A Day of Shopping

When you live out in the country every trip to town is planned. It is a 15 mile drive to the nearest town, Rocksprings. Rocksprings has a few stores I can shop at, but for real shopping one must drive an hour to Kerrville. Yesterday as the sun was just coming up I picked up a neighbor (and her dog Lucky) and we made the trip to Kerrville. By going together we saved money on gas and had each other to keep company.

First stop, we dropped Lucky off at the groomers to have all her fur cut off. It is starting to feel like summer here and the poor dog has been hot.

Texas prefers one’s car be inspected in the county where it is registered, but often in these rural counties there is no one licensed to do car inspections, which is the case for me. The TV in the small waiting room at the shop was tuned to a Turkey Hunting show. As soon as the male customer’s car was done and he left, we grabbed the remote and changed it to something more to our liking—the Food Network. After my car was finished we found two carnations on the dash board.

Next we headed out to the dirt store. Okay, that is not the name of the place, but that is what I wanted to buy. This land produces rocks, not good gardening soil. To grow a good vegetable garden one basically has to buy gardening soil. After looking around at a few sources, I decided on the place I wanted to purchase it and yesterday wrote a check. This morning a dump truck arrived with that precious soil. I have already started hauling some of it to the raised garden bed. A lot more needs to be hauled over before I can start planting my first vegetable garden. I am praying for a bountiful crop to share with others.

After a few more stops, including getting groceries, we picked up Lucky, who was thrilled to see us, and headed home. The entire trip took over seven hours to complete. But that is life when one lives so far from the city.

Life Goes On

The past few weeks have been very busy. Thursday, April 7 I had to go to San Antonio to attend a fund raiser banquet. Fortunately I was able to get an appointment for April 8 to address my dental pain. It turned out I had developed an infection on the tooth I had a root canal on. After reviewing the situation, the dentist decided I needed a two-part procedure because the infection was so bad. Part 1 was to remove the root canal and insert medicine in the tooth. I will return on April 26 to have a new root canal done on that tooth. I returned home that Saturday, April 9.

On April 12 there was a Health Fair in Rocksprings, which I promised to drive a neighbor too. She is having a tough time and wrecked her car. She was able to sign up for food stamps and I got information on some of the services offered in the County. I also took the time to sign up for Air Evac Insurance, something I just had not gotten around to doing. One benefit of signing up at the Health Fair is I got a free cap.

The nearest small hospital is a good hour drive away. Often when there is a medical emergency out here, the decision is made to fly by helicopter the patient to a San Antonio hospital. Medical Insurance pays very little of the actual cost of that air ambulance, leaving the patient with a very expensive bill. That is where Air Evac Insurance comes in. For only $50 a year per person, I am totally covered should I ever have a need to be flown to San Antonio in a medical emergency. I also learned they provide site insurance. In the future people will be living here for different amounts of time and trying to insure each individual will be tedious. The representative explained that with the site plan they determine the average number of folks who live at the site and bill for that number of folks. He shared he had just set up a site plan for a county jail. When the time comes I was assured it will be easy to switch my individual insurance to the site plan.

Last month I hired a handyman crew to do a few things around the property. The first task was to build a fence around the garden. The fence was mostly finished a couple weeks ago and has been protecting the garden from hunger critters ever since. The second task was to install a gutter on the cabin and feed the rain water into a cistern sitting only feet away. The final task was to run a pipe and install a spigot for running water to the garden. The final two tasks were completed this past week. I am really enjoying not having to carry buckets of water from the back of the house (the location of the only other outdoor spigot) to the garden anymore.

Olive Trees in Texas

One of the goals I have always had for this land is to grow food. So it was with interest that a year ago I read an article in the San Antonio Express News about the growing Texas Olive industry. Apparently Texas is a great place to grow olive trees, something I had never considered. The following weekend a friend and I attended Olive Ole' International Olive Festival of Texas. We had a great time learning all about rowing olives and eating great food.

A year has passed and after learning a different friend was concerned about her one year old olive trees, I visited the web site of Sandy Oaks Olive Orchard and discovered Olive Ole' was just around the corner. Friday I picked her up and off to San Antonio we went. We stayed overnight at a friend's house, which was a blessing. This year Olive Ole' was held at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens. We spent Saturday tasting olives and all kinds of yummy foods. We left stuffed. We attended a lecture on growing and cultivating olive trees, presented by the founder of Sandy Oaks Olive Orchards. We later were able to talk to her personally. My friend learned what was most likely going on with her olive trees and not to worry. her trees are still alive and will make a full recovery. I learned that even where I only have four inches of soil covering sheets of rocks, I can still plant olive trees. We both were given advice on which trees to purchase for our climate and needs. We each purchased two olive trees.

The garden is coming along.

Bees

Everyone needs water. For the most part though, I don’t think about how my non-human neighbors get fluids, especially the non-mammal ones. It just doesn’t usually cross my mind. My part of Texas has been experiencing severe drought conditions since last summer. The situation is pretty bad. Many of us out here are leaving food and water for the deer and anyone else who wants to partake. Last summer I got the idea of placing a galvanized metal tub under the drain pipe for the AC. The tub had been left here by the previous owners. All summer long the tub collected that cold AC condensation and I often had to remove some of the water because the tub was over flowing. I always used the water to water my little garden. When I stopped needing to run the AC the tub quickly dried up and since the animals were still thirsty, I started filling the tub with well water. A few weeks ago I began to notice bees swarming around my tub of water. On days the tub was filled to the brim I see more bees. I often find bees floating in the water, obviously from drowning. Yesterday I finally grabbed my camera and started shooting. I have never really thought about how bees get their fluid intake, but I now know.

Using Sun Power

Yesterday I shared that I purchased a Sun Oven. Yesterday I used it for the first time and have been enjoying muffins ever since. This morning I cut up a bunch of vegetables, placed 3 chicken breasts on top, then spread black pepper, thyme, and some olive oil on the chicken. A dark thin pan such as granite ware is best for solar cooking, but the only granite ware pan I have would not fit in the Sun Oven. So I got out a Pyrex bowl with a lid. I put everything in the dish and placed it in the Sun Oven. Throughout the day I checked on my dinner, repositioning the oven to face the sun as the sun moved across the sky.

I am now eating a complete meal prepared totally by the power of the sun. I have a plate of chicken and vegetables baked by the sun. I am drinking a glass of ice tea, brewed by the power of the sun (sun tea). With energy costs rising daily, it is nice knowing that I used totally free sun power to prepare my meal.

I mentioned yesterday that one of the jobs I had hired a crew to do was install a clothes line. Well it is now up. As I write this blog the washer is busy cleaning my clothes. Instead of throwing the clothes into the dryer, I am going to let the sun and wind dry my clothes for me.

It’s Been A Busy Week On The Ranch

This has been a very busy week at The Ranch.

SATURDAY I went to my very first auction. Basically the entire town of Telegraph, including the road sign which read “Telegraph Pop. 2” went up for sale. There was a lot of excitement because this is a historical landmark and there were lots of antiques for the taking. Arriving in Telegraph was like stepping back in time. On the road sat a small store with an attach house in the rear of the store, just like yesteryear. The lone building sat on one acre of land. At noon the property was auctioned off as is. I was happy to hear the man who ended up with the property plans on reopening the store; that is after he does a complete renovation. I am sure everything, including the electrical and plumbing, needs to be updated.

I went to this auction with the hope of leaving with some bedroom furniture for the spare bedroom. I would have been content with just a metal frame and a small kid’s dresser. I never expected to walk away with a complete bedroom of gorgeous furniture. If I had purchased all three pieces at a used furniture store, I would have easily spent over $2000. But including the auctioneer’s fee and taxes, the entire thing only cost me $124. All I have to do is a little cleaning and that spare bedroom will be ready for someone (or a couple) to live in.

MONDAY my friend Ruth came over and helped me clean out the spare bedroom so there would be room for the new furniture. I had been using that room for storage. We had it completely cleaned out in an hour and then moved outside and started cleaning out the cabin. The previous owners left a lot of stuff, some of it useful but a lot was just trash. We made a lot of progress but still have a lot more to do.

TUESDAY a different friend, Jeannie, came over. We spent the morning running errands in Rocksprings and volunteering at the Library. Then in the afternoon we went out to the garden and started laying rocks for the sides of the raised garden bed I spent all summer digging.

WEDNESDAY bright and early a work crew showed up. I hired them to build a deer fence around the garden area, install a gutter on the cabin and convert a cistern sitting next to the cabin into a rain barrel, install a clothes line, replace the door handle on the cabin (which no longer locks) and install a kitty door in that cabin door. A very tall fence is mandatory if I want to grow any food out here. Deer can jump pretty high. But deer are not the only critters out here who would love to feast on my hard work. Last summer right as my zucchini plant was about to start growing little zucchini’s, someone ate the entire plant. I do not want that happening again. So before I even plant my garden the fence has to be installed.

It was many years ago that I first was introduced to solar cooking. Ever since then I have wanted a solar oven and Tuesday my brand new Sun Oven arrived. The Sun Oven is the Royals Royce of solar cookers. So it is possible to buy a cheaper model, or even to build your own solar oven. Plenty of plans are available on the Internet. Last year at the Renewable Energy Fair in Fredericksburg, TX I saw the Sun Oven and decided that was the oven I wanted to buy.

Solar cookers are becoming popular all over the world, especially in sunny regions. Though it really does not take much sun to be able to cook a complete meal with a solar oven. One can bake, steam, or boil one’s food. The computer CD that came with my Sun Oven said it is impossible to burn your food when cooking with the sun. Bread comes out moister then when baked in an oven. It can also be used like a slow cooker. Put a chicken in the Sun Oven in the morning and return home to find dinner all done. If one wants the food done faster than every 30 minutes the oven will need to be turned so it faces the sun. Since today was the first time I ever cooked using the sun, I decided to just bake some muffins. It took awhile because I am still learning, but they tasted great.

I took the muffins out of the oven about the time the last three workmen were getting ready to leave. They had never heard of a solar cooker and were fascinated. I cut one of the muffins into four pieces and we all shared. They all left wanting their own solar cooker.

Tomorrow I plan on roasting some chicken and vegetables.

I was told that tomorrow my clothes line will be ready for use. The cement should be dry by morning. I have heard the dryer is one the biggest electricity user’s in a house and so it will be nice letting the sun and wind do the drying instead. The Sun Oven will also help save on the fuel bill. Instead of heating up the house by turning the oven on and then the AC on to cool it back down, I can just throw food into the Sun Oven and let the sun do all the cooking. Every little bit helps.

(p.s. There is a mattress; I just need to wipe down the box springs before placing the mattress on.)