The doom is here!

The walk several inches of snow ago.

 

Last night and this morning we got several inches of snow. Several as in like 12. I have spent most of the day shoveling. My arms and back are sore and the white stuff just keeps on falling.

Mr. owl.

A gnome house.

Thanksgiving

This years Thanksgiving was a little different as things are still in flux. Last year we went down to the farm dark and early to put the bird in the oven. This year however we decided to use an electric roaster we had here at the house and so we got up early Thursday and put the 22 pounder in the roaster and went back to bed. We got up around 9am and gave the bird another hour before checking the temp. At 10 am we pulled the lid off the roaster and found the bird had almost fallen apart. The temps told us that the main course was ready. We packed the roaster pan in towels and put it in a plastic tote. We arrived to the farm around 11am and then started on the side. Mashed potatoes, green beans with beacon and cranberry sauce accompanied the turkey along with home made rolls and butternut squash pie. The food was amazing and we all ate our fill. We all sat around the table and enjoyed each others company and before long it was time to head home before it got dark. We observed several deer making their way in to the field for a late evening meal. Overall we had a pleasant Thanksgiving and looking forward to next weekend and gun deer season part 2. Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving also.

Just a few projects and repairs.

Over the last few weeks I have tried to keep myself busy with things to do before the snow starts to fly. It started with putting new brakes on the Jeep. While doing so I noticed what I thought was some surface rust but after some inspection I found out that the frame was in very bad shape. After acquiring some metal I had a friend weld the patches over the bad spots in the frame. This was better but I thought the strapping needed a bit more reinforcement. I purchased a flux wire welder from Harbor Freight and after watching few YouTube videos taught myself to weld. I started working on the Jeep and while doing so I cut off the cat and the muffler to better access the frame. After the welding was done I painted the frame and re installed the cat and muffler. Finding the battery was getting weak so I had to pick up one of those. I then moved to Needles truck. Due to overheating I replaced heat sensor and thermostat to find out it was a freeze plug. When we got the truck back from the shop, I decided to do something about the paint. It was in pretty bad shape in a few spots so I ordered the factory paint and prepped the hood and top of the cab. After prepping I painted and finished the hood and several other problem areas. I decided to bed line the top of the cab, front and back bumper, step bars and tops of the bed rails. I think it turned out pretty good. It is a lot better than what it was. After the paint job I slapped four new shocks on it. I then moved back to the Jeep since the bed liner turned out well on the truck, I decided to paint the fender flares and the bumpers on the Jeep. I also drained and refilled the rear end oil and flushed the radiator. Once that was finished I moved back to the Dakota and replaced all four speakers and tomorrow I am replacing the radio. Just in time for deer season. We have spent a lot of money on our vehicles in the hope that they will last us for several more years.

Night of the Living Dead

 

Tonight we went with my brother and his family to see Night of the Living Dead. A local play done by the Old Town Players. It was their second night for this play and I would say they did a good job but it needs a little polish. I am sure with the next several performances it will get better and better. We all had a good time and was thoroughly entertained, after all that is what it;s all about anyway. Have a good night.....Brains!

Kentucky

A trip to Kentucky last weekend gave us a chance to visit with the family and to see the new water fountain across from the courthouse.

Star Trek Convention 2013

Last weekend we venture South to Nashville, Tennessee to attend the Star Trek Convention at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. Here are a few pictures from our stay.

 Chekov - Walter Koenig

 Jadzia Dax - Terry Farrell

 Malcolm Reed - Dominic Keating

 Harry Kim - Garret Wang

 Odo and Kira - Rene Auberjonois and Nana Visitor

 K'Ehleyr - Susie Plakson

 Leeta - Chase Masterson

 Quark - Armin Shimerman

 Tasha Yar - Denise Crosby

Tuvok - Tim Russ

 ROM - Max Grodenchik

NOG - Aron Eisenberg

Under the House.

A couple of weekends ago while under the house trying to re level the kitchen floor I noticed a corroded pipe. It was a gas pipe which makes me a little nervous for it to fail and send explosive gas under the house looking for a spark. I wondered about getting someone to replace the pipe but this would undoubtedly cost a few hundred bucks. I did some research and found a product that would encapsulate the pipe and keep it from corroding further. I ordered the product called pipe wrap which cost $40. Since my Mom and Dad came up this weekend I decided to put it off until Monday. Well today is Monday so after shutting off the gas I gathered my tools and crawled under the house. After doing some additional shimming of the floors I moved on the the main project. The pipe was laying on top of an old red brick which allowed the ground moister to move to the pipe and cause the corrosion. First thing was to remove the brink and dig out enough dirt under the pipe to allow me enough room to wrap the pipe. I prepped the pipe with a wire brush and rasp to remove the loose rust and then prepared the epoxy coating. After apply the epoxy I then wet the fiberglass casting material and began to wrap the pipe. After wrapping the pipe you have to smooth the casting material with your hand for a couple of minutes to allow the product to cure. After project was done and a quick check on one of the sticking doors to see if the shimming worked, I was ready to get out from under the house. Total work time approx. 60 minutes. I am glad to get at least one thing that was looming over my head accomplished. I still have several other things that need to be finished up but it seems like I have to wait. Hope everyone had a good three day weekend.

Progress

All 15 of the windows are in but the trim has a few days left yet.

 

I do believe it is an improvement.

A little remodeling in the works.

We have taken the plunge and purchased new windows for the house and had them contracted to put in. The guy is supposed to start on them Monday so I hope everything goes well. I am a bit hesitant to put money into this house but maybe in the long run it will pay for itself in lower bills and if we ever decide to get the heck out of here.

Garden Patch

We have been getting a bit of produce from our small garden. The garden has yielded several dozen cherry tomatoes and one large tomato with several larger about ripe. I have picked a couple of sweet peppers and have had several hot peppers. We have cooked one mess of green beans with almost another bunch ready for cooking. Then there is the cucumbers. We have probably harvested 30 or so cucumbers with many more to come. Since the neighbors have moved on, we have been picking the blueberries. I have gotten about 3 gallons so far with many more berries ready every day. Got to love this fresh produce.

Birthday weekend.

Friday we headed down to Owensboro for the weekend with Cynical and Ragged. We arrived and then made out way to Yellow Creek Park for ROMP. When we got to the park we made our way across the crowd and found a place to set up our lawn chairs. We got to see Della Mae, SteelDrivers, The Dangerous Gentleman, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Leftover Salmon.

The Deadly Gentleman

Carolina Chocolate Drops

 Della Mae

 Leftover Salmon

SteelDrivers

 

We returned back to Cynical and Ragged's home to stay up late into the night catching up on life. The next morning we awoke to breakfast prepared by our hosts, we stayed close to home and I was presented with a birthday cake from our hosts before returning to the park for the last evening of ROMP. Unfortunately the weather turned on us and we cut the evening short with a stop at Capone's for pizza. We returned to our host's home for the night. For lunch the next day we went to Panera Bread. Our visit ended all too soon and we had to return home. We had a wonderful weekend and hope to see our family soon.

P.S. Thanks Cynical and Ragged for the birthday cake, the Romp tickets and a wonderful weekend.

We're Back!

For details on our latest vacation check out the travel blog. The link is in the gutter to the right.

Memorial Day

Today I want to thank everyone in our armed services and to remember the ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice in order for us to have the freedoms that we have today.

 

A picture I took at Arlington Cemetery in 2009.

Cinco de Mayo

Today we went down to the farm and had tacos for Cinco de Mayo. After our visit we returned home to put some of the tomatoes and peppers we picked up yesterday in the ground. I know the wet muddy earth isn't the best for planting right now but if we waited any long I think we wouldn't have anything left to plant. One of the plants had a rough ride home and was bent over when we arrived. Not long after letting it set in the back room to straighten out, I knocked the same tomato plant off into the floor. I don't think this plant isn't meant to make it. We will see.

The day the music died.

Yesterday afternoon Needles and I were setting in the living room and all of a sudden we heard a crackling from the surround sound system. I looked over the speakers and after a bit of investigating, discovered that the 9 year old Bose system was as dead as a doornail. I removed the unit and settled on listening to the T.V. speakers. After about 10 seconds of that, I decided that this wasn't going to work. Since my birthday was coming up, Needles offered to purchase a surround sound system for me. I did some research and decided on one that I thought would do the job without breaking the bank. It will be a few days before the new unit will be here but until then, we will have to settle with  the crappy T.V. speakers. Over the last few days, Needle and I have been preparing a little area in the yard for a garden. Today Needles planted some green beans and cucumbers. We are homing in a couple of months that we might have some fresh garden vegetables. We have already harvested a good serving of asparagus and the raspberry canes are looking healthy. Tomorrow we are planning on picking up some tomatoes and peppers to get in the ground. Last week Needles picked up a pink dogwood tree so we got it planted in the backyard.  It is finally nice to be able to spend some outdoors in the nice weather. Have a good weekend.

Home Alone.

This weekend, while Needles was away, I didn't do much since the weather wasn't fitting to be outside. I did however mow the lawn and spray the weeds. The rest of the weekend was spent watching movies, sipping coffee and making purchases on the internets. Hope you had a good weekend.

P.S. Sunday Needles and I made a trek down to the farm and got to see the Uncles and play with explosives. Enjoy the following movie. :)

Weekend Trip

Friday, while I was at work, Needles and Ragged planned a little weekend trip, so after work we packed up and headed South. We took our time heading down since I got away from work earlier than usual. We arrived around 6:00pm and settled in with Ragged and a new member to the family Josie. Josie is a year old kitten with gray and brown marble tabby markings. She is unlimited in her cuteness and energy. We sat and chatted on the lovely screened porch until Cynical came home from work all the while being entertained by Josie and her antics.



For supper we all headed out to the local sushi place and I was in heaven. I had the Wasabi Roll, which I had before and the Dancing Girl roll. They were both excellent. After our meal we returned back to our hosts home and watched a little T.V. and got a chance to catch up. Saturday we awoke to Cynical already gone to work, so after breakfast we headed to the Museum with a quick pit stop to The Crème for coffee.

We arrived at the Museum to find that we were the first to arrive for the scheduled spinning demonstration. While the ladies knitted and spun yarn I wandered around the museum. Before long we broke for lunch and went just down the street to The Bistro. The food was very good and service excellent. We went back to the museum for the afternoon and finished up a little after 3pm.

 

We return to the house after a quick grocery run to await Cynical to get off work. Our supper for the evening was grilled hamburgers and turkey burgers with a side of grilled vegetables. It was all very good. We stayed up late into the night watching a movie before calling it a night. Sunday after breakfast we did a bit for running around and shopping. Cynical and Ragged picked up some plants for the landscaping and then a run by Panera Bread for lunch. We arrived back to the house to get in a little more porch time before it was time to head home. We had another lovely time with Cynical and Ragged and can't wait until the next time we can get together.

Pan-Starrs Comet 3-13-13

 

A closer look.

Since the switch.

Since my post on Feb. 3rd Needles and I made the switch to a Roku and said buh bye to DirecTV. Since then we have been catching up on TV series that we haven't been able to watch before. Some of the shows we were watching are not available so we have been streaming it through our laptops to our TV and we have been able to watch almost everything we have watched before at less than half the price of our old cable bill. A few of the shows we are now getting caught up on.

Supernatural
Big Bang Theory
Revolution
Fringe
Grimm
The Walking Dead

If you don't mind the occasional decreased resolution,questionable popups and ads a website I have stumbled upon has a lot of good shows free to stream. http://stream-tv.me/

Weekend Trip

Needles and I made a run to my parents this past weekend. We got to visit with some of my family , do come antiquing and went out to eat at the local Chinese Restaurant. We had a good visit although the weekend went too quick.

A Weekend of Firsts.

This weekend, Needles and I headed South to Owensboro. We were going to visit with family we hadn't seen for a while. When we arrived Friday afternoon we sat and talked for a bit and shortly we were headed out for supper at Pizzaroma. The dirty bread appetizers were awesome follow shorty by the half and half pizza. It was all very good and I ate my fill before we rolled out of there and to Yolo for gelato. I had the coffee while Needles had the Mascarpone. This was the first first. I haven't ever had gelato. It was very good and difficult to say that it is much different that high butterfat ice cream. After the gelato we went to the local library and set in on Unscripted an Indie Film Xperience. We watched to films, the first being They Said They Were Here To Help. An interesting concept on a zombie movie and the second Obsolescence, a movie with a genetic manipulation conspiracy and people with expiration dates built in. They were both very interesting and I enjoyed them. It was good to have the director/ producers there to answer questions and explain some of the visions behind the movie. We left the movie and discussed them both into the night until time to go to bed. Saturday morning we had breakfast and then headed out for a few shopping stops but then to possibly the highlight of the trip, we went to Wasabi Express for sushi. I have tried sushi before on some of the Chinese Restaurants buffet ans was still unsure if I would like it. Lets just say that it was amazing. My cousin recommended the Wasabi roll and I chose the Dynamite Roll for a second. They were both very good but if I had to choose between the two the Wasabi Roll would win hands down. It was the prefect blend of sweet and savory. I can't wait to try it again someday.We returned home and watched a new series on Netflixs. The show is called House of Cards with Kevin Spacey. We watched 3 episodes and they were all very good and ended up going to bed pretty late. This morning we had breakfast and sat in the living room talking about various things but one of the main topics is us doing way with our satellite T.V. We are considering going to Roku- streaming T.V. In fact we have already ordered the device and plan on making the switch this week, especially because when we got home we had a DirecTV bill waiting on us announcing the upcoming rate increase. We have been with DirecTV for about 13 years and I think we aren't getting our moneys worth. Just because you have been doing something for that long doesn't mean you have to keep doing it.

Fun with Blog Posts

Take one of your posts. Copy and paste it into Google Translate. Translate it into whatever language you like. Copy and paste the translation back in and translate it back into English with some interesting results.

My last post below translated into Croatian.

Dosad Nova godina je imao nekoliko uspona i padova.Mećava tek nakon Božića bačena samo preko podnožju snijegom na nas. Mi još uvijek imamo nekoliko komadića bijelog stvari gdje su ga nagomilana u parkirališta. Prije nekoliko dana imali smo neke Ledena kiša koja je napravio stvari malo Slick za nekoliko dana.Led zamrznuo garažna vrata i ulazna vrata zatvorila jedno jutro pa sam morao uzeti kamion na posao nakon susjeda i ja uspjeli dobiti otvorena vrata i čašu tople vode da biste dobili vjetrobransko staklo očišćeno. Dok je pokušavao otvoriti garažna vrata je ubacio osigurača u otvarač. Nakon čekanja na nove osigurače biti isporučen do kuće i nakon što ih zamjene vrata radi kao nov. Ja bih puno radije potrošiti 20 dolara na osigurače od $ 300 + za novi otvarač.Kasno Srna sezone mi je donio dosta jelena, ali uglavnom dolara. Ja zavrsilo ostavljajući ih hodati po. Iglice kupio ptica feeder drugi dan i nakon otprilike tjedan ptice su hrle na njega u šumarcima. Imali smo napuniti i ulagača gotovo svaki dan. Mislim da je svatko ovdje je umorna od hladnog vremena i spreman za proljeće i ljeto. Držite toplo.

Now back to English.

New year so far has had a few ups and padova.Mećava after Christmas just thrown across the foot of snow on us. We still have a few pieces of white stuff where ga piled in the parking lot. A few days ago we had some icy rain which made ​​things a bit for a few Slick dana.Led frozen garage door and front door closed one morning so I had to take the truck to work after my neighbors and I have managed to get the door open and a glass of warm water to get windshield cleaned. While trying to open the garage door opener in the fuse popped. After waiting for a new fuse to be shipped to the house and after they replace the door works like new. I'd much rather spend $ 20 on the fuses of $ 300 + for a new otvarač.Kasno Deer season has brought me a lot of deer, but mostly dollars. I ended up leaving them to walk on. Needles bought a bird feeder the other day and after about a week the birds were flocking to him in the woods. We had filled and investors almost every day. I think everyone here is tired of the cold weather and ready for spring and summer. Keep warm.

Funny stuff.

New Years so far....

So far the New years has had a few ups and downs. A blizzard just after Christmas dumped just over a foot of snow on us. We still have a few patches of the white stuff where they piled it up in the parking lots. A few days ago we had some freezing rain that made things a little slick for a couple of days. The ice froze the garage door and entry door shut one morning so I had to take the truck to work after the neighbor and I manage to get the door open and a glass of warm water to get the windshield cleared. While trying to open the garage door it popped a fuse in the opener. After waiting on new fuses to be shipped to the house and after replacing them the door works as good as new. I would much rather spend $20 on fuses than $300+ for a new opener. The late doe season brought me plenty of deer but mostly bucks. I ended up letting them walk on by. Needles bought a bird feeder the other day and after about a week the birds have been flocking to it in groves. We have had to refill the feeder almost every day. I think everyone around here is tired of the cold weather and ready for spring and summer. Keep warm.