Good Morning All. Currently cloudy and 56°, but it will probably rain lightly a little more this morning. There are thunderstorms to the south but they're moving NE; might get some sprinkles from the outer edge. Rainfall total yesterday was 0.8" that fell over a 20 hour span, so no flooding or runoff. We were on the edge all day. 30 miles south at the TWU station they have gotten 3" in the last 24 hours.
The grocery trek just happened to occur in between the major storms in that area, and I met my SIL to get the granddog while I was there. We always manage to dog-sit when there's rain, so a towel by the door is a necessity. Surprisingly, gasoline prices in Denton have fallen back below $3/gal. But the grocery prices are still inching upwards, and "shrinkflation" seems to be affecting everything. While a pound of meat is still a pound, quantity of a lot of boxed and canned goods has been reduced but still at the same price as the older larger size.
Today, I have to drive the Lexus to Dallas for scheduled maintenance at 10:30. I normally do all of this stuff myself, but we got a year's worth of maintenance for free (supposedly) when we bought the car. To make the trip worth while, I will stop at Discount Model Trains and drop a few Ben Franklins there.
Out in the train shed yesterday, I continued adding headstones in the cemetery until the battery in the portable LED worklight needed recharging. So I advanced on my next selected minor project list of adding trees to the areas that I identified earlier in the week. There are already some in some places, but they are all candidates for more.
First up is either side of the Old Mill Feed & Seed store in the rural area between Charlottesville and Rycon Township.
Before:
View attachment 183365
After adding two untrimmed trees:
View attachment 183366
On the north side, before:
View attachment 183367
Then I added a single tree there, also untrimmed:
View attachment 183368
Yep! I put the hay bale back on the dock where it belonged.
During the course of this improvement, I noted that I never finished the ground cover between the main line and the spur to the feed store.
View attachment 183369
I'll do this right away since I have my booster stool there right now.
Troy - I have watched a few videos of military modelers before, and I have been really impressed with the way most of them handle the airbrush.
Tom O - The post office must love seeing you walk in the door.
Todd - Interesting story about Jake. I know what you mean about getting behind here on the forum. There's a few threads that I can no longer follow, and a few that get buried pretty quickly.
Grizzled - Coupon shopping isn't too bad for me. I generally only shop at one grocery store. I will not drive from store to store looking for the best deals. As a frequent shopping member, I go to the online coupons and click on the ones that I
might use. If I do purchase that item, it is automatically credited. Those coupons are usually good for a month before they expire and can be used multiple times. I don't purchase stuff just because there is a coupon, I just "clip" if it is something I will be getting. There's generally between 400-500 available. On an average trip, I use maybe a dozen.
I am sad to read about your wife's misadventures. You're both in my prayers.
Mac - I wouldn't worry about wood ashes contaminating the water well. Unless you're burning treated or glued wood (plywood, MDF, etc), wood ashes are very safe and they barely leach more than a foot down. I use my wood ashes in my organic garden as a source of Potassium.
Curt - When I purchase new cars, I always make the salesman throw a full size rim into the trunk before I drive off. They never charged me. I then go ahead and pay for a regular tire of my choice for it, and include it in the normal tire rotation.
Thank you for the comment regarding the cemetery.
Sherrel - Keep up the fight. You're doing well if you can eat a chicken-fried steak meal (that's what I call them as well). I make them occasionally, but my wife, who's a born Southern girl, always makes the gravy
Everybody have a great day and a wonderful weekend if that applies. Every day is a weekend after retirement.