The pond looks a little better

Here you can see what it looked like after I got the fallen trees cleared away from the pond (upper pic) and after I trimmed the weeds and cat tails (lower pic).  It’s nice to have it all back in order and trimmed back so I can walk and ride around it with Julie and the pups.

Zoe keeping cool in the pond

These days, if she finds water, she jumps right in 🤪🐶

I managed to pull the whole pile out of the way!

A useful winch and helpful view

I managed to be able to winch this huge pile of trees out of the way after I cut through all the trunks.  I like having tires that would bite into the turn, but not spin.  The camera helped me know when I was getting close to running out of winch line to pull in so I didn’t wind my tow strap into the winch.  Putting the Jeep to work.  At least it paid for some of it’s maintenance costs, hahaha.

It’s hard to swim when your sister is a boat anchor…

Zoe has come to really enjoy the water. She die this loop over and over again while I was working in the field. She really wanted to swim across, but Chloe kept her anchored to the shore haha. Chloe knows bassets can’t swim.

Who let the dogs out?

I did! John and Savannah were in Cinci for the day so I got to let out Pebbles and May.  They like me well enough now that they were happy to see me, went out on queue, and then settled back down for some pets.  They were convinced that if I was there, J&S must be arriving any second haha.

My “helpers” and usual contributions…

Zoe loved jumping in the pond while I worked.  Chloe abstained knowing she’s just a boat anchor.  She did enjoy the shade of the cattails though.  At one point, Zoe took off running when Chloe was laying down and it caused Chloe to log roll a couple times before she jumped up and ran along. Hahaha.  I was wet and dirty by the time I was done for the day…!

Andys old watch putting in the work this past weekend

Tree work at the pond

We had a big tree fall across the pond path a while back.  I got out some tools, chains, and vehicles and went to work… Lower left is the before.  Lower right is after working for several hours in the 93º heat to cut through the fallen tree and all the shrubbery and ones it took out on the way down.

Bird watching with Itty Bitty

Before and after Andy’s pressure adjustment. The boy works miracles❣️

Good thing we know a guy…

I was threatening to adjust our water pressure (pressure relief valve) myself.  The boy decided he better swing by before I broke something… Good plan❣️ He fixed us right up! We have much better flow now.  In the process, he noticed our tub drain was leaking so he fixed that while he was at it.  We’re good until the next thing crops up! For now, Andy’s our hero again.

WAS! Now it is “just add water”…

I forgot I had these pouches that came with a med kit way back when.  It’s supposed to contain 4 oz of water.  They’re long past there best by date and the water either evaporated or leaked out. However, the bag is still mostly air tight and still contained a little pillow of air.  Julie said it was “just add water” now hahahaha.

Chris and I holding each other up on the trail

Pretty storm clouds reflecting the sunset

While us RC guys were hanging out, we saw these cool reflections in the quarry pond while the sun was setting in the west and lighting up these eastern thunder clouds.  

Then I headed out to RC fun with the Strong men

Chris organized a get together at the quarry for us.  We brought our scale rigs and enjoyed climbing the rocks and falling down them too.  

The call came in…

Andy was wanting to hand a piece of plywood on the wall behind his cab in his truck, but it was definitely a two person job.  So, he rang me up and I appeared.  We figure out what we needed then headed to the lumber yard.  It was fun to ride around in his big box :) Lower left shows the finished project.  It didn’t even take us two hours.  Not a bad activity to do in the sun on a 93º day hahahaha.

A fun little nod to the original moon watch

I like the moon on the back, the crators in the strap, etc.  It’s pretty nice looking for just a cheap “plastic” watch.  I paired with with a quick fit band and enjoy reliving my swatch junior high days too, hahaha.

Joyride with my mom

I had some time after my Jabez week last week and felt like enjoying the pretty weather.  Mom had wanted a ride too, so I picked her up.  We toured some of the backroads of Xenia and Waynesville included a stop to see my dad’s grave.  It’s crazy that those rocks the boys and placed the over a decade ago are still there. It is a pretty setting.  We enjoyed the willow tree and creek until the mosquitos found us🤪

Zoe and her ears…

…Just chillin’ in my lap❣️

The range owners shared their Oreos with us!

These are maple syrup and cinnamon pancake flavored! Pretty good, but why are they purple…?!

Strapped for Friday night

I had fun practicing my pistol and rifle skills last Friday.  In this instance you had to hit the white steel target  in one shot (you can see it just over the top of the white plastic barrel on the right) THEN you had a chance for the little yellow circle (yeah, you can barely see it attached to the white target in this pic) in one shot.  I managed to accomplish that with my tiny little carry pistol :) All in the 93º summer heat!  Pretty good shape for an old dude carrying around my rifle and 12 mags full of ammo haha.

Julie’s snail babies are starting to hatch

You can see a few of the babies crawling away on the leaves of the plant in the lower left 

Just waiting for her bath

Chloe was first in line, so Zoe and I were waiting for her turn at the bath station.  She checked out all the workers, visiting pets, and food selection and then was just content to chill with me while Julie finished up Chloe.  They both found some lovely filth to roll around on out in the yard so here we are… 🤪

Fun so see a window into the process

We got to see a small window into the process of Andy getting his new truck from Brandon :)

So many pretty colors and fun things!

We really enjoyed the variety of the aquarium and the fish store on the way home.  Julie is having fun feeding the stingrays (lower left).  She also found this isopod that was bigger than her hand (lower right).  The polka-dot bustle-nosed pleco was another favorite of mine (upper right). I had never seen a carrier crab before either (upper left).  They grab anemone and carry them around on their back with the rear set of claws.

Some other aquarium fun

We thought this ray was big until Julie pointed out that he was about ONE TENTH the size of a manta ray…!  In the insets: Striped Pajama Cat (lower right) and the glittery piranha (lower left).  I just thought pajama cat was a cool name and the piranha glitter is pretty and often overlooked.  

We liked the chasing luminescence of the comb jellyfish too

Julie took me to the aquarium

On the way there I told her I’d be happy if I got to see a lion fish.  She delivered in a big way because we found this fuzzy dwarf lion fish! Such awesome looks and colors!  Of course we got to see and do a lot of other things too, but this was one of the highlights for me!

Going a little crazy on coins

I was given this cool little holder for the 2026 250th celebration coins. So I took the ones Laura gave me and added some others to the collection.  The holder stores all the quarters (there’s four total).  I have the bell, boat, and bonnet guy wearing a tricorn hat).  I still need the one showing independence hall (U.S. Consitution), and the one showing two clasped hands (Gettysburg Address).  I have the nickel, dime, and fifty cent piece too.  I even managed to find a pre-release version of the Trump dollar and got one for Julie too (although they’ve since been released).  I thought it was fitting to include my bicentennial silver dollar in the shot too. 

A few favorite things and memories…

These are a few things I’ve always kept hold of over the years…. The wooden pocket knife and camp knife my dad made me.  My big bird and Playmobile solider.  My David bracelet I got from the sauerkraut festival in 2nd grade. My first (black) and second (white) pocket knives.  I even have my name badges from some of my early jobs.  There are other things there too, and more in the drawer to my workshop desk that was my dad’s table in his office.  Maybe I will dive into some of the details in upcoming blogisodes. :)

I guess I’ve always been a sticker guy…

I was looking through some of my old memories and found this from my sixth grade era! Fun to think about me carrying this around in my bag, trading with friends for three years! It’s well loved and mostly full! Pigs, Superman, the gospel, and all kinds of other variety throughout the pages. It’s fun that it started as just a simple notebook. 

138 year old Morgan Silver Dollar :)

It was cool that Julie found this for me in her Nanny’s things when going through them recently.  It was mounted on a belt buckle so I carefully removed it and added it to my collection.  I have a ring made from a 1921 also.  I even have a matching 1921 silver dollar to go with it. It’s interesting to think about life back in 1888 and what one of these could have bought you back then…?

Do you know about the Omega Speedmaster and the moon?

It was selected in the mid-60’s after a heated competition.  They had to have a reliable time piece for the planned moon landing.  Back in the day, they timed their engine burns with what they could wear on their wrist!  The current Speedmaster Professional is that watch.  It has an acrylic crystal since they didn’t want glass in space that would shatter instead of just crack.  The case back (shown here) is inscribed appropriately.  

Interestingly, Swatch (yeah the plastic watch folks from the 80’s shown in the lower right pic) just partnered with Omega to come out with this nod to the Moonwatch called the Moon Swatch.  Pictured in the middle (case back lower left).  It’s just a cheap quartz, but I still had to put my self on a waitlist for one! Fun and cool! I remember swatch being all the rage.  $25 watches people were paying hundreds for to get them first back in the day.  They still seem to be able to generate the same hype hahahaha.

I have my network looking for an old, used Speedmaster reduced triple date so see if I can get a “real” one…

Lots of mushrooms this year

The wet summer means we have lots of mushrooms on our property this year.  This was a big batch that popped up out of a tree root system along the border between our driveways. Julie looked them up, they are either choice edibles or toxic… That’s the problem with many of the yummy variety. They look just like ones that are a definite no-no… Our policy: if it’s not obvious, don’t try them…! 🤪☠️

I’m getting my speed ladder in less than two mins

1:55 in this case.  It’s nice to be able to do all of them, now I am just working on getting smoother and faster.

Next up on the agenda…

We had a chance to paddle around on the pond and test out Johnny’s John boat.  We had a blast and it worked nicely.  Then we moved a chair into their place and rotated the wheels on his “new” car.  A fun and productive day for sure.

The before and after.

We were pretty happy with the way it turned out. It’s gotta be WAY better than it was before we started.  Hopefully it’s water tight and we can tackle repairing the dining room ceiling plaster next. 

It was a day of proud papa moments and full hearts❣️

I’m just a gopher these days…

…and maybe a foreman.  It was fun to watch the boys helping each other out.  We tackled a couple vents too, just to make sure they were up to snuff while we were already up there.  In the lower right, I’m just sitting in the shade waiting for my next assignment.  They said it looked like I was over there playing in a sandbox, haha!

Lower left is me “go-foring” up a blower to clean everything off before we re-sealed it.

The work begins on Johnny’s chimney flashing

First they had to strip off the old sealant and pull the nails that had worked their way loose.  It’s fun to see Andy and him diving into a project together.

Figuring out the work for the day…

Last weekend the boys all gathered to help John with his leaky chimney flashing.  It was fun to see that Andy broght his measuring tape along and was ll prepared to help.  It’s crazy that he’s had this since I first started buying him tools as a child.  Probably from the 201–2012 timeframe.  He’s replaced some of the guts a couple times.  It’s “survived” some pretty big drops and really starting to show it.  But it still works.  It looks like it might just fall about soon…?!

King of the dogs…

Fun with Andy’s truck

It got lettered recently so John and I stopped by to see it and grab a few tools for the day’s adventure. John geeked out over the layout.  Andy showed us his newly built pipe stock storage and his “door jammer” which holds the automatic lock open when he is going in and out of the trunk constantly on a job.  He even built a place to store it on the side of the stock bin.  Inventive!

Fun working through our new Kendama tricks

Andy likes to keep tabs on how I’m doing.  He cheers me on, and also gives me little tweaks to improve my consistency.  It’s kind of impressive how he can watch me for a minute and tell me what I’m doing wrong, then all of a sudden, I’m lacing it.  I’ve gotten to where I can reliably get through all my tricks in three tries or so.  Speed ladder, here I come…

Just my Jeep in a nice setting

Just fun to have my workout buddy plodding along beside me

The blood moon mostly elluded us

It looked like it was going to be a nice night to see it, but clouds rolled in about the time it was a third of the way through.  I like the pic on the right the best just because it’s a decent one of the moon and clouds and has an appropriate lunar eeriness to it.  You can see the earth shadow coming in from the lower left and blocking about a third of the moon. 

The upper right pic lets you see the most complete part of the eclipse we were able to see.  The clouds became thick enough after that so we never saw it again until after it was over.  The lower left pic was the best hint of red we got.  You can see it best in the lower right of the moon.  This was only visible for about two seconds as the clouds rolled by, haha.

Fire certifications

These were my grandma Morey‘s two uncles on her dad’s side. William (uncle Will) was still alive when my mom was a kid. He’s the one her folks bought the old cottage at Long Lake from. He died from getting burned in a fire up there.

And 1897 is the year that grandma Morey was born.

That reminded me of this cool German clock

It was always in my grandpa’s garage.  It’s almost two feet long and really cool looking.  I particularly like the “exposed” escapement you can see from the face of the clock.  It’s a porcelain dial that is still in prety good shape.  It doesn’t stay running, but the gongs all still work and sound beautiful.  He made the case for it to keep dust from taking a toll.  It also serves as a fun spot to store some other special memories.  Some of our kid’s favorite stuffies, a little band saw test my grandpa did of my grandma’s name, and a report card from the early 1900s.  I’ve added a few stickers too.  I like the one my grandpa put on from Frankenmuth.  I spend a week or two with them one summer in the mid-eighties and they took me there.  

Timepiece fun…

It turns out that at the same time I’ve been exploring watches, Susan and Larry have been doing the same thing with clocks.  Grandfathers, mantles, and cuckoo clocks.  So I gave them this one that I had to them.  My dad had picked it up at a garage sale somewhere along the way. He wanted it on the mantle downstairs in one of the areas he was using as an office during his church treasurer and income tax prep days.  It runs nicely, sounds nice, and keeps good time.  It looks like it was from the second decade of the twentieth century (early 1900s).  It will be fun to see what Larry and Susan do with it.

Stickers and fun things from when I was a kid

I ran across these little scratchpads we made when I was going to the international science fair my senior year of high school.  My projects was on the differences in efficiency of girder vs. truss designs in bridges.  Everybody tended to bring something along to give out to other students and visitors.  The Dayton Chamber of Commerce also gave me these Wright Place to be stickers to hand out.  I added both of these to my sticker wall along with an “I ❤️ Dayton” and even an OG In-N-Out sticker I found.  I had to put up one of my out of date Windrock maps just to have a place to put more stickers… 🤪 

My little arm day workout buddy…

It’s fun that Zoe is (mostly) willing to lay on the carpet remnant and wait for me to finish my workout if she’s down in the basement “gym” with me.

Fun kendama practice

I’ve manage to get to the point where I can get through my speed ladder trick list for Dama at the Pond. This kitchen vibe was fun with the fruits, vegetables, knives, watches and tea. :)