Baseball

James' Babe Ruth All Stars Team was in a Tournament at Winlock today.  Vera and I went up for the first game.  They had a tough time with errors and lost the game.  This is James pitching in the second game of the day, he pitched 3 innings, the first two were great with the other team not scoring any runs.  The third inning you could see his arm was getting tired, he ended up throwing 75 pitches, and the other team did some more scoring. They ended up losing that game also.

During their third game of the day, they were playing James' buddy Levi's team.  Levi was pitching and has just walked James, I think the grin is a little payback for Levi winking at James when he was pitching to him.  This was not their weekend to win a game, but this one was close, 9 to 8.  I had pizza at Papa Pete's with Mik, James and Levi after the game.

Love Power Tools

Yesterday I put the motor home in it's car port, today a bush got in my way when I went out to it, so I got out the cordless hedge trimmer to cut it back.  By the time I got done, I had been around most of the trails cutting back brush.  Then I got out the cordless chain saw to take out a dead tree across one trail, there was still lots of battery charge left, so I took out a maple tree that was shading a fir tree we had planted.  The fir tree in the picture was behind the maple from our point of view, now we can see it fine from the deck.

While I had the camera out, several blossoms attracted my eye, so I took some flower pictures.  I did get a little airplane work done this morning before it got warm outside and I started working out there.

  I will end tonight with a picture of our pink carnation.

Mowing and Flying

Since the forecast for Friday looked like there might be rain and it was my turn to mow at Toledo, I decided to mow today.  When I got there, Ken was just leaving, but ended up staying, helping move tables and mowing the parking area.  When I got done mowing, I used the weed eater around the fence and trailer, then hooked up my bagger and collected most of the grass by the fence and trailer.

I had two planes with me I wanted to test fly when I finished mowing.  I got the glider out first, put a battery in it and walked out on the runway to launch it.  I gave it a throw and added power and it stopped and fell to the ground.  It was not hurt, so I walked further out on the runway and threw it harder, same result but I broke the prop this time.  I decided to just launch it and see how it glided, that went fine, so I walked up the runway some more and threw it again.  It went clear to the end of the runway!  On the way to pick it up, I realized I had not checked the motor rotation, it was backwards and every time I had added power, it was like putting the brakes on with the prop pushing instead of pulling.  At least it is an easy fix, just swap two wires and put on a new prop blade.  My other test flight of the Cessna went great, so we packed up and headed home.  I was late getting up for our walk this morning, so I missed my shower, after dinner I headed in to get the dust from mowing washed off.  When I went out the lock up the shop, it had rained, so maybe I was right to mow today!

Birthday Flower

Vera's bible study group had a birthday lunch for Vera after class today, one of  the ladies gave Vera this beautiful Poppy.  While she was in class, I worked on the little glider and made a run to town for the mail because my liquid masking had came.  I applied a coat of it to the canopy I want to paint, the instructions said it had a 1 to 2 hour drying time, but overnight was better, so I left it for tomorrow.  I was thinking positive this morning and put on shorts, when it got up to 74, I went out, started weed eating and mowing.  It was getting pretty darn warm by the time I finished.  We also discovered what we think is a bloom coming up from one of our water lilies.  They have sure been a lot of fun watching them.  I settled in and spent the evening watching American Ninja Warrior recordings.

A little variation.

I did not take any pictures today, so I went back to the oldest digital pictures I have, this picture was taken on 6/26/1999, it is the kids over at Dianne's.  You can see this was before the driveway was paved.

After our walk this morning, we ran up to Chehalis to take Mark his money from the swap meet, it was a quick trip, up and right back.  Then we picked up the mail and I put my swap meet money in the credit union.  I did some cleanup on the desk today, I was only about 3 months behind on filing things.  After lunch, Barry showed up and visited for awhile, I showed him how good my new helicopter flies, maybe there will be another one in the family.  Then I went out and messed with planes all afternoon.  I took a short break for dinner and got in a couple more hours of repairing a glider I crashed last summer.  It is looking pretty good and I should have it done tomorrow.

A normal Monday

I almost did not make it up in time to walk this morning, I barely had time to eat a banana before we headed out.  The foxglove on the dredge spoils looked really nice in the morning sun, so I had to take a picture.  My day was pretty uneventful, walk, breakfast, mail, models, see what the twins were doing, flying the little helicopter and TV in the evening.  It is a good thing I took a picture or this would be really short.  I hope you had as relaxing a day as I did!

Parka?

Boy it felt good to sleep in this morning, the last few days were pretty busy, getting ready for the swap meet and then the event itself.  I went out to the shop and started putting stuff away, in the process I found another bunch of motors. I guess they will be seed for next year's swap meet.  James had a 9 AM game today, but it was raining, so we decided to stay home.  Mik let us know there was a game at 1:30, I went to the Toledo field first to drop off parts to the plane I gave away yesterday.  They were not there, but their friend was, so I left them with him.  When I got out of the car at Toledo the sky and clouds looked so nice I had to take a picture of them.

When I got to the game, they were just finishing the first inning.  I had just gotten set up when James came up to bat.  He got a hit his second time up, and ended up scoring on a hit by a teammate.

Here he is coming into third during that inning.  I had forgotten my billfold, I thought I was going to have to tough it out with no lunch until I finally remembered there was some money in the Blazer, so I got to eat a burger while I was there.  Just after I finished my lunch, it started raining and got really cold, I ended up getting my parka and stadium blanket out of the Blazer.  I did not use the blanket, but the parka felt great!  This is some strange weather we are having.  After I got home, sat down for a few minutes and that turned into a nap.  When I woke up, I went to the shop and put 3 flights on the new helicopter and did some more cleanup.

On the way in for the evening I noticed the moon was out, so I came back out with the camera and took a few pictures of the moon.  This day sure seemed to fly by!

Swap Meet

This is what we took to the swap meet today!  The best thing is we did not have to pack much home.  I sold a bunch of motors and the three airplanes leaning against the lockers.  Most of the stuff I was selling for Mark got bought also.

Some of the people had left by the time I took this picture.  Lots of things were bought, sold and traded.

After the swap meet, we went to Jeff and Tina's for a barbecue, Tina is sitting and Jeff has the red shirt on.  We had a great time there and I won my first ever game of pool.  They surprised Vera with a birthday cake and we all sang Happy Birthday to her.  It was a very enjoyable visit with lots of laughter and delicious food.

New Territory

We were up early and off to the Toledo High School this morning to help with the set up for the Swap Meet.  There were six of us, so the setup only took 30 minutes.  Afterwards Vera and I went down to the South Lewis County Park to walk their trail.

It was raining lightly, but we had two umbrellas in the Blazer.  This picture is taken from the Northwest side of the lake.

When I stopped at the South end of the lake to take a picture, these geese thought I was going to feed them and headed right over.

Just as we got back to the Blazer, I head the sound of a round aircraft engine, they have a sound all their own.  I looked around and there was a B-17 headed North just under and sometimes in the clouds.  It was quite a treat, there are not many of them left flying.  Next we headed to Chehalis, I am helping a former club member in a nursing home sell his equipment and he had some for me to pick up.  First we stopped at Staples for some printing supplies and then we had lunch at the Saltzer Creek Restaurant (formerly Skippers).  After picking up the stuff from Mark, we came home and I spent the afternoon pricing it and some of my stuff.  Jeff and Tina stopped by to picked up one plane I had for sale, and we had a nice visit.  It took awhile, but the motor home is finally loaded and ready to go.

What a good way to start the day!

I had just time enough before our walk to get in a flight with the little helicopter, that was a good start to my day!  No one else showed up, so it was just Vera and I walking, it was the nicest morning yet for a walk, warm and no wind or rain.  After we got home, I finished putting price tags on the motors I am selling at the swap meet.  Once I heard the girls playing outside, so I went over to watch.

There was lots of activity as Jillian and Bridget were there to play.  They were making soup in the bucket.  I also got a couple of the planes loaded before we made a mail and grocery run.  After lunch, I ran the weed eater around the house and shop, then I started mowing.  I think the lawn looks better than it has for years.  This evening I got the rest of the planes and motors loaded into the motor home.  I put new landing gear on one of my P-51s, then I searched for about a half hour for the glue so I could put the gear doors on.  I checked every where twice and finally Vera decided to help me, the route she took to the shop led us by the garbage can and there it was sitting on top.  I had set it there when I hooked the power back up after mowing.  After using it on the gear doors, I flew one of my bigger helicopters and went in.  Vera asked if I had loaded the video tapes I was going to sell, no I hadn't, so back to the shop once more.  This nice weather sure inspires a person.

Wednesday

I spent the better part of today finding prices for these motors that I plan on taking to the swap meet Saturday.  I did find time to get out in the sunshine and fly three flights with my new helicopter.  It was sure nice to have some warm weather, I was able to break out my shorts and sandals.

This evening we went to a birthday party at Papa Pete's for Charb, Macee and Rielee.

This is Rielee and Macee opening their presents.

Charb was busy keeping track of the twins, they were loving the Merry Go Round.  We had a good time, there was lots of family there and our combination pizza was great.  I am sure glad I called in the order before we got there, it was ready just after we got there.

Great Grandpa

Yep, Vera and I are Great Grand Parents!  John Patrik Patzer was born at 2:51 AM today.  He weighed 6 pounds 4 ounces and is 19 inches tall!

Both are doing OK, it has been a long 6 weeks in the hospital for Jackie.

Monday and Tuesday, we walked and I spent most of both days working on planes for next weekend's swap meet.  By the end of today, I had 4 ready to go, now I have to price a bunch of engines that I am taking up.

Happy Fathers Day

Yes, I had a happy Father's Day, first thing this morning I tried out my new 12 volt air compressor pumping up the air bags in the motor home while Vera went to bible class.  Then I played with my new helicopter until it was time to run down for church.

They had a very nice Father's Day service, the choir sounded really nice.  After snacks and visiting with a classmate, we headed home and had pizza before I had to run back to the mall.

I had the 2 until 5:30 shift with Rick (in the yellow shirt) today.  Several members showed up to help us haul our planes out, so we were all done at 5:45!  Thanks to Gary, Mike and Allison for helping me pack my planes out.  Once I got home, I got on lounging clothes and settled in to get caught up on my magazines.  It was a busy weekend, but lots of fun.

Happy Birthday Mik!

I was up early and headed for the 3 Rivers Mall to help set up for the Cowlitz Valley Radio Control Flyers weekend display there.  A bunch of members showed up to help, so it went pretty fast.

James and I were scheduled to work the first shift at the display.  James brought his friend Dalton with him.  They got me lunch and watched the display while I made a bathroom run.  They also got Mohawk hair cuts while we were there, they are on the Babe Ruth All Star team for 14 year old players and they would like the whole team to get them.  After our shift was over, we ran home to swap rigs and pick up Vera.  Then it was off to a combination Mik's Birthday Party and Fathers Day celebration at Mik and Michelle's.  Mik cooked a great brisket on the Traeger for dinner.  Then we had apple pie instead of birthday cake, what a nice way to finish out the day.

TGIF

Not really, just kidding, Friday's seem about like every other day!  We had a nice walk this morning, warm enough that my coat was unzipped early and then off will before the end of the walk.  I put up the deck umbrella today and watered the flowers hoping for some more nice weather.  I was eating lunch when I got a call that the club mower had broken a belt and they wondered if I had the manual for it.  I had a spare belt in the motor home, so I said that I would run it up to them.  I grabbed the new helicopter just in case  I got a chance to fly.  It turned out that it was the other belt on the mower deck that broke, Leonard and I ran down to NAPA in Toledo, but no luck there.  Leonard and Audrey took the numbers off the mower and ran to Chehalis for a new belt.

After they got back and the mower had been repaired and tested, they surprised us with hot dog, chips and a new potato salad recipe that Leonard had made.  It was good, I hope he brings it to the next club picnic.  I got in three flights while I was there.  Then I came home and finished loading the motor home, it is all ready for the weekends mall show at 3 Rivers.

Only a 5 Stop trip today.

After our walk, we headed right down to Longview as we had several things we wanted to get.  The first couple of stops went good, then the third one took a while when they had made the plaque wrong.  Then, I wanted to get some liquid masking for the Mustang canopy, no one had it, so we headed home so I could order it online.  A funny thing happened at the post office, I got a catalog from Micro Mark and they had liquid masking on sale.  I did not make it past the bakery today, I ended up stopping for a cream horn and a chocolate bismark.  After we got home, I fired up the gas weed eater to see if it ran, it did and I wandered around using up a half tank of gas.  When I stopped, I was reminded why I like the electric one, my hands were tingling!  Later, I got the new helicopter out and flew 3 flights with it.  Then I set up the new transmitter with two other models and flew both of them.  It was a good day, everything went pretty much as planned.

How to make a trip worth while!

I over slept this morning and had to hustle so I would not miss our walk.  I almost talked myself into a cream horn for breakfast afterwards, but managed to  drive by the bakery on the way home.  After a quick change of clothes we headed for the Costco in Lacey.  Our first stop was to visit Marie, from there we went to Jiffy Lube.  I had noticed the oil was down a quart and pretty dirty before we left, so I planned on getting it changed today.  We had lunch at Dairy Queen and then headed North.  Next on the list was Harbor Freight, just to look around at the guy stuff.

It only cost us about $30 to get out of there.  From there, we went to visit Barry and Mona, we had a great time there!  Then it was off to Radio Controlled Hobbies over by Costco.  I ended up getting my fathers day present from Vera there, a new Blade mCPx helicopter.  Costco was fun, not many people and no rush, so we enjoyed our shopping.  We stopped at Long John Silvers/KFC for dinner, I don't think we will have the Long John Silvers side of the menu again, it was not too good, well, the Pepsi was OK!  As we were coming through Chehalis, Vera suggested stopping by Bob Stedham's for a visit, it sounded great to me, so a quick call, he was home, so we stopped and kept him from his dinner while I emptied his candy dish a little.  After we got home and unloaded, I charged the batteries for the new helicopter, got the transmitter set up and did a test flight.

If you look close, you can see it in my right hand.  It flew great, it is amazing how much electronics they can put on a little board now.

Tuesday

I could not think of a good title for today that did not make me seem like an idot!  When I was going to write the blog Tuesday night, I couldn't think of anything interesting, then when I was in bed, it came to me.  I had ordered pond stuff and it showed up Tuesday!  Our water lilies started sending out roots, so I did some research online and found out we needed aquatic potting mix, plus fertilizer, I also ordered pots to put them in.

Now all three of them are in pots, next I need to get some rocks to cover the potting mix so it does not show.

Monday

We were back walking this morning, it must have got me going because I got lots done.  I decided to trim the oak tree today, while I had things out, I also trimmed the crab apple tree and along some of our trails.  Thankfully the battery finally ran down before I had more on the ground than I could pick up.  As it was, it took me quite a while to get it all gathered up.  In the afternoon, I put a new LED light over the stove in the motor home and filled the tank with water, we had used all of it yesterday when we dumped the holding tank.  I spent some time this afternoon looking for parts to a Cessna 182 I am going to sell.  By the time I finally found them, I had organized several areas of the shop.  Today was the first day in a long time that it was nice enough for shorts and sandals, I really enjoyed that.  I spent the evening getting caught up on a couple of magazines and the latest Mythbusters episode.  No picture today, I thought about taking one on our walk, but forgot.

A big day of flying!

We were the first ones at the Toledo field and the last ones to leave, it was a great day of flying.  During the course of the day, we had about 20 club members there.  I did a rough count from our pictures and my memory (not always the best way to do it) and there were about 40 airplanes and 6 helicopters there today.

I put in two more flights on the B-36 today, the landing on the last one was my best one yet, it settled on the main gear and ran along with the nose wheel in the air for 50 or 60 feet.

The last plane I flew today was the Spacewalker of my friend Dick Evans, it is a cute little plane and flies great.  There was a big discussion about this bird they could hear (I don't hear them after 40 years at the Fibre), they finally spotted it in the only tree around and I got a picture of what I understand is a meadowlark.

The sun was getting pretty low by the time we left, we took our normal slow way home and had a good time talking over the day.

Lawn Day

After going around the lawn yesterday with the new trimmer, I wanted to mow today.  It was pretty chilly this morning and the grass was damp, so I went out and did more cleaning in the shop.  When it finally warmed up, I went around the shop, house and lawn again and did a few areas that I missed yesterday, the trimmer out lasted me again, that thing is an animal!  When I went to mow, I had to install the bagger, as I had it off while I was spraying.  The cover fought me tooth and nail for a while, but I finally won.  Then one tire was flat, so I squirted some sealer into it.  I have new ones, I have just not gotten around to mounting them yet.

The lawn ended up looking pretty good, it has been a while since it was trimmed and I had lots of debris to bag.  Naturally the wind blew like crazy while I was mowing and maple leaves were coming down right behind me.

The big search!

We went to town today for my monthly blood test, after I had it, we had several errands to do.  The first was getting a plaque made for a club member who had passed away, that only took a few minutes to get ordered.  Then it was off to Lowe's to get a new string trimmer I had been looking at online.  It turned out they did not carry it in the store, so it was off to Safeway for Pepsi and Pretzels.  I had a list of things I wanted to do at Fred Meyer, while I was in there, I checked out their string trimmers, but they did not have any I liked.  After lunch at Arby's and a stop at Papa Murphy's for a couple of stuffed pizza's that were on special, I decided to try finding a string trimmer at Home Depot and Sears on the way home.

I found one I liked at Home Depot, a 40 volt Ryobi, I went out and assembled it first thing when we got home and put the battery on charge.  When it got to 75 % charge, I couldn't stand it any longer and took it out to try it around my porch which had gotten pretty  tall.  It worked great, so I put it back on charge.  Later, the rain let up and it was fully charged, so I took it out and did around the shop, house and lawn.  I was tuckered by then, but it was still going strong with 50% charge left.  My old one would just barely do around the house before it ran down.

Windows 1, Alan 0

I think we are officially members of the FWW,  Fair Weather Walkers, it was raining this morning so I headed for the shop, but first a stop to see what the twins were doing.  Jillian and Bridget were there playing with the girls and the noise level was definitely a couple of levels higher than normal.  When I finally got to the shop,  I looked at the windows of the P-51 and found something else to do.  I decided to cleanup some more out there, I am glad I did, because one of the first things I found was the hood to my parka.  I took it right in and showed Vera, then went to the Blazer and zipped it onto the parka.  I made good progress on cleaning up my drawing table (that is where the hood was) and sorted lots of papers that were on it.

James had a choir concert tonight, we really enjoyed it.  The 7Th and 8Th grade men did a song called "Men of the Choir" that was great!  Then the entire choir of 6Th, 7Th and 8Th grades (160 kids) sang the last song of the night and did a great job on it, because they had never all practiced it together.

When Vera and I got to the Blazer, I took a picture of the sunset over the Cascade football field.  After a stop at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard, we came home to do the blog.

Pruning Time

My plan for today was to prune the rhododendron that the snow had bent down onto the blueberry bushes.  It was a little chilly early, so I worked on the P-51B.  I decided that in three days I will probably be re-masking the cowl and repainting the red again.  You can see the difference between the paint on the cowl and canopy and the fuselage.  The wing fillets were also that color before I painted the fuselage.  I am not looking forward to masking off the canopy, those windows are going to be a pain!

When it warmed up, I got the 4 wheeler and the trailer out, I wanted to use the trailer for hauling branches, the problem was it was full of dirt from digging the pond.  I had made a screen, so I ran all the dirt over it and used it to fill in around the pond.  Then I attacked the rhododendron bush, I have a winch hooked to it that I have been slowly pulling it back into position.  I couldn't go any further because it was hooked into the dogwood tree.  I ended up pruning both of them quite a bit and then pulling the rhododendron up some more.  By the time I got all the limbs hauled away and cleaned up the area, it was dinner time.  Once my tummy was full, I sat down to put a little heat on my back and promptly fell asleep.  I had just woke up when James, Levi and Mik stopped by to visit after their basketball game.  Mik had tried to call us, but I did not hear the phone while I was working.  After they left, I took pictures of the P-51, the rhododendron and a flower that wintered over, it was a big surprise when we discovered several had survived.

It looks pretty good, I have been giving it lots of Miracle Grow.

Monday and Tuesday

Monday

I did some unloading of the motor home, puttered in the shop cleaning up the mess I made getting the B-36 and Dick's plane ready to go.  There is sure a lot more room to move around with the B-36 out of there.  Just after lunch, I checked the tracking on a couple of packages I was expecting and they were both at the Post Office.  I went down to get them and got a bonus, Vera's book was there.  I wore my Brikenstocks the rest of the day, this pair fit a little better.

Tuesday

Today, I got going on the P-51B that I started a while back.  The paint did not match in places and I had stopped on it until I found a solution.  Krylon came out with a new flat camouflage color that was just what I wanted, we had picked up a can of it at Evergreen Paint a couple of weeks ago.  I took all the bubbles out of the covering, sanded it lightly and started spraying parts, so far it is turning out great.

James had a game this evening, so we ran down to watch it after dinner.  Man was the wind blowing down there, I was sure glad my parka and stadium blanket were in the Blazer.  Even with a bum knee, James played good, they had one bad inning, where the other team had a two out rally and scored a bunch of runs.  James pitched the last inning, I think he only faced 3 batters, two fly outs and one strike out.  After we got home, I did a little more painting on the Mustang's cowl.  Of course as I was taking off the masking tape a piece touched the fresh paint and left a mark.  I touched it up and we will see how it looks tomorrow.  If it needs repainting, I have to wait 3 days for the paint to cure.

Another big day!

We were up early again today and left at 7 for the Goble field, there was a club meeting at Noon, so I wanted to get in some flying first.  The grass was fairly long, so Tom started mowing it, while he was doing that, I put the B-36 together.  When I finished with it, I got my hearing protectors and took a turn on the lawn mower so he could get his planes together.  I got in a couple of flights before the meeting.

After the meeting, I flew the B-36 for Jerry as he had seen the videos, but had never been there when I flew it.  After that flight, I put it on the runway for a photo session.

The decals sure make it look a lot better!  I spent the rest of the afternoon flying and visiting.  We ended up leaving about 5 again today and after a stop for gas at Fred Meyer, we had a nice relaxing ride home over the Delameter Rd.

Friday and Saturday

Friday

After our walk Friday morning, I spent most of the day getting everything loaded for the club picnic on Saturday.  Then, I was sure to hit the hay early for the big day.

Saturday

Saturday morning, I was wide awake about 6 AM, we headed for Toledo about 7 and were the second ones to the field.  Dick had two flights in by the time we got there.

This is the South half of the pits at 10, we had a pretty good turn out of 33 people, 55 airplanes and 11 helicopters.  Vera had made a fruit salad with rhubarb, strawberries, marshmallows, cool whip and strawberry Jello, it turned out great and there was hardly any left to take home.

Vera got a great shot of the B-36 on a low pass, I flew it twice today.  The plane of my friend Dick Evan's that I have been working on all week, flew great!  We headed home just before 5 and I had time to do some unloading and hook up the power to the motor home before going up to Will's graduation party.  I had a great time talking with the everyone.  Mik, Michelle and James stopped by afterwards for a while, we really enjoyed their visit.