Sixty-five is the New Thirty

It's been a while since I felt like writing anything, so I thought I'd try to update a little on what Patsi and I have been doing for the past 6 months or so. After our trip to Quartzsite, Az we had a rally planned at Marble Falls, Tx. The Lonestar Birds had a rally at Sunset Point at Lake LBJ in March and we were there.

This year marked a milestone for me - the BIG 65! Yep, I turned 65. 65 has to be the new 30!! Never imagined that I'd be this age. It kind of creeps up on you and boom before you know it, you're a senior citizen. We started going to Wrinkle City (the Senior Center), initially to take my mom. We'd normally go Monday Wednesday & Friday. We reconnected with quite a few folks that we'd not seen in quite a few years, so it was really a good experience. I had recently read Dr. Furhman's book, "Eat to Live" and I was experimenting with different foods because I was suspecting food allergies causing my headaches and stuffiness. I went on an all veggie diet for a while and I had less headaches and some of my stuffiness went away. So when we went to Wrinkle City I would take my salad. I got pretty good at making a very good tasting salad with a lot of flavor.

Just prior to going to the rally in Marble Falls Patsi and I had seen a doc in Lubbock. Turns out Patsi was heading toward type 2 diabetes and I had a yeast overgrowth in my intestines. So we had to drastically alter our diet once more. We cut out all the wheat, corn, dairy, and sugar products. We could eat all we wanted of vegetables & protein (steak, chicken, pork and eggs), and we did. So we were eating lots of salads, veggies, steak, chicken, pork, and eggs....AND we lost weight.

I've learned that what we eat has a lot to do with the symptoms our bodies produce such as headaches, allergies, muscle aches, excess weight that we can't get rid of, etc. And it takes a while to reverse the trend that one has spent a lifetime of developing. So, we're still watching what we eat, but we eat all we want of good wholesome food that isn't loaded with chemicals injected during processing. It makes it a little tougher when we eat out but it's doable.

Both of us have lost weight and are feeling better. I don't suffer from near daily headaches anymore and I can actually breath through my nose all the time. So, we're doing well.

We had a great time in Marble Falls. We got to visit people we'd met in Quartzsite, met some new friends, and got to visit some old friends and relatives. When I say old, I don't necessarily mean old people. Just friends that I've known a long time. But I guess that might makes us old. Ha.

We drove into Austin to visit Marvin, an old buddy I went to high school with and even went into prison with. When I say into prison I'm not talking about being convicted and sent to prison together. Marvin had a prison ministry and Patsi & I went down to Huntsville with him back in the late 90's. So we did go to prison together, just not in a literal sense.
                                                      
To top that off, when we arrived an old friend, George, from high school was at his house. It had been over 45 years since I'd seen him. I found out that he'd been working in Austin when I went to school at UT back in 1976, but I never knew he was there at the time. He's retired from UT and makes pocket holsters as a hobby. You might want to visit his website - www.unclegeorgeswalletholsters.com
He makes some pretty cool wallet holsters.

Then we went to Blanco to visit my cousin Gary whom I hadn't seen in quite a while. We got to visit with him and his family, plus have dinner with him and Jody, his wife. Then we drove down to San Antonio to visit Phyllis Peterson, Patsi's sister-in-law's mother. She is a 96 year old amazing lady. For 96 she is a very active lady, playing bridge, going shopping and still taking care of herself in the independent living retirement center in which she lives.

On the trip down and also on the way back we got to visit with Rod, my cousin's husband. He and his dad had the cement company in Brady, Tx and they both had a collection of antique cars. It was very interesting visiting with Rod, meeting his dad and seeing their collection of cars and antique things. So we had a very good trip.

Here's a few pics

 Our BMC with Jeep in front

Steve Guerasko's junkyard chevy pickup with custom tailgate. They be from Louisiana

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Other birds

We made a couple of trips to Socorro, NM to visit our nephew, Kiichi who was finishing up his last semester before graduation. The last trip was for his graduation. He graduated in the top % of his class as a Materials Engineer with a metallurgical engineering option. We're pretty proud of him. He did all that without going into debt to get his degree.

We don't have any plans for trips this summer. Maybe a couple of weekenders but nothing until later on in the year.

I've been doing some yard art. I am actually building a trellis for 3 wisteria that we planted last year. Here's some pics of what I've got so far.

 Sunflower

 Yucca

 Curly Pipe

 Gate Guard

Our Watch Bird

I also added the cross pieces (below) for the patio cover framework. I still have to get the c-purlin welded up and put the tin on for the roof. Maybe I'll get this project completed this summer.

I also built some racks for the rain barrel catch system. These 1st 3 fell over the first time it rained. I failed to put a big enough foot and they sank into the ground, tipping the barrels onto their sides.

Little better luck with the other barrels. I still need to build one more rack for about 7 more barrels. We should end up with about 900+ gallons of storage.

 After my 05 Dodge dually and 5th wheel left. I needed to get my old 94 Dodge running. It had not been started in 3-5 years so I wasn't sure if I could even get it running. When I went to check it out I discovered someone had lifted the batteries out of it, so I had to go buy 2 new batteries. I'm sure the old ones weren't in very good shape. But after batteries were installed I couldn't get fuel to the injection pump. I ended up having to replace the fuel pump and I replaced most of the old fuel line while I was at it.

My trusty old 'rat rod' diesel pickup.

Gate guard watching over our yard art.

Well, that's about all for now, so until next time......

Overthehump