Bridal Wreath Spiraea and Radiator

 5-29-2024

Our Bridal Wreath Spiraea bush is in full bloom now.  I had to do a Google Image search to find out what it was.  It blooms like this every year.

5-31-2024

I have been working on the Smart Car fan job for the last couple of days.  Today we got the radiator out from behind the air conditioner condenser, removed the old fan assembly and installed the new one.  Vera made many tool and parts runs for me.  James stopped by after school and helped me get the right side windshield wiper arm pulled off.  Now I just have to reverse the process and put it back together.

Brakes and Flying

 

Yes, yesterday I got the brake job on the Smart Car finished.  The left side went faster as I had all the tools out and knew how it came apart.  I did have to go back and redo part of the right side because I had a spring in the wrong position.

Today I did some cleanup in the shop and made 4 or 5 fights with the planes pictured.  The Stearman flew great after being repaired.  I flew the Vapor on the right several times, but the last flight was getting hard to see as the sun set.  I got out the Night Vapor with lights and made a nice 10 minute flight as it got dark.  It was a nice laid back Memorial Day for us.

No Brakes

 Ok, I didn't do brakes today.  When I woke up this morning my right shoulder was really sore.  Some of the bolts were really tight and I did a lot of pulling with my right arm.

I took it easy until about 4 when I wandered out towards the shop but ended up taking a bunch of flower pictures on the way.  This is a Columbine by the sidewalk to the deck.  It was originally blue but has changed to purple through the years. 

This Columbine is right next to the purple one and probably caused it to change color.

Our Smoke bush sure is interesting looking as it starts to bloom.

The over forty year old rhodendrons by my shop are in full bloom now.

This is the Phlox by the shop porch.  They seem to get taller every year.  I finally made it into the shop and did some work on my little Stearman biplane that got damaged during the trip from Cottage Grove.  By the end of the day my shoulder was feeling pretty good so maybe I will get the brake job finished tomorrow.

Brakes

 

James came up after class to wish us a Happy Anniversary.  As always we had a great visit.  I did things different today and had Vera take a picture of James and I.  This afternoon I went out and installed new rotors and pads on the right front of the Smart Car.  I didn't think I would get it all done today but things went pretty good and with a little help from Vera I got that side completely done.  With any luck the left side will go good tomorrow. 

60th Anniversary

 

This picture was taken by my aunt Jean while we were on our honeymoon in San Francisco.

Here we are sixty years later having lunch at the Country Folks Deli today.  We had our favorite grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and then had Volcano Chocolate Lava Cake to celebrate.  The staff was great, taking pictures for us and checking to see if we needed anything.

The last time we were there Vera asked what the Long Bell whistle was so I parked by it and we checked it out after lunch.  We did a couple of things in town before heading home for the day.  It has been a great sixty years that seems to have gone by really fast.  I sure lucked out when I married Vera.

Goal Done +

 

My goal today was getting the bumper off.  I ended up getting it off fairly quickly so I got a good start on taking the radiator support brackets off.  I also got one windshield wiper arm off which was one of the tougher things I did today.  I will put some penetrating oil on the right one before I do it. 

After dinner I decided to mow the lawn, as I was mowing I noticed this Siberian Iris in bloom, I stopped the mower and took this picture.  It is a beautiful flower and I hope it spreads. 

Smart Car

 

James stopped and had lunch after leaving school early because the kids were testing today.  We had a great visit remembering some of the guys we had flown with through the years.

Yesterday I started taking the Smart Car apart so I could replace the air conditioner fan.  It has made terrible noises for several years when using the AC.  I have had the new one for a couple of years but never got around to putting it in.  Now I know why, there sure are a lot of steps to get it out.  This picture is of how it looked last night when I quit.

First thing this morning we ran down to Harbor Freight to get a set of Torx sockets.  Just about everything in the Smart Car is some type of Torx fastener.  I worked on it for awhile this afternoon and this is how it looked when I quit this evening.  Tomorrow my goal is to have the bumper and all the towing hardware off.

Two Days of Flying

 5-18-2024

Today we went down to Clatskanie for the Cowlitz Valley Radio Control Flyers Summer Kick-Off 2024 Fun Fly.

This is the club president Jerry telling us the Fun Fly rules.

I didn't take too many pictures today, this is the East benches and some of the planes.

I got to test fly and trim out this Eagle for Brian.  It flew great and only needed a few minor trim adjustments.

This is our friend Lincoln after a flight and Ken one of the club members.  I had a great day of flying after almost 6 months without flying.  I ended up placing first in every one of the events.  Luckily they had a rule that you could only win one prize so after the first one it went to the second place finisher.  We had a couple of short rain showers that sent us to the car after putting the planes under the table.  But they were not long enough to cancel the event.

When we got home I walked out and took some pictures of our Dogwood tree that is blooming now.

Then I noticed the over 40 year old Rhodendron's North of my shop were blooming also.

This is a close up of a bloom of the plant in the middle.

5-19-2024

Today we went up to the Lewis County Radio Controllers field for their first BBQ of the year.  I took this picture just after we got there and you can see Mike and Mike getting ready to fly a Spitfire.

This is a view from the North end of the pit area.

Here is a photo from the South end close to the table I was set up on.

Mike and Mike are getting the Christian Eagle started.

In this picture of my table and planes you can see the Christian Eagle in the upper left corner.  I had a great day, did lots of flying, had a good hamburger, cake and cinnamon roll for lunch

After we got home Laury sent me this picture of Josie on her bike.

I forgot to put this with Friday's Plan B post, this is my Happy Friday picture of Hattie from Laury.

As I was editing my blog Vera mentioned the smoke so I had to go look.  Parker had a pretty good fire going and I think it all burned up.  I am looking forward to more great weekends like this.

Plan B

 5-14-2024

I took this picture of Vera's Camas Lily as I was on the way to take a picture of my favorite Rhodendron. 

This is my favorite Rhodendron, I really like the color of it.

5-16-2024

When the motor home cooling system was repaired to the point they could run the engine they discovered it missed and had no power.  Using a borescope they found the number 5 cylinder wall was scored.  After talking with them we went to plan B which is putting a rebuilt engine in. This picture was taken on I5 near Halsey, OR. as Vera and I drove down to 409 Automotive in Cottage Grove to pick up another load of stuff from the motor home.

5-17-2024 

James stopped by after school and told us all about the video presentation he did to the class today.

Vera unloaded the planes we had picked up this morning.  Then we both unloaded the towing gear for the Smart Car as we are planning on selling it with the car.  This afternoon I got the van out and loaded it up with planes, transmitters and batteries for some flying this weekend.

Mothers Day

 

Mik, Michelle and James took Vera to the Pancake House for breakfast today.  James was the first one there and we had a good time talking with him.

We had a great time with lots of stories and laughter.

Mik usually takes our group pictures and did today but I talked him into getting in the ones I took.  After breakfast and the drive home I took it much easier than yesterday.

Jacob's Birthday Party

 I got up this morning, went out to the shop first thing and did a set of exercises on the weight machine.  Then I went in and had breakfast before putting all the lumber I had put in Vera's cart away under the shop.

At 5 we went to Jacobs 5th birthday party at the Family Room indoor playground.  I could tell by the time we had walked from the car to there I may have done a little too much this morning.  This picture is the first time I  saw Jacob today as he was coming down off the Wipe Out Balls.

Jacob is teasing Michelle as he played on the slide.

Michelle had to hold her phone up over a ball to find Jacob pushing on the other side.

They had gotten ten pizzas, I really enjoyed the bacon one and went back for seconds of it.

Jacob said he didn't want a birthday cake and then decided at the last minute he did so they had to scramble to get one.

This picture was taken just as they started singing happy birthday to him.

He got four candles out on the first blow and had to take another breath to get the last one.

Jordon was over in the corner having a very animated talk with his friend.

I took this picture of Bev and Michelle while we were watching the kids in the play area.

Then I caught Debbie and Michelle talking so I took one of them also.

It was sure fun having most of the family there and getting caught up with what everyone has been doing.