Now I’m relaxing at our pond for a bit.

I'm enjoying the full moon after a day of work.

I’ve been trying to beat back Mother Nature around out places!

It's a constant battle.  Luckily, these tools make it manageable.  I almost have all the weed eating, branch trimming and path clearing done at our place.  Next I start across the street…

Check out the antique, OG five gallon bucket from Gold Circle in my trailer!

Then came the day to let our little Chippy go free.

We are sure gonna miss her sweet little self.  We can tell her nesting and wild instincts have kicked in.  She's restless and ready for her next adventure.  We will miss you!  Come say hi every once in a while…!

Next it was the babies turn for freedom.

Daffy and Antoine had a chance to start exploring.  Daffy was off like a rocket (base of the tree).  Antoine hung around for quite a while!  It was exactly as we predicted.  It's cute to see the differences in their personalities. 

Julie’s cicada brood is on the move!

Most of them molted and headed out.  These seemed to be the slower moving ones (probably why they were left behind for us to find).  She called them the duds.  Haha.

We were so happy to have Chungus come back and visit a day or two after her release.

She just ambled by in her travels, said hi for a bit, then moved on.  

They’re graduating from high school and college this year. They moved out…

It sure goes by fast!

Some memories from Chungus’ big release day.

She even came back for a nap one day.

Julie has been collecting a few of the 17 year cicadas.

Some for mounting, some for molting.  She'd love to start her own brood.  We haven't had any near our property yet.

We said congraduations to Andy last night for graduating high school in the class of 2021!

These are the most serious poses of him I could find, sorry! Haha. :)

This was a fun, yummy and interesting drink.

Basil seeds suspended in a soda… Who knew?!

Itty Bitty loves to creep up behind me and photobomb my video calls…

We invited the boys and Hannah over to give Andy his graduation gifts last night.

Here he's checking out the drafting tools that belonged to his Grampy Kubina (and getting a hug at the same time).  Congratulations Andy!

It’s fun to see Andy being honored in church.

We're all excited about his plans for Sinclair and Miami Regional in engineering.  Summer session is in full swing as he's officially transitioned to college from High School without skipping a beat.

It’s fun to see Chungus finding her tree and enjoying some time in it.

She's been around each of two mornings since her big debut.  We miss her, but glad to see her where she belongs.

Laura put together a nice party for Isaac’s graduation.

It was fun to look back at all the memories and craziness!

Itty Bitty was enjoying the fresh spring air this week.

We let Chungus go free this week.

Julie had been over-wintering her.  We were just waiting to get past the frost date.  It was fun to see her slowly and excitedly explore her new horizons.  She will stand out among our squirrel population since we don't have any other fox squirrels.  We hope to see her occasionally. 

Be safe girl!

Isaac and Jenna proving they’re done with BIG smiles and a mighty toss!

Congrats to the latest graduate! I’m happy to have you in my life Isaac!

I had the best seat in the house via the livestream! :)

THIS is the way to start back up after a strict liquid diet…!

Even better, it was a date with my wife too!  You know your old when… ;)

We had the fun of having the kids over to play Raman Noodles this past week.

It was fun to see and hear all the laughter!

Julie added a baby flying squirrel to her collection of rescue animals this week…!

We haven't named him yet, but he is one of the cutest animals ever.  He reminds me of a bat, chinchilla and a squirrel combined.

The lump in front is Pepper.

The lump under the covers, behind her, is Itty Bitty.  

Now THIS is my kind of lunch!

I was on a strict liquid diet and the doctor listed milkshakes as one of the suggestions.  It doesn't really matter what you do to me as long as I can have a milkshake for lunch!  So, Andy and I decided to enjoy the nice weather and make the best of it.

I like these pictures of Andy in his new house.

He's doing college math at the same desk I used for my entire school career.  It sat in the same spot in my bedroom too.  Percy seems happy in the new house.  I think he likes only having ONE other cat to share it with! Haha.

Andy having his first day of college, kind of.

He's been taking Sinclair classes since last year.  But now he's starting summer classes after completing his senior year of high school.  So this is both more "real" and nothing different at the same time…

Puffy Cat and I are having a standoff.

I came up on him and surprised him and he didn't know what to think about it…. Haha.

Julie is habituating her critters for the big spring release…

Chungus, Chippy, Antoine, and Daffy are all warming up to the outside.

John set up a tour of his internship’s studio.

He was playing around with macro photography.

I caught Puffy cat in the act of hunting frogs and taking a drink…

 

Andy’s breakfast tricks at Waffa…

Hmmmm, what is THAT?!

They tested various ranges and angles and then tried some target practice.

 

Physics class…!

Andy's physics class used our range to test their potato cannons.  

I like our peaceful neighborhood.

Gravel driveways, summer green meadows, barns, and the colors of the sunset.  

A nice view for lunch while sitting on the 400 yard knoll.

Enter at your own risk… ;)

These are the live fire houses we practiced in this past weekend.  Many bad guys, and some good guys, lurk around these corners…

John caught a really cute picture of Shadow.

Chungus is trying to decide what to do with her water nozzle that she chewed off her water bottle…

 She vacillates between checking it out, carrying it around and trying to hide it… haha.

Julie and I had a great time engaging all kinds of targets from all kinds of situations this past weekend.

Between the two of us, we even managed to hit this antenna THREE times.  A little surprisingly, that's just enough interference to deflect the shot from the steel plate behind it…

This is a nice way to enjoy my MRE lunch. While walking the range.

Julie and I spent the weekend cashing in on her birthday present.

We enjoyed taking a class together.  Julie had been begging to for a long time so I finally bought it for her at the end of last year.  We had fun together and also got to learn a practical skill.  It was a nice little trip for us.

These two are trying to figure out how to share the undisputed best spot in the house…

We’re ready with some targets for some potato gun fun…

Andy's physics class will be coming over to test out their various designs.

Paddy has gotten huge and is doing well and ready to be released.

Probably will be this weekend or as soon as the temperatures stay warm enough overnight.

This is one of my favorite meals for the summer. Zucchini and grilled cheese!

Like I said, 16º camera tilt is a little fast for me…

I think it's time for some repairs for my DJI FPV.  I tried to cut between two trees about three feet apart at 30mph.  I went for spin and then found this…. Luckily, it can be repaired.  I'm surprised this is the first time actually.

It might not be good when you have to use THESE tools after mowing…



Luckily I had held on to my dad's little blue 3-ton hydraulic jack.  It worked perfectly to return my deck to a useable shape after I mashed it with a sneaky old tree stump…

Some of Isaac’s latest graphic design work for one of his class assignments.

It's a cartoon add for a present product.

Pepper has quickly become the new lap cat.

There was a pecking order before and Shadow was at the top.  Now that the boys took their cats, Pepper is the queen of house, or at least she thinks she is.  She still defers some of her spots to Itty Bitty, but if I sit on the couch, Pepper is usually ready to jump up in about a minute.  She doesn't give Itty Bitty a chance! Haha.

It’s fun to see the kids scattered about their work during the day.

It's also fun to see that Ridgeville randomly shows up on the map.  That brings back memories…. 

My DJI FPV flying from this last weekend. 16º Camera angle is a little too fast for me. ;)

 

Julie’s reverse sear method, a nice steak AND morel mushrooms…!

THIS makes for a great meal after mowing!  The temperature is PERFECT inside and consistent all through!

Itty Bitty joined me for one of my conference calls…