Halloween

 

Vera was out today taking pictures of the colorful leaves, this is one of our blueberry bushes.

This is a Burning Bush that Michelle got us many years ago.

We used this pumpkin basket to put our prepared bags of candy in. 

Jacob was our first Trick or Treater, he is trying to get the vial in his light stick to break.  I ended up giving him a hand with it.

Debbie had texted me asking if it was alright to bring her friend Kyla's kids also and of course we said "Sure".

This is  one of Kyla's kids Kayden who told Vera all about how he made his mask.

This is Kyla and one of her boys.

Of course the boys headed right for the toys and bypassed the candy.

Kyla's little girl is sure a cutie.

Rick, Heather, Jillian, Bridget and Tor showed up a little later.  I think this is the most kids we have had for awhile.

Frosty Mornings

I kept forgetting to get a picture of the frost each morning but I finally remembered this morning.  Vera had a Kaiser dental appointment this morning so I took three magazines along to read while I waited.  We took the van because it needed gas and we had Safeway points that were expiring at the end of the month.  I soon discovered there were no reading glasses in the van so I gave Pam a call,  I had a nice visit with her.  While I was talking to Pam I saw Laury go into the vaccination clinic.  I kept an eye out for Laury but thought I had missed her so I called Barry and found out what he had been doing.  After that I tried reading with my sunglasses which are bifocal but that didn't go well.  Then I noticed Laury coming out of Kaiser so I walked up and talked to her for a few minutes.  After a stop at Safeway for gas we came home and filled bags with candy for Halloween.  I got in one nice flight on the helicopter this afternoon checking out a battery that had acted up the other day.
 

Debbie's Birthday, Jordon's basketball and fresh bread

 10-27-2023

Today was Debbie's birthday so the family got together for pizza at Papa Pete's.

James, Michelle and Mik were there also.  We got to hear all about Josh's Montana hunting trip misadventures from Debbie.  The weather turned cold on them and then the truck had an issue so he is still over there waiting for it to get fixed.

Just before we left Michelle took a group selfie.

10-28-2023

Jordon had a basketball game at the Longview YMCA today.  He looks like he is guarding the other player better than last year.  By the time I got done with my morning routine of soaking my toe it was too late for us to make the game.  Thank you Michelle for sending me these pictures.

 This is Jordon's rooting section today.  I think I saw that little dog on Jacob's side of the table at Papa Pete's last night.

He looks happy after the first game of the season.

Vera made her new wheat bread recipe today and it turned out great.  I made a trip to the shop and boy was it cold, the pellet stove had ran out of pellets.  I filled it and did a little puttering before going in the house until it warmed up some more.  After watching some videos on YouTube I went out and did some work on the Elipstick.  I don't have too much more to do and it will be ready to cover.

Moon

When I came in from the shop I noticed the moon was showing through the clouds.  I have been wanting to try Vera's new camera on the moon so I got it and came back out.  It did a good job and the picture turned out like I wanted. 

I also tried it on the whole scene but my phone's camera did a better job.

I wanted to try out the flash also so I took this picture of the planter and it turned out fine.  I shaved with a safety razor today, the first time since my MOHS surgery.  Up until now I have been using my electric which does not shave very close so todays result felt great.

James visit

Yesterday James came up to visit, we had a nice visit and then he did a bunch of things for us.  With freezing weather predicted this weekend I had him drain and take the hose reels in.  Then he collected all the solar lights and we turned them off.  He changed out my Shop Vac bag which turned into a big job!  I had been wanting to get the game camera in for a while so he helped me do that.  I downloaded the pictures and we checked them out.

Of course one of the first ones is me mowing, there were 818 pictures on the card this time.

I was tickled that I got Barry taking Bentley for a walk.

This is the only coyote I got a picture of this time.  Last year they came by on a regular basis. 

We saw lots of this doe and her two fawns this summer.  In the picture you can see the ears of another deer further down the trail.

This is one of the better daytime shots of a deer.  I also had pictures of rabbits, a cat, the neighbors riding 4 wheelers, bikes and having airsoft wars.

Vera's camera quit focusing so I ordered her a new Nikon B500 which came the 23rd.  After I got it set up she went out and took this picture of the succulents in the planter.  It turned out great and all she used was the motion light to luminate it. 

Today we went shopping for our Halloween supplies.  After pushing the cart around Safeway my toe was a little sore but it felt fine once I took my shoe off.

James Mowing

 10-19-2023

I had an appointment at Kaiser this morning to get my blood pressure checked.  I was happy when it checked 124/77.  We went to the Kelso Safeway afterwards to do some shopping.  I used one of the motorized carts and only got stuck once when I tried to turn around in an aisle with a post in it and had to go back and forth a couple of times.

10-20-2023

James came up today and we got to hear all about his trip to Las Vegas to help his friend celebrate his birthday.  Then he asked if there was anything I needed done.  There were several things I had been wanting to do but couldn't because of the toe.  I had him put the ladders away in the shipping container and then put the scaffolding away in the woodshed for the winter.

Next on the list was mowing, just as he got it out I remembered there wasn't much gas in it so James went to Space Age for gas and then Four Corners for pellets.

After he got them stacked in the shop and filled the mower with gas he mowed the lawn.

I had a great time sitting with my foot propped up and watching him on the security cameras.  I used the one on the shop to take a snapshot of him mowing.  The toe looked better today, the color was better and the swelling stayed down all day.  After James' help I don't mind sitting around doing nothing as much.

Happy Wednesday

 

My day took a turn for the better when Laury texted me this Happy Wednesday Picture of Hattie.  Laury said that she can roll from her back to her Tummy.  She is sure a cutie.

I got out and flew one flight on the helicopter today.  I tried putting on a shoe this morning but it was too tight so I am still wearing my slippers.  I also went out to the shop, charged some batteries, soldered up some battery cables and filled the stove with pellets.  I am sure looking forward to getting all healed up, there are things I want to do in this nice weather.  But still, I had a great day and got a few things done.

Arby's

Today we went down to Kaiser for Vera's RSV shot, I got mine last week.  Afterwards we went to Arby's for dinner.  Arby's has been one of our favorites ever since we went to the Original Arby's in LA while on vacation in the 70's.  We loved the flavor of their roast beef and went back there to eat several times during that trip.  We were really happy when they opened in the NW and the roast beef tasted the same.

After we got our Arby's we parked in the Triangle lot to eat and boy did it rain!  We had to make a little detour on the way out of town because of a wreck blocking the street.  The weather was a little nicer when we got home so we didn't get soaked going in.  The toe is looking better every day and the swelling was down this morning.  I spent the rest of the day in front of the computer with my foot propped up.

Hanging Basket

 

On May 6th James brought up this hanging basket to Vera for Mothers day.

This is how it looks now, it got longer and taller than any we have ever had.  It still has flowers blooming on it.

My toe felt better and looks much better today, I made my first trip to the shop since the surgery.  I am looking forward to wearing shoes again.  Vera has been taking very good care of me and usually brings me what I need before I ask for it.

Leaves Toe

10-11-2023

I had another surgery on my left big toe Tuesday.  It had been sore and got infected.  The doctor put me on antibiotics for 7 days and had me soak it in Epsom salts every day.  That cleared up the infection and then I was ready for the surgery.

 The surgery went great, no pain, now I just have to stay off it until it heals.

Vera took this picture of some vine maple leaves, no frost yet but I think they are turning because it has been so hot.

She also wanted a picture of the pink dogwood which is sure pretty now. 

Weekend Flying

10-7-2023

We took the motor home up to the Toledo field today.  We were the first ones there and it took me a couple of tries to open the gate.  Once I discovered I was using the combination for the Clatskanie field gate it went a lot better.  I had a lot of fun today with the Tigercat and the little Edge 540.  They had a chili feed for lunch today and it was really good!  It got hot this afternoon so we headed home early.

10-8-2023

Sunday we went up to Faro Field to fly.  They were taking part in a national Ringmaster event.  The Ringmaster is a vintage design control line model that has a pretty big following. The event was to fly as many laps with a Ringmaster as possible this weekend.  In this picture John and Tina are racing, Tina won!
 

I flew the Skylane today since we use the van to go to Faro field.  I made a whole bunch of touch and goes.

As we were leaving Sonny was just making a landing, it was a nice smooth one.

The Faro field covered bridge, the motor home will not fit through it.