Day 665, Back to work

Frost bit marigold

Wow, was it nice to have a three day weekend.  I felt like I had really accomplished a lot and hopefully the garden will do well.  I did notice, however, that when I woke up there was a light frost on the lawn and on the roof.  I could just see all that hard work going to waste and all the plants being killed.  The tomatoes. corn and the marigolds are all super frost sensitive.

On my way out the door to work I inspected the garden and it didn't look like the garden got hit too bad.  The marigolds had some frost damage but the corn and tomatoes were looking good.  I figured when I came home for lunch I could inspect the garden and see if anything turned brown as the day went on.

It was nice to know that it was actually Tuesday and that it would be a short work week.  The weather is supposed to be fantastic, with highs in the 80's towards the end of the week.  It was difficult to be at work with the sun shining.  Everyone had a great weekend and we shared our weekend adventures with each other.  I think we all wanted to be elsewhere, but the day went fast and soon we were all back home.

I couldn't wait to get my shorts on and head out into the garden.  The frost had caused a little damage, but not that bad and everything will snap out of it if we can keep above freezing.   Redmond is notorious for having a freak cold snap at the end of June and everyone covers their garden.  It is going to take a lot of plastic to cover this new expanded garden, but I'm ready should the cold come back.  The forecast for the rest of the week is for lows in the mid 40's.

Day 664, Memorial Day

Corn planted in the new garden.

Again, it was back in the garden for more planting.  I pulled out the starter trays from the potting shed and got them out to visualize where everything was going to go. I actually started all the corn and the pumpkins, melons and gourds from seeds two weeks ago and they are now ready for planting.  I needed to run to Lowe's and buy some marigolds to plant around the garden to help fend off bugs and a few tomato plants.

I jumped in the Packard and drove into town and filled the trunk and back seat full of flowers.  I hoped I could get this all planted but I was starting to think I might have too much to get done today.  I was eager to get  home and start planting.  I started with the corn and was able to plant two full rows from the starts and then I planted two more full rows from seeds.  It took two flats of marigolds to plant around the corn.  I'm not sure it really works but I used to have a horrible time with bugs and after I started to planting the flowers the problem went away, so I keep planting them each year.

The hen's out enjoying the yard.

Since this is the first year with the corn in this area, I had to put up a chicken wire fence to keep the chickens out.  The dang birds would destroy the young corn plants if they could get at them.  This was another hour long project but I got about 50' of fence up to keep the girls out of the corn.

By late afternoon I was planing the seeds in the small garden by the potting shed.  I don't know what it is about bending down but I was exhausted.  I planted all the basics, peas, beans, carrots, celery, radishes, onions, squash, spinach etc and hopefully it will all come up.

Around 6 pm Christian showed up to see the progress and helped me plant the last of the flowers in the courtyard.  I was exhausted from planting and a few good blisters to show for my work.  It had been a great weekend.

Day 663, Planting of the garden

Fresh tilled soil

With the sprinklers in place I needed to till the soil where I wanted to plant the corn and my brother has a huge tiller in the storage shed at the end of my driveway.  I texted him to see if I could use and he said sure.  We arranged to meet after church and he would get the tiller out and help me fire it up.  It bought it from a garage sale of his neighbor several years ago and it has never been used.  He worked it over when he got it and then put it in storage.  This was going to be it's first big test.

It took the both of us and a quad to roll the thing down my driveway and it fired right up.  This was new soil that had not been tilled before and we hit several small rocks that were just under the surface.  In total there were only a dozen rocks and after the first pass it was smooth tilling.  The soil is rich and loamy and with lots of sand, making it perfect for growing.  Now if we can just keep the temperatures above freezing.  The tiller made short order of the tilling and it was ready to plant.

The garden boxes ready for planting.

Next I worked over the small garden beds in the original garden and got them ready to go.  I was super tired and ready to call it quits.  I did manage to get the small trailer bird house I made attached to post out along the front driveway.

Day 662, Putting in a sprinkler system

Last year I moved the fence by the orchard our 10' so I could have more garden space and room to plant lots of corn.  There is no irrigation to this new claimed space, so that is the first thing on my agenda today, to put in sprinklers.   I knew I had enough water pressure in the small garden area, so that is where I planed on tapping into the sprinkler system.  I was going to have to dig about 60' of trench to bury the system.  Luckily we have had several days of really good rain and the soil was very soft.  I was surprised that it only took a little over an hour to get the trench dug out.  Next was a trip to Lowe's to buy the pipe I needed and sprinkler heads.

Moving the gate.

The digging was the hard part and it took me very little time to get the pipe and fittings all glued into place.  With a turn of dial and push of a button the sprinkler system worked great.  Now I had to back fill all the trenches and rake the ground smooth.  I should have worn gloves and I got a huge blister on my thumb instantly.

With the irrigation system in I now needed to move two post and the gate to the garden.  Digging fence post holes 28" deep was so easy with the good soil and no rocks!  It was  hard to believe the difference compared to putting in Tracy's fence.  I had the gate moved in no time and I was done for the day.

My good friend Christian showed up to check out the progress on the garden project and I was starving.  We did a quick run to Papa Murphy's and picked

Day 661, FRIDAY

I was so happy to see Friday roll around and it's a three day weekend.  I have nothing planned other than work in the yard and get my garden planted.  Planting the garden is always a high light of my year and is my symbol of the start of summer.  It's kind of an strange feeling, but I always feel like planting the garden is the start of the preparation for the holidays.  The pumpkins are used for Halloween and the cornstalks are used at the end of the driveway.  The benefit of eating all the fresh vegetables is just a bonus.

After work I headed home to start the weekend.  Tracy had invited me over to hang out and to go for dinner.  We ended up at one of our favorite places to eat Mazatlan and we had a great dinner.  After words we headed back to Tracy and were going to hook up her Wii and play games.  The Wii has been disconnected since Tracy got a new TV several months ago and it took a little to work to figure out how to get hooked back up.  We put in the game Donkey Kong and boy were we bad.  It took us several tries to figure what we were doing after several attempts we called it quits.  How kids can play these games for hours is beyond me. 

I was home before 9:30 pm and ready to just kick back and get comfortable. 

Let the weekend begin.

Day 660, Scrappy gets a blood test.

So after three months of getting vitamin B shots, Scrappy the 16 year old spindly cat needed to have a blood draw at the Vets to see how his blood was doing.  I had an appointment to meet with the painters at my house to have the shop painted this summer and afterwards I was I was going to take the cat to the vet.

I bundled up Scrap in a towel and off we went.  The gals at the front desk took him back for the blood draw and I waited out front.  Scrappy in his prime was a long, big 20 lbs, but now with whatever is ailing him, he is down to under 7 lbs.  There really isn't much left of him, but he is still active, catches mice and gophers and moves with relatively little problems.  It took them quite some time to draw the blood, because they could not find a vain.  After nearly 30 minutes Scrap was ready to go home and I paid the $179 bill.  I was a bit shocked and I couldn't help but wonder if spending money on a cat that looks to be on his last life was worth it.  Oh well, the little guy has been a good mouser and who knows maybe they can get him better.

The highlight of the day, other than spending money on the cat, was having dinner with my folks.  I enjoy them so much and we had a great dinner. 

It was a cold wet rainy day!

Day 659, New Glasses.

I had just ordered glasses at two months ago, but I just wasn't happy with them.  I had received a few comments from friends that they were not that great, so I wanted new ones.  I wasn't happy with them either, so I had ordered new glasses last week and I got a call today that they were in.

After work I headed to Costco to pick up my glasses.  I had to wait a little bit, so I ended up trying several ridiculous looking frames and sending the pictures to Tracy.  I tried to convenience her they were my new glasses.  I couldn't stop laughing and the gal at the counter though I was nuts.

I finally got my new glasses and I was very happy with the way they fit and looked.

Day 658, Leadership Graduation

The main focus of the day was working on the Leadership graduation ceremony at 6 pm.  It's amazing how many little details there are to hosting event for 50 to 60 people.  This is the 8th graduation ceremony I have hosted, so I'm not new to the event, but I still worry about forgetting some major detail.

At 5 pm I was pretty sure I had everything covered and the event should be successful.  I had a few minutes to head over to Fred Meyer's to do a little shopping for the trailer.  I had measured the drawer where the flatware will go and I think Fred's had a tray that would fit perfectly.  The draw is just shy of 11" wide and the tray is 10 and 1/2" so it was perfect.  I bought the the flatware tray and an ice cube holder that fits in the Marvel fridge.

The graduation ceremony turned out great and the event went off without a hitch.  It was nice to know that all the planning was worth it and the class participants enjoyed the program.  I was home by 8 pm and able to watch the season finale of Dancing with the Stars.

Day 657, Back to work.

My legs were killing from all the squats I did yesterday building the fence.  I don't think I could have lasted another day, so I am glad that project is done.

It was a full day of meeting and getting ready for the Leadership Redmond graduation tomorrow.  I was so ready for a nap and was counting the minutes until I could go home and rest on the couch.

When I got home I realized that I had never closed the door to the chicken coop last night and the chickens had been out all day.  They were present and accounted for, so the hawk left them alone.  I know they enjoyed the freedom and the room to scratch.

Day 656, Finishing the fence

Dalton helping with the fence

I picked Doug up for church at 11 am and he wasn't going to be help with the fence today. So I said a few extra prayers for the fence project.

I headed over to Tracy's around 1 pm and was already to get this project going.  Tracy informed me that her neighbor Dalton was going to come over and help.  I thought, GREAT, but found out Dalton is 6.  This little kid came over all confident he was going to help and he picked up the cordless screw driver and wanted to help.  He was Awesome!  If all little six year old's were like him I'd have a couple.  I really enjoyed his energy and watching his little brain concentrate on screwing in all the screws for each bracket.

Tracy, Dalton and worked all day and by 6 pm we had a fence.  I was dead tired and ready to crash and burn after a shower.  Tracy offered to take me out to eat, but I asked for a rain check and headed home.

On my way home I stopped off at my sister-in-laws to pick up my tent.  She had texted that it she had it and I was eager to check it out.

Of course when I got home I had to figure out how the tent went together and after several puzzling minutes and a few phone calls to my brother I finally figured it out.  It's a great little tent.

The weekend was coming to close and I was wiped out.  I had a great since of accomplishment with the fence despite it's less then perfect alignment.  It was nice to have that project done and Tracy was thrilled.

Day 655, Fence building.

The giant auger.

Today we started building a fence for Tracy.  Her back yard had about 65' of wire fence and now they are starting to build houses behind her so she wants a wood fence.  I don't mind building fences but hate digging the fence post holes.  Tracy had ordered a one man auger from the rental shop and I said I would pick it up.  The auger was huge and hung way out of my pickup.  I had an unsettled feeling about this, but got it to Tracy's and Doug help me unload it.

Having too much fun!

The first hole we dug, we hit rock, the second hole, rock, the third hole, rock.  At closer look we realized that the previous owner had poured concrete the entire length of the wire fence to keep his doge from digging under. I was ready to say hire a professional outfit to dig the holes, but Christian and Doug loved the challenge. Plan B, was to rent a jackhammer.  We spent the entire digging 8 hole, and by  5 pm we finally got the post in place and a 90 lbs bag cement poured around each one.

With the post in place I was ready to head home.  Tomorrow I would come back and start putting the fence together.

It was time for a shower and another camp out in the trailer.

Day 654, Friday

With another sunny weekend ahead I rounded up Tracy and Christian to see if they wanted to play Farkle in the trailer and camp out.  It was a go for the Farkle in the trailer with Tracy, but she wasn't sure she wanted to give up her king size bed for the 80" x 47" bed in the Traveleze.  I was willing to sleep on the floor and give Christian the dinette and Tracy the bed, but she wanted her bed.  Christian was up for a camping out so that was cool.

A tent to go with the trailer, when I need a little more room.

My brother in Portland went to look at a vintage tent for me that was listed on Craigslist.  It looks 50's but was probably from the 60's.  The tent was in good shape so he bought it for me and I sent him a check.  My sister-in-law was going to be in Portland this weekend, so she was going to be able to pick it up for me.

Christian had the day off and he borrowed the Packard to pick up his daughter at school and have some fun father daughter time. His daughter loves the car and puts a smile on her face which is what the car is all about.  I headed home after work and mowed the lawn quickly before Tracy and Christian arrived.  I also picked up a pizza at Papa Murphy's to bring home for dinner.

Everyone arrived by 7 pm and we played Farkle in the trailer until 11pm.  It was a lot of fun to be in a tiny space and enjoy the company of good friends with the weekend ahead of us. 

Day 653, Nowegian Independence Day

It was another beautiful morning but it was cold!  I headed off to the store to pick up fresh donuts for class and I was out the door bright and early. 

My brother sent a picture of his flag flying.

This is the last class of a nine month program and everyone was excited about it being the last day.  I bought extra donuts and had stocked up on all of their favorite snacks. I wanted to make sure the last day was went well and they were fed on snacks.  At the end of the program I would say the day was a huge success and we actually finished a little early around 3:30 pm.

Back at the office I check through my messaged and email and then was able to leave at 4:30 pm, which gave me time to run home and grab my almond cake and head to my folks party.  My friends Tracy, Christian and Doug were all coming.  I got there right at 5 pm and most of my parents guest were all ready there.  It was a great party with lots of jokes, Norwegian food and good friends.

The party lasted until about 8:30 pm and I helped clean up and then headed home.  My parents are the greatest people and love every minute I get to spend with them.

At home I took care of the animals tossed two loads of wash in and went to bed, I was beat!

Day 652, Busy Day.

I had a very busy day getting ready for the last of the Leadership classes, which is scheduled for tomorrow.  There were a lot of little details and then there just seemed to be lots of other business that needed attention.

We needed to drop off more Visitor Guides in Bend and it was perfect timing with my workout which was at 4:15 pm.  I stopped off at Flyte Camp after the work out checked in with them.  Then I ran to Costco and ordered a new pair of glasses, because I don't like the looks of the new ones I just got a few months ago.  We also needed two big bags of M&Ms for the office.  We love those things.

I got home around 6:30 pm and then backed an almond cake for my parents Syttende Mai (May 17th) party, which is Norwegian Independence Day.  The cake is super easy to make but can be a bit tricky to dump out of the pan if not done at the right temperature.

I was in bed by 9:50 pm.

Day 651, Tuesday

There wasn't a lot on the agenda for today.  The sun was shining but it was a little cooler than the weekend, but it was still bright and sunny.  I pulled the trailer up in the driveway as the sprinklers were hitting the back end and leaving water spots.  I wondered about putting a coat of wax over the aluminum just to try to prevent water spotting, but I'll do some research before I do anything.

After work I let the chickens out and they have been enjoying more freedom over the last few days.  I have been averaging 3 eggs every two days, which is pretty good for three birds.  I need to buy about 5 more chickens for a total of 8.

Day 650, Monday and back to work

It  had been a fantastic weekend.  Sleeping in the trailer and buying stuff to stock it up for a real adventure was a blast.  It was very hard to focus at work as the weather was still spectacular and the excitement of the trailer was still fresh in my mind.

On my lunch hour I down loaded several pictures to Walgreen's photo lab for developing. I wanted to print out a batch of some of the trailer pictures I took over the weekend.  I also had the idea of calling the original owner of the trailer who lives in La Pine, OR and see if he would be interested in seeing pictures of the trailer.  I still had one of the original registration slips from the 80's and I was able to look up his number in the phone book.

I dialed the number and Richard answered and I told him who I was and that I just had his trailer restored.  He was excited to hear what I had done and was eager to see pictures.  I told him I would have the pictures developed and sent down to him.  He said sometime he would dig through his pictures and see if he had pictures of the trailer with his Dad, who originally had the trailer.

It was so fun to talk with Richard and I will be interested to see what he thinks when he see's the pictures.

Day 649, Mother's Day.

The view from my bed

It was another cool night but it was above freezing and with an extra person in the trailer we kept the the windows and roof vent open.  The sun came up early and Christian plugged in the old perk coffee pot and the smell of fresh perked coffee quickly overtook the tiny trailer.  We both commented that glow of the trailer in the morning sun light, the smell of coffee and feeling of warm and comfortable in bed was overwhelmingly incredible.

Dad's fishing pole from 1945.

Christian had to be at work, so the morning was off to an early start.  I had Mother's Day breakfast at my folks and then church.  I picked up Doug for church and then afterwards we went over to Tracy's to fix a leaking toilet.  I had purchased the gasket early last week, but hadn't had time to instal it.  I was glad Doug was coming for backup, as I had never seen a toilet with the inside like this.  Luckily, with a little work it was up and running, or is that flushing?

The awning set up.

With Doug dropped off back his home, it was back to the folks house for an early Mother's Day dinner at 1pm.  More family and food and enjoying the fantastic weather.  We all had a great weekend and shortly after dinner everyone headed home.

After everyone had left, I asked my Dad about an old vintage heater I remembered him having and I wondered if he still had it.  We went under the house and found it, as well as his fishing pole from 1945.  The pole was actually my grandfathers and he gave it to my Dad in 45.  He was  happy to give both of them to me for the trailer and I was very excited to have them.  He also gave me two vintage hammers and a galvanized bucket to add to the trailers supplies.

I gave my Mom a big Mother's Day hug and then headed to the story to buy more supplies for the trailer.  I really wanted to find tent stakes and rope, so I could try out the awning.  There were also several kitchen supplies I wanted to get, along with other miscellaneous items.  I headed to Fred Meyer's and $191 later I was heading for home to stock up the trailer.

The end of the weekend.

With the rope and tent stakes the awning went up with easy.  The awning looked really good with the trailer and seemed to make the trailer look bigger, at least the usable space anyway.

It had been an awesome weekend.  I had so much fun and hated to see the weekend come to an end. 

Tonight I'm sleeping in my own bed and hopefully the crazy cats will leave me alone.

Day 648, Fun sleeping in the Traveleze.

It actually got very cold last night, with temperatures dropping well below freezing, but I stayed warm and comfortable in the little trailer. I had plenty of blankets and other the disruption from the cat, I slept great.  As the sun came up there was a warm cozy glow in the trailer.  The rich amber birch wood interior caught the early morning sun and I couldn't help but feel I was in a rustic cabin high up in the mountains.  It was a perfect morning. 

Christian was going to come over around 9am after he dropped his dropped his daughter off the stables just down the road.  I had told him I would have coffee and pastries in the trailer if he wanted to stop by and he was here promptly at 9am.  I had yet to try out the stove and oven, so we turned on the gas and with the striking of a few matches, we tried the stove out and had the oven lit.  I had purchased Pillsbury cinnamon rolls that you bake in the oven and in twenty minutes the trailer smelled like fresh coffee and cinnamon.  The experience was amazing all I needed now was a view of a lake and the smell of a forest.

The 53 Packard parked next to the Traveleze

It was hard to pull myself away from the trailer, but I had a ton of chores to do.  Christian wanted to wash the Packard for me after taking it for a spin and I jumped on the lawn mower and mowed the lawn.  After washing cars and mowing the lawn we planted two trays of seeds for the garden that I will hope to plant in the ground in early June.  It is far too early to plant the garden, as the frost danger will drag on for several more weeks.

Around noon my brother and his family from Portland arrived at my folks house.  They had come over for Mother's Day weekend and we had several family events planed, all centered around food and tonight was pizza.  It was great to see them and everyone was having a good time.  My sister-in-law even brought the kids over to see the animals and to run around a bit and of course check out the trailer. 

Harris trying out the bed.

After dinner with the family  I headed back home to camp out once again. The original plan was to have Tracy and Christian both come over and put the trailer to the ultimate test, of sleeping three people.  Unfortunately however, Tracy had a hiking accident and cut open her leg requiring three stitches.  She also was dog sitting, so it wasn't going to workout.  Christian was eager to come back and try out camping.

Night two in the trailer was a blast, sharing the cozy trailer, playing Farkle and talking into the wee hours of the morning. And yes, the cat wanted to be apart of the fun once again.

Day 647, Friday and pulling the trailer out of the shop.

It was a spectacular Friday morning with the sun shining and the weather forecast for temperatures near 80 all weekend.  I think everyone was in a great mood with the approaching Mother's Day weekend just ahead.

The Traveleze set up in the driveway for a trial run.

I was excited for the weekend to get started.  My plans for tonight were to pull the Traveleze out of the garage and sleep in it for the first time.  I figured the best way to know what I needed for supplies in the trailer was to try it out.

All set up for a camp-out in the driveway.

After work I headed home excited about pulling the trailer out and setting it up.  The weather was perfect and I couldn't wait to get the weekend started.  I pulled the car into the garage and went inside to change clothes.  My friend Christian had borrowed the Packard, so he could pick up his daughter from school and then go for a drive.  With the Packard out it was one less car I had to move.  The only other car in the way was my father's Cadillac, which I quickly moved.  To pull the Traveleze out, I put the 2" ball to the John Deere mower and backed it up to the trailer.  I had the trailer hooked up in no time and carefully pulled it out of the shop into the sunlight.

It only took me a few minutes to have the trailer in place at the front of the house and only a few minutes more to have it plugged in and set up.  It looked awesome sitting in the sun with the green grass and blue sky surrounding it.  I rolled out the AstroTurf and unfolded the portable picnic table and put on my Mom's vintage Iowa table cloth.  After that I thought it would be fun to put the awning up, but quickly realized I didn't have rope or tent stakes.  Those were the first two things on my list.

Christian brought the Packard home around 8pm and he thought the trailer looked amazing.  We played a game of Farkle (a game with six dice) and after three games Christian headed home. 

Tonight will be my first night in the trailer!  I crawled into bed around 11pm and I was exhausted, but excited to try out the Traveleze. 

The only think I didn't count on was my cat Harris wanting to be apart of the action.  Around 11:30 he was meowing at the door and scratching at the trailer.  I didn't want his razor sharp claws scratching the aluminum, so I quickly got up and let him in.  He was happy for about an hour and then he wanted out.  This went on several times throughout the night.  I'm going to have to cage him if I do this again. 

Day 646, 53 Lincon Capri

1953 Lincoln Capri

I had a surprise visit from a good friend Peter, who had just driven up from California in his 53 Lincoln Capri.  It's a beautiful car and Peter has spent a lot of time re-doing the engine, which looked spectacular.  Pete has an amazing collection of cars and what I like best, is he drives all of them!  He finds great cars all over the country and then flies to where they are and drives them home.  He has no problem driving across country in whatever he buys.  He is also, gifted enough to know how to fix anything that breaks and his sense of adventure is as endless as his love for cars.

Pete's Lincoln at the house.

Pete's latest purchase is a 56 Desoto in Detroit, Michigan and he is fly out Sunday to look it over, buy it and then drive it home.  I can only imagine  how fun that would be to drive across country in a vintage car and it is definitely something that is on my bucket list to do.  I did have to ask Pete how his wife felt  about him buying another car and flying out on Mothers Day.  His look was half oops, mothers day, and a slight grin. 

At 5:37 pm, Pete and I were both invited to a rather unusual event for a mutual friend of ours.  It was kind of a ceremony to let go of the past and to welcome in a new beginning.  Afterwords, Pete came out to the house in his Lincoln to see the Traveleze and to see the Packard.  The last time he had seen the Traveleze was at Flyte Camp and it just had the walls and no interior.  He really liked the way the trailer turned out and I think he liked the Packard too.

It's always fun to see Pete and to learn about his latest new purchase or quest.  The big news for Pete, is he will be showing his 1954 Chrysler Ghia at Pebble Beach this year  This is a huge honor as Pebble Beach only accepts 200 cars and your car must be unique and absolutely perfect.  

I could talk cars with Pete for days, he is an amazing man.  I wished him the best of luck on his driving adventure with the Desoto, and with that he drove off.

Day 645, Mid week already

After about two months in the shop, I received an email from my mechanic saying he is not able to reset the "Air Bag" light on the Rolls, but the rest of the service had been completed and I could pick up the car.  I made arrangements to get a ride from father and I took the car home over my lunch hour.  Tonight I will have to wedge one of the smaller cars between the Chevelle and the Trailer in order to get all the cars in the shop.

All in for the night.

I had my workout in Bend at 4:15pm and then dinner with my folks at 6:30 pm.  I got home around 8 pm and checked on the chickens and fed the cats and then went out to jockey the cars around to see if I could get them all in undercover.  The BMW is smallest and narrowest of the cars, so I opted to put it next to the trailer and it fit with plenty of room.

When the 42 Packard comes home I'll have to figure out where to put it.  I know I can actually get 6 cars in the shop, but I will have to move around some of my tools and do some major organizing.   

Day 644, Tuesday.

There was nothing too spectacular to report today.  It was another nice day but a cooler than yesterday and way to cold to eat outside.

I headed to Bend after work to go shopping at Costco.  I needed some food items and naturally I found something I totally didn't need but had to have.  I always check out the DVD's to see if there is a good movie and they had a two box set of American Classics and Legendary Muscle Cars.  I couldn't wait to get home and pop in the DVD covering Duesenberg's, Cord and Packard's.

I spent the rest of the evening watching the history of these once great car companies. 

Day 643, Feeling a ton better

It was nice to be back to work feeling better, but I still had an occasional bad cough and stuffed up nose.  I did however feel a little cheated over the weekend, only getting in one day of fun, but I was just glad to have energy to get through the day.

The first barbeque of the season, May 7, 2012.

The weather was beautiful and I thought that tonight I needed to fire up the barbeque and have the first cookout of the season.  I emailed Tracy and Christian and they were on board.  I also called my folks to see if they would want to come over too.  My parents already had plans so it was just going to be the three of us.

After work I stopped by Fred Meyer's and and picked up the fixings for burgers and Tracy was going to bring chicken.  It was beautiful evening and the burgers were delicious.

Day 642, Sunday and feeling better

Free Happy Chickens.

After a miserable day on the couch I woke up feeling slightly better.  I still needed to carry a Kleenex box with me everywhere I went, but I had energy and was able to get a few chores done.

I skipped church not wanting to give anyone the crud.  I was supposed to be an usher, but I canceled the day before. It was nice to stay home and recover.  I had a growing mound of ironing that I needed to tackle and that was first on my list. 

As the day moved on I was really feeling better and I was able to work outside in the yard.  I let the chickens out and they super excited to be free.

It had been almost 11 days since I mowed the lawn last and it was in desperate need of mowing.  I had to run to town and buy buy gas for the mower, $17.89 later I was heading home to mow.  I can usual mow the entire lawn and only have to dump the bags twice.  I had to dump 5 times and I haven't even fertilized the lawn yet.  I hate to let the grass get that tall as it makes it harder to mow and then the lawn looks scalped once it mowed, but the lawn looked great and I was glad to have that job done. 

Sonic's

Today was so much better than Saturday and I actually felt like the weekend wasn't a total waist.  Around 5 pm my friend Christian got of work and called to see if could come dig through my spare sprinkler parts and look for a sprinkler head for Tracy.  Tracy mowed over one of her sprinkler heads and he had temporarily fixed while I was in Oklahoma.  I was sure I had what when he needed, so found the head and then went over to Tracy's to fix the sprinkler and a few other odd projects.

To cap the day off we all went to Sonic's, Tracy doesn't eat, so just our enjoyed our company.

Day 641, Down with a bad cold

Watching the Kentucky Derby

I was up almost the entire night with a sever cough and bad sinus and head congestion.  I was really surprised how fast this cold developed.  I had really thought it was just allergies but now I knew it was a virus.  I spent the entire day laying on the couch, floor and in bed.  I had the two cats to keep me company, but I really felt like crap.  I used an entire box of Kleenex a loaded up on medication.  The good news was I still had my appetite and was able to eat and keep my strength.  I ventured out of the house twice during the day to take care of my neighbors cats, but other than that I was flat on my back.  I had really planned a full of weekend of projects and chores, but it is all going to have to wait until I felt better. 

The highlight of the day was watching the Kentucky Derby with my cat Harris.

Day 640, Woohoo it's Friday

I was just glad it was Friday, my sinuses were really starting to feel pretty bad and I couldn't tell if I was just suffering from bad allergies of if I was getting cold.  By mid day I didn't feel to bad and I figured my allergy medication must be working.

After work I came home and let the chickens out. They were so happy to be out free and to be able to scratch around in the yard.  My folks ask me over for dinner, so I left the chickens to their freedom and headed over for a great dinner.

It was so nice to have the weekend ahead and tomorrow I desperately need to mow the lawn. I was back home around 8:30 pm and checked on the chickens and closed them in for the night.

Day 639, Thursday

It was going to be my usual Thursday, with several meetings throughout the day and then I hope to squeeze a workout in at the end of the day.  I was starting feel like I was a getting a bad cold or allergies and my voice was getting that deep gravely sound to it.

At 3:30 pm I was able to drop off some of our new Visitor Guides off in Bend at their Visitor Center and then head over for a workout.  I was really starting to feel congested but figured I could handled it.

The workout was a killer and with my head plugged up I struggled to get air.  I hate the feeling breathing in out, but not feeling like you can catch your breath.  I managed to survive the workout and my legs were screaming from the lunges and hamstring exercises.

Tonight is also our Sons of Norway Board Meeting and I had a feeling it was going to be a little contentious.  Tracy has had enough with the demands being placed on her as Treasurer and is going to resign.  I am in full support of her decision as the time requirement is ridiculous.  Tracy and I both were responsible for the refreshments and she brought a huge cheese and cracker platter and fruit bowl and I brought the two almond caked.    The meeting went fine and everyone agreed we need to simplify things and understood Tracy's need to resign.

It was nice day, but I was starting feel crummy.

Day 638, Back to work

It's always fun to get back to work and sort through the mounds of mail, email and news papers.  I had several meetings and the day flew by.  At home the peartrees were blooming in the orchard and the chickens were happy to let out to run around and scratch in the yard.

I had dinner with my folks and then went home to bake two Almond cakes to take to the Son's of Norway Board meeting tomorrow.  The cakes are extremely easy, but take time to bake and cool before you flip them out of the pan.  I only had one pan so I had to bake them one at a time.

While the cakes were baking and cooling I was able to get some laundry done and the kitchen cleaned up.  I was very tired and managed to be in bed by 10:30 pm.

Day 637, Flying home

Oklahoma heading to Salt Lake City

Time flies when you are having fun and my four days in Oklahoma were coming to a close.  Robin and Brad both had to work and custody of me, was given over to Ann.  Robin and Ann both like to have me help with small projects around the house and they both joke over who gets custody of me.  Today was Ann's day and she picked me up around 9 am.  Dr. Nick and Ann have a spectacular home on a beautiful ranch.  I helped Ann get chickens a year ago and now she knows about chickens then me.  She has over 24 and gets about 3 dozen eggs a week.

Ann had several small projects that she needed help with and we quickly accessed what we needed to pick up at Lowe's and to accomplish our list.  We had a pretty good list going to pick up and I was sure we could get everything done before I had to head to the airport around 4 pm. 

We met Robin for lunch in town and then headed to the ranch to get the projects accomplished.  We quickly repaired a large teak wood screen that had blown over outside by the pool and then headed to the garden shop.  The shop is about a year old and needed some shelving.  We had bought some "L" brackets and pine boards and quickly put up 5 shelves.  I had suggested hooks to hang the bicycles to get them out of the way.  It took about a minute and get the hooks in and the bikes hung up, Ann loved it.

Plane flying over us at 33,000 feet.

At 3:45 pm it was time to head to the airport and I was on my way home.  Delta Airlines had great service between Oklahoma City and Redmond.   I got through security with my large concrete plaque by 4:30 pm.  The first leg of the journey is from OKC to Salt Lake City and the first flight departed on time at 5:45 pm.  An hour and 30 minutes later we landed in SLC.

Back home in Redmond

The connection time in SLC to Redmond was exactly one hour and by the time I walked to the gate I only had to wait about 20 minutes before the plane started boarding.  While waiting I accidentally knocked the plaque off my suitcase and it hit the ground with thunk.  Luckily it didn't break, but I did have to seriously wonder why I purchased a 35 lbs piece of concrete.  Anyway it will make for a good a story.

I landed in Redmond at 8:30 pm and it was nice to be home.  In a little less than 5 hours I was home. Delta Airlines was great all the way.

It was nice to be home.

Day 636, Norman and Thunder.

The Diner

Today the plan is to go to Norman, and check out the antique stores on Main Street.  Ann came over around 10 am and we were off to Norman.  Norman is the home of Oklahoma University and is where I earned my Economic Development certificate from in 1996.  Norman is a great college town and recently has has some severe weather activity and several tornado's have caused damage.

It takes about 30 minutes to get Norman from OKC and we drove around some neighborhoods where Ann's sister lives. There were several areas that had tornado damage, but for the most part the damage was minor.  We parked on Main street and walked several blocks and to Ann's surprise all the antique stores were gone.  It was still nice to walk the street and we ate at the "Diner" that was featured in Drive ins Diners and Dives.  While the look of the building could qualify as a Dive the food was great. 

The Oklahoma Thunder in the NBA Playoffs game two.

After not finding any antique stores, we headed back to OKC.  I was fine it, the only old things I want to buy are for the trailer.  However, we did stop off at a nursery garden shop and ended up buying a concrete plaque that said Vineyard, that I thought would good in folks wine cellar.  I figured it would fit in my suitcase, but I would later find out it was way to big.

Tonight is game 2 of the NBA Playoffs for the Thunder and we headed to the Chesapeake Arena around 6:45 pm.   I have been spoiled rotten by my friends Robin and Brad and the experience to attend a Playoff game in such luxury is an experience I will never forget.

The Thunder were playing much better in game two and lead most of the game.  At halftime, the Thunder were up 16 points over the Mavericks, but quickly lost it in the third quarter.  At the final buzzer The Thunder won 102, to 99.  Game Three will be in Dallas on Thursday and is sure to be a great game.