Jul 3 - 10

There is good luck, there is bad luck, and then there is Frank luck.

So the kids were scheduled to go to camp for 4 days last week down in Yosemite. My wife and I were pretty excited because we would get 3 nights to ourselves with no darling children. The 4th night my wife was going to spend in Modesto seeing her mother.  So we made reservations at a bed and breakfast for Sunday night up in Sutter Creek. When Sunday morning comes along we just finished breakfast with the cars all packed when my wife gets a text saying the nurse called in sick at the camp so we couldn’t come down until Monday. We look at each other knowing our reservations now won’t work and we both cry.

Monday I take the kids down to Yosemite and drop them off and then drive back. I get home and tell Kim, "hey no kids tonight so we can have Margaritas". We pour ourselves a Margarita and sit down and watch TV when I get a call from Taylors saying they have a massive water leak and they don’t know what to do. So I sober up and go over. Tuesday afternoon I call over to Taylors and ask if it is safe for us to have Margaritas and Andrew my manager says, “Funny you should call. All the plumbing is backed up.” I have not gotten and call at night in the 2 months prior to Monday and haven’t gotten a call since Tuesday.

FlapJacks is having a Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser this coming Friday, July 8 from 4-6 pm. The meal comes with Meatballs, Salad with Italian Dressing, Garlic Bread and Spumoni Ice Cream for Dessert. All for $15.00 per person.

Pre-ordering is a must for this event. You can reserve your spot here: 
https://forms.gle/EacgzhK7zTgC3oVH8

Proceeds from this evening event will be used to help a family with the funeral arrangements of their beloved son, brother, and uncle. If you would like to give additional help, or are unable to attend, please consider giving to the GoFundMe page for Joel Wilson's Memorial. 

Jun 27 - Jul 3

Wildlife Inter-Animal Internet Dilemma (WIAID)

When I planted all my fruit trees I was unaware of WIAID. This is a problem that fruit growers in Placer County have to deal with. There is a frequency of the internet that animals up here use to notify all other animals of when fruit is ripe. So the day fruit is ripe it is gone by 8:00 AM. I have gone to an apricot tree on that day with a box to carry away all the flavorful fruit, to find nothing left on the tree. Last year I had 200 Asian Pears ready to pick with all taken in one night. Think about it, do they use wheel barrows? How else can you take that much fruit? These nemeses are organized, which is further proof they have connections. If I can just find a way to hack into their internet I can slow them down long enough to get some fruit. I hear there are some displaced Russian Hackers that might be of use, I just have to find one that knows how to code in WIAI.

Jun 20 - 26

Life is never dull on the farm. So, when horses aren’t knocking you down, other things arise, or in this case fall.

Thursday night my son calls me outside to tell me there is an injured bird right in front of our house. There is a palm tree there where there’s always a nest of some kind at the top. So, I get out there and there is what appears to be an injured hawk. It appears bewildered much like myself, and even though hawks are not the friendliest of creatures and this one appeared very tame. As I stared at the poor bird, it looked young. I went inside and when I came back out it was gone, so I felt relieved.

Today me wife tells me the hawk is back. So I go out there and there is the same bird as before. I called a very smart friend of mine who knows everything, and he had me call Wildlife Care Association. I left a message on the hotline and while I waited I called a bird enthusiast I know and sent him photos. He said he it is a fledgling with down feathers and probably fell out of its nest. By then, the rescue place calls back and I tell this woman what is going on and she said if it is still there after 2 days that the parents probably have abandoned it. She would need to come get it, but she lived out by Florin road and couldn’t come that night so she had me put it in a box andI told her I would bring it to Flapjacks in the morning.

Hopefully I will have an end to the story, but until then I have included a photo. I think I will name him or her Flapjack.

Jun 13 - 19

Ok, I am writing without power so I will make this quick. The bigger of the 2 mini horses, Star, I wrote about last week appears to have contracted hepatitis. How the vet wouldn’t say. But my wife and I are supposed to inject this goop into the Star’s mouth twice a day. Don’t you just love it when a vet tells you to do something that is next to impossible. Anyway, we are out there, I try to hold Star’s head while my wife tries to squirt this goop in her mouth. We get excited because we think we are successful and Star opens her mouth and the goop falls out.