Friday, July 31, 2009

OK. Is it Just Me?????
Or are Paintings of a nude Obama and Unicorns just weird?



Whew. This Messiah Thing just gets weirder everyday.

Darn good likeness of his wife here, but damn, that looks gay as hell.

I'm not sure what Hugh Laurie is doing in this one.
But, Stalin? That makes perfect sense.





I'm also not so sure WTF is happening inside the head of Dan Lacey, but YerUnk has to wonder if there's not a big ball of snakes in there maybe?


Another Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Evening-

Here's, Gentleman Jim Corbett. A stud who went 21 rounds with John L. Sullivan. Knocking his ass out to win the World Boxing Championship in 1892.

21 rounds. Think about that.

After all that Gay Ass Obama and Unicorn shit I figured we needed some testosterone to regain the balance here.
Reunion Tomorrow ......

At Surly's House
Surly is My Crazy Nephew who is solely responsible for my starting this blog and naming it.
So blame him.

He's also the Son of my brother, Shop Teacher Bob ,AKA Chief. The guy who can build anything.

Looks like all but 1 of the brothers will be there. Should be various and sundry Cousins, Aunts and Uncles also. The weather looks good and hopefully a good time will be had by all.

I'll be hopping on TheBigBluePlasticMotorcycle early in the morning for the 200+ mile ride up there.
I'll take my rain gear just in case. It's always good to have a raincoat with you.




The Wife is not gonna be going as was planned. The Dog, Cat, Bird, Chicken and Guinea Hen sitter we had lined up to take care of things crapped out at the last minute today and unless someone else comes through at the last minute she's gonna be home keeping things in line.
Bummer.

All 3 of the GrumpyUnk Kids will be going and that's nice.

So I'll be back Monday. Enjoy your weekend.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Evening-

It's Not What You Think ......

No, it's not necessary to call, Child Protective Services. The Wife had this carrier out after transporting the Cat to the Vets office yesterday.



The Little One here (Child of family friend) crawled in there with her stuffed toy and book and was playing all Happy Kid like when the Wife took this picture. Kids are hilarious.

Of course, being a kid, 30 minutes later she was whining about something and I couldn't help but tell her - "Quiet down and go get in your cage".

The wife hit me. Imagine that.
Eat Your Heart Out, Nadia Komenichi......

Or any of the Olympic Gymnasts of the last 40 years.

Check out The Ross Sisters. They not only bend like a Gumby doll, they sing and dance in 3 part harmony. Incredible. -


H/T - Roger

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Morning-
A PSA for the younger ones.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Something to Think About .......
As the Health Care System is being Shanghaied by the Gangsters from ChiTown.

Once upon a time the government had a vast scrap yard in the middle of a desert. Congress said, "someone may steal from it at night.." So they created a night watchman position and hired a person for the job..

Then Congress said, "How does the watchman do his job without
instruction?" So they created a planning department and hired two
people, one person to write the instructions, and one person to do time
studies.

Then Congress said, "How will we know the night watchman is doing
The tasks correctly?" So they created a Quality Control department and
hired two people. One to do the studies and one to write the reports.

Then Congress said, "How are these people going to get paid?" So
They created the following positions, a time keeper, and a payroll officer,
Then hired two people.

Then Congress said, "Who will be accountable for all of these
people?" So they created an administrative section and hired three people, an Administrative Officer, Assistant Administrative Officer, and a Legal Secretary.

Then Congress said, "We have had this command in operation for one
Year and we are $18,000 over budget, we must cutback overall cost."

So they laid off the night watchman.

NOW slowly.

Let it sink in.

Quietly, we go like sheep to slaughter.

Does anybody remember the reason given for the establishment of the
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY .... During the Carter Administration?

Anybody?

Anything?

No?

Didn't think so!

Bottom line. We've spent several hundred billion dollars in support of An agency ... the reason for which not one person who reads this can remember!

Ready?? It was very simple ... and, at the time, everybody thought it
Very appropriate.

The Department of Energy was instituted on 8-04-1977. TO LESSEN OUR
DEPENDENCE ON FOREIGN OIL.

Hey, pretty efficient, huh???

AND, NOW, IT'S 2009 -- 32 YEARS LATER -- AND THE BUDGET FOR THIS
"NECESSARY" DEPARTMENT IS AT $24.2 BILLION A YEAR.
THEY HAVE 16,000 FEDERAL EMPLOYEES AND APPROXIMATELY 100,000 CONTRACT
EMPLOYEES; AND, LOOK AT THE JOB THEY HAVE DONE!
THIS IS WHERE YOU SLAP YOUR FOREHEAD AND SAY, "WHAT WAS I THINKING?"

Ah, yes -- good ole bureaucracy.

And, NOW, we are going to turn the banking system, HEALTH CARE and the auto
industry over to the same Government?

Shamelessly stolen from Denny at Grouchy Old Cripple

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Evening-
An Audio for you instead.

This will give you an idea of the type of people EMS and ER workers deal with on a regular basis.
Listen to this 911 call and ask yourself if you think this guys attitude got any better when EMS arrived.

Not Safe For Work. Language Alert!




Once Again .....
Roseanne Barr pulls The Crazy out of her ass

"Her most-recent tailspin into the gutter involved a photo shoot with Heeb magazine wherein she is seen wearing an Adolf Hitler mustache and swastika as she takes burnt gingerbread "Jew Cookies" out of an oven"




As My Old Man used to say, "Crazy as a Shithouse Rat."

Gotta hand it to her. She doesn't seem to give a shit what folks think of her.

Never heard of Heeb magazine before, but it's pretty obvious that they don't give a shit either.

I wonder which one the President is gonna call stupid first, her or, Heeb magazine?

Hell, maybe he'll invite her to the White House for a beer?
Oh wait. Scratch that. Judging from some of his foreign policy initiatives, He doesn't seem to concerned about getting along with Israeli Jews anyway.

Damn. He could have shared an "Obama Brand Beer" with her.


Ted Kennedy to Receive ......
the Presidential Medal of Freedom

The Lovely and Talented, QueenBuffness saw this on the news a bit ago and Commented, "They're only giving it to him because he's dying".

To which I responded, "If that's all it took, He should've received it 30 friggin' years ago".

It'll be wall to wall news and coverage when that old bastard finally kicks off.

But some things are worth it.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday-

Monday, July 27, 2009

Monday, Monday .......
Starting a new week this morning on our long march to the grave.

Sorry for not much posting this last week, but I had a ton of shit to get caught up on. Just ran out of time and energy.

Still looking at the grass from the green side and that's a big plus. With all the rain we had I've got a date with the lawn mower later today, too. I've given up on some of that crap for this year and now have a friggen' jungle out back of the barn. There's still standing water in a few places and the grass/weeds are knee high or greater.

I'm definitely gonna have to get a tractor with a bush hog or some good fence and some livestock to keep that shit down. Either option takes cash and that's in short supply right now so neither looks like it's real likely to happen unless the Cash Fairy shows up and shits a pile of money out on the front steps.

That's ok. Things could be worse. Things have been worse. I still have a job and that's better than a lot of folks these days.

Hell, I could be forced to listen to this everyday-


Jeebus H. on a crutch! That broad votes, too.

We. Are. Doomed.
But I do want a "Vegetable Tree".

The weekend in the ER was pretty uneventful which is always nice. I don't think one patient even swore at me.

I need to go do some work.

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday-
Retro Health Care. Coming your way with, Obamacare.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

So, Unk, Where Did You Ride to Last Week????

Glad you asked. With the web connection taking a shit on me the day after I got back I didn't get a chance to give ya any kind of ride report.

I was headed to a little town NE of Pittsburgh, Pa so I started out following the Ohio river on hwy 52. Nice road. Very scenic and relaxing. One surprise I got is when I came across this-





Nice little park and grounds.

Here's the house-









Interesting note on the house. After Grant died, they put the house on a train and did a traveling exhibit out of it. They finally moved it back to the original foundation sometime around 1954 or so. I forget the exact date.
What caught my eye was the bridge on the hwy. Cannons and statues. Pretty cool.
Did I take a picture? Oh hell no. Friggin' Moron that I am.

Crossed over into, West By God Virginia, Friday morning and rode South East. Realized I was close to the New River Gorge so I took a little side trip South.


This is a must go back to place. The Bridge alone is worth seeing-


876 feet up from the river.
As you can tell, I didn't take this picture, It's from the Wikipedia page.

Beautiful country around and I really want to go spend a few days there riding the bike and maybe riding some rapids.

I spent an hour or so checking things out and headed back North and took a 2 lane road Northeast across WV and through the Western end of Maryland into Pennsylvania.

What a great ride. Made for a long day as my average speed had to be about 35-40 is all with all the ups, downs, twists and turns.

I ended up stopping about 80 miles short of where I wanted to go after 400+ miles and 14+ hours. My ass was killing me. If I'd have realized just how close I was, I probably would have just pushed on and saved the Motel cost.

Maybe. Did I mention my ass was killing me?

I'm really not in riding shape and it showed.

Went to the Wife's Family Get Together Saturday the 11th and headed out to my brother's place in Northwest Ohio Sunday. Maybe 150 miles. Took the Turnpike and made short work of the ride.

Spent Mon-Wed there.
Great visit there.

I don't see my Brothers to often and it was nice to spend a few days shooting the shit with him.
We also shot a bunch of his weapons. He belongs to the nicest shooting club I've ever seen. I was there a couple of years ago and it surprised me all over again this time.

We burned a lot of ammo and spent about 8 hours blowing holes in paper targets.

He took me to the Warther Museum last Wednesday.

I can't even begin to describe what this guy was able to do with a carving knife, some wood and some ivory.

Here's a couple of pics, but they don't do it justice.













It's impossible to capture the detail on these carvings in a picture.

All the wheels and drive linkage works. No glue. It's all press fit and even the valves on the air hoses turn.

That 2nd train there is about 4-5 feet long. It only took him 9 1/2 months to make it. Start to finish.

That's friggin' impossible. Not human. The guy had to be a space alien.
This is maybe the coolest museum I've ever seen.

Thursday, I headed out and took the scenic route across central Ohio through Amish country. Great ride. Bought some overpriced Amish cheese and whatnot to lunch on on the way.

Great ride and a great week.

So that's the short version of the ride.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday Evening-
New River Gorge.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Back Online .....
The Interwebs connection took a shit last Friday afternoon. Satellite stuff is kinda touchy it seems.

The repair kid got it dialed back in this morning. Took him about 2 minutes is all.

So all is well and commo is back up with the outside world. I'm a week behind on news and whatnot from the trip still, but I've got a zillion chores I'm behind on too. So no getting lost wasting time on the webz right now.

Off to the lumber yard.

See ya later.

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday-
YerUnk throwing some lead downrange last week. We shot the shit out of my brothers weapons and had a big time.
First time I've shot an AK since my Army days. Fun weapon.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Back Home Again in Indiana ......

Greetings, Loyal Minions.
Made it back in last night safe and sound.

Had a close call with some asshole truck driver just a few miles from the Brothers house on the way out of town yesterday, but other than that it was a pretty good ride.

All told, about a 1200 mile loop of Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio, West by God Virginia, Western Pennsylvania and back across Ohio.
Mainly 2 lane roads and as motorcycle oriented as possible.
Pretty easy to find nice riding in all the hills and valleys in those places.

I'll post a few pictures later on and add some detail. I've got a bunch of work to do here and a date with the lawn mower if it doesn't rain.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Morning-
New River Gorge, West Virginia.



Thursday, July 09, 2009

See Ya, Kids ......

I'm off to see the Wizard. Looks like rain.
That's pretty much always the case whenever I take any kind of roadtrip.

Oh well. I have rain gear.

See y'all in about a week. As John Wayne says -"God willin' and the creek don't rise."

Gratuitous Picture for a Roadtrip-
TheBigBluePlasticMotorcycle at Car Henge.

Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Quick Tuesday .....

Long day today. Got my butt up earlier than I would have wanted and being me, while standing in the garage having that morning smoke and coffee got the great idea to, Hold your breath- Wash TheBigBluePlasticMotorcycle!

Scary indeed. It's been almost 2 years since I last did a real scrub job on the poor thing. Thank goodness it only has 2 pieces of chrome on it.

It took 2-3 hours to just knock the big shit off it. What I did would not even qualify as a, Detail Job. I've been feeling guilty about the looks of the old girl lately and as I'm planning a short trip this week, I figured I should at least knock the big pieces off and improve the mileage some. I keep her maintained well, but cleaning? Not so much.

Regarding that trip. Heading to Pennsylvania for a gathering of the Wife's kin Saturday. Thinking of leaving Thursday and following the Ohio River to West byGod Virginia and angling up from there. Not sure yet, but that's my favorite part of going places. Just following your nose and circumstances.

Hell, I turned a 120 mile round trip into damn near 350 miles today and never left Indiana.

Scenic route. And thankfully, Indiana is scenic.

Plan on shooting over to my Brothers place in Ohio after the Pennsylvania thing and spending some time there and then making a big loop of Ohio home.

That's the plan anyway. We'll see. I'd like to stop in Kidron, Ohio again and check out Lehmans again. Last time I was out that way I was rushed for time and didn't do much more than stop and have a cup of coffee.

Oh, before I forget. As I was heading home tonight I ran across a guy riding a '51 Harley that looked like he just found it under a haystack. Jeez, it was totally original. Rusty as hell and ragged all over.

Beautiful.

I was hauling ass to get home as my 3 hour ride had stretched to 7 hours already and I was hungry. This Dude was cruising along on that old thing at a steady 65-70 mph as smooth as you could ask for.
Sounded sweet as a peach. Made my day.

I am really not in, "Riding Shape". My ass was sore and my back is gonna hurt tomorrow. There really is something to conditioning yourself for riding and I ain't in it so far this year.

I really haven't been putting many miles on the Bike at all. Weather mostly, but a lot of it is just my lazy ass. I'm becoming a wimp about rain and such.

The cure for that is riding more and I guess I should just do it. Hell, when I ride sensibly, I get 45+ mpg. So there's really not much excuse is there?

OK, my ass is tired.

Gratuitous Picture for a Tuesday-
Since all this Motorcycle talk we need Cheesecake and a Genuine Bad Ass. So, here ya go.




Jim Redmon. One of the greats and one of my favorites.





Monday, July 06, 2009

Get Smart Monday.....

No, not Agent 86.





This is like learning something. Maybe new for you.

Maybe knot.

I was never all that good with knots. I'm still Knot great.

Ok that was weak, but it was there and I went with it.

Anyway, here's something I found the other day that is really useful.

7 Basic Knots Every Man Should Know


For a lotta years, my favorite knot was, the "Gopher Knot".

Which is the one where you need to "Go Fer" yer pocketknife in order to get it undone.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one who specialized in that knot.

I'm better now but not great. I cut myself a short piece of rope and have been practicing the ones that I'm weak on and it doesn't take much time to get a grip one these.

Very useful stuff to know. Try it.

Gratuitous Picture for a Monday Night-
May as well know how to prepare it.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Independence Day .....
I'll be working like every weekend. I hope you all enjoy your Holiday.

The weather
here looks like rain. As far as I'm concerned, that's ok. Hopefully that'll subdue some of the drunk and stupid from needing to be in my ER.


Here's something to read this morning. Take a few and ponder on just what these words mean.

Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident:

That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed; that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and, when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining, in the mean time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without and convulsions within.

He has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.

He has obstructed the administration of justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the military independent of, and superior to, the civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution and unacknowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:

For quartering large bodies of armed troops among us;

For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states;

For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world;

For imposing taxes on us without our consent;

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by jury;

For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pretended offenses;

For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these colonies;

For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments;

For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.

He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and conditions.

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity; and we have conjured them, by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations which would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too, have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends.

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of America, in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these colonies solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown and that all political connection between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved; and that, as free and independent states, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent states may of right do. And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.

[Signed by] JOHN HANCOCK [President]

Friday, July 03, 2009

Some Days Are Strange ........
You get up with a plan to do certain things and the whole day drives you in a different direction.

That direction can be good or bad. Today? Pretty good.

Good Queen Buffness hauled ass early this morning to go see her Sister for the Holiday. That left me with the Dogs to mess around here all day.

Needing feed for the Chickens, I headed off to town. On the way I spied an old Ford 9N Tractor for sale just down the rode a ways. I don't really have the cash for a Tractor right now, but I do have the need for one.

The big lawn machine I bought several years ago is just that. A lawn machine. It's a beast when it comes to cutting that stuff. The big problem is that I have a lot more rough stuff than lawn.
I'm beating the hell out it. A small tractor with a Bush Hog would be better for a lot of what I've got here. So I stopped. Looked pretty good. I felt the motor and it was cold, so when the owner cranked her up and it started on about the second turn I was impressed. He went on about all the stuff he'd done on it and it conformed with what I'd already eyeballed. I told him I was only kicking tires as I didn't have any cash and we drifted off to other subjects.

One of which was chickens. Seems he'd bought a bunch of pullets and wanted to get rid of some. Three bucks a pop. I told him I'd be back.

I went by the bank and got a few bucks cash while I was doing my needed work in town.

Now, I'd forgotten that the other day, the air conditioner guy had offered me a trellis setup that he had taken down recently. Driving by his place I spotted it and remembered that. Shit. I already had a bunch of shit in the the back of The Little Blue Truck and didn't have room for all of the Trellis.

Went home and unloaded all of the Chicken feed, dog food, etc and made another trip to town. The owner had taken all the pieces apart during the time I'd been going home.

Cool.

I loaded up all the, already marked pieces and drove back toward home.
Stopped and bought 4, Barred Rock Pullets from the Tractor owner & put them in the cage I'd already thrown in the back and continued toward home.

This Trellis had been used to hang up those upside down Tomato buckets last year. It'll be perfect for a Grape Arbor. The guy was nice enough to mark all the pieces so even a Dumbass like me can get it all back together again. More cool.

On the way home from town - the first time- I saw a garage sale that looked good, so I stopped on the way home from the 2nd trip. (With the Chickens in the back of the truck)
Got a 4 way lug wrench, 100 foot of heavy nylon 5/8" rope, a nice Brooder lamp and a cool old, Black Dial Type Telephone for a total of $3 Bucks.

The lug wrench or the rope was worth that alone. Good score.

So far so good, right?

There's a big field across the road from me. 60-80 acres. They started taking the Wheat out yesterday evening, getting about a quarter of it.

The Boy was running the Combine and his Dad came in with the Baler to bale the straw around 2-3 this afternoon. He only made a short pass and stopped. I caught him as he headed back to his truck and asked him about the price of Straw in the field.
We talked for a few minutes and when he realized that I wanted the straw for garden mulch and Chicken bedding, he told me that they have a shitlaod of straw that they can't sell that I can have for free. As in, take all you want.

It shames me to say that I've been out here at this place for close to 10 years and have never met these guys. They live less than a quarter mile away. I've met several of the family members, but not this guy or his son.

My bad in a big way.
I'm gonna have to have, Good Queen Buffness make them some cookies or a pie or something when I do take him up on his very kind offer.

I'm a friendly guy, but I don't go out of my way to introduce myself to strangers. I wave whenever anyone goes by and I will stop and help anyone who looks like they need it, but I just never have gone to the trouble of reaching out to the people who live close around me.

That's a serious shortcoming on my part that needs to be addressed.

Not at all like I planned, but the day turned out good. And I learned about a problem that I need to correct, too. That's ok.
It's an area that I need to work on.

OK. Enough for today.

Gratuitous Picture for a Friday Evening-
Remember yesterday when I mentioned the "Tomatoes that ate my HoopHouse? Here's what I mean.









As a comparison. Here's a picture from a few Weeks ago -






Thursday, July 02, 2009

Thursday Evening .......

Nothing to exciting going on at "The GrumpyUnk Command and Control Bunker" today.

I sloughed off a lot of things I should have been doing today. My ass was aching from all the shoveling and what not yesterday.

I hate to admit that I just don't have the energy levels I used to have a few years ago and damn if my joints just kick the hell out of me sometimes.

But that's the way it is and I guess I better get used to it. The Arthritis and Lupus makes them old joints ache when you over do it.
Over do it has become a relative thing though.

Pisses me off sometimes, but doing what I do for a living helps focus me on the fact that it can always be worse and my little problems ain't nothing to bitch about.

Here's what I have been doing -
Have been eating the shit out of fresh Peas the last few weeks. I yanked all of the remaining plants and froze some and dried these.



Amazing how big a pile of Peas dry down to just those 3 jars.

My wife makes an ass kick, Pea soup and that's a lot of soup in those jars.

I look at those little shriveled up things and think "My gonads probably look like that."

Anyway, The 3 beds that held the Peas were cleaned and planted with Beans last Friday. Look like this this evening.




Not bad. The weather has been good for them. I've got 4 different types of beans going now.

Those are regular bush beans there.

I've got Pole Beans, Black Turtle Soup Beans and Cranberry Beans going too.

Yeah, I like beans.

And Watermelon.



This is a, Moon and Stars Melon. It's coming along nicely.
My melons are a friggin mess. I just sorta stuffed them all into one small area and now they are falling all over themselves and making a big tangled mess.
It's a good mess because it looks like I'll have melons out the Wahzoo and that's good.




There's 4 different types of Melons in that mess there.

See, you forget just how much room these things need when you take 3-4 years off.

It'll be ok though. What's so wonderful is, even a bad year is better than not growing anything.

That small bed of Beans along the fence are the, Black Turtle Beans. Not a lot, but I've never raised them before and this is a trial year.

The Pear tree is looking good. It's amazing that it's alive at all, considering that I damn near burnt it to the ground when a small, cleanup fire got out of hand a couple of years ago.

I thinned about half of the fruit out of it a week ago. It was already bending the hell out of the limbs. I added a couple of props and ropes to support things and it looks ok for now.

Overall, things look good. The single Cuke Plant is pumping Cukes out at an amazing pace. The, "Tomatoes that Ate My HoopHouse" are just going crazy. I should have trimmed them up too. You can't hardly get through the damn thing now.
You can see a bit of what I'm talking about here -


Not the best picture, but the best I have today.
There's only 5 Tomatoes and 1 Cuke in that HoopHouse.

Can't even walk through it anymore.

Lesson learned for next year.

I need to start keeping a journal and a plot plan of what and where I put things. Several of the markers I made for things like Peppers are gone and I have no Idea which is which.

It's amazing I can find my way home at night.

That's it for now. Night Kids.

Gratuitous Picture for a Thursday Night-



Don't be the guy at the end of that line up.


Wednesday, July 01, 2009

This is What Happens .....

When you spend all day moving dirt and don't want to carry it into the house with you.






From the rolled up cuffs of my overalls.

Gratuitous Picture for a Wednesday Night-

Surprise!