Maple Trees

It looks a lot different West of the house now that we had the maple trees removed.  This picture was taken at 7:30 in the morning as I watered.  A couple of shrubs got hit by the trees as they fell but with a little pruning I think they will be fine.
 

Vera's flowers

A couple of years ago Vera and I were in Costco and each picked out some bulbs to plant.  She planted these North of the house and I planted mine in front of the shop.  None of mine came up and I think everyone of Vera's did.  With this hot weather I get to look at them every morning as I water.
 

Okay Pam here I go! Bentley's big adventure

Here is Bentley just before disaster struck!  I was over visiting with Barry and Bentley climbed to the top of my ladder that Barry had been using.  Barry told him to get down and in the process he managed to tip the ladder over and had the brace land on him.  After Barry checked him out and got him untangled he sauntered off like nothing had happened.
 

Chips and the Alternator

 

This morning after watering I did a load of chips and then put them on an area I had cleared.  The blueberries and lilies had been overgrown by grass, blackberries, Salal and the snow had knocked the lilac bush down onto them.  I ended up with a trailer load of debris to haul away.  We had kind of forgotten there was a stump there.

I got the alternator put back in after doing the chips, it went in a lot easier than it came out.  Barry had suggested changing the belt on the alternator so I checked it after putting the alternator back in.  Part of the belt was gone so we picked up a new one at NAPA.  Barry and Bentley came over for a visit today.  Barry is trying to get him used to being in different places.  He was sure fun to watch as he explored.  This evening I got the last servo repaired for the TREX 500 so I can finish putting it back together.

Air Filter

 

We ran down this morning and picked up the new air filter.  I should have paid better attention to what bolt went where when I took it out.  Six bolts hold it in and there are three different types.  Taking it out was a big fight and so was putting it back in.  When you stick your hand and arm in to get at the bolts you can not see anything so it is all done by feel.

I also charged up the new battery and added water to it.  I had a nice time this afternoon sitting out by Barry's motor home visiting with him.

Battery cable

 

Barry and I went to the 49er for breakfast this morning.  Afterwards Barry pulled over to the Shell to fill up with diesel.  Right way Bentley jumped up on the dash to check things out.  He kept a pretty close eye on everything and everyone in the area.

If you look close you can see Barry by the gas pump in the mirror.

When we got home I started working on the motor home cables and I think I found the culprit, the positive terminal is pretty badly corroded.

I had to pull the battery to see it because the headlight covers it up.  I will be putting it back with the terminals on the back side.

Of course to get the battery out I had to pull this coolant recovery tank out first.  I also pulled the motor's air filter out so I could change it.  After Vera got home from bible study we went to Art's Electric and got a new battery, then we stopped at NAPA to get an air filter which naturally was out of stock and would be there later.

Alternator

 

We were walking around checking the plants today and Vera thought a picture of the hydrangea would look nice.  It is another one I have been watering and giving plant food.

Monday I started pulling the alternator and finally got it out today.  Boy was that a fight!

First I had to take out the mounting bolts from the wheel well.

Then it had to come out that hole by the blue masking tape in the cab area.  After I got it out I took it to Art's Electric to get a new one.  They tested it first and there was nothing wrong with it.  They suggested looking at the cables so I guess that will be tomorrow's job.

Flying

We went flying fairly early today, I made my first flight of the day at about eight with the trusty Skylane.

My third flight of the day was with the P-39 my repairs worked great and I think it flies a little better now.  Barry stopped by and visited for a little while but it was warming up fast so he headed to Kelso in the air conditioned comfort of his Jeep.  It wasn't too long after that that we headed home also.  We stopped to dump the holding tanks on the way home and after sitting in line the motor home wouldn't start.  Luckily there is a cross over button that got it running with the house batteries.  It looks like I will be doing some checking on the alternator tomorrow.
 

Roses and Wood

 

I have been watering these roses pretty regularly and they sure look and smell nice this year.  It probably helped when Vera and I both fertilized them.

Steve and Zack are loading some of the bigger pieces of the maple trees into the tractor's bucket.

I wandered over to watch them unload, they have a lot of splitting to do.  Dianne was making trips over with the pigeon wagon and getting the smaller pieces.

Barry Arrives

 

Barry arrived today from Walla Walla where he had been visiting friends.  After a little maneuvering we got his motor home so the power cord reached my thirty amp outlet without an extension.  The first thing we did was get a Papa Pete's pizza to start his stay out right.  We are looking forward to having him here for a while. 

LCRC Picnic

Sunday was the Lewis County Radio Controllers meeting and barbecue.

I counted twenty one people flying and/or eating today.  I made my first flight just before seven this morning and had several in before anyone arrived.

After the meeting we had the barbecue.  The president Chuck did a great job cooking.  Several of the members provided side dishes and desserts, they were all great and I saw quite a few people going back for seconds, myself included.  I had a good day and got in lots of flying and visiting

Flying

 

We had the whole place to ourselves today as no other flyers came out.

The Corsair got left out of my pictures today but I also flew it and the Electra Streak.

The owner of the house North of the field died over a year ago and the house has been rented since then.  Last week we saw a moving van leaving there and today a crew came in and started working on the vehicles that were at the back of the property.  We wondered if they are getting it cleaned up to sell.

This Apache came to the airport and started shooting touch and goes towards the end of the day as I was packing up.

I finally got a picture I liked with Mt Rainier in the background after several attempts.  It was a good ending to a great day of flying. 

Class Luncheon

I went to Cathy's class luncheon today.  I hadn't been for over a year so it was nice to see everyone.  I believe there ended up being six from Cathy's class and six from my class.
 

A nice sunset

My schedule has been the same for several days now.  I get up in the morning and head right out to water the plants before it gets hot.  Then I move some of the chips before going in to have breakfast.  Usually I end up in the shop in the afternoon working on the planes and helicopters until evening.  Today as we were headed into the house the sunset had lit up the sky over Parkers place so I took a picture that turned pretty good.
 

July 4th

 

We spent a quiet day at home, Vera reading and knitting while I worked on my planes.  Then when it got dark we went down to Lions Pride Park.

We spent about forty five minutes there watching the never ending show.  They were shooting fireworks on both sides of the river and further upstream so it was a good show.  I made a short video of the fireworks just before we left.

Fireworks

It was still going strong when we left at ten twenty.

July 3rd Dolan's 4th of July Party

It is always nice when family gets together!  It was a pleasant evening and we had a great time visiting with everyone.
 

It was really fun watching Josie interact with everyone.

No one should have gone home hungry as there was lot of delicious food.

Sue brought this dessert that was shaped like a flag and it tasted great!

Dianne had set up a treasure hunt for the kids and it must have been a dandy as they were gone for quite a while.  After they found it they had to reach in with their eyes closed and pick a prize.

Josie and Tor have developed a nice friendship, she doesn't seem a bit shy around him.  Right after this Tor became a target for the girls in the first water balloon fight.  I added a link to a short video of it.

Tor the Target

They had to hold a balloon between them and navigate a course that was laid out.

There was always some activity in the lower yard.

After another water balloon fight with Dan as the main target they played Family Feud with the guys going against the girls.  I posted a short video of it on Vimeo also and the link is below.

Family Feud

Just before everyone headed home David got out Roman Candles for the kids and they shot them off, a nice ending to a great party.

Time to do a little catching up

6-28-2021 The blueberries are getting ripe and I had some with ice cream and caramel syrup for my treat tonight. 
 

6-29-2021 Since the Corsair was finished I decided to finish up the comet and worked on it all day.

6-30-2021 I went flying today and tried out the Corsair, I found another small issue with the landing gear struts so I only flew it once.  I had a nice day of relaxed flying and visiting with the other flyers.  We left early when it started getting pretty warm.

7-1-2021  The robins have really been after the blueberries so after I watered today I went out and picked the everything that was ripe or close to ripe.  I taste tested quite a few to make sure they were sweet enough.

Vera took pictures of most of the flowers that are in bloom.  The Hollyhocks sure look nice this year.

Debbie brought us some crab they got at the beach.  Vera came up with the idea of crab sliders and they tasted great.  I also made a crab salad with it, we sure ate good today.