52 Weeks of...

mulching of the trees

2007-08-18T17:47:00.000-07:00

Way back early in the spring I had a very large job to tackle, mulching all(96) of the willow oaks that line the drive lane on the property. I was not looking forward to doing this for two years in a row with some extra excavating on each tree's root collar this year. Sometimes the greater force delivers and this time was one...a friend Benjamin from Sherman Chiropractic College(a recent graduate) stopped by and spent some time earning some $ and helped me with the trees. Thank you Ben.

This is what we started with, some weeds and dirt covering the 'shoulders' of the trees which "should be exposed" per Mark our personal arborist. Exposed means to dig with a hand rake and garden shovel (hand shovel) 1-5 inches into the root ball to expose the shoulders. Rake the mulch out to expand the mulched area and add additional mulch to finish new larger diameter mulched ring. And to finish spray round-up on all of the fresh mulch being careful not to spray base of freshly transplanted willow-oak trees.Here's Dr. Ben Claussen hard at it, notice the knee pads, lots of time on our knees digging.Using my trailer and the tractor to haul the mulch.Mollie and Lil' E in front of the finished product.

Hot fun in the summer sun

2007-08-12T16:14:00.000-07:00

R&D sharing another boat ride in the sun.
The
Our new neighbor(only a 30 min drive instead of 90 mins) and Wednesday Evening Dinner's inaugural host.
The Captain of the boat.(?)
BLEW BY U (some of the local weekend crabbers)
Perfect dive form with the kindergartner.
The water was very warm, almost too warm. I had to take the plunge 3 times at our second stop.

Derek cools down in the Choptank River.

"little man"

2007-07-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

The first 5 months of Easton's life as "our" dog, in the words of 'E' himself...

Here I am with some of my new friends Mora and Sandy(and their parents R & D) and my big sister Mollie and my dad. And see how good of a dog I am, I'm the only one that gets to walk off leash.

Here I am taking my Papa and Mom and big sis for a rainy day walk, "come on everyone, home is this way."There's my beautiful mom and her dad.(my papa)
Here I am showing Mollie who the boss is gonna be. She is but a shadow of me.
My big sis is always so serious and ready to 'go' at the drop of a paw, she should mellow out and enjoy the flowers a little. She's a lot of fun once you get to know her, don't let her bark scare you.
There she is in her favorite position, sun bathing/ sleeping.
Here's my mommy again, helping me to enjoy a pool party.

And my Oma at the same pool party, she treats me real good too, a lot like my mommy.Here's my mom gettin' a little wild at the same party, don't ever let her tell ya she's shy.You guessed it, belly flop contestant #4, my mom. (She had better form than my dad's belly flops)
Here's one of my cute friends I've met this summer at Bocce Friday's, I just love her curly hair and the way she feeds me good food.

Here I am trying to get Mollie to get a little lively, she just wants to be calm and swim or dig for rocks while I think we should jump on each other and bite each other and put our heads under water for multiple seconds.(my dad has counted 7 seconds with my head underwater)
Here I am swimming in the mucky pond early in the spring. I'm actually going for a frog here but I'm not sure if mom got it in this photo, sometimes I'm to fast for photos.
Comin' at cha'. I'm running down the dock here with my dad in the background. This is where we go for our swim outings. I still haven't gotten a ride in the boats...dad says it gets hair everywhere or something like that.
Here I am playing a good game of 'tug' with my sis. This game upsets my dad because we don't bring the stick back to him. I say..."if he needs it, he should come and get it"
Here I am running (probably for home) like a big dog. I think I like running(especially chasing rabbits or deer) as much as I do swimming.
Here's another of my sister and me swimming, actually were waiting for dad to throw the stick but you know what I mean.
Here's my pretty mom blowing bubbles for us making everyone smile, well except for Mollie, she had to get a little frumpy as usual but she was having fun by the end. My mom has the cutest smile.
I'm not sure what these 'bubbles' are but they sure were fun.
Here my dad, my sis and me when I was real little coming home from one of my first walks here at this farm place.

I liked tennis balls from the beginning.
And digging, I love to dig and Mollie is good at teaching me the intricacies of this wonderful art. Once again, my dad doesn't like this game we play, so you have to do it when he's not around and work fast.
Here my mom was being silly and making puppy prints. I was just shaking my head wondering what I had gotten' into and hoping she works fast.
I wore the big girl out, she can't keep up with me. Were pretty cute huh?(we like/LOVE beef marrow bones if you were wondering)

Here we are at the beach, where the water tastes funny. Mollie got sick(both ends) from drinking the beach water.(more like gulping)(sometimes I tell her to act her age)(no one ever said she was the smart one in our family)
Here I am hiding under the couch in the first couple months, I soon out grew this groovy spot and can no longer shimmy under the living room furniture.
Here I am working my sister over and letting her know who the boss is going to be.
Here I am taking my mom and her sister/my aunt Sarah and her daughter/my cousin Maggie and my sister Mollie for a walk.
Here I am caught mid stride running through the butter cups.(I look real fast)
Mollie always has to get sassy and sound like were fighting, which always ends the fun cause dad doesn't like the noise or the tone in her voice.(sometimes dad's not much fun)
Here's my cute cousin Maggie, she was pretty fun but still a little to small to play with me.
Here's my mom reminding us why my daddy wanted to kiss on her forever. And my sister 'posing' for the camera.
Hello, my name is Easton and I'm going to be living here.
Here's my neighbor Midnight. We can play together alright but Mollie always has to get in the middle and Midnight doesn't like when she does that so he doesn't hang out much since I've been around. What can I say, I like to have a good time.
Here's my cute family, and me liking my mom, she tastes good.
Here I am looking cute as ever asleep in the horse barn. I'm probably about 10 weeks old and I've already discovered the wonders of living with horses.
And here I am, wet from swimming in my favorite creek.(Dixon)

September Visitors

2007-07-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

September 23rd is The Motocross of Nations and E and I are lucky enough to be hosting two of our favorite guy friends. Aiden and Brad have accepted an invitation to visit us here in MD. A is going to visit with Auntie Emmie on Sunday while Brad and I head over to Budds Creek MX and catch the race. The race is the top three moto riders from different countries all over the world and then all of the countries compete in a combined format race with each riders points counting for the team overall score. The last time the race was in the USA was '83, and it will probably be many years till it returns to the states. We are looking forward to hosting them for the weekend and also for the race.

Here's some photos of Brad's father's day gift, it's the bar between bikes and also the little seat between his arms for the little princess.
Here's A showing us how to blow mega bubbles:

Tractor Pull #2 (tuckahoe steam and gas association)

2007-07-21T17:28:00.001-07:00

My wonderful wife accompanied me to the local tractor pull Friday evening. She said it may be her first and last. But, with some time I'm sure she won't be able to stay away. The $15 gate fee was part of the hesitation for her.

(proceed only with redneck interest)...

I believe this Allis-Chalmers was running multiple turbos on one giant diesel motor. These tractors have an awesome turbine sound and each one in the super stock class has a distinctive sound.

Those deere have a nice green look to 'em.

Maybe a blue New-Holland to plow the garden with? These are still the same super stock class with the awesome sounding/pulling engines.
Find 3 non/rednecks in this photo/ win a prize.

A Case-International running on alcohol, again with a totally different sound, kind of a whirrrr with some deep base and crisp, with minimal visible exhaust. You can ask E and have her re-innact this tractors sounds for you.

Not sure of the make on this tractor blowing smoke rings while at idle and low power. It was a new tractor, less than 5 pulls. It stopped very short with no visible breakage and left the track under power. Another smoke blower. Over 310 feet is a full-pull.

And everyone's favorite(?) a john-deere named "one more deere." She blew beautiful, powerful, black smoke.
This "Hillbilly's Bear" was E's favorite, this one made her think she'd like her husband to have a tractor-pull tractor in her garage someday. Below the steering wheel I think it says..."Special thanks to my wife Lisa."

You might be a redneck if... your flamed racing pants match your flamed truck paint scheme.
Emily made it through 2 hrs for her first pull. After the first tractor class, the rest of the tractors and trucks are unbelievably and uncomfortably loud and not as impressive to me as the stock modifieds and multiple engine super mega machines, so we left and missed a lot of traffic. Also the camera battery was dead. Thanks to Emily for her patience.("just 1 more pull after the next" she kept hearing)

1st State Train Club

2007-07-11T17:42:00.000-07:00

I have been lucky enough to find two different model railroad clubs within a reasonable driving distance of Easton. The first club is the Delmarva Train People, a bunch of guys who are really good at giving each other a hard time and seem to be the type that put having a good time high on the priority list. The first meeting I attended had me laughing out loud several times, good stuff to follow I am sure. And then a week later I attended the 1st State Model Railroad club at a members house, Ed Kline. Ed has a truly amazing layout which covers a good portion of his basement. And it seemed any space not occupied with train layout was filled with all sorts of RR paraphernalia from lights to prints and anything else imaginable. The knowledge these gents have makes my head hurt, they start talking about present day train operations and it all sounds like German to me, but it's all good.

The photos to follow are from Ed's layout:

This first photo is of the six stall roundhouse "at night" so you can see the welding going on in the last stall.(sorry for the photo quality, but I had to show the detail of the welding)

This is the Madkin pickle company...Ed's wife is Madeline and Ed said he built this cart while they were dating. (cool story)

This is the pickle factory.
A coupler on one of the members trailer hitches in the driveway.(never seen one of those before)

I believe the layout is the Pennsy Rail Road.

A couple more night shots.

Nice yard huh?
Look at the weathering on the semi...the trailer having exhaust on the top of it.
If you look close you will notice all of the track is hand laid...meaning, each tie and rail have been laid seperately versus using track segments like so many of us use.

Here's some of the train stuff I mentioned earlier.
The coal mine with empty cars waiting to be filled.

So much detail everywhere, I love the willy's wagon up on blocks.

With these few photos you can see the "U" shaped layout.

The under the table work cart.

A good shot of the 6 stall roundhouse and yard with a turntable out front.( I love it)
A steam loco coming out of the tunnel.

I hope you enjoyed the photos, a special thanks to Ed for a wonderful evening, and I'll be looking forward to next months meeting.

Budds Creek MX '07

2007-06-24T09:14:00.000-07:00

Budd's Creek MD! My second live national track viewing in my short MX fandome career. I caught the infamous Southwick, MA several times while we lived in NY and was always thrilled with the races. Budds Creek was just as exciting, with very nice viewing lines. Most of the infield trees have been removed so you can see a good portion of the track from most vantage points. Ricky Carmichael won the overall with a 2-1 and mentioned that he was dissapointed with the track conditions. He said "the track was one-lined and needed to be tilled deeper(much deeper)" It all looked good to me but I'm just the beer drinking spectator. The photos are in no certain order...please enjoy.
Grant Langston looked good both motos.
Tim Ferry back on Team Kawasaki.
RC scrubbin' some speed.
James follows RC's lines in moto 2.
Kevin Windham tryin' to stay on the pace.
Chad Reed makes a special one time only National appearance of the Summer.

Ricky steppin up followed again by #7.

DV12 ran a specially decorated helmet for Father's Day, his wife and children painted the helmet, very cool.
1st moto Ricky threw his goggles very early into the moto after the lens was almost ripped out from a f James' rear tire. (afterward he was p**ssed off)
Jeff Allessi showed some speed while his brother mike took two holeshots in the moto-x class.

NYK (Nick Wey) put in a good ride.
Tim Ferry was involved in a first turn mishap during the second moto.

1st Moto -X class start.

NYK27 on the sighting lap.
Nice shot of the track showing the sight lines.
James congrats RC after the second moto.
RC takes the checkered flag.
Chad Reed caught Mike Allesi over the finish line jump.
James after RC's pass second moto.
RC is setting up James mid moto 2.
Someone drop a quarter on the starting line?
1st turn moto 1.
Stars and Bars, we are South of the Mason Dixon line.
Ricky throws some roost.

Ryan Villopoto makes it look real easy, for a runaway win both motos.
J-Law put on a good show.

The Goat and Goose head to the start line.
Staging for Moto 2 MX class.

Dreaming Big

2007-03-15T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, it has been awhile since my last post. Here's my new train room! It has recently been insulated and is ready for my constructing attempt. The room is big enough to allow a 24 foot long by 8 foot wide layout with lots of room to spare/expand.

Here's the 'yard' that I constructed on the floor before the insulating was finished. It has six branches and a mainline that goes on by on the outside.
Here you can see a passing loop on the right with switchovers to change tracks from the inner to outer. And at the far end I think I will add another passing loop, and I envision adding industry turn outs as I incorporate these into the layout. Who would of thought model trains could be so stressful/ complex?
Look at all of those cars needing to get out on the track and put in some miles, it's a shame the railroad workers are slacking so much.

A post of links.

2007-03-08T16:19:00.000-08:00

(click this little box below for some nice train-plowing)
First is a snow plowing train in Eastern CO and Kansas that gets stuck and takes 6 locos to get things rolling. I've never seen anything like this before, pretty cool with lots of photos and other vids.

Next is Moto inspired, TransWorld MX magazine had a contest with DVS shoes called Moto Mouth. Just send in your video and show everyone how well you can braaap. There are three of the top five that are pretty fun, hope you can enjoy. May I suggest only watching Shawn, Derek and Ryon. If you watch Lonnie's it's alright and if you watch Paul's be prepared, it's pretty obnoxious. Take care!

Snowy Barn Chores

2007-03-07T21:59:00.000-08:00

Here we are looking from the aisle-way inside the barn south through Sam's stall and out his stall door to the snow storm that of course caused E's school to let out early.
The man responsible for the mucking.

If a picture says a thousand words, I don't know what thousand this one says? This is Sam, he's the one with the lively personality and a little spunk in his blood.

Flat Bed

2007-03-06T13:22:00.000-08:00

I purchased a few new/used cars from an online train board member. 'E' and I found these track hoe's at the evil one Wal-Mart for a reasonable $6/each. Check out the high tech attachment device, good ole duct tape under each track.

'E' started our farm scene recently and I added the tractors and gave them a ride on the track before delivery to Old Mcdonald's Farm.

Extreme close-up of the coupler and the trucks/wheels on the reading coal hopper.
Another shot of one of the new GP20's, sure is pretty.

Amazon

2007-02-28T17:02:00.000-08:00

Hmm, I wonder what could have come in a box from Amazon? March 21st and we shall find out. The cute and wonderful woman I'm married to turns 29 this month and the shopping has begun. Happy early birthday Elly-J.

Changes...

2007-02-27T08:45:00.000-08:00

Before...
After...

Cuddly...

Responsible...

Fun...
Boring...70's...
90's...

This guys getting ready to knock off a convenience store in your neighborhood.

Coal Cars

2007-02-26T15:11:00.000-08:00

I purchased 10 coal cars and had a few so now I have a coal train to keep all of the coal going where it is going. And I also got a ten foot controller cord so I can access the switches on the turnouts a little easier, every little bit adds some new interest for me.

Some 'fish eye' fun effects.
Everyone needs a coal train, right?
Overhead of the busy, congested yard.

Snowy Afternoons

2007-02-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

Before...

After.
(he's a dancing, Dancing, Dancing Machine)
Mollie's trying to make yet another escape.

Mollie has a hard time getting comfy.
Partners in Crime ...'ya put your fences up to keep me out and to keep mother nature in'...signs, signs, everywhere's signs...

The Great Train Post

2007-02-20T16:20:00.000-08:00

Here's the yard to -be. I am waiting for the element to sale, and then I am going to build in the extra garage space. Imagine that, an extra garage stall. Maybe not for you, but an extra stall is unheard of to me, I am a garage kinda guy. If there's a garage, the car is in it. I'll have to show you Emily's 'pull-thru' stall for her car, it has two doors, one in front and one behind. And of course each has an opener on it with a button in her car. Anyway, back to the important stuff, train yards. So my thought is to build in the garage with nice framing and keep it covered while not in use. And then maybe transfer upstairs to the storage area if we insulated it, right now it would be real cold, but the garage is insulated so it stays about 60 degrees with the doors closed. So to make this post the most enjoyable possible you should put on some Johnny Cash , maybe crack a beer, and let the trains roll on down the lines. The birds-eye view of the yard.
One of the new locomotives pulling some varied freight cars.
Two trains ready to leave the yard and all of the random left-over freight cars and engines.

Here's the two new beast. Two EMD GP-20's for the crazy price of $190 to my door. They are more than I could have ever imagined. Hard to believe I am saying this, but I would pay full retail now knowing what they encompass.

GP-20's in the background with the yard in the front.
I need video so I could show you all of the awesome sounds.

"Let a sleeping horse lay"

2007-02-19T05:16:00.000-08:00

I have been trying for some time to get a picture of the horses laying down. They look so funny when they are laying down, they look all docile and timid, kinda like Mollie when she is exhausted. The pictures are cute but they don't really tell the story. And of course, the show never lasts very long, the horse is usually on their feet within minutes/ seconds of my discovery that they are laying down.Show's over, Sam's leg is coming up and so is he. This is probably the third or fourth attempt at catching one of the horses laying down, "third or fourth times a charm."

Car Wash

2007-02-18T15:11:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we had a high of 48 degrees so I cranked up the power washer and washed three cars . I was all bundled up, as long as you stayed in the sun it wasn't too bad.In the front, the farm truck and the red GMC is their's and the Element in the back is SOLD, just waiting for the title to arrive from the loan being paid off. I washed it and put it back in storage, it should be gone in the next week.
Evening snuck up on me real quick. Insulated overalls, stocking hat, over boots and gloves whenever I wasn't working in direct contact with H2O, all in the name of a shiny car.
Chamois, the latest 'accessory' for the modern caretaker.

Train Update Teaser

2007-02-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the repeats...I'm testing the 'new' blogger, I don't like when you click on a photo and have to scroll horizontal to see the photo.

Great Scale Train Show

2007-02-06T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here we go, The Great Scale Train Show. What a perfect day! We arrived about noon so we only had 4 hrs but I was confident we could get through everything and get all of my shopping done as well. It became a little hurried at the end, but it worked out fine because lots of the vendors were closing early because of Superbowl party plans. Enjoy the photos, and maybe you'll be lucky enough to enjoy my trains soon.
In this shot you can see the two main lines and then 3 service lines on each side of the main lines.A classic "War Bonnet" paint scheme running down the line.
The train-man to be.
This was one of my favorite backgrounds, nothing like a deforested mtn. side to bring home a message. Erosion anyone? It was real cool how the clubs did their layouts...each person brings a 4 x 2 sheet with at least two main lines at a predescribed distance from the front edge of the display. Then they all just link up and presto, they have a huge train set with all kinds of different scenes and track layouts. Three pictures above this you can see the difference because of the different colors of track.(rail road ties, base material)
I count 11 separate tracks here, all those turnouts allows a train to be 'built' while your running another train. What fun!
This bridge was amazing, and look at the rock work on the mtn. behind. If you didn't know better it could look like a real photo from out west about 150 yrs ago.
A giant 20 alarm(or more) fire. Look at all of those boom trucks and the pumpers in the bay topped the picture.
I think they said there was 161 coal cars in this train, it was reeaally looong.
Cars sitting at the drive in theater.
Shanty-Ville! Look at all of the detail stuff/ junk/ trash. It's amazing what people come up with.
A city park with of course a retired caboose as the center attraction.
A locomotive turnaround, I really want to incorporate one of these on my layout.
This old guy was posing for Elly's photo, so cute, just like an 8 yr old little boy who's proud of their train set.
Another nice example of a rock outcroping to finish the show. Check out that foliage, must be out East somewhere.

Train Update

2007-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

I have two trains running here, no permanent track laid yet but look at all of the turnouts in my rail yard. I can build a train now, while another train is running the line.Here's a shot of the 'new' yard and the main line running behind the yard. I never imagined how much time one could spend "laying track" and all of the other details. I'm still deciding what I want the layout to be size wise. I have plenty of room/ space it is just not insulated so it's a little cold now and a little hot several months from now. I could just wear my insulated overalls and coats now, and come summer I will be in my underwear or less. Doesn't sound very fun.(unless Emily is 'training' with me)
The Birds Eye View Here's a shot of the whole layout, it's about 9'-3" on the long left side. I was thinking of two sheets of 4x8 plywood but am thinking I might need(?) to make a U instead of just an L. Money and time, are the only limits. We shall see...I'll have to make a dead end line for an extension, simple, just a turn out and some track. I am very excited to have found The Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, MD, the same fair grounds that we attended the Maryland Horse Expo two weeks ago. It looks to be a very large show, we are only able to attend Sunday, so I hope to be able to catch everything and do all of my shopping as well. (I do have a shopping list) I will post photos of the great show next week. Hopefully Emily will not get too bored with all the show. The next show is in April, I'll probably be going alone.

(i hope this update gets me out of the slacker pile, at least for a bit)

Pine Creek Race '06

2007-01-19T09:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a long over-due post. The Pine Creek down river race in Granite, CO every June. The race is run single runs first for time then heats of four according to the earlier timed runs. Who knows who won, but my oh my was there some beat downs and ass kickings. We pulled out early before the awards to go run the measily Browns Canyon. It was pretty sweet, I met up with two friends from CT and several others for the Browns run.

Here's all of the overflow parking on the road, lots and lots of people, and of course Red Bull brought the whole thing to the rivers edge.
The photos start with the 4 up action/ or should I say the beat downs start shortly and continue.
I'm pretty sure that's one of those 'Redneck Kayakers' from out West. That's a mullet straight from '86.

'Game on' with three in the hole, oh what fun.

ROPE!
The scene just above the infamous Pine Creek.

The beat down to end all beat downs and he didn't even swim out of it.

Here's a shot of the whole course from top to bottom with the 'terminator' hole just out of the picture in the bottom right corner. The river takes a little turn to the left and feeds right into the juice with nice F-me rocks above on the left, center and on the right bank.

Do you see 'Ole Man River' in this photo?

random june '06 vacation

2007-01-18T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here's some more from our vacation last June in CO, get a beverage, there's quite a few photos.
Dylan says 'Rock On' and we did all weekend long. This guy is the oldest of the little ones so he leads the show and does a nice job. He is always showing his 'new tricks,' way to cute.
Aiden and Dylan sharing some snacks while helping load luggage in the parking garage.

The extended Cranwell family photo. (look at all those smiles, wish we could see them more)

Uncle Brad checks Uncle Justin's spine .U-tah with his favorite little Maggie.

She's got me wrapped around her fingers and I'm only an uncle, oh I'm in for heart break.The latest Eddie Bauer back pack with a baby thrown in.

Pool time, that's a full pool.
Willy goes for a ride.
The boys are hot-tubbing.

Willy getting his hair painted, a few minutes later he fell off the stool, oh my what a liability suit waiting to happen. It was a little distressing, of course he fell right on his head on the asphault.

Willy is sharing his watermelon with an armadillo we found at the Frisco B-Q Festival.
We took a carriage ride around the streets of Breckenridge.Willy from the inside of the carriage looking back.
"I think I'll just look mom"

Aren't they cute. Downtown Frisco at the BQ fest.

U-tah (uncle todd) helping Willy with his socks.

Arriving at the Alpine Slide.
Dylan and Becky riding to the top of the mtn.

Uncle Kevin and Little A along side Becky and Dylan and some stranger in the back.(don't look at him)
U-tah and Uncle Kevin gettin' nutty on the slide. (check out Kevin's pac-man shirt)
another one of the cute couple

Mollie's last run at the backyard of The Spencer House.
Butter's was shivering when camping with Jay, Codie, Todd ,Mollie and Cooper.
Mountain Bocce.

Aiden showing us around his dad's office.This little man can tell a story, ask him about The Three Little Pigs.

The Takash Family heading home to the condo for family nap time.
Park at Keystone resort, where we got rejected to ride the gondola. It wasn't open for another week or some nonsense.
Jill and Kevin's first home.

Papa is the gold miner.

Darth Vader made an appearance during his overture at a children's concert in Breck.
Hello, this is Willy calling and I'd like to order a pizza.
More bq fest. Pig racing for all the rednecks.
Before the race shot.

After the race shot.
Cottonwood Hot Springs in Buena Vista, CO.
U-tah teaching Willy to hold his breath under water.
Willy gives it a try.Auntie Emmy, Oma and little William.

Papa is flexing for the camera.

Friday photos/ stories

2007-01-16T07:52:00.000-08:00

If you look real close you can see a bald eagle sitting in the tree. This is just outside the barn, so I ran in and got the camera, of course the new zoom lens was not on but if you click the photo it's a little better. Later in the day I saw two flying and diving in the corn field outside the kitchen windows.I know it looks like trees and fence, but if you look close you can see the eagle in flight in front of the trees, beautiful I must say.
Here's our newest roommates, Cali(co) on the left and Mini on the right. It might be the other way around, I'm not sure. I am the one who feeds and cleans the litter box, so if any good names come to me a renaming will happen. They are sisters from the humane society, previously living with an older woman that passed away. So we have two barn cats instead of "a" barn cat. Hopefully they are good mousers. It will be a week tomorrow and there is still lots of apprehension in the cats. Neither spend much time outside of the box they have chosen to share. And besides the first night after a loud crash when Mini ran through the barn neither have been outside the horse stall that is there home. I'm hoping they get accustomed and start 'cattin' around soon.

All Aboard!

2007-01-10T10:24:00.000-08:00

For sometime I have thought a nice (large) train set would be fun but I was never interested in one unless it could be a permanent structure. We have a very large storage room off of the living room so train land has arrived. I asked Emily if I could get a set before my birthday and she said no problem. After some education online and a trip to the local Hobby Town, I am "working on the railroad." It was like a late christmas morning, I spent the whole evening training. Anyone got any good model train sites?
Big kid, or just a late child hood, we could all use a little play.

Tractor Rides

2006-11-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

Willy and Maggie blessed their Uncle Todd(U-tah) with smiles and giggles on Sunday for some tractor time. We first sat on the tractor in the barn and got accustomed to it's 'feel' and waited till eventually we heard "when are we going to go Uncle Todd?" So I asked if Willy was ready for the loud noise and all was fine. We moved some gravel and cruised around the barn and enjoyed the sunshine from the seat of a deere. (oh what fun)

"Were gonna ride tractors"
"Int neigh" "Int neigh" translation: I want to see the horses(neigh).(now please)

Maggie's gettin' the feel for it.

It takes two for any proper job.

Starting up the tractor.

Two old farmers heading out to do hay.

Giving Maggie and Emily a ride to see the Neighs.

"Peace Out"

1st ride @ Landing MX

2006-11-05T14:22:00.000-08:00

I flagged at The Landing MX on Sat and earned free riding for practice days. It costs $50 to join and $25/day there after or $500 for an unlimited pass. So I cashed in on my free rides. Talk about old man, I probably did 20-25 laps on some very short tracks. One was intented for Pit bikes so it was real fun, with some grooming it would be dangerous. Nice bowled out bermed corners and flat table jumps. I somehow lost a washer that goes under my gas cap so after about 15 laps I noticed a strong gas smell and some moistness between my legs. So what does anyone do who hasn't rode for 5 months? I rode some more to see for sure where the petro was coming from and then loaded up and came home. The entire outing was less than 2 hrs including 14 miles of drive round trip. Pretty short, but I am already having a hard time with our stairs to the apartment(we have alot). Tomorrow I will hardly be able to walk. But next week my speed will be a little more and my quads will be in a little better shape.

The gas cap in question.

Emily and Kevin went to a State Park south of us 2 hrs to spectate a herd of wild horses. Charting their course, while pulling out of the garage.2 Blond Bombshells (look out guys)

'73 British Navy Transport Vessel

2006-10-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to go along to pick-up friends that were anchored just down river from the house that were visiting the big house. This vessel was purchased from the British Navy(I think this is correct) as a personnel vessel and then was motored across the Atlantic and is now slowly being restored to a wonderful yacht. She has beautiful lines and sits so proud in the water. I think the dry weight was quoted at 125,000 tons/ 250,000 lbs, that's a lot of weight to float.

Engine room with all of the valves and a HUGE 4 cylinder diesel engine and two large generators, it was very perplexing and the owner understood most all of it.

Mates quarters, a couple bunks and a sink, I guess I missed the all important shower and toilet.
Captains quarters, with a bunk and a desk and some closet space.
Front Deck.

This is my favorite photo of the boat. (click the photos to enlarge)
Friends heading home for dinner with LLandovery in the back drop. (free taxi)

The Aiden Show

2006-10-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Aiden James, he so often has a smile and is so very inquisitive. He's wearing his 'Thor' MX jersey , a gift from Utah and Auntie Emmy, he's after my heart. (and I love it)Can you see those lips making the tractor noise? Oh he is so related to me, I loved playing trucks. One day we will have a serious trucks play session.

Here Aiden is telling his version of "The Three Little Pigs" I sadly missed the story but heard it was magnificent. The laughter in their faces just makes me teary eyed.Dad, little Corrine and Shrek dressed as Aiden. This was at our friends wedding reception which had a renaissance theme, very fun, 75% of the crowd was in costume.

Aiden fetches and returns this little guys toy(Dawn's little guy Braiden?) and shares a little guy time.
Aiden gets to play in one of the numerous fountains at the party with Utah's accompainment, and Batman(Dylan) makes sure the water is wet as well. What an amazing evening, I am so happy all of my family were able to make it to the party and lunch('cept 4 Becky) earlier in the day, thanks everyone.

Baby Corrine

2006-10-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Little tiny Corrine was 3 weeks old the weekend we were in Colorado, just a beautiful little princess. Proud Utah(uncle todd) holding Corrine for the 1st time.
At the party I held the sleeping bundle for nearly half an hour, it was the longest I have ever held a baby without it screaming.

Taylor Anne

2006-10-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

Little Taylor, all smiles and so patient to deal with the turbo of her brother Dylan. Look at all of the hair, she was born with loads of hair and it just keeps growing. Beautiful!

A perfect pocket, her tucked in shirt to hold all of the green tomatoes she picked.
I wonder what this tastes like?
One last smile to leave with.

Dylan Scott!

2006-10-21T07:29:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we were in Colorado for friends wedding and were able to visit the nieces and nephews with the down time.

Here's Dylan, the wild man. He is soo full of life/ energy you can't help but smile with all of his "trickery". He had several new tricks to show us and was happy to entertain as long as anyone would watch.

Here he just chased down Aunty Emmy and Taylor on his trike with the worn out tires. That man has riden that trike a million miles and back.
"watch this trick"
Tying a trap for Uncle Todd.Superman coming at ya.
"Batman" and his father made an appearance at the party Saturday night. I love that he can be in costume whenever he feels the need. Unfortunately, I would have never been allowed to dress like this at Dylan's age, let alone have a cool batman cape and mask like his.

MD Arrival

2006-10-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

First breakfast way back on July 6th, '06. We arrived on the 5th and spent a few days trying to unpack and get settled before the work started.

Our first two or three nights were spent on an air mattress, supprisingly comfy, thanks Linda.
The view from our bedroom windows.
Our four legged friends/ neighbors, just outside the living room window.
Looking back at the main house and boats/ dock from the kayaks.

Horsin' Around

2006-10-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

The tractor barn is framed and actually has all of the joists up and soon will be ready to use. 3 stalls for 'stuff' and one for hay/ storage.
Walking out with the crazy mutt to bring the horses in after their romp in the paddocks.

Mollie is camouflaged out in the cornfield.

Some corn art from E's collection.
Taking off the fly sheets and bringing in the large pets.
Just the three of us and my new crocs.Horse face!

Time for the grain, oh they like their grain.
Mushrooms were the subject of our afternoon bike ride, hence more art work from e's collection.

Good times on vacation.

2006-10-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

We were lucky enough to spend two weeks in Breckenridge, CO this past June with Oma and Pappa and Joe and Sarah and Willy and Maggie. We had two condos just a couple blocks off of mainstreet, which is a great mainstreet, shops and stores and lots of good restaurants and places to wet your whistle. We had a pool in the condo complex and beautiful vistas just outside our doors.

Utah and Maggie reaching for the 'goods'.Aiden is keeping Uncle Kevin entertained.
Aiden is showing us his dad's office, it looked real nice, but dad is moving to a new office soon.
The park in the center of Breck, another sunny day.
Taylor and Maggie sharing some good times.

Chillin' in Chi'town.

2006-09-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

Here's the infamous "Bumble Bee" tent that I spoke of earlier.
Willy is mixing up some brownies, umm good.

Mollie is in the Chicago jail.

Carmie is the reason Mollie is in lock-down, but after the first day all of the dogs worked things out and we had a big doggie party with everyone.(Mollie still had to be the boss)
Loading up to head to NY on our way for our move to MD.
Happy dog!

Pool Party (Breck)

2006-09-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Willy's going for big air.Maggie and Auntie Emmy swimming with fishys.

Oma and Willy.
Tube time.

So very serious, must be a cookie over there.
Family Portarait

Utah is getting ready to make the plunge.
Sarah and Papa making splashes.
"Just a little soap and everything will be fine."

Maggie, all smiles, all the time.

2006-09-23T18:13:00.000-07:00

Goodmorning Chicago! When I awoke, I couldn't find any of the little ones, or Emily or Sarah for that matter. Well, they were having a tent party in the backyard. All four of them were in the "bumble bee" tent having coffee and sippy's.

Maggie climbs the ladder.Almost there.

Utah babbysitting Mags after she awoke from her nap before anyone else. We had some quality time, just the uncle and the niece.
She really did a nice job keeping me entertained for about an hour until the rest of the party awoke.
Dinner time.
There's that smile she is famous for.
Here she is entertaining Auntie Emmy and Utah for a photo shoot on the comforter.
Still smiling.

Cuties having a picnic.

2006-09-23T17:57:00.000-07:00

Willy having a picnic with his friends Katie and Joey. Emily and I stopped in Chicago on our way from CO to NY and were able to spend a few days with the little ones, swimming and going to the zoo.Big bite!

"you want some hot-dog?"

Homecoming?

2006-09-23T05:04:00.000-07:00

Wray, Co...Emily and I stopped by my home town. We spent about an hour and saw all of the attractions. I think it has been just under 10 years since I was here and how things stay the same.
My high school, this was new when I was a sophomore. Many thought it looked like a prison, who knows?
A drive-by on the last house my mom lived in, for a matter of fact, the last house I lived in/ was in the last time I was in this town. I knew the people living in the house, the girl was in my brother's class.My parent's old real estate/ insurance office.

The restaurant/ motel my parents owned and my mom still runs.
The Cliff Theater, the place I saw Star Wars and Smokey and the Bandit, one show, one time(7:45) 4 nights a week and still open.
Peeking over the fence at the backyard fence of the house I grew up in, oh the memories, it made me a little teary eyed.

203 Filbert Street
Wray, CO 80758
303-332-5900

"The House" The upstairs left window was my room and the one on the right was Justin's. (the one a nosey neighbor lied to our parents about and said Brad and I were hanging Justin out the windowby his feet) I got a whooppin' for that one, also 'cause it was my idea. What is that? F**kin nosey neighbors!
The last words spoken to me by my father...
"I was to proud...to proud to ever admit how wrong everything is.""Help your mom understand."

Trollspotting?

2006-09-22T05:09:00.000-07:00

Jill, my sister, and Kevin her husband were nice (very nice) and flew out to NY and helped me move a load to MD and then the three of us with Mollie road tripped from NY to CO where we were vacationing for 3 weeks. We stopped by Joe and Sarah's house in Chicago on the way and spent the night. The next day we went for a walk in the woods and what do you know, we found a troll home but we didn't spot any live trolls.

Breakfast at the island.

Kevin modeling Maggie's hat.
Heading out the front door for our walk.
Little Maggie.
Utah (uncle todd) and Willy throwing rocks from the bridge.
The nude swimming hole.
Maggie, all smiles all of the time.
Uppy, uppy.
Walking home with a nude little boy. We walked about 6 blocks with Willy naked as the day he was born. One old neighbor was unable to find any humor in the situation. I feel sorry for the old lady, sour and unhappy is no way to live life.
Mollie's walking Willy or Willy's walking Mollie?
"Flower Child"
"Hello, any trolls home?"
"Mommy, mommy looky."I wish who'ever's troll tree this is could have seen the little man knocking on the door and trying to open the door. Classic childhood moment.

Happy Birthday

2006-09-21T14:16:00.000-07:00

August 11th the horses arrived for a surprise 50th birthday present. We have had two large roomates since and every morning while sleeping I hear, clip clop clip clop as they walk out to the paddocks. This is Geselle, or simply "Ellie" she is the real birthday present and Sammie is her friend. Sammie has a bad knee right now and can't do much but he has quite the personality.

Can you hear me thinking? "What have I done?"Alexa and Moggie with happiness everywhere.
Heading out to the paddocks for some grazing.
Home, home on the range.

You might be a redneck if...(tractor pull)

2006-09-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

If I have to explain, you'll never understand. Just think of your local farmer's tractor with a whole lot more horsepower. "git 'er done"

Crabbing: take 1

2006-09-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Things are starting to quiet a little here on the home front. Everyone is moved in and everything is finding it's place. So...we bought some chicken gizzards / hearts and baited the traps, 3 hrs later we had 4 nice ones and now 24 hrs later we are up to 13 daddies in the "holding" trap. Soon we will be steaming crabs, "yeah."

The man responsible for the crabs in the cage.

The prettiest girl I know.
Along for the ride/ run.
Bait, chicken gizzards and hearts, umm good.
Dinner awaits!
The crab man.
The cook.
Crab pot.

Over 3 Months

2006-09-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

Where has the time gone? I have been in MD since July 5th and this is the first post. I haven't been spending much time on the computer and lots of time outside, so the posting has stalled to a near halt. If you didn't know, we moved to MD for a new job for me, caretaking for friends who are just finishing up the construction of their 35 acre estate on the shore of a local river that leads to the Chesapeake Bay. Emily and I live above the 4 stall horse barn in our two bedroom/ two bath apartment. We have two horses as "roommates" as well as the ol' Mollie girl(our dog). Mollie is loving the freedom of not being on a leash...ever. She is living the life a dog is supposed to live, lots of room to roam and lots of things to roll in and lots of water to swim in, all without leaving the property.

Well, this last week I drove to NY and VT dropping off and picking up furniture from the other two residents. I was lucky enough to catch the 'World's Fair' in VT and I drove through lots of rain in 3 days. Here's some pictures to represent my mini trip. enjoy!

The VT Home

Looking south towards Killington Ski Resort.The Tractor Barn

The load from VT to MD
A moonshiner's toolbox!

I'm Back!

2006-05-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

Well, after much frustration and all around business I am making a post after several weeks. To start with, the computer died. We had a new hard drive installed and she's working like a dream now. And also, if you didn't know, we are moving to Maryland in just a couple weeks. So now we are in the middle of moving as well as getting ready for a road trip to Colorado. Busy, Busy, Busy.

Here's the garage just before the de-construction, what a puzzle it was to find a place for everything.

Some energy drinks for our Saturday night of live SX coverage of the Las Vegas finals. If you care RC won the title and Stewart won the race.

Finishing the cereal, isn't this the best part of a bowl of cereal?

Friday Afternoon Photo (FAP) 5/5/06

2006-05-07T07:51:00.000-07:00

Friday's Summer ritual, mowing the "back forty" it 's only about 3 acres, but it is more than plenty. I'm just glad I have one of those new zero turning radius mowers, that thing is soo fast . Nothing runs like a Deere.
(I don't know?)

Friday Afternoon Photo 4/28/06 (FAP)

2006-05-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

A little horseradish/ creamcheese dip and crackers on a (later) friday afternoon in Jamaica State Park, Jamaica, VT. The bi-annual west river release was this past weekend and what a great time it was. Camping at the take-out with old friends and meeting new friends.

1:30am wake up call!

2006-04-26T06:49:00.000-07:00

So sweet and innocent?

What the hell is Mollie thinking? She wakes me up at 1:30am by ringing the "bell" on her door.
So I let her out and head to the bathroom myself. I come back downstairs and open the door to let her in and she is not waiting at the door. This is not a good sign. I call and she slithers around the bushes and hesitantly comes inside. Of course, within 2 mins she is ringing the bell again. Now is when my patience is tested. I get up and let her out again and quietly tell her to GO TO THE POTTY! I wait ten minutes and open the door to find her moon bathing, looking over her shoulder at me like I'm raining on her parade. "It's late Mollie, this is not the time to hang out" I think to myself. I make her come in and she acts like she has been eating straight sugar. She runs upstairs, gets in her toys and pulls a bone out and drops it on the hard wood floor. "Nice Mollie," how does Emily sleep through these times? So then she runs back down stairs after I have climbed back into bed and rings the damn bell again. Unbelievable! So I get up for the 4th time now and let her outside. I set the alarm clock for 45 mins, which is now 2:50 am. I wake to the alarm at nearly 3am and open the door to find the dog looking over her shoulder at me like..."I'm fine, why are you bothering me?" I tell her to get inside and make her get on her bed and "go to sleep" hoping she will not get up again.

Thankfully she stayed in bed until 8:30 when I got up. She once again bolted towards the door and has been outside for the last couple hours.

The strange part about this is, normally Mollie doesn't get out of bed until after 10am, especially when she has had a walk, and yesterday she had a walk and a swim.

This is what makes me nervous to have children. Emily doesn't even hear these 'sessions' and rarely wakes up when Mollie starts ringing the bell. My sleep is to valuable Mollie!

Notice how close her bed is to our bed, if she rolls over I hear her.

You might be a redneck if...

2006-04-24T10:53:00.000-07:00

There has been an ongoing feud between my bosses next-door neighbor and the restuarant. The neighbor is mad because the parking lot lights shine on his house and the kitchen exhaust fans are too loud. He's probably right, but what do you do? He inherited the house and the restuarant is second generation.

So this is the latest chapter...several months ago a light pole in the restaurant parking lot is leaning to one side. It looks kinda scary, so the "powers that be" stopped by and put a couple ropes on the pole and nearby trees for what appears to me to be an insurance policy so the pole does not fall in the parking lot or on the neighbors house. The neighbor likes to make "signs" so I'll just let the photos speak for themself. Enjoy?

Here's a shot of the restaurant's spring bulbs blooming and the notorious sign in the background.

Here you can see the leaning pole and the signs in the background, hanging precariously from the fence.

You might be a redneck if...

...if you made either of these signs.

A picture is worth a thousand words? (Redneck/psycho is there such a thing?)

Friday Afternoon Photo 4/14/06 (FAP)

2006-04-24T08:47:00.000-07:00

Our long weekend in Chicago, we had a great time and can't wait to see everyone in June.

Willy & U-tah (Aiden's shortened version of Uncle Todd)

Maggie & U-tah.

Spring Fever

2006-04-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

The first bloom I have seen this spring.

Mollie acting as a track worker.

Someone, I assume some young 'uns, added a jump to the track. So what did we do? Rode it baby, we caught some air, and tried to crash.

The world seen through my beautiful wife's viewfinder.

2006-04-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

"My Favorite"

"Peter Cotton-tail"

2006-04-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

"Here comes Peter Cotton-tail,
hopping down the bunny trail,
hippity hoppety Easter's on it's way... Happy Easter everyone, "woof woof, thank you Easter Bunny," Love Mollie

Friday Afternoon Photo 4/7/06 (FAP)

2006-04-07T16:24:00.000-07:00

I visited Emily's class today and saw the new baby chicks that the class hatched.

"Tastes like chicken"

You might be a redneck if...

2006-04-06T13:02:00.000-07:00

You might be a redneck if...

...if your pickup has a confederate flag for a tailgate.

...if there's a snowman on your car, you know, the car parked in your driveway without license plates.

We have been wanting to start a blog of redneck sightings, but we never have the camera when we see things like a mailbox being held up by two crutches and LOTS of tape. So, I am going to make some redneck post here for the time being and if we find more maybe we'll start a seperate blog. Until then, enjoy.(?)

Friday Afternoon Photo 3/31/06 (FAP)

2006-04-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a new thought, every Friday I'm going to try to take a picture of me doing whatever it is i may be doing. This week I was doing floors and washing a car for a caretaking job I have. I can't find the picture right now but I promise, it will be here shortly.

Well, here's the excitement...

Friday the 13th, 2006

2006-01-14T02:28:00.000-08:00

Take Off

If you throw the rocks "just-right," you can get her to do almost anything.

Trophy Rock

This has to be the largest rock she has ever "saved" from drowning.

"Looking downstream"

My Baby

She didn't feel well today and missed school, hope she feels better tomorrow.

Yours Truly

Thursday, January 5, 06

2006-01-05T17:14:00.000-08:00

"Lebanon Road"

"Bear Tracks"

Looking downstream.

Trash flows downstream.

Busy beavers.

Chilly day, part 3

2005-12-19T14:11:00.000-08:00

Winter on the creek.

Bear?

Get that rock!

Chilly Day, cont.

2005-12-19T14:04:00.000-08:00

Look at those floppy ears.

Papa and Mollie.

Cold weather, no problem!

The water is great, come on in.

Another chilly day walking the furry friend.

2005-12-19T13:55:00.000-08:00

Mollie and Papa

Mollie's photo (she knocked the tri-pod/camera over while on timer)

The author

Artsy looking to the distance photo.

2005-01-29T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Mollster to wrap it up.

2005-01-29T16:36:00.000-08:00

I enjoy this one with the reflection and the shadow of ice forming on the river right bank.

2005-01-29T16:33:00.000-08:00

I think the temp. was -2F.

2005-01-29T16:32:00.000-08:00

Looking upstream.

2005-01-29T16:29:00.000-08:00

Heading to the creek.

2005-01-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

Largest known tongue in Rott history.

2005-01-24T19:47:00.000-08:00

The calm before the storm.

2005-01-24T19:46:00.000-08:00

"Super Freak"

2005-01-24T19:45:00.000-08:00

summer '04

2005-01-24T19:44:00.000-08:00

trail to the enchanted forest

2005-01-24T16:00:00.000-08:00

This is Mollie.