Good News and Bad News

Good News / Bad News: Mostly Good

A little bad news to start. Shortly after our last post another of our baby turkeys died. We started off with three Bourbon Reds, three Bronze and four Narragansett. It was all three of the Bronze that died. :-(

The seven remaining turkeys moved to new temporary housing outside on Saturday. About sundown on Saturday four of them were outside the pen. We got them back in and fixed the places where we thought they got out. Sunday night before going to bed we checked on them- two were missing. Generally when they get out they stay right by the pen because they don't want to leave their flock. We looked all around and didn't find them. You know how parents worry when their kids aren't home on time. Well, they came dragging in at 6:00 this morning. I scolded them, told them to never do that again and grounded them for a week. What started out as bad news is now good news.

While I was trying to catch the two night owls and put them up I saw Duncan take off like a shot. I don't think he got the skunk but the skunk definitely got him. This was VERY BAD news. By 9:00 he's already had two baths but it doesn't seem to have helped a lot.

And finishing up with VERY GOOD news, the "crack house" is rented!  We thought we'd end up with an intern or grad student working at the Texas A&M Agri-Life Research Farm next door. But we ended up with someone even better. Our tenant (as of today) is a sweet 80 year old lady with a lot of spunk. She doesn't even mind we call it the crack house. We already like her a lot. We've made a few upgrades for her. We've put a new deck on the back of the house and today we'll start working on the roof over the deck. The deck ends about 4 feet from the property line, on the other side of the barbed wire fence are Texas A&M's cattle that are very inquisitive. They'll be checking on her anytime she's out on the deck.

That's all for now.
Take care.

Brian

The wood flooring is down!

Hi All-

A couple of updates and pictures from the last couple of weeks.

First and foremost, the wood flooring is down in the great room! Yeehaa! It's taken about a month to complete it. That's not the only thing we've been working on in the last month, there's only so much of that you can stand at a time. Nailing the floor down wasn't all that bad, it was prepping the boards to go down that took the time and was less than exciting.

Still work to be done (sanding and staining) but at least we aren't living with concrete floors any longer

This past Thursday we received a special delivery- ten baby turkeys. We had so much fun with them last year, right up until varmints got them, that we had to try again. It is sad but true that baby turkeys just look for a way to die. We're already down to eight. They were a day old when they arrived and it's not uncommon to lose half of them before they reach eight weeks.

Best picture I could get, it's hard to get down to their level

More news on the animal front, putting his nose where he shouldn't, Duncan was bitten by a snake. All indications were it was a copperhead. So, if you want to know how veterinarian offices are operating during the Covid-19 pandemic it goes something like this. You park in the parking lot and call the office. They put you on the list with everyone else that is in the parking lot. At some point (about and hour and a half for us) they come out and get your pet and take them into the office. A bit later they bring your pet back and tell you what they did. A few minutes later someone comes out with the bill for you to pay. I should say this particular veterinarian office never takes appointments, it's alway walk up, first come first served. Unless you're bringing a horse or some other large animal. Anyway, Duncan is fine and has already been spotted chasing a snake so he didn't learn a thing.  No surprise there.

Last but not least, Susan harvested her first zucchini from the garden today. This is the first year we've actually gotten zucchini from the garden. Thanks to our friend Stan that told Susan about using Liquid Smoke to keep Squash Vine Borers off of the plants.

Our first zucchini

That's all for now. Take care.

Brian

While there is no where to go...

Hi all,
My last post announced my re-employment but as you might have guessed with the current state of affairs I have been furloughed. Actually it's much more about the price of oil than Covid-19. Of course the price of oil might not be as low without Covid-19 but the price war between Russia and Saudia Arabia was the main factor.

With lots of time on my hands again Susan and I are back working on the house. Susan was working on it while I was working but some things really need two people. So here's an update on what we've gotten accomplished.

From the beginning our vision of the exterior of the house was board and batten. Battens are finally going up and it's making, in our opinion, a big difference on the way the house looks.

Here's the exterior as it has been for the last year

Now, with battens

We also have finally started putting wood flooring down in the great room and dining area. The flooring is out of the building we paid $200 for a year or more ago. Once it is down we'll sand it and refinish it. Putting it down has been realitively easy (thanks Tony for the floor nailer!) it's the getting the nails out and all the 90 year old dirt gone so the tongues will go in the grooves that takes all the time. We now have almost half of the flooring down.

The first furring strips going down

The first six rows of flooring down

Besides working on the house we have accomplished a few other things.

We made a very fast trip to Atlanta in order to get the last of Susan's possessions.  We worked out we were gone for about 38 hours, 22 of those were spent driving on I-20. A big thanks to our friends Mark and Tammy that not only gave us a place to stay but also helped us load the trailer. In the rain.

While Susan has done this before, I wanted to try my hand at beekeeping. We've been going to local beekeepers meetings (until they, like everything else, were canceled) and ordered two colonies. They are here and appear to be thriving.

Opening the hives to feed and check on their progress

 And of course we take a little time to fish in the pond.

Biggest one I've caught here

I think mom can learn from daughter

That's all for now.
Stay safe.

Brian

Blog Post #200

Hi All!
It's hard to believe this is the 200th blog post we've done. Lots has happened since that first post on November 30, 2014. What started out as a blog about our sailing adventure turned into a travel blog and then a blog on building our house in East Texas.

Seems fitting the 200th post would contain another change in direction of sorts. I have a job! Shortly after the first of the year a friend of ours called and asked if I could help him out at his oilfield services company. For those that don't know, Kilgore (we live about 10 miles outside Kilgore) is home to the world's richest acre. Back in the 30's when oil was first discovered in East Texas there were no restrictions on how close one oil well could be to another. Kilgore was covered with oil wells, 1,200 within the city limits. Since 1930 oil wells on 1.2 acres within the city limits have produced 2.5 million barrels of oil. There aren't nearly that many wells anymore but you still see pump jacks pumping all around town. Chili's painted the one in their parking lot to look like a chili. All that to say, oil is still big business.

My original job was to do inventory of all the pipe, fittings and other assorted equipment (flare stacks, seperators, sand traps, plug valves) the company uses. It took me to Midland, Pleasanton and Carrizo Springs- all here in Texas. That part is finished so now I'm working on a couple of IT projects, something with which I'm a bit more familar. (I wanted to say "something I'm more familar with" but Susan wouldn't let me end a sentence with "with". There, I did it twice.)

No, the house isn't completed but the estimated completion date of 2024 is still achievable. While I've been working at a J O B, Susan has been finishing up the Crack House. For all intents and purposes, it's ready to rent.

That's it for now. Sorry, no pictures this time. There weren't any in the first post either.

Take care.
Brian

House Progress

Hi All!
The last several posts were about our vacation but that doesn't mean that's all we've been doing. We volunteered at the Formula 1 race in Austin again, we've harvested the last crops of the year out of our garden and we've been working on what we afffectionately call "the crack house" that is on our property in order to get it in shape to be rented.

And of course we've been working on our house. The master bathroom is just about complete now and we have finished the floor in the kitchen. Below are some pictures to catch you up.

Susan holding the 6.5 pound sweet potato from our garden

Subfloor down and the reclaimed wood starting to be put in place

All the wood is down

The kitchen floor is finished!

Grady turned a cabinet we bought into a vanity and made
the frame for the mirror. Bathroom done! Except for some baseboards.

That's all for now.
Take care.
Brian

Vacation - Final Chapter

Finally, the third and final chapter of our vacation. When we last left you we were in Athens, Greece. On Monday, September 16 we flew from Athens to Paris, with a one hour layover in Madrid. We had a one hour layover however, our luggage spent the night.

After spending a few hours trying to arrange to get our luggage delivered, we got to our hotel for about five hours of sleep before catching a train the following morning to Macon. In Macon we met up with Kent and Heather- friends we met in the Bahamas and with whom we watched the solar eclipse back in 2017.

Kent and Heather have a canal boat in France and had invited us to visit on the way home from Greece. Or maybe we invited ourselves, I'm not quite sure. Anyway, we spent the good part of four days on their boat on the Saone River. We started in Macon and moved up the river to La Truchere where we spent the first night. Wednesday we stopped in Tournus for lunch and sightseeing before moving on to Chalon-sur-Saone that afternoon. When we arrived at the marina in Chalon-sur-Saone we met back up with our luggage. Hooray!

Thursday Kent had rented a car so we headed out see (and taste) some of Bourgogne (Burgundy). Our first stop was a wine co-op in Buxy where we tasted several wines from small vinyards in the area. From there we found a boulangerie where we got some sandwiches to go before stopping at the Chateau de Rully for a picnic lunch.  We had one more wine tasting scheduled for later in the day so we drove around amongst the vinyards and stopped to watch two different techniques for harvesting grapes.  Our last wine tasting was at Feuillat-Juillot in Montagny. Camille was our sommelier and is the daughter of the owner. As an aside, since we met her, she ran the New York City Marathon in 3 hours and 6 minutes. It probably goes without saying, but the wines were fantastic and our pallets don't do it justice.

All in all, we had a great time, ate great food, and thoroughly enjoyed France. Thanks to our hosts Kent and Heather for showing us their France. If anyone is interested in chartering a canal boat and traveling around the rivers of France, Heather has written a practical guide you'll want to read. You can find it at... https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Guide-European-Canal-Charters/dp/1495468038

Now for some pictures.

Kent and Heather's canal boat, Apres Ski

Not many but an occasional barge

Our first lock, where Heather went ashore, knocked on the door
of the lock master's house and then helped him open and close the gates

Chateau de Rully

Brian and Susan after our picnic lunch

Kent and Heather

Kent found some grapes that had been missed. Yummy!

Grapes for table wine can be harvested by machine

Better quality wines require the grapes by harvested by hand

Domaine Feuillat-Juillot

Chalone-sur-Saone

Our route on the Saone

That's all for now. Take care.

Brian

Vacation Part Two

Hi All,
I'm finally getting around to posting about the second part of our "vacation". After our three days in Athens we finally got to the real reason for our trip to Greece, sailing around the Greek Islands. The Saronic Islands to be exact.

When we first discussed chartering a boat with Jay and Carol we discussed whether we should get a local captain or not. Having someone that spoke Greek and would know where the best places to go swung us over to having a captain. Knowing what we know now, we're glad we had a local captain. More on that later.

Saturday was our first day on the boat, Ageri. After ordering food, drink and other items and having them delivered, we pulled away from the dock around 6:00 PM. Leaving this late would not normally be an option as we didn't drop anchor until 10:00 PM that night. We anchored in a cove / small bay off the island of Aegina.

Sunday morning we moved to a snorkeling and swimming spot of the island of Moni. Moni is known for the wild peacocks that live there. I never did see them but I sure heard them. They were quiet until disaster struck. I was the last one of us back to the boat from snorkeling and I noticed some smoke towards shore but couldn't really see what was going on until I was back on our boat. There were a dozen or so boats anchored around us. A sailboat that was anchored closer to shore was on fire. The peacocks were screaming and it sounded like people screaming "get off the boat!"  There were indeed some people still on the boat when the flames were already visible on deck. They got off and in a few minutes the boat was fully engulfed in flames. It was a sad, sad sight to see that boat burn down. We stopped one more time to snorkel on the way to Poros, where we spent the night.

Our days pretty much consisted of the following... Wake up and have breakfast on the boat. Leave the dock. Mostly motor as there was not much wind most days. Stop somewhere to snorkel and have lunch. Move on to the island where we're going to spend the night, usually arriving early afternoon. Spend some time walking around town, checking out the sites and just enjoying the beautiful towns. Eating an early dinner (early for Greece where dinner is usually eaten around 10:00 PM) at one of the many small cafes with tables along the seawall. Head back to the boat, go to bed and then get up the next morning and do it all again. If it sounds like I'm complaing about this agenda, you are mistaken. It was great.

Sunday we were in Poros, Monday in Ermioni, Tuesday in Spetses, Wednesday in Hydra, Thursday in Methana, and Friday night back in Athens.

Docking. Docking in Greece is, from what I can tell, alway stern to. That is, the stern (back of the boat) is tied up to the pier. Sounds easier than it really is. Especially in Hydra. The technique is to drop your anchor about 100 yards from the pier and then back up to within a foot or two of the pier. Someone will jump off the boat onto the pier if there isn't someone wandering by to catch your lines. Two lines are run from the stern to the dock and back to the boat.  Then there is a few adjustments getting the lines just the right length and tension on the anchor to keep us from hitting the pier. Then there is Hydra, a very popular destination with very little space at the pier. The first folks to get there tie up stern to to the pier. Then when the pier is full, the next bunch of folks tie up to the first line of boats. Then the third line of boats tie up to the second line of boats. Getting in isn't too bad, but getting out can be a pain and you'd better have some patience. It's pretty much just chaos with people yelling at each other and from there it gets worse when anchor lines get wrapped around each other. This is when the decision to have a local captain ranks as one of the most brilliant decisions we've ever made.

On Friday, after our stop for snorkeling and lunch, we headed back to Athens. This is when the wind started to blow. And did it ever! We had a 50 knot wind right on our nose all the way back to Athens. At one point we were running along the shore of an island where it was obvious we could get out and walk faster than the boat. We did finally make it back to Athens and spent the night in the marina there. Saturday morning Jay and Carol headed to the airport and we spent a couple more days in Athens before moving on to part three of our vacation.

I'm tired of typing now. Let's get on to the pictures...

Our Captain, Captain Lik

Our Route

One of the many churches we saw on the islands

Jay and Carol in front of a statue of Laskarina Bouboulina. She was a naval commander and heroine
of the Greek War of Independence in 1821. 

Susan and in the background notice three lines of sailboat tied up to the pier. Our
Captain said it isn't uncommon for them to be four deep. 

In Hydra

A fisherman on Methana

Changing of the guard at the Greek Parliment in Athens

Happened upon a car show in Athens

Good bye Athens and the Acropolis

That's all for now.
Take care.
Brian