Sunset on the Albemarle Sound taken from Colington Island, New Years Eve 2007

Happy New Year to all !!

It has been a nice holiday season for myself and my family. Christmas eve was spent at my house with just me and my boys. We had a great dinner and exchanged gifts, we enjoyed some family time together. The boys spent Christmas day with their father so I went on up to Virginia Beach and had dinner with my niece and her kids (their dad is deployed overseas this year). Mom is down in New Orleans with my brother and his wife. She is havening a good time being spoiled and visiting the casinos.

This year the holidays have been kinda bitter sweet because if all goes according to plan next year I will be in the mountains. I debated weather or not to give the boys there Christmas stockings, the ones they have had their whole lives, and decided to hold on to them along with the ornaments they have made for me through the years. While I know that I want to move to the mountains, I feel so at peace there, I also know that come the holidays I will miss my family and friends here at the beach

Right now the dogs and I are just sitting around watching the rain, (the cat went outside, dumb cat) I guess that I need to start cleaning things up. I like to take my time taking down the holiday decoration and I hate taking the tree down its so pretty, but I need to pull the boxes back out from under the house eves and go ahead and store the wrapping paper and bows you know just get things started.

I hope all have had a good holiday season and are looking forward to the New Year, I know I have and am.

These photos do not do this gift to the folks of the Outer Banks justice.

I had a few of my niece’s kids down this week and we took a trip to the Poulos house to look at the Christmas lights. Mr. Poulos works hard on this every year and it is a real treat for the folks of the Outer Banks especially the small children.

I finally started wrapping Christmas presents. It has taken me a while to get into the spirit this year, I don’t know it just hasn’t felt like Christmas, but I have started watching my Christmas movies, you know the classics “Die Hard”, “Leathel Wepon”, “Christmas Vacation”, and “It’s a Wonderful Life” just to name a few, to get me in the mood and it seems to be working. I will be icing cakes tonight and delivering them tomorrow, that always make me feel good.

Well off to the wrapping paper and tape.

This is my dog Zeke lying on his blanket surrounded by his favorite toys at the foot of my chair near the computer. Now sad to say Zeke is not the sharpest tool in the shed and this morning while I was listening to a CPR video with the head phones on so as not to disturbed the #3 son Zeke started to emit a low growl. Well I looked up and peeked out the window just to make sure no one was coming up the steps and told him to be quiet, well not a minute latter he sat up and started to bark at me. It took a moment for me to figure it out but the dog had heard the instructor talking through the head phones and was freaking out. Trip the girl dog just looked up raised an eyebrow as to say “you dumb dog” and went back to sleep. Dogs ya gotta love em

photo of the boys and 1 girl paint ball Friday after Thanksgiving.

Its another nice day on the banks and I have been spending it just lazying around, surfing the net and catching up on some reading. The net is an interesting ride, I started out reading my e-mail then landed at the Delta airline web site, from there I went checking on some Jeep stuff, then to the writers strike and the price of oil, from there I cruised on over to info on the prime rate, then I found this interesting video while looking up Outer Banks real estate info. It has noting to do with real estate and I hope you smile and shake your head like I did.

YouTube - AppleIraq

Well as usual I have been keeping quite busy. The weather here on the Banks is just too good to stay in so between work and the great outdoors I just haven’t had time to blog.

The new house project is taking up a lot of time also and its amazing to me how much time getting nothing done can take. I’m chalking it up to the Holidays and am hoping that after the first of the year things will start moving again. Of course in all honesty my house building budget is very limited and I think builders look at it and laugh. I am looking into modular homes now and if that does not pan out I’m going to take my sons and a few of their friends up in June or July and just build the dam thing myself. All I want is a small cabin with 1 bedroom and a loft!!!! Cheese and crackers how hard can that be!!

Well I’m off I’ve caught the stomach flu. I seem to have peaks and valleys in the feeling good thing and right now and I seem to be heading to a valley. What a waste of a really nice day. :-)

It’s been a while since I have written in my blogg. It’s the 4^th of December, the end of the year and I can hardly believe it. November flew by. It’s hard to believe that just over a week ago was Thanksgiving and my family and I were together in Pennsylvania. In November I also took a short trip to Norfolk to visit my sister while she was visiting her daughter and grandchildren. In the beginning of November I took a quick trip to the mountains to get things started on the “build a mountain home” adventure. November was a travel month for me; I hope December becomes the stay at home month although on the 15th I do have to go to Norfolk, mom is flying to New Orleans to be with my brother and his wife and Christmas day will be spent in Norfolk with my niece and her kids.

Well it is promising to be a typical winter day here on the Outer Banks, I spent yesterday afternoon bringing the plants in preparation for the front that came through with strong winds and cool temperatures. This morning there is a stiff wind with temperatures in the 40’s. The skies are overcast but that promises to change. It should be a nice cool, windy day, a day perfect for curling up with a hot cup of coffee or tea and a long neglected magazine or two.

It started as a dreary day here on the Outer Banks. We woke up to a warm foggy morning. The humidity was high, the ground wet with dew. The warm weather is forecasted to last through thanksgiving. Many would be happy with the warm temps but to be quite honest I prefer it to be cooler this time of year. I want to stuff myself on a big thanksgiving meal and when its warm out side I just can’t do that (comfortably).

The boys, my mom, and I are going to Pennsylvania this year for Thanksgiving. We will be visiting family there. We will be traveling in two vehicles because this is where having a Wrangler gets to be a bit tight. You see there is no way 5 people are fitting in that Jeep! This trip will also be interesting in that I will be hauling a trailer, my mom uses an electric scooter and that’s coming with us. I cant seem to get the hang of backing the thing up so I always pull into where ever I’m going, unhitch the trailer and manually push the thing to wherever it needs to go. The boys don’t know I cant back a trailer so it will be one more piece of fuel for the laugh at mom fire. Oh well that’s what moms are for.

We will be packing a lot into 2 days. Thursday is Thanks giving dinner and Friday is a trip to the Pocono’s for some and paintball for others and then dinner with family and friends. We will be returning to the Banks on Saturday tired and stuffed. Oh the holidays!!

I hope all who read this have a happy November 22, no matter what country you are from!!!

I already posted a fall lovers leap photo but I think this composite is nice so here it is.

Lovers Leap on hwy 58 in Virginia

early morning last week in the mountains

and now the beach

It is hard to believe that it has been two weeks since my last post. I have been to the mountains and back and am getting ready to head on up to PA for a nice Family Thanksgiving (think national lampoon) the trip home is always an adventure I love it!!!). It seems that the slower I hope my life will become the busier I get.

The trip to the mountains was very productive. I still do not have a builder, I want two estimates thats that, but I have a septic system plan and someone to put it in!!!!!

Well I'm off to Virginia Beach to see my sister. She is up from Pensacola to visit her daughter and grand kids. like I said the slower I want things to be the busier I get.

I woke up this morning to the whine of the dogs; you see they don’t know that there has been a change in time. I looked at red glowing numbers on my clock (6:27) and then at the stream of light filtering through my heavy duty drapes and thought thank god I did not have to work last night because those folks have another hour to go. The time change is hard enough for those of us that were able to sleep through it but imagine going to work at 7pm you putt along doing your job and before you know it 1 am comes along and you think to yourself “half the shift is over” but wait it's time change time so when 2 am comes along it’s 1am again. To actually work through the time change is not fun. When morning comes along you just want to go home, unfortunately anything can happen and you might just have to stay a little longer. Night shift is hard and the time change doesn’t make it any easier.

We had been feeling the effects of hurricane Noel here on the Outer Banks for the past few days with dreary gray sky's and a stiff wind, but today the sky's are bright the wind calm. It will be a good day to take the boys and girls (dogs) out for a run, but first at least two cups of coffee!

I sent copies of my mountain home plans to some builders the beginning of last week and I am anxiously awaiting their reply. I have to go up for some business this next week (weather permitting) it would be nice to chat with one of them while I’m up there. Building a house is like having a baby. You find out you are going to do it and then go around getting everything in place and then wait for the mile stones and sometimes that takes a while.

We have had a change in the weather here on the Banks. This weekend we got some much needed rain followed by some not so needed wind. I'm tempted to bring in the plants but its calling for temps in the 70's by weeks end and the night time temps are still in the upper 50's to 60's. I just can’t cut those mandevillas yet, they are so happy right now.

I have been spending a lot of time getting mountain home "packages" together for the builders. I’m hoping to get at least two bids to choose from. I have found three builders that come highly recommended but no matter who I choose most likely no one will be able to start until the spring so its going to be a hurry up and wait kinda thing which is fine with me. Once the house is closed in I need to be up there to get the inside work done. There is going to be a lot of sweat equity in this house.

I haven't had much time to write lately you see I have decided to go on a head and build my mountain home and that has been keeping me kinda busy. I have a very strict budget so I doubt I will be able to have my "Dream" home but it HAS to be paid for free and clear and that requires a LOT of "home" work. I also want my home to be passive solar so I have decided to place it against and into the hill side, a modified burm home. the drawings above are my renderings of the homes elevations. I know they will require modification after all I'm not an architect or engineer but this does let me relate to others how I want it to look. I will be starting a new blog that will document this adventure. My my my what have I got myself into... cant wait to get that first stake in the ground marking the foot print!!

I just got back from a trip to the mountains. It was more of a business trip than anything else.
This is a photo of where the new house will be. I'm looking for a builder now. I hope to break ground by the first of the year. aye ....

I discovered a nice little restaurant outside of Willis Va on 221 called Dino's Greek Hillbilly restaurant. They had some of the best peta bread I have had outside of Philly, I believe it was home made. The gyro was great and Rosa one of the owners and Tina the waitress were both very nice. Along with great Greek food they also serve traditional US and Mexican foods. Check it out if you are over that way.

Nice composite shot of "Lovers Leap" off hwy 58

These two shots are of a lake out side of Clarksville Va I have been going this way for a long time and I have never seen the bottom of this lake before. Not good.

Nice morning for a walk on the beach. Nuff said!

It was an exhausting weekend at work. Columbus day weekend is one of the weekends that a lot of owners come down and check out their properties so while staff is down to winter levels it feels a busy as summer. I guess at 48 I just don’t have the stamina I once had and 12 hours running 2 days in a row just wore me out.

Today is a bit warm for my tastes. 82 degrees on October 8^th is just not “natural”, tomorrow it’s predicted to be around 88. I have been spending the day inside just doing little things and watching Modern Marvels on the history channel. They had a very interesting program on sugar that dealt with among other things ethanol in hybrid cars. It seems that back in the 70’s Brazil after feeling the pinch of the oil embargo mandated the use of bio-fuel. Brazil is now only 10% dependent on foreign fuel. Imagine where we the United States could be now if we had learned from the experiences of the 70’s and really did something about our use of fossil fuels instead of returning to our wasteful ways when the oil “crisis” was over.

Fishing on the Outer Banks

All the plants on my deck are happy, my Bougainvillea is finally flowering. It is unusual for it to start flowering so late normally it flowers all season long

Its nice on the Outer Banks and it has been nice for the last few weeks, very mild temperatures and only the occasional rain shower and while we could use more of the rain visitors to the Banks have to be liking life.

I’ve been taking things slow, enjoying some down time and piddling around in the yard. Next week I’m off to the mountains. I’m hoping to see some color but NOW I’m hearing that the color may be later than usual. Go figure. I hope weather up there is good I would love to ride on the parkway with the Jeep top down.

Presbyopia (old mans eyes)

Today I was working in the basement just cleaning things up when it occurred to me that I could not see worth a damn. Yesterday while doing yard work in the bright sun I had no difficulty seeing; of course I wasn’t doing any detailed work just cleaning out the shed and yard. Today’s work is being done inside on a rainy day and involves the use of tools such as screwdrivers, saws and hammers and the plain truth is I can not see what I am doing clearly. I noticed this indoor seeing discrepancy way back in June while at work, I had picked up a medication bottle and while I could easily read the name of the med (with my arms fully extended) I could not read the fine print even with my over-the-counter reading glasses. The time had come to get an eye exam. I went to the doctor took the exam and informed him that I had no problem with my far distance sight but that I was having difficulty with reading close up and the computer screen. He told me that I did have problems with my far distance sight and that I needed trifocal glasses. Humph…..

So ever since I got those stupid glasses I have come to realize more and more that weather I like it or not I “may” need to wear my glasses just about all the time, unless of course it is a bright sunny day and I’m out side doing something that is not all that detailed or important.

mountain top mining

I was tooling around the blogs tonight, haven’t been able to do that much lately and wound up spending quite a bit of time at Fred Firsts blog “Nameless Creek” well you see Fred goes on these tangents, bird flu, water conservation and now he’s up in arms about folks blowing the tops off mountains for coal, give these two entries a few minutes of your time I think you will find them enlightening http://namelesscreek.blogspot.com/2007/08/no-more-high-places-forever.html

http://namelesscreek.blogspot.com/2007/08/stop-banking-on-coal.html

then check out this you tube site http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziuFW-7h1LM

then for a better understanding of what exactly is being done to these mountains check out this site http://www.mountainjusticesummer.org/facts/steps.php

This Mandevilla is a happy plant and has given me a lot of pleasure in the three years since I discovered it. I bought 2 others this year. One climbs a post on the pergola and the other hides the trash can. These plants have to be brought in when it starts to get cold, temps in the mid 40’s (7C) which around here means sometime in November.

What can I say fall on the Outer Banks

Can’t complain about the weather on the Banks lately, other than the lack of rain it’s been perfect. I’ve been devoting an hour every day to yard work and it shows. I’m going to take on the shed next week, that a scary job. I’m also getting things in the house ship shape for the winter. I just seem to have soooo much energy in the fall!

I’m going to be heading up to the mountains in October to get my fall fix. Hopefully there will be some fall color. From what I’ve been hearing the fall colors could be here early and be gone fast. Anyone thinking about hitting the parkway should check out their site for park information Welcome to the Blue Ridge Parkway and this site for peak information Virtual Blue Ridge Parkway Guide .

It has been nice on the banks this week. We had the Gabrielle “scare” last weekend but come Monday it was fair skies and clear water.

On another note:

This is why I hate to go to the doctor and have to be just about dying before I go. I had a head cold and a “touch” of bronchitis so I spent the early part of Monday looking for a doctor to see me. I had to go to Manteo to help my mom so I figured I would go to “Outer Banks Urgent Care” in Nags Head. I had never been there but I had taken my mom and kids and I knew a few of the nurses so I thought what the heck it’s on the way. Boy did I get a rude awakening; they would not see me because I forgot my driver’s license. I’ll admit it pissed me off when the “lady” rudely tapped on a sign they had taped on the receptionist window. I did not see the sign when I filled out the paper work; I did not know I did not have my license until I went to look for it. When I told her that some of the nurses in the back would know me all she said was that she was sure they would but there “are no exceptions”. That pissed me off I had been nursing a cough, sore throat and stuffy head for 10 days, I had left work early the night before and I needed some meds. I don’t remember saying much but I’m sure my body language was not nice. I had the receptionist return the paper work I had filled out, I could see no reason they would need it and headed on up to “Beach Medical” in Kitty Hawk. Now I had not been up there for myself in years, (I haven’t been to the doctor in years) but I had taken my mom and the kids so the folks knew who I was; they wanted ID also BUT instead of saying no they saw me. Every one was nice. The provider was great. I was able to catch up with some folks I had not seen in years (I know some of the staff). Had a quick exam and was on my way. Now I’m better. Next time I go to “Beach Medical” I’ll show them some ID. I will not say that I will never go to “Outer Banks Urgent Care” again but I will have to be desperate. I’m not the first one to have problems with them. I’ve had others tell me of their problems getting in to see the practitioners. It doesn’t matter how good the medical staff is when the front staff is less than likable.

I expected to wake up this afternoon to wind and rain but as you can see as of 5:30pm not much happening in Colington/KDH. The Banks could sure use some rain. I'll see how things are a 3am when I get off work.

Sub tropical storm Gabrielle

We have some excitement forming off the coast right now. most people are like me, just hoping for a good steady rain to give us some relief from this drought. Personally I sorry its not forecast to go more inland, they need rain even more than we do.

• To me it feels so calm on the Outer Banks right now. The air is “cooler” (a relative term), the sun is sinking further in the south and has gone from a harsh white to a more friendly soft white. There has been a steady NE wind and when I drive on the beach road or bypass the air smells of sea spray. Even on the bypass my Jeep windows become soiled with sea spray. There are far fewer people on the beach this week and traffic is much better. I went to the grocery store and did not have to wait in line. I love this time of year!!
  

• I was looking at the girl dog yesterday and noticed a faint touch of white on her muzzle that I had not seen before. She is so active that I never think of her as being “middle aged” but she will be 6 years old next month. The only disadvantage that I can see to having a dog is that they age to fast.
  

• I am a planner and my mother has talked my sister-n-law and me into taking her to Las Vegas we will be going in February. I am also planning a trip to Wheat Ridge Colorado in either the late spring or early fall of 2008. If any one who reads this has any to do’s or not to do’s or any advice on where to stay and what to do feel free to comment.

Kids at the Wright Brothers memorial and at the beach

Folks from New Jersey enjoying the holiday

It has been quite a summer, one of the busiest and hottest that I can remember. It has gone by fast but for me it ended well. My niece and her children came down last Monday for a few days during the week and my neighbors came into town for the weekend. The “piece de resistance” was the weather, you could not have asked for better. At the beach every one we meant #1 was nice and #2 seemed to be from New Jersey. Summer ended on a good note but the best time of year is yet to come. Fall on the outer banks nothing could be better.

One more flew over the cuckoo's nest.

Attorney General Gonzales resigns

Can't say that I'm sorry

Because I am concerned about some of the "laws" that have been passed and "authorities" that have been granted to certain people in this government I thought I would remind the few that visit this site of the bill of rights and the concept of "Habeas Corpus". Ben Franklin once said

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."


Bill of Rights
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.


Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.


Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.


Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.


Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.


Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.


Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.


Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.


http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/funddocs/billeng.htm


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habeas_corpus

Its almost midnight and I should be in bed sleeping but my cousin woke me up with a call and now I'm wide awake with too many things running through my head.

Today has been a good day. It was relatively cool so I did a little work outside. While cutting my grass I met one of my new neighbours and had conversations with three others that I had not seen in a while. It took three hours to cut the grass. When the grass was done I set about fixing a leak in the up stairs bathroom. this particular leak had been going on for somewhere around 8 months I had been putting off fixing it because I wasn't sure how hard it would be to fix, you never can tell with these things, it took ten minutes. Everything I did today went off with out a hitch. That doesn't happen very often. I went to bed feeling good.

My cousin called tonight to tell me that my aunt was in the hospital with a broken leg. My aunt is going to be fine but an older friend of mine died Wednesday and the two things are weighing on my mind. I keep thinking "life is like a box of chocolates you never know what you are going to get" or "life is a rollercoaster it has its ups and downs".

From what I have been told the beach has been great this week but I have been spending my days sleeping. You know us night workers. Today I had off so I took a quick trip to the beach at First St. just to see how things were and as can be seen in these photos a lot of people thought today was a good beach day. I will say the water was refreshing, not to cold, not to hot altho the temperature was in the 90's it was not terribly humid. A good beach day.

It will be a while before I make it to beach again, I have a class the rest of this week and work the most of the next week but no matter things are starting to thin out a bit here and September is a great time on the Banks.

I have been intending to get a shot of the beach ever since I got home from my mountain trip but it’s just been too darn hot. Yesterday it got up to 99 degrees in some places around the beach with an index of 117. I hear a lot of people comment on global warming, and I know that global warming is a factor but the plain truth is that every year we get 2 weeks of oppressive heat and that 2 weeks is usually around the end of July, first of August. It feels like the Roman god Vulcan put the whole east coast in his furnace. The Weather Channel promises temperatures back in the 80’s soon when that happens I’ll get some beach shots. I know the dogs will be happy with some "cooler" weather. I have not been taking them for their play time and they are getting a little stir crazy. The garden is for the most part shot, the tomatoes have stopped growing and my front yard looks gray brown. We could use a little tropical weather around here, opps did I say tropical weather I mean a few days of steady rainfall

I debated weather or not to post this, I try to stay away from politically sensitive things but here goes.

I saw “Sicko” while I was away and I recommend the movie even if you don’t like Mike Moore (I’m not one of his big fans) although I did find the movie somewhat bias, working in the field I work in I know from first hand experience the movie is not that far off. We need change. I don’t pretend to know what that change should be but people should not fear losing everything they have worked for because they get sick. The people in this movie for the most part had health insurance when they got sick, its what happened to them after they got sick that is the scary part. I’m a health care professional and one of my worst fears is getting sick. Not because we don’t have good health care in the US but because I cant afford it even with insurance.

the plants on the deck looked great when I got home mmmmm fresh cherry tomatoes and jalapeños peppers

It’s hard to believe I have been home for 4 days now. Those 4 days have gone by so fast. You can tell its still summer around here the weather is still hot and humid and what seems like hundreds of thousands of visitors seem to be trying to fit that last bit of summer vacation in before their kids head back to school. Traffic yesterday was bumper to bumper, it took me twice as long to get to work as it normally does. Traditionally our ED is “quiet” on weekends not so as of late. People are starting and ending their Outer Banks stay with a bang.

Many of the folks I know who have jobs in the service industry are suffering from summer overload. They are getting tired. Many have more than one job; the “make hay while the sun shines” mentality is very much at work here. I am lucky I get to take a few weeks off during one of the busiest times of summer. This lets me rejuvenate a little, be in a better frame of mind this last month of the season. I wish everyone else were as lucky; but the days are getting shorter and the sun’s glare is not as harsh as it was just two weeks ago. Summer is waning our kids go back to school in just a few weeks and autumn will be here soon after that. It won’t be long before we on the Outer Banks get to take a breather. One of the best times of the year here on the Banks is just 7 weeks away.

This is called the thunder moon

I have just 2 days left before I leave my mountain retreat and head back to the beach, family and work. My dog Zeke and I have enjoyed the past week walking and enjoying the scenery. I am looking forward to my bed and my bathroom back home both are cramped in a 19 foot camper but I cant wait for next year when I get to make a go at living up here year round.

In the past 7 days I have worked 82 hours. That’s a lot of hours but it’s ok because today starts my 2 week vacation. I will be spending 10 days in the VA mountains, ahhh cool nights and warm days (at least that is what I’m hoping for). Now I haven’t posted any beach photos recently so I thought that before I go I would post a few shots I took a couple of weeks ago.

the photos above are of skim boarders. Parents and grandparents don’t try to teach your kids how to skim board if you have never been on one yourself. I can’t tell you how many broken bones and sprained whatever's we have seen in the ED because of older folks trying to teach the younger ones to skim board. One grand parent recently had to schooch back to the car on their bumm accompanied by a gaggle of grand children after trying to “teach” the kids to use one. Notice the age of the skim boarders.

Now these are two activities we less agile older folks (and younger) can enjoy

Looks like rain today, much needed but I’m packing the trailer today in hopes of an early start tomorrow. Yaw be good.

Work was a bit less busy at 3am Monday morning so one of the ladies shared this with me and the others on that shift

I think its cute

----- Original Message -----

Sent: Monday, July 02, 2007 10:44 AM

Subject: Minnesota Bird Feeder

To my friends who have to worry about their bird feeders. All of a sudden, squirrels don't seem so bad.

Minnesota Bird Feeder

Thats one determined bear and one strong rope
I wonder who took the photo?

I spent yesterday morning with the roses in my garden. They are not doing that well this year. I have put irrigation around, fertilized them, sprayed for every thing there is to spray for (I don't like chemicals in the garden but I used them) and I mulched them big time. They are starting to show some new growth but this is a very disappointing rose year for me.

I love roses but they are not as easy to grow as some would have you believe. They require a lot of care but the reward of the flower is worth the effort. Most of the important things in life are that way. A persons relationship with family and friends is one of the most important things in a persons life. These relationships require a lot of work to make them grow and regular maintenance to keep them healthy. I love going out with friends and family or simply talking to them on the phone. Talking to people who I have shared experiences with is very comforting. Next week I will be in the mountains visiting with one of my best friends . I look at this as a really great "maintenance" trip, one that will allow me to catch up with an old friend and may allow me to make new friends. I cant wait!

Yesterday was my boy dogs Zeke's yearly visit to the vet. This year I decided to have him chipped. What this means is that they insert a small chip that contains a number under the skin. This chip can be read by a scanner. The number that the scanner picks up is unique to that chip. That number is used to access information stored in data base somewhere. This information starts out with the vets information and for an additional fee can include the owners address and phone number. Its not cheep, it was $40 to have it inserted and another $18 to have it registered under my name and every time I move or have to change any information (phone #) its another $6, but I travel back and forth to the mountains often and its not inconceivable that one of my animals could get lost so to me its worth the price. Zeke was not bothered in any way by the procedure and today he is no worse for the wear.

Zeke waiting for the big moment

the chip is in this syringe

Dr. Bell inserting the chip

reading the chip (making sure it works)

Zeke no worse for wear

I do want to add that this is the same procedure that the government wants to force farmers to use on their farm animals. This procedure cost me nearly $60 for one animal. I have a friend with 50 cows. Even if it cost just $20 a head that's a $1000 and for a small farmer thats a lot of money. Support small farmers pay attention to the farm bill: Take Action: Support a Better Farm Bill / 2007 Farm Bill Proposals | Center for Rural Affairs / The Truth About the National Animal Identification System (NAIS)

This photo is a little out of focus but this is the first cherry tomato of the season and I ate it right after I took this shot!

We are getting some much needed rain today. The plants in the garden are looking green and succulent. Rain does that, cleans the air making the color of the foliage seem more vibrant and the air smell fresh. Rain also gives me an excuse to stay inside and do nothing. Today I’m being lazy and watching the all day marathon of “Dead Like Me”. The dogs make me go outside from time to time but for the most part my butt has been planted in my big comfy recliner. I should really be reading. I have 2 Nat.-Geos. and a few publications I need to read but I just cant get into it today. I think it’s because I have been so busy lately. My psyche just needs a rest and it’s taking advantage of the cloudy skies. Well I’m back to the recliner, who knows I might even take a nap.