More roofs and football

Well here I am all geared up to clean the chimney, spray moss and blow off the shop roof.

It went pretty good, the cap came right off the chimney, not like some other years when it fought me tooth and nail. I remembered the camera today!

I had a call from Barry while I was on the roof, they are still at Mona's nephew's and they are scheduled to get 3 to 5 inches of rain from tropical storm Nicole. Then I had a friend drop by for a few minutes to see if we were flying this weekend. After that, I took a break for a smoothie. I headed back to finish up and noticed they were just taking the twins in from a ride. I went over there and visited for a few minutes before finishing up so we could go to James' game.

Above, James hit the quarterback just as he threw the ball and it was intercepted by Alex. He also caused a fumble and I believe recovered it. In the picture below, he is the quarterback. He played quarterback quite a bit toward the end of the game and completed a nice pass to Jordan that got them a new set of downs. It was a close game that went into overtime, but they lost 19 to 18.

Vera and I stopped at Fred Meyer after the game and picked up a few things. On the way home the sunset was looking good so we ran up on Headquarters Rd. to take some pictures. Vera made dessert with apples that smells great, so I am going to have to go sample it. Hope you had a nice day!

PS: The baked apple dessert is great!!!

Up on the roof top Nikes stomp!

I got a much earlier start today, I was away from the computer shortly after 9. I had planned on cleaning the storage building roof today and cleaning the shop chimney. I did not get the storage building done last year because of my knee so it was really thick up there. I also forgot to take pictures today, so this one I took in the dark will have to do. I was going to do the chimney next, but could not find the brush anywhere!

After I gave up looking for the brush, I went in and made a smoothie. I sat down to drink it and watch TV, but started getting sleepy, I started over to see if the twins were there, but no car so I headed out to the shop and worked on my helicopter. I finished installing the new heading hold gyro. After doing the set up I took it out for a test flight in the yard. Things were not quite right so back to the shop and read the instruction again. The translation is not too clear, but I finally got the adjustments figured out. I did a little work on the motor home patching a hole made by a limb. I also spotted the chimney cleaning brush right where I had looked earlier. Vera fixed the rest of last nights salmon and rice for dinner and it tasted great! As I was going to the shop later, I heard noises that sounded like the kids so I headed over to the Robinson's. They are spending the night and had been there all day. Good thing I didn't discover that earlier or I probably wouldn't have gotten anything done.

Great fun playing with them again this evening. Dianne gave them a bottle and they look so sweet while they are drinking them.

Harper played the cutest game, hiding a play egg behind her back and raising her hands up to express where's it at. Then reaching behind herself and pulling it out and saying what sounds like "there"

Rain, Sunshine and Mowing

I got away from the computer a little earlier this morning, well only a half hour. I loaded up the recycling and we made our mail run. We got that done just in time as it started to rain. That put an end to my plans to mow, so I went to see what was going on at Steve and Dianne's. I heard crying as I came in, but that stopped as soon as they saw a new face. I got down on the floor and played with Ava and Harper for a while, lots of fun. About the time I left there it started to sunshine. I went in and made a smoothie, I sure like my latest creation. One banana, one packet of Swiss Miss No Sugar Added Cocoa Mix, two scoops of no sugar Ice Cream and the rest Non Fat milk. Tastes great and hopefully not too fattening! Sounds so good that I may have one this evening. After finishing that it looked dry enough to mow so I started in. I got all the lawns done and ran over the trails to knock some of the grass out of the deck. Then I washed the mower and under the deck. Vera had fixed salmon and seasoned baked potatoes for dinner. My timing was great as I finished up just as it was ready.

The grass has started growing again and the lawn is looking pretty good!

James' Birthday

I was slow this morning, it was 11 by the time I left the computer. I ate breakfast there, checked emails, did my blog, checked out Facebook, and paid a couple of bills. I started getting the garbage can ready to take down tonight, but decided to go see the twins and visit over there first. I ended up staying until it was time for them to leave, lots of fun over there. I finally got the can ready to go (I still need to take it down to the road!) just before we left for James' football game at Cascade. We did a little shopping at Fred Meyer and then headed up to get a good spot so Vera could watch from the car. Man was it hot! I had to cover the windshield to keep from burning up while we waited.

James 33 knocking Jared down. He played great today. Hot as it was he was hustling the whole game. I saw him make one tackle right in front of us that had the runner laying there a few moments to recover.

James was co-captain, they are going out for the coin flip before overtime. The game was 7 to 7 at this point. They were on defense and recovered a fumble on the second or third play of overtime.

They scored on their third play to win the game.

Afterwards we went to Papa Pete's in Longview for James' birthday pizza. 5 of his friends came and they were pretty wound up after winning. James has just opened his iTouch in this picture.

The boys went out to play catch after eating. James is just about to pass one into the dumpster on the right. It was a fun day, that's the way birthdays should be.

A great Sunday!

It was a great day! Laury made her usual awesome cake for James and Emmy's birthday party. Everyone had a great time watching Ava, Harper, Jillian and holding Bridget. It is always fun having the little ones around.

James and Emmy with their cake. Lighting the candles was fun to watch!

James just after opening the netbook we got him.

He had a tough time leaving it to go play.

After the party we met Jackie and John for pizza at Papa Pete's. We had a nice time visiting with them and catching up on what they had been doing. Afterwards to cap off a perfect day, I went home and watched the recording of the Seahawks winning!

Flying at Toledo

It was a beautiful day for flying. We got up to Toledo about 9:00 this morning. I flew the Eurofighter first and then made the first flight on my new F-15 Eagle. It is the middle one in the picture below. Once I got it trimmed out it flew great and looks like it will be a keeper.

I counted 10 members there during the day and 20 airplanes. Joel had the smoke system on his biplane working great and it showed up really well against the blue sky.

Joel taxiing in after his flight, this is the scenery we have to look at all day.

In the afternoon a crosswind came up that was gusting to 16 and about a 6 or 7 Mph average. That was the end of the day for everyone. We loaded up and headed home, it was a little shorter day than normal but we had a great time.

It is great to feel like doing things.

I had a great day which started by sleeping in. After breakfast and emails I went out and glued the left rudder on the F-15. I was getting organized to go get license tabs for Barry when I noticed the license was current, the renewal he did must have worked. I called him and while we were discussing the license I noticed Steve and Dianne had the twins out for a ride. I walked out and handed the phone to Dianne so she and Barry could visit while I played with the babies.

The girls are funny if one is doing something the other will do it too, Vera was High Fiveing one and the other stuck her hand up. I tapped on ones foot and the other stuck her foot out.

When I had the second rudder glued on the F-15 we made our daily mail run. I decided to finish the bedroom door that has been off for a year. I took it apart last year just before my knee got so sore. I have been getting the wood for the framing stained and clear coated so I was all ready. It went pretty good, we only had to make one run to the hardware store. The door is up now with only a couple of minor things to finish. I also got the F-15 finished so I can test fly it tomorrow. Forecast is 76 with light winds, it should be fun!

A nice laid back day.

No mail run today, we looked at the rain and decided this was a stay at home day. I went out and worked on the new plane this morning until UPS showed up. Then it was in to unpack my Cabela's order. All summer I wore cargo shorts and got used to having all those pockets. When the weather turned cool and I had to go back to jeans I really missed the pockets so I ordered 4 pair of long cargo pants. I made a trip over to see the twins, but they were down for a nap, at least one was, the other was making some serious noise. I went back this afternoon and visited them again. Boy, Ava is almost running! Steve was playing chase with them and they love it. They run/crawl away and then come back when he hides to be scared again.

I may have this F-15 done for the weekend, not much to do as it was almost receiver ready. I did make one modification to the wings and added a carbon fiber spar. If anything holds up progress that will be it. It is installed, I just need to fill the hole I had to make to install it and repaint.

Hope you found something fun to do today.

Good News

It was off to Longview right after breakfast this morning. James had a doctor's appointment for his elbow that got hurt roughhousing with Dalton. It formed a lump that was very tender. After checking it over the doctor explained the body uses calcium to stop bleeding of injuries and it can form a lump. She said it would go away in a couple of months. James and I went to Burgerville afterwards for something to eat. Boy are their Blackberry Milkshakes good! After taking James back to school I went to St. Johns to see how Debbie was doing. She was kind of quiet until Josh brought her some french fries and the doctor came and told her she could go home. That sure cheered her up! As you can probably tell, she did not want her picture taken but that doesn't stop Grandpa's. It is nice that both grand kids are going to be fine.

I talked to Barry after leaving Debbie's room. He was trying to track down his Hardly's license tabs. He renewed them online and they have not showed up in the mail yet. They are still in Maine getting Dallan's scooter fixed. I made a short visit to see the twins after putting up the bird feeder roof I made the other day. It will be better than nothing until I come up with a better plan. I did a little work on a new plane this evening before coming in to do the blog.

Bye Bye Mower

I had some surprise visitors in the shop this morning, the twins along with Steve and Dianne came to see me in the shop. They were really looking things over. I wish that I could have gotten a picture.

We had 6 flyers show up today. It never got real warm, I had my sweatshirt off a couple of times only to put it right back on, so I gave up and left it on. I got 4 flights on the Eurofighter and am really starting to enjoy it now that the nose gear problem seems to be fixed (knock on wood).

I got the lawn mower unloaded and mowed about a third of the runway, enough for me to land on! We had a pretty good day flying, Vera finished her book. After we got home I found out Debbie was in the hospital for appendicitis surgery. Everything went fine and she is in room 483 at St. Johns.

Mower

After our daily run to the Post Office, I started making a roof for the bird feeders. When I had it almost done I took it out to see how it fit. It was raining and blowing, I could see right away it was not big enough. The rain was blowing right in on the feeders, well on to plan "B" what ever that is. I went in the shop to wash before going over to see the twins when I heard them outside in the rain. I followed them back to Steve and Dianne's and Ava was the only one who noticed me, she waved to me the whole way. I had a great time playing with them. I snuck out for lunch without saying any of the magic words that get them excited about going outside. After lunch I was working on the Eurofight when I realized I had not serviced the club mower yet. I dropped everything and got started on it. Everything went pretty good and it is now on the trailer ready to go in the morning.

Sunday Nose Gear #4

Not much happened around here Sunday. Vera went to church, the kids ran the whole thing and she said they did great! I worked on Nose Gear #4 most of the day. I only used up 3 feet of 1/8 music wire to make one 6 inch long wire strut I was happy with. Then I put away all the tools I had used before going in for the evening (That is a First!). I recorded the Seahawks game so I was able to fast forward through it and did not waste too much time on their loss. Bull riding and Tractor pulls were much more entertaining than that loss. I slept great last night so I have lots planned for today. The first thing is go see how much the twins grew over the weekend. Hope you have a good Monday.

Saturday Flying

What a great day for flying! The windsock hung straight down most of the day. Blue skies and sunshine, I had to take my sweatshirt off and put on sunscreen before the day was over. I got in 7 flights and we had a nice time visiting with Leonard and Audrey. About 1:00 the clouds started rolling in and at 1:30 we felt the first raindrops. We packed up and headed home.

Mt. Rainier looked like it had a fresh coat of snow.

Mt. St. Helens had a cap over it at one point.

After we got home I charged up all the batteries I used, filled the water tank in the motor home and did some clean up and organizing inside. Vera fixed the best dinner, a salad with chicken on top that had been cooked in caramelized onions. I did some work on the Eurofighter this evening, nose gear #4. I have high hopes that this one is it.

Football Friday

No twins at Dianne's today so I got quite a few things done in the shop. James had a game at 3:30 today. We went down early to run an errand and then went to the school early to get a good parking spot. We saw the bus from Cascade pull in and the rain started at the same time.

James 33 got lots of playing time, he played middle linebacker, guard, quarterback and was on the kick return team.

He was getting into the backfield when playing middle linebacker. He helped create 3 fumbles and I am not sure how many tackles he made.

Here he is making a pitch to the running back. He also got to carry the ball up the middle once for a good gain.

Mik is assisting with the coaching. James was really happy after the game. We went to Bruno's for pizza afterwards and had a good time rehashing the game.

100 Pounds

Right after breakfast I went to see how the overnighter went at the Robinson's. It turned out the twins had already had a melt down and were taking a nap. Vera and I made a mail run with a stop a 4 Corners for a 100 lbs. of bird seed. Boy, the birds can go through a feeder full in a day. I went out and put the handles and catches on another set of doors before I headed over for another visit. The twins had just gotten up and were in a great mood with lots of smiles. By the time I left, Cathy, Jillian and Laury were there also. It was fun seeing everyone there.

I got the other set of doors done when I got back home. I made some repairs to one plane that got damaged during the picnic last weekend. It was nice working in a clean area.

I was looking at the doors this evening and decided some decorations were needed. I put up a picture of my ride in the P-51 Mustang and a plaque given to me by the Lewis County Radio Controllers.

Almost Done!

It was one step backwards and two ahead today, but the cabinet doors are almost done. I have four more handles and magnetic catches to put on and they done. I was not happy with the fit of one door so I took it and its pardner down and made a new piece between them. Then I reinstalled them and things looked much better. When I went to install the last door I was missing one hinge. I remember opening the package and taking it out to check something. Do you think I can find it, NO! I made a run to Castle Rock, but no one carries them. After Vera got home from bible study we made a trip to the Longview Lowes and got one. We drove up to Cascade and watched football practice for a bit before heading home. I put on the last door and did half of the handles and catches before I got tired and needed a break. I headed over to Dianne's to see how their overnight with the twins was going. I ended up staying quite a while. I put my hat on them and they take it right off. I put it on myself and they want it back. Boy is Ava walking a lot, she can turn around in a flash and head the other direction also. Running is probably next.

Tuesday Flying

I had a great day! I went out to load the last few things for flying today and decided to see what the twins were doing first. Boy were they fun! We played for quite a while and then I headed home. Vera wanted to know if I was ready to go and I had to tell her that I had not done anything yet. I went out and did the last of the loading and noticed the cabinet doors were ready for a coat of clear, so I did that before we left. I flew 14 flights today, 4 of them on the Eurofighter. I did mostly touch and goes with it as I have been having trouble with the landings. I did 6 or 8 per flight and had it pretty well figured out by the end of the day.

During a couple of flight there were birds everywhere as I flew. I counted 50 in this picture of the tree just South of the runway.

I pulled the rugs out of the motor home and started cleaning them when we got home. Sweep, mop the floor and vacuum the cab tomorrow and it will be ready for the fall flying. Now I am all set for the special 2 hour season finale of Wipeout!

Monday the 13th

Boy did I sleep good after the big day Sunday at the flying field. After our daily mail run I stained two more cabinet doors and the trim. Then I decided to pick up the debris from the plum tree I took out. I did some trimming on a couple of roses and took that load to the compost pile. Then I spotted a limb I had wanted to trim along the driveway. While I had the pruner out I trimmed a cedar tree and some more brush. I took a break in the middle of the job to go see the twins while they played on the slide. Then I finished up the cutting and hauled it away. Not much of the trailer showed when I got done loading it.

After I cleaned up it was time for another check on the twins. I got there in time for the "After School Chaos", it was better than watching TV. I started putting up the cabinet doors that were finished, but Vera reminded me Monday night football was on. That took care of the rest of the day, and I ended up taking the garbage can down in the dark.

Flying at the LCRC Picnic

James, Parker and I went up to the Lewis County Radio Controllers field today for their picnic/meeting/Electric Fly-In.

These are some of the planes we took to fly.

Early in the day James flew high enough he got into the clouds.

We put Parker on the buddy box training system and he got in 3 or 4 flights and was doing real good.

Parker is watching the flying during the club meeting. We had a nice turn out of flyers today, 20 signed in with about half of them being visitors from other clubs who fly electrics airplanes.

Overnighters

I had a pretty productive day. I mowed, gave the doors a coat of clear, finished loading the motor home for tomorrow, got the cordless chainsaw out and took out a plum tree. James is spending the night and learned from Parker that the twins were spending the night at Dianne's. We headed out to see what was going on. Steve had just showed them how to go down the slide.

Of course they wanted to go back up the slide rather than the steps.

Harper did make several trips up the steps.

Progress

Around 10 today we made our mail run and picked up some supplies for the club picnic on Sunday. We noticed a couple of garage sale signs, so we checked them out, nothing at the first one but we got a couple of things up on North Street. After lunch I put sharp blades on the mower, loaded it and we headed for Toledo.

The new ramps Mik gave me sure make it easy to load and unload the tractor. They are aluminum and very easy to handle.

Since I had not gotten the club mower serviced yet, I took mine up and mowed for the picnic this weekend. Mine also mows shorter and is easier to drive. After we got back home I went out and stained three more cabinet doors. I couldn't wait to see how they were going to look so I went in and hung the three that were done.

I can see now that the next thing will be finishing the ceiling.