Halloween

We had our first Trick-or-Treaters early today, Ava and Harper had quite the looks on their faces when they noticed my clown wig.

Rielee was our next visitor, she laughed when she saw me!

Bridget was fascinated with Vera's Nativity globe music box.

Jillian and Bridget had a great time exploring the house.

Tor was sleeping when they arrived, but finally woke up.  He was more interested in Thursday Night Football than smiling for me.  We had a great evening, we had 7 Trick-or-Treaters, that is more than we have had in many years. 

Sunrise!

When I opened the kitchen blinds this morning, there was a beautiful sunrise, so I grabbed a camera and headed out to take some pictures.  The thermometer read 34, but there was frost on the roofs again.  I spent the morning putting things away in the shop, I could hardly get through the door!  Vera had bible study this morning, after she got home and we had lunch, I installed a few more pieces of threshold.  This evening, I did some more cleaning so I could get to the Halloween decorations.  I got out the light up pumpkins and set them up for tomorrow night.

First Frost!

30 degrees this morning and lots of frost on the roofs!  I added an extra layer of clothes and it felt darn good all day.  Most of today was spent on the computers, Vera's copy of Windows 8.1 showed up, so I started right in on the installation and setup.

Ava and Harper showed up with a plate of cookies for Vera and I, they were very specific about which cookies went to each one of us.  One is missing, because I ate it when it was handed to me.  The installation went pretty good, then I made some changes so it starts up at the desktop and comes back to the desktop when you close an app.  Gizmag, an online magazine for geeks, had an article on how to do it and it had worked great on my computer.  I made a trip over later to visit the girls, that is always fun, we had found some learn how books when we rearranged the closet, so I took them over to give to them.  They did a little coloring on them right away.  I got some work done on the Corsair this evening before calling it a night.

Football, Football and More Football!

Sunday was mostly Football around here, I watched two games that I had recorded.  I did get one piece of baseboard done and set in place.  Michelle came up for a visit Sunday evening, we really enjoyed that!  I watched another of my recordings this morning, the Cowboys, Lions game and it had a great ending!  Vera took this picture of our oak tree this morning when the sun was highlighting the colors.

James had a game at LaCenter today, so Vera and I made a trip to Costco before heading to LaCenter.  If we have been to LaCenter, it was a long time ago, we were early for the game, so we drove around for a bit exploring.  It looks like casinos are the big business there, we counted at least four.  This section of town was kind of charming.

They have a nice little park on the South side of town that overlooks the East Fork of the Lewis River.

We went up to the field and watched the kids warm up and picked out our seats.  It was a beautiful afternoon for football and the visitors bleachers were in the sunshine.

James recovered this fumble!

James took some pretty good shots when passing, the line was not blocking too well.  He ended up with one passing touchdown and one quarterback sneak for a touch down.

They won, this is the final score.

James and Joey were having a good time while they sang the Monarchs song after the game.  We met Mik, Michelle and James at the Masthead for dinner after the game.  That was a nice end to the day, then I went home and watched the Seahawks' ugly win.

Busy Day for starting at Noon

I was still pretty sore yet this morning, so I puttered on the computer until noon.  Barry called and I had a nice visit with him, his back is sore also from helping a friend move.  Then I went out and hooked up the hoses to the heater and put on a couple of covers.  After I started it and checked for leaks, we made a mail run to check it out.  There is lots of hot air now without the smell of antifreeze.

After we got home, I decided to blow the leaves off the driveway and lawn.  I had a great time doing it!

The leaves are coming down all the time, so I got the helicopter out and ran two battery packs through it blowing the leaves around.  That was even more fun than mowing.

Almost done!

About noon, I went up and exercised Sam, then I went to work determined to finish the Blazer today.  Well, I did not make it, the heater core took a couple of trips in and out before the tubes lined up.  Then the ECM (Electronic Control Module) fought me tooth and nail before it finally slid into it's bracket.  The radio and glove box went in fairly easy, maybe a little too easy, because I had to take some screws back out to mount the radio bezel.  I was ready to quit when it was time to head for the Mark Morris game.  Tonight was homecoming and they were fired up, winning 49 to 22.  The girl in the Pink dress won.  James played on defense, and I missed it or there would be some pictures here.  I watch closely when they are on offense, but since he doesn't play defense regularly, I did not notice he was in.  I was pretty sore from all the wrestling around under the dash, so we headed straight home to the heat pad after the game.

This was not fun!

The Blazer has been loosing coolant for a week or so, yesterday when Vera got home from bible study I finally decided the heater core was the problem and needed to be changed.  I found instructions online of how to change the core without having to pull the dash.  I still had to take plenty of things out or loose.

It was still a time consuming hard job, but I finally got it out.  We made a run to the Longview NAPA where it was in stock and picked up a new one.  I was done for the day, so the new one will go in tomorrow!  After a great shrimp dinner, I got a couple of my blogs caught up, then settled in to watch Thursday Night Football.

Well, that was fun!

Vera had bible study today, while she was gone I got the radio controlled truck ready to try running the Ethernet cable under the house to Vera's computer .  It had been temporarily run on the floor for a couple of months.  I mounted a TV transmitter on the back of the truck and mounted a servo with a hook on it behind the front bumper.  When you look at the transmitter, it is about 1 inch square and contains the color camera, mike and a 2.4 Ghz transmitter.  We made a run to town for some boxes and conduit for running the cable down through the floor and insulation.

Once I got the first box installed, we gave it a try.  I put the truck in through the access door on the East side and drove it up to where the wires come through.  I hooked onto a cable and asked Vera to wiggle the right one, of course, I had the wrong one.  I released it and moved over to the right one, I  hooked up  to the right one.

Then while I was turning around, I got tangled up in the other wires, this is what I saw then, the skirting and one of the cables.  I had to crawl up there and rescue the truck.  I brought it and the cable out while Vera fed the cable down.  Once I was out and we had all the cable pulled to the access door, I hooked it onto the truck and drove it to the West access door without any problem.  I put the other box in and got the cable hooked back up to Vera's computer.  At least the truck saved me one trip across under the house.

The Long way home!

We went up this morning to visit Marie, when we got there, we found out she had fallen a couple of days ago and cracked a rib.  The staff is keeping a close eye on her, three people showed up to check on her while we were there.  When another visitor showed up, we left and stopped by Bob's for a nice visit.  As we were leaving, we mentioned that we were going to the Berry Fields Cafe for lunch.  Bob told us that the building used to be the Elks lodge when he was Exalted Ruler.  He told us about how it was laid out when the Elks were there.  It sure made our lunch a lot more interesting knowing the history of the building.

When we finished lunch and headed home, it was such a nice afternoon that we took a little longer way home.  We took 603 through Napavine to Winlock, it was pretty drive with lots to look at.  The picture of the barn at the beginning was taken during that part of our trip.  At Winlock, we took the Winlock Vader road to Vader, we drove around Vader a little and I took this picture of two house that were an older style.  One is fixed up nicely, the other is pretty run down.

I also took a picture of what appears to be the business district of Vader, not much left there now.  From Vader, we went down the Westside Hwy. to Castle Rock, picked up the mail and went home.  It was a very pleasant ride home

Monday Night Football

I did a little more on the baseboards today.  I had just made up a piece and I was headed to the house to try it, when Jerry stopped by.  We had a nice visit, talking about electric airplanes, of course I had to take him in the house to show off the new floor.  Fedex had shown up while I was talking to Jerry, when we got in the house, Vera just about had the new vacuum all assembled.  After showing Jerry everything, we were headed toward the door and Jeff showed up.  Vera took Jeff in to show off the floor.  When he came back out, I introduced them and Jerry talked to Jeff about some equipment Jeff carries in his store.  After Jerry left, I showed him the new Corsair and we talked for a bit before he headed home.  I went in to see how the vacuum worked, Vera had already used it in the living and dining room, so I tried it out in the computer room.  It works great and is much easier to to setup, operate and empty than the old one.

James had a game at Mark Morris today, so we headed down a little early and stopped at Jack in the Box to pick up dinner.  Some how, I had missed eating lunch and I was really hungry!  James played good at quarterback and did a little defensive playing also.  He had one of his passes go about 50 yards for a touchdown.

The final score, James and the JV squad played the first and third quarters, the freshman squad played the second and forth quarters, not all the schools have freshman teams.

After every game they come over and sing the school song to the crowd.

Vera has been fighting a sore throat, we got there early enough to get her favorite spot where she can see most of the field and watch the game from the Blazer.  When we got home, I settled in and watched Monday Night Football.

Darn Mower!

Vera went to church this morning, I paid bills and got one more baseboard installed.  After lunch, I made up two more and started on the trim for the door ways.  Right away, I noticed that it was stained, so we decided to pick up new tomorrow.

Vera was taking pictures of the lawn and bushes that have turned.  I notice in the pictures that the grass is growing and the leaves are falling, which means I will have to get the darn lawnmower out again.

My expensive leaf blower.

I worked on the floor project some more today, I got some of the thresholds put down and made up another section of baseboard.  We made a mail run this afternoon, then we went for a ride.  We went down Pleasant Hill Rd to Ostrander, crossed over to Lexington and came up the West Side Hwy to Sandy Bend Rd.  We took Sandy Bend Rd to Wren Loop, went up Delameter Rd to Conger Rd.  Conger Rd is where I took the first picture, a lot of the leaves have fallen, but it still looks pretty in some areas.

Then it was up Ph-10 to Quick Rd, down Quick Rd to Umiker Rd, over Umiker to Ph-10 and finally home.  I made several photo stops along the way, this one was taken on Umiker Rd.

I took a break late in the afternoon and used the new Trex 500 to blow leaves off the driveway.  I ran two battery packs through it, and had a great time.

Toledo Flying

We got to the flying field in Toledo about 10:30 this morning, it was still a little foggy and low clouds.  About noon it cleared up and the rest of the day was really nice.  There ended up being ten people out there enjoying the day.

One of the guys brought out a new autogyro, the first time I have ever seen a model one fly.  I ended up putting in 12 flights on 6 of my planes.  Vera took the great picture of the Jet Ranger on it's second flight of the day.  We got home about 6 and after putting things away, I crashed in my chair for quite a while before coming in to do this.

Another trip to town

The Rainbow vacuum has been acting up, so I tore into it this morning.  It was a fight, but with Vera's help I got it apart and discovered a broken brush holder.  I had to quit after that and leave for my doctor's appointment, nothing major, just checking a few things!  My doctor informed me that I had to choose a new doctor as he was going to a new division.  We went and looked at all the pictures and I picked one that looks friendly.  That done, we had lunch at the Masthead, they had a new sandwich, the California Grilled Chicken that we tried and we both liked it.  We had a few more things to pickup at Home Depot, you can see one in the picture, the brass register.  I had also gotten a new tape measure that did not retract, it was guaranteed for life and Home Depot exchanged it with no problems.   We returned the Blazer battery for the core charge and headed home.  I put the trim around the stove (it also shows in the picture), I cut one piece too short (1/8 inch) so it is not all fastened down yet, but looks good.  I decided to fly tomorrow, so I put some batteries on charge and settled in to watch the Seahawk's win.

On one trip to check the batteries, I saw the moon was almost full, so I ended up back outside taking about a dozen pictures of it.

Putting things away!

Vera had bible study this morning, I sorted some of my aviation books and got them organized on the baker's rack by my chair.  After Vera got home, I made up some end panels for the bookcase and she started putting things back.

You can see the heat pad on my chair, my back is a little tender so I spent several sessions on it today.  I still have the baseboards to install and Vera has a couple of tote bins of stuff to put away, but the job is starting to wind down.  Vera made a great tasting tuna soap for dinner, I was adding some cheese to my bowl and dumped in about half the bag by accident.  I stirred it all together and added some oyster crackers and it turned out even better.

A big trip to town!

After doing a little measuring this morning, we headed to town for more supplies.  Our first stop was Waste Control to dump off the old rug and pad.  It was time for my monthly blood test, so Kaiser was the next stop, I got a great tech, she did not even leave a mark after the blood draw.  One of my last ones took two weeks to heal.  The next stop was Bev's, we had offered the left over flooring and underlayment to Bev last night, she was really excited because she is in the process of redoing a bedroom and there was more than enough left over to do the whole room.  The van was getting low on gas, so we stopped at Fred Meyer to fill up.  Since we were there, we went in to look at area rugs for the new floor.  We found a pattern we liked and bought four rugs.  Then we picked up a couple of items at Lowe's before heading to Home Depot for the baseboards we needed.

We liked the rug under the dining room table so well that we made another trip to Fred Meyer for one to put in living room.  Once we got things roughly where they will be we settled in for an evening of TV, something we couldn't do for about a week.

Finally!

You can tell Fall is here, Vera was out taking pictures of all the leaves that are turning color.

We started early on the floor today, I am using the slide hammer to put in the last row in the living room.

This flooring saw was sure great, after the first day, Vera did all the cutting with it.  That sure made it a lot easier on me not having to get up and down off the floor.

We got the floor all done in the dining room today.  Then we cleaned up most of the tools and got some put away.  Steve stopped by to see how we were doing and we enjoyed showing him what we had done.  After cleaning up and having some pizza for dinner, I settled in to watch Monday Night Football.

Getting closer!

I forgot to mention on Friday when I left for James' football game that the Blazer would not start.   I ended up taking the van, half way there, I remembered I had forgotten my stadium chair.  The band was selling seat cushions for a buck, so I bought one, that sure made it a lot nicer watching the game.  Saturday I put the charger on it and still no go.  I waited a little too long before running to NAPA and they were closed, so I went down today during our noon break and got a new one.  It sure starts good now!

This is how far we got today.  That little closet in the hall sure took a long time to do!  Fitting around the stove and doors was time consuming also.  I did not get as far as I had hoped, but it is looking pretty good.

I did make it out to the shop for a little while this evening, when I came back in the moon looked so nice that I got the camera and went back out for this picture.