January 29, 2013      6  pm cst     74 degrees

  I am not sure I would want to try to take that shopping cart away from this grackle.....he looks kind of possessive.  I wonder if Alfred Hitchcock was in Harlingen when he got the idea for the movie The Birds.

Ever heard of geocaching?

 

 It is a modern day, high tech version of the treasure hunt.  A while back when Neil was at the Iwo Jima museum where he volunteers, he noticed a bunch of young people climbing all over this tank.  Turns out they were geocachng.  They go to the page on the internet, get the GPS co ordinates for a "treasure" in their vicinity and then go out with their GPS  or compass to find the well hidden  item.  The find is nothing valuable, just a notebook to show you were there and a few odd trinkets just for fun to add to or swap.

We thought we would try it  with the cache that we already knew about just to photograph the process.  So the co ordinates got us to this area and after looking the lo

cation all over, he thinks he sees something hidden behind the track.

 

.After some struggling, he gets this ammo box out.

 

And this is what is inside.... a few beads, some little gummy erasers, a baby doll, a tiny soccer ball and a  ponytail holder.

We signed the book, put a little trinket in  and replaced the box for someone else to find.

The little notebook that you can just barely see was filled with names of previous finders and a new notebook was added, so the cache has been there for a while.

There is another cache at the Freddy Fender memorial but we fear that it was removed when they put up new fencing.

This geocaching has been around for years, and has caches around the world.  

 

Maybe that would have been nice when our children were young and hated to go on our "Boring Sunday rides."

This is the entrance to Dr, Keillor's office...he calls himself, "Keillor the Healer."

I love how it opens onto a courtyard with plantings and seating.  There are three offices that open onto it.

As I am going in, the walker echos in the hallway, ka-lomp, ka-lomp ka-lomp.  Neil says "I don't like the sound of that.  It sounds like someting in a scary movie is creeping up on you like  in  the movie Jaws."

 

 

 

Dr gives me some more miserable exercises and as he is writing his chart, he looks up and asks me if I am German or Swedish".

I told him I was mostly  English and Irish.

Hm, he says, you got big bones.   Big bones.

 There is no Osteoporous or bone cancer, or anything, the bones are good and solid,  but you just have BIG bones.

 

 

Do you know how, in the movies, the slightly overweight girl says  she isnt chubby,  she just has big bones?    Well, I now have proof that I am not overweight, I just have big bones.

 

He has a cell phone? 

 

p.s.   Many thanks for the cards and flowers.  These lillies are the last survivors but just look at how pretty.  Those blooms are about 9-10 inches across.

 

January 21, 2013  730 pm cst  61 degrees

I like this tree that sits on someone's front lawn.  Wonder how long it has been there.  I haven't been able to find out what kind of trees it is.

I did however, find out what a slot fish is.  Certain game fish have a range of inches in which the fish is legal to catch.

The range is called the slot, hence slot fish.  Only cool fishermen call them that, I think.

. i.e.  " Yeah, fished all day and only got me  couple of slots."

 Operation Game Thief------- I think the Game Wardens are FBI  wannabes.

  

This is Cary who has the neatest toys.

He has a Rouch Mustang and a Corvette, and two more cars that are cool that I  have never seen, but this week he bought a Segway.   

He offered to let me try it, but I'm still  just barely able to walk with a walker, so...no. 

 I have wanted one for a long time, tho.  It does take a little practice, he says.  The forward movement is controlled primarily with your ankles.  You just sort off shift your weight.  Lean back a little to go backwards.

I am past the first two weeks that are the hardest after the hip replacement, but  that doesn't mean that I am doing much walking.  It isn't so uncomfortable now but stairs are a BUGGER. 

Neil has to boost me up on some of them.  Good thing I have my big butt for easy pushing.  heh

Mighty brief but I haven't been out much this week.

January 15

January 15. 2013  7pm cst   68 degrees

Neil is now chief cook and bottlewasher..also vacuum king, master of the scrub brush,
 and lifter of surprising light weight invalid.

Evidently there are some people  we actually know that have not heard me whine about my arthritis and for the very few who have asked.........................

 I have been trying to get this done for a long time and the Drs. at home were dragging their heels but when I  contacted Dr. Keillor, here in Harlingen, he said I have no  hip left and the bone was 20% out of the socket.  That was on the 21 st day of December and  the offending hip was in the bonepille by January10.

Then the next chapter of my whinning and fussing begins.   You know, you really need that knee and accompaning  muscle stuff to get around.  Command that the leg lift and it may or it may not but not without a fight. (For fight, read pain)   One thing for certain is that it will be subborn as a mule about climbing  stairs.

Chapter 2: Whining of all kinds:

Stair climbing was my task of the day.  It is really hard, especially when you think how easy it is for 2 year olds.  We live in an RV where there are steepstirs to get in,  couple of steps up to the bathroom and yet another to go to bed.  I am not allowded to get in and out of bed alone as twisting the hip might pull it out of position so  Neil has to move my legs in a straight line each and every time I get up. Who knew this was all  so complicated.?

There is one funny story from all this tho:

My Dr. is a tell-it-like-it-is kind of guy and he also is quite a prima donna.
So when I woke up in post- op he came in and said:  You did well dear, everything went well.
Then as he was leaving  he turned back and said,

"If I had made that cut on me I would have had to cut through 1 inch of fat.  On You I had to cut through 5 inches of fat.   You have a fat butt.
He demonstrated  with five fingers just so there would be no misunderstanding or forgetfullness about how much fat on my butt.

Weak and sorry for my inadaquecies, I said, "Well, I did lose 5 pounds for this."
"No" , He says,  " I think you have always had a fat butt."

You gott laugh at  someone who cannot see what kind of bedside manner that is. I understand he is a great surgeon and I did not hire him to be my BFF.

Well, if Neil doesn't have enough to do with taking care of me, he has decided that it is best to cook for the dog and every week he buys chicken, potatoes and carrots, cooks them all individuallly, makes a big mixture of it, puts in baggies and freezes them so he can take two out a day for doggie meals.

Just a final laugh.  I have wanted to collect all the clever sayings on church signstht try to entice you into church, but this one has me a little baffeled.
Here is Psalm 19 and I cannot see the connection.

Psalm 19

David testifies, The heavens declare the glory of God, the law of the Lord is perfect, and the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

 1 The ^aheavens ^bdeclare the ^cglory of God; and the firmament 

january 8 2013   10 pm   68 degrees and raining hard


No blog this week.  I am off to Valley Baptist Hospital tomorrow where they will  get me ready for a hip replacement to occur  on Thursday and I haven't been able to get anything ready to blog.......I am a bit scatterbrained.........ok I  have always been that but it is really scattered this week.

Hopefully I will have great stories to tell and really good bionic bones to talk about next week..stay tuned.

Correction:  I will be going to Harlingen Medical  Center

January 1, 2013  9 pm  52 degrees  brrrrr

We  never go out for New Years Eve but I did stay up until  midnight  because there were a lot of firecrackers going off nearby. Firecrackers are legal in Texas but can only be sold in a 20 day time frame prior to July 4th and the 20 day period  before new Year's Eve.  Here's a shocker tho......any 12 year old or older can buy fireworks without parental permission. All those strong restrictions and then they can be sold to a 12 year old.

 A recent change in the law  forbids the sale of small propellant rockets in the firework stores in Texas.  How thoughtful to keep those out of the hands of 12 year olds.

We took a trip to Port Isabel and South Padre Island  New Years Eve.

Kind of a mixed message there.

Indoor waterpark......that sounds like fun!

You probably never wondered where an oil rig comes from, but if you ever did, why they are built right here in south Texas.  They are really huge and complicated looking

Howie was cold  and more or less buried himself under Neil's sweats, but

Neil is never cold.  He went in the water but there were very few  who did.   This wind surfer was one of the few and you can see that he is getting a pretty rough ride in the fairly strong wind.

 

This is Neil's new best friend.   I really don't want to give his name although it would probably be alright, but there is  some sort of history with his mother and I wouldn't want to make a google-able name in case it would be unpleasant for him.  Anyway, he  and his grandparents with whom he lives are visiting his great Aunt here at the park and he  has taken an especial liking to Neil.

He was Neil's shuffleboard opponent and after the game  he asked Neil , " Is it alright if I hang with you?"

He was born in prison.  He lived with his grandparents for a while (I guess til the mother got out of prison) but when he was with  mother  she didn't even send him to school.  She just used him as a babysitter for his three younger sisters until the grandparents  decided to get custody of him.  He is now 12 years old  and is a bright kid..... learned  cribbage in a couple of days.  He has ADD  and it is impossible for him to sit still.  The only things that keeps him busy when he is here...and he visits a lot...is the Ipad, cribbage, and  eating.  He is a growing boy.

Some communities give awards to the houses that have the best Christmas decs, but Neil thinks there should be a booby prize for the worst effort.  This is his San Benito choice for the booby prize.

Isn't this a good invention?  The wheels of the shopping cart will lock if the cart is taken outside the store parking lot.

Order my what!?

 Ever had tamales?  Some bad tasting pork stuff  that for some reason they wrap in a corn husk.

  Note: remove husk before eating.

Wonder how that helps the needy... I am thinking that if we order them, they won't have enough for the people at the church shelter.

Happy New Year everyone!

December 18, 2012   9:30 pm cst     7 1 degrees

A quick trip to Santa Ana  was not very productive but we did get a few birds including this Avocet.

This is something I had't thought of before...it's not just the presence of water  that creates the habitat, it is  changes in the depth of it.

Someone stripped the brk off this mesquite tree...isn't the wood a pretty color?

Neil climbed the new tower.  I think they built it for the hawk watches.

I stayed on the ground to tke the pictures.  No, No, it had nothing to do with the loose handrails, the swinging bridge,or  the height ,  Nope,  Not at all.  Just taking pictures.

The fence line that borders Mexico was visible in any places on the trip over to Santa Ana.  

What I can't understand is how that fence can be effective with breaks in the fence like this in so many places.   Guess I am just missing the logic.

I have mentioned the flea market  that we go to in Weslaco-Donna before but not all flea markets are alike. This one in Harlingen is quite a different story.  Pretty shabby buildings.

But if you can't  rent a shabby building, you cn just set up under  nice shady tree.

We see a lot of old truck like this heading to the border.  I guess they buy at the flea market and resell in Mexico.

Meant to take a picture of the trashy surroundings at the flea market and got  picture of these cute kids  along with it.

What an odd combination....store sells perfume and wireless.

This disc harrow unfolds like a piece of origami.  It is huge.  If we had that at home, I think it would only need to make one trip down the field and the job would be done.

The school and park basketball outside courts  all have roofs.  It is really quite a bit cooler when you are out of the direct sun.

  

Next week is Christmas and we will be going to Matt and Lori's for a few days, so I probably won't blog again for  a couple of weeks.

Have a wonderful Christmas!

From Twink, Howie and their caretaker slaves, Neil and Barbara

p.s.  I have lost this whole blog three times in the editing process and had to start all over again so this time it goes up regardless of any mistakes.     I don't care if you do find out what a bad speller I am.

December11 2012  6;30pm cst    55 degrees

 

 It is getting  little cooler here now with early morning temps in the low 60's but it  makes it easier for me to think  Christmas.  I can't feel it  when it's 80 degrees.

These are real trees that are flocked.  Very popular here.

  The attedant lady says the pink and purple ones are favorites with little  girls.  She's just out of purple just now but will spray up some new ones tomorow. 

 

 

I asked her if they were for just inside or can they be outside  too.  She said outside is fine..... if it rains the flocking will not melt  or wash away....it is a whole lot sturdier than I thought.
$40 for any flocked tree.

Neil volunteers at the Iwo Jima museum and Monday they  invited us to a Christmas  party.  I guess if you have tank in the yard at Christmas, thats where you hang the lights and stuff,   but it doesn't seem too much like Peace on Earth, Goodwill To Man.

 

 

 

 

This is a gun also in front of the museum and Neil is pointing out a bullet hole.

Now if you look at the bullet hole from the gunner's side you can see the bullet must have gone through the gunner and exited through the shield.  We hope we are wrong about that.

 

This is Joe and he was at the battle of Iwo Jima.  Since the battle was fought in 1945, I have to ssume this gentleman is at least 80 yers old.  Looks prety good doesn't he?  Not the right time to talk to him about his army days, but i would like to some day.

We went to the Brownsville Resaca bird sanctuary and as you can see, the tram was not crowded that day.  In fact there was only Neil and I and a lady with her son, but it was sure worth the ride because that was the cutest little boy!  I asked Mom the boy's name and I thought she said Daddy-o.  She was Italian, Mexican, and Jewish so maybe it was her strange accent that kept me from finding out until much later that the boy's name was  Dario.

Dario and Rubin, the tram driver.

That device on Dario's arm is a bug saver.

The Ebony tree is a very common tree here and has these pods.  Look at the hole in the first empty space in the pod.  Neil noticed that the holes would be right in the center of each one of the beans in the pod.

We were thinking some sort of  insect-eating bird or animal,  but Rubin, the tram guy says that the holes are made by a moth that lays it's eggs in the pod.

Speaking of meat eating birds, this hawk loiters outside the hedge where we have a bird feeder --there's  a gazillion sparrows in that hedge--  and daily takes one home for lunch.  I believe Neil is setting the birds up for a slaughter.

Coming home from the birding place, we saw what looks like a brand new railroad track.  I don't think I have ever known of a new line being added to any railroad.

Look at the railroad ties..they are synthetic stuff, not wood. The actual rail has not been laid yet.

 

.  A little research leads me to believe that it is part of a new rail connection to Mexico that has been in the making for several years and is scheduled to open this month.  It is called the Brownsville West Railrod bypass International Bridge and will cross the Rio Grand River  into Mexico.

The whole thing is 8 miles long.    I wonder why I stumble onto this stuff and never hear about it on the news.

This kitten showed up at our lot this week.....just barely old enough to be weaned.  She was starving.  We fed her and took her around to try to find a home for her....  one lady said she would try her out , but  sent her back the next day and so we had to take her,  (the kitten, not the lady),   to the rescue.  I hope she found a home.

There are so many stray pets here.  I don't understand how people can do that.  My theory is that people drop the pets off near the RV parks thinking old people=soft hearts .  They may be right.

 

 

John, the neighbor who  moved to Louisanna, left me this plant which has just began to blossom and I find it is a beautiful orange hibiscus.  Thanks, John.