The Kitfox

Well, Marty and I drove to Victorville and purchased the Kitfox and brought it home. It pulled behind us on it's custom trailer just fine. It was after 3am when I got home so I left it as is and crashed into bed. I got up to threatening skys so I put a small tarp over the open Turtle Deck area so rain wouldn't get in. Then the rain began and it rained all day. It has been cloudy every day so I haven't accomplished much on it.... I bought a new battery for it today, and some clear fuel lines for the line from the wing tank to the header tank between the firewall and the instrument panel. Marty and I got our first flights in the Cessna 162 Sky Catcher yesterday. I decided that learning in the Cub with no chance of ever flying Solo in it was counterproductive.
Once we are at that point we would have to switch to another school where they have rentable aircraft for us to solo in..... So I made the change now to the Cessna Dealer at Falcon Field.
The Cessna on-line ground school program is very Kewl... Marty is much happier too with the new airplane, and instructor, and being able to see the structured direction towards completion of our goal.... We hope to really get down to business after the Holidays and fly twice a week to get through this as quickly as possible.... So, that is the latest.... More later Bob

Latest Stuff

Hey, I know it's been a long time since I was here, but after the Boys left there just wasn't much to write about.... I am still taking care of things, the Goats are very happy, and the Chickens (well what is left of them) are doing Ok. We have had a Coyote problem lately and have lost 4 chickens. It is always at dawn when they are passing by and wait for Ben to go into the house, and then they jump the back fence, grab one and run off with it all the while the others are raising a ruckus which alerts Ben, but too late...... So I have been working on their Coop to make it so the chickens can't get out at night so they are safe inside till later in the morning. As it is they start wandering the whole yard at first light when the coyotes are heading back to their Den to the East of us somewhere, and are a last opportunity for a snack.
Now on to the good stuff!
Jeanne and I have been following the Financial Peace University steps toward Financial freedom and have mostly accomplished all of the Baby Steps recommended...
We have paid off all of our bills, and except for the House and utilities, there are no more burdens staring us in the face every month.... It is a good feeling....
The VA has increased my Disability to 100% which resulted in enough of an increase in Benefits that Jeanne can finally retire and enjoy life at home doing her Art and Crafts.
I have actually gotten to return to the SKY.... Marty and I have taken our first lesson with an Instructor, and had a ball. Marty was thrilled to experience what it is like to be at the controls in a light plane..... I was able to end my 27 year hiatus and give up the Groundpounder existence and join the world of the Aviators again....
We are taking lessons a couple of times a week, so I can get Current, and resume where I left off, and Marty is starting fresh to get his Light Sport Pilots Certificate....
It is a little weird flying Tandem behind an instructor in a Cub Clone after all those years in Helicopters on my own, but it is coming back to me quickly...
We flew out to Fountain Hills from Falcon Field in Mesa, and flew maneuvers over Sycamore Creek Wash for an hour.... It was a BLAST.....
I am looking at the purchase of a Kitfox 2 Light Sport Airplane and think Marty and I will go get it in California on Wednesday.... I have ordered a long narrow building to keep it in here at home when it is not at the airport. It has it's own custom built Trailer.
I will post plenty of Pictures, and even a Video of it Taking off and flying, and landing on a Dry Lake in California after I actually have attained it....
I hope Marty and I will be able to build plenty of flight time using this aircraft as it will only cost about $8 per hour instead of the $165 per hour George charges for the Cub. I can trailer it down to Coolidge Airport and fly it there where there is no traffic to speak of....
Well, that's about it for now... I expect that there will be plenty more to say very soon. Bob

Jeanne's Roomba

So, we got one of those IRobot Roombas, and it just scurries about cleaning up all of the Dust Bunnies. The inside animals think they have been invaded by an Alien Being....
Gob Kitty likes to follow it around, or sit on some place high and watch it go...
If we want to get Ben to go back outside, all you have to do is turn on the Roomba and out he goes.
The thing has cut way down on the dusting Jeanne has to do and released her to pursue other fanciful things.
So far the Roomba has exceeded our expectations. It bangs around in the dark in the middle of the night cleaning every nook and cranny. It is funny how it sometimes senses things and stops and turns, and other times it just bumps into stuff and then turns and goes off in another direction.... Each time it has completed it's mission (about 90 minutes of wandering) it goes right back to it's Docking Station to recharge. We clean out it's dust bin each morning, and sometimes clean off it's brushes too....
I would recommend one of these to anyone who has hard floors and is tired of dusting every day.
Costco has them on sale for about $249 and it comes with everything. It seems like a quality little critter.... We haven't had to get out the big vacuum for a week now.
Because the dust is getting picked up better, it seems like there is less dust gathering on the other surfaces in the house...
These last few days of very wet outdoors has been especially trying because the dogs and Cat have been tracking wet sand into the house like crazy. But, all you have to do is press the button on ole Roomba, and off it goes, looking for dirt to pick up. It is out there running even as I write this, and it is not all that obtrusive. I wouldn't want to try watching TV with it buzzing about, but otherwise all you hear is some whirring (and a little bumping sometimes) as it goes about it's business. You can put it off in a room by itself and just let it go for a while, or give it the run of the whole house. You can even stop it from entering an area by using the "Virtual Wall" signal devices (comes with two) and it will stop and turn around, leaving that area alone.
You do have to do a little "Prep Work" as last night it got ahold of a piece of yarn and tangled itself up till Jeanne heard it clicking and went out and cleared it up. You need to pick up toys, and rugs with frayed edges and the likes, but otherwise, it goes around most things. And it transitions from carpet to flooring real well, and goes over flat throw rugs well too.
Well, enough Infomercial about the Roomba..... Just thought I'd let you'all know about it. Bob

Snow? We don't need no stinkin Snow

So, I wrote Linda at Lightheart Alpaca Ranch and she responded that they have only had a dusting of snow, but that all the Boys are doing great. Bruto is becoming the ruler of the roost. He is the head of the Bachelor pasture.... Who'd have thought.
The weather here is just crazy, as we got huge winds and heavy rain most of the night.
The Green House lived through it because the wind came from the South where it was sheltered by the Garage, all I had to do was re-arrange the shade cloth that was pretty disheveled. One roof panel is loose, but I'll get it put back down when it dries out enough to get on a ladder next to the structure. The Sonoki Wash across our property ran about a foot deep but there is no lasting damage like we've had before. I guess all of the work Cecil and I put into widening and cleaning out the wash has done the job.
I had to get out there just before dark and put more screws into the roof panels on the Goats Barn as it was lifting and banging pretty badly.
Jeanne and I were out and about this morning and saw a neighbors house lost half of it's roof.
Boy do we feel lucky, and blessed after we came through without any real damage.
A garbage can of dog food got ruined, and because we were letting Ben (the guardian dog) inside out of the rain, the Coyotes took that opportunity to jump the back fence and take one of the chickens. I looked out back in the middle of the night while it was raining like mad and saw that the Ignition was on (the oil pressure lite was on) on the Red Tractor. I guess water got down into the switch and shorted it out. The next morning I had to file the points and readjust them to get it started (after re-charging the battery of course) then I parked the truck outside, and put both tractors in the garage. I know that the truck is worth more, but if I need the tractors to fix a problem, I need them to be in working order. The truck can take a little rain.
So, we are still here and all is well. I was up and down all night because of the wind. I hate the wind..... Well, more later as things dry out.... Bob

The end of an Era

Well, the Alpacas have moved on to greener pastures. Jeanne and I drove them down to Wilcox last Sunday where they are now living the good life with 65 other Alpacas at Light Heart Ranch Alpacas. When we turned them out into the temporary holding pen where they could see all of the other Alpacas, they never looked back at us..... So I guess they won't miss us all that much.
Ben (the herd guardian dog) was very upset when we drove off with them, and when we got home without them he was obviously disturbed. We have let out the Goats for him to play with, and have let him come in the house to take his mind off the loneliness. He actually doesn't seem to like it inside all that much and spends most of the time out in his Dog House....
So, it is very strange to look out back and not see the Three Amigos out there playing, it's a very empty yard these days....
We have put off making any decision about maybe raising Beef Calves, or whatever till we can really plan it out more.... Well, I'll write more as stuff happens.... Bob

Christmas time already?

Well, it has gotten cold here. I know, not like some have it up North, but cold enough for us.
There have been two morning Frosts that have wilted some of the plants a bit. I even came out in the morning to find the Goat's water frozen over, they looked surprised. But, all the critters seem to like these colder days. We have been letting the Gob Kitty come in for the night the last couple of days, but he is blocked out of our bedroom. We still have the Three Amigos, we just couldn't decide what to do, and put off one of the people wanting them, then we decided to go ahead and let them go, and we can't seem to get ahold of her again. Oh well, perhaps it wasn't meant to be.
We got several responses to our add on Craigslist, but none of them had any knowledge about Alpacas, and their questions raised concerns for their well being. We at least, had done our homework, and had their living area prepared well before we bought them. And although we are still learning about them, at least we had the right food, and feeders, and pens ready for them.
So, it has gotten too cold to do any more night fishing, and although Scott and I have gone during the day a few times, it just hasn't been the same. We keep getting skunked, and although just getting out on the water is fun, not catching anything takes some of the thrill away. We even took a Professional Tournament fisherman friend of Scotts on our last trip, and although he yanked a few out of the water, we still got skunked. We did get plenty of insight into the art of fishing from him though. The wind was up that day, and we got blown all over the place, and my trolling motor just wasn't strong enough to overcome the wind. So there were several places he wanted to fish that we just couldn't get close to safely, without fear of ending up on the rocks.
Perhaps we'll take a break from fishing for a bit.
We got in the onion sets we ordered, and have planted them in the first two rows. There are almost twice as many as we planted last year. We had given away some, and we are now all out and are buying from the store again, and it is not the same! The Chickens have slowed production a bit, we are getting an average of three eggs per day, which is plenty to keep us in morning eggs, but we have been giving away several to Becky each week and are glad when we have a five egg day to make up the carton.
My health has deteriorated some and I find myself sleeping a lot more than ever before. I am thrilled when I get some long put off chore done, as many days I do morning chores and then fall asleep on the couch, and then get evening chores done, and it goes that way for a few days.
We got a huge wind/rain storm a few days ago and there was plenty to do to repair some damage, and clean the place up. The roof of the Goats pen got ripped loose and I was able to get it screwed back down until next time. Two of the garbage cans with feed in them lost their lids in the wind, and then the rain damaged the feed. The dog food was almost empty, but the Alfalfa Pellets were almost full and the top layer was all puffed up. But under that was still plenty of good stuff. Just life on the farm I guess.
The Oranges on the two trees out back are full of fruit that is almost ready to pick. I've picked a few and other than the first one, which was bitter, the next couple have been wonderful. They are all Blood Oranges, and are just delicious. The Green House has held together, although the wind did yank loose some shade cloth, which I was able to get back into place. There are some wonderful Bell Pepper plants still producing, and the Tomato plants have many nice tomatoes getting ready for harvesting. There are some Lettuce, and Spinach plants growing, and the Snow Peas are growing too... The Gob Kitty has been keeping the Mice at bay, so thats a good thing.
Well, the Gals have been in the kitchen all day baking goodies to give out at Christmas, so the house smells great. I guess they will go back to it tomorrow to get finished with all they have planned to bake. I'll enjoy the little bites I can sneak away when they are not looking.
In case I don't get back on here till after Christmas, You'all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year.... Bob

Long awaited update

Well, it has been a while since my last post.... A lot has gone on since then. First of all, we never got a real Monsoon, in fact the weather guy say's it was a "NonSoon". All we got was high Humidity days that kept us from running the Swamp Cooler in the house, instead we ran the A/C which costs 3 times as much. Jeanne and I have rebuilt the rows in the Garden, and Jeanne has begun planting winter crops, like Broccoli and Lettuce. The Gob Kitty now lives in the Green House because he became angry with Jeanne and was peeing on her while she sleeps, So out he went.... I made a Kitty Door in the Green House and put his Carpeted Kitty Motel out there.
He seems to enjoy wandering about like "King of the Yard" and appears to be smart enough to hide out from the recent Coyote activity around the yard. There have been several Coyotes right outside the yard fence (probably wanting our Chickens) but between Ben, and Wonder, they haven't dared to enter the fenced yard. I hope that remains the case, otherwise it'll become open season on Coyotes around here....
The heat got quite oppressive for a while there, but the fans and cooler in the Barn seemed to keep the Alpacas happy. Finally though, the weather has turned and the evenings are just beautiful, and most days are well under 100 degrees.
Now the bad news, We lost China Doll to Valley Fever. She suddenly became very thin, and developed a cough. We did the "Expensive" Vet thing, all to no avail as she died in the night last Thursday. Our neighbor Cecil came over with his Case Backhoe, and dug a nice deep grave out back where all of the other fallen pets are interred, and she joined the ranks, looking very small and delicate. Now Jeanne and I are beginning to re-think this Farm stuff. Now that Feed has more than doubled in cost, and the value of the animals has dropped off, it just isn't very practical to continue with a Fiber Herd of Alpacas. Now that the Female is gone, and we certainly can't afford to replace her, there is no chance for reproduction, and thus no income to be made from selling cute new critters. We are weighing our options, and have had a couple of offers from other Fiber Herd beginners who would love to have "The Three Amigos" so there is plenty to think about. We were just about to buy a $1450 Chute to make working with the critters easier on us (and them too) but now I'm stalling till we make a final decision about keeping the Boys.... We have even considered re-structuring the whole property so we can try our hand at the "Weaner Calf Business" for a while.... Much cheaper to feed, and much more profitable to sell to the packing plants. " Just don't get attached to them"
Well, so much to think about for now.... More later. Bob