Still Kicking!

[hank4elk]

I hate you had trouble with your builders. As the son of a retired shop teacher and a contractor myself, nothing gets to me more than seeing something that’s not square, level, or plumb. I can spot it a mile away and it boggles my mind that others can’t see it. Wish I was closer. I would help you get it done.

Call me OCD. I'm the same.
The guys can build quality portable sheds. May even mean well.......But.
Found the footings are off too. Another well meaning neighbor and his son poured them. Helped me out that Fri. while I was doing radiation treatments.
Strings up. I showed them what I needed. No meaning to them I guess. Only half inch out ,on one bolt.

Rustic NM is the theme now....LOL
I have grown to accept everything tilting, not lining up true. Close.
I've sat in La Fonda,...and Taos. Just wondering...no one had a plumb bob?

 

[kansasdad]

@hank4elk How does this comedian know you? Likes you enough to get the sweatshirt it seems.




Sorry to hear about Rio. He chose his family well. Dotti too.

 

[hank4elk]

@hank4elk How does this comedian know you? Likes you enough to get the sweatshirt it seems.

View attachment 335448


Sorry to hear about Rio. He chose his family well. Dotti too.

LOL, you honor me sir.
Playing Ripple now.
Saw the Dead a dozen times,but never a total deadhead...well,I have been called worse. Bob ,like Jerry, always had me beat in the stache and beard dept.
Can't play a lick,nor carry a tune.

Got the bacon off and smoker shut down just as rain started. Covered soon after cooling.
Then it got real hot and the power went out for 3 hrs...not good for cooling meat.
No more rain all night. Damn.
Ate peach pie for dinner.

Woke up with heartburn...fruit and spices too late in day.
Watched surfing gold. Heard the RFK bear story...

I put a dead skunk in the womens dorm @ Cal Poly once. Watched it empty out and we handed out invites to them for a party later that day.
Hot tub, BBQ and bands. Our ranch. Notorious for big parties. Only women got invites.
Sheriff shut that down when thousands showed up and blocked all roads. Stayed and helped us eat the food.
4 kegs left over. So we had another party the next weekend.
Buckley Ranch. 3 Nam Vets renting it. I never graduated.
But I learned a lot.
Like only invite women...LOL

Phone calls to the vet and propane guys today. Need that back up gen.
Dotti needs shots and a check up. A flea cure that works. Still scratching.

Take her in the truck and go for long ride thru the Gila and into White mtns. Onward to store and back.
Leash training in green woods.
BLT's for dinner.

Bull bugling now. Light rain falling.
Soon.

 

[noharleyyet]

Bacon!

Can smell it all the way over here in Mother Texas Hank.

 

[hank4elk]

Bacon, with Boz Scaggs & Duane...Can You loan me a dime?

 

[hank4elk]

Going to be a hot one now,they say.
No rains til tonight.
Too hot to take Dotti to sit while I shop.
Plan B seems to be the pattern.

Just tried to order plants for elk project,and state sold out instantly 2 weeks ago. All plants sold out. Online.
Maybe AZ forestry in Flag has some? I heard a nursery in Show Low might have natives.
Osuna has 15 gal. narrow leaf cottonwoods...$200. Naah.

Plan C...start a native plant nursery.

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[hank4elk]

Dotti approved of the bacon bits.

And I just found out she can reach the table top...tried to lick the cutting board. Bacon safe in the middle.
Damn she is growing fast.
Seems like she was walking under the chairs last week. Now her head hits the table.
Has to crawl under the coffee table now.

Had her 1st visit from an elk this morning. Young one chirping,looking for mom. Tiny one.
Dotti barked a couple times with hair up. Calf raced to mom by the fence. She sat and watched. Cool.

She just came in with a Catron county dog treat. A lower leg with hoof.
Now back out tugging on a pinion cone...full of pitch.

The scars on her head are almost gone. Same with her belly.
Came from a big tough clan.
Has one in the corner of her jaw...tough looking. lol

Thank you Rio. You were a life saver.

 

[hank4elk]

Decent rains soaking in. Still hot. Very green around here.

Dotti is in the system, 1st puppy shots today.
31lbs-13 weeks
Gonna be a big girl.
Long truck ride.
She hates the leash. But she's gotta learn.
She finally rode quiet. She slipped out of the leash too.

Dr. says excellent health and condition. Lots of "What a sweety" from crew.
Terrified a cat. And 2 dogs...LOL

Propane guy manana. Power has been iffy during lightning shows.

Dotti is fine with thunder and lightning.
She raises fur and barks at bunnies & chipmunks now.
Likes bacon, so she's a keeper.

 

[Chama Grande]

Going to be a hot one now,they say.
No rains til tonight.
Too hot to take Dotti to sit while I shop.
Plan B seems to be the pattern.

Just tried to order plants for elk project,and state sold out instantly 2 weeks ago. All plants sold out. Online.
Maybe AZ forestry in Flag has some? I heard a nursery in Show Low might have natives.
Osuna has 15 gal. narrow leaf cottonwoods...$200. Naah.

Plan C...start a native plant nursery.

Man you made the right call on Osuna’s price, that guy runs the line way too high

 

[WildWill]

31lbs-13 weeks

Likes bacon, so she's a keeper.

She's gonna be a biggin for sure and I might know why.

 

[hank4elk]

1/4 of a slice broken over her kibble. Once in a while.
Not too much.
A treat. For a good girl.

She never eats a whole bowl of kibble in one sitting, hits it and moves on to whatever distracts her. Bones usually.
Rio was same way.
Well,he would also eat a whole litter of bunnies. Then not eat for a couple days.

Elk bones here do not have much meat left on them. Then we jerk them, hung in trees.
She's working on a scapula and a hair covered foreleg.

Today she rides down to the tanks with me to check them. Water and prairie dogs to chase.

Crappie & bluegill fry tonight.

 

[hank4elk]

80 already and storms later,they say. Only 2 inches this summer here so far.

Waiting for propane guy now.
Told Brandon, my firewood guy, come tomorrow and we'll get some stuff done. He is also old guy and not a carpenter , he told me.

Mechanic sent pics of bumper going on Tacoma. Asked about running lights. I ordered from ARB and they will ship fedex this week.
Bumper guy said 2 weeks from dist for twice the price. Who knows shipper?
I do know ups can't find this address anymore.

My mechanic also knows some real carpenters and has numbers for me.
Brandon knows a local plumber,who can remodel my BR cheaper than I can do it.

Tradeoffs. Plan Q.

Crappie fry is tonight. Not thawed yesterday.
So I had a BLT and played with Dotti.
I went to bed @0830 and had a sore side from laughing.


Life in rural NM.

 

[Ben Lamb]

I haven't read poetry this good in a long time Hank. Keep it up!

 

[hank4elk]

I haven't read poetry this good in a long time Hank. Keep it up!

...a poet who don't know it.
Need to find clippings from grandpa. He wrote for local papers and big ones. 1920's.
Hand written letters from Presidents up til Nixon too.

One was real funny. Poem about Rita rottencrotch...LOL Bridgeport Gazette.
Notes to Doughboys.

 

[hank4elk]

...a poet who don't know it.
Need to find clippings from grandpa. He wrote for local papers and big ones. 1920's.
Hand written letters from Presidents up til Nixon too.

One was real funny. Poem about Rita rottencrotch...LOL Bridgeport Gazette.
Notes to Doughboys.

Grandpa was a gentleman, but some were written before women had the vote. So there is that.
He found grandma going to Yale & Carnagie tech. Daughter of the lumber baron of Pittsburg. Only woodframed mansion there at the time.
I sleep on Uncle Berts bed. He was a furnituremaker. Grandma's uncle.
Grandma was a stern woman. You never messed with her.

 

[hank4elk]

Hot
Rains missing my valley,but it's green and yellow now. Late summer flowers.

Got tired of waiting for propane guy and got my neighbor to give me ride into big city and get my Tacoma. Nice trip and all.

Truck looks great. All lights work. Runs like a champ. Fresh oil & belts.
Mechs wife has a in with Lazyboy guys here. Service their trucks.
I'll get a deal and she has a newer couch for me.
We ate her homemade pasteries and sipped coffee.
Dennis took off for Sams and I headed for Milan & the propane co.

Found the shop and the a young native guy helped me out. I said ,"These guys must hunt". He laughed and brought up my area on the cell and had my place pinned. "We'll get you taken care". of he said.
Cool.

Got home and Dotti was fine and happy to see me. 6 hrs in the cage.
Rampaged and played with me and then I made supper.

Crappie fry w/fries. She approved.
Still hot out and she's running around the house.

We'll take a truck ride tomorrow and hit the store. Should be cooler with chance of showers.

6 weeks of monsoons left.
Lots of elk tracks about.
Saw a nice buck in velvet walking up to meet Dennis this morning.

A good day.

 

[hank4elk]

Talked to a HT friend this week who is in Santa Fe and knows the lady from Plants of the Southwest.
I've bought seed from her before.
He'll get me some trees and fruit starts for the elk enhancement project he said.

Cool.

 

[gonhunting247]

Call me OCD. I'm the same.
The guys can build quality portable sheds. May even mean well.......But.
Found the footings are off too. Another well meaning neighbor and his son poured them. Helped me out that Fri. while I was doing radiation treatments.
Strings up. I showed them what I needed. No meaning to them I guess. Only half inch out ,on one bolt.

Rustic NM is the theme now....LOL
I have grown to accept everything tilting, not lining up true. Close.
I've sat in La Fonda,...and Taos. Just wondering...no one had a plumb bob?

I totally understand this feeling. Drives me crazy when things are built out of plumb,square and level. Even when you are thankful for the help

 

[hank4elk]

80 by 10 am. 60% humidity.
Too hot for Dotti in the truck while I go shopping. Faith.

I load cooler and grab the list. Dotti has a bone and I slip out for the store.
She's alone in the house. Faith.

Enjoyable drive with wildflowers going off. Lots of antelope off the road.

Come in and she's a happy dog. All her stuff is now on the livingroom bed.
Wiggle worm.
Fresh fresh pet food on the kibble and half the bowl is gone in no time.
Too damn hot to work outside so we have cheese and apple.

93 by 2pm. Humid and sunny with clouds building.
After a call to David for condolences it's 4pm and supper time. Clouds darkening the day.
Potatoes and t-bone. Doors open,wind blowing thru.

Thunder and the rain starts. Instantly cooler.
Dotti has taken all the meat off the bone and comes to the door...can I?
She has had a shower and has a clean bone. "Come".

She is chewing in the doorway looking out. Raindrops falling a few feet away.
Temp is now 75 and a nice breeze blowing thru.

Hail now...time to close up.
Sideways rains, heavy.
It's welcome.

Tomorrow is a dump run and pick up some alfalfa for the mom's.
Dotti's 1st trip to the tanks and a hike. Walk a bout.

Michael sent me pics of the trees he found for me. 4 aspens and 3 currants.
Life is good.