7-18-2011 – Last Tuesday we got up at 4:00 a.m., got ready and headed for the Quad Cities at 6:00 a.m. so we could be in Silvis, Illinois at 8:00 a.m. when the license bureau opened so Walt could renew his license. He had to get them every two years now. He doesn’t mind it though. He ‘s a very good driver. When we got there he dropped me off at Wal-Mart as usual, then went to run all his errands. A little later Robert Allison met me there and we got to visit. I always try to keep one eye open for Frank Dee Allison when I’m there because he lives close to there and I think he does most of his shopping there. The Wal-Mart Supercenters are so handy to shop in because you can get almost everything in the one store and not have to run all over. The Tipton Wal-Mart is still one of the small ones and don’t have a lot of things. Last year they took out their fabrics and sewing materials and put in some big coolers and freezers of food. That’s handy now, but I don’t have any place to buy my fabrics or sewing materials. They took it out in Muscatine too, except they have those little squares of folded material. The Silvis Wal-Mart never did have it when they opened a few years ago. We are getting our summer heat, humidity and dry weather. We got by lucky for a long time though. They just said on television our heat index will be 105 degrees to 110 degrees today, but I see where it will be that all over the whole midwest. It is July, but knowing that still doesn’t make it any cooler. We got up at 6:00 a.m. and Walt got dressed, did his chores which is feeding the birds, ground squirrels, chipmunks, two baby ground hogs, the little one-eyed coon, and whatever else except for the vole. Actually it’s living in a crawl space in the basement. I saw it in there one day. When we see it come outside to eat Walts sits on the porch with his bow and waits for it to come out so he can shoot it. Of course that’s if the other little animals aren’t out there. I think he may of hit it a little the last time because we didn’t see it for several days then it was running out there, grabbing a piece of food and back as fast as it could and looked like it might be moving a little different. The landlord’s grandson is staying with them this summer. I think he lives in Marshelltown, Iowa. Anyway he has been bringing a rifle down here at the farm and sitting on his golf cart and watching for something to shoot. I’m not sure what he’s shooting at or if he’s hitting anything, but it make us sick to think he’s shooting our little pets. We’ve got at least two baby rabbits and some about half grown and at least two grown. They get out here in the evening and eat the white clover, just past the yard and it’s cute to see them running and playing and chasing each other. I know a lot of people regard many of these animals as pests, because they get in their gardens, etc., but with us they don’t bother us except when the coon family got in the ceiling. We got rid of them with amonia. We can’t set a trap for the vole because it would catch the other little critters. I just saw one of the baby ground hogs out there eating on the bottom feeders about five minutes ago. I know they are homely-looking creatures, but the babies are cute. Well, I got “side tracked” as usual.
I did see Frank Dee in Silvis Wal-Mart and we visited for quite awhile. He said they finished the upstairs part of his house (the living area) and were working on the basement. He’s got a nice basement. I like the way it was decorated. Rob had went to sit on a bench by the entrance to Wal-Mart and when Walt came in Rob sent me a message that the was there so I went off to find him and Frank Dee went to talk to Rob. De said he had taken Jeff Heatherly to a doctor appointment that morning and was getting ready to go visit Harley Cox and get the Douglas County Herald from him. So he went on his way and Walt (Bob), Rob and I went to HyVee and had lunch then we took Rob home and we came on home. Rob and Sharon’s nine year old granddaughter runs in track and she just won the Illinois State Championship. We’re all so proud of her. She’s going to get her papers in the mail this week so Rob will tell me more about it then. Both her parents used to run track and I guess they were good at it too. Walt called his daughter, Berta, that had the heart attacks to see how she made it with her first week at work after she had them and she said she was doing okay except she had to start taking water pills on Saturday. She is going to get some pictures taken of the babies and send us some. I got the O.B. paper and picture of Lewis Heatherly in the mail thanks to Bill Merritt and Claud and Marlene. I’ve already made some copies and sent one to Rob. I plan to give some more of them to some of the Heatherlys if they want them. Back to this morning, Walt said it wasn’t real hot and he was going to walk before it did get too hot so I told him I’d be out and join him, but I happened to think of the humidity and told him to look at the gauge on the porch and he said it was 86 degrees so I stayed in and he came back in. We want to use common sense. I read in the paper where Loretta Lynn had been hospitalized with severe dehydration from the heat down there. She had to cancel a show she was to be on. I’m trying to drink plenty of fluids. The little wrens that built their nest in the bird house hanging on the edge of the porch have both been going in and out of there with some kind of little catepillars in their beaks all day long for the last few days. I told Walt they must have a lot of babies in there or else one baby that will be so big it can’t get out the door when it comes time. They sure are good little parents. One of them is usually guarding the house all the time and chattering to try to scare everything off. I never have seen anything try to bother it except one night those bad coons had got in there and pulled the nest most of the way out and I guess they got the eggs or babies or whatever was in there. I put the nest back in there and they started carrying dead grass, etc and putting back in there.
On Thursday the Cedar County (my country) Farm Bureau is sponsoring a screening of people’s arteries. I have an appointment to get three of them done including the stomach. I’ll be glad to get them done the way so many people are having heart atttacks an stomach aneurysm.
Well the old clock on the old wall says I better quit this and get it ready for Walt to ride old Risky and take it to the mailbox before the next Pony Express Rider comes along to get it. Their ponies are gonna get hot today. Any news for me to write about please call 563-946-2214. I’m sure people get tired of reading about, me,me,me all the time. So take care of yourselves and bye, bye for now.
