Spaulding Smails

My wife's grandmother still has the invite and name badge from that fundraiser. She and my wife's grandfather were already in Austin when news of the assassination started to make the rounds. I've never asked her if they got their $200 back. Next time I'm in East Texas, I'll try to get a picture of it.

Yep. And the shitty thing is, short of digging it all up, you're pretty much screwed. I had one spot at my new house that showed signs of heat stress before anything else last summer. I put down 2-4" of thunder dirt from GeoGrowers everywhere before sodding. Evidently, we were light in that area. I took a sharp shooter and I hit a rock shelf about 4" below surface. Don't underestimate how much impact that can have on the turf.

Cactus can chime in on this, but I've learned through my last two houses that the soil beneath the turf is everything. It's so disappointing to see 95% of builders scratch the existing dirt that's been trampled during construction then slap sod on it and expect it to grow. Very few take the time to amend the soil. Once the sod is down, you have an uphill battle. From my experience, annual top dressing with high quality soil is about the only way to try to rectify the situation.

Good feedback. Thanks as always. I had one freeze back pretty bad, but it sprouted up from the base of the trunk and has actually been the strongest grower of the four. I'll give them into next year to see how they perform in a third growing season.

Don't waste your time with the new Netflix thriller "How it Ends". Watched it last night on a whim without reading reviews. Holy crap. What a shit-tastic movie. Great (although over-used) premise about armageddon, but the lack of character development, random events that don't even remotely affect the storyline and absolutely gaping plot holes plus a bullshit ending left me pissed off more than amused. That move sucked all kinds of ass.

I have four fig trees that I planted when we moved in last spring. They were in 1 gal pots. Minimal growth in year one and the same in year two. They have plenty of foliage, but aren't growing any larger. I've tried more water, less water, tree fertilizer. No noticeable impact on anything. They're planted in well-draining soil, get full sun and have good mulch around them. I made sure that the root ball was slightly above grade when I planted and I've kept the roots clear from too much mulch. Any idea why they're not growing? Anything I can do differently to promote growth?

Don't forget "Butt-Fuckers" in the Fuddruckers font in the top left corner. I chuckle every time I see that one.

Barn looks great. Super jealous! I put this product down in my garage. Works best with new concrete. I did it in one weekend myself. Pretty straightforward and holding up really well to hot tires, etc. https://www.sherwin-williams.com/painting-contractors/products/hc-shieldcrete-waterbased-epoxy-garage-floor-coating

Daniel Stone is probably your best bet. On 290 in Cedar Valley. They're not the cheapest around, but will be the easiest for that small of an amount.

Get as much knowledge from the outfitter as possible if you don't have anyone that's been. I'm assuming you'll do a three day trip. If you're putting in at Del Norte, Dolan Falls is only about 1.5 miles down river. You can paddle upstream a bit that morning and not lose any time. There's some springs there and the smallmouth fishing can be good. Portage river right at Dolan. Water will be low, so watch out for submerged boulders if you guys are swimming / diving off the bluff. Three Tier can be worse when the flow is down. I've seen that rapid tump more paddlers than anywhere else (myself included). Stay river right if you try to run it. You can camp just down river from Three Tier on some rocks (just past John Eddy's mansion) along the bank river left. Or you can go a bit further to the new paddler camp at mile 20 river right. On day 2, you'll encounter some reed banks. Stay left on almost every single one. Dandridge will be OK with a lower flow and is a really cool stretch of river. That's where Blue Sage starts and you'll see quite a few houses. We call the stretch below Dandridge "Lake Motherfucker" because it's always dead into the wind. Side note... about half way down Lake Motherfucker, there's a submerged airplane engine. No fuselage. No propellers, but definitely a big V8 airplane engine. We found it last year while snorkeling. Nobody has any idea that it's there let alone how it got there. See if you can find it. Just right of center of the big lake at the start of Blue Sage.... Dry Devils Rapids can be tough too. Mid-way through Blue Sage. The lake below Dry Devils holds the biggest bass on the river, IMO. Fish deep if you want to catch them that time of year. Turkey Bluff is below that. Look for the cave drawings river left to figure out why it's called Turkey Bluff. You can either camp on rocks in the Narrows (Turkey Bluff is the start of the Narrows) or there's a paddler camp at mile 29. I'd vote to enjoy the Narrows and camp there. My favorite stretch of river from a beauty standpoint. If you go all the way to the second paddler camp, it'll be a long day 2, then you'll just be dicking around at the Big Satan (Dan Hughes) take-out which is at mile 30. It's easy to miss. Not well marked, but river left across from the big bluff. Fishing there can be decent. You could paddle past that and come back up if you're feeling froggy. We did that once and found some nice spots and some decent fish.

Another friend that goes with us uses one and likes it. I prefer to pump my water into a larger container so I don't have to dick with the straw every time I want to drink. I use a Katadyn Hiker Pro. About $80. Also, make sure at least one of you has a jet boil. Eating a warm meal in the evening beats the hell out of jerky. And necessary for coffee. I have a portable French press that I take. Nothing better than sipping a hot cup of coffee watching the sun rise above the Devils.

Harrumph. My alcohol choices have consisted of this (also substitute Gatorade packets instead of Arnold Palmer... you know for hydration purposes and whatnot). Also good whiskey when it's cool out. And you can't underestimate a nice box wine with your MRE. Take it out of the box. Tie about 10 ft of paracord to it and let it chill in the river. Ice is stupid to even mess with. I tried it once with block ice and failed miserably.

Flow will be slow, and you'll have to drag quite a bit, but much better than starting at Baker's. I'm assuming that you're going through Amistad Expeditions. Do you have your own kayak? Even if you do, I'd consider renting one of their Coosas. I'd do it if I were in your situation. If you're even mildly into paddling or fishing, it will be a great experience. Fall out there is so awesome, that I've foregone many football weekends for the sake of the Devils. I've even tried to bring an old school radio to listen to the Horns game (didn't work for shit). My advice is to pack super light, and invest in good water shoes, a good self-inflating sleeping pad and pillow if you don't have them. Have the others that you're going with done the Devils before?

@Hank_Hill You need to find out which stretch you're doing, who your outfitter is, what size the group is, etc. As mentioned above, water flow is always relatively low during late summer, but it will be especially low this year. I went in June and the flow was way slow. If you do Baker's you'll be dragging a ton. It's definitely a bucket list trip if you haven't done it. But, choose wisely on where, when and who you go with. It can make or break the trip. PM me if you want more info. I've been down the river 12 times over the last seven years, so I'm pretty familiar with it.

Yep. Gotta be Eckrich. Which should only be purchased as an ingredient for a crawfish / shrimp boil.

Same thing was happening with us last summer. It was OK when it was fresh, but once you put it in the freezer, it separated more. Left a film on the roof of your mouth. I'm a huge ice cream fan, and an even bigger homemade ice cream fan, so I was perplexed. We switched from Horizon 2% organic milk to "regular" whole milk this summer, and it's back to normal with no issues. Try to change your milk to the cheap, whole stuff and see if that helps.

Fantastic. "Pinto Beans" and "Lots of Greens" is code for canned black eyed peas and a few pieces of wilted lettuce.

Old Time Grocery is legit. Perfect lunch spot though not sure what time you'll be hitting Lafayette. We just had some friends come back from the Tabasco tour at Avery Island. Said that was a lot of fun too if you have time.

Benny Hill double speed is amazing. And damn near had both the taze moment and ceiling fall moment coinciding with crescendos.

@F250 you nailed it in that last post. 10U has been the most fun (even at a diluted rec level) for me as a coach. The kids are old enough that you generally don't have to babysit them and they are capable enough to actually make plays. But, they're not so old that they have egos (mostly). We had a similar situation this year. Kid was at the lower age of the cutoff, so he was barely 9 playing with kids that were almost 11. He had just moved here from the east coast and had never played before. But, he tried hard and had a good family with a dad that spent a lot of time working with him. At the beginning of the year, we had to be careful so as not to hurt him. In the last game, he got his first hit and actually caught a deep fly ball in right. Just huge progress over a short time frame and makes the hours spent up at the ballfields totally worth it.

Just stumbled on this thread. My son's been middle-of-the-pack since T-ball. He's worked hard on his own accord this year and actually made the All-Star team (10U). He was literally the last selection based on a mediocre season and a good try-out. He did well and ended up starting in the OF. A few observations: -The talent pool at this age has been incredibly diluted at rec leagues. We have four different select teams that pull from kids that would otherwise be in our league (Dripping Springs). There's no way my son would have even sniffed tryouts if he was up against those kids. I bet we have 20+ kids in select ball at this age group that would come in and instantly be at the top of the talent pool. -There's too damn many leagues and tournaments. Pony, CenTex, LL. And that's not even counting the select teams. I guess it's just a natural evolution and a result of supply and demand. We played three "warm up" tournaments which seemed excessive at the time but did prepare our kids who had, for the most part, zero exposure to that kind of competition. They finished third in sectionals, then went 2 and BBQ at regionals losing the first game to the #1 seed on a walk-off passed ball. -All-Star baseball at that age is light years ahead of rec league. I expected an increase in play, but we were coaching some pretty advanced techniques / plays like squeeze plays, first & third drills, rundowns, throwing behind the runner on a cut-off, etc. All of which came into play and paid off during all stars. It was fun seeing it "click" for some of these kids who were used to being the only one on their team who could half-way catch or throw. And many of the kids (my son included) seemed to do better with improved competition. I guess it forces them to focus more, see more strikes at the plate, be on their toes in the field, etc when compared to rec league. -And select ball is light years ahead of all-stars. If we were to scrimmage the "elite" team that our league puts in select tournaments, we would get SMOKED. We had 3-4 kids that could hang with them, but the bottom of the order (my son included) is pretty far behind their current talent level. Those teams are good 1-9. I can't even imagine facing a Major select team. -At 9 & 10, these kids are playing better (and more fundamental) baseball than I was playing at 12U all-stars. Heck, we weren't even leading off at 12. All in all, it was a great experience for my son. May have been his only chance at an all-star team, so I'm glad he had an opportunity to experience it.

Do you have a hand planer? That may be worth a shot. Not going to be perfect, but you may be able to feather it down some then hit it with an orbital sander. Otherwise, look at a hardwood lumber supplier that mills on site. They may be able to run it through the planer for you.

@4th and 5That's been my experience, too. The sun just eventually beats them up. I've tried to plant things strategically. @DonnyKerabatsos I didn't think about the bugs. Coons and birds have been my biggest issue this year. I guess you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. I did make this retractable, so I can pull it back in less than five minutes. Worth a shot, I suppose.

Anyone have an experience with shade cloth? I'm hoping I can keep the sun from beating down on my garden during the summer. I bought a 30% shade cloth. Just curious if I should leave it up for the duration of the summer or try to alternate days.

Use a jointer or bench planer if you can. It'll be worth borrowing or renting one. I built this table and bench for my sister as a housewarming gift. Used #1 YP for everything. I culled the lumber to find as straight of boards as possible and ran them all through the jointer / planer knocking 1/4" off the dimension and making sure everything was square. Made a big difference in the levelness of the top when it was all said and done.