Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Yard Stuff





I took these pictures several weeks ago. No longer are the lilies in bloom but have given way to surprise lilies aka naked ladies. The garden is much more over grown now, tomatoes everywhere, okra producing and the potatoes no longer blooming. The tomatilloes have bushed out and heavy with fruit have fallen over. The winter squash patch has come along, lots of butternut squash and acorn squash. The pretty orange lilies are from Kim's old yard in Michigan. I love the way they look upside down. The stargazer lilies were very pretty and fragrant this year. The pagoda is swallowed up by the clematis. We are waiting for the big bloom show. The English marigold across the front walk was very showy this year. They have become my favorite flower seed, so easy to grow. I lost my gazey ball to hurricane Ike last fall. I've replaced them with new ones that I don't think will break...bowling balls!! I especially like the orange flame one.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Visit up North


The end of June we took a trip up North to visit with Kim and family. We had a fun packed week. Sarah was finishing swim lessons and Nate was wrapping up fiddle camp. We had night soccer games watching both kiddos. We had lots of time to play with Natalie. Now the slideshows are not going to be in the order of days we were there but that doesn't matter. We had a mission this trip. We took the Barley twist bedroom furniture to Natalie. Natalie's birthday was the 26th and she's the ripe old age of 2, time to get rid of the crib. She was all excited and a big help to Nate and Papa putting the bed together. She is a big helper just about all the time. The famous phrase "I do it" was heard often. As you can see in the slides, she makes jam, empties the dishwasher, digs in the flower bed, a busy little girl.
Claude got to enjoy some views on the river with Captain Steve. Rum River winds through the housing area and Steve had been looking for some time for a boat to accommodate the family on an occasional outing. Looks like they will have some enjoyable days skimming along on the water.

Strawberries were ripe for picking the week we were there. Kim always makes strawberry jam, so one morning before Sarah's swim lessons, all the ladies headed to the strawberry field. We managed to pick about 25 pounds in 30 minutes and still get Sarah and her friend, Abby to swim lessons on time. We had three loaded flats. That's a lot of jam. As it turned out we only needed one flat for jam. Kim made two huge delicious strawberry pies and we still had berries to eat the rest of the week. Natalie sure enjoyed them. As I said before, Nate was finishing fiddle camp and on the last day there was a performance that we all got to go and enjoy.

On Saturday, we all headed to Valley Fair. It's an amusement park with rides for the meek and wild. We split up with the girls going to the milder side and the guys going for the stomach in the throat rides. Claude had a blast as he loves the coaster rides. He couldn't convince Nate to ride some and others they rode over and over. The Wild Thing must have been fun because they rode it 30 times!!!

On Natalie's birthday we went downtown Minneapolis for the day. Our first stop was the Farmer's Market. Since it was a Friday not all the vendors were set up but what was there had plenty of fresh vegetables and the flowers were beautiful. Next stop was the Sculpture Gardens. The gardens opened in 1988, covers 11 acres and houses more than 40 works. My favorite was the fountain-sculpture Spoonbridge and Cherry. The spoon is 52 ft long and the cherry is a mighty 1200 pounds. After the gardens, we were all ready to eat and we went in search of a diner called The Weinry. We had seen it featured on a television show and said the next time we visited Minneapolis we'd look it up. After a lot of searching we found it and after a long wait we got to eat. It was a very small diner with one cook and one waitress, just like on tv. Since I'm not a connoisseur of hot dogs, I'd have to say the french fries were the better of the two.
We finished the day celebrating Natalie's birthday with delicious cake and ice cream.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Backyard Pagoda

We had a trellis made from old wooden extension ladders that we used for our clematis planted in the back yard. The clematis bloomed each year and looked great. However, the trellis eventually rotted and the wind blew it over. This pagoda was built in the back yard about 8 years ago. We never really used it so Linda decided to use it to replace the old trellis. I dug out the old concrete footer and poured a new pad for the pagoda. The porch swing is one we had for about 5 years, but never installed. We cut it down to fit the pagoda, added extra supports to the seat and installed in inside the pagoda. The pagoda and swing was then painted white. We used 1/4 inch square wire material to run the clematis up to the top of the pagoda. So far, it looks like the flowers are flourishing with the new trellis. Pictures will be posted later when the clematis has covered the pagoda .




We now have a good place to sit in the afternoon to enjoy the quiet of the day; watch all the birds and other animals in the back yard; plan our future trips; and have a cold beer.




As the commercial states, "It doesn't get any better than this". So here's a toast to all our friends. You all are invited to spend a leisure afternoon in our swing to contemplate worldly events. And Tim, we will even let you have our budweiser.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Harley's


My brother whom we visited in Florida last week is an avid Harley fan and he and his wife own 3 of them.

The yellow and blue one is a fatboy "screaming eagle". It is custom made at the Harley factory and only 500 were made. Frank said that one mechanic made the screaming eagle and signed the bottom of the gas tank. He could not get one in Florida, but did find this one in Nashville, TN and had it shipped to Palm Coast, Florida.

Frank also has an electraglide that he usually rides. The fat boy does not get ridden too often.

Cheryl, Frank's wife, also has a soft tail that she rides. Frank's next door neighbor, Doc, also has a Harley soft tail that Frank asked him to bring over for a photo shoot. Doc is very knowledgeable about Harley's and Frank said that he is his mechanic. We started all the Harley's and Doc took them for a ride to charge the batteries.

The video clip is of the Harley's. The sound is the fat boy.

Movies

Owls in our Yard

Baby Screech Owls are so cute. We got a chance to see them up close. We didn't know that there was a nest in the tree by the patio until I looked out the upstairs window and saw this ball of feathers clinging to the tree. It had crawled out of the nest but wasn't able to fly yet. We watched it climb higher in the tree and then we lost sight of it. Momma owl had come along by then and was also sitting in a nearby tree. We gave up and got on with the days task of mowing the yard. I found the little guy later when I was mowing behind the patio, it had come down out of the tree and was hung on an old chair. I carefully got it on the ground and then the rest of the day we spent checking on the baby. A call to Glen Helen Rapture Recovery Center gave us information about the owls and said that momma would come back. They also said that usually the babies can't fly when they come out of the nest and can be on the ground for up to two weeks. After watching the one baby all day, they make a clicking sound with their beak when approached, we discovered another one under the porch. Now, we have two!!! We put them together and we spotted momma owl in the tree above us keeping an eye on us. One baby came out from under the porch and by dark it was gone, we think and hope that it flew away. Next morning the baby owl watch began again with the other one huddled behind the air conditioning unit. All day we checked on it and searched the tree for momma and just as we had been told, momma came back at dusk. First thing this morning we checked and the other one is gone. I'll be sure and check the trees tonight and see if momma is back, if she is the babies are still nearby. Hopefully, they have flown away...we can't get any work done.

Owl Update:

The baby owl appeared in the same location that we first saw it. Momma owl is in the tree above it. We could hear her around 4:00 PM in the woods screeching. Baby owl is still not afraid of us. We can walk up to it and all he does is click his beak and wink at us.

I saw a stray cat sneaking along our fence line. It does come into our yard at times. Hopefully, it will not come in tonight. If the mother is around she will attack the cat if it gets too close. We will check on it tomorrow.

Owl watch continues: Friday
This morning the little guy was still on the ground out in the open. I put it back under some cover. I went to Home Depot and when I returned, I couldn't find it, went inside and later went back out to have another look. I could hear Momma screeching so knew it was somewhere around. We also have a hawk nest in the top of a locust tree and I looked up at it and there our little guy was sitting on a limb. It can fly. It didn't pick the best of trees considering the hawk nest is high above in the same tree. After searching the trees, found Momma and TWO other babies. I'm getting a crick in my neck from looking up so much. It has been great fun trying to find them in the trees. Tomorrow they may all be gone. Fly away, fly away, free as a bird..

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Spring Flowers


We came home from vacation and had spring flowers in bloom, not as many as I would like but some. I think the squirrels have enjoyed the bulbs a little to much over the winter. I have something burrowing in my flowerbed. I fill the hole with dirt and next day it's dug out again. Will I have to set a trap? The red tulips on the south side of the house are in bloom and the others around the back and north side will pop open next week. Pretty soon it will be mowing time.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Sedona Day 8



Our last day in Sedona started out like the rest--bright sun and a little cool, but with a promise of warming up later. We left Sedona around 9 AM and went to Phoenix, AZ. We went to Snow Mountain,a city park which had excellent mountain views of Phoenix. This is billed as the biggest city park in the world containing over 16,000 acres. It was mostly a high desert area witn many different kinds of cactus, miles of walking trails, cliffs from which to hang glide, and many high mountains with breath taking views.

We left the park for downtown Phoenix to find the old historic section. After much searching, we found a city museum and was told we were in old Phoenix. All the old buildings had been razed to make way for new developments. The mayor of Phoenix at the time convinced the city council to buy one old house and about 3/4 blocks to preserve. The house is in the slide presentation and is an excellent example of houses of the time.

After the tour of the museum, we went to the Botanical Gardens. This was a desert botanical garden and was one of the best gardens I have been to. Dale Chihuly gave a presentation titled, "The Nature of Glass". He was sold out, but they did have displays of his glass creations throughout the garden. Most of the pictures in the slide show are of his glass art.

The plants in the garden were fantastic. A lot of the different varieties of cactus were in bloom and had very beautiful flowers. The glass displays were amoung the flowers. The flowers made an excellent backdrop for the glass pieces.

We caught a 11:45 PM flight out of Phoenix to Atlanta, then to Dayton. We finally got home between 9:30 and 10:00 AM. We had a very enjoyable trip, but were glad to get back home. We left 80 degree weather and returned to snow showers...a true Ohio welcome home.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Sedona Day 7



The last day in Sedona and we took it a little easy today. We sent to Soldiers Day at Fort Verde whiich is an old fort that is now a State Park and Museum. Unfortunately, we got there before the enactors had set up so we did not see much, but did take a few pictures. I tried to take pictures in the museum, but most displays were behind glass walls. There were so many windows that it was impossible to get an angle that did not reflect light. After about an hour we left for Prescott, AZ.



Prescott is a nice old town, but I did not take many pictures. We went to one of the oldest saloons in Arizona. Wyatt Earp, his brother, and Doc Holiday supposedly spent a few nights at the Saloon. For more information go to www.historicpalace.com . The had a good restaurant, but we decided to eat at a Microbrewery to try their beers. Their food was great and the beer even better.



We made our way back to Sedona around 3 PM the earliest we have returned on the trip. Both of us were a little tired after so much traveling and walking around. We went to another local brewery to try their beer and had dinner. When we got there, we were told they no longer served meals. We enjoyed a pint of their beer and ate a lot of their shell your own peanuts. After the beer and peanuts, we were no longer hungry and returned to our Cottage.

To end the night, we went to another flute concert if you can call 1 flutist and 20 people a concert. The show was good, but not as good as the flutist we heard last night.

Tomorrow we check out and head to Phoenix for a day. Our flight out is around 11:30 PM. I think by the time we get on board, we will probably sleep all the way back to Dayton.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Sedona Day 6



Day 6 has been the worst day for weather that we have had. When we got up it was cool and cloudy. Our first stop of the day was at a State Park called Montezuma's Well. This is a sink hole which contains water fed by a spring. The water stays at a constant 76 degrees throughout the year. There have been many generations of Indians who have lived around the well and you can see some of the living structures on the sides of the cliff as well as on top of the hills around the well. It was an interesting stop for us.



Our next stop was at a State Park called Riordan Estate Grounds. This is a beautiful 13,000 square feet house. It is actually 2 houses joined by a great room which is about 1,000 square feet. Two brothers who ran sawmills, railroad, and other ventures married two sisters. The brothers built the houses and the families lived there the rest of their lives. One house was furnished in period furniture and we could not take any pictures. The other house was set up as a museum and did not necessarily have period furniture. We were allowed to take pictures here. The first house was loaded with Gustav Stickley furniture--all in outstanding condition.
We enjoyed the museum and then went into Flagstaff. Go to http://www.azstateparks.com/Parks/RIMA/index.html to view their webpage



When Linda and I were here with the Schmdt's, Frank and I went to an old hotel that served imported English beers and Ale while Linda and Nancy went shopping. I enjoyed my time there and decided to try to find the hotel and eat lunch. The ranger at the Riordan Estate Grounds told us it was the Weatherford Hotel and the restaurant was called Charleys Pub. We found the hotel and it was the one I had visited over 25 years ago. Zane Grey had stayed in the hotel and had written one of his books while there. They have a webpage, www.WeatherfordHotel.com , that you can check out.

We decided to go through Williams, AZ to the Pine Country Restaurant--the place we had dinner a few nights ago--to get a slice of pie and travel some more of Route 66. The pie and coffee were great.

We left Williams and went to Prescott, AZ to check it out. We planned on going there tomorrow. We stopped by the tourist information center, got brochures on Prescott and returned to Sedona via Jerome and cottonwood.

The winds were extremely high today and not a pleasant day to drive, but, we did enjoy the things we saw. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.


We had to arrive 45 minutes before departure time to check in and get our tickets. This gave us time to visit their small museum which was housed in a renovated boxcar. We also had time to relax before getting on the train.

We had first class tickets and the accommodations were great. We were told their would be snacks for us. It turned out it was more than a snack. To start the tour, they served us champagne which I suppose is a great way to begin a trip.

After the train started, we went to the open car to get a better view of the valley. The scenery was absolutely great--many high cliffs containing red and grey rock layers with a lot of green bushes sprinkled throughout. The canyon we were traveling through was a habitat for the bald eagles. On the way back, I saw two eagles perched on a cliff overlooking the river. Unfortunately, Linda could not locate the eagles. It sure was great to see them in their natural habitat.

What a day for a celebration of our anniversary. I had told them this was our 42nd wedding anniversary and they brought us some kind of a desert that looked like a huge marshmellow and a glass of champagne in a glass that looked like a water picture. I ate the dessert and drank the champagne. Unfortunately, I woke up, found my self in our bath room with the pillow from our bed missing and the commode half empty of water. I had a strange tickling in my throat, coughed, and feathers blew everywhere. I guess it was just the after affect of the free cactus pear margarita that they served. Actually, the trip was great--great food and great views and the best of all was 4 wonderful hours with a beautiful ladies that has put up with me for 42 years. If you want to rediscover your love for your spouse, Sedona and surrounding attractions is the place to do it.

We got back to Sedona Pines in time to enjoy a free mixer--free margaritas and snacks. There was also a singer with his guitar who played and sang a lot of country songs. A good way to end a perfect day.

We are off now to take the Flagstaff loop. We have already taken part of it so we will modify the route. More later

Sedona Day 5, Jerome



Jerome was the next stop on our journey and it also was a little disappointing based on all the information we had received. People who had been here said it was great. I suppose our mistake was going to the Grand Canyon before going to the local towns. We did have a great meal there called the Haunted Hamburger. Seems there is a ghost in the house. I have included a picture of the menu describing the ghost, but, you may not be able to read it. Basically while remodeling the house, teh new owner had hammers disappear and he could not figure out why. Sometimes later, an individual stopped by and asked if he had any hammers missing. That there was a ghost that only took hammers. Don't know about the ghost, but the hamburger was great. The guide that told us about the place also said they had a chocolate cake that was almost a foot high. We saw the cake and it was very high, but we were too full to try a piece. We left for the Verde Canyon Railroad Ride.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Sedona Day 5, Tuzigoot National Monument



Our visit to Tuzigoot was much better than Cottonwood. The ruins are well maintained; the small museum was informative; and the signs posted around the site gave a good description of each area of the site. It is built on a hill like all the other ruins that we have visited. I suppose for protection from their enemies and to get above the flood plain. According to guides and other information we have read, the rivers can get pretty high at times.

I must say the national parks we have visited have been well maintained; the rangers and guides very friendly and helpful; and everything well marked and easily accessible. At the first park we visited, I read their admission schedule and discovered that I could get a senior lifetime pass for 10.00. With the pass, I can take 3 guests with we. Linda and I have visited all the National parks and have not had to pay since the first.




Sedona Day 5, Cottonwood, AZ

Day 5 has been one of the best days weather wise that we have had--sunny, warm and no wind. Our day started with a visit to the town of Cottonwood, AZ. From the description on their pamplet you would think it was a great place to visit. However, it was not. We got there after 9 AM and no shops were open. by 9:20 we had walked both sides of main street and looked in all the windows--both of them. We visited the old jail house which was built in 1929 to contain bootleggers and sometimes held a dozen people. However, there was only two small cells with one wooden bunk in each cell. The cells were made of plate metal welded together without windows. The doors were of crisscrossed square metal bars and did allow in some light. The most interesting building in town and we forgot to take a picture. There were a few movies made in the area and some important people--Elvis Pressley, John Wayne, May West, etc.--did stay in the Cottonwood Hotel. We did take a few pictures of the streets.

Sedona Day 4, Get Your Kicks on Route 66

After a hard day of enjoying the sights, we headed back to Sedona. We decided to go to Williams, AZ for dinner. The family we met on our Hummer ride had told us of a restaurant they had eaten in in Williams. They didn't tell us the name of the restaurant so we decided to look for it.

We got off on old Route 66 for nostalgic drive down "Memory Road". We have been on parts of old Route 66 many times and have enjoyed the drive. This was no different--looks like the town had been frozen in time.

As we drove past old diners, restaurants, motels and other businesses, we saw a restaurant named Pine Country that had a sign that advertised home made pies. We parked and went inside. Based on the family's description of the restaurant, this had to be the place. The basic description was an old restaurant with good food; huge portions; and pies that looked like they were a foot high. The restaurant certainly lived up to that description. Linda and I had the chicken fried steak dinner. Everything was very tasty and there were huge portions. Unfortunately, after eating the dinner, we were not able to sample the desserts so Linda did the next best thing--took pictures of the desserts. There was a woman with two children who sat in the booth behind us. They ordered slices of pie. She said that they had eaten dinner there one night and came back just for the pie. From looks of the pie, it would be worth the trip. If we are back in the Williams area, we will have to stop by just for the pie. Looked like each piece was 1/4 of a pie. It was a little expensive, but one slice would serve 2 people and probably have some left.

We are taking our train tour today and will probably stop by some more Indian ruins; walk through an old copper mining town; stop by a couple of museums; and whatever we come across. We have discovered that some of the best times on our trip are the unplanned stops that we make. For those who know us, you know we very seldom make plans--just get in the car and drive and I suppose that is what we will do until time to get on the train

Another bright, sunny day. The balloons are floating through the air and it is supposed to be a warm day.

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Sedona Day 4 Grand Canyon

Grand day; grand weather; grand view; Grand Canyon! Except for the wind. As we stated in the other blog update, it was extremely windy. It felt like we were going to be blown off the rim of the canyon. It made it almost impossible to take a picture. It also stirred up a lot of dust.

We probably walked about 10 miles today. There is an 8 mile route that has about 9 overlooks on it. There is a shuttle, but Linda and I decided to walk to 4 of the overlooks. We decided to ride the bus after that.

The sun was so bright that it was difficult getting good pictures. I tried to adjust, but discovered that it depends on how you have your screen angled on a LCD screen how the colors look. So you may have to make your own adjustments.

Sedona Day 4, Sunset Crater and Indian Ruins

We decided to do things a little differently today. Rather than do one update, we will break our day into sections. We woke up to a day that was a little overcast and very cool, but, we decided to go to the Grand Canyon anyway. This was our third trip to the canyon and decided to take a different route. We left Sedona about 8 AM and went to Flagstaff. From Flagstaff we took 89 to 64 to get to Grand Canyon. This would take us to the edge of the Painted Desert which we wanted to see. On the way, we saw a sign that said Lava Flow and Sunset Crater Volcano which was a National Park. We decided to divert to the Park. The Park also had some Indian Ruins (Wupatki). What we didn't know was that it was about a 32 mile trip to see all the sites. We stopped at the Park Entrance and talked to the Park Ranger. We told him we wanted to see the Painted Desert and he said, "Not today. Winds are gusting to 49 MPH and their is a wind advisory. It is so dusty, you cannot see anything".


We stopped at the lava flow and it brought back memories of the Azores. The island we were on was the top of a volcano and there were lava flows all over the island. The Range had told us that if we wanted to walk to the top of Sunset Crater, it would take about 45 minutes. We did not think we would have the time so we just visited the lava flow area.


From the lava flow, we drove to the Painted Desert viewing area and sure enough, there was so much dust you could not see anything. It looked like a heavy fog from a distance and nothing was visible. We did make it to the Indian ruins and took some pictures. The ruins were interesting and very beautiful in a rustic way. Slide show will show the pictures. Will post pictures of the Grand Canyon Later

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Sedona Day 3

What an uplifting day! When Linda looked out our window, she saw 4 hot air balloons floating over our complex. I grabbed my camera and began to click away. About 20 minutes later, more balloons came over. Finally 2 came over so low that you could almost reach up and touch them.

Again the day was bright and shinny, but a little cool this morning. Linda and I had an early reservation for a Hummer ride through the back country. We were with a family of ten--Grandparents, son, daughter, their spouses and 4 grandchildren. We discovered the the son and daughter were from Minneapolis not too far from where Kim and family live.
When we got the the exit from the highway and headed to the back country, we saw the hot air balloons on the ground. The driver of the Hummer was very entertaining and gave us the ride of our lives. It was sort of like riding a bucking bronco bare-backed.
After we got back, we left for old Sedona for a tour of a Museum and lunch at a Mexican Food Restaurant. The food was great with huge portions and we ate more than we should have. We walked the streets of Sedona and passed a Fudge shop. Needless to say, we could not pass it and bought some fudge to munch on. The fudge was great and the rest of the walk was entertaining.
After old Sedona we went to Tlaquepaque, Sedona's Arts and Craafts Village. It reminded me of many cities in Spain. It was a great place to take a stroll.
We left Sedona and went to a National Park called Montezuma's Castle which is an old Sinagua Indian Cliff Dwellers Settlement and Museum. The trails and museum had many pictures and story boards telling of the life and culture of the Sinagua Indians and it was well worth the visit.
We left the museum and went to a winery for a wine tasting. It was a small winery and we were the only ones there for awhile. Later a couple came in and we started talking and found out they were from Columbus, Ohio. She was a teacher on spring break and we had a great conversation with her and the man with her who was a coach at the same school as her.
A little more sight seeing and a few more pictures and we finally went back to our cottage. About eleven hours of sight seeing can be very tiring.
A few of the 256 pictures take today are included in the slide show. Tomorrow we will go to the Grand Canyon and possibly the Painted Desert if we have time.





Monday, March 30, 2009

Sedona Day 2

What a difference a day makes! Nothing bad happened; bright sunny day; and in the mid 70's. We got up around 6:00 AM; put on a pot of coffee; and began to review brochures for the tours we wanted to take.

We attended a free welcome breakfast and listened to many of the tour directors explain their tours. The food was great and the presentations were entertaining. We chose a Hummer tour to the back countries for tomorrow and a train ride through Verde Canyon for Thursday. It is a four hour train ride in first class with free champagne and snacks. Tomorrow is our 42nd wedding anniversary and we are taking a hummer ride to celebrate. You would think we would have planned the train ride with the champagne on our anniversary, but we did not.

After the briefings we took a self guided driving tour through Red Rock Country. The scenery was beautiful although a little rough looking. We then went through three other areas of Red Rock Country--of course red rock cliffs and formations the primary sights. Again, all areas were beautiful.

After touring the back country, we attended a presentation called "All You Wanted to Know About Native Americans, But Were Afraid to Ask". The presentation was given by a Native American who taught American History for about 12 years. The presentation and discussion was very good and instead of a 1 hour presentation, it lasted an hour and a half. I think it would have gone longer, but, the presenter finally stopped the discussion. He played a small flute which he called a hummingbird flute. He did a great job and we could have listened longer. There will be a flute concert Friday and I am sure we will attend if we are back in time.

After the presentation, we went for dinner. We had planned on going to a restaurant that featured home cooking, but, went in the wrong direction. What a lucky mistake! We stopped at an alternate location and were seated in the fireside room--fireplace of course--which had six tables. Very cozy and I suppose romantic--again should have planned it for tomorrow night. I ordered their specialty hamburger and Linda order a grilled chicken sandwich with avacado. As usual, we shared each sandwich. I must say that they were the best sandwiches that we had eaten in a long time. They also served great hot baked bread and the buns looked like homemade sough dough buns. The salad served and the dressing were also very good. Over all a fantastic meal with a beautiful lady--what more could a man ask for after 42 great years!

After dinner, we returned to our room, got comfortable and opened a bottle of wine. We are now watching the news and planning tomorrow's activities.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

First Day of Sedona Vacation

What a day!

Getting here has been a real trip. We were 30 minutes late departing Dayton because somehow someone got on the plane without being check through the gate. They had more people on the plane than had cleared through. They got that resolved and we left without further incident.

We got to Detroit and had a long walk to our connection. WE got loaded and took off. As we left the ground and the landing gear was being retracted, we hear a loud bang. Nothing was said until about 25 minutes when the pilot came on and said we had to go back because the landing gear would not retract. We finally got on our way about 2 hours late. Forgot to mention that when we were checking in at Dayton, you have to use the computer machines and check in yourself. We got all the way through to printing our receipts for the luggage and printing boarding passes when the machine gave us an error message and said call an attendant. There was a family five or six that the children had different names than the mother and father. They also were having problems and had to get in line at the desk for assistance. Unfortunately, we got in line behind them. We had already gotten the luggage tags and were waiting on the boarding pass. We probably were in line around 30 minutes and the family in front of us still had not resolved their problems. Another attendant came up and took our itinerary and came back with our boarding passes without any problems. Don't know why the first one could not get our passes.

We got Phoenix and took the bus to the car rental. We had reserved a Ford Explorer, but ended up with a Chrysler Pacifica which was ok. When checking the car, I noticed the tire low indicator light was on. I looked at the tires and they looked ok. I told the attendant and she said that I could return the car and get another or I could take the car and she would write on the form that the indicator light was on and I could bring it back if the tire went down. By this time it was 2 Phoenix time and 5 Dayton time. Linda and I had eaten lunch and were hungry so we took the car. We stopped about 3 miles out of Phoenix and had lunch and I checked all the tires. One was a little low so I aired it up. The light was still on and Linda said that on the Buick when this happened you had to reset the system to get the light to go off. I finally figured out how to reset the light and everything is fine now.

We went to Sedona for dinner and ate at the Sedona Bar and Grill. We shared a full rack of barbequed ribs. I had a locally brewed nut brown ale which was excellent. The ribs were also very good. It would be worth a trip back.

Tomorrow we will began the day with an orientation breakfast to learn about the things that are available in the local area. We know we will be going on a 4 hour train ride through Verde Canyon and a trip to the Grand Canyon. Other things to do will just happen. There is a lot to do in this area and I know we will enjoy every day of it.

I will post a slide show of today's events later. Monday Mar 30 update. Slide show is posted. I need to adjust the pictures some to show better. Most were taken through the car windows in bright sunlight so they are a little washed out. That will be a job for when I get home. Don't want to take too much vacation time to play with pictures.


Friday, March 27, 2009

BC



BC has become quite the lap cat. Anytime we sit down she's in our lap. Looks like "life is good". Her hair is starting to grow back from the surgery and she's doing good.

Flowers



My sister gave me an Amaryllis bulb back in February or was it January. I planted it and waited and waited for something to happen. Finally the stalk started to emerge from the soil. I waited patiently and the flower head had four blooms to open. Well they opened the week we went to Arkansas for the Relay for Life Auction. I got a bonus on that plant, it had a second stalk and I got to enjoy it's bloom after returning home from Arkansas. Included is a picture of the avocado plant I started from a seed. I have two more seed in water but so far they've not sprouted. Not sure how avocado's will grow in Ohio but it makes a pretty plant. Also, the hellebore's (Christmas Rose) have bloomed. These are the first of the garden plants to come to life. When they are blanketed in snow they are putting out the new leaves and getting ready for spring to arrive to put on a glorious show of bloom.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Spring Break



Kim, Nate, Sarah, & Natalie came for a visit over the school Spring Break the first week of March. We had a great time in spite of the weather. It wasn't as warm as we'd hoped it would be but by the end of the week it warmed up enough to drive the tractor and ride in the wagon. Toys from the basement got dusted off and brought upstairs. The girls still like helping out in the kitchen. Sarah helped me make an apple pie and Natalie helped make the waffles. Nate brought his violin to demonstrate his music abilities. He's doing great in his school band.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Ice storm

>

On Saturday the 31st,I took a few pictures around the house of the icicles hanging dangerously from the gutters. They are all gone now, the big thaw started yesterday. I have a breath of spring happening in my sun room. The gerber daisy that didn't bloom outside all summer has two blooms.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

January Snow Storm 2009



The ice storm that hit Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas headed our way and we got snow, about a foot of the fluffy white stuff. It is so pretty when it's coming down in big flakes the size of silver dollars, coating the tree branches and bushes. However, when it's time to clear the sidewalk and driveway, it's not so pretty. Claude bought a lawn tractor with a plow a few years ago at an auction and we are so glad that he did. We had some ice under some of the snow and that made clearing it off a little more difficult.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Shop Till You Drop

shop til you drop


Shop till You Drop is going on this weekend. This is like an indoor garage sale. It's a mixture of antiques, collectibles, new merchandise, and junk... The Historical Society started participating several years ago and we truly have a following of people now that look for our booth. Our booth space has grown from one to three this time. We are fortunate that our booth is located at the end of the row, so we get some extra footage. We carried a trailer full of merchandise and a trailer full of tables, raisers and shelves. We worked all day Friday setting up the booth and pricing. We made some sales while setting up, the other vendors just couldn't wait. With those sales and today's sales, we have a total of $831. We are hoping that our sales on Sunday will bring us to a total of $1000. We certainly had a good crowd today and people were actually spending and not just looking.

Arkansas visit

From January 2009 Arkansas Visit


We went to Arkansas last week for a few days. It was time for a visit with Mom and we had the cookbooks to take to Peggy. The last time we had visited was back in November over Thanksgiving, so it was good to see everyone. We had left snow on the ground in Ohio and the weather in Arkansas was somewhat warmer except for one really cold day.

Monday, January 12, 2009

Hot Off the Press












"Recipes of Distinction; Recipes Our Grandmothers Used To Make", the
second cookbook for We Are Family, American Cancer Society, Relay For Life Team, has been published. Editor Claude devoted many hours on the computer to get the cookbook to the printer. All proceeds from the sale of the book will go to the American Cancer Society. As the Editor stated, this cookbook was inspired with love - of life; of family and of food.





First Snow


Our first shovelable snow this morning. Late yesterday and into the night a misty snow fell and this morning it was probably an inch or so. I know that's a pitiful amount compared to Colorado and Minnesota and maybe even Oklahoma, but we're not complaining. According to the weather man we are suppose to get more tonight and into the morning. We've been lucky this year as far as snow goes, but we have had more ice than usual. By afternoon the roads were clear and no problem getting out and about.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Finally!!

Look who finally got something on the blog. Don't get excited there might not be another posting for a few days... Gotta try and figure this all out.

Happy New Year


Claude & Linda Keeling 2009