Storm

Photo mosaic by: brianwhitney @ Mosaically

Cache Slash 2016 T shirt

New Years, Good Company & First Snow

New Years came and went without issue other than our toilet water valve gave up the ghost just after midnight. A quick trip to Walmart New Years Day remedied the issue. We also stopped by the local Chinese restaurant for lunch.

This weekend we got to have some company. My cousin and his significant other came for a visit. We got to catch up on things and we went to the big city to eat at the new Hibachi Supper Buffet which was very good. We also made a stop in at Pop Around the Clock and the Dutch Pantry. When we got back to the house my Brother and his family stopped by to visit. The weather forecasters were predicting some nasty weather so our company decided to cut their visit short and they made the right call.  Last night we got our first measurable snow. We got about 7/10 of a inch of rain yesterday before the temps turned frigid and turned over to snow a little before 9pm last night. I think we go a couple of inches of snow but with the frigid temps the rain under the snow was turning to ice and making the roads slick. We heard the blade truck go by a couple of times this morning before we got out of bed. When the sun came up, it finished clearing off the roads. By the afternoon the roads were clear. They are predicting another chance for snow Tuesday. Winter is finally here.

Merry Christmas!

 

Another Christmas has come and gone, they seem to come quicker every year. We had my families Christmas Dec. 19th at my brothers house. My parents came up from Kentucky and also brought along my Grandma. I ended up with money a clock, some gloves and a lot of junk food. I have eaten more junk food in the last month than I have in the previous 6 months including Halloween. We had a lot of good home cooked food and of course I ate way too much. I surprised my parents with the gift from our upcoming vacation. I decided for their gift I would be that I
purchase their plane tickets to Alaska in May 2016. They protested but I figure it is a small pittance of what they have done for me over the years. On Christmas day we went down to the farm. Needles baked a turkey and Bob brought potatoes and Kenny homemade rolls and squash pie. It's was all very good and yet again I over ate. There seems to be a theme here. Anyway It was nice to be able to see the family again. Hope you had a Merry Christmas also.

Pew Pew!

 

Last night we went to the Drive Inn and watched Star Wars The Force Awakens. It was below freezing but I took my Buddy Heater and kept the chill from creeping in. We took coffee but didn't drink it until the ending credits started to roll. Both Needles and I thought it was very well done. Perhaps it was a little too much like A New Hope but it was a good solid movie and we love that it has sparked a lot of questions on what has happened over the last 30 years and what going to happen in the upcoming episodes. The new characters are likable and do their rolls well. The previous actors were used somewhat sparingly which was good, the comedic effects were extremely well done and BB8 droid turned out as adorable and they imagined it to be. I am pleased that the revamping of Star Wars has defiantly gotten off to a good start.

Whitetail Hunting Success

I had some luck with the first deer season. Head over to my Hunting Blog to find out the details.

Back from the Big Apple.

 

We are back from our vacation I will post an update over on my Travel Blog.

http://ramblinstravels.blogspot.com/

Super Blood Moon Eclipse 9-27-2015

9/11

Fourteen years ago today our lives would be forever changed. I don't think we knew at that time just how much our lives would be profoundly affected. As we have a trip to New York in the near future, I would be lying if I didn't have just a little bit of apprehension about going to a place where such tragedy and heart break has happened, but also very heroic stories and stories of American determination that restores our faith in mankind. My heart goes out to all that have lost, gave their life and suffered because of the tragic events fourteen years ago. I am looking forward to our trip but today with sadness in my heart.

TEN YEARS, ONE THOUSANDTH POST....and relish.

Today is my tenth year anniversary of blogging. This is also my 1,000 post. It doesn't seem like it has been that long. I guess time flies and all that jazz. Anyway with all of our garden tomatoes and peppers I decided we needed to make relish. As this is a photo journal here are a few shots.

 

It' been an interesting 10 years. I guess we will see what the next 10 brings.

Garden Yield

 

Tomatoes and cucumbers and peppers...Oh my!  The peppers haven' been picked yet.

New Generator

A couple years ago I purchased a WEN 3500 generator and for most of the first year that I had the thing, we didn't even have a blip in the power. Last fall I gave the generator to my father since just a couple of years ago they survived about 10 days without power during a ice storm and since then we have had two major power disruptions. One on the coldest day of the year and the other on the hottest. The first one lasted about 6 hours the latter for 16 hours. I was kicking myself for not getting another one. Last week I purchased another but just a little bit larger wattage and with a electric start. If nothing else it will probably keep us from having any electrical issues as long and I have it around.

Belated Birthday Surprise

Thank you sweet heart for the belated birthday gift. I would never have guessed this is what you had up your sleeve. I love you very much and appreciate the effort it took to accomplish this. Thank you.

 

The back story:

In 2010 Needles and I went on our first vacation, just the two of us. We decided to go to Boston and Salem, Mass. and then rent a car and venture up into Maine. We drove up to York, Maine and to Nubble Lighthouse and while there noticed an older gentlemen selling prints of his paintings of the lighthouse. We decided on not purchasing one as we didn't know if we would be able to make it back home with it in good shape. The very next year we vacationed in Bar Harbor, Maine and later that trip we ventured to Portland Head Lighthouse and to my amazement the same artist was there selling prints of that lighthouse. I purchased one without hesitation and then kicked myself for not buying one of Nubble Light the year before. Over the next couple of years I would often have regrets that I didn't purchase the print. Apparently Needles decided to be sneaky and contact the gift shop of the Nubble Light and convince them to sell one and ship it to her. This is something they said they don't usually do. To say I was surprised when I opened the gift is an understatement. For the rest of the evening and even now I get a big grin on my face thinking about all the trouble this wonderful woman went through to do this and finally put to rest one of my regrets. Thanks again Needles. LY

 

Above is the two prints of the lighthouses, Nubble Light and Portland Head . Pictures of the same lighthouses that I took while on vacation below.

 

 

The artist Bill Thomson

Psychedelic Soap

Ravenwood Hollow Soap

Garden Update.

Are garden has been doing well, even with all the rain. We got around 8 inches in June and so far in July we are over 3 inches. This picture was taken about a week ago so the tomatoes are about a foot taller. We have harvested so green beans but not enough for a cooking and we have some squash, a zucchini and cucumber ready for picking. We have lots of tomatoes but all of them are still green.

The Big Apple

Well we called about a trip package to New York and we were told the trip might be booked. About 4 days later the tour guide called and said that they had 2 seats left so in Oct. we will be going to New York. This is not a vacation spot we would do on our own so a group trip is great for us. Can't wait.

Happy 4th of July!

Vacation Summer 2015

We are back from our summer vacation so if you are interested in a summary of our trip head on over to my travel blog. We had a wonderful time and got to travel with some nice people. The link is in the gutter to the right.  (Pictured above is Mackinac Bridge.)

Soap Sales

This weekend was the start up of the Sumner Farmer's Market. Since Needles has gotten into the soaping business she decided to set up a booth. She got up and left early this morning and I followed a couple hours later. We had a good turn out and did pretty well for 4 hours. We had great weather and got out of there before the heat of the day set in.

Ravenswood Hollow Soap Facebook

New Antenna!

Above is the before and after pictures of our new antenna. The antenna is much smaller but is supposed to have a longer range. We are able to pick up most of the channels we could get with the older antenna.