Welcome to the   July 2006 BLOG. Didn't see the end of last month?
Click here: June 06 BLOG

July 29, 2006 Sat

Ann's been working on this area for quite some time. She was held up for several weeks (months?) waiting for yours truly to remove some offending buried retaining wall (the last of which is seen here, at her feet). Now she's going, again.

The painting is done, and she is on to the rock stuff.

On the inside, phase three is underway - removing the closet and associated walls that separate the two bedrooms.

This will raise the ceiling back to nine feet. Phase four will be removing the no-longer-needed drop ceiling in the living room/dining room.


The deconstruction has begun.

July 28, 2006 Fri

Thanks to Bill - this link to a short video that's

better than dominoes.

And from Jarvis this link to your

birthday information  - and plenty of it.

Dick spotted the mystery 'boat' this morning - he knows a guy that knows a guy - there may be some information coming, regarding this most unusual water craft.

July 26, 2006 Wed

Note Movie Blog and Picture Site links at top of page.

This would be the Utube movie site, where it is FREE (and EASY) to show your movies. It's more efficient than loading movies onto this page, you see, and you don't have to 'join' or give any information to view the material. Ditto the Flickr picture site - easy to use, and free. Show many pictures at once, and visitors may add comments, etc. This is true of the movie site, as well. I'd prefer folks email me any comments, etc - since I don't check those sites daily. However, either way will work!

July 25, 2006 Tue

Awesome sailboat   - thanks to Bill

Kite Champion

These three pictures should really be on the Boatblog - but we're too lazy to work on another webpage - This boat is starting to look pretty snazzy, since it was first shown a month or so ago -
Edit july 26 - don't waste any time looking for an earlier photo of this boat - I did, and couldn't find one posted.

This new boat got its pilot house delivered yesterday

And finally, a sailing question - Which way is the wind blowing that these two sailboats can be headed in opposite directions?
You'll have to email your response -please do

Edit - July 26th
Here is a possible answer - thanks to Robert:
Boats can sail in every direction except directly into the wind. The two boats can sail in opposite directions because of the sail configuration of each one. One boat, the windward boat is running one sheet, while the leeward boat is running two, a bow and a stern sheet, only one is presented flatly to the wind, to force the wind to urge the boat forward as the wind squeezes between the two sheets. Both boats are getting a side wind which is running in the same direction as the windward boat (the one closes to the camera.)
I hope I am right, otherwise I hope you brought your flotation device. :0)
RA

July 24, 2006 Mon

The ship used in Pirates of the Carribean - otherwise known as our own Lady Washington - pulled in The Port of Anacortes Marina just as Ann and I were taking a stroll along the docks.

We still had energy after riding the scooter to Stanwood and back, some 65 miles - to visit Tom and enjoy his hospitality.

Tom's daughter and friends

Ann cooling her heels in the Skagit River, which flows along Tom's property. This was big fun!

This sunshade and a pleasant breeze kept the 90 degree temps at bay.

The evening before we had walked the new portion of the Tommy Thompson Trail - a popular walk that we've enjoyed many times. The trail now goes all the way to March's Point, where we find the refinery.

We saw this Harbor Seal watching us -

This latest addition to the Trail is built over the old Railroad Trestle

We walked home into the sunset - like good cowpokes

We posted some pictures of the Dormer project, showing the progress - click the 'badge'

July 22, 2006 Sat

This is what our house started out looking like, about six years ago - it is really a rather small fisherman's cottage, built sometime after the turn of the century, and moved up the hill from the waterfront in 1925. At that time it had a kitchen (wood stove), one or two small bedrooms, living / dining room. The small back bath was added later. And the other bath (that part sticking out of the side of the house on the right) only a few years ago, by the guy that owned the house previously.

And today, largely through Ann's thought, effort and patience - the house now sits on an actual foundation and has an upstairs. If you've forgotten what this project entailed - the process may be viewed by clicking HERE

Dining on Paul's new patio, with the recently returned Dick and Laura, their traveling companions and old friends, Perry and Dottie, and John and Linda. Plus various family members. . . apologies to Debra. . .

Perry doing magic tricks! That's Dottie in the background.

A picture (slightly altered by Adam, to anger his Mom we think) of John and Adam, a few years ago. OK, many years ago. The caption is: And Bush cracked their wee heads together like coconuts!

Linda is sharing some of her travel pictures - we posted them on the Flickr site -
Here is a link to them - the site is free, and easy to use. Saves bandwidth on my server, etc. The 'link' display can be one of two styles, this is the random five picture style 'badge', as it is called - and the other is a smaller badge showing a constantly updating collage of the photos. I used that style earlier this month, around the 8th, I think? OK, here's a link to said earlier display of a Flickr badge, to save you scrolling down the page - The other Flickr Badge - click here

www.flickr.com kc_oms' linda's pix photoset

July 20, 2006 Thu

Taking advantage of the great weather - riding the scooter the last two evenings. Trying to walk some, too - so as to maintain the illusion of being on a health program. The docks are a favorite place to do just that -
Here's Annabelle Smock posing in front of a boat that is her namesake -

Whoa - each of these boats represents a multi thousand dollar investment - and yet, here they float/sit.

Hey! Here's the boat that Ann and I have been studying the last few years - a Walker Bay. Offered with sails, and seats three. Will take a small motor, too.

Here's the mystery craft, again. There was an article in the paper about it last night - but it wasn't very informative. We may just walk in there and ask a few questions.

We are going to have a heat wave - maybe? Temperatures are 10 degrees above 'normal' for today - but the temp in the house is only up one degree, to 73. We have never needed A/C, here in the Great Pacific N'west.

July 18, 2006 Tue

This picture got left off the other day -
It's Evelyn and Talyn, and a young friend - in the paddle boat on the Lost Lake, on Camano Island.

July 16, 2006 Sun

This is how any progress is being made on the lower level -

Evelyn at her second birthday party, following her first birthday party, on her actual birthday -

Yes! Fae was in town over the weekend - doing her thing on Cassady, here -

Self portrait of FEETS - by Ann
"I see these every morning, when I make my coffee."

It was Tom's birthday, over the weekend - we celebrated on Camano Island - Tom has no fear of ducks. . .

July 15, 2006 Sat

Added movies to the movie blog. (Link at top of this page.)

Walked all about the Shipwreck Days set up downtown. The world's biggest garage sale. Saw every piece of junk I ever gave away, lost, or still own. A fellow told me the serious shoppers are there before 7 AM, and anything remotely valuable is gone soon afterwards. Ann still managed to find a few items. . .
Forgot to take any pictures - but just imagine Commercial lined with booths and stalls from one end to about 12th street. My main reason for going? Fair Food! Cheap cheeseburgers.

July 14, 2006 Fri

Ann's party decorations

The birthday girl


Anna's exchange student and friend - Yuca

Still at it - primer stage

Taking pictures at sunset

July 13, 2006 Thu

Happy Birthday, Evelyn -  turning fourteen, this day!

July 12, 2006 Wed

Dang. Second day of showers. Heh heh. Poor Ann. She just gets me motivated to start painting the dormers, and it clouds up, and stays damp. 'Why can't we do two things at once? Paint AND tear out that wall between the bedrooms', asks she? One track mind, says me.

My CD copy software takes a dive. And for some reason, the program won't load anymore from the disks? Just when I wanted to copy my new Chuck Berry material.

Hey! Here's Hogan, thanks to Amy -

Taking fuel

Can't decide about this 'stitch' software - sometimes the results are better than others - maybe I should read the instructions. . .
That's the Elwah in drydock

July 10, 2006 Mon

Some progress - the back wall of the house that was home to left over construction materials, etc -
Your eyes are OK - this was a photo 'stitch'

Got cleaned up! The trip to the dump, helped in this regard.

The Mayor has finished his June Photo Blog - a treat for us!
June photo blog
Also today the outside dormer painting finally gets underway.

Handy paint can holder - matches the roof slant - very helpful

It was a busy day, too, at the waterfront

July 09, 2006 Sun

Ann, Evelyn and friend, at Henry Ford Museum. We keep finding pictures that never got posted, you see. . .

Sunset at Manistee, MI - on the shore of Lake Mi

With Jake and Brett, at the memorial for my Dad.

Dick and Laura and their three daughters - Linda, Barbara and Ann

Evie in Plymouth, MI

Ann and I spied this strange craft while out riding the motorcycle last evening. It's hidden away in the back of the Dakota ship building yards. It's an experimental water craft that is to be sailed to HA. I couldn't get the whole thing in a picture, there is another third at the rear, much like the front. Trying to find out more about it, like; What makes it go?

Trying some new free software to display pictures with an idea towards the family being able to add to, edit, organize and view each other's albums/photos. It's called Flickr, and here's a look~~

July 08, 2006 Sat

More of Linda's pictures from MI ~

The women

the men

Sue Marx Smock, Ann Smock, David Smock, Laura Smock

The office chair that belonged to Robert Smock, that we shipped from MI.

Painting hanging on Mardi's dining room wall in MI

Photo by Evelyn, taken in DC

July 07, 2006 Fri

Bocce Ball Video

My daughter, Ambie Smock,

was unable to make the activities in MI due to her son Malcom's unfortunate Superman experience. As boys will do, he tried to fly - with the predictable results. As the pictures show, he is out of the cast and on the mend.
The take off

Getting some pushing help from big brother Max

We went to see a movie last night with these 'folks/pirates'. Can you guess what movie?

The following are from Linda's camera -
Click here for names

July 06, 2006 Thu

A serious moment at Mardi's in Northport, MI.

Jim by the trusty 250,000 mile Honda. He drove it to Plymouth and back while we were there. Talk about faith!

Jim was also the boat driver ~

Another look at the dining room table that Jim built for the occasion. Seated over twenty folks!

Without the leaves -

After spending a week in Sutton's Bay, we started downstate to Plymouth, for the memorial. Driving down the Lake Michigan side of the state, we spent the night in Manistee, at the Lakeshore Inn. Dad and Fran have stayed there about once a year for the last 16 years, so it was a trip down memory lane. Alas, the place could use some updating! On the other hand, when's the last time you stayed in a room that had a 'Magic Fingers' machine attached to the bed? This one stuck 'ON' after inserting the quarter, and after getting our fill (and then some) of Magic Fingers, we had to unplug the dang thing.

On the breakwater that leads to the smaller lighthouse -


With a new friend

At Adam and Anne's house
Ann, David, Ann's sister Barb, David's sister Mardi, Ann's sister Linda, David's brothers John and Adam
This would be all the two brothers (Robert and Richard) surviving children. Robert's other daughter, Sarabeth, died in '97 of diabetes. We were gathered for Robert's memorial.

Caroline, by Ann. John and Caroline are the pair

July 05, 2006 Wed

Starting to feel like home, again. After looking at only about half the many pictures (Ann's, Linda's and mine) from MI I realize it will be a chore to decide which to post. We may put a few on a separate page for the hardcore picture viewers.

We had a good trip home, all connections on time. Those are long travel days, though. Good to see all the extended family, and good to be home.

On the big bird -

The house that Jim built - Mardi's house north of Sutton's Bay.

David's boys, Jake and Brett, with Evelyn

Trisha's boys, Nick and Dillon, with Evie

Tracy and Suzie were so good about driving Brett and Jake around, and putting them up, too.

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