Welcome to the June 2005 BLOG. Didn't see the end of last month?
Click here: May 05 BLOG

June 30, 2005 Thu

It's time to note the end of another month. Wasn't that fast?

Sometimes, the end of the month sneaks up on us, and it's next month before we know it.

We hate when that happens. . .

Geez, we hope we aren't as tired as we look, but then again. . . It is the end of the month. We did carry cement blocks to the alley. Not as many as Ann carried, tho, by any means.

Well, you can't tell from this picture, but the cement chunks are three and four deep along the back fence, on the alley side. Ann carried the most of these from beside the house to the other side of the yard, and then to the alley. Many trips with the wheelbarrow.

June 28, 2005 Tue

OK. Late in the day, Tuesday. Things are good. Dick is back at home, and doing well with a new knee.
These are Ann's climbing Peas, by the back fence. I was the 'spider'.

Here is a scan of an old picture of a very young trio. Jim the Eel, Ken the Snake, (picture taken at Ken's cottage on Greenlake, and that's Ken's wooden boat - a Thompson?) and yours truly. I can only guess at the date - late sixties, early seventies? So, when's the last time that YOU had a 28 inch waist?

Here's Evie - taken a few minutes ago. . .

Yes, hens. Laying again, tho not with much regularity. . .

The kitty girls - Not scratching quite so much, as flea season winds down. . .
This is not a fun subject to discuss. . .

June 26, 2005 Sun

Almost forgot this picture of Ann in her graduation robes! I'm looking for a picture that I have somewhere of Dad in his doctoral robes - very impressive!

Yes! Fae was here, and it was Hairday for everyone! I, personally, came out about a pound lighter. Many thanks to Fae, seen here trimming Laura. Also, thanks to Kenny, for doing the driving.

Ann and I decided to 'pose' by the new shelf. We are SO proud! This is about how the shelf matches the wainscoating, yada yada.

Chico likes it, too. He's smiling.

Ann and Barbara were out abusing Harley the horse. The situation has been documented. Here's Ann, up on Harley.

It gets worse - her she is making him go fast!

Barb, giving Harley a well deserved break.

Ever seen a 'Puff Ball'? This is a huge one!

Young Jim has been fishing in the big water off Jacksonville, FL. These were the captured species. Two different types of 'Snapper'. Mangrove, and the more familiar 'Red'. Ummm, good!

June 25, 2005 Sat

Ann's shelf is on the wall!

Dick is getting a four hour per day 'pass'. Today they made it all the way home. Dick figures he'll be on his own one day next week. Such a small incision for such major work! Now both his knees match. Phone cam picture.

Ann is doing the final sanding. Here one might notice the wood plugs over the shelf support screws?

And here, they have become invisible!

Just so you know that I did something. . .

Ann seemed concerned that the new cup board would hold her heavy pitchers? I loaded it up pretty good with everything heavy I could find, including a chunk of concrete. It's still on the wall.

June 24, 2005 Fri

They're finally letting Dick loose. He had knee replacement surgery a week or so ago, and is now going through the hard part - rehabilitation. Good to see him out and about!

Ann decided to build her own kitchen shelf, modeled after one in a magazine. She sketched out the sides and gave me the boards marked for cutting. Then she assembled it. She's in the painting, finishing stage, now. Note new picnic table!

The all important handfinished touch. Ann has marked out the hole (in the table) where the umbrella will go.

Laura this day, wearing pants (by popular suggestion) that she has designed and sewn, all by herownself.

Yes, I must stick my face in everywhere. . .

I included this just because I love the look of Ann's topknot!

Tomorrow we'll attach the shelf to the back piece, which matches the kitchen wainscoating. Ann planned it that way, you see. After a high in the 70's, it's now cooling off - Ann is chilly at any temperatures under about 80.

June 23, 2005 Thu

Ann wearing her gift hat, from a tribal member. Local natives have been weaving hats like this for eons.

Today was ORTHO day , again. Sometimes I've taken these shots in the car on the way to see the orthodontist. Pouty faces. Adjusting braces is not fun. This time I waited, and took the following back at the house.

Now that school is out, the girls can make 'Sim's' worlds galore. They did.


Another version of how our new upstairs might look. . .

June 22, 2005 Wed

Talyn, Evelyn, Ivey, Blair

View from the audience

June 21, 2005 Tue

The Mayor has been out and about with a camera - shots from the Windy are on a
new page .
Anna and Evelyn getting perfect-

Evelyn in recital make up.

The boat, that S/B on the
Boatblog page . . . and finally is.

A warning ticket appeared on the Saab. We've been parking uphill and downhill in front of the house all along, but this warning (from the city Dogcatcher) might mean the end of that particular habit.

June 19, 2005 Sun

Happy Father's Day, to all the Dads!

Feed your Cows!  A story by Evelyn

June 17, 2005 Fri

Late news - the small USB external drive  is now working. It needed manual formatting, which allowed the assigning of a drive letter, so that Windows Explorer would recognize it - which it does! 30 GB's of handy, transportable, hot swapping storage!

School's out! Summer is officially here, then. Evelyn brought home some of her art work that I hadn't seen. I'm picking these two for sharing -

This was designed as a bumper sticker, I believe? Ev is a Beatles fan! Correction: it is a license plate!

This is a nearly lifesize ceramic face mask - the design says it all. . . Evelyn does nice work. I wish that she'd let me post one of her stories?

A phone camera picture. . . ahhh, the car was moving. . .

June 16, 2005 Thu

Happy Birthday to Brett - 33 this day. This is my oldest.

Also, Happy Birthday to Lee! Age twenty! A student at MSU. My nephew. We are very proud of Lee, as well as Brett.

The weather remains friendly - in spite of the forecasts. It seems that everyday, on the TV news, they are calling for rain. We think this must refer to areas around Seattle? (A ways south of us, and more exposed to incoming weather systems?) For it was a lovely day in Anacortes. Right around 70. Some clouds.

June 15, 2005 Wed

My darling wife points out that while 'cloning' backgrounds   into the Bellingham graduation pictures, I was a tad too anxious. Some of the transitions are way obvious. One might notice 'lines'. I'll try to be more patient, next time.

Dang. The computer doesn't want to recognize my new handy external device, and assign it a 'drive' letter. Working on this. . .
Temps are warm and pleasant. The top is down.

What's up w/you?

June 14, 2005 Tue

This is a 30 gig (Toshiba) external hard drive, in its case. This is to back up laptop (or any other) files. The hard drive, inside that wee external case, operates as a USB II device, we hope. EDIT: It does, after initializing, partitioning, formatting and assigning a drive letter.

Whoa! What great fun! A swell,
tennis game 
very smooth and lots of options. Easy, and fun.

June 13, 2005 Mon

Two of Mardi's other pictures: what she 'jokingly' refers to as her - pot garden.

Mickey in the sun. Mickey is how old? Old.

Found time today to 'fix' all the Bellingham pictures. Take the posts out of folks heads, make decent backgrounds, etc. If you didn't view this page in the last 48 hours, you'll have no idea to which I am referring. . . Which is also neither here nor there. . .

June 12, 2005 Sun

From today in Arlington. . .

This is Laura's side of the family. We were at her brother Lon's. This is Lon and his wife, Gayle. It was their granddaughter (Britney's) graduation party. Also pictured is Britney's Mom, Teresa.

Pictures from yesterday. . . We were at Eric and Debra's house. Heidi is Eric's sister.
Laura and Dick with the graduate - Heidi! (These are the 'enhanced' photos)

Paul's whole family - (wife) Barbara, Eric and Debra, Heidi and Anna

Laura, and Paul's sister Mary.

The graduate and Evelyn

Barbara and Paul and family with Gram and Grampa

From the day before - Evelyn and Samantha. They are making a movie - Sam's wearing a wig.

Jack's Earwig killer solution - Canola oil and Soy sauce. Seems to work!

June 10, 2005 Fri

It's that time of year! Everyone is doing yard work. Garden work. Outside work.
Jack sends along some recent shots of their garden area. He and his wife have an ongoing war with Earwigs. Handled with soap spray, and Canola oil.

Oh yes, and the help of several long tongued critters. . .

Himself

Evelyn, headed to school on 'PJ Day". Call me old, (I am) but we never had PJ day when I went to school.

June 09, 2005 Thu

We're still celebrating Anna's 16th birthday! Ann is holding a tri color cake made by Laura from an old family recipe. It was delicious!

Anna And Evelyn checking out the new iPod. Dang, now guess who simply MUST HAVE one for HER (Coming soon, in July!) birthday!?

Gram lighting the candles

Ann showing off her nails. . . and well polished rings!

Homemade ice cream cones, too!

Dick and Barbara

John sends along some pictures from his latest assignment/adventure in Afghanistan.

What a banner day for pictures - Mardi has her garden in full swing.

Pretty good shot of Mardi's cat, Mickey - enjoying a spot of sunshine, as cats are wont to do!

And finally, I added a story to the RRDave website .

June 07, 2005 Tue

This from my brother, Adam -  

Hi there!!!
Y'know, I was just sitting here at work - taking a little mental vacation - and browsing past Blog pages from months gone by that I hadn't seen. In looking over all these pictures, updates, tid-bits of information and family gatherings, something struck me....

Long ago, there were some pictures of David working on the bathroom and the kitchen. We could see him working hard to make things look great. In recent months, there have been lots of pictures of Ann working hard outside and inside. Ann doing yardwork, Ann building walls, Ann laying cement, Ann doing all sorts of labor and stopping to pose for pictures. All the while, David stands with his camera and takes pictures to post on his website.

Does this tell us anything? Is there a theme here? Is there something the rest of us should know? David, are you helping her at all? Has anyone called the authorities about the unpaid labor Ann is having to do?

I just thought I'd deliver my observation in case no one else had noticed!!

Anne (of the East) and I went out to celebrate our 12th anniversary.....yes 12TH ANNIVERSARY!!! Oy Vey!

John has written a few times from Afghanistan. He seems to be doing well and liking the folks he's dealing with. There are a few New York Times journalists there, that he knows who have been awhile and know the area, so that helps. Despite that, I find myself worried every day, and hoping for an e-mail from him to get an update. He's written two or three times - which is nice! I also think it's a sign of a bit of nerves on his part, too... wanting to keep in touch and stay connected.

Anyway, I was looking at the site and wanted to write to say hello. I hope you guys are well and I really miss you all!!

Love,
Adam

I was quick to point out that I empty the cat's box. . .

June 06, 2005 Mon

We've been trying to find some pictures that allow Ann's progress, since she got the idea to make this corner of the yard have a more natural look. This might be the one: Last summer, during the 'new fence' stage. It was that large pile of broken cement that didn't fit into her view of HOW the yard should feel, in a natural type setting. I.e., no cement chunks.

She did very well, we think. We both worked on the fence, but the rest is all Ann!
It's living on a hill that makes these transitions necessary.

Perhaps soon, we'll know if it might be possible to put a true foundation under this house?

June 05, 2005 Sun

There was a Walk for Life, (edit, per Evelyn, 07,09,05 - It's 'Relay for Life') cancer thing at the High School track grounds. One might pitch a tent, and stay all night. And Walk. Many did.

A lot of money is raised for a good cause.

The Mayor has come upon another great idea, and implemented same. Do one's computer work while on the treadmill!

Coupled with a voice recognition program, one might step out while talking daily business into the computer.
Can you say, Healthy?!

June 04, 2005 Sat

Ann by a newspaper machine displaying her front page picture!

It's the local 'Artwalk'. This happens every so often, and the work of local artists is featured. Both Laura and Barbara had their talents displayed!

Barb and one of her paintings, on display for the Friday evening 'Artwalk'. The picture is of our Aunt's house in Bellaire, MI, as it looked in the 60's, during a winter snow. It is done in oil from a combination of pictures and memory. It looks exactly right.
Speaking of memory, I well recall standing on that back porch drinking milk 'still warm from the cow', as it came out of the hand cranked separator, a device that separated the cream from the milk. I was perhaps Evelyn's age, or younger.


Some of Laura's work. . .

Herself

Laura and Ann

June 03, 2005 Fri

Today's Skagit Valley Herald features Ann - on the front page, no less. She is pictured at the Education Awards Dinner, where her students were acknowledged for graduating. What, you don't recognize the back of Ann's head?

Also having a big evening - Evelyn, in her first play at the middle school.

Full house! Sold out.

With proud grandparents, and Mom. Posed.

Natural. I'd like to tell you what they were laughing about?

And, finally - a game you (and I) can WIN! It's fast, it's simple.
A game I can WIN!
Tell me what you think?

June 02, 2005 Thu

For some time (since last October, I'm informed) our clothes dryer has been making a terrible squeaky screechy noise. BUT, only sometimes. Usually, I could give it a good shake, and it'd get quiet again. For awhile. Then, it'd start up - one screech per revolution, over and over and over until you'd think you're going to lose your MIND!
Well. I'm old and deaf. I just tuned it out.
Some of us found that a tad difficult.
That same some of us finally suggested, 'If you don't FIX that thing, I'm calling a repair guy.'

Whoa! That got my attention. I'd been putting it off, as I usually do. I was hesitant to take the dang thing apart. If I couldn't fix it, there goes big bucks. This is a convertible unit, dryer stacked on top of washer. The washer works fine, as does the dryer - well, except for the SCREECHING! However, it WAS actually drying the clothes. So, in part, the old adage; 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it', seemed to apply. It became a matter of definitions - what constitutes 'broken'? Don't worry, your wife will 'splain it to you, when the time comes.

So, I finally started taking it apart, pretty sure that the back bearing on the drum was shot. Within an hour or so I was able to shoot some WD 40 on the bearing in question, and - VOILA! Quiet. So. How long would it stay quiet? Only a matter of hours, as it turned out. So - the dilemma: Try and get at the bearing to replace it (take the whole upper part of the machine apart) - or call the repair guy myself?

I wimped. I called. I'm glad I did. Nothing is simple anymore. That guy earned his money. He got it reworked in a matter of hours. I'd've been at it for days, if not weeks, the way I work. He cleaned and lubricated everything, and replaced that bearing.

The piece on the right bolts onto the rear of the dryer drum, and that round bulb rides in the nylon fitting - which was full of heat proof grease at one time. Over the years, lint and heat and friction finally used up that heat proof grease, and the dreaded squeak began. These pieces were getting HOT!

Well, it should be good for another few years. I was able to get the cost down by offering cash. I'd use this guy again, I think.

Now, THIS is a fun game. Starts out so simple. . .
Telescope Game  

Whoa! Click this
button !
Didn't know you could do that, huh?

June 01, 2005 Wed

Uh oh. Dang.

Trying to get it together, here.

Yes! It's another month. I tried to squeeze 32 days into last month, and it just didn't work.

The last few days have been big fun. If you might call hitting 60 years of age big fun. I do.
OK, that's the truth.

Today wasn't quite as much fun. Hours on the phone, doing telephone maintenance, or 'utility' work. Why did the bank charge thirty dollars for a transaction? Why didn't this guy call us back? Find an appliance guy. Locate an attorney in Chicago. We try to get geared up for this phone work and then just stay at it. While on hold, we put the phone on 'speaker' and do other stuff. Still, it eats up so much time. It's good to be retired, is about all I can suggest. Except for the money angle.

The brighter side: rain again early in the day, (no lawn watering called for) giving way early to a sunny and pleasant afternoon and evening. This is a very swell time of year to be in the Great Pacific Northwest.

This was about my favorite card - kind of looks like Chico, on caffeine. The inside said - "What's shakin'?" BTW - Chico does tend to vibrate a lot, just on general principle. He's a 'shaker'.

Those chums that have gotten away from Gate's products altogether, suggest that this is the only keyboard that I might need?!