Big News!!!

First thing this morning we headed to town for some furniture slides. We ordered a new freezer which is being delivered Monday and I wanted to move the old one and repair a hole in the wall. Of course we noticed a couple of garage sale signs so off we went. The sign for the first one had fallen down so we did not notice it the first time by, but found another up the road. On the way back we found the first one and told them their sign was down. They had noticed they were not getting any customers. We both found things at both sales. Then we headed home as Dish Network was coming to upgrade the antenna. I worked on the hole until the service man showed up. Then I finished it this evening.

The new antenna does the job that took two before so there is a little less clutter on the roof. Apparently they have a new satellite up that will provide more HD channels.

One of the things I found at the garage sales today was a cover for the Firebowl Vera got for Christmas from Mik, Michelle and James. We are looking forward to sitting out there on a warm evening enjoying it. We heard a rumor today that we are going to be Great Grand Parents. That's pretty exciting, hope you had some good news today!

Visitors, Yard Sales and Elk!

Vera went for her walk this morning while I watched for our visitors. Carole's grandson was coming up to look at my planes. Grandpa and Dad came along too. He was a sharp little guy and it was fun showing him my planes. After they left Vera had found a Yard Sale up the road and wanted to go there. It was a pretty good one and we both found a couple of things. We went to get the mail on the way back and saw a sign for one at Toutle Lake for the Preschool. We did not find much there except they had a bake sale going and I got a great animal shaped brownie. That along with a stop we had made at the bakery took care of my lunch. We took the long way home and came down Tower road.

We came across a herd of over 30 elk in a field and I got a picture of them.

I worked on the B-36 when we got home and made good headway on the fuselage. I went up and fed Max this evening and then came in here to do my blog. That's when things went wrong, I have tried 4 browsers and still can't get the pictures to load. OK, I finally got them loaded with Safari. The day is ending on a good note! It is now Saturday, the pictures would not expand to full size so I reloaded them. It was much faster today and it looks like things are going to work OK!

Nothing like a hot shower to warm you up!

When I showed up this morning Ava was playing the harmonica.

A while later Harper came in and told Papa she wanted some milk without saying anything. After Ava got hers they got comfortable on the pillows and watched some TV.

James had a track meet this afternoon. It was miserable out there. James did the long jump and javelin, not sure if he did any other events as I got cold and headed home after the long jump was over. Boy did the hot shower feel good when I got home.

James making one of his long jumps, you can see the rain in the picture. His timing was off on the first jump, but he looked good on the other two. You can see everyone watching to make sure he doesn't foul. I had time before the meet to pick up the trim to finish the windows, so I am looking forward to the next nice day.

Nothing beats Warm Biscuits!

I headed out to work on the B-36 right after breakfast and emails. I want to cover from the tail to the front so the airflow can not get under the covering seams. The fin is what I planned on finishing today. Little did I know it would take all day!

14 pieces of covering to do the vertical fin. Again it involves two colors to represent the magnesium and aluminum areas. Lots of measuring and cutting small pieces. I took a break for lunch at Noon when Vera got home from bible study. That led to a nap which meant I missed seeing the twins as they left early today. I did have a nice visit with Steve and Dianne. I took another break for dinner and Vera had made the best cheese biscuits. I had an extra one for dessert and the last one just before I started this.

Radio's and B-36

I got back to the exercises this morning. They sure get me limbered up for the day. Vera and I made a mail run about noon and hit BK for lunch. Then I worked on the B-36 until the baby sleeping sign was down. I took our Walkie-Talkies with me and had a great time with the girls. The look on their face when they heard a voice was great.

I think this is my favorite picture from today, Ava hugging the dog and holding on tight to the radio.

Auna talking to Ava. They came over to the shop later, they are getting pretty comfortable in there. They started opening cupboard doors and looking to see what was in them. Ava took the radios home when they left.

Dianne's friend Taylor had her dog with her. Auna was trying to get them to pet it, but they were being pretty cautious. The dog was enjoying it and didn't want to leave.

I finally started covering the B-36 today. That color change is scale, the nose of the real one is aluminum and some of the other sections are covered with magnesium. I finally got the air intakes on the right wing shaped today. Just the final sanding and the wing will be ready to cover. I feel like I had a pretty successful day, hope you did too!

A Computer Day

Ten years ago, this is Easter 2001!

I did my Easter blog this morning and also put Easter pictures on Facebook. I finished up a video I had been editing and loaded it to Vimeo. I am still surprised at how many people have looked at the video of my Eurofighter. I added a link to it here, those are some of the best landings I have ever made with that plane. It must have been the pressure of knowing someone was taking a video. Quite a day weather wise, cold, wet, windy and sunshine. I did manage to hit sunshine for my walk to the end of the driveway. I need to get back to the exercises.

http://www.vimeo.com/22819064

Easter Sunday

Our day started out at the Castle Rock High School football stadium for Sunrise Services. This is Vonda our Pastor just after she finished the service.

After the Sunrise Service we went to breakfast at the church which was provided by Chuck and Linda Bauska. It was great, fruit, pancakes, waffles, hash browns, biscuits and gravy. We came back later for the Sunday service. Then it was back home until the Easter Party at Cathy and Bob's. Lots of family and good food there. After eating, it was time for the Easter Egg hunt. Cathy lines all the kids up for a picture before they can go hunt the eggs. Dianne has a picture of them on her blog.

This is just after Cathy said they could start the hunt, Mayhem!!!

Between showers, the annual Raw Egg Toss was held. Emmy and Gabe were the winners.

After the next shower, it was time for the Egg Roll. The eggs were hard boiled but there was still quite a few broken. I forgot who the winner was! After the party we came home and spent a quiet evening editing videos on the computer. I posted one of my Eurofighter that has been viewed and downloaded 100 times this morning. That was quite a surprise!

Baseball and Flying

We started our day at Roy Morse Park to watch James' first game in the Babe Ruth League. He played first base half the game and outfield for one inning. The picture is the first out of the game. He caught a big fly ball when playing in the outfield and I believe he had an RBI. Of course I was standing there watching and forgot to take a picture of that. They won the game 8 to 6 after a tense 2 out rally by the other team in the last inning. A win is a good way to start the year!

John getting his fleet ready to go. We had 5 flyers out today, kind of surprising there weren't more with the weather being so nice.

Lots of good visiting went on up by Leonard and Audrey's truck. I got in 18 flights today. John took some video of the Eurofighter that turned out pretty good. I will add a link to it once I have edited and uploaded it. We flew until it started cooling off and then stopped at the 49'er for dinner. Hope you got to enjoy the sunshine also!

Sunshine and Flying!

Our day turned out great! Vera went for her walk, then we hit a couple of garage sales and picked up the mail before heading to Toledo to fly. Before we got in our first flights a big visitor flew over. The C-17 was one of the highlights of the day.

I had made a change to the camera plane's motor to quiet it down that worked great.

During the second flight Leonard came up to play so I chased him around taking videos.

Only 5 of us there today, but we had a great time. Lots of flying and visiting.

We left a little early as Brock was coming up to work. I had him mow the lawn and do some clean up on the trails. The trails are going to take several sessions as there was lots of blow down this winter. I hope you got to enjoy the rare sunshine. If not, get out there tomorrow.

Pretty Scary!

Pretty scary, after the dream yesterday, the shower heads showed up today. Big let down, no LCD screen and only two spray patterns. I worked on planes all day, nothing to do on the windows until we pick out some molding. Lately I have been getting lots of use from the soldering station I got for Christmas. I have built a couple of circuits and repaired several things.

I noticed the Easter Lilies are turning color. I have always liked the shades of color they turn. I may have to make a trip out in the woods and see what I can find. These are in front of my shop.

The New Shower Head

7:54 AM
I ordered the new shower heads the PUD is offering. There I was trying to figure out the new shower head. It had an LCD display that read out the temperature, outside temperature and weather forecast. There were 6 or 8 spray patterns available! I was trying to explain it to Vera when I woke up and realized it was a dream. Have a good day, more to follow later!

9:08 PM, I'm back!

I made good headway on the windows today. I got the inside trim completed on the big one and just a little to do on the small one. I got all the tools hauled back to the shop, but not put away yet. I used the Quad to move the trailer back and then took a ride to the creek and pipeline. The twins were outside several times so I stopped working to go enjoy that. Practice makes perfect with them, they get into the little cars, get out and get right back in, over and over. I showed Ava the gas cap on her car, she opened and closed it a bunch of times, stuck her finger in and got dust on it so she sucked it off. Steve missed that!

I did not take any pictures today so I hunted one up from about the same date in 1999. We are flying at the Lewis County field. James is heading out to join me. It has sure changed since then, now there are 9 tables, windsocks, a safety fence and pilot stations. I have made many trips up there since retirement.

Nothing backwards today!

It was a good but long day! I got the trim installed around the bedroom window and put in the new bathroom window. Nothing backwards today, you can bet I checked it two or three times before putting it in. It was still early, so I did the trim on that one also. I have a little touch up painting to do tomorrow and then I can get the trailer out of there. The knee was a little swollen after two days, so after dinner I iced it and took a nap. With any luck I will get the lawn mowed tomorrow before I have to get a baler in.

I had a great time watching the twins once when they were outside. Harper was trying to keep possession of the play car while she checked out the trike. Every time Ava tried to get into the car she would run over and slam the door. That went on several times before Steve got the other car. Then Harper jumped right into it and tipped it over a few minutes later. There were several No's when it was time to go in. They really enjoy it outside.

We have a problem!

Nice reflection of the clouds in the new window!

I decided to put the new window in this morning. I had backed the trailer over there last night with the Quad and propped it up so I could use it as a work platform. Taking the old window out went pretty good. After a couple of test fittings and adding some shims we caulked it up and put it in. While Vera held it, I ran in to check the clearances inside. Vera asked why there was a handle outside, wouldn't that make it easy for someone to break in! We have a problem, the window was in backwards. We had to take it out, clean off the caulking, repair the caulking and put it in right. That was kind of messy.

Just after we got it in, the twins, Auna, Steve and Dianne came over. The twins had balls they were packing, kicking and throwing. Harper still does not want to have anything to do with Vera. They bumped into each other and Harper froze, she was not a happy camper.

After we finished installing the window and cleaning up, we went to town for the trim to finish it off with tomorrow. If things go right, I plan on putting in the new bathroom window also. While in town we hit KFC for dinner and then took the slow way home around Rocky Point and up the frontage road. I got a chance to try out the new programmer for the lights on the Eurofighter and play a little Xbox while talking to James. Now it is off to bed, bet I sleep good tonight!

Sunday flying at LCRC

The sun was just coming through the trees and fog as I went to get the motor home out Sunday morning.

Between the house and shop I spotted a bunny and took a picture of it, then I spotted this one and took a couple more pictures. I headed out at 8:00 to get a sandwich at Subway and then on to the field. I was the first one there and got all set up before anyone else arrived. I had a good day of flying. Seven other flyers showed up and we all enjoyed the sunshine. In the afternoon some showers came through that stopped the flying for a few minutes. I ended up getting 12 flights in so I was happy!

When a plane comes back in a bag, you know it is a bad crash. Rob, the one in the middle was test flying a new plane and it was tail heavy. You will notice everyone is smiling, it is the attitude you have to have to enjoy the hobby because crashes will happen.

A complete Day!

It made my day complete today when I got to go see the twins again! I slept great again last night, almost 9 hours. When Vera finished her walk we made a run to pick up some windows we had ordered for the North end of the house. There is some nice weather forecast and it may be our only chance to put them in. After lunch and working on the planes, I went over to see the twins when they finished their nap. I had a great time and it was fun watching them get band aids from Steve.

The girls had several and then they had them put on the dolls and Elmo.

At snack time Ava would have nothing to do with sitting in her high chair, only Grandma's lap would do. I did not do much the rest of the day, my right knee was hurting so I put heat on it. That led to a nap. Then I came in here and played with Photoshop.

Back to Normal!

It only takes a couple of days being sick to really appreciate feeling good. Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday, lots of naps, but I felt better in the evening. I made one trip out to the shop and lasted about 15 minutes before I was tired. I slept great last night and woke up early feeling great. We did a recycling, mail and grocery run after Vera's walk. After lunch, I went out and started on the canopy of the B-36, something I have been dreading. First I did it in low tack masking tape to get the dimensions right. Then I started cutting out the aluminum tape and putting it on. The silver paint was getting marks in it from the handling, so when I was done I sprayed the whole thing with a coat of clear.

I am happy with the way it turned out. Just a couple of more steps and I can start covering it.

I think it may get into the air this spring. Hope you had a productive day! I am going to settle in and watch the latest episode of Wipeout. Amazing what people will do to try and win $50,000.

How to ruin a perfectly good day!

Waking up at 3 AM with the flu is going to ruin your day.

This is where I spent a large part of the day. About Noon I managed some Chicken Noodle soup, a little Pepsi and Vitamin Water. Vera saw the twins outside so I sent her out to take a picture. Steve was rearranging the play equipment.

They have not noticed Vera yet.

When they did, one ran to Grandma and the other one froze at the slide.

Later I felt good enough to sit outside in the sunshine a couple of times. I took the camera with me and took pictures of the animals and flowers. By this evening I was ready for the steak and baked potatoes Vera fixed for dinner.

Monday

First thing this morning I stopped in to see the twins. It looks to me like they grew a couple of inches last week. After our trip to Kaiser for my INR blood test I was headed out to the shop when I spotted two deer by the roses.

I went back in, got the camera and got several pictures of them. I did some painting and work on the air intakes for the B-36. While I was in the house waiting for the paint to dry, Vera said the twins were outside.

They are getting pretty independent! Wanting to push their cars rather than ride in them.

Steve and Ava playing peek a boo around the van.

Harper got her hands dirty picking up rocks so she cleaned them on Steve's pants. I made one more stop to see them later while I was on a walk. Then I went back to checking out hard drives.

I found 8 in the desk and one in the shop. Two of the 3 1/2 inch drives are bad and one of the 2 1/2 laptop drives doesn't work. I found a number of files on them that I transferred to this computer. Now I can store them away, but they will be marked as to what is on them. It was a nice afternoon, I hope you got a chance to enjoy the sunshine.

Sunday, Silly Me!

When I said I hadn't taken any pictures Saturday, I completely forgot about taking a bunch of the animals North of the house that morning

Two bunnies were running all over the yard and driveway. This one would stand up and look all around.

There were at least 4 chipmunks out there, boy are they fast!

The chipmunks and this squirrel were looking for black sunflower seed dropped by the birds.

The Stellar Jay figured out how to get some seeds from this feeder.
I spent most of the day looking for some files to send to Ainsley for a paper she has to write. I finally found what I was looking for in an old hard drive. It takes a while to go through a Tera bit of data when parts of it are on different drives and computers.