See You, September.


Tomorrow is the 1st of October already. It marks the beginning of our 3rd year of retirement. Time really seems to be flying by. The good news is that Penny and I have found plenty to do. There is still a long “to do” list to tackle.


The weather turned nice for walking and I took advantage of it. I walked on the beach last evening and through our neighborhood this morning. A cool front pushed through with a sufficient drop in humidity and just enough of a breeze to make walking comfortable. That along with a deep blue sky and a couple of happy mockingbirds made walking enjoyable.


This was my first time walking the beach in a while and a couple of things were different. There is more of the fine powder white sand now and it is very squeaky. The beach is recovering from the hurricanes of ’05. The old curved tree trunk that we took pictures on at Thanksgiving has lost an arm. There was a turtle’s nest marked on the sand. The Eglin Beach Club Pavilion is finished and lots of people were using it. The huge condo at the mouth of Destin Harbor is complete and is visible from everywhere on the beach (and it is not pretty).

.....................The usual friends were out in force.

......................The condos loom.

.............................It wasn't all sunshine.

................................ one lone heron and green water.

We are planning a trip to Texas to see Penny’s sister Dede. She lives in Burleson (Ft Worth). That’s only about an hour away from my niece Debby, so when we are there we are going to drive over to see her one afternoon. For the past 2 years we were headed to Vermont at this time of year. We were due to visit Dede, however, and we have been pushing the date of our visit back all year. Maybe next year we will get back up there. We already have a conflict – my fraternity from college is planning a big reunion in Oct 08. So the foliage and crisp juicy apples will just have to go on without us. We will get our apples at Fresh Market and imagine we were up north.

Some Relief?


We went to see our homeowner’s insurance agent today with the Safe Homes inspection paperwork in hand. The young lady that we talked to (Susan) was all set to tell us to get the free inspection we just had. She was thrilled that we already had it done. She said that was all she needed so our meeting was brief and cordial. The good news, and I am keeping my fingers crossed, is that the results of the inspection may reduce our premium by $800-$1000. I’ll believe it when I see it. Susan promised to get the paperwork submitted by tomorrow. All she needed to do was take pictures of the house to send with the report. She showed up at our house around 1 PM to take pictures so we know she is doing what she promised.


After the meeting (since we were out) we once again went out to Fresh Market for some fruit and bread. Good apples are beginning to show up now. We did stop at Beal’s and get some clothes for Christy to wear to her new job. We found some nice stuff marked down 82%. Those prices are hard to pass up.

We also got some snow peas, cabbage and ginger root at the market. With that and some leftover chicken we had at home Penny treated me to moo goo gai pan (more moo!) for dinner.


I brought Penny’s CRV in for 60,000 mile servicing yesterday. I decided to bring it into a shop close to home rather than the dealer. I listed the work to do and dropped it off. The manager went over the list and made some suggestions. The shop is close enough for me to walk to (about ½ hour walk) so I got my walking in dropping off the car and picking it up. When I picked up the car the guy told me he did some things not on the list. He quickly explained that he included balancing the tires in with the rotation (something I didn’t ask for) because with a special they had it actually cost less for me. The overall bill was about half what it would have cost at the dealer. I hate having to get a car worked on. I’m hoping this place is as good as it seems to be so far. I’ve had oil changes done there before and the manager comes across as honest and knowledgeable. It will be a little easier bringing a car in if I feel the place is being straight with me.


I’m slowly getting my shop in order before my next project. I found that I need more work room than my current set up gives me. I’m going to take out the drawers/work bench arrangement I currently have and put wheels on as much of my equipment and storage as I can. With that set up I can arrange the shop as necessary for a given project.

The cat mystery continues. Now the seal point is gone. So we are down to 6 regulars. I was worried yesterday because Izzy and Velcro didn’t show up at feeding time. Those are the only cats that will let me pet them (and therefore they are my favorites). They showed up later and they were out there all day today.

............................................The six regulars

Recorder Woes


Our Digital Video Recorder (DVR) died over the weekend. Penny was watching it and it went blank – became completely unresponsive with the message “PLEASE WAIT” on its LCD Display. So we waited. When it didn’t change the message for a few hours I figured it was time to start disconnecting things and then power up after a rest and see if it would reboot. I know - you are thinking about the how to occupy a moron joke where you hand someone a note with “please see other side” written on both sides. Penny and I are a little sharper than that – we only waited a few hours when the DVR told us to please wait.


The operator’s manual said that that message appears when the unit starts up and is not a malfunction. So there was hope initially that the problem might clear. I called Panasonic and they said that the unit might have been damaged by a power spike and is hung up trying to reboot. In other words it is broken. Repair costs start at a minimum of $100 with $30 shipping. It was time to start thinking replacement. I called a local repair shop. They charge $30 to make an estimate and oh, by the way, they can’t look at it for 6 to 8 weeks or more (depending on how much warranty work they get).


The real shock came when we looked for a comparable unit. The market is in DVR limbo. We liked our unit because it had free TV Guide (no TiVo subscription.) and could dub from the hard drive to a DVD. There are not many units out there to do that. TiVo and cable providers are dominating the market. There is a market for what we want but it is a seller’s market.


We scoured the Internet and every unit we found that did what we wanted was either out of stock or not available (or too costly).


After many dead ends we finally found a refurbished Samsung unit that had all the features we wanted, was cheap enough and was in stock. So we ordered one.


In the mean time we fall back on our trusty decade-plus old VCRs to record shows we want.

Last time things broke on me it came in 3’s. I hope this is not a new beginning.

Rainy Saturday

The tropical depression moved onshore yesterday but we have its legacy. We are having periods of heavy rain with clearing to some blue skies and sunshine and back to heavy rain. No rainbows are in sight.


We did our usual Saturday morning routine of Waffle House and Lowe’s. We did remember to get the rest of the potpie fixings. That’s not what we had for lunch – wonderful cook Penny made a fantastic pork roast with sweet potatoes and asparagus.


I spent the rest of the day doing easy stuff – a load of laundry, watching the Gators beat Ole Miss, and digging through my backup files for music and other stuff to load on the mp3 player. In the process I got sidetracked here and there just like what happens when you dig through old papers.


The first thing that got me was a picture of Colby Jack from July 2000. Of course I found one of Christy in the same time period.

I came across some of Karen’s college years and her apartment in Ft Myers.



And don’t forget son-in-law Tim playing with the Primates in 2002.

The time sure does fly by. I've got more disks and floppies out in the shed. Who knows what I'll find there.

Chicken Pot Pie


It was just one of those Fridays today. It started out normally – breakfast and then a trip to Target in search of bargains. That potential tropical storm was still in the Gulf and slowly approaching. We found a few useful items at Target – a pocket knife for Penny’s car (replacing one we gave away); a drastically reduced runner’s watch that measures your pulse at a touch of your finger; A hydration backpack for hot days in the kayak (next year?) or next years Gate Run? It was too cheap to pass up.


It still wasn’t raining when we left Target to grocery shop at Publix. Penny hasn’t made chicken potpie in a while and now with it cooling down outside it was on our mental shopping list for this week. After Publix (still no rain) it was home for lunch and preparation for our “Safe House” inspection.


One of our meals planned this week is pasta pesto so after lunch I picked about 2/3 of basil leaves on our 2 big pots of basil. We were making the end of season batch. The basil tends to go to seed at this time of year and then the stalks get woody. So we pick most of it and make pesto and freeze it for use throughout the winter. My hands smelled like basil so I went to wash them when the doorbell rang. The inspector was here. I didn’t shake his hand and explained why. He said I was lucky I had a wife who could cook. It was 1 o’clock now and still no rain.


This inspection is a free service funded by the state. The hurricane resistance of your house is assessed and you are given a report, signed by the licensed inspector, which you can bring to the insurance agent and try to get some relief on your insurance rate. We figured it was worth a try. Penny found out about this and pushed me until I contacted the inspector.


The inspection evaluates the house’s structure and quantifies the open area (windows and doors). Then the guy crawls up in the attic to check out the roof. Everything from the size of nails used, the nail pattern and whether there are clips attaching the roof to the walls. He said our house was well built. It was up to code for 1975. It would have been better if longer nails were used and more of them but the house was built the way they built them in 1975. We do have clips – which is good – and the hip roof we have is the best type for win resistance. I believe this after seeing how well we’ve come through the storms we’ve had. Good old State Farm doesn’t give us any breaks however regardless of the fact that we’ve never made a claim on our house in the 30+ years we’ve been paying premiums.


The inspector was pleasant and very talkative. He filled out the inspection form, explained it to us and went on to his next appointment.


Penny finished up the pesto and we began thinking about that potpie. We came to the realization that we bought chicken today – but no potatoes, vegetables, cream or piecrusts. We both had mind-farts and forgot. So, tomorrow we will get the rest of the required ingredients. (Maybe)


It finally began to rain about 5 o’clock. We had to set up a little cover on our patio to keep the cats dry at feeding time. Now, at 8:30 the storm is coming on shore at Destin. It never got to tropical storm strength. We are expecting some good rainfall – it is raining hard right now. I had to use my raingear (The one we named bumblebee because it is gold and black that I bought when we went up to the Mizzou homecoming many years ago because it was the Mizzou colors) to go out and turn off the sprinkler system. There is no need to water for a while now. I could tell I got bumblebee a long time ago because it is a size medium. It was very baggy on me then, now it just fits. (sort of) A large would do better. It kept me nice and dry.

We will see if the rain is over in the morning. Saturday we go out to breakfast, hit Lowe’s to check for bargains and tomorrow we get the rest of the potpie fixings.

Cool Breezes and High Water


I got out in my kayak this morning. This was my first time out since Jacksonville more than a month ago. It was too windy for Penny to go so I went in the single kayak.


We are starting to see temperatures in the 60’s in the morning with a “dry” wind out of the northeast. When I put the kayak in the bayou there were 3 other people out in 1-man skulls. They were all coming in because it was too windy for them. The kayak handled the wind fine. I went down to the end of the bayou and went up one of the feeder streams at the end. I found that the water level was about a foot higher than the last time I was here (remember the blackberries?) and I could paddle farther upstream. It was interesting because the stream necks down to about 5 feet in width for a while and then opens up again to about 15 feet. I got up almost to the road that bounds the bayou – about 100 feet further than I got before.

................................................The view upstream.

I came back out into the bayou and just sat there a while and enjoyed the morning. Then it was back to the car – this time paddling with the wind. The wind was strong enough to add to my speed considerably. I think that was the fastest I’ve gone in the kayak.

The rest of the day went to yard work. We are having our house inspected tomorrow - a free hurricane resistance assessment provided by the State. I don’t expect to learn much that I don’t already know but one never knows. Since it is free we figured we might as well have it done.

Snack Attack


When I checked the cat feeder this morning I found that it had been attacked during the night. The attacker peeled back the wood panel and ripped open the feeding cup. This gave it direct access to the feed bin and all the food it held spilled out. It is possible the raccoons are back. That may be what spooked the cats. Our neighbor just cleared out the section of his yard on the other side of the fence from my shed. It had been left to go to seed and could have been home to some critters. Now it is clear and has a boat pad and boat on it.

.............................The aftermath of the attack.

I repaired and strengthened the feeder and set up the dog crate as a preliminary to trapping the culprit. I'll bait it with nuts and fruit (things cats don't want) and if it gets eaten consistently I'll rig the crate to trap whatever it is.


Penny’s dental appointment went well. She has healed nicely and can eat anything she wants once again. We used the morning to restock our fruit supply and get milk and eggs.


My mp3 player arrived while we were out of town so I’ve been learning to use it and loading it with audio books, comedy albums and music. I used it while I was working today and it works out quite well. The technology available to us is amazing. This little device has 2 complete audio books, 10 music and comedy albums and about 100 songs loaded and available with the push of a button. If I get bored with that I can listen to the FM radio. If I think of something I need to do I can record a reminder. I can also set it to record off the radio for a set amount of time. Maybe I won’t be missing car talk as often now.


We are watching that low-pressure system that was in Jacksonville the morning we left. They got 6 inches of rain that day. The system is supposed to drift across Florida and into the Gulf. There is a good scenario (no tropical formation) and a bad one – The weather folks don’t know what it will do. It’s a good thing they can accurately predict global warming effects for the rest of the century. It’s the 24-hour forecast that gives them problems.

Quality Time


We spent the weekend with Karen and Tim. They needed a babysitter for Sophie all day Sunday and, of course, we jumped at the opportunity. Sophie has grown considerably in the short time since our last visit. She is getting cuter by the day and interacting somewhat with those around her. We got to spend some real Quality time with Sophia. She’s not the only one who has changed. I see noticeable differences in Karen. There is something new about the way she carries herself. I can’t explain what I see, it is subtle. It just may be me seeing her now more as a mother and adult and less as our little girl. Whatever it is it is good. I think Sophie is good for her – even with the sleep deprivation.

Sophie isn't sleep deprived.

Christy and Christian stopped by for dinner on Sunday so we had our whole family together for a while.


The drive home was uneventful (for us) but we took out a bunch of love bugs on this trip. They are out in force procreating and splashing their bodies on the windshield.

The view through the windshield when we got home.

The cat mystery continues. All 7 cats are present and accounted for today. They are waiting around on the patio waiting to be fed some soft food. We will probably never know where they went for those 2 days. The MOD III automatic cat feeder did it’s job and kept them fed over the weekend. There are parts of 7 cats in this picture.

Penny goes back to the dentist tomorrow for stage II of her implant procedure. She cooked us wonderful meals all weekend and was only able to gum the soft food while we chowed down on everything.

Ice Cream and Timing Chains


Penny is on a soft food diet for the next few days. Since cold applied to her jaw is good for it we’ve both been forcing ourselves to eat a lot of ice cream. Sometimes you just have to close your nose and take your medicine. We are managing OK, but Penny says she is craving pizza.


Penny is doing all right. She is in some pain and she is sleeping a lot. She did manage to cook today for Karen and Tim (Portobello mushroom ravioli and King Ranch Chicken). Brie has been spending a lot of time sleeping with her. It’s gotten to the point where Brie will tell Penny (in her kitty way) that it is time to go back and take a nap. When Penny goes back Brie jumps up on the bed and curls up to sleep between her legs.


We’ve been putting mileage on our CRVs at a high rate. Penny’s 2002 has 60,000 and my 2004 has 50,000. Our other Hondas needed to have the timing belt replaced at 80,000 miles so I looked through the CRV manual to see what it needed and found no mention of the timing belt. I thought that was strange so I went to Google and did some research. To my pleasant surprise we don’t have belts. We have timing chains. That’s the way cars used to be made. The timing chains are good for the life of the car. So that is one major maintenance task I don’t have to worry about.

We have a kitty mystery going on today. For the past 2 days all 7 of the cats have been here. Today the only cat that I saw all day was Marmalade. She showed up at the 6 o’clock feeding time. It was strange to have no cats outside all day. We hope they are someplace safe. Maybe tomorrow we will see them again.

Fertilizer


One would think that buying fertilizer for the lawn would be a simple process. It isn’t. I get e-mail from the county extension service about gardening and lawn care. At the appropriate time it provides advice on lawn care – when to fertilize, the proper mix for the fertilizer and tips on lawn care in general.


I have followed the advice from the service, fertilizing with a balanced blend in Spring, applying iron when things began turning yellow and being careful not to over fertilize. The advice for this time of year is to get the lawn ready for winter by using a fertilizer low in nitrogen and phosphorous and high in potash. The problem is that no one carries it. Most of the fertilizer is very high in nitrogen – which turns the lawn green but is not good for our lawns any time of year. It is what the stores carry. We don’t even have a nursery here anymore that sells fertilizer.


So after checking Lowes, Home Depot and Wal-Mart, I went to the one nursery that remains here and they suggested I go to a local fertilizer company that sells to golf courses and condos. They had what I needed. The lawn is now winterized.


The fact that the big stores don’t carry what a locality needs is disappointing. I like the fact that those stores make so much more available to us. It would be nice for them to have a section devoted to the unique needs of the area.


At least my lawn has made it through its fist year in good condition.

The Tooth, The Whole Tooth, Nothing But The Tooth.


I played the staring role in a play by that name in 3rd grade. Penny’s experience this week brought that to mind. It is Penny’s turn to have a dental adventure.


Penny cracked a root in one of her teeth. This causes pain (which is masked some by her meds for her other health issue) and means that she will lose the tooth. The dental professionals have a wonderful system in place to insure everybody gets a cut of the money. Actually it is just a thorough process she is going through but, so far, 3 doctors have been paid for looking at the tooth and saying, “Yup, that tooth has to go.” She is seeing the same doctors I saw in my dental adventure earlier this year.


Today is the day that she has the tooth extracted. This whole process will take months. She has to heal from the extraction and the have a post put in that will act as an anchor for an implant to replace the tooth. After healing from the post procedure the tooth implant is fixed onto the post. I think Penny said it will take 4 months for the whole process.

Penny will be on soft food for a few days after today’s procedure.

New Toys.


Penny and I bought new toys for ourselves yesterday.


Penny has been using a very old (in computer years) laptop computer to run software for her embroidery sewing machine. The laptop was unreliable and she couldn’t be sure that it would turn on if she turned it off. She left it turned on. The laptop is running Windows 95.


With Labor Day sales and back to school going on, the price of a basic laptop had reached the threshold that we were willing to spend. She got a low-end Compaq Presario. Now I will see if I can recover the old laptop (which was a high-end machine when it was bought). The old laptop was originally owned by one of Penny’s close workmates, Bud, and she bought it when he died - so it has some sentimental value.


Last night I was browsing the internet and decided to check out Buy.com. I ended up buying an Mp3 player. I’ve been hesitant to buy one because I didn’t think I would use it enough to warrant the cost. I didn’t want to pay 75 to 150 bucks for something with that question in mind. Penny has been pushing me to get one. Her argument was that it would be more convenient and less time consuming using one to listen to audio books. Considering the rate I went through books when working on the lawn, sprinklers and crib the argument made sense. I was still wary.


What I found on Buy.com was sufficiently cheap (< $50 - refurbished) and quite capable. The Sandisk Sansa e250 is a 2GB MP3 Player, FM tuner, FM and voice recorder with a built-in microphone. It plays video and pictures and has expandable memory. It doesn’t have all the accessories an IPOD has but it should be a fun toy to learn to use. I'll probably start downloading audio books from places like audible.com.


We did get to Fresh Market yesterday - and since we were in the neighborhood ate lunch at Fat Clemenza’s Brick Oven Pizza. This time I had a calzone and Penny got bruschetta and a bowl of pasta fagiloi. All was yummy. Maybe tomorrow I’ll start that diet and exercise program – Yeah, that’s the ticket – and then begin training for a marathon – yeah... So, as Penny sets up her new toy, I wait for mine to be packed and shipped.


Today, Saturday, it’s back to the house and yard work.

Recovery


For the most part we relaxed on Wednesday. I did unload the trailer. That was as physical as the day got. Penny and I took some time to decide who to play and who to bench for our fantasy footbal teams


Brie has been very friendly. Following us everywhere. Napping with us if we take a nap.


Today, Thursday, was unpacking day. I stored one piece of furniture, the chaise, hanging from the garage ceiling where I used to have the tandem kayak. The other piece, a table, goes out in the shed.


Penny had a dental appointment today and got the bad news that she has to have a tooth extracted. She has a cracked root. They are going to put a post in her jaw and mount a crown on that. This will be done on Monday. Knowing how any dental work, even cleaning her teeth affect her health, Monday will not be a good day.


I had to mow the lawn today – this time it’s gone a whole week before needing to be cut. Fall is definitely on the way.


Tomorrow we get back into our normal routine. Breakfast , Target, grocery shop. We are also due for a Fresh Market run. We don’t have any fresh fruit in the house.
Phew! I’m all caught up with my blogging now.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday.


We got in to High Springs Sunday evening after a nice family weekend in Jacksonville for Sophie’s baptism. Christy and Christian are making good progress in setting up their house. They already had the armoire we brought them on Friday in use and had set up the china cabinet in their dining area.


The grand animals all were happy to see us. Even P. J. was friendly! Fin brought us his new stuffed drum toy. Colby slept with us the first night and periodically checked to see if we were sleeping comfortably – which we were.


Covering the chairs – our mission on this trip – began in earnest on Monday morning. I was impressed at the way Christy and Penny worked so well together. It took longer to get the chairs covered than we expected. We didn’t finish until Tuesday close to 7 PM. Some of it was just slow going, some was having to undo and redo a section. The up side of this was that we got to spend some good quality time with Christy and Christian. We also got to know High Springs better. I had to make a couple of food runs and of course one run to Home Depot. I must have been enjoying myself because the checkout girl at Home Depot said that I looked happy. She on the other hand looked down so I asked her why. She just had a run in with a very difficult customer. Hopefully I cheered her up.


The finished chairs look good and sit comfortably. They fit nicely into C&C’s house. My camera was already out in the car so I have no pictures.


We headed home around 7 PM with a couple of pieces of furniture on the trailer. When we stopped at the weigh station we were told we didn’t have to stop if we were hauling personal goods – so no more stopping at the weigh stations! We got home around 12;30 AM. We had left Brie home alone for 5 days and when we came in she was initially afraid of us. She warmed to us quickly when she realized who we were.

All we plan to do on Wednesday is relax. We both have sore backs from working on the chair and we have to recover from the long day on Tuesday. The nice thing about being retired is that we can take a down day and it doesn’t matter.

Sep 2 – Sophie’s Baptism

The baptism was scheduled following the 11 AM mass at St Paul’s Church in Jacksonville. Penny and I arrived about 10:30 and cordoned off sufficient area for 18 people. Shortly after we arrived, godmother Christy and Christian showed up. Christy knew that Penny and I would be there even though it was early.


The Baptism went well. Sophie was cranky before the ceremony but Karen and Tim took the time to settle her down and she was very good for the ceremony. Here are some pictures.

After the ceremony we all went to Crispers for lunch. K&T had Crispers back room reserved and treated everyone to lunch. Sophie slept through most of lunch.

After lunch there were some gifts to open. All were very thoughtful but I liked Kerry’s picture box the best. It was literally a box that, when the cover is removed, unfolds into a multi layer picture album.


From lunch we headed down to High Springs to visit with Christy and Christian with the intention of covering 2 living room chairs before we returned home on Monday or Tuesday.

Sept 1, Family Day


We spent time today with the next generation.


We slept in this morning. Then had the complimentary breakfast at the hotel before heading out for the day. We went to Fresh Market to get some fruit for the weekend. We were going to visit the Brophy’s later in the morning but we still had some time before we went there so we went into the shop next to the Fresh Market, a place called The Old Green Cupboard, just to browse. We had no idea that the place specializes in quilting material. Penny had found a bonanza! She wished she’d known about this place when she and Karen were looking for material for Sophie’s quilt.


We spent the afternoon with the Brophys. In addition to Kerry, John, Jack and Annie , sister Kathy and bro-in-law Joe were there. We just hung out with them – had sandwiches for lunch, played with Jack, admired Annie, caught up with what is happening with all the adults. It’s always a pleasant visit when we go there.

Grandpa Joe plays with Annie

We had an early dinner appointment with the Feagins – Sorbello’s Italian restaurant at 4 o’clock. We arrived about 10 minues early just before the heavens opened up. We got a table for 7, sat and watched the rain while we worried about how the rain would affect the Feagins. They showed up around 4:20 as the rain was letting up.


We hadn’t seen Lee and Jane Feagins (Tim’s parents) in about 2 years, maybe 3, but they haven’t changed any. We hadn’t seen Sophia in 3 weeks and she changed a great deal.


Sorbello’s always has good food and everyone enjoyed the meal. We went over to Tim and Karens for a couple of hours after dinner to have dessert and chat. I got to hold Sophie while Penny had her dessert and Sophie slept nicely in my arms. She gets more precious every day.

Tomorrow is her christening. Karen was cranky all through her baptism, I wonder if Sophie will be the same way.

Travel Day – We Deliver II



I haven't had internet access for the past 6 days so I will be playing catch up with my blogs for a while - Here is my Aug 31 installment.


I loaded C&C’s furniture on the trailer yesterday and per my normal mode of operation took a short test drive to see how well the furniture rides and where the weak points in the cover are. I drove up to the Air Force Museum, looked at the aircraft checked the trailer and drove back. That was enough to show where the cover caught the wind and flapped. After reinforcing the cover the trailer was ready.


We packed our stuff, loaded up the CRV and got off around 9:30 AM. The plan for the weekend was to deliver furniture to C&C, go to Sophia's christening, and then go back to C&C's to cover a couple of chairs before returning home. Being Labor Day weekend I expected more than normal traffic. Traffic was heavy at times but the trip to High Springs was uneventful. There were lots and lots of State Police all along the way. We did hit heavy rain and some of it came when I had to stop at the weigh stations and agricultural inspection (We found out on the trip home we didn't have to stop for inspections if we were hauling personal items).

I had the tarp wrapped around the furniture so that the airflow would keep most rain away from the furniture but stopping gave it another way to get through the seams.

Arrival at C&C's

When we uncovered the furniture we did find water had crept into some areas. The armoire had some significant water spots on it. All of it can be lightly sanded and repaired OK. After unloading the trailer we stashed the trailer beside C&C’s garage. We will pick it up on the way home.


The real surprise came when we found that the lock on the armoire had engaged because of the vibration in the trailer. We did not have a key and, wouldn’t you know it, the lock was very secure. I tried out my lock picking techniques, which are nil. It was worth a shot since this was an antique lock and had relatively simple mechanism. No luck.


We then went to a local antiques shop and borrowed a couple of keys from them; left Penny at the shop for collateral, and I went back to the house to try the keys. At first, both keys didn’t do anything. I tried one, then the other and then the first again. I was about to give up. I knew the keys were my best chance so I decided to lay the armoire on its side so that gravity would be working with me to release the lock. Since it vibrated into the locked position I figured gravity might help me unlock it. At first the keys didn’t do anything. I jiggled and shook them and finally I felt a little springy action with one of them. I continued to play with it and suddenly, just like in the movies, I heard a small “click”. It was open! I quickly put a small piece of tape on the tab to keep it from locking again. Penny thinks we have a key for it at home. After setting the armoire upright again I headed back to the antique shop to ransom Penny.


From there it was off to our hotel in Orange Park. Driving East on I-10 we headed from bright sunshine into some heavy rain. Since the Sun was low in the West it was the perfect setup for a full arch rainbow. This gorgeous rainbow arched symmetrically over the road as if it were covering Jacksonville up ahead. I saw it as a sign that the weekend would be a good one – then we hit the heavy rain and I began to wonder.


Check-in at the hotel was pleasant. Since I am a member of the hotel’s rewards program we got our room upgraded for free from a queen-sized bed to a king. The clerk even got us cookies before we went up to our room. For dinner we went to Buffalo’s Southwest Café. Again we were pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t just a wings place, although wings were their specialty. It had a nice selection of southwest food and burgers.


Back at the hotel we got coffee and ate our cookies. A relaxing end to a long day.