Wood Shed Day Two

 

Tuesday morning I went out right after breakfast and started getting setup to do the South half of the wood shed roof.  Vera helped me move the scaffolding to the other side of the wood shed.  I started out by raking off the leaves and limbs.  I was really surprised when whole sections of debris came off all at once.  In one area about a third of the roof cleaned itself once I started it moving a little.  Then I sprayed off the small stuff that was left and cleaned the gutters.  I was done so early that I ended up falling another cascara tree and a dead fir.  That created a nice mess for James to clean up the next time he comes up.  Today Vera headed to bible study only to find out it was canceled.  I spent most of the day resting up and watching YouTube videos.  Then I went out this evening and changed the bad rudder servo in the Fokker DR-1 and figured out a way to get rid of the aileron differential.  It rained several times today so it was a good day to stay inside.

 

Our original plan was to finish cleaning the wood shed roof today but the forecast looked so good I asked Vera if flying was okay?  She said sure so we headed to the field about nine this morning.  I was just getting setup when another flyer showed up, there ended up being five of us there.  I had a nice visit with everyone, especially Leonard who lost his wife recently.  When the temperature got into the 80's I decided to call it a day.  Boy did the cab air feel good on the way home.  I had a servo quit on the Fokker DR-1 today so I pulled it apart after doing a couple of chores.  I have some more of the same brand so it will be an easy fix.  It was another great day and I am not missing the NFL games a bit, I just go on YouTube and watch the game summaries which only take 10 to 12 minutes.  I hope you had a great day also!

Richard Gierloff

 

Today we went down to cousin Richard Gierloff's place near Yacolt for his celebration of life.  They had a lot of pictures and drawings he had done for people to take.  Vera chose this one of him hiking.

Not long after we got there Richard's brother Raymond and family arrived.  They are being greeted by Richard's kids, Alisa and Todd.

They had pictures of Richard's life hung all around this tree.  I took pictures of all of them but there were just too many to include here.

Alisa is doing a reading about Richard.  Then she invited others to share funny stories.  One of his classmates from high school had several very funny stories he told.

In the background of the picture above you can see these sacks they wanted everyone to take, the sign was labeled "Richard's Favorite Candy Please Take One".  We took one and there is lots of good candy in it.

This is some of his coworkers from his TV channel 44 days.  Two of them also shared some humorous stories about him.

Raymond's family got together for a four generation picture.

This is called the Club House by the family.  Richard would have groups of kids up there for events.

This is the drawing by Richard that I chose, it kind of reminded me of a pilot in a plane.  We had a very good time, it was a nice relaxed afternoon.

Sleeping in and Wood Shed Roof

 I sure slept in this morning, it was ten before I got up.  After a late breakfast, checking emails and headlines it was afternoon before I finally went outside to wash the motor home.  The sun was out and hitting the drivers side so I only washed the side in the shade.  I did some cleanup in the shop and moved some things to the storage container.

Then I decided to try out the spray nozzles I had made up for cleaning the wood shed roof with the extension pole. The entire roof looked like this before I started.

It worked pretty good after we moved the scaffolding over there so I   could see what was going on.  We got the North side of the roof done before we called it a day.

Flying at Toledo

 The weather forecast for Toledo looked pretty so we headed up this morning

Of course the Skylane was the first plane I flew today.  It flies so nice that it is a good way to start the day.  After twelve minutes of shooting touch and goes plus a few aerobatics the battery still has 40% of its charge left.  I lost count of how many flights I made with it but I would guess about six.

I flew the Tigercat twice and I am liking it better each time.

I flew the Fokker DR-1 twice also and it still flies great.  I hauled it up to the MRRCS Warbird event and discovered I didn't have the right transmitter with me.  After we got home from it I had to take it all apart to see what receiver was in it.  Now I know to take the Futaba transmitter when I want to fly it.  I had a great day, we had the field to ourselves except for about the last half hour.  What really made the day nice was being able to see the planes clearly again.  Things have been a little fuzzy this summer because the left lens had a coating on it.  When I had the cataract surgery they told me that happens some times.  It only took about fifteen minutes to clean it with a laser and boy did it make a difference.  A sad thing happened today, Mik's mother Margret passed away.

TV Antenna T-REX 500

 

While Vera was at bible study today I got the ground wire for the new antenna ran.  After she got home I hooked it to the ground rod and cleaned up the job.

I put in a couple of flights with the T-REX 500 this evening blowing leaves off the driveway.  Vera came out just as I was getting ready for the second flight so I put her to work taking pictures.

As I was putting the heli away I spotted the charged up battery for this drone so I put in a flight with it.  It sends back a really nice video image to the transmitter, if you look close you can see the Blazer on it's screen.

September

 9-5-2022

Today we got together with Debbi, Josh, Jordon, Jacob, James and Michelle for lunch at the Country Folks Deli.  Debbie is showing us a video of Jordon riding his electric bike, he was really excited for us to see it.  It is sure nice to get together with the family like this and get caught up on what has been going on.

James and Michelle both had the Chicken Pesto sandwich which looked pretty good, I may have to try it some time.  I had their Peanut Butter Pie and a cup of soup, I will definitely have the pie next time, it was great!

9-6-2022

The planter continues to grow!

9-9-2022

The smoke from the forest fires blew in and we could not even see Abernathy.  We spent most of the day inside because is smelled too bad outside.

9-11-2022

The smoke makes for some beautiful sunsets.

9-13-2022

Laury texted me a picture of Josie at the play fort this morning.  I had a couple of minutes before we had to leave for my doctors appointment in Longview so I headed over to see them.  I was sure surprised when she hopped out of the sandbox and gave me a hug.  Then it was up the ladder and down the slide, play with the steering wheel in the fort each time she went up.

Then she wanted to swing and made sure Laury gave Minnie Mouse on the swing a push also.

She sure takes good pictures!

James helped me put up the TV antenna the other day.  I was getting some pixilation on channel 2 so I decided to take down some limbs on the cedar tree that were in the way.  I put on my fall arrester gear so I could tie off once I was at the top of the ladder. 

I ended up taking off about six limbs before I was done.

Vera took this one as I was unhooking to come down.

This is part of the mess we had to clean up.  A day or so later I discovered I had used magnetic North to aim the antenna instead of True North.  After making the change the cedar tree wasn't in the way anymore.

9-17-2022

I finished up putting gutter guards on the West side of the house today.  Boy was there lots of leaves and fir needles to clean out.
9-18-2022

The East side went much faster since I could work off the scaffolding.  I was able to put up two 3 foot sections with each move of the scaffolding.  Hopefully this will keep them from plugging up each winter. 
9-19-2022

I fell a cascara that had grown up into a cedar tree today.  James came up later and helped us cleanup.  I also set up the ladder on this cedar tree and we pruned off some low hanging branches.
9-20-2022

Today I had a dental appointment at Salmon Creek Kaiser in Vancouver.  It went great and the issues I was referred down there for were nothing to worry about.  We stopped at Pacific Northwest Best Fish in Ridgefield for lunch and as usual their Halibut was great! 

August

 8-1-2022

I got the P-40 Warhawk finished except for the cockpit so I studied some pictures and made up this instrument panel to put in it.  It is now all done and ready for the final checkout before it's test flight.

8-4-2022

Our water lilies continue to bloom and are bigger than other years.

8-4-2022

James came up today and we had a great visit as always.

8-6-2022

Today we went down to Pie Trio's Pizzeria to help celebrate Mik's mom's 85th birthday.  It had been quite a while since we have had their pizza and it tasted great. 

Here is Margret with Mik, Michelle and James.  There was a nice turnout of family and friends, some of whom she hadn't seen for a while.

It was such a nice day we went home the long way via Hazel Dell Rd and saw this old barn.  I found some information on Facebook that it was built in the 1920's.

8-7-2022

The hanging basket from Mik, Michelle and James is still growing and looks better every day.

Debbie and Josh had a birthday party for Jordon today, hard to believe he is five already!

Jordon spent most of the afternoon in the small pool which was much warmer.

Jacob was relaxing in it for a while also.

Jordon is blowing out the candles as his great grandma Anita watches.

Jordon is opening his presents as Jacob inspects the last one he opened.

8-9-2022

I had a doctors appointment at Kaiser and had to pick up a new prescription afterwards.  I realized the Pharmacy would be a little different picture for my blog.

On the way home we stopped a Lions Pride Park to check out the fishermen and got to watch the family on the right hunt for a Geo Cache. 

A new solar lantern for the West deck showed up today to replace the one that quit.  I like it better because it is on all the time where the old one had a motion sensor.

This is how it looks from the Southeast corner of the house. 

While I was at it I decided to take a picture of the front deck also.

8-13-2022

Today was the family garage sale in Bob's shop.  There didn't seem to be as much stuff as other years.  We made $17 which made me happy considering how much stuff we got rid of.

8-19-2022

I spent the last two days installing a filter and Ultra Violet light system in the motor home.  Now we can drink the water from the main tank instead of bringing bottled water. 

8-20-2022

We went up to Faro Field for some flying and a potluck they were having this afternoon.

I hadn't seen this bunch of people for quite a while so I spent quite a bit of time visiting with them

This is the potluck table before the pulled pork, turkey and brownies were added.

This is our friend Sonny's planes and in the background there was a ten day Medieval Festival going on. 

This is Sonny bringing his plane back after a flight.
8-21-2022

James had the hot pole on their fishing trip today.  He had his limit in about fifteen minutes.  He said that he got to run the boat some after that.

Mik caught a really nice one!

8-29-2022

The moon looked nice just above the horizon tonight and it is a little different from the full moon pictures I normally take.

8-30-2022

Good Bye Dish!  After realizing we had only used the Dish system three times last month I called up and canceled our service.  $132 dollars for 3 thirty minute shows seemed a little expensive.  I bought an antenna, preamps and cable for about twice our monthly bill and the rest of the year will be free.  It seems like there is way more things we enjoy to watch on YouTube also.