F1 TORNADO - "THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD" - JIBBER JABBER

Being in the touchdown path of an F1 Tornado was never on my bucket list.

We were watching the radar track the storm from Dallas towards us. Yellow, orange, red with a middle of ominous dark red color. That was the part of the storm we would eventually encounter and that was the part of the storm that worried me. 

There were also radar warning zones tracking on the leading edge of the storm showing "Tornado Watch" and Strong Thunderstorms."

We had lost power an hour earlier just prior to daybreak. Our home generator kicked on. We moved our basket of keys and important papers to the shelter and then we followed, bundled up with winter clothes over our "jammies." We pulled up two lawn chairs and watched. 

As the storm drew closer we moved into the shelter and I bolted the 4 bolts on the door. The shelter is made from hardened steel able to withstand penetration from a .308 hunting round. We watched through the carport, down the driveway and towards the front road that passes by our house.

The wife jokes that she used to gather with friends, a case of beer and chase tornado's when she was in college. She calls an F1 Tornado a "baby tornado." She has also told me several times that a tornado can be heard just a moment before it arrives. Sounds like a freight train, she says. And it does! How many times has my youthful narrative of playing with friends also included a case of beer?

I stepped to the side of our small window view so she could peak out too. The "freight train" did indeed sound and wall of weather moving through and over our home was just that. I have searched for words to help describe the inside of this skipping tornado through our neighborhood. I have experienced quite a few thunderstorms pass and a few microbursts in my years. But these were strong winds. A tornado, even this "baby one", was a compact wall of wind and debris. Wind and rain so tightly packed that it appeared to be a moving solid. It lasted for a long minute. There is no way, other than a miracle, that a human body could survive in the open in this type of weather event. 

I'll not forget this baby tornado and my wife will no long have to coax me into the shelter as future storms approach. I am still teachable. 

The radar showed the storm pass, the red touch down zone of the tornado and  our neighborhood was in the middle of that path. An F1 tornado causes extensive damage.

In pelting rain, folks emerged. One neighbor with his tractor. First words out of his mouth, "you alright?" We were. I had just made a walk around the house and confirmed we had been lucky. No trees on or threatening the home. Debris yes, but the home not damaged.

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My wife and I followed him in our side by side. I had thrown in my small chain saw just in case.

Folks in this small part of our neighborhood were out laying the ground work for repairing a local home so a neighbor could be back "dried in" by the end of the day. 

Just before sun set Tuesday, that home had a new metal roof replaced and a vertical wall repaired to original condition. The young man organizing these folks lived close by and was adamant that who ever needed any kind of help would be addressed him and his crew as needed.  He was also absolute in the fact that there would be no costs to anyone for anything!! Not open for discussion.

Neighbors who could not help with the reconstruction, fed the crews that day. Everyone worked. My wife and I had a few neighbors over for a warm lunch as they had no power. A little thing, but home made chicken soup and a sandwich were the least we could do.

My son, a lineman in NH, warned me over the phone to be careful of "widow makers" when outside cleaning up after a storm like this. He said the first 24 hours is the most dangerous time from falling debris hanging in trees. He was correct. I found this widow maker just outside our front fence.

Here the power company working was one of the many trees taking down the power lines. This is a good photo of trees that have taken down farmers' fencing too. This small passing tornado left a path of downed trees like the ones pictured above.

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CATS

I think both cats have a story to tell from the passage of this tornado. They were gone for 36 hours and we feared the worst. The cats have been gone before and have always returned. But this was their first tornado.

Shortly after midnight on Wednesday, they came to the bedroom window yelling they were home and "get up and feed us." Both none the worse for wear, skittish and weary, they ate and then ran back to whereever they must have weathered the storm. They were/are fine.

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JIBBER JABBER  

Storm damage and clean-up owned this past week and will into the next few months. There is costly damage to many folks homes and properties around us.

As I get older and speak to some of that here often, this past week proved some things in life to hold true over time. Using the small tractor and small trailer, I was out picking up debris. A big clean up task for us and I will pick at it a little at time. 

Turing around is one of the debris piles, I picked up a limb that could not be removed. It had wound itself around the axle and could only be remove by removing the tire. I had a workable clean-up routine going only to be sidelined by a little thing. Always seems to be a little thing that can shut down work in progress. Good news was that I had tools to get the job done, just shut down my project and flipped my switches turning on bad attitudes. 

Weather warming some this week. Planting wild flowers today and picking up more debris. We did find a leak over the stove vent on the roof, shutting down our kitchen stove and vent fan. Roof guy is promised to arrive this morning. Side by side needs more mechanical attention right at the time I need it the most. 

Not complaining, really! By the grace of God, we were spared big damage from the touchdown of a passing tornado.

Have a good week, appreciate the visit.
 

 

 

 

 

DIRT THERAPY - CINNAMON ANTS - LAP CAT - AIRSPEED UPDATE - JIBBER JABBER

With warmer weather and a little desire to get some kind of garden started, I found myself sitting on a homemade stool yesterday, playing in the dirt. Red onions planted to the right and the middle planter was being cleaned of weeds, new dirt added along with compost, food and a bag of potting mix.

My mother taught me long ago, along with my grandparents, the feel of good dirt. Texture, crumble, moisture, color and experience. Good dirt feels good and I am at a loss of a more in-depth explanation. Bad growing dirt feels bad; hard, no adhesion, no moisture and no color of nutrition. So, the middle bin above had just completed the transition to becoming "good dirt."

I found that sitting there running my hands and fingers through the dirt to be a simple pleasure. Quiet time with a satisfaction that this day and moment was officially starting my growing season. Although weeks late as far as the onions go, it was still a start. I had purchased the last two bundles of red onion sets the day before from a local nursery. 

The cardboard on the ground between these two beds had been a makeshift covering covering the right hand bin. When I removed it for planting the onions, there was not one weed in the bin. The bin to the left was full of weeds and needed a complete cleaning and re-make. Lessons I knew, just had not practiced. Bin #3 to the left a very good example of neglect.

CINNAMON DIRT

The three round bins in the garden this season will be wild flowers. Fun color and an invitation for more bugs, bees and insects that pollinate. Mostly, though, for less to take care of other than watering. 

This particular bin was full of red ants. They have been here for months and were in my sights all along. I cleaned out a layer of weeds and turned the ant hill over and over. Then a bottle of cinnamon seasoning was emptied on the dirt. Cinnamon is not poison to anything planted, but the ants hate it. They tend to move on. A little more cinnamon around the outside base today or soon.

Now I will add "good dirt" and prepare this bin for the bride to sprinkle in her mixture of wild flowers and then give all of this to God and Texas rain. 

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CAT SNUGGLE 

Quality days for my wife and me are time spent in the carport, sitting in lawn chairs after some yard work and soaking up the onset of the warm winds of spring and summer. A blue sky, a rising sun an inch or so each day along with new shadows. And the consistency of her cat.

Since she was a kitten, barely weened from her mother, my wife's cat has taken to her. Our two cats follow us around like dogs. Meowing advice or complaints and often pushing us to park ourselves so they, too, can find important cat moments of closeness. My cat is standoffish. But she is my cat. No lap time but rather a drop dead moment on the warm cement in front of our chairs. Her meow is quiet as if it is a necessary forced comment on these kinds of moments. But wife's cat seeks her lap and quickly puts a face to what relaxing should be. 

If my wife moves or adjusts herself for comfort, her cat has to comment. Eyes somewhat open, verbally pushing her for the perfection of her lap time. It works! 

All four of us enjoying the welcome warmth of seasons change and closeness of this family. 

And after all of these years here we have finally put out bird food. We fed the birds in New Hampshire and had to fight with the bears and squirrels. Not here, though. Birds of all sizes and shapes are starting to flit filling in voids to this picture. A good day.

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AIRSPEED BOAT #2

 

Our good and younger family friends are at a dock somewhere south of the Bahamas. A newer boat for them with more room.

I have had my sailing days in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest.  But being on boats and on the water has always set me at ease. And I knew this years ago that if I was going to want for this, it needed to be done then, not when I got older. I did not miss these kinds of adventures. They are good memories now. 

From the "Captain"

"We sailed 700 miles in 20 days, so we've been on the move a lot. We're hoping to start really soaking up the enjoyment. Unfortunately, I got food poisoning two nights ago which knocked me out all day yesterday. Late last night, our oldest son got very sick and his mother is not feeling well now. And, of course, our youngest son has a stomach made out of a cast iron boiler and he was and is completely fine."

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 JIBBER JABBER

Finally, a normal Sunday post, on time, on the schedule at least for this week.

Worldly things seem to be of less and less importance in the life of this blog. Maybe just a hiccup, but I am finding more and more that grabbing the little things along each day are more important. 

I am loving afternoon naps, but I have had a life time of practice. The noise here in the land of farms is quiet. Maybe a car passing, a tractor pulling a load of hay to a far off field of cattle or the chimes on the porch reporting break that quiet. 

My wife put a chuck roast in the crock-pot last night and we awoke to the smell of home cooking this morning. Breakfast consisted of fall-apart roast covered in fresh gravy. The first time in years, I have not had a fried egg for breakfast. Not having to cook a lot is also becoming more and more "a thing." Warming up leftovers is becoming a desired norm for us. Call me lazy.

Thanks for the visit this week. "Times they are a changin"

 

LEAVING FLORIDA - DUSTING OF WINTER SNOW - CITRUS JUICE AND HOMEMADE SOUP - 3D MODEL RADIAL ENGINE PROGRESS - JIBBER JABBER

Adventures of SV Airspeed returns season #3. The captain and crew of SV Airspeed are starting to check in and share videos and photos.  I will share more as they sail south.

 A new boat, same name. I asked my friend how he likes the new boat.

"OMG, the new boat is incredible!. This is a serious ocean-going machine. It's fast, it's comfortable, it doesn't bob and roll much at a "rolly anchorage." We've been in some extremely heavy seas and the boat always feels comfortable and safe. So happy with it."

SV AIRSPEED LEAVING FLORIDA

FALCON 9 STARLINK ROCKET LAUNCH

 

LARGE SHIP PHOTO

I would enjoy a walk through visit.

 

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WINTER 2025 EAST TEXAS

Thirteen degrees this morning. The coldest day of the year and hopefully this will be the last of it. A dusting of snow was winter 2025. Maybe I am calling this too early, but temperatures are increasing each day and spring is springing. Nothing compared to winter around the nation, but we will take it. 

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FINALLY TRIED A SHOT OF LEMON/LIME JUICE IN HOMEMADE SOUPS

The slice of lime is only for the photograph.

Over the course of time, I have read that adding citrus will bolster the flavor of soups/stews. I have not tried this until now. 

In the cup of beef soup above, I added drops of lime juice (I had lime parts in the fridge) and stirred it in. Who knew?

I figured that one cup of soup was worth trying this hack. Nothing to lose. 

I was surprised that adding some lemon or lime juice does increase the flavors of  soup to the point that I will continue this. The flavors "brighten and sharpen" noticeably. 

Give this a try

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3D PRINTING MODEL RADIAL ENGINE

I have been trying to design and print a reasonable 3D model, 7 cylinder radial engine. I do not need a high degree of detail but more that I have currently produced. The black cylinder picture below is a failure as trying to print any kind of overhang without some bracing does not work with 3D printing. Think of trying to print a solid in mid-air. 

I have thus decided to try to print the cylinders one piece at a time. The center shaft with each spacer and cooling fin placed on the shaft, one at a time. It is going to work much better, just taking more time.

The new cylinder in the upper left corner has a few rings on it showing that the idea is workable. The cylinder in the upper right hand corner shows the mess with adding bridging (scaffolding, if you will) support when printing overhangs. The bridging (scaffolding) has to be peeled off and in this case there is so much that it trashes the finished part. 

The round rings are spaces and sized cooling fins.

I am close to a finished cylinder but ran out of time last week. Next posting should show a completed cylinder, maybe even the engine. 

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 JIBBER JABBER

Cold here in bedroom/office. We just have the fireplace going in the center living room which is toasty, but the back rooms need a little boost from the heat pump. A warm cup of tea helps, though. 

Friends from NH were down and visited a few days over Valentine's Day weekend. It has been 5 years and the only thing that has changed is that we are a little older. The hugs, well-wishes, smiles and laughter as we were getting caught up, seemed like yesterday. Good friends are just that. They are still young enough to do all the traveling. We are still young enough to host. Good eats, too.

I am looking forward to warmer weather. Who isn't? I want to get onions in the ground and I am already behind. Yard cleanup beckons but it does everyday I venture outside. Throwing birdseed down on the sidewalk, hanging suet on trees and a large bucket lid of bird seed on the side of the driveway. I see more and more birds flitting back and forth this afternoon. Feeding birds is rewarding.

Another plane crash. Hard landing followed by a landing completed upside down. No one hurt for the most part and given all that can go wrong,"any landing you can walk away from is a good landing." The end of this investigation will be an interesting read.

Pilot(s) information still not being released as of this posting. 

Airline Pilot Review. Good information, well presented.

Appreciate your visit this week.

 
 

HOMEMADE BISCUITS - LAND CLEAN UP - LAWN MOWING IN FEBRUARY - JIBBER JABBER

 I use this video for making homemade biscuits. Works perfectly.

How to cut butter into flour.  

We have friends arriving soon for a few days' visit. Thought that they might enjoy breakfast one morning with homemade biscuits and sausage gravy. It has been a few years since I have made biscuits so thought a test of the old recipe was in order. Bingo!

I have included that site above. I make 2% milk from morning coffee cream by adding a little cold water to fill up the 1/3 cup portion of the recipe. The self-rising flour was also over 2 years old, but still worked. Fresh flour will be used for guests. 

My try with this batch was a little wet compared to the video. Adding some flour to the cutting board as I folded worked just fine. Do not over work the dough. I folded 7 times and cut 2 biscuits and also baked the leftover "play dough." 

These biscuits were a real treat for us. 

Give this a try if you want to be the biscuit king in your kingdom.  Doubling or tripling the recipe works just fine.

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LAND CLEAN UP  (FINALLY)

We had two dump trucks of brush, fallen and dead trees hauled out. The Kubota Skid Steer (above) is one of the most useful workhorses for this kind of job. The kid operating this was a surgeon with a very special skill set.

We now have a cleaned out trail I can drive the side-by-side on to maintain a big part of this small acreage. We also had some low hanging pine tree branches cut away from the house.  

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FEBRUARY LAWN MOWING (PLANNED)

It was 81 degrees yesterday and I had plans for a second day of front lawn mowing/mulching. By end of day, that front yard project would have been completed, checked off the long list of outside chores. 

But the wife yelled at me as I started down the driveway. A yell that stopped me dead and pissed me off. I was not expecting her to do anything like that. "Why yell at me" I thought. A flat left rear tire was why. I filled the tire with hand pump air and limped into the garage with the tire flat again. 

The air compressor filled the tire instantly and I could hear the leak. Fairly large cut in the rear tire from something large and pokey.  

I used a tire repair plug kit for the first time and it worked perfectly. Lawn mower tires, side-by-side tires and equipment such as this often requires a quick tire repair fix somewhere out in the fields or on the back roads. The repairs will last damn near forever. Anyone who runs any off-road equipment has several of these repair kits with them at all times. 

I decided to check all of the other tires for air and found the left front also flat. Front wheel zero-turn tires are a major pain in the ******** for going flat. So much so that many folks go to the hard front tires that never goes flat. 

The tire shop in town told me that they could not/do not repair tire tubes because inner tubes now are made with different materials on which the old inner tire repair methods do not work. 

So, the new zero-turn is down and the work I wanted to do, well, you probably know the drill!

I will find an answer for this situation tomorrow when I go to the fellow I purchased the mower from. I have had too many flats with these front tires already and only have 30 hours on the machine. But I not want a rough ride from hard front rubber tires. What to do?

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JIBBER JABBER

From the story above, it is still rings true in my 80th year. Things always fail on the weekends when the availability to get repairs done is nearly impossible.

Thirty degrees colder today with rain in the forecast for the next few days. The bride and I did get some hand-trimming done of bushes and trees yesterday. Added tree fertilizer spikes to many of the small tree shrubs around the front yard. 

I am noticing more and more that all of the hundreds of things I use to do with ease and without issue are no more. I am not liking aging and hate asking anyone for help or assistance. It is a man thing. BUT, I can still function well enough to get basic outside chores attended to. Right now, I believe I have one more good year in me with hopes for this to extend for a few more years. And we have good neighbors that will help. 

As for worldly worries, I may be leaving more and more of these off the posting table here. Sitting in lawn chairs with my wife yesterday, surveying our kingdom, with a warm breezed blowing and two cats rolling at our feet was a simple slice of heaven. We both believe we can become experts at this behavior. 

Appreciate the visit this week. Have a very good week. God Bless. 

EARLY FEBRUARY JIBBER JABBER

 

The video above well demonstrates the unusually warm sunny weather we are experiencing in east Texas. It appears that this will be a norm for the month leading into spring. Already, mosquitos are a problem working out in some of the fields. 

I have been in shorts and t-shirts for two days and this morning a rack of ribs were seasoned and set in the Pit Boss at 09:00. I cannot control the urge.

 

The zero turn has been serviced for the season, the bride's cub cadet tractor has been run through upgrades here and ready to go. The side by side goes in this morning for seasonal oil change, filters, tune up and inspection. Tree guys have been hired to trim pine trees close the house within the next several weeks. Fence painting is in the queue, a job the wife and I will be doing. 

Friends scheduled to visit a few days over Valentines Day and a young couple with children return for a visit at months end. 

The wife's eye surgeries are over and all appears to be 100% successful. We are most thankful as her eye sight was slowly deteriorating.  

Yard cleanup hangs over our heads.

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Aviation accidents have been in the news for nearly a week now. Digging for truths finds more and more coming out about the Black Hawk flight. As all of this is still in an investigation phase I will not put in my 2 cents, but I can tell a story.

"Operation MGM", the name we pilots and crews gave to a fiasco set upon our company in Vietnam in 1967. Someone wanted to make a film of all of our available helicopters flying in formation and all diving and firing rockets at the same time. Yep! Maybe a dozen plus helicopters at one time. A one-time shot. Show of force.

We were all to be in echelon formation, flying up the An Lao Valley. A command was to be given to 'ARM' the rockets. Next, a command to start our dives in formation. Then the command to fire in which all helicopters would expend their 96 rockets in unison. We would then all fly/climb out straight ahead. Sounded wonderful. 

We spent time in the briefing, asking questions and confirming the commands and command sequences. In a perfect world, every pilot/helicopter would execute at the same time.

I was flying near the left side of the formation, maybe third or fourth helicopter in. Captain's helicopter was flying on my right.

When the command to dive was given, the formation did just that, except him. He kept flying straight and level. Realizing that he was behind, he began his dive while drifting left over the top of my helicopter.  It was the crew chief and door gunner on my helicopter that saved our lives. They screamed over the intercom that Captain was descending directly over top of us. Coming directly down on top of our rotor system.

I bottomed the collective causing my helicopter to drop out of the sky. I banked left to get completely out of the formation. I could only hope that others were seeing what was happening and that I was not banking into another helicopter.

It was the eyes of the crew chief and gunner and their immediate input that saved our day. Somewhere in the Army archives there is footage of that flight event. I would so love to see that.

The only time in my Army years flying did I ever face off against a higher ranking officer/anyone. I got in his face, yelling and screaming at how badly he fucked up. I did not quit and was physically pulled away. I knew that my wings and rank were all on the line. But the stupidity, inattention and incompetence of this pilot had me livid. Those emotions all surfaced after we landed.

I was talked to by leadership, calmed down and warned to never ever do that again. But everyone knew what had happened. I never ever had to fly with captain on any mission. Someone was indeed looking out for me on so many occasions.

I will offer this here that for the nearly 1000 combat sorties and other flying I did as a Warrant Officer, every single person associated with any and all missions I participated in, were gold standard. Gold standard in leadership, performance, experience and operations. I was and still am a most proud Army Helicopter pilot and Vietnam combat helicopter pilot with utmost respect for military aviation. 

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God Bless. 

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Behind on postings. Missing my posting dates. I have no viable excuse or reason but I am looking for one.

Have a wonderful week and I appreciate your visit.

 

 

NATION INSTALLS MODEL 47 AND REBOOTS - 3 D BI-PLANE MODEL PROJECT - JIBBER JABBER

I have not watched any political event for years now. The past 4 years have been a disaster for the goodness/wellness/potential of this country and the people. To piss and moan served/serves no purpose other than venting. That President Donal Trump has returned and on the job is enough. 

Like many, I have always had hope, prayed often and doubted more than maybe I should have. Surprising how important hope is living our lives. 

But yesterday morning my wife and I decided to turn on the TV, find coverage of the inauguration and see how long we could endure. We found ourselves on the edge of our seats and again witnessed the power of belief and prayer at work in our lives and the lives of so many folks. Common sense returned and appears to be alive and well.

Changes made on day one. A good re-cap if you read the headline only. From Vox Popoli.

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BUILDING GEONOSIS in 9 minutes time lapse.

That someone can see this in their heads and then replicate that idea using Legos. And he filmed the two year build and compacted it all into 9 minuets. Stick with the video. Appreciate the stockpile of Legos this fellow has.

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NEW 3 D PRINTING PROJECT

I found this wooden model bi-plane in a thrift shop a year ago. Appreciated the model making. I thought it would be a good gift, but I have not been able to let it go. Now I ask myself, can I replicate this model example using 3d printing?  

 

Engine cowlings and testing radial engine design ideas. I need to up-size some more, add more detail and then start the fuselage. Not bad though for a few hours' work. I think it is worth continuing the idea. Besides, all of this is great for hours wintering inside.

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JIBBER JABBER

We have been working the healing period from my wife's eye surgery these past two weeks. Following doctors orders. She has been a "good girl" letting me pick up some of home responsibilities. Minimal lifting, no bending over and sleeping with eye protection on. Lots of eye drop applications throughout the days.

Both clarity and color have returned to her "new" eye and the second eye is scheduled to be done by month's end where we will go through these days of healing downtime again. My wife's bionic upgrades are nearing completion.

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A new historic era begins this week and you and I get to watch all of this unfold in real time. Best we lend a hand in the process.

Thank you for the visit.

 

RADIAL KERATOTOMY - TEXAS SNOW STORM - PULLED PORK TACOS - CHICKEN STEW - SALMON AND BROCCOLI - JIBBER JABBER

 Snow Sky:

 

Nearing home with "after surgery wife" safe, snuggled in her seat and looking forward to peace and quiet as an east Texas winter storm approaches. Cows pictured here are youngsters eating and growing fatter. It was not too long ago these were calves. Good pasture lands and time!

But back to this in awhile--

Radial Keratotomy- "is a surgical procedure that corrects nearsightedness, or myopia, by reshaping the cornea" from a google search. 

My wife tells the story of having this procedure done in 1992 to correct vision in both of her eyes. 

"Procedure A surgeon makes small, deep incisions in the cornea to flatten it. This weakens the cornea's outer edge, which changes the cornea's curve and reduces refraction." Again google search information.The reshaping of the lens through this procedure changes the eye lens shape and improves vision. 

My wife says she went home after this procedure and sat on the couch waiting for a couple hours to pass before she could remove the bandage. After removing the bandage,she could read the the titles of the books on the shelves across the room. From coke bottle corrective glasses to no glasses at all.

On Wednesday last week, 33 years later, we were returning home from her having another eye surgery to remove a cataract and have a Toric Lens implanted to correct her astigmatism. The doctor performing this operation said that he has done 25,000 of these operations and that the procedure takes about 7 minutes. Technology has come a long way from that early Radial Keratotomy procedure. 

Several hours after we arrived home, removed the bandage over my wife's eye. Her eye was not as bad as the doctor warned we might see. Her eye was somewhat closed and reddened. 

Now day 5, the eye is fully opened and her vision is "brand new." No more smudging spots to see through but rather a brand new eye with "new" vision parameters. We are vigilant in following doctors orders.

Eye number 2 operation at the end of the month. When all is said and done, her vision will be returned to youthful vision, likely requiring no more than reading glasses. 

I have heard other successful stories like hers and have also heard stories not so successful. I am of the opinion that her successful outcome results from receiving excellent recommendations from our trusted eye doctor and witnessing the professionalism of the doctor performing the procedure on our first visit with him.

Personally, I have always held the opinion that I would never allow anyone to do any kind of corrective work on my eye(s). I have told myself to be happy with wearing glasses and not to take the chances of being one of those folks who walk out of such procedures with less quality vision than when walking in. Today, I would have no issues with trusting this doctor, his team and hospital that performed my wife's eye surgery.  That is a bridge I thought I would never cross.

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THE TEXAS "SNOW STORM"

The challenge for me over these past few days comes from helping my wife get to and from her appointments within a lot of night driving on winter storm roads.  Surgery was scheduled at 7AM and we had to be there a half hour early. Follow up appointment also meant driving in the dark on roads with freezing rain and ice conditions. The follow-up appointment the following day after surgery is important for checking eye pressures. 

I prefer not to drive at night anymore, but can still do it safely.

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ON TO OTHER STUFF

"Angel of Death" 

This gal tells a good story.

California Burning 

Am I surprised? Yes and no. I feel for the folks who have to endure the consequences of poor government policies and yet the absurdities continue.

Blue Bloods

I have never been a fan of "cop" TV series. Proof again never to say never. 

We stared to watch this series a  few nights ago, mainly because of our fondness for Tom Selleck as an actor. 

We are enjoying the story lines and character developments enough to highly recommend. 

BBQ PULLED PORK TACOS

Pulled pork with onions and BBQ sauce. Yummy and very messy. Roasted Brussel Sprouts (a super food) in olive oil and garlic salt. Oven set to 425 degrees on cookie sheet for about 20 minutes. They burn very fast near the end so watch em.

CHICKEN STEW

 

Neighbors bring food. 

They knew we were coming home from wife's eye surgery in crap weather and brought over chicken stew so we would not have to cook dinner. This kind of neighborly behavior is alive and well here in Texas. Both my wife and I grew up in a family environment where neighbors helping neighbors was a norm. That is all still alive and well here.

We each enjoyed a full cup of chicken stew after we got home and spent the rest of the day resting with the fireplace on high.  Freezing rain, light snow and cold outside. Well, cold for Texas.

Come to find out neighbor made enough chicken stew to feed three families and one big pot for us. Batch cooking. Chicken stew differs from chicken soup in that a can of Rotel tomatoes are added for some heat flavor. The first spoon full for me clears my sinuses and the heat flavor keeps me coming back until the bowl is empty. I do like it! I have shared chicken stew stories before.

SALMON AND BROCCOLI

Both super foods, quick and easy to make. Salmon for about 8 minutes in a frying pan with lid on. Fried in butter and olive oil with light Cajun seasoning. Medium heat. 

Broccoli florets are steamed, softened, somewhat mashed and a half stick of butter is folded in along with salt.

Salmon is one of the quick go to meals we have once a week. Quick and easy to fix.

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Jibber Jabber

I have been lax in getting my posting responsibilities done. Lazy to some degree too.

I am not sure if I am changing these days or if the times are changing or I just do not care as much as I use to. I read fewer blogs, use YouTube for some entertainment and play solitaire for complete mind removal from the world.

I have also had to pick up some of my wife's "duties to the house and home" while she is recovering. 

She is not happy with this, but in her defense, has given me the reins and not complained. Following doctors orders pays big dividends after surgery. She is now though getting back into a few of her chores. 

I find waiting awhile longer for her to bring me my first morning cup of coffee to be agreeable. I am here for her!

I made the bed this past week. Walking out of the bedroom and looking back, I thought to myself, hey!! Then I looked at the edges of the bed to see blankets at a slant and lumps at the foot of the bed. Both sides. No wonder she wants to get back to normal. But I made the bed!! 

I have also been feeding/watering the cats. I am so glad they cannot talk.

Thanks for the visit this week.