Memorial Day and beyond

Monday

Well the girls were on the road early this morning and should be back home by 3:30pm, depends how many stops they make.

I repaired Bonnie's fountain last night and let the glue dry overnight.  Today I assembled it put water in it and gave it a try.

It works

 Then I jumped on the mower and cut the back yard.  For not having any rain it sure is growing fast.

Looks more like a hayfield

Now its time to jump in the shower and head over to the family campground to see everyone.  The girls should be back in town after 3 and they plan to have a cook out at Elizabeths so I will then head over there.

When I arrived at the campground on the farm a few people had already gathered.

The early arrivals.

 But soon a few more emerged from the woods and it was time to eat.

Lunch time

 The campground now belongs to Bonnie's brother Brian and he has continued the annual get togethers for Memorial Day and Labor Day.  Today was a smaller group than usual but still a good turn out.

Jackson is enjoying the dip for his strawberries without the berries

Eating as much as he can while Dad talks to someone else.

 Bonnie and the girls got back to Elizabeths around 3:30, they were too tired to stop and so I said my good byes and headed over to Elizabeths.  We had steak done on the grill with some grilled asparagus.  Then I helped Alexus put together a storage unit for her room.  Boy it was hot up in her loft.  But we got it done.

Putting the new Ikea unit together.

 We each headed home then and Bonnie was glad to finally be home.  We carried in her stuff and I got in to some cooler clothes.

Finally home

Bonnie put her stuff away, took a shower and headed for bed, exhausted.  Back to work for her in the morning she has 18 work days left until she retires.

Bed time for me now.

Tuesday

Well the thunderstorm and hail woke me at 5am this morning, but it only last all of 10 minutes maybe, .04in. of rain in the gauge.  Rolled over till 730.

Headed up to court after breakfast.  But before I left I cut up a watermelon and put it in the frig.

Slicing and dicing

All packed ready for a chill

While I was up there the sky got very dark and there was a severe thunderstorm watch issued with hail.  The Hwy Super let everyone pull their car into the garage.  We got lots of rain but no hail, better safe than sorry.  I finished up there and headed home,  Still raining but so far a nice gentle rain.

We got a little over 1/2 inch of rain and now the sun is out I believe the front has past and it went from 80 degrees down to 70 and it feels nice.  Now the grass will really take off and grow.

Did some planning for the trip to Yellowstone today it is starting to come together.  Lots and lots to see going and coming home and once we get there.  Then off to WW, I lost, then stopped at Elizabeths to put a connector on Alexus's TV and had a salad with them.

A little TV when we got home and now off to bed.

Wednesday

Woke to the song birds again this morning, its nice to wake up in a park like setting each morning, something to be thankful for.  Its also sunny and cool, two of my favorite conditions.

Stripped the bed and threw the sheets in the wash.  Then tackled the credit card bill, I check all the purchases every month, especially since our card number has been used by others twice this year.  All was good and its set up to auto pay so done with that for a month.  Coffee and oatmeal time, and we have blueberries for the oatmeal.

After breakfast I went out to cut the grass but ended up doing a little more.  I took some things out to the motorhome since we are camping this weekend, of course they are forecasting rain.  So I opened up the windows to let it air out.  Then got the vacuum out of the garage to clean out a couple of the storage areas in the MH.  The bays that are warm seem to attack mice in the fall and spring.  So I cleaned them out.

Nice and clean now

 Then I screened a very little bit of dirt, it will take a while to do this whole pile.

Lots of dirt here yet to be screened

 Then I jumped on the mower and cut the front yard.  I did get to enjoy some of Bonnie's flowers that are blooming.

Wide angle shot

A nice close up of the poppy

I screened a little more dirt using the tractor and then about 2 came in for lunch.

Bonnie called and said she was going to be late.  So I boiled eggs and macaroni to make tuna macaroni salad when she got home.

The salad was good and its quite pleasant out if the rain does not materialize we should have a good weekend for our campout..

Thats about it for the first part of this week, hope to do a little more planning on the itinerary tonight.

Thanks for Checking In.

A Happy Puppy

Thursday

So far I am a Happy Puppy.  I took the iPod out of the rice this morning and put it out on the porch railing in the bright sun for a couple house this morning and then brought it in.  I have it playing and will let it run all day.  I figure the little bit of heat it generates will help to make sure it is dry inside.

The crows woke me at 5:39 this morning.  I shut the windows again and slept till 8.  Then when I made my coffee in the Keurig I only got about 1/2 a cup and noticed the vent was pouring water back into the water reservoir on the side.  Time to google that problem.

Our Keurig B60

So google turned up a few possible issues, most related to cleaning so I tried them all.  But the one I think worked the magic was to clean the 3 holes in the needle like device that pierces the top of the k-cup.

Used a paper clip to clean the 3 holes, with the unit unplugged

So I have a nice clean unit and I am back in business.

Its pretty humid out so I decided to do something relatively easy out side today.  Weed control day.

Sprayer in the back of the ranger

I loaded the 15 gallon sprayer in the back of the Ranger and then filled it with water and weed killer.  Then proceeded to spray along both sides of the driveway and around all the trees in the yard.  It took about an hour to work my way around the yard and spray all the weeds I could with one tank full.  The about 1/2 hour to do all the rinsing and cleaning up.  Lunch time its 1:30

After lunch I worked at reading on my Kindle but keep dosing off.  Bonnie called and said she would be late but that we would be having salads for supper.

Salads were good.  Bonnie packed for her trip tomorrow and we headed for bed after a little TV.

Friday

Another sunny morning and the birds did not wake me until 6:30.  Got up around 8 and headed up to court around 10 to take care of some paperwork.

Sadly something knocked over the Robin nest, no sign of the birds.

Bonnie is leaving around noon so I wanted to be home then.  She and Elizabeth and Alexus are headed to the Washington DC area to see Alexus's grandmother who had a stroke a few weeks ago.  Once she left I installed the black panel around the Blu-Ray player in the MH.  Turned on the refrigerator to get it cooled down for next week and checked out.  Its starting at 81 degrees.

New TV and Blu-Ray

 After that I set the garage refrigerator outside for its annual defrost cycle.  Ice builds up in the freezer and the door will not open properly.

Defrost cycle

Shortly after that it sprinkled a little but that was short lived and the sun is out again.

2:45 the girls are making good progress

2:45PM

Well the girls made it to Virginia safe and sound now I can rest.  The refrigerator finished defrosting before dark and I wiped it down and put it back in the garage and plugged it back in.  Time for some reading and a good nights sleep.

Saturday

Beautiful Saturday morning great start to the Memorial Day weekend.  I had turned on my windows laptop last night to allow it to download updates.  And it did.

32 updates yes it took awhile.

Its only been off a couple weeks.  About the only thing I do with it is plan trips using MS Streets and Trips if only Apple had a good map program that worked offline.

Our cat is driving me crazy thinks she is going to starve to death as her dish has been empty for 5 minutes.  Guess I will head outside and see what trouble I can get into.

I have had this for a few years time to put it together and put it to use.

Time to put this to use

The start of our fire pit.

Then I loaded up a couple boxes of wood for next weekends campout.  Its good and seasoned.  Because of the Emerald Ash borer you can not transport firewood out of the county.  We are camping here in the county next weekend with our camping club so I will take some for the campfires.

Headed for a campfire

Getting to hot out in the sun so time for lunch and maybe a nap.

Took it easy all afternoon and watched a few recorded programs.  Supper time so I grilled some Brats and had some corn-off-the-cob.

Grilled Brats! can't beat that.

Then I decided to try out the fire ring and through a small top down fire together.

Stacked and ready to go

Top of the stack is lit

So the fire burns from the top down in a pretty controlled  manner.

I enjoyed the fire and it was just cool enough to enjoy

Bonnies sister stopped over and picked the rhubarb along with her son Eric, thats them in the back ground.

Now for a little Deadliest Catch and then bed.  Bonnie called and they are having a good visit but a very busy one.

Calling it a day off to bed.

Sunday

Up and got ready for church.  We had a good Memorial Day Service.  Today is a day to remember those that have served our country in the past.  Also a day as everyday should be to remember those that continue to serve our country and protect our Freedom.

Once home I watered the plants for Bonnie that were near the house.  Later I will get the other new plants.

Had my left over Brats for lunch and settled in to watch the Indy 500.  One race over and one to go The Coca Cola 600 from Charlotte.  I won't bore you with the details.

Hope you are having a great weekend and Thanks For Checking In!

Beautiful weather but we need some rain

Monday

Beautiful Sunny day in the 70s.  Its wash day and grass cutting also.

I took it easy until lunch time at noon.  Just running the laundry through its cycles.
After lunch I headed out and picked up the mail.  I had ordered parts from Koehler last week to repair our kitchen faucet again.  This is about the 3rd time they have sent us parts.  It has a lifetime warranty and its an easy fix, so about every 18 months I replace a couple o-rings and grease it up.

Then I headed out and got out the ranger after cleaning out the back of it.  I headed up and hooked up the back hose for Bonnie then picked up the Mantis tiller and worked on tilling up the stump bumps and seeded and rolled them.  Then jumped on the mower and cut some of the front yard.  I decided to change blades.  I keep 2 sets of blades and rotate them so I sharpen both sets today and put them back on the mower.  Then finished up the front yard.  It was hot today but it felt good to work up a sweat.

I jumped in the shower and then through my dusty clothes in the washer, bad move.  I had been listening to my iPod while I cut the grass and forgot to take it out of my pocket.  So it went for a swim in the washer.  Its now in rice and we will see if that does any good.

Its actually completely buried in the rice.

Well thats about it for today and its almost tomorrow so I am off to do a little reading.

Tuesday

Read last night until almost 1am.  Overcast this morning when I woke up at 7am, rolled over woke again at 8:30, late start to today.  We got a little rain mid morning and that was it a few minutes, it rained east of us but no more here.  Trash day tomorrow so collected it and took it out to the road

I worked on the piece of wood to finish off the the front TV install in the coach.  Staining it did not match so I painted it black will see how it looks tomorrow.

Headed up to court for a while.  Sadly the Robin nest got knocked over, not sure if it was the wind or what happened, no sign of any of the birds.  Then back home and worked a little more on the MH.  Then Bonnie got home and we headed off to WW.  We both gained a little, have to get serious again.

Then we picked up subs and had dinner with Elizabeth and Alexus.  Stopped to take a picture of the electric meter so I can send it in tomorrow.

 Home now and a little TV before bed.

Wednesday

Cloudy and the crows were noisy when I woke up at 6 got up closed the windows and laid back down.  Oh my its now 9 better get up.

10:30 now and having my second cup of coffee.  But I have done a couple things.  I chatted with my sister on line, then I tested the iPod and it came on and played some music, its back in the rice.

It turned on and played some music

Then I took the top part of the stove a part and cleaned it.  Soaked the various parts and scrubbed them.  Now they are in the dish washer for a complete degreasing on a parts and pans cycle.  Now to sit down and enjoy this cup of coffee and catch up on blogs and email.

Took it easy until lunch time and then headed out to get busy.  Jumped on the mower and cut the side hill and around the upper flower bed.  Then I jumped on the tractor and put a couple trees that had blown over and were hung up in other trees down on to the ground so they are  safe.  Then I dug out two more stumps.  UPS pulled in while I was doing this and dropped off some things I had ordered on Prime from Amazon.  Ordered them Monday and with the free 2 day shipping they were here today.  Bonnie pulled in as I was about done, I finished up and headed in.  She was  cooking supper, pork loin, cole slaw, and potato salad.  Boy was it good.

Earlier today I looked up a new refrigerator shelf for Elizabeth and got it ordered.  It broke a month or so ago,  I needed the model number of the refrigerator to order it and just got that on Tuesday.

Broken shelf

Thats about it. for today.  Thanks for Checking In.

A Day of training and a little work on the MH

Thursday

I set the alarm last night for 6:45am to wake me for a long day.  I was up it was sunny and I soon was on the road for Batavia.  I had a whole day of training ahead of me at GCC the local community college for court.  We had training on 4 separate topics and then an assessment test.  The day actually went rather quickly and we had a break for lunch and pizza was provided.  I passed the assessment so am set for another year except I need to put in a few more training hours to complete my requirement.

I headed for TOPs at the other end of Batavia to fill up the truck and gas cans as Bonnie had accumulated 80 cents a gallon off of gas by shopping at TOPs.  So I got 30 gallons (the max they allow) for $3.19 a gallon.  Yep 90 some bucks.

Then I headed over to BJ's

I wanted to look at Blu Ray players for the MH.  I found one of the latest Vizio players that should work well with our Visio TVs.  I used my amazon app on the iPhone to check the price and it was the same as the lowest price I could find so I picked it up.

When I got home I decided to use it in the house and take the smaller Vizio Blu Ray from the house out to the MH, so will do that in the morning.

Bonnie and I spent the evening to catch up on TV and then read a little before bed.

Friday

Slept good again last night and was up early.  I switched out the Blu Ray player and later will work on the MH and install the new one.  Both of the players work with Amazon Prime to play movies for free so that is a good deal.

Mid morning I headed up to court and ended up spending about 4 hours up there.  For several weeks a Robin has been building a nest on the light just outside the door.  It flies away every time you go in or out of the door.  So I thought I would hold up the phone and take a picture to see if there were any eggs in the nest.

Surprise the eggs had already hatched

It should be fun to watch them for a while.

Once home I went out to the MH and reinstalled the cabinet door.

Looks good again

 Then I installed the Blu-Ray player under the new TV.  I think I will make some kind of cover to close up most of the hole.

Bonnie went shopping after work and we did some Brats on the grill when she got home.
Thats about it for today.

Saturday

Up early nice and sunny to be in the 80s today.
Enjoyed my coffee and caught up on email and blogs.
Headed up to court for some paper work and to check on the robins.

Getting Bigger already

 Once home I had a lithe lunch and then jumped on the mower and cut the back yard grass.  And hooked up some hoses and worked on the hose bibs a little.

This bush looks much better in person.

 Bonnie worked outside most of the day in the flower beds.

One of the flower beds in the back

After that she made potato salad and then had to go into work a while with a side trip to WalMart.

The internet went out around 9pm and did not come back on till after 11 when I was in bed reading, but at least it is back on.  I spent the evening watching the NASCAR All-Star race and enjoyed that.

Sunday

Sunny again and woke up to all the birds singing outside, it is to be 85 today.

Off to church which is the start of a busy day.  After church we came home to change and then off to Elizabeths for lunch.  We took a short walk to one of the ponds on the property.

Headed to the pond

A nice little pond

Then Elizabeth was off to a friends and we were headed home for a short while.  Bonnie had to go into work again to change dressings on a girl.  I watched an amazon prime free movie.  Seven Brides for Seven Brothers an oldie but I had never seen it.  Bonnie got home for a few minutes and then we headed to church.  One of the girls at church was reporting on a mission trip she made in the spring.  I ended up recording it for her mother who had to work, so right now I am waiting for it to download on to dropbox.

We got home and Bonnie has invited her sister over for supper to celebrate an upcoming birthday.
We had a good supper and strawberry shortcake for dessert.  Now a little TV and reading

Thanks for checking in.

Yard Work--CC Hacked Again

Monday

No rain but overcast all day.  I caught up on things inside this morning.

After lunch I made a run to the post office and then jumped on the John Deere and cut the grass in the front yard.  Then I jumped on the big John Deere and put the box blade on it.  I leveled out a couple stump bumps and dug out another stump.

Old stump bump

 Ground is way to wet to be able to level these out and plant grass

This was an another stump

Then I put the rake on the tractor and racked out the stone in the driveway.

York Rake

 Bonnie got home just as I finished and fueled up the tractor.  She changed and watered her new plants.

Fueled up for the next job

Just as I finished I got an alert from my credit card company about a charge that I did not recognize.  I called and it was done on the internet.  They said it looks like another fraudulent charge and canceled my card on the spot and said they would send another.  This is the second time this year, sure hope it is the last.

Tuesday

Nice and sunny this am.

I worked on a few things inside this morning and made a list of online accounts that I needed to update.  Just as I was leaving for court UPS drove in and delivered my new card.

I worked at court for awhile and then headed to West Seneca to get the oil changed in the Honda.  It was a good experience.  The service writer met me at the car door and promptly took care of the paperwork.  He pointed out that at 9000 miles the tires should be rotated.  I said go ahead and do it.  He said 40-45 minutes and led me to the customer lounge.  I signed onto the WiFi and checked my email.  There was free bottled water and coffee and comfortable chairs.  All the others waiting were woman, where are all the men.  About 40 minutes later Jeff came in and said I was all said.  I paid the cashier and he showed me the freshly washed car sitting in the shade.  When I got in I noticed another cold bottle of water sitting in the console.  Very nice service experience and I hope it continues.

Once home I took out the floor mats and scrubbed the winter crud off them, wiped down the door sills and cleaned the windshield.  Then collected the trash and now its time for a nap and some computer work to update accounts.

Had ribs for supper, Bonnie has a meeting in Warsaw tonight.  Catching up on computer updates and a little TV tonight.

Oh Emily why did you do that.  Our cat brought a mouse up from the basement and let it go so that it ran in the bed room.  I got close but have not been able to dispatch it yet.  Bonnie is not home yet and its way past her bedtime.

Wednesday

Sunny this morning but it rained just after I went out to work outside.

I went out and took a load of supplies to the MH.  While I was out I ran the main engine until it was hot and moved it up a few feet.  I also cleaned up some inside and removed one of the cabinet doors that needed fixed.  I think it has dried out some and the joint split from the extreme heat.

Open joint

Joint on the back held the wood split

 I forced glue down into all the open joints and crack as best I could.  Then I could not find my 1/2inch pipe clamp.  I looked and looked, it was no where to be found.  I had my 2 sets of clamps for 3/4 inch pipe.  I finally remembered I had a piece of 3/4 inch pipe used as a handle on my Hickey, another name for a conduit bender.

Hickey

 I took the pipe out and installed the clamp fittings.

All clamped up

Nice and tight joint now

Now to let it dry for a day.

Wow its Thursday and I missed posting this last night.

Thanks for Checking In.