Veteran's Day

Thank you to all veterans and the folks serving now, especially the ones in my family. J, Shoeshine and Mr. C of course, several brothers-in-law, cousins and uncles, J's Dad and uncle are/were veterans. One nephew is a captain in the Army now and several more are reservists or National Guard. And thanks to all of the families as well. It's tough when a loved one is in the service.

Here's my two Army guys- I wish I had a picture of Mr. C in his Navy uniform!

NOW I remember a good thing about work.

The air conditioning. It was so cold there that I wore gloves and a hat in the winter, but in July, it sure was nice. Except I just remembered that it was too cold to actually dress for the muggies for the drive in, because then I would have frozen again. I think that negates the good part.

Fortunately, the AC in the van was working just fine for our weekend trip to RI, and the weather couldn't have been better to be on the bay. J's family had their holiday party on Saturday and high tide worked out nicely for boat rides for most of the day.

The house is on a cove which ends right beyond their driveway in a marsh, so there is little wave action but a nice breeze. Growing up, J and siblings swam here and I believe even dug clams that were safe to eat! The dogs still swim, and oh, what dogs we had! 4 yellow labs from Florida, one of their offspring who lives in RI, chocolate lab Henry from NY, Mabel from MA, the 3 dogs who live there, Anna who came down with us, and Max, the goldendoodle from next door.

No fights and everyone stuck around, (except for visits with Max to meet his parents) but we heard that old goodie "Mabel, Mabel, get off the table!" (with the second line "the quarter's for the beer" unspoken) more than once. 

That picture looks like fighting, but Anna and Mabel (who belongs to Ms & Mr C) are old friends and that's actually Anna inviting a chase.  The labs would fetch a stick as long as anyone was willing to throw one.

One got going so fast, he actually walked on water!

Okay, not really, there is a big rock just under the surface, but it sure surprised me the first time I saw that!

Lots of family there, cousins from 16 to 37, and a few in the next generation as well. My in-laws and I commented that we were now the "old folks"- how did that happen? I've been coming here for the 4th since 1977 and it really, really doesn't seem like that long ago. Until you do the math.

           She's  waving bye-bye, not "talk to the hand"! 

For some reason, this shelter was erected on the lawn:

                            Then lifted onto the deck:

These brothers found it a lot easier to retrieve an errant frisbee than when they were a couple feet shorter!  Oh yes-the one on the bottom brought his girlfriend and announced that they had become engaged just hours earlier!

It was a very nice day and we even got Mr C to agree to a group picture before they left. He's a tricksey one.

The next day we went to Dutch Island, but that's another story.

Worthy Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

Saturday was an excellent adventure- we left home at 8:50 and got back a little after 7:30 that evening. The dogs were just about to freak, since it was getting dark and they were aloooooone.

We brought birthday presents( Happy Easter Birthday, Mr. C), two shovels, a rake and a hoe for him, and assorted gardening hand tools, a tote and a seat for her. Then they fed us lunch before we started work.

The first project was the replacement of these:

with these:

Better, huh?  We were very pleased with how they turned out, plus it took a minimum of adjustment to make them level. J moved onto installing a motion sensor light for them.

Then, J directed Ms M in the doggie door insertion. She learned how to put a blade in their new jigsaw and she cut the wood out to make room for the door.

Mabel used it after some coaxing and having the flap held up for her. We all thought it would be better if the flap were clear, so the dog could see through it, but, it wasn't. I'm sure she'll pick that up in no time. 

Their new fence is very nice and makes their yard look bigger, rather than smaller as I expected. Mabel loves being outside and her parents love being able to send her out without them accompanying her. 

We swung by Sectaur's house, about a half hour north of Ms. M's, where we picked up a twin bed and dresser that we took back home, since Ameranth is leaving soon. J is out sanding the dresser as I write, to prep for a paint job. And since he keeps coming in to ask me about doing this or that, I better wrap this up now.

Odds and Ends

Several projects advanced this weekend- not to completion, but a step closer. Speaking of steps, we have moved from planning to acquisition of material for Ms M's and Mr C's replacement steps.  This is what the house came with:

Amazingly they held up during the move of all the large pieces through this porch. They just settled a bit further askew. Oddly, the step tops are hinged. Why? It's a little big to hide a key. Would you store gardening tools there? I wouldn't.We offered to build a new set for them and J was able to score some pressure treated cull wood on Friday.

Saturday we got that last bench built in the shed, and we have power out there now! Not warm enough today to paint the shelves, but it will be soon. Notice the clever spaces left underneath for the shop vac and the kerosene heater to be stored when not in use.

Today, we spent some time spring cleaning the kitchen- the ceiling, the knickknacks above the cabinets, etc. The dusty stuff you don't notice everyday, but you do when company is coming.  And we are having company next week! One of my sisters, #5, and her husband are driving my parents up for a 3 day visit.

My father has been told he will need dialysis in the near future, probably within 6 months, and then travel will become more problematic. He is a bladder cancer survivor, but scarring from several operations have caused his kidneys to slowly fail. One quit years ago, and the other is down to working at about 14% capacity. Apparently the scarring makes an organ donation out of the question. We'll plan on getting them up here once more during the warm weather.

Lastly, Shoeshine sent a picture yesterday that has J green with envy.

I added a picture of J, just to show that he does not need a(nother) St. Patrick's hat. 

 And neither do his ghoulies.

Another busy weekend

J and I, as well as the dogs, made a trip south on Friday. We left the animals at my parent's, in a nice fenced in yard on Saturday while we picked up J's sister and a china cabinet and brought them both to Ms M's in MA.  We left the hutch there but brought Trish back.

J replaced a broken switch, explaining to Mr. C what he was doing, until C just said to forget it, no way was he ever going to attempt electrical hijinks. I gather that his family voted Mr. C "least likely to grow up to be a handyman". We showed Ms M how to use our housewarming gift, a cordless drill driver, and walked her through installing a TP hanger in the downstairs bath. Included at no extra charge was how to adapt a plan when needed, as when clearance to slip a roll on was impeded by the toilet. The hanger works just as well upside down- and who's to say it doesn't even look better?

They had men come that morning measure their yard and get an estimate for a fence, so their beagle can go out and they don't have to.  They were flabbergasted when they were told it would be around $9000 for their little yard. Not what they expected at all!  We looked at the paperwork later and pointed out the estimators seeming math error. (Apparently he was new to this, he told them) The yard was @ 270 linear foot, and the 4x8 foot sections were $25.00 each.  He forgot the step of dividing 270 by 8 to get 34 sections needed- he put down 270 sections!  I think they need to let the store know this guy needs more training.

Anyway, we had a nice visit and it was fun seeing the house now that they have (mostly) unpacked and are settling in. When we dropped Trish off, we picked up the buffet that went with the hutch and brought that home, since Ms M didn't have room for that. Not that we do really, but we will shift stuff around, since J decided he wanted this- both pieces had been in his house growing up. I don't have a picture yet, because it is still in the van.

On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Sectaurs' home, a little further up Rt 495, to check out a plumbing problem. Last week, his ceiling downstairs, under his bathroom,  had shown signs of water damage. J removed the panel to access his tub pipes and didn't see anything leaking then. Best guess is that the pipes, which are slow to drain, may have had water back up after a long shower, and had some seepage around the drain. Prescription was drain cleaner and shorter showers.

We were home by 2:30 and relaxed the rest of the day. J watched his Netflix movie and I played Guild Wars. It was the Canthan New Year and I wanted to get a Celestial Tiger minipet, but it was not to be :(  Ameranth played with me and she did get one, so that was nice. We use Skype so we can talk as we play- it's lot more fun that way.

Pretty good weekend all in all.

Tripping the light fantastic

Tripping the light fantastic- so who's old enough to remember that? East side, west side? Anyone?

Driving to Freeport today, I heard Footloose on the radio. That song always makes me feel like I can dance, and I enjoyed bopping my hand out the open window, pretending I was keeping up with the rhythm. I can't really dance, but over the years with J, I have progressed to the point where we can look okay and we have fun.



Looks sweet, doesn't he? However sometimes we look as though we are wrestling, as I hiss in his ear to remember that we are out in public and redirect his hand.



Ms M was amazed at our skill and took videos, which thankfully I have not yet seen. She said she had never seen us dancing before, by which she meant dressed up and properly dancing. When I reminded her that we had danced at her wedding reception, her reply was that she was so nervous that she doesn't remember. But I have proof- and she and Shoeshine are there too:



How could she forget it was Mr C's first(and probably only) toilet paper dance?

What's that? You don't know the toilet paper dance? Lucky you, my kids would say. It started out innocently enough- J and his sisters liked to entertain their family and friends with a routine (loosely speaking) created in their teens. Lip synching to songs like The Great Pretender with exaggerated hand motions- "I'm wearing my heart like a crown" with their hands above their heads, etc. This crowd is very Irish and also loved the Irish rebellion songs made popular by Tommy Makem and the Clancy brothers.

One night, the celebrations took a new turn. Singing, alcohol, laughter and the need for decorations combined with a roll of toilet paper being used as ties, hair bows, necklaces and boas. A new tradition was born, one that was guaranteed to embarrass any offspring in the area. Even worse, when the relatives all came for Ms M's high school graduation, they brought a 12 pack of Scott's tissue (the official TP dancer's choice) to initiate her into adulthood. The leftover rolls were put to good use in their original role, and I discovered how much longer the 1000 sheets of one-ply lasted. We changed despite bitter complaints.

I don't know how Ms M's friends knew about the toilet paper dance, but when they came to her reception, they wanted to see it. No problem!