Whow boy, was it ever nice this morning....65 degs. Didn't get my morning porch time 'cause I got up too late. Wayne came over at 6:45 say'n..."ya ready"? Yeah, I went and played a practice round this morning. :) If'n it weren't for golf, I would have absolutely "nuttin" to do.

I know everyone is tired of hear'n bout this old solar oven, but I done another test today. Beer bread. I guess you could say I wasted a good cheap can of beer. Oven was work'n just right at 275 to 300 degs., but the damn bread didn't brown. So's I left it in there "overtime"....that's time and a half....double time holidays. It came out look'n sorry. Top was hard as a rock. Skeered to taste it. Put 'er in a plastic bag in hopes it will soften up like the "basketball" bread did.

Found out my little red Bronco II is worth $4500, that is if I buy a brand new vehicle. Added it all up and I'd be in debt for over $15,000, what I ain't gonna do. Anyone wanna buy a 1984 Bronco II for $800??? Or how bout a brand new 1997 Jeep GCL for $4200??? Boy howdy, did I ever get myself into a mess!!!

Backed the Jeep and Bronco up back to back and started toss'n stuff from one to the other. Decided to see if my boondocking generator would crank up......yup...first pull. Got me a good'ern there. Lots of junk in the Bronco to go to the dumpster. I sure toss a lot of $$$$$ in the dumpster. Where I gonna put the spare tire??? On the roof would be somewhat tacky.

Supper time....pork chop, boiled taters with pork gravy, corn on da cob, sliced maters and maybe a slab of that beer bread. Sounds good to me.

Look'n for winter @100 degs.

Another beautiful morning in New Mexico. Sure will be glad when some cooler weather makes it's way to the borderland. Was perfect temp at 7am when I hit my first golf ball, but by 8:30, I felt little sweat beads forming on my brow. Humidity way too high for the desert.

Figgered out what to do with that peach cobbler. I know my birds are deserving of dessert after eating corn yesterday night, so guess who gets the cobbler today??? Made me up a big bowl of cereal for breakfast and picked out all them peaches from the cobbler to top it off. Nothing goes to waste when ya lives in the desert.

Speak'n of critters, yesterday morning there was a beautiful coyote walk'n the fence line not more than 100 feet from my house. Wonder if that's where all my rabbits are disappearing off to. On quiet nights, you can hear them 'singing' off in the distance. Very seldom see one during the day. Marvelous creatures.

Got a few things to do outside before it hits that 100 deg mark......
********************************

1pm, and hot outside. Didn't get much done, so's I came inside to do some think'n......what I do best when it's cool. Ya know winter is just around the corner and there's lots to do before the first freeze. Like be hundreds of miles from it. Been think'n about going back to the 'slabs' (southern Ca.) again this winter and then to Yuma to catch me some more them rainbow trout. And I been think'n of going to south Texas where winter is only two weeks long. And I been think'n of going to Terlingua, but damn, it gets cold there at night.

Been searching for solar panels for the motorhome. Found some pretty good buys...bout $3.38 a watt. I don't care about their 25 year guarantee, 'cause I ain't gonna live that long anyhows. As long as they last 10 years is all I care bout. Can install complete 260 watt system for less that $1400 by "doing it myself". I done got a 1200 watt generator, a 2500 watt inverter and four 225 amp hour batteries, so I'm good to go.

building a pie

Started to roll out of bed at 4:30 this morning, but after tak'n a closer look at the clock, I says...."what ya think'n bout Billy Bob"? Up to a fresh pot of coffee on the porch whiles the sun come up. Weren't nuttin special...just another start of another beautiful day. But I guarantee it's gonna be a hot one....predicted 101 this afternoon.


By the time we got back from swak'n golf balls (10am), it was just about time to throw together a peach cobbler. I never built one these things, so don't know what's gonna happen. My pesky neighbor Wayne suggested I use Bisquik for the dough, so's that what I did. Mixed some up and smushed it in the bottom and sides of the pan. Then I poured in a can of peach pie filling and topped it off with globs of more dough.
In about 3 hours I should have something that resembles peach cobbler.






Now I got to go do something. Don't know what, but it's still nice outside.
************************************************

About 3 hours later, I ended up with the most God awful tast'n peach cobbler I ever ate. Don't, I repeat, don't ever use Bisquik for a cobbler dough. It tasted like breakfast biscuits with dried up peaches. Old pesky Wayne led me astray on his suggestion.
But....with all that said, I had troubles with the solar oven from the word go. The wind started blowing and blowed the reflectors closed three times, making the oven temp to drop dramatically. Then I left it in there too long think'n the bottom wasn't done....wrong!!! Got's to "spearmint" with it some more. By the way....ordered new mirror finish diamond plate reflectors today. Gonna be do'n some serious cook'n in bout a week.


Spent a little time digging weeds and raking the yard. Not much mind you, but just enough to say I did something this afternoon. Then I went and trimmed a mesquite bush in hopes it might some day grow into a tree. Slim chance!! Mesquite bushes are bushes, not trees. Mesquite trees grow in Texas, not New Mexico.

Boy Howdy, let me tell ya bout flies. After two days of rain, them flies have multiplied into a gazillion right here on my porch over night. Got two fly traps and two fly swappers and only make a small dent in the population. Them neighbor horses gotta go.

Loaf of bread

Oh what a beautiful morning it was....till bout 9am. A few little clouds in the sky and not a breath of air. Then it got hot.

Fired up the solar oven to bake that bread I took out the freezer yesterday. Boy howdy, did that sucker rise over night.

After an hour in the oven, this is what a basketball looks like.




Went off to town for my groceries what I was gonna get a few days ago....ain't it great to not be in a hurry?

Come back and this is the bread now.


Cut me off a couple chunks for the ultimate test...is it eatable? Yeah, it is, but not like "mama" used to bake. Could have something to do with the olive oil I put on it.

Now what ya gonna do Billy Bob. "Oh...I don't know....take a nap maybe"?
*****************************************************************

is this another monday

Boy Howdy, where did last week go?

This morning was special for old Billy Bob. Slept in till 7am and never looked back. But I did feel a little guilty that I slept half the morning away.

Went out to the porch to watch what was left of a sunrise and drink up half pot of coffee....get'n that other eye open, ya know. Whiles I was out there, here come pesky neighbor Wayne say'n, "what ya gonna do today"? "I don't know, kill flies I guess".

Did ya know, in the desert, you can cut a limb off'n a desert tree and plant it? In 2 years you will have a 10 foot tree grow'n right where's you planted it. Me and pesky neighbor Wayne planted two little limbs from a Mexican Elder two years ago and we now have trees in our yards. His is bout 10 feet tall and mine is about 5 feet tall. I might mention, ya gots to water and trim them, what I didn't, but Wayne did.


Soon as it got too hot to do anything outside, I went in, turned the t-stat to 75 degs and commenced to break'n out clean'n gear. Whoa....I worked so hard for the next 2 hours that I had to lay down....short nap. Got up and went right back at it. Scrubbed and waxed the hardwood floor in the kitchen. Bagged up all the trash. Cleaned all the burnt dinners from the stove and called it quits for the day. Now I can sit back, drink a cup o' and do what I do best...nuttin.

Took one them frozen bread thingys out the freezer to bake in the solar oven tomorrow. Never used them before, so don't know what I'll have when I finish....hopefully bread. Got beer on my shopping list so's I can try a beer bread recipe I found.

Here come the "monsoon" rains again. Rained twice times yesterday and and now we have a downpour with quarter size hail warnings.

Sore Sunday

Boy Howdy, were I sore this morning. I had hurt'ns on top of hurt'ns. Even my hair hurt.
I rekon lay'n on a pile of rocks, old 2x4's, cactus and railroad ties was the wrong location to work on "that jeep". Ha Ha Ha, I'm jis mess'n wit ya. But, there was rocks, bout golf ball size. I know I'm get'n old, but am I get'n "that" old?

Just to loosen up the old bones, we went off to the golf course to swak a few balls. By the time I got home, I was think'n I should have stayed home instead of swak'n golf balls. My God, I don't feel good....lol.

Got an email for one my followers what said he couldn't reach my blog from his 'favorites' list. I rekon I should have left well enough alone by trying to change this thing.
Our buddy and leader, "what's his name" said, "we need change". Ha Ha, change "this"!!!!
Notice to all followers: If ya get to my blog, leave me a comment and re-bookmark.

Did I ever tell ya bout the time....
I was work'n for the University of Texas at Port Aransas, Tx. and we got us a brand new supervisor feller what the first thing he said was, "we need change". He told me one time whiles I was laid back, "Billy Bob, what are you doing"?? I told him....."nuttin is broke, so's I'm do'n nuttin". Then he made a stupid statement...."if it ain't broke, go fix it". HUH????



Ya wanna see my work bench???

Hee Hee....I'm bad!!!








This is Fraser!!!!

Friday on a Saturday morning

This thing has got me all worked up....can't get Blogger dot com to do anything I want it to do. Now I'm right back to where I started in the first place and all that time "mess'n" with this thing, was a complete waste.

Yesterday wasn't much different from any other day. Old pesky neighbor Wayne forced me to play a round of golf. It was a such beautiful morning, so I decided to ride along and swak a few balls.

Started me a grocery list (run out of stuff for the solar oven). Lit the solar oven up just to see how hot it would get. 300 degs in bout 1 1/2 hour. Since it were hot, may as well cook something. (Uncle Ben, take note of this dish) Since I love tomatoes so much, throwed a can of dice maters in the bottom of a cook'n bowl. On top that, a can of Ranch style beans with jalepenos. Cut up 3 brats into bite size and chunked them in there too. Steered the whole thing up, plopped on a lid and stuck it in the oven.

This "that jeep" has been bug'n me for the last few days ever since the welding and fab shop refused to take my $$$$$ for a couple hours work. On the internet, I found exactly what I was look'n for....a 12 ton pipe bender.

These "long bar" suspension thingys need to be bent to clear the frame, readjusted and no more rattle rattle bang bang.








Anyhows, I jumped in "that jeep" and headed off to Harbor Freight in Las Cruces bout 60 mile from Billy Bobs house. Now, here's the idea. Bend them pipes, sell the pipe bender for $80 and be done with it. Then put on the ole think cap and lower that sucker back to stock height.

Boy Howdy is it gonna be hot in the desert for the next week, 99 to 101. Gonna be some "in house" chores to catch up on during the day.

Ok, I gotta do something.


That's "vackly" what I done....pulled one them pipes off to bend, but the benders was gonna break if I tried to bend all 4 pipes. Put it back on and went off to a friend and his "torch".

Two hours later, all pipes bent and reinstalled. Ride home was minus all that rattl'n and bang'n noises. Plus, I sold the pipe bender to my friend with the "torch" for half price.










Now what I gonna do??? Took a nice cool shower, drank half a jug of cold water and that couch over there sure looks inviting. Ok, twist my arm......late nap time.