And the camera works great!

While Vera was waiting for me to get the quad ready, she was taking pictures of the roses that the deer didn't get.

This is the first quad flight with the GoPro in it's stabilized mount.  It flew fine, I couldn't tell any difference from without the camera.

I was going to take some pictures during the first flight, but I got the button sequence wrong and took a couple of pictures of myself, but none while I was flying.

I did take a short video during that first flight, this is a screen capture from that flight.  I made several more flights during the day, once as I was walking out to the shop, I saw the girls, Rielee, Ava and Harper playing on the hammock, so I got the quad out and flew over there taking video.  Their reaction was great and I had lots of fun on that flight, below is a link to the video.

Kids playing!

It Flies!

The LCRC had a swap meet today at the Toledo high school.  I took three planes, some starters and a few miscellaneous items that were laying around.  I sold one plane, gave two away and bought one kit.  I took tickets for awhile until someone had a question about the plane I sold, then I wandered around looking at things and visiting with friends.  It was a fun day!

While I was gone, Vera took these pictures of the clematis and water lilies after it rained.

 After I unloaded, I went back to work on the new quad and finished the landing gear that came yesterday.  It took me a little while to get the speed control programmed, but then I was ready for the first flight.  When it got light on the skids, I could tell the fore and aft control was reversed, so I shut it down and reversed it in the transmitter.  The next attempt went great and I flew it around the yard for several minutes.  Just being bigger seems to make it fly better.  Now I can finish tying down the loose wires, add lights and see about mounting the GoPro on it.

Cinnamon Rolls to the rescue!

When I finished with breakfast, emails and the NASCAR race I was watching this morning, I went looking for Vera.  I finally found her  out working on the ditch.  We finished digging it, prepared the drain lines, put them in and checked that they had a slope with the level.  Then we started covering it up, only to run out of gravel, so it was off to Swanson's again.  But before we left, we mixed up 3 bags of cement and leveled the cracks in the patio.  At Swanson's, we got a half a yard of pea gravel, stopped at Dairy Queen for a late lunch and got gas before heading home.  We finished filling the ditch, by then the cement was pretty well set up, so we started laying the pavers.  We did a double row along the North and East sides and it went pretty good until the last couple for the day.  The tiles just would not go down over their clips!  About then, Harper, Ava, Steve and Dianne showed up with fresh cinnamon rolls.  We showed them what we had been doing and the girls tested the pavers a little.  After they left, the cinnamon rolls only lasted about a minute, but they provided a burst of energy that helped me finish the last two pavers.

A busy couple of days

This part of the load of Envirotile we picked up Tuesday.  Wednesday while Vera was at bible study I started pressure washing the patio.  When I finished that, and we had lunch, we made a run to Home Depot for some drain line and concrete leveler.

I laid out some of the Envirotile to get an idea of how it is going to look.  We also did some digging on a ditch for the drain line, we have always had a problem with water collecting on the patio during heavy rains, so I have high hope of curing it this time.

My new quad came on Monday, I got started on it Tuesday night, getting the basic frame bolted together.  Today I worked on it some more, getting the motor connectors soldered on and getting the motor wiring ran and loosely fastened down.   If you look close, on the floor in front of it is one of the propellers from the other quad I had.  This one is quite a bit bigger!  I also got a couple of planes ready for the club swap meet on Saturday.  I had a sudden burst of ambition this evening and I got about 3/4 of the ditch dug before coming in here.

The Cornerstone Cafe

After our walk, I hooked up the trailer and we went down to Goble to pick up the club lawnmower.  It sounds like a blown head gasket to me, after I flew a couple of flights, we headed for Woods Logging to drop it off for repair.

We had heard that Josh really likes the food at the Cornerstone Cafe in Rainier.  As we came back through Rainier with the mower, I asked Vera if she wanted to try it.  It is now high on our list of places to eat, it was excellent!

When we went across the street to take the picture of the cafe, I noticed the Pastime Tavern, since the folks ran the one in Castle Rock at one time I had to take a picture, the sign on the sidewalk made me chuckle.  We dropped off the mower after lunch, then went to Home Depot and picked up enough Envirotile to cover our patio and sidewalk. Envirotile is an 18 inch square tile made from recycled tires, the ones we got are Terra Cotta color to match the sidewalk we just did.

James had a game this afternoon, he is catching a foul ball in this picture.  The game did not go well and they ended up losing 14 to 7.  I made it outside to test the mosquito repellent hat this evening, and it worked!  The mosquito's would not come near my head and shoulders area.

Happy Birthday Vera!

We walked this morning with Pam and Don, Don sang Happy Birthday to Vera and Pam joined in.  I worked on newsletters for both clubs until it was time to meet Bev, Michelle, Mik and James for a birthday lunch at Appleby's.  Vera had saved all her cards so she could open them at the lunch, she got some really nice ones.

On the way out, we had a picture session by the front door.

James is getting to be a big young man, much more and he will be a head taller than Vera.

Mik, Michelle and James got Vera a new rain jacket from Columbia Sports store.  She got to try it out when we went out for dinner, as we came out of the 49er it was raining and the coat shed water just fine.

We hung the bird bath that Bev got Vera, it has a pattern of bubbles trapped in the glass that sparkles in the sun, I wonder how they do that?

I was going to try the mosquito repellent hat that Michelle gave me for father's day last night, but I waited too long.  Vera wanted a picture of it today and I had planned on testing it tonight, but it is raining now.

No Pianist!

We went to church this morning, it turned out there was no pianist, so they used recorded music for some songs and we were singing acapella for some.  There were lots of laughs when things did not go right, but we had a good time.

James had a pickup baseball game this afternoon, if you look close in the upper left corner you can see the ball after he hit it.  They were playing college kids home for the summer, at first it looked like they would really get blown out.  After a couple of innings, they got it together and made a game out of it.  I think they ended up losing by a run or two.

James played first most of the game until he got a cramp in his thigh and sat out the last couple of innings.  After the game we headed home and made a delicious dinner of shrimp, squash and roasted potatoes.

Dan's Celebration of Life

 There was a celebration of life for the twin's grandpa Dan today.  It started off with the military honors ceremony.  They presented the flag, fired a salute and played taps.  Not a word was spoken but it was very moving, even the kids were quiet.  Afterwards, his sons, brother and friends told some stories about Dan.  He was a nice guy, always pleasant and you could tell by the large turn out liked by many.  When the stories were done, we ate, visited with friends and I took lots of pictures.  Earlier, I had done some cleanup in the shop although it doesn't show that much, but I now have 4 Xacto knives in their drawer.  I haven't found all of them yet, but I am getting there.  This evening I was going to repair a cordless screwdriver that I keep in the motor home.  When I went to get it, I knocked it off the counter and it hit the aileron of the Super Cub, so I took both of them to the shop for repair.  The Super Cub is almost done as it just had a couple of small cracks.  The screwdriver on the other hand may get replaced as it has a bad switch.  The new season of Wipe Out starts tonight, so I am off to watch it, a nice laid back way to end the day.

Bubbles!

After breakfast while I was checking my emails, I heard Barry's motor home start up.  He was getting ready to hook up the PT Cruiser so he could head to Olympia.  It is a pretty slick rig, in about 5 minutes he had it all done.  After Barry left, we made a run to Kelso for some masonry cut off wheels for the grinder so I could work on the wall caps today.  We hit Safeway on the way home for a few groceries and gas.  Vera made the best roast beef sandwiches for lunch today, I was really full after that and it was a couple of hours before I worked up the ambition to start on the wall.

While I was cutting blocks, Ava and Harper showed up with new bottles of bubble stuff, after a couple of minutes talking to me, they wanted to know if they could go see Aunt Vera.  Grandma Dianne caught up with them while I was in getting the camera.  They were blowing bubbles and I suggested they blow them into the heat pump exhaust.

They loved that, we had bubbles flying everywhere!

I kept after the block cutting and I got all the wall caps for the corners cut and installed this afternoon.  One of the modelers had a twin he wanted to sell, he brought it by this evening and I ended up with it.  Just what I need, another project, but it will be a good one for next winter.

Flying

We walked this morning, and Barry went with us.  Pam and Don couldn't walk today, so it worked great, I had Barry to talk to.  Barry was planning on visiting people around the area today, so we headed up to Toledo.  I wanted to try out the camera stabilizer, it worked great!  With the stabilizer added there is lots of wiring in there where I am trying to hook the battery up.

Here is a screen capture from the video I took, Leonard is making a pass in front of my plane.  This is one of the better shots of other planes I have gotten.  There were seven of us out there and I had a good time.  Barry got back a little after we got home, we visited, I showed him the video from today and we watched a little TV before calling it a night.

It works Great!

I puttered in the shop this morning on a couple of planes.  A  little after nine, I heard a car and went to check, Vera had left for bible study, but Barry was up.  He invited me in, and we visited until almost noon, then we went in and had left over pizza for lunch.  Vera got home while we were eating and my new camera stabilizer had came in the mail.  While I was unpacking it, Barry went out to wash the PT Cruiser, it had a little run in with a herd of cattle on the way up, you will have ask him about it.

By the time he finished, I had the stabilizer hooked up and working and it works great!  I am showing Barry how steady it holds the camera.

While Vera had the camera out, she took a picture of this lily, she really likes the Nikon P510.

Barry had a couple of things to do and people to visit, so I spent the afternoon getting the stabilizer mounted and hooked up. I will be able to tilt the camera up and down while flying, so I am looking forward to seeing how the videos turn out, my next videos should also be a lot smoother.  Barry came by after a dinner with the Dolan's and we had a nice visit.

Barry is Here!

Vera felt like sleeping in this morning, so it was just Don, Pam, Peggy and I walking.  It was only 44 when I got up, but there was no wind, so the walk was nice.  I worked on the wall for 4 hours today and except for some pieces I have to cut, it is all done.  I was sure there were some masonry wheels for the grinder, but I couldn't find them.  I probably will find them after I get another set!  Barry showed up this afternoon, he had driven from Lakeview, OR today.  We visited for awhile, then went down to Papa Pete's for my birthday pizza.  We took Barry on a tour of the latest changes in Castle Rock when we were done.  After being up since 4:30, when we got home, he was ready to hit the hay.  It was a great day, I got lots accomplished, had a Papa Pete's pizza and had a great time visiting with Barry.  To top it all off, Vera made a batch of cocoa mounds this afternoon, YUM!

Another busy day

It was just Pam, Vera and I on the walk this morning, we hit the weather just right and it was nice the whole way.  After we came home and I had breakfast, we headed down to Home Depot for wall caps to finish the little retaining wall with.  After we got those, we stopped by Target and picked up some presents for JP's second birthday.  We wrapped it all up, then ran down to the post office and mailed it to him.  This afternoon, I put on a few wall caps to see how they looked and didn't stop until I had one section covered.  We had picked up a new planter for the corner, so we decided to make the change, it turned in to quite a job.  The old one was rotten and had ant nests in it!  When we started messing with it, it just fell apart.  The new one is metal, I hope it lasts the 20 plus years the old one did.  I had a call from Barry, he is on the way to Washington and will be here tomorrow or Wednesday.

Fathers Day

It was raining this morning, so we decided to stay home from church.  Vera read and I puttered on the computer until lunch time.  I was feeling like a fathers day treat, so off we went to Coby's and I got a big yogurt for lunch and took Vera next door for Jack in the Box.  When we finished lunch, we picked up some things at Safeway and headed home.  After I exercised Sam, we unloaded and settled in.  It wasn't long until I wanted to do something with the blocks.  We brought over another load of gravel and got the base leveled off.  Then we set the blocks you can see in the picture.

After dinner, I got the Champ out for a test flight with the new wing.  I had a great time shooting touch and goes, but I had to give it up after about 15 minutes as it was pretty chilly out there.

More Baseball

They had another game in the tournament today, James hit this one right to the first basemen, he bobbled it and was off the bag when he finally got a hold of the ball.  He tried to tag James, but James put a great move on him and he missed.

No B-29 today, but this Blackhawk flew by and I got a pretty good picture of it.  It was much nicer out there today, the sun was out at times and it really felt good!

James had to stretch out quite a ways for this out, then the runner ran into him.

They are having fun now, up 8 to 0, one of their players went over to the other team when one of their players had to got out and they were short a man.  He got a hit and got on base, then the pitcher and James were having a great time trying to pick him off.  After the game, Mik, Michelle and James picked up pizza at Papa Pete's and brought it up for dinner.  We watched some of the CWS  while we ate and had a nice visit, then I got to show off my projects and give Michelle her repaired solar charms.  I liked having them in the shop so much that I ordered my self a set.

More Baseball

We didn't do a whole lot today until James' makeup game from Thursday.  James is waiting for the pitcher in this picture.  I did not take many pictures today, it was darn cold out there!  You can see in the picture that everyone is bundled up.  Vera lasted about 5 minutes and headed back to the car.  I got hamburgers for us and it felt really nice sitting in the car while we ate.

This is James making an out at first, they did not have a good game and lost 10 to 0.  Maybe they were cold also!

Michelle now has a 3D printer in her class room, she brought along some samples of what she did today.  She printed out this nut and bolt, they screw together with very little play.  I can think of lots of things on my planes that one would work for.

B-29

While I was measuring for making a small retaining wall to replace some rotten railroad ties this morning, I heard a loud plane with round engines coming.  It turned out to be the Boeing B-29 SuperFortress  "Fi Fi" on its way to the Olympia Airshow.  I was wishing for a camera, but no luck this time.  After the measuring, we headed down to Home Depot and picked up the blocks.  After we unloaded them, it was back to Swanson's for a load of 5/8 minus gravel to put under them.  James had a game scheduled for today, but it got rained out.  I puttered most of the rest of the day away on the computer.

By the time we went to bed, it had rained almost a half inch, I am glad I did not have to be outside during that!

Baseball

James had a game tonight and they had asked me to take team pictures and it was time for my monthly blood test, so Vera and I headed down early.

It was a nice afternoon for a game, James started out pitching and pitched four innings I believe.  The game was zero to zero when he went out, but there were people on base.  He played first base after that and made some nice plays there. An error scored a run, and it was downhill from there, they ended up losing by 4 or 5 points.  Mik, Michelle, James, Vera and I all went to Hart C's for dinner afterwards.