The Twins are Back!

I have not been doing my exercises on a regular basis and I could feel the difference in my knee, so this morning it was back to them.  Vera had bible study today, so I worked on cleaning a big enough area so I could cover the two remaining parts of the B-36.  After lunch, I noticed Steve and Dianne's car was back so I headed over.  Boy were the twins excited about the Play-Doh!  I played with Ava, rolling it out and cutting out things with the cookie cutters.

Harper played with the doll house next and was putting all the dolls into beds and telling them "Night Night".

It wasn't long until they got their favorite pillows down and watched TV for a couple of minutes.  They had lots of visitors, by the time I left, Auna, Rielee, Parker, Des, Macee, Emmy and Laury had been or were there.

I had a productive day in the shop, I got my servo tester repaired, did some work on the Lancair, put the new nose gear on the Eurofighter and started mounting speed controls on the B-36.  I never did get an area clean for the covering, I kept finding other things to mess with.  In the evening, I napped through part of Mythbusters, so I will have try watching it again tonight.

What are those?

After Vera's walk this morning, it was off to Kaiser for my monthly blood test.  Vera had one also and she fasted for it, which meant we went out to breakfast at the Pancake House next.  I was full all day after that.  We had a couple of things to pick up at Fred Meyer, so that was our next stop.  I had noticed these birds that perch in the trees just North of the Lexington bridge.  I pointed them out to Vera this morning, so on the way home we stopped and I took a picture with the cell phone.

 Not that great a picture, so I will take the Canon with it's 20X zoom next time.

Before we left this morning, I had heard Steve getting ready to fall the dead tree.  Once we had things unloaded, I when out to check the progress.

Dianne had counted the rings and said the tree was 57 years old.

I finished up the Sea Fury today and started doing some modifications to the Lancair.  I sawed off the nose under the cowl and replaced it with flatter plywood firewall.  It took me three tries to get it shaped right.  The fiberglass mount did not leave enough room for the motor I am installing.  I just got my ProTime results and they were good, so the day is ending on a good note.  I hope yours did too!

Monday's Rose

Boy, did I sleep in this morning.  It must have been that big day of flying yesterday.  Vera dug up some volunteer trees from out of our flower beds and we replanted them out in the woods.  I did some cleanup in the computer room and then spent the rest of the day working on the Sea Fury I traded for at the swap meet.  It is done and ready to test fly!

As I was walking over to Dianne's I noticed one of the roses was blooming.  I was afraid we had lost  it this winter, but it looks like it will be fine.  I went over and offered the dead fir to Steve for firewood.  That looks like more work than I want to do right now.  Except for a little rain, it was a good day.

Sunday Flying

I was up early, and I was at the field by 8:30.  I got all set up and had 4 flights before anyone else showed up.

I flew 9 of my planes today and I put in about 15 flights.  I also test flew 2 planes and gave a couple of lessons to a new flyer.

A couple of weeks ago I test flew this plane, that did not end too well.  The plane was real unstable when slowed down and crashed with minor damage.  Rob made some changes to it and tried it again today.  It crashed again for the same reason, it stalled as soon as it slowed down.  The damage was a little worse, but repairable, Rob decided it was a lost cause and is getting rid of it.  I finally ended my day about 7 and headed home.  It was a great day of flying!  After I got home and hooked power to the motor home, Vera and I spent the evening on the back deck enjoying the nice weather.  We happened to notice that one of our fir trees had died.  We walked out to check it and couldn't find any reason it should have died.  Nice tree, it will make lots of firewood.

Swap Meet

We were up early again this morning and headed to the swap meet at the Toledo High School.  I had loaded 4 planes, a bunch of motors and miscellaneous parts into the van yesterday.

 All the tables except two were sold and we had a better than average bunch of buyers show up.

One group of guys set up their estate sale in the parking lot.  I sold two of the planes I took and gave one away.  All the motors and one box of engine parts sold.  I traded one plane for an electric Sea Fury.

All during the swap meet I had been eyeing one plane, an electric Lancair.

Towards the end of the day, I went over and looked at it closer and ended up buying it.  I spent the rest of the day after lunch unloading the van and playing with my new planes.  I just had my two pieces of grilled Chicken Mik had sent home last night, Yum!

More Celebrating!

Vera went down this morning to help Carole with sewing at the Church's Girls Club.  I worked with the pictures from our trip yesterday, did the blog for it and put some of the pictures on Facebook.  When she got done, we headed out to get the mail and do a few local garage sales.  I was successful at the Post Office, my new nose gear for the Eurofighter came in.  The garage sales had lots of stuff, just nothing we were interested in.  We spent a grand total of 20 cents for two paper backs.  The rest of the day was spent getting things ready for the swap meet tomorrow at the Toledo High School.

At 4:30 we headed down to Mik and Michelle's for a family birthday celebration for Vera.  That new Smoker/Grill is working out great!  The chicken tonight was delicious!

 Besides the chicken, we had garlic bread, salad and fruit.  After dinner we had a nice time visiting and watching baseball.  Virginia and South Carolina were tied 2 - 2 and it went 13 innings before South Carolina won.

Just before Bev left, I got a birthday picture of the girls.

Vera's Birthday Beach Trip

We were up early and off to the Oregon Coast to spend the day celebrating Vera's birthday.  It was a nice trip as we had no schedule.  The first thing was a stop at the Hwy 30 upper view point for a picture of Longview and the bridge.  We do this just about every time we go that way.  The next stop was  near Clatskanie, the trees have been cleared providing a view we had never seen before.  Then we stopped at the Bradley Viewpoint to take pictures of Puget Island.  Our next stop was Costco, it was gone!  We found out there was a new store about a half mile up the road.  We stopped there for a couple of things and ended up spending $180, it was a nice store, just like the one in Lacey.  From there we went to Cannon Beach for lunch at a restaurant Carole had told Vera about.  It was raining in Cannon Beach, the only rain we had all day!

We split an order of Fish and Chips, I think that was the best halibut I have ever had.  The order was a monster also, I would have hated to try and eat the whole thing myself.

After lunch we headed toward Tillamook and stopped at a view point just South of Tolovana Park and took this picture.  We were out of the rain by now and this is the last time we used our jackets.

Oswald State Park has some fantastic views, this is towards Manzanita.  We spent quite awhile here enjoying the sunshine and taking pictures.

There are lots of plaques to read there.  Going during the week was sure nice, as there was never any crowds.

We went to the Latimer Quilt and Textile Center.  They have a room full of Looms that I really enjoyed looking at.  Vera was looking for a cone of yarn, but they did not have it this trip.  From there we went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory and did the self guided tour before having Sunday's for our dessert.

After we left The Cheese Factory, we headed home via Hwy. 6 to Cottage Grove and then over Cornelius Pass.  We made a stop at SurplusGizmos.com and I went in and looked around for a few minutes.  It is a goldmine for someone wanting to experiment with electronics.  While we were stuck in a traffic jam in Scappose, we decided on Freddie's for dinner and both had the Fisherman's Platter when we got there.  It was a good ending to a very nice day.

Visits and a Party

Barry and I were getting together for lunch today at the Centralia Papa Pete's.  I left early so I could visit Marie on the way.  I picked up the mail and took the slow way up via Jackson Hwy.  I was enjoying the scenery putting along, when I realized time had flown by and I was running late.  I changed over to I5 and I was at Marie's in under 10 minutes.  I had printed out my blog for her to read, she really enjoys it.  Vera had sent some books up for her to read.  We had a nice visit, once again time got away from me and I was almost late for lunch with Barry.  The pizza was great as always and we had a nice visit for a couple of hours.

After lunch, I filled up with gas and headed over to Bob's.  Bob had an issue with his new plane, the receiver would not bind with the transmitter.  I lucked out and got it going on the second try.  Bob and I talked flying and computers for awhile until it was time for me to head home.

I took a picture of Bob when he wasn't looking, of course he will see it when he reads this.  It was my third nice visit of the day.

Vera and I were out on the back deck talking over our day, when I realized that there was a birthday party tonight.  I checked my watch and I was already 10 minutes late.

Macee and Rielee are 16 and 6 years old.  Everyone was in a great mood and it was a fun party, so I am sure glad I remembered it.

82 Degrees!

What a beautiful day!  I went over to see the twins earlier today, because we had an appointment in Longview at Noon.

They were just coming out the door to play outside.  I watched them play with the bubbles and in the sandbox.  I took a couple of videos of them, here is the link to them.  http://www.vimeo.com/25437948

After the appointment, we picked up James so he could mow for us.

When I came out to take a picture of James, Vera pointed out this butterfly in our flowers.  I wanted a shot with it's wings clear open, but it was as bad as taking pictures of kids, it did not cooperate one bit.  After James finished mowing we took him to his friend's house to spend the night.  KFC sounded good for dinner, so we stopped in there before heading home.

Rain Again!

I had planned on flying today, but the weather was not all that great this morning.  I did my emails, then we ran down to get the mail and deposit a couple of checks. We were going to get Whoppers on the way home, but the grill at BK was broken and all they had was the deep fried stuff.   We decided to come home and eat instead.  The Smoothie I made was probably much better for me.

After lunch I put on my magnetic wrist band that Mik had found for me.  It is used to hold small parts while working on things.  I am headed out to the shop to work on the B-36.  I took one break to go over and see the twins.

I made good headway today.  I have one elevator and one aileron to do and the covering will be done.

Fathers Day

Saturday was pretty uninteresting, the mail, B-36 and charging batteries for Flying was about all I did, so I did not bother with the blog!

I had planned on going flying Sunday morning, but it was raining when I got up.  I puttered on the computer for awhile, and it was still raining, so I went to the shop to work on the B-36.  Every time I checked it was still raining, that was the end of the flying idea.  I covered on the B-36 until it was time to head for dinner with Mik, Michelle and James.

Mik had gotten a new Traeger Grill for his Birthday and Fathers day.  It was his first meal with it and things turned out great.  My favorite was the Asparagus he cooked in it, the best I have ever had!  The steaks were pretty darn good also.  We had a great time eating and visiting.

Just before we left there was a photo session, this is Michelle and I.

Mowing and Flying

Here is a picture from last night.  I took it on the way home from Mik's birthday party.  We noticed the sky turning color, so we ran up on the Headquarters Rd. and took a bunch of pictures.

We went to one garage sale this morning before heading to the flying field.  Vera found lots of sewing stuff.  I had finished loading planes earlier, so when we got home I loaded the leftover pizza and a spice cake Vera had made yesterday into the motor home's refrigerator and we were ready to go.  I took my mower along to help Leonard and Audrey do the runway.  By 11 we were done and ready to start flying.

This is Bob's Ultra Stick coming in for a landing.  We ended up with 9 people out there flying.

It wasn't long until the sun shade was up and everyone enjoyed it.  It has been a long time since it was this nice.

This is some of what I flew today.  We ended up staying until 6, when the wind finally came up.  After hooking the motor home to power, unloading it and watering the flowers I took a break on the deck.

It was nice sitting out there with the fire bowl going.  The first evening in a long time when it was warm enough to enjoy it.

Hyvaa syntymapaivaa Mik!

I had a great day and I got lots of things done.  The first thing on my list was changing oil in the car, motor home and mower.

This is the view under the motor home of the pan and drain plug.  I had to make one parts run today, I needed an air filter for the Blazer.

I took a couple of breaks and went over to watch and play with the twins.  During my morning visit, Steve drew this stick figure for the girls.  When he asked, they could point out the eyes and nose.

Harper was really flying down the slide during my afternoon visit.  She was almost jumping at the top.  Harper wanted me to sit with her on the new seats in the sandbox.  It was kind of low, but once I was down it was fine and I had a good time shoveling sand with them.

Hyvaa Syntymapaivaa Mik!

Finnish for "Happy Birthday Mik".

I watched a bunch of videos last night trying to learn how to pronoun it, no luck, so I gave up about 1AM and went to bed.  We met Mik, Michelle, James, Jim (Mik's brother) and Margret (Mik's Mom) at the Mexican restaurant in Rainier to celebrate Mik's birthday.  We had a good time and the food was great.  James and I had #29 which had baked bacon wrapped prawns on a bed of rice with cheese melted on top, with black beans and a salad.  Yum, I am still full!

Monokote and Play-Doh

The new lens for my glasses were in at Kaiser, so I headed there right after breakfast.  After that was done, I went and got some quotes for car insurance.  Two have been e-mailed to me and I am waiting to see what the third one is like.  I got home a little after Vera got home from bible study and had lunch.  Mik had sent some stuff up for Parker, Macee and Rielee so I went to take it over to Dianne's, but the Babies and Papa sleeping sign was up, so I covered on the B-36 wing until the sign was down.  The twins were just finishing lunch when I got there.  After lunch Ava wanted the Play-Doh out and I ended up playing with them, that was fun!  I had brought a Papa Murphy's Pizza home with me after getting the quotes.  Vera baked it and we had a great dinner.

I managed to get the left wing tip all covered with Monokote tonight.  Then I added a piece of Ultrakote to simulate the aluminum area of the real plane.  I had two nice phone conversations with Bob and Horty this evening.  Pictures and Blogs took care of the rest of the day.

Last Game

I got a little more covering on the B-36 today!  While I was researching where the aluminum covering went, the girls showed up.

I was sitting on the porch while the girls brought me rocks.  Ava came and sat beside me at one point.  I made a suggestion that they fill the play dump truck they had with rocks.  They had a good time doing that.

Here is Harper headed home with the dump truck.  I did some more covering on the B-36 until it was time to head for James' game.  Since it was the last game of the year, the coach mixed things up and let kids play positions they did not normally play.

James did pretty good at catcher, he had not played that position for 4 or 5 years.  Some balls got by him because the lacing in his mitt was broken and the balls would pop right through.  The kid that pitched had a tough time, he had not pitched all year and  the other team was hitting good.  We were down by 8 when they took him out and down by 10 before the first inning was over.  James played first base and center field after the first inning since his mitt was broken.

James hitting a double, the ball is blurry, because it was getting late and the camera shutter had slowed down.

James' last slide of the season, safe at second.  They never could catch up after getting so far down in the first inning and lost the game.  James played well and made an awesome catch of a pop up right in front of the other team's dugout.   He also made a throw from center field to second to end an inning. It was one of the coldest games in a while, I was sure glad it did not rain.

Planes and Baseball

After my morning routine, I went out to work on the B-36, that meant I had to clean a place to work, which took most of the afternoon.  I finally got started on the covering and got one aileron done when I found out James had a game tonight.  Vera was tired, so I headed down to the game about 5.

They were playing the team that beat them on Saturday.

They had a great game today and ended up winning in the 5th. inning on the 10 run rule.  They were ahead 17 to 2 at that point.  James did good, he was 2 for 4 batting with 3 RBI's.  He made the most awesome diving catch for the final out of the game.  That got him mobbed by the rest of the team.  They did a lot of smiling tonight.