Karen has been doing a great job of documenting Sophie’s development but I have a few “Grandpa” (Pepaw?) experiences that I wanted to share.
Last week Sophie’s counting was, as Karen reported, —1-2-3-9-5. I had her count my toes. She carefully held each toe between her thumb and forefinger and counted 1-2-3-9-5. Once she accidently missed toe #2 and counted 2 on toe #3. Not to worry, she back-tracked to toe #2 and counted 3 and then skipped toe#3, that she already counted 2 on and went on to toe#4 to count 9 and then 5. I thought that kind of place keeping was quite remarkable in one so young.
After that session Sophie liked to have me sit down and take my “shoes off”—“socks off” and count my toes. I decided to divert her by sticking a crayon between her big toe and second toe. She decided that it was “pretty” and walked around on her heels with the crayons sticking up and showed everybody.
She also notices that I wear glasses “gasses” and Penny does too. But Sophie has “no gasses”. Somehow we got into a little game where I would say “Sophie, glasses on”, take them off and say “glasses off”, and zoom my face close to hers and say “a-a-a-h””. This seemed to amuse her and she would usually laugh and give me her “you’re weird Grandpa” look. Later we played the same game with her hair bow. Hair bow on—hair bow off.
We also had fun at the reunion. I went upstairs with her where there were a couple of deer heads mounted on a wall within touching range. I lifted her up and she gently stroked the fur on the 2 deer heads. She’s learned to be gentle with animals when she wants to but she likes to hit them apparently just to be defiant. That’s what happens with Brie most of the time and Brie jumps off the bed and hides.
I think Sophie is a smart little kid—but I am biased, of course.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Goin' Fishin'
I spent most of the day turning a golf bag carrier into a cart to carry surf fishing stuff. I also made a sand flea (mole crab) rake so I can hopefully catch the best bait. I’m headed out early tomorrow to do some surf fishing—something that I haven’t done in over 30 years. I’m using the same rod I used then. It’s still OK. I’ll provide a fishing report and tell you about all the bait I drowned later.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Eggplant Parmigiano
We harvested 4 Japanese eggplants today and Penny made eggplant parmigiano. Although there was a lot of the dish made we somehow managed to eat every bit of it.
This is a good time for a GARDEN UPDATE:
Eggplant – Yum!
Tomatoes – 30+ fruits growing. They are growing normally and if this continues we should have a good supply of tomatoes for pasta cruda this year. After the last 2 years I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Squash – The squash is kaput. So today I get an e-mail explaining that if there is a lack of honey bees that one must act as the honey bee for squash and take pollen from the male flowers and place it in the female flowers. We must lack honeybees. I didn’t know this. We may replant squash.
Watermelon – there are currently 4 watermelon growing, the largest about the size of a coconut. They seem to be doing all right.
Cucumber – Most of the cukes are malformed and won’t be usable. There is still some hope for some of the newest ones that are forming to stay OK.
Bell Pepper – there are a few small peppers growing. I don’t know if they will grow to a usable size.
Herbs – All are flourishing.
Kitty Update—All 4 cats have appeared as of today. Meredith didn’t show until this morning. The cats have been hanging around the backyard all day. The feeder continues to do its job. The raccoon that showed his masked little face a couple of weeks ago has not returned.
Now back to our week of adventure last week. We visited the UF Natural History Museum Butterfly Rainforest. Penny was in photographic heaven. She likes taking shots of flowers and butterflies. This place has an abundance of both. The exhibit is almost magical with hundreds of butterflies fluttering about and landing on everything.
This is a good time for a GARDEN UPDATE:
Eggplant – Yum!
Tomatoes – 30+ fruits growing. They are growing normally and if this continues we should have a good supply of tomatoes for pasta cruda this year. After the last 2 years I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Squash – The squash is kaput. So today I get an e-mail explaining that if there is a lack of honey bees that one must act as the honey bee for squash and take pollen from the male flowers and place it in the female flowers. We must lack honeybees. I didn’t know this. We may replant squash.
Watermelon – there are currently 4 watermelon growing, the largest about the size of a coconut. They seem to be doing all right.
Cucumber – Most of the cukes are malformed and won’t be usable. There is still some hope for some of the newest ones that are forming to stay OK.
Bell Pepper – there are a few small peppers growing. I don’t know if they will grow to a usable size.
Herbs – All are flourishing.
Kitty Update—All 4 cats have appeared as of today. Meredith didn’t show until this morning. The cats have been hanging around the backyard all day. The feeder continues to do its job. The raccoon that showed his masked little face a couple of weeks ago has not returned.
Now back to our week of adventure last week. We visited the UF Natural History Museum Butterfly Rainforest. Penny was in photographic heaven. She likes taking shots of flowers and butterflies. This place has an abundance of both. The exhibit is almost magical with hundreds of butterflies fluttering about and landing on everything.
Penny’s favorite was this Blue Morpho I caught one reading about itself.
We spent a couple of hours there and between us took about 500 pictures.
And here, just for you, Christy, is the only butterfly in the world that sports the UF blue and orange!
If you like butterflies it is well worth the money ($8) to see the rainforest. Just don’t go on a hot day. It was cloudy and windy when we went and we were both sweating. That wasn’t all bad for the blue butterflies like sweating humans(as demonstrated below)
Monday, May 25, 2009
11 Days
That’s how long it’s been since I blogged. We’ve been busy. We had Pre-Cana Sunday a week ago. We had a FOCCUS couple over last Monday. We went to Jacksonville on Wednesday to visit K&T&S and be treated to a Cirque show “Saltimbanco” by K&T. Friday we lunched with Christy and dinnered with C&C in High Springs. In between lunch and dinner we went to the UF Museum of Natural History butterfly exhibit. Saturday was a visit to Kerry and John and sister Kathy. Sunday was church and Penny’s family reunion at a hunting ranch near Baldwin, FL. Monday was playtime for Grandpa with Sophie until her nap time—then we drove home. (Whew!)
We drove over 900 miles in all and saw lots of rain. It’s raining here tonight and is supposed to rain tomorrow, also.
I’m not going to cover everything in one blog—I don’t even know if I will cover everything. Tonight it is Saltimbanco. We have seen 4 of the cirque shows in their dedicated theaters. Saltimbanco is a traveling show. All the acts were spectacular and I found myself thoroughly entertained and awed by the performers.
This cirque site has a video that is a composite of clips from the show:
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/saltimbanco/default.aspx
And Wikipedia has some interesting background info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltimbanco
The show is not as big a production as the ones in dedicated theaters but it has all the atmosphere and flavor of the bigger shows. It’s very well done world-class entertainement.
We drove over 900 miles in all and saw lots of rain. It’s raining here tonight and is supposed to rain tomorrow, also.
I’m not going to cover everything in one blog—I don’t even know if I will cover everything. Tonight it is Saltimbanco. We have seen 4 of the cirque shows in their dedicated theaters. Saltimbanco is a traveling show. All the acts were spectacular and I found myself thoroughly entertained and awed by the performers.
This cirque site has a video that is a composite of clips from the show:
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/saltimbanco/default.aspx
And Wikipedia has some interesting background info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltimbanco
The show is not as big a production as the ones in dedicated theaters but it has all the atmosphere and flavor of the bigger shows. It’s very well done world-class entertainement.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Glucose, Garden, Sunset and Plywood?
Yesterday I went in for a glucose tolerance test to see if my high sugar reading last month was a quirk or really meant something. I had to fast fo12 hour before it and the test took 2 hours so by the time I was through I was quite hungry. I don’t know when I will find out the results,
Garden Update—Most of the garden is doing OK.
Today I continued hurricane prep. I made a roll-around plywood bin. I’m going to break out all my plywood window covers to make sure they still fit and when they go back in storage they will go in the roll-around bin. It will make access to plywood much easier for me. I’ll inclued pictures later.
I am currently on the treadmill finishing up a short walk at a steep incline and being watched by 4 hungry outside kitties. Last night the food was wiped out by the raccoon, I think, so my quest to capture it continues.
Garden Update—Most of the garden is doing OK.
I didn’t lose any more tomatoes to wilt. So far only about a half dozen regular tomatoes have formed.
The grape (not cherry) tomato plant has many tomatoes coming.
Several watermelons are forming
and a few cucumbers but the squash plants bloomed prodigiously and didn’t form fruit and now 3 of the 4 plants are dying.
The Japanese eggplant has beautiful blossoms but no eggplant yet.
The regular eggplant seems to be forming fruit, I can’t tell if any little green peppers have formed. Bottom line- the garden looks promising but seems to be going a little slow.
The clouds looked good last night for a nice sunset so I jumped in the car and headed out with my camera—then returned home to get my wallet. I did remember my camera and extra batteries.
At the beach there were people fishing and right offshore the water was churning with fish. A guy had just c aught a huge redfish. I went to take a picture and my batteries had died. I realized the extra batteries were not in my pocket where I usually keep them but back in the car a half-mile away. I went to plan B. I went back to the car and drove back toward Ft Walton. I stopped at the park on the sound side of the island and took sunset shots there. The problem with this location is they close the gates at sunset. As I snapped my pictures the person closing the gates yelled to me that the park was closing. She waited for me to leave before she closed the gate.
The clouds looked good last night for a nice sunset so I jumped in the car and headed out with my camera—then returned home to get my wallet. I did remember my camera and extra batteries.
At the beach there were people fishing and right offshore the water was churning with fish. A guy had just c aught a huge redfish. I went to take a picture and my batteries had died. I realized the extra batteries were not in my pocket where I usually keep them but back in the car a half-mile away. I went to plan B. I went back to the car and drove back toward Ft Walton. I stopped at the park on the sound side of the island and took sunset shots there. The problem with this location is they close the gates at sunset. As I snapped my pictures the person closing the gates yelled to me that the park was closing. She waited for me to leave before she closed the gate.
Today I continued hurricane prep. I made a roll-around plywood bin. I’m going to break out all my plywood window covers to make sure they still fit and when they go back in storage they will go in the roll-around bin. It will make access to plywood much easier for me. I’ll inclued pictures later.
I am currently on the treadmill finishing up a short walk at a steep incline and being watched by 4 hungry outside kitties. Last night the food was wiped out by the raccoon, I think, so my quest to capture it continues.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Random Observations—May 12
The mosquitoes are out in force now during the day. I was being swarmed today as I put in the tie-down cables for the deck. I had to put repellent on. I don’t like to do that but it is necessary. It smells and it has to be kept off of the plastic lenses in my glasses—it can damage them.
A smile is a wonderful thing. I was in Publix on Mother’s day picking up some items for Penny’s Mother’s Day lunch. I passed their flower section and most of the flowers were gone. There were a half-dozen people, mostly guys, at the counter trying to scrounge up some nice looking arrangement from what was left. I couldn’t help but have a big smile on my face as I walked away thinking how funny it is that there are always last minute people. I turned towards the checkout area still wearing that big smile, barely noticing a woman who had just got her cart and heading into the store. As I passed her I realized that she put a smile on and was saying good morning. When I first saw her she had on that no-emotion face that you put on in public, not making eye contact as we do when we are in public. But she saw a smile ad returned it even though the smile had nothing to do with her. We both went on our way feeling a little better.
The book I’m currently reading was written by xxxx who wrote the screenplay for Splashdance and Fatal Attraction. The book is about how he found God after a long life of sin. Interestingly the priest that helped him the most in his journey was inspired to become a priest by a line in Splashdance,” Follow your dream”. I’m not reading the book for inspiration. That’s good because the book is bad. I’m reading it to see what this writer’s style is. I’m still thinking about finishing the book I started.
In my walk a few days ago I didn’t have any podcasts to listen to so I broke out a couple of music CDs and listened to them while I walked. I haven’t listened to music in quite a while. Driving, working and walking I’ve been listening to audio books for at least 8 years now –maybe 10. Listening to CDs (Bread and Chicago), songs that I haven’t heard in a long time was good for the walk. The music was the 70s and I listened to that music a lot as I drove around when I lived in Baltimore. It’s also easier to let your mind wander when you listen to music. There’s no worry that you’ll lose track of the story so it allows better thinking time than when listening to a book. It also demonstrated the power of music on our minds. A couple of those songs kept popping into my mind for no reason for days afterwards. It's no wonder advertisers use many of the old songs.
Since I have a new cell phone I lost my customized ringtone that Karen sent me. Today I got a program that makes ringtones and got my old ringtone back. Penny now has a customized ringtone. Since I have the program now I can make as many ringtones as I want. The thing is I'm happy with the one. I might get ambitious and have a special ringtone for each family member. Who knows?
A smile is a wonderful thing. I was in Publix on Mother’s day picking up some items for Penny’s Mother’s Day lunch. I passed their flower section and most of the flowers were gone. There were a half-dozen people, mostly guys, at the counter trying to scrounge up some nice looking arrangement from what was left. I couldn’t help but have a big smile on my face as I walked away thinking how funny it is that there are always last minute people. I turned towards the checkout area still wearing that big smile, barely noticing a woman who had just got her cart and heading into the store. As I passed her I realized that she put a smile on and was saying good morning. When I first saw her she had on that no-emotion face that you put on in public, not making eye contact as we do when we are in public. But she saw a smile ad returned it even though the smile had nothing to do with her. We both went on our way feeling a little better.
The book I’m currently reading was written by xxxx who wrote the screenplay for Splashdance and Fatal Attraction. The book is about how he found God after a long life of sin. Interestingly the priest that helped him the most in his journey was inspired to become a priest by a line in Splashdance,” Follow your dream”. I’m not reading the book for inspiration. That’s good because the book is bad. I’m reading it to see what this writer’s style is. I’m still thinking about finishing the book I started.
In my walk a few days ago I didn’t have any podcasts to listen to so I broke out a couple of music CDs and listened to them while I walked. I haven’t listened to music in quite a while. Driving, working and walking I’ve been listening to audio books for at least 8 years now –maybe 10. Listening to CDs (Bread and Chicago), songs that I haven’t heard in a long time was good for the walk. The music was the 70s and I listened to that music a lot as I drove around when I lived in Baltimore. It’s also easier to let your mind wander when you listen to music. There’s no worry that you’ll lose track of the story so it allows better thinking time than when listening to a book. It also demonstrated the power of music on our minds. A couple of those songs kept popping into my mind for no reason for days afterwards. It's no wonder advertisers use many of the old songs.
Since I have a new cell phone I lost my customized ringtone that Karen sent me. Today I got a program that makes ringtones and got my old ringtone back. Penny now has a customized ringtone. Since I have the program now I can make as many ringtones as I want. The thing is I'm happy with the one. I might get ambitious and have a special ringtone for each family member. Who knows?
Monday, May 11, 2009
Mother’s Week?
A student contestant on Jeopardy explained that to graduate with honors from Emory one must write a thesis. He explained most topics were quite serious but his was (Karen, are you sitting down?) a series of essays about his experiences at Waffle House.
I lied yesterday. Penny’s Mother’s Day celebration wasn’t over. It continued today with her getting a new cell phone and a trip to Olive Garden. So we had an Olive Garden Monday. Most of the morning was taken up by the visit to Verizon to get the phones. It’s almost impossible to accomplish anything at those places without taking a lot of time.
I used the afternoon to drive out to Jackson Guard and renew our recreation passes for the Eglin reservation. Now I can Kayak down Turkey Creek again (legally). I also cleaned up my Mitchell 302 fishing reel. I had to unstuck the bail release pin that holds the line guide open when you cast. I bought this reel on the advice of my boss when I first moved here so it’s around 35 years old. It now works fine but has some corrosion on the bail from the decade or so it sat idle. This is my surf-casting reel so now I can either go fish off the beach or off the boat. Next is getting all the gear in shape and organized.
Last night no cats or raccoons showed up. Nada, zilch, zero. So far this evening there are no critters out there again. That’s what happens when we stock up on cat food.
I lied yesterday. Penny’s Mother’s Day celebration wasn’t over. It continued today with her getting a new cell phone and a trip to Olive Garden. So we had an Olive Garden Monday. Most of the morning was taken up by the visit to Verizon to get the phones. It’s almost impossible to accomplish anything at those places without taking a lot of time.
I used the afternoon to drive out to Jackson Guard and renew our recreation passes for the Eglin reservation. Now I can Kayak down Turkey Creek again (legally). I also cleaned up my Mitchell 302 fishing reel. I had to unstuck the bail release pin that holds the line guide open when you cast. I bought this reel on the advice of my boss when I first moved here so it’s around 35 years old. It now works fine but has some corrosion on the bail from the decade or so it sat idle. This is my surf-casting reel so now I can either go fish off the beach or off the boat. Next is getting all the gear in shape and organized.
Last night no cats or raccoons showed up. Nada, zilch, zero. So far this evening there are no critters out there again. That’s what happens when we stock up on cat food.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Mother’s Day—Day 4
Today, Mother’s Day, is the final day of Penny’s extended Mother’s Day celebration. She got breakfast in bed, a simple lunch that she requested and coffee ice cream for dinner.
I got a normal amount of sleep last night but I woke up groggy this morning with big puffy bags under my eyes. I was unusually tired when I went to bed last night. It took a couple of hours for me to lose the overly tired feeling this morning. I have no idea why I was and am feeling this tired. I can remember when I was a kid and saw people in movies or on TV being groggy when they woke up I used to wonder why. I woke up alert and ready to go back then. Now I’m finding that I am not a morning person any more. I tried to make a morning exercise program part of my daily schedule and just couldn’t do it. Apart from getting back into my walking I haven’t figured out the best way to get the rest of the exercise I need to do.
The raccoon hasn’t shown up tonight—no cats did either. Maybe they are sleepy today, too.
I got a normal amount of sleep last night but I woke up groggy this morning with big puffy bags under my eyes. I was unusually tired when I went to bed last night. It took a couple of hours for me to lose the overly tired feeling this morning. I have no idea why I was and am feeling this tired. I can remember when I was a kid and saw people in movies or on TV being groggy when they woke up I used to wonder why. I woke up alert and ready to go back then. Now I’m finding that I am not a morning person any more. I tried to make a morning exercise program part of my daily schedule and just couldn’t do it. Apart from getting back into my walking I haven’t figured out the best way to get the rest of the exercise I need to do.
The raccoon hasn’t shown up tonight—no cats did either. Maybe they are sleepy today, too.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Wedding Day
I couldn’t do a lot today because we had a wedding to go to and church in the evening. After our Waffle House breakfast I did what I could. Some laundry, some paperwork and some quilt stuff for Penny. Keeping with the wedding theme of the day I watched the Grey’s Anatomy wedding episode as I worked. It’s a good episode—a real tear jerker.
The wedding was that of our FOCCUS couple and it was nice. The bride and groom were both emotional, something I like to see. This couple came a long way in our sessions and we wish them the best.
I set the raccoon trap last night but Mr. Raccoon was a no-show. I’ll try again tonight.
I talked to brother Lou today and he said that he is now permanent. That means he will be staying in Connecticut. He’s living in a 3 br house next to the church he is working with. The church owns the house. He sounded good. I’m happy for him. He even has an address for his mail.
Walt Richardson gave the homily at church tonight. He interspersed songs in his sermon. We thought he might sing Ave Maria but he didn’t. I recorded him with Penny’s Sansa but I don’t think the recording is worth keeping.
It’s almost bedtime and the raccoon hasn’t made an appearance again tonight. Maybe he was just passing through.
The wedding was that of our FOCCUS couple and it was nice. The bride and groom were both emotional, something I like to see. This couple came a long way in our sessions and we wish them the best.
I set the raccoon trap last night but Mr. Raccoon was a no-show. I’ll try again tonight.
I talked to brother Lou today and he said that he is now permanent. That means he will be staying in Connecticut. He’s living in a 3 br house next to the church he is working with. The church owns the house. He sounded good. I’m happy for him. He even has an address for his mail.
Walt Richardson gave the homily at church tonight. He interspersed songs in his sermon. We thought he might sing Ave Maria but he didn’t. I recorded him with Penny’s Sansa but I don’t think the recording is worth keeping.
It’s almost bedtime and the raccoon hasn’t made an appearance again tonight. Maybe he was just passing through.
Friday, May 08, 2009
Out of Character
Yesterday Penny and I went to New Orleans. Yep, just picked up and went. I didn’t do any more planning than to check the weather and scope out a neighborhood restaurant for lunch. For me this is outrageous behavior. I had to fight myself to go without more planning. My mind kept providing logical excuses as to why we shouldn’t go—for example, our books were due at the library that day and I had to return them.
I also didn’t tell Penny we were going until I woke her up at 4:30 and asked her if she wanted to go to New Orleans for her Mother’s Day lunch. With no hesitation she said yes.
We actually left the house at 5 AM and by 9:30 we were parking in New Orleans. At 9:45 we were enjoying café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde on the Riverwalk looking out at the traffic on the Mississippi.
I also didn’t tell Penny we were going until I woke her up at 4:30 and asked her if she wanted to go to New Orleans for her Mother’s Day lunch. With no hesitation she said yes.
We actually left the house at 5 AM and by 9:30 we were parking in New Orleans. At 9:45 we were enjoying café au lait and beignets at Café du Monde on the Riverwalk looking out at the traffic on the Mississippi.
We’ve been to New Orleans enough that we know what we like to do. We took pictures along the river, at Jackson Square and up into the French Quarter. We browsed in the little shops and the French Market. We bought a couple dozen pralines.
It was oppressively hot with only a slight breeze for most of the morning and that made ideal conditions for the full aroma of New Orleans to blossom. I was thinking about our trip to Las Vegas last year at this time. Las Vegas has reproductions of many great cities but not New Orleans. Las Vegas captures the essence of these cities but there is no way to experience the essence of New Orleans except in New Orleans. The history, the architecture, the music, the people and especially that smell cannot be duplicated.
It was oppressively hot with only a slight breeze for most of the morning and that made ideal conditions for the full aroma of New Orleans to blossom. I was thinking about our trip to Las Vegas last year at this time. Las Vegas has reproductions of many great cities but not New Orleans. Las Vegas captures the essence of these cities but there is no way to experience the essence of New Orleans except in New Orleans. The history, the architecture, the music, the people and especially that smell cannot be duplicated.
For lunch, the one item I did plan ahead for we went across town only to find that the place was closed on Sunday and Thursday—and it was Thursday. We ended up driving around until we found someplace else. We had oyster po-boys and jambalaya. It was OK but just average quality.
Driving in New Orleans is the pits. The roads are in terrible condition and the drivers are worse. The new GPS did bring a little humor into the drive. This unit announces street names in its instructions and had great difficulty with the pronunciation of the French street names. It pronounced Calliope St as ka-lee-ope. The GPS also has a trip computer that tracks moving time, stopped time, max speed, avg speed and miles traveled. It also has a trial subscription to a traffic alert system. That feature alerted us to an accident just before we got to New Orleans and very heavy congestion at the tunnel in Mobile. The warnings were useful in that I was now looking out for the hazards. The backup caused by the accident in New Orleans came on quickly after I crested a hill but it didn’t catch me by surprise. In Mobile the traffic came to a dead stop for 20 minutes before we got to the tunnel.
Penny wanted to stop at Hobby Lobby in Pensacola so we did. It was about 7 PM now so we got a cup of coffee and opened up the pralines and had one with the coffe as we finished the drive home.
We got home around 8:15. I was beat. I can’t drive as much as I used to in a day without needing lots of recovery time.
The day had one more surprise in store for me. I went out to feed the cats and found a lean medium sized raccoon eating the cat food. He calmly walked to the far side of the patio and watched me as I pet the 2 cats that were there. Then he started coming closer so I shooed him away. His reaction was to just back up a little and then start coming back. I had to shout and clap my hands to make him finally saunter off. I’ve got the trap set up out there now.
I spent most of my time today helping Penny with her quilt and I also took a 2-hour nap as part of my trip recovery. The nap helped and I’m feeling tired but normal now. Today was my walking day but I didn’t. Maybe walking around New Orleans can be considered a substitute.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
May 5th
Happy Birthday Sister Kathy born on Cinco de Mayo 65 years ago.
I finished putting the outboard motor together and this time I did everything right. It cranked and ran nicely. I waited a few hours and went out and cranked it again just to make sure nothing leaked or broke and it ran fine again. That makes me 2 for 2. The DVR works and the motor works. I like it when things work. Here is a picture of the motor with its new low profile cowling.
We started the day with a Tuesday Target run. Penny needed to get something there. We made a loop of the city and hit K-mart to get more ketchup chips and Publix for more discount cat food. We now have somewhere around 180 cans of cat food for the outside cats.
I took inventory of my fishing rods today to determine if my first fishing adventure will be in the boat or on the beach. The surf fishing rods I have need some work. When we moved my Dad to Rocky Creek I picked up the rods he had in his shed. Most of the gear is in bad shape. Nothing is usable without some work. Every rod had something broken, either the tip or a guide. Only 1 of the 3 reels may be salvageable. After my inventory I found I have 1 surf casting rod with a reel that needs work, 2 medium rods with good reels and one good lightweight rod and reel. All are open face casting reels. I also have a little cheapy rod and reel that was one we had for the kids. My other cheapy I loaned to Lou when he was in Niceville and it is still in Niceville somewhere.
Now that the motor works I’ll have to try it out on the bayous and go fishing soon.
The cherry tomato plant that was doing so well apparently fell prey to wilt. I separated it from the other plants and will let it go to see if any of the plant survives. I’m hoping the other varieties of tomatoes are more resistant to wilt. The rest of the garden still looks good.
I finished putting the outboard motor together and this time I did everything right. It cranked and ran nicely. I waited a few hours and went out and cranked it again just to make sure nothing leaked or broke and it ran fine again. That makes me 2 for 2. The DVR works and the motor works. I like it when things work. Here is a picture of the motor with its new low profile cowling.
We started the day with a Tuesday Target run. Penny needed to get something there. We made a loop of the city and hit K-mart to get more ketchup chips and Publix for more discount cat food. We now have somewhere around 180 cans of cat food for the outside cats.
I took inventory of my fishing rods today to determine if my first fishing adventure will be in the boat or on the beach. The surf fishing rods I have need some work. When we moved my Dad to Rocky Creek I picked up the rods he had in his shed. Most of the gear is in bad shape. Nothing is usable without some work. Every rod had something broken, either the tip or a guide. Only 1 of the 3 reels may be salvageable. After my inventory I found I have 1 surf casting rod with a reel that needs work, 2 medium rods with good reels and one good lightweight rod and reel. All are open face casting reels. I also have a little cheapy rod and reel that was one we had for the kids. My other cheapy I loaned to Lou when he was in Niceville and it is still in Niceville somewhere.
Now that the motor works I’ll have to try it out on the bayous and go fishing soon.
The cherry tomato plant that was doing so well apparently fell prey to wilt. I separated it from the other plants and will let it go to see if any of the plant survives. I’m hoping the other varieties of tomatoes are more resistant to wilt. The rest of the garden still looks good.
Faceoff
I just watched a story on CBS news about the woman who received the face transplant a while back. She had her old face blown off by her shotgun wielding husband. Before the surgery she had no nose, could not smell anything. She couldn’t drink without a straw. She stayed inside because people treated her badly.
She is by no means normal to look at but now she is happy because she’s got her nose back. She can smell and eat hamburgers and drink without a straw. I don’t know if she will be treated differently by society now. Her last words in the news story were “ Enjoy what you have. You never know when you might lose it.”
It is sad that people can be so cruel to others because of how they look but that’s the way it is. One would think she would have found sympathy and support after being shot in the face. I guess she did from some. The million dollar operation didn’t cost her a cent.
Now she can stop and smell the roses again.
She is by no means normal to look at but now she is happy because she’s got her nose back. She can smell and eat hamburgers and drink without a straw. I don’t know if she will be treated differently by society now. Her last words in the news story were “ Enjoy what you have. You never know when you might lose it.”
It is sad that people can be so cruel to others because of how they look but that’s the way it is. One would think she would have found sympathy and support after being shot in the face. I guess she did from some. The million dollar operation didn’t cost her a cent.
Now she can stop and smell the roses again.
Monday, May 04, 2009
A Rainy Monday
For some reason I slept in this morning. I have been getting up consistently at 6 or 6:30. Today I awoke at 6:20, started to pet the cat that plopped down next to me, and suddenly it was 7:30. I blinked and it was 7:50. The morning proceeded to fly by in that manner.
Today was an indoor day. The rain didn’t come until afternoon. I spent the day doing laundry paying bills and rearranging our electronics. We now have the Panasonic DVR back in the bedroom. I moved the DVR that was in the bedroom to the sunroom. I set up the blu-ray in the den so we can watch it on the HD monitor.
We did venture out 1 time today. Penny went to Jo-Anne’s. I used the trip to fire up the GPS for the first time. It works nicely and having a touch screen makes it so much easier to use. I went on line and registered the GPS and found that Garmin offered a free update to the latest maps just for registering. I ordered the maps on a disk so I will have a permanent copy that is not dependent on a single computer.
I watched tonight’s “How I Met Your Mother” and I thought it was their best show in quite a while. Karen got me hooked on the show when she said it was her favorite show.
Today was an indoor day. The rain didn’t come until afternoon. I spent the day doing laundry paying bills and rearranging our electronics. We now have the Panasonic DVR back in the bedroom. I moved the DVR that was in the bedroom to the sunroom. I set up the blu-ray in the den so we can watch it on the HD monitor.
We did venture out 1 time today. Penny went to Jo-Anne’s. I used the trip to fire up the GPS for the first time. It works nicely and having a touch screen makes it so much easier to use. I went on line and registered the GPS and found that Garmin offered a free update to the latest maps just for registering. I ordered the maps on a disk so I will have a permanent copy that is not dependent on a single computer.
I watched tonight’s “How I Met Your Mother” and I thought it was their best show in quite a while. Karen got me hooked on the show when she said it was her favorite show.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
After more than 5 years of searching every snack isle we encountered for ketchup potato chips we found them today at K-Mart. Penny, who is the expert, declared them authentic. We only bought 1 bag today. We didn’t want to get more until we were sure. We will return to K-Mart and pick up a few more bags soon.
I used Sunday as my catch-up ( ketch-up day?) day this week. I had been working outside and the inside has once again gotten away fron me. I have difficulty staying inside on nice weather days. I didn’t get everything done I needed to today. We took a 3-hour lunch break and I walked for 75 minutes today so tomorrow will also bee an inside day. It’s started to rain tonight and it’s supposed to rain tomorrow so I should feel comfortable staying in.
After seeing all the fishing going on at the beach I’m thinking about getting out there, too. I also can add to my outboard motor saga tonight. I had a way to make the fuel tank I needed from that gas can I mentioned in my last blog. I had to make a hole in it and put some kind of an adaptor that would allow me to attach the gas line. I thought that it would be relatively easy to find some sort of through the wall connector. It wasn’t. I ended up going to a small motor repair shop and asking them how they would do it. A very old good-ol-boy walked out into his shop with a long pole in hand. He poked at a cardboard box the had stuck up in the rafters until it fell into his hands. The box contained an apparently new Honda lawn mower cowling with an integrated gas tank. He handed it to me and said you can have this if you can use it. By “have this” he meant FREE!. The cowling fits over the motor nicely and I worked out a simple way to attach it firmly. So the motor has a gas tank.
I took the opportunity to once again open up the carburetor and make sure all the ports were clear and open and clean the fuel filter assembly. I also got new 3/16 inch gas line today. The next chance I get I will attach the gas line, fill the tank and see if I can get the thing to run. Given it runs then instead of surf fishing I may strike out in the bayous and try my luck there.
We haven’t tried out the new GPS yet. We will probably run off one day this week and use it to navigate. Garmin won’t register the thing until it’s located satellites and done some navigation.
Kitty Update—All 4 cats were here tonight—even Meredith with her little wet paws.
Friday, May 01, 2009
Full Friday
I kept busy today. We started with our usual run to Target. We bought some necessities and other not so necessary stuff. The only thing we bought that I would classify as frivolous is a ultrasonic tape measure. It measures distance up to 40 ft and can calculate area or volume. I figure it will be useful when we redo the bathroom and just fun to play with at other times.
After Target we shopped at Publix. We got some discounted storage hardware and found they have 4-packs of canned cat food BOGO free. We loaded up on that. They also had corn at 25 cents an ear. Penny and I planned a meal around that using pork chops that remained from my birthday present from Kathy, plantains we fried up and, of course, the corn. We ate the lunch in the relaxing atmosphere of our sunroom.
After lunch I headed out to the shed to continue with my use-it-or-throw-it-out campaign. I rearranged the shop a little putting in the new cabinet we got at Lowe’s last week. Then I hooked up a plug to the blower assembly I kept from our old air conditioner. I wanted to make sure it worked OK. It did. Next I will make an enclosure for it and attach ducting and turn it into a dust collection unit for the shop.
I also explored ways of making a fuel tank for the outboard. I’ve got a nice little cylindrical gas can (plastic) that I got from my Dad. It is very sturdy and I think I can mount it securely and safely in place of the leaky tank. I may try to do this over the weekend.
I had apple snack at 3 and watched Ellen’s 1,000th show. Then it was out for a walk in the neighborhood. The walk was actually pleasant. One reason is that my foot is almost completely better. The other reason is that there are flowers in bloom everywhere. The air is filled with fragrance everywhere and the flowers that people use for landscaping are pretty to see. I walked for an hour and saw more squirrels than I could count.
A car pulled up next to me and the woman driving asked me if I knew how to get to Rodney St. That was an easy question to answer because we were on Rodney St.
When I got home I found that the new GPS we ordered had arrived so after making Penny a light dinner I spent the rest of the evening familiarizing myself with it and downloading the latest software and firmware updates.
Meredith showed up last night but Buzz wasn't there.
After Target we shopped at Publix. We got some discounted storage hardware and found they have 4-packs of canned cat food BOGO free. We loaded up on that. They also had corn at 25 cents an ear. Penny and I planned a meal around that using pork chops that remained from my birthday present from Kathy, plantains we fried up and, of course, the corn. We ate the lunch in the relaxing atmosphere of our sunroom.
After lunch I headed out to the shed to continue with my use-it-or-throw-it-out campaign. I rearranged the shop a little putting in the new cabinet we got at Lowe’s last week. Then I hooked up a plug to the blower assembly I kept from our old air conditioner. I wanted to make sure it worked OK. It did. Next I will make an enclosure for it and attach ducting and turn it into a dust collection unit for the shop.
I also explored ways of making a fuel tank for the outboard. I’ve got a nice little cylindrical gas can (plastic) that I got from my Dad. It is very sturdy and I think I can mount it securely and safely in place of the leaky tank. I may try to do this over the weekend.
I had apple snack at 3 and watched Ellen’s 1,000th show. Then it was out for a walk in the neighborhood. The walk was actually pleasant. One reason is that my foot is almost completely better. The other reason is that there are flowers in bloom everywhere. The air is filled with fragrance everywhere and the flowers that people use for landscaping are pretty to see. I walked for an hour and saw more squirrels than I could count.
A car pulled up next to me and the woman driving asked me if I knew how to get to Rodney St. That was an easy question to answer because we were on Rodney St.
When I got home I found that the new GPS we ordered had arrived so after making Penny a light dinner I spent the rest of the evening familiarizing myself with it and downloading the latest software and firmware updates.
Meredith showed up last night but Buzz wasn't there.
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