoughts on-the-fly, rather than sit down with a cuppa-something and construct a proper story, it begets a creative laziness that I will have to reconcile.
Right - Mea Culpa - Now that I am back aboard ship stuck at a desk, I have no excuses.
_________________________________________________________
Work at the Old Goat Ranch has continued at its usual breakneck pace, which means stuff gets done as soon as I get around to it. This is how it should be, a labor of love not haste.
As things worked out, I needed to take a bit of time and help out at the MIL and FIL's house, so a relaxed approach is the only way to go.
One morning early in June, FIL felt a bit faint after his morning walk, and MIL, ever-vigilant, actually got the old guy to go to his doctor. This was a Very Good Thing too, since as one thing lead to another, FIL's physicians awarded him a triple bypass for his trouble.
Not that many 85 year-old men can say they qualify for this sort of retread, but FIL, by his physicians accounts, should have a good bit of mileage left, if they just clear up the plumbing issues.
The operation went brilliantly with FIL's surgeon stating "...he made me look good..."
Since the major reason for Precious Bride and I to be relocating to Bedias is to help MIL and FIL maintain their independence, it was time to see to a few of their needs. Making it easier to get around their house had now taken on a greater urgency.
Their house is a beautiful little cottage that started out as a kit house back in the late 40's, and according to the local historians, was ordered at the local lumberyard from a mill Louisiana, delivered as several large bunks of banded materials at the local railroad freight spur, then hauled across town by tractor to the home site where some assembly was required.
Over the years, the bones of the cypress foundation beams and long-leaf yellow pine framing has been covered over with more modern materials. The house now sports vinyl siding these days over its "car siding" clapboards, but the character can still be seen in the interior doors, narrow plank oak floors and especially the "Craftsman Style" trim-work
Very few changes really needed to be made to improve the interior access for my now 80-something In-laws. Replacing a few doorknobs, fixing some handrails and improving the lights made quite a difference but getting in and out of the house was another story.
Being a typical "house on blocks" common to the area, there is a small cast concrete stair unit at the front door, and a small wooden porch at the rear providing in total no less than three sets of slippery stairs on which old hips may be broken.
The concrete steps were sound, if uninteresting, but the two sets of steps coming off of the porch were decidedly rickety, and leading from the porch to the outbuildings was a deteriorating wooden sidewalk.
This would not do at all and I was determined that at least the wooden steps and sidewalk needed to become ramps, and the walkways replaced with slip resistant concrete.
After a long chat with MIL and FIL, we decided to leave the front as it is. The concrete steps and railings are still to her liking and MIL did not like the thought of changing the white picket-fence look of the front of their house by putting up a long ramp.
No problem.
A few sketches later we had our plan, and it took just a couple of days for my carpenter Charles and I to build it.
As it turns out, once the offending steps were demo'd the heart of the little deck was still in good shape and the railings just needed a little reinforcement rather than a complete demolition. The photo says it all. A Happy MIL is priceless....
Tho long an advocate of "Universal Access" design, I am always impressed with the results. I had no idea of the number of access issues those stairs and walkways had been causing my In-Laws until they began to relate all the little stories regarding how much easier this-or-that has become.
FIL is back to being as busy as ever, so much so that his recovery from his surgery has been nothing short of remarkable due to his high level of physical activity and MIL is delighted to be able to do the endless little errands back and forth to their various outbuildings without worrying about negotiating those steps.
The "Big Thing" was a surprise, however.
The single outstanding feature of the ramp, according to MIL / FIL and all their friends, is the lighting.
I ran LED rope lights under the handrail, and connected them up to a solar sensor?ow, when they come home in the evenings, the ramps are lit from end to end with a gentle glow.
Sweet! It is the little touches after all.
___________________________________________
Out at our place, since my last substantial report back in July, the building has been closed up, and thus far the winter rains have not found a way in. The sheet steel materials and sealing system from the local steel manufacturer have done very well indeed.
Say all you want about the economy of scale, those folks are as good as the national brands and at popular prices, and if I have a question, I can sit down with an engineer and get answers over a cup of coffee.
Precious Bride and I celebrated locking the door for the first time with a Photo Op we like to call "Bedias Gothic" (with apologies to Grant Wood)
We had spent that day planting chestnut, black walnut, crape myrtle tree and native grasses around the Ranch replacing a few of the dozens of trees we lost in the drought / oak blight / pine borer Massacree of the last couple of summers.
Planting trees has always been one the most healing and hopeful of activities for me and as a favorite philosopher of mine liked to say, "...you can only really touch eternity by kissing a baby or planting a tree..."
Of particular note is the completion of the large fixed windows at either end of the Great Room. This one of Precious Brides Great Design Ideas.
Rather than ordering custom window units or glazing them with glass or sheet polycarbonate, I found an extruded polycarbonate sheet product designed for glazing greenhouses. The stuff is a multi-layer honeycomb sort of design that can be up to 3 layers thick, clear enough to transmit the light I am looking for and immensely strong.
The multiple cells in the construction give it the look of the old fashioned cast glass panels used as privacy glass backintheday, perhaps best described as a mini-blind look today, and the multi-layer construction provides the insulation value I wanted to prevent condensation issues at a whole lot cheaper than putting up several layers of Lexan.
Finding the Right Stuff is a Good Thing.
Anyway - Being able to make another one of Precious Brides design ideas a reality is icing on the cake. Flooding our little nest with light is going to provide a lot of simple pleasure.
Finally getting around to closing up the building has had another benefit. I can put down my tools and just close the door and lock up at the end of the day or at a moments notice if need be and keep things orderly. Stick-building the deadlight windows was a breeze with the tools and materials so close at hand. As the inevitable carpentry compromises reveal themselves, it is far too easy to just custom mill a bit of trim and make it all work right then and there. I can't wait to tangle with the cabinetry and finish trim.
Here is an interior panorama shot from the front door:
I love this place. Everything I have ever learned about building is finding a way to express itself.
Everyone has something they're good at. Some people sculpt, write, draw, sing, dance, play an instrument.
This apparently is my Fine Art. I build stuff
The next step, on my return to the States in January, is to hook up the utilities. Power first, than the water sewer and gas, and if the weather is too sloppy for dirtwork, the interior framing beckons.
Of course, the cool wet winters is still perfect for planting a few more trees.
_______________________________________________________
Naturally, a month of working around the Ranch cannot go by without some sort of Adventure, and this month was no exception
Out here in the Country, neighbors watch out for each other. Good Neighbor Joe has kept a close eye on our little place all this time, and it finally came to pass that I could partially return the favor.
Joe and his Light-of-Love had attend to some personal business out of town so Joe asked if I might keep an eye on six yearling calves he had just moved onto his pasture. Nothing big, just throw a little feed once a day and make sure their water didn't freeze up.
NO PROBLEM.
Except for the small issue of - I HATE COWS!!! - I never want any form of livestock large enough to knock me over, thus it is an OLD GOAT RANCH I am working on, NOT A COW RANCH.
Since Joe place and mine share a fence, its was no trouble at all to stop by in the afternoons and tend to the little herd. Tho a bit rangy and skittish at first, since they were still pretty new at being cows, the calves soon recognized my trucks sound as the dinner bell and responded accordingly. My visits soon became routine for them. Sort of.
Winters around Bedias are cool and wet, days of slow gentle misty rain that soak slowly into the scorched earth, left hardened by the furnace heat of summer into concrete, and render it once more into soil, soft and suitable for growing things.
...and getting your truck stuck in the mud.
Joe's pasture was beginning to get a little sloppy and my truck is 2-wheel drive, so it came to pass that one afternoon, I decided it was time to just walk
I put a feed bag on my shoulder and went on about my business. The Herd, having noted my trucks arrival at the usual time, was making its way from the green grass at the far end of the field to the feed trough about 100 yards away from the gate.
We were about to gently meet for our daily date with the feed bag, but today, as I approached the trough, I managed to slip and stumble (in some cow crap no doubt) and nearly fell on my azz.
...and the crowd went WILD.
When the feed bag hit the ground with WHUMP!! the little knot of six calves exploded like a covey of 800 pound quail, dashing around madly in all directions, bucking wildly, howling in cow anguish and all of them still headed at me in a general sort of way.
Did I tell you I HATE COWS? Yes indeed. Hate em
Now I have been told more than once by various Battle Buddies that when properly motivated, I can jump like a gazelle.
Apparently the prospect of being run over by a herd of cows is right up there with incoming artillery fire. I was up and cleared the the feed bunk in a single bound, and then back again, trying to keep the trough in between me and the leather-bound lunatics who were still stomping around in circles around me. I forget how many trips I final had to take over the bunk, but finally, one of the big brown idiots kicked the feed bag open and all foolishness ground to an immediate halt when the sweet smell of molasses went up and the herd dove on the sweet feed, forgetting immediately whateverthehellitwas that had wound them up so badly.
I took the opportunity to quietly slip out the gate.
Yeah - HATE COWS.
I dutifully reported the little episode to Joe, who tried not to laugh TOO hard. He is a Gentleman, after all, but even in my own minds-eye, it was one of those moments I really wish, was on video. I coulda been a YouTube sensation.
Joe of course, gently chided me for my city-boy ways, and recommended a stout walking stick as accompaniment to any further hikes thru the pasture and asked if I wanted to keep a few cows on my place just for practice.
Nope. No cows in my pasture, THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I like mine chopped to bits under plastic wrap on a little foam tray.
_____________________________________________________________
It was just one of those months were everything went Our Way for a change.
Even Precious Bride and I getting the "Zombie Flu" worked out in our favor. Despite being good Health Care Providers and getting this years Flu Shot, this bug snuck in under the radar and got us. Not a terribly debilitating flu, but enough to keep us indoors for a few days.
Not a GREAT way to get some Alone Time. But You Take What You Can Get....
In our favor, rather than pack up and do the whole Family Feast thing for Thanksgiving and risk infecting the Tribe, I sent my Precious Dafter and several of my famous Buttermilk Pies as our representatives.
No complaints were noted around the council fires, as all faces were too full of pie.
For me and PB, I whipped up our own little feast.
I am a pretty good cook and especially so with game. Our friends and family like to test me by saving bits and pieces of their harvest that would normally go out on the gut pile, just to see what I can do with it.
This years entry in the Road Kill Cafe Hall of Fame was a neck of venison submitted by my Brother-in-law. This particular dainty had been resting quietly in the freezer for some time, and was as old and tough a chunk of West Texas mule deer as I have ever seen.
Challenge Accepted.
It takes a full day on the back of the stove in my favorite cauldron amongst the onions, taters, carrots, spices and wine to turn a piece of meat you can hardly scratch with a butcher knife, into "Venison Bourguignon" such that Julia Child would demand seconds
All it takes is patience.
So while the family did the covered-dish thing, Precious Bride and I had:
Cheese Board with Olives
Venison Bourguignon - Whitetail Deer Neck-bone Braised in Red Wine
Fresh Irish Soda Bread
Barley with Onions
Becker Vineyards "Iconoclast" Cabernet Savignon
Buttermilk Pie
Coffee
So while the Tribe feasted, we suffered quietly in our solitude.
Until Black Friday, when we had leftovers:
Mushroom / Barley Soup
Shredded Venison and Goat Cheese Pannini on Rustic Bread
Leinenkugel's "Snowdrift Vanilla Porter"
Buttermilk Pie w/ Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream
Black Coffee
Is it "Feed a cold and starve a fever"? Or the other way round?
Whatever - I fed em both - Having a few days to just spoil Precious Bride was a rarer treat than Thanksgiving and I LIKE spoiling her. Any excuse is good for me.
___________________________________________________________
Once over the Zombie Flu, it was getting close to deployment time again - But even at the late date, the gifts of this exceptional month were not over.
After a lifetime of watching her Mom, Dad and friends drop uncounted forks to race across town in Fire Trucks, Ambulances and Police cars to flaunt Darwin, interfere with Natural Selection and Save People from their flawed decision making, (often against their will), my most Precious Daughter, Caitlan, has been accepted by the Lake Jackson Police Department in the position of Dispatcher.
She has commenced her training, to eventually become that voice of sanity and order that can often make the difference between life and death to both the Responders as well as the Callers out here on the pointy end of the spear.
It only took ONE 8 hour shift in Communications during my Paramedic training to convince me that Dispatcher is the one Emergency Services Job I would rather not have to do...and true to form, My Precious Daughter started her training during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays...prime time.
The Down Side of this turn of events is how Cait, being officially an adult for some years now, can be let in on the Higher Mysteries of the Craft, and every Cop, Firefighter, Medic or City Employee in town seems to have some deep need to share all the horrible stories they have been collecting over the years regarding her parents conduct on various calls.
All of our secrets are out, and I don't know if she can ever look at us the same way again <snicker!!!!>
But I don't care! I am so proud of her I could burst...!!!
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So - For a change, my Gratitude has vastly exceeded my Expectations, and it has been a very Good Month indeed...
I am back out on The Love Boat...tending my African family and plotting and planning next months efforts.
Till next time, Gentle Readers, Be Careful Out There - and don't let the cows getcha...
Terry
BoFuller
Veteran Member
Terry,
Thanks for the catch-up. I am still laughing over the cow feeding episode. It sure would be great to see that on video!
Our front porch is going to be several steps above ground level. You're making me think about possibly adding a ramp. At 64 I feel fine with steps, but who knows for how much longer.
Thanks for the catch-up. I am still laughing over the cow feeding episode. It sure would be great to see that on video!
Our front porch is going to be several steps above ground level. You're making me think about possibly adding a ramp. At 64 I feel fine with steps, but who knows for how much longer.
DaveOmak
Platinum Member
As "The Old Goat Ranch" saga is now refreshed.... I am also.... Thanks TD...
NativeSon
Veteran Member
Terry- Next time (if there is a next time) take a camera with you to feed the cows.
I've had a few bottles of Iconoclast........excellent choice.
Charlie
I've had a few bottles of Iconoclast........excellent choice.
Charlie