Jan 20th - Another Beautiful Day

The weather was beautiful again today. I didn't hear the official high temp but the thermometer on our front porch read 57 around 2 PM. Temps are dropping and the lows the next 4 nights are supposed to be 11 degrees or less.

David, Andy's Dad, tells him that he spent some of Andy's inheritance every time he buys something expensive (farm machinery, etc.) Today I spend some of our son's, granddaughter's and great-granddaughter's inheritance. I tried to buy a brush hog last November. I thought they store would be happy to get it off their lot during the winter. Actually I tried to buy a couple of things from them. The best deal they would give me was a 5% discount, if I paid cash. I wanted 10% off so I didn't buy it. I was going to go over the last week of December to see if they wanted to get the stuff off their books before the new year started, but I never managed to do it.

Today I went to California to get my $8 haircut. (That is all the guy charges, he even trims my beard! I almost have to fight with him to give him a $20.) While I was over there I stopped at the store (actually it is Orscheln Farm & Home hardware, which is a chain in this area). Today I got 10% off and I paid with a credit card. The credit card company gives us a kickback of 1% of the cost of all purchases, so it was really 11% off. I bought a 4' brush hog, a 5' rear blade and a 3 point carrier.

I plan on building a box on the 3 point carrier so that I can carry my chain saw and accessories in it when I go to cut wood. I always end up with the bucket full of wood and no place to carry the chain saw back when I return to the house.

I had the blade on my tractor and played with it for a short time. The brush hog will take some assembly time. I have to read more about how to shorten the PTO shaft to the correct length.

Our (Kathy's and mine) colds are still bugging us, but we are pushing on. Lydia's cold has improved noticeably. She stayed with Amy today. Kathy has her all day Tue, Wed & Thur. Kelsey made it to DC OK. They did some sightseeing today. She returns home on Thursday.

A couple of nights ago we watched the movie Blind Side again. It is based on a true story about a white family in Memphis who took in a homeless black high school student. The kid was really BIG and a Christian school had recruited him to play sports. The white families two kids went to the school. The "kid" is Michael Oher who now plays pro football for the Baltimore Ravens. The movie makes me wonder how many other kids like Michael are out there and how many families would be willing to help them if only there was a way to connect. Sandra Bullock plays Leigh Anne Tuohy, the Mom. Tim McGraw plays Sean Tuohy, the Dad. I highly recommend the movie if you haven't seen it. There are some funny parts and some sad parts, but everybody is living happily ever after.

May God bless you and yours.