Texas Spring/Summer Thread

[Bird]

Jim, of course you're right about those little towns around the DFW airport. I guess you know that the voters in Dallas voted against building that airport because they had Love Field, but the voters in Fort Worth voted for it because they frequently had to go to Dallas to get a flight. But the Dallas politicians did what politicians do; they figured out a way to build DFW even though the voters didn't want it, and they claimed Love Field would be shut down when DFW opened. So they went out 19 miles from downtown Dallas and 19 miles from downtown Fort Worth, and right on the Dallas/Tarrant county line. Of course, with a number of law suits and other things, Love Field has been expanded instead of shutting down.

And how many remember when DFW first opened? I'm sure the only reason I remember is because I was commander of the helicopter section at that time, and I flew out of Love Field to San Diego for the Helicopter Association of America convention in January, 1974, when everything was being moved from Love Field to DFW that night, so I knew the return flight would be coming back into DFW.

 

[WM75Guy]

For sure I remember the growth of the airport and the surrounding area, I grew up there. Fished Grapevine Lake all the time, especially around Marshal Creek Park. We bow fished for carp off of 377 when it flooded and the carp were spawning. If people would take due diligence beforehand there would not be the NIMBY (not in my back yard) mentality after they move in. As far as the incident there already is a multi-jurisdictional investigation, I have friends already down there. I agree, the results will take months to perhaps years to be finalized, if they ever know. I have responded to and help investigate multi-fatality incidents, most people cannot even imagine what is involved. I spent 22 years as a firefighter/paramedic/haz mat tech/arson investigator, retired in 2002. It would be nice if I never had to attend another LODD (line of duty death) funeral again.

 

[WM75Guy]

For a brighter note, it sure does not feel like 59 outside right now. Wife's nephew is putting up poles for mirrors around the arena (don't even ask, if your wife rides English dressage, you already understand). Had to come in for a jacket, north wind is a little chilly. Need to mow tomorrow, have real 8-5 M-F work schedule now. It's shows 39 in Athens tonight, you boys in Wise and Denton County may be a little chilly tonight.

 

[dave1949]

There is a lot to be said for comprehensive land use planning, but it is devilishly hard to do in practice.

The fact is, the fertilizer plant or service center places an economic and safety encumbrance on the land surrounding it. But, in the usual way these things develop over time, that isn't recognized as fully as it should be.

No matter how that encumbrance is worked out between the fertilizer place and the surrounding properties, the town or county should never have allowed residential and school use in that area.

When NIMBY issues arise, it often means the best solutions have already left the station.

 

[texasjohn]

Seems to me to put FREE ENTERPRISE vs GOVERNMENT PLANNING/ZONING/REGULATION/INSPECTION into stark contrast. ...WOH, stop, TJ, else you'll make a political statement:mur:

 

[dave1949]

Seems to me to put FREE ENTERPRISE vs GOVERNMENT PLANNING/ZONING/REGULATION/INSPECTION into stark contrast. ...WOH, stop, TJ, else you'll make a political statement:mur:

I don't mean to make a political statement from those folk's loss and heartache. On the other hand, part of any tragedy is what may be learned from it.

 

[texasjohn]

agreed...I was simply stopping myself from going further....learning and using lessons from tragedy is always a good thing...sadly, knowledge is lost with each passing generation.

 

[Bird]

For a brighter note, it sure does not feel like 59 outside right now. Wife's nephew is putting up poles for mirrors around the arena (don't even ask, if your wife rides English dressage, you already understand). Had to come in for a jacket, north wind is a little chilly. Need to mow tomorrow, have real 8-5 M-F work schedule now. It's shows 39 in Athens tonight, you boys in Wise and Denton County may be a little chilly tonight.

Yeah, I wore a jacket, gloves, and stocking cap yesterday to take our little Chihuahua to the park when it was 40 degrees and a north wind blowing. It was too cool to suit me, but cold just never seems to bother that little mutt. Our forecast for this morning was 39 also, but it's only 43 this morning with a very light breeze, so I've got to mow today, too. It's that time of year when it really needs mowing every 4 to 5 days.

 

[jinman]

It's that time of year when it really needs mowing every 4 to 5 days.

Yep Bird. It's all your fault. I copy-catted you after you posted about fertilizing your lawn, so now I'm on the 4-5 day rotation too. That green grass sure looks good. Kathy noticed how green and lush it looks; never this nice before in mid-April.

I wore my work jacket yesterday when I went to the garden. It's about the same as the one Bird has on in his avatar. After removing all the frost buckets from my veggies and hand tilling one row of beans, I was ready to shed that jacket down to my short sleeved t-shirt. With steady work and activity, I was sweating enough that I had to wipe perspiration off my glasses several times. By the time I'd hand-tilled 5 rows, I was ready to stop and mow the yard. Still, riding the mower never gave me a chill. When I came into the house, it was 72 degrees and I felt almost too warm for awhile.

My asparagus has slowed production probably due to my letting each crown develop 3 or 4 ferns. I'd gathered so much asparagus that I was afraid I'd damage the plants, so I let it go to fern some. I still have about three dozen fresh spears in the fridge. I'm going to make asparagus roll-ups to take to my daughter's house tomorrow. Her birthday was last Thursday and we are going to celebrate by taking her to lunch on Sunday and eatin' asparagus munchies.

It looks like a banner weekend for going out on a bluebonnet viewing expedition. The bluebonnets and paintbrush are both doing very well in Wise and Montague counties.

 

[Western]

Finally some good life in the hybrid Bermuda, but the St. Augustine is really taking off. We are thinking of converting the whole (small) fron yard to St Augustine since the shade inhibit the Bermuda, I just dont care for all the water it requires. I started using fertilizer with Iron last year, seems to be doing great with the St. Augustine.

I lost 3 pepper plants yesterday after removing the buckets, all looked great but the 3. I'm thinking the residual paint fumes got them. I cant believe I didnt consider that,,duh...

 

[Bird]

Jim, I never heard of asparagus roll ups before, but that recipe does sound good. And I was surprised to last 4 hours working outside today. I hate live oak trees, at least if they're near the house with rain gutters. I was up and the down the ladder cleaning out rain gutters. I have a tool that lets me blow out the gutters without getting on the ladder, but I had to take 3 downspouts loose to clean out the catkins and leaves, then put the downspouts back. And I mowed, edged, and trimmed our yard and the one next door. It was the first time in a long time that I ran the Stihl string trimmer long enough to run out of gas when I started with a full tank and wasn't quite through when I ran out and had to refill it. I used the bagger on our yard, but didn't on the neighbor's.

 

[jinman]

I bought a Toro battery powered string trimmer last year. It has a 24 volt/4 Ah lithium-ion battery. If it is charged, we can easily do our whole yard, trimming around about 25 trees and the house and other places. It is lightweight and my wife and grandson don't have to mess with fuel or the pull starter. It feeds line an adjustable amount each time you release and pull the trigger. Releasing the trigger so it stops while walking from spot-to-spot seems to increase battery life. It was expensive ($150), but I think it's worth what I paid.

 

[Bird]

It was expensive ($150), but I think it's worth what I paid.

I gave $259.19, including tax, for my Stihl 8 years ago. It's given me no trouble, but I don't know what I've spent on gas, oil, & Stabil, so an electric one might not be bad.

 

[Western]

Bird, why dot you put gutter screens on and save yourself allot of work?

 

[Bird]

I've certainly considered it, Dennis, but the only time I've seen gutter screens used they didn't work worth a hoot; in fact were more trouble than what I now have.

 

[txdon]

Bird, my gutter screens work perfect, but then I don't have limbs overhanging the house.

 

[Bird]

Don, I do have some limbs out over the house. I did have a lot of it cut back a couple of years ago, but of course this past year, we had a bumper crop of little acorns, live oaks stay green all year, but also shed leaves all year and of course this time of year, we also have the catkins. So the wind, especially from the north, puts a lot of that stuff in the rain gutter. I usually don't have a major problem except about 30' of gutter and 2 downspouts on the north side. And if I try to blow the debris out of the gutter when there's still a north breeze, it blows back up on the roof and will eventually be right back down in the gutter, so I try to do that job anytime I have a south breeze.

 

[jinman]

I pulled 8 onions from my garden yesterday. They were about as big as my thumbs and just right to use as green onions in salads or chop up into a bowl of beans. So to see which would be best, I had both salad and beans for dinner last night. They were yummy. Now, I have to get out to my garden and cover tomatoes and other tender plants. If my blackeyed peas get frozen, so be it. They look so sad that I've been thinking of replanting anyhow. My beans seem to be holding their own. If things go as normal, we'll have freezing up until the end of April and then May will be full of 100 degree days and I'll be watering my yard and draggin' hoses. At least maybe by then it will be warm enough to get my okra to germinate. Rant over. . . did I mention how good my onions were?

 

[econometrics]

Jinman, is it supposed to freeze on yall tonight? I don't think it's going to get that bad out here in ETX. Hope it doesn't on you guys.

I put in another hog trap this morning and baited it all up.

Back in March I put up a nice, big corral trap to try to catch a whole sounder that was runnin' around on my land for a couple days. As soon as I got that trap up, I never saw a hog on my cameras again.

Then on Sunday, we were out picking up some large limbs that I didn't get to chip, and saw some nosing around in the pasture. GRRR. So I re-baited the corral trap, but it looks like they didn't want to make it all 100 yards over from the fresh rootings to the trap.

So I moved in a smaller trap close to where they've been rooting this morning. We'll see what happens. I need to stock the freezer back up with sausage!

 

[jinman]

Jinman, is it supposed to freeze on yall tonight? I don't think it's going to get that bad out here in ETX. Hope it doesn't on you guys.

This morning the weather forecast called for 32 F tonight with a 20% chance of rain. Between you and me, I think they don't know what to forecast. The last time I checked, 32 F with precip is called "snow" and not rain. If we get snow, I'll really wig out. :laughing: