A beautiful day for flying

Not long after we got to the Toledo flying field today Dan asked me if I would test fly his new Sukhoi.  It flew great with just a few minor trim adjustments so my first flight of the day was with his plane.

The next time I remembered to take a picture was just as I was getting ready for my fourth flight of the day with the silver P-51.  I ended up making sixteen flights on my planes and test flew three planes for other club members so I ended up with a total of nineteen.  We had a good turn out with ten other flyers also enjoying the beautiful day.  There were also bird watchers all over the area, apparently some rare for this area hawk had been spotted near the field.

Mt St Helens was sure looking good today, by the end of the day there was very few clouds left.

On the road again

We were up early and headed down to Avamere in Vancouver to take Marie to her new room at Prestige in Centralia.  Of course they were working on 205 and had it down to one Southbound lane.  Once we got by that it was smooth sailing but we were about a half hour later than we had planned.  While Vera took care of paperwork I went to find Marie.  She was waiting in the hallway all ready to go.  She slept most of the way to Centralia, she and I had a nice visit while Vera got everything arranged.  She has a nice private room, since she hadn't eaten, they fed her lunch right away and she ate quite a bit of it.  I don't think I could have eaten all that they gave her.  After we left there we got her paper delivery started again and then had a late lunch/dinner at the Berry Fields restaurant.  It was nice and relaxing taking Jackson Hwy home.

Dentist and James

I had a dentist appointment this afternoon.  We did some shopping and then had dinner at Freddy's just for the Halibut.  I wanted to see if Mark Morris baseball practice was still going so we drove over to where we could see the practice field and there was James coaching.  He is the assistant coach for the JV baseball team.  It was a good day, no cavities, a great dinner and seeing James.  It also got up to 63 degrees so we spent the day without having to wear coats.

Easter Lilies

Vera had bible study today, while she was gone I got the frame of another set of shelves put up in the cargo container.  Somehow the shelves had disappeared so I cut new one out of a sheet of plywood.

Later we took a walk looking for the perfect Easter lily.  This is the one I like best of all the ones I took pictures of.

This is the first time we have walked the trails when there wasn't a bunch of big limbs across them.

This group of lilies is just as we come out of Vera's trail, she used to have a bench on it to watch birds from.

We finished up by going around the yard taking picture of the flowers in bloom.  The daffodils and azaleas look really nice this year.

The Skylane is finished!

I worked on the Skylane today and got the "N" numbers cut on the Silhouette Cameo.  It took a couple of tries to get the size right but I am really happy with the way it turned out.  That was the last thing it needed, it is ready to fly now.  It will get two months to age as the Winter Build Maiden flight day is in June.  I wanted to get some pictures so I told Vera to let me know if the rain quit and the sun came out.

Finally at 5:30 the sun finally came out and I got the Skylane out into the only sunny spot and started taking pictures.

When I finished with the Skylane and had put it away I notice the sun on the trees and ferns so I stopped for a picture as I was going to the house.

That is when I heard the frog, I stood by the big pond for a long time but I could never see it even though I could sure hear it so I took a bunch of pictures of the waterfall.

I stopped at the small pond on the way in and took a couple of pictures of it's waterfall.  Right after that the sun was gone, it lasted just about fifteen minutes.  I also cleaned up the shop, swept the floor and put lots of tools away.

Lots of Sorting

It sure has been crazy weather, it was sunny and hailing on Thursday the 22nd.  I thought we were done with the cold weather, but we had 28 degrees again one morning.  We have been busy organizing and sorting in the cargo container.  We have put up three sets of storage shelves so far.  Friday I got power hooked up to it and we now have lights, a heater and dehumidifier in there.  Cargo containers are wind and rain proof but they draw moisture and it was starting to smell a little musty inside.  Two days with the dehumidifier running took care of that.

Sunday it was nice enough to work outside.  Vera was taking a picture of those clouds in the background when I happened to walk out of the shop so she told me to stand still.

The faucets for filling the ponds froze and cracked during the last cold spell when it got down into the low twenties.  I got it repaired and I am reinstalling it in this picture.  Today was work on the Skylane day and I am almost done with it.  The radio has been bound to it and everything programmed.  I just have to make couple of vinyl decorations for it and paint the wing struts.  Hopefully it will be nice enough tomorrow so I can take it outside for a couple of pictures.

A sunny day of flying

Monday we had to make a run to Chehalis and take care of a couple of things for Marie.  One of the best trips yet, we were all done and headed home in about a half hour.

Today I got my planes out as the fog was clearing, then I ran over the runway with the roller to smooth out the worm castings.

I added a couple more planes after the first picture and I flew all of them before the day was finished.

Vera's nephew Dave came over to watch, he lives in Vader now.  It is really nice that we have gotten connected up with him again.

My friend Doug picked up my camera and took this picture of me flying the Corsair.  I was sure surprised to find it when I downloaded the pictures.

I hope it shows up in the picture, Dan's wife made the pilot for this Chipmunk and used Dan's hair on the pilot.

After I had unloaded and put away the motor home I filled the pellet stove and got it going.  As I was locking up the shop I noticed the moon was out and took this picture.

Then I took several more leaning against the door of the shop, I took a couple more using the Blazer as a rest and the last one turned out to be the clearest.  It is probably the best one I have ever taken of the moon.  That was a nice end to a great day of flying.

Covering the Skylane wing

After breakfast, emails and news I went out and finished covering the Skylane's wing except for the wing tips.   Next I installed the motor, speed control, propeller and spinner.  That sure changed the way it looks.

I put out 8 new color changing solar path lights today.  When I came in from the shop I stopped to look at them and take a picture.  Of course when I took the picture four out of the five that show were green.

Sorting, Jordon and the Skylane

Tuesday the 13th was a day of rest around here, I wore my slippers all day.  I did go out to the shop and putter a little but didn't accomplish that much.

Wednesday the 14th we got started on the sorting of Marie's stuff and I put together a clothes rack we bought to hang Marie's clothes on.  I also got the shop cleaned up so I could do more work on the Skylane, then I finished covering the rudder and elevators.

I had a appointment with the dermatologist Thursday morning and ended up getting three basal cells removed.  That kind of slowed me down so it was that night before I got started on covering the Skylane's wing, so far it is turning out pretty good.

Friday was more sorting, Josh, Debbie and Jordon came by while we were working on it.  I had just found one of Marie's 2016 tax records and was telling them about why I needed them when Debbie told me 2016 was what I needed to file 2017 taxes.  I must have had a mental block about that for a minute.  They visited for a while, it was sure fun holding Jordon and playing with him.  Then they went over to Dianne's for a short visit.  I stopped them on the way back and asked for a picture so Debbie sat Jordon down by where I had been trimming and I took several pictures.  Of course right away he grabbed some of the stuff I had trimmed.  It wasn't long until he took a taste and Debbie took it away from him, it must not have tasted that good because he made a face.

Today we put in a short session of sorting, then took the recycling down.  I went out to work on the Skylane, I put the landing gear and wheels on.  Then I decided to put pinstriping on, I got out my box and found a blue that looked good.  It went great and I had the whole fuselage done when I quit for the day.

Monday Flying

We took Sunday off, skipped church then in the afternoon when it warmed up we did some sorting of Marie's things in the cargo container.

Today we went flying at Toledo, one of the first things we noticed was how nice the mountains looked.

I got the camera out and took some pictures of both Mt Rainier and Mt St Helens right away.

It was good to see Dan out again.  Last year he was in a motorcycle accident when a car made a left turn right in front of them.  He was Life Flighted to Seattle, after his left arm did not heal straight he had to have surgery on it and is still recovering from that.

Vera is enjoying the sunshine, it was a really nice day.

I got some extra flights in today when I test flew two new planes for Chuck and Roger.  Chuck's plane is the blue and white one with the wing off, Roger's is the one on the stand in the background.

I sure like my Nikon P900, I was able to zoom in on this RV-9 turning final for Toledo.

At 2:00, right on schedule according to the forecast I use the wind went from 3 mph to 15 mph.  It wasn't long after that we packed up and headed home.

Sunshine and Flying

It was a beautiful day at the field today.  The high was 63 degrees at the nearby weather station but it sure felt warmer than that.  I flew eight of my planes today for a total of about a dozen flights.  I also mowed and rolled the runway first thing because I was flying two planes with retracts and they do better on smoother ground.

I guess you could say I flew nine planes today.  Ken, a new flyer was given this plane on his birthday by his dad who lives in Colorado who flies radio control.  I trimmed it out and gave him a couple of lessons on it.

Vancouver, Chehalis, Centralia and then Home

Today after Coffee with the Pastor we ran down to Avamere to check on Marie and her discharge date.  She really seemed like her old self today and we explained where she would be going from there and she was happy with that.  We made a quick stop at Costco then headed home for lunch before going to Chehalis and Centralia to take care of some business for Marie.

We came back via Jackson Hwy. and I spotted this cloud along the way so I stopped and took a picture of it.  We didn't do much the rest of the day, it has been a pretty busy week.

Unloading

Wednesday morning James came up to help us move Marie's stuff into the container.  Just as we got to the really heavy stuff Josh, Debbie and Jordon showed up to see how we were doing and ended up helping us.  We sure did appreciate all the help.

Jordon was parked right next to the trailer's ramp and really kept an eye on everything that was done.  By the time James had to leave for practice we didn't have much left to do.  Josh and Debbie had some errands in town so they left at the same time.

James came up again today and we finished the unloading.  We also retrieved Marie's wheel chair which had gotten buried about half way back in the container.  James helped me get a load of wood pellets at 4 Corners and packed them into the shop for me.  Then he followed me with the Blazer while I fueled up Josh's truck and returned it and the trailer.

Container and Flying

It has been 28 degrees the last four mornings.  I got a call that the container would be here about 7:45, I noticed the frost on the shop roof and took this picture while I waited.

She was right on time, I was looking forward to watching the unloading.

She really did a good job and put it right where we wanted, you could tell she has done this many times before.  She was fast too, it only took about 15 minutes and she was all done.

Now we can start filling it with Marie's stuff.

After a stop for propane we went up the Westside Hwy. to the flying field.  The fog had lifted by the time we got there.  I put in one flight with the Porter, then I got the mower and roller out to smooth out the runway.  There was lots of sunshine today, not a cloud in sight all day but it got pretty windy in the afternoon.  Ten flyers showed up to enjoy the day, like me most of them had not been out for a month.  After we got home I got one shelving unit set up in the container so we can start unloading Josh's trailer.

Sunday

I sure slept good last night after the busy day Saturday.  We went to church today, it was a nice service, the choir had just finished singing "The Old Rugged Cross" when I took this picture.  Pastor Pam read several church jokes that had been sent to her, my favorite was "Why shouldn't you talk in church?", the answer "Because people are sleeping!"  I had a nice visit with several people before and after the service.  I am helping the church 4H robotics group, I talked to the leader today and then did some research online for STEM kits for them to try.  We were both a little tired so it was a pretty laid back day around here.  I did make it out to the shop a couple of times, I cleaned the stove and filled it.  This evening I put some fiberglass on the elevators where the control horn and joiner mount.

Finally a warm day!

This is what greeted me this morning when I opened the kitchen blinds.  I could tell right away it was going to be a good day.

I spent Friday putting an unloader on our trailer so we could get gravel today and hopefully create a level place to put the cargo container behind the Blazer.  Once the container is in there things are going to be a little tight.

This is what we ended up with, now if they can set the container on them things will be great!

I decided to wash the Mitsubishi and Josh's truck after we got done with the gravel.  I had to wash a couple of spots again as missed spots sure show up on a black rig.  It is a great driving truck, the seats are comfortable (and heated!) which really felt good after we had loaded the trailer Tuesday.  We washed the Blazer when we finished the other two.

It was so nice I had my jacket off for a while this afternoon, it was really nice and I decided to mow the lawn.  Unknown to me Vera took some pictures while I was doing it.  Some branches had broken off during the storms and were laying in the lower lawn.  This one was giving me a real fight as I moved it to the brush pile.

Vera came down and took this picture as I made the next pass around the lawn.  I was right this morning, it turned out to be a great day, the unloader worked as advertised for unloading the gravel, we got everything washed and the lawn looks good.