Too Quiet

I really got accustomed to sounds in the house. I do not mean the sound of the tv. I mean the sound of kids. Stephanie left this morning to return to Portland and took the sounds of kids working on their masterpieces of Legos and Beads.
Yesterday, Stephanie and Amy went letterboxing for the second straight day. Amy had most of the local boxes. Stephanie had only a few local boxes. Stephanie needed about twenty boxes to get to one hundred and Amy needed but three. They developed this scheme to let Stephanie catch up to Amy and both reach one hundred at the same time on the same box.
Stephanie called me when they were each at ninety eight. Both needed the two boxes they were headed to get. They were going to get one in the library and then another one that was outside. What they did not plan for was a bonus box in the library. So, when they opened that box, they were anti-climatically at one hundred and restrained from any celebration. They quietly took some pictures to record the moment.
If you know either one of these two, you know they do not restrain their emotion very well. I bet it almost killed them.
Congratulations to both of you two.
Kayak Bandit

Time

Where has the time gone?
It seems that Stephanie and the grandkids just arrived. We have had lots of fun, but tomorrow they plan to leave.
Stephanie has found a letterboxing fanatic like herself. Balladone Bunch (Stephanie) and American Boxer (Amy) hit it off from the first introduction to each other. Yesterday, after Amy got off work, Steph picked her up and they got about one dozen boxes for Stephanie. Amy had already gotten all of these for herself.
This morning I heard from both of them how much fun they had. They talked with so much animation about snakes, cows, people in the dark and more. Maybe I can get them to slow down long enough to write about it.
It is about noon and they are off letterboxing right now. They have a project that you will hear about real soon. I am watching the kids that prefer not to letterbox 24/7. We are having nearly as much fun here. Soon, I will fire up the old steam powered, steam roller.
Talk at ya later!
Kayak Bandit

Coolest House II

Stephanie reminded me that Nick was very much impressed with the swing in the basement. You see, a few years ago, I put a couple eye hooks in the ceiling. I can hang a swing from the eye hooks. He also likes getting on top of the defunct freezer while he waits his turn on the swing. He accesses the freezer from the steps to the basement.
But I am sure what he likes the best is the vast selection of soda pop. With today being a party, he got his fill. Stephanie counted at least five sodas. The usual limit is one soda per day while on vacation. Normally, no soda at all. I hope his little brain does not explode from sugar overload.
Kayak Bandit

Coolest House

My grandson gave me the biggest compliment possible. He said I had a very cool house. When queried, he pointed out that I have the coolest table in the world. It is a coffee table that the top lifts up and toward the couch while maintaining level. It is where I eat most of my meals when alone. Today Steph had the kids sit at the dining table and her & I sat at the coffee table.
Nick also mentioned the old tractor that runs on steam. He wants it down so very bad, but I will only get it down when I have time to supervise the solid alcohol fuel fire required to make it run.
He also like the room with the bunk beds near enough the queen bed and beside the queen bed is a single mattress on the floor. He enjoys jumping from one to the other. Both his mom and I are too tired to resist this antic.
He was saying how cool my house is when he was sitting on a rocking love seat. This was really amazing to him. When we pointed out that not only did the love seat rock, but each half is also a recliner. Boy, that dialed his amazement meter higher again. I let him play with that for a while and then I got his attention and pulled the back down to create a small table with cup holders in the middle of the big couch. I thought his eyes would bug out. We told him the couches were transformer couches.
Now, we had his full attention. We still had another surprise, though. I released the recliner on the end of the big couch and reared back. Yep, transformer couches. All the better to watch Harry Potter!
Kayak Bandit

Horseauger's Bridge

I was told that the old bridge we all knew as Horseauger's Bridge is no longer spanning the River. I guess it finally needed to be replaced. Rumor has it that the bridge is now in a nearby field.
Visiting that spot will not be the same. I remember making the turn as we head toward home and stopping in the middle of the bridge. Dad would get out and walk to the edge of the bridge and lean through the framework of the bridge to gaze into the water. He had to look for fish. Sometimes he would take but a few seconds, but lots of times he would take several minutes. When he was satisfied with looking at the spot where big fish were likely to be, he would walk to the other side of the bridge and look for sucker minnows. If he spotted a big school of minnows the right size, he would have to come back and seine for them. He used the minnows for bait. Eventually we would move on toward home.
In my youngest years, the bridge had planks that ran crosswise to the traffic. These planks were held in place on the ends of the planks, but the center of the planks were not fastened. This caused the boards to make a load noise as the weight of the tires moved along over the planks. It is a sound I can hear in my head as I write about it. I cannot explain it. Well, when I was about fifteen they added a few rows of planks on top of the old ones. These planks ran the same direction as traffic. It was probably necessary, but it ruined the nostalgia of the spot.
Kayak Bandit

Sentry

I have talked about my dogs a lot. If you are tired of hearing about good dogs, turn your computer off now. If you want to hear another story of Bear, read on.
As you know, Bear went with me everywhere. He went with me to work nearly every day. I had this, used to be, Frito Lay step van. He would ride with me curled up on the floor beside me or he would jump up onto the motor cover and peer out the windshield. He had a sense of when we were almost at a destination and would be up looking out whenever we arrived someplace. The guys at the lumber store always had to pet Bear. He knew in an instant if someone belonged. I do not ever remember him barking at a co worker. He just knew.
When I would get to a job, I would leave him with the van with all the doors open. I had thousands of dollars of tools and supplies, yet I did not worry about theft. One look at Bear would send a would-be burglar away.
Well one day we were parked in front of the Postal Building in downtown Portland, Oregon. Bear was rather bored watching the van and had fallen asleep stretched out in the middle of the walkway in the back. I would come and go for tools and such and he would open one eye and go back to sleep.
As I was coming out of the Postal Building for something I noticed these two young boys walking along the street rubbing a stick on the side of each car as they came to it. They approached the van from the back end and rubbed the stick along the side of my van. They were met at the front door by Bear. He said one big Woof. That was enough for these nice young boys to fill their pants and run for their lives. Bear looked over at me, wagging his tail. All I could do was laugh as I told Bear he was a Good Dog.
I was convinced that I had the best sentry in the World.
Kayak Bandit

Makin' Hay

So here is the question. Do I make the beds for everyone, or do I let them make the beds for themselves? I tend to be lazy and want to find an excuse to not make the beds. I can legitimately claim that the bunk beds are hard to climb around on. But the real clincher is that I do not know what amount of covers each person wants.
All of the bedding is currently stacked up on one bed. You see, I stripped the beds and washed all the bedding after the last guests left. As each load of laundry was done, I just dumped it onto the largest bed. Yeah, I know, it has been several months!
Well, if I was to have enough time to make the beds, it would have been the time I took to write this blog. You folks needed to hear from me. When Steph shows up, I will tell her I ran out of time.
Kayak (Lazy) Bandit

Still Kickin'

You might like this:

A big city lawyer went duck hunting in rural Iowa. He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer's field on the other side of a fence.

As the lawyer climbed over the fence, an elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.

The litigator responded, "I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I'm retrieving it." The old farmer replied, "This is my property, and you are not coming over here." The indignant lawyer said, "I am a trial attorney and the duck is my property, if you don't let me get the duck, you will be sued." The old farmer smiled and said, "Apparently, you don't know how we settle disputes in Iowa. We settle small disagreements with the "Three Kick Rule"."

The young lawyer asked, "What is the "Three Kick Rule"?"

The old farmer replied, "Well, because the dispute occurs on my land, I get to go first. I kick you three times and then you kick me three times and so on back and forth until someone gives up."

The attorney quickly decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.

The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the attorney.

His first kick planted the toe of his heavy steel toed work boot into the lawyer's groin and dropped him to his knees.

His second kick to the midriff sent the lawyer's last meal gushing from his mouth.

The lawyer was on all four when the farmer's third kick to his rear end, sent him into a fresh cow pie.

The lawyer summoned every bit of his will and managed to get to his feet.

Wiping his face with the arm of his jacket, he smiled and said, "Okay, you old fart. Now it's my turn."

The old farmer smiled and said, "Nah, I give up. you can have the duck."

Kayak (farmer) Bandit

Tile Floor

Today, I laid the tile floor in my kitchen. It came out quite nice, if I say so myself. Here are a couple pictures.

Tomorrow, I plan to go to the lumber store and buy a special piece of oak to make stair nosing for the top step coming in from the back door.

I need to stay after it, because Stephanie is coming to visit. I hope the weather is good, because we will not have all the appliances back into the kitchen. We will do just fine. Steph and her kids adapt well.

I sure enjoyed watching the interviews by Pastor Rick Warren. Did anyone else watch them?

Catch you tomorrow,
Kayak Bandit

Seeds

Recently, I got a nice compliment about my garden. I was flattered that others thought my garden looks nice.
After a while of thinking about giving credit for a good job, I felt in awe of God. All I did, was to plant the seed, and nurture it a little.
God, on the other hand, makes it possible to expect to harvest food for ourselves by merely planting a seed. Think about that. Inside this tiny little package is all the information and energy needed to replicate the plant that it grew from.
I have enough problem explaining to someone else what my thoughts are. But inside this capsule are perfect enough instructions to tell the seed what to do and precisely when to do it. Oh, and little seed, make more for next year!
Kayak Bandit

Drinking Too Much

I am really worried about me and my drinking problem. I came home after work and went straight to the fridge for a red beer. I like my red beer half tomato juice and half beer. The problem I have is not what you might imagine. You see, I like about twelve ounces of beverage. When you open a can of beer and mix it with a can of tomato juice, you end up with twenty-four ounces of beverage.
I do not like to waste anything, so I drink more than I need to. I eventually drink at least sixteen ounces before I give up. I do not see a solution to this problem. Beer comes in just one size can. So, if I open a can, I have to drink it all or it goes to waste.
It is truly my problem, since I am the one who likes such a small amount. So, tomorrow morning I will again have to dump a partial glass of red beer down the sink.
The good news is that tomorrow is Pay Day.
Kayak Bandit

Coffee

Are you like me? When I get up in the morning, the first thing I think about is a cup of coffee. Oh, so we are alike!
It is funny how the presence of the cup of coffee is enough. Some mornings, I am agitated until I pour the cup of coffee. But, once poured, I may carry the cup to my favorite chair and set it down. Yes, I said, set it down. I purposefully, did not say take a drink.
How can this be that just possessing the cup of coffee settles my nerves. Weird!
Kayak Bandit

Flag

I could not help but feel uplifted today. I was driving back to the office. I do not like going back to the office, as a rule. But, as I approached the office, I spotted a flag waving above a nearby building. I realized the flag was not on the building, but on top of a crane beyond the building. The breeze was quite strong, making the flag wave very nicely. I was swept with a real sense of pride and patriotism.
As I continued to the office, I was thinking about how nice it is for the workers to rig the flag onto their crane. I am sure every person on the job site is inspired like I am.
Then I looked up at the top of our courthouse. I was again swept with pride, because we are in the process of upgrading the flagpole atop our courthouse.
I hope we always have the freedom we currently have. I think we will if all of us stop once in a while and consider the wonder of freedom. Let's pray for peace around the World while resolving to stand up, when necessary, to the forces that want freedom destroyed.
God Bless America,
Kayak Bandit

Dahlias

Dahlias are a lot of work. Dahlias are beautiful.
Yesterday, I spent a couple hours tying up my dahlia plants. They outgrow their ability to hold themselves up. When planting in the spring, I drive a tall rebar into the ground before I bury the tuber. I make sure the sprouts of the tuber are near the rebar. About three times during the season, I have to tie the stalks to the stake.
To see many varieties of dahlias go to American Dahlia Society website. My all time favorite dahlia is April Dawn. It is much prettier when you see it in person. Photos are never as pretty as real life.
I do caution that you must still stop and smell the roses because dahlias are not known for their good smell. If you think dahlias smell good in a bouquet, it is because the florist sprayed them with a scent or there are other flowers in the bouquet that you are smelling.
I think I will go smell the roses now.
Kayak Bandit

Bear Sliding

Bear would do anything for me and my two daughters. When we would go to the park, Stephanie and Jennifer, loved to play a few minutes on each of the structures. From our home, the closest structure was the slide. They would run ahead and crawl up the ladder and wait at the top. They would encourage their sister to climb. "One more, Jenny. You can do it."
Bear would follow to the structure and as they went up the slide ladder, he would stand on his hind legs and reach high with his front legs. It was as if he was cheering for them to make it on up. Just as one would start to slide, he would race to the end of the slide and greet them as they lit on the ground. He would escort them back to the ladder and it would start all over.
Eventually, the girls started coaxing him to climb up the ladder. I was fearful he would catch a leg as he was falling and be injured. To prevent this, I would stand behind my ninety pound pooch and make sure he did not fall. Little by little, I helped him learn to hook his front paws over the step instead of on the step. We all encouraged him. Soon he was able to make it all the way to the top, as long as I kept him corralled. After quite a while, with no mishaps, I started letting him climb the ladder without staying behind him.
The first few times that Bear made it to the top, he still had the mindset that it was his job to greet the girls as they slid. He seemed confused. One girl would slide to the bottom and the other would tell bear to go. The girl at the bottom would be coaxing him to "slide". With enough coaxing, Bear would run down the slope of the slide. Try as we might, we never taught him to slide by himself. I even tried holding him on my lap as I slid, but it did not work.
When we went to different parks, we had to assure him to climb up a different slide. The girls were good about asking if the slide ladders were safe for Bear to climb. If they were marginal, I would stay with Bear while he climbed. We sure miss Bear!
Kayak Bandit

Saw

Do you remember me talking about my freezer going bad? Well, I have a new one now and it is working just fine. So, all the stuff that Jim and Shirley stored for me until my freezer situation was resolved, needed to come back home. I took my ice chest over after lunch today. We got to talking about lots of fun stuff. I bet some of you reading this blog were talked about.
After a while, Jim suggests I look at his new Craftsman table saw. I am a sucker for new tools. I said "let's take a look". What a nice saw. It folds up into a compact package with wheels and handles like a wheelbarrow. You can wheel it wherever you want to go to use it. When you are done, you can wheel it back and lean it up against a wall. When leaned up like this, it takes up very little floor space.
You have to assemble some of the stuff when you take it out of the box. We found a nice shady spot, set up some chairs and a table, and went to making the saw ready to use. Shirley kept laughing at us men trying the hard way to assemble stuff when we could easily read the instructions. But, NO, we had to try without instructions a few times before we did it the easy way. We got it all assembled and adjusted.
Jim wheeled it back to the garage. We moved some other stuff around to make room for this saw. Only after we were all done parking the saw, did it dawn on us that we did not try it out. What were we thinking. I guess we were not thinking.
Shirley offered dinner. That sounded much better than fussing with a saw. We ate a nice meal of barbecued burgers and watermelon. Yum.
I hope you had as nice a day as I did.
Kayak Bandit

Great Buy

Today, I went to Home Depot to make use of a coupon for ten percent off my next purchase. I made a list of all the things I need to complete my kitchen.
I found all the items I needed in short order, including a new air compressor. The old air compressor gave up recently. Then, I decided to look at gas ranges. I have wanted a gas range for a long time. I like the idea that you can adjust the heat and it reacts right away. So, I go in with the idea that they would be outside my budget. There was this really nice lady named Ella, that showed me all the choices. The last choice was a close out, floor model. It's original price was over four hundred dollars, on sale for two hundred ninety seven. How could I resist. I bought it.
I did not plan to buy a stove, so I had to go home for my pickup. I am pleased with my selection. Jenny is troubled that it is a Maytag, but I am okay with it.
Hopefully, I finish my project and we all get together for a party.
Kayak Bandit

Chasing Seagulls

Digging for clams in Netarts Bay is a very fun way to spend an early morning. You see, you have to get up very early to get to the right spot before the tide has gone out. You have to be finding your way to the desired spot while the tide is still ebbing or the bay is too shallow to navigate your boat.
When Stephanie and Jennifer were young and Bear was a member of our family, we would make these early morning journeys. For me, it was fun in many ways. I could be the hero to my family by finding my way to a lesser known spot to dig monstrous Gapor Clams. Gapors are also known as Blue Necked Clams. Another fun thing was that it was okay with Kathy for her girls to get dirty. And we did, including Kathy.
But, the real highlight was the theatrics of Bear and company. Bear would run after the seagulls. The seagulls were hanging around us to find left behind pieces of clams or sand shrimp or other disturbed creatures. So, the closer the seagulls came to us looking for scraps, the more bear would chase after them. At first, I think the seagulls thought they were in peril, but as the day wore on, they realized it was just a lot of fun for Bear. The seagulls obliged by flying just a little higher than the highest that Bear could leap.
This happy time was limited to when the tide started back in. We would have to load up into our boat for the return trip. The seagulls were always sad to see their new friend leaving. Bear was sad to leave his new found playmates. The rest of us were glad that Bear's feet were bleeding no more than they were. You see, he would almost always run so much that his pads would be raw. He would rest up some through the rest of the day and night and be eager to do it all the next day.
Kayak Bandit

Oh Poop

If your dog needs to go out in the night, let him out!!!!
Last night, I went to bed a little earlier than normal. Routinely, I let Bandit outside as I head to bed. It was no different last night. I woke in the night to do some habitual things like looking out the windows for burglars and then visiting the porcelain throne. Bandit was not interested in going outside at that time, so I went back to sleep.
I suspect I made him stay inside too long by the time morning came along. You guessed it. A nice surprise for me at the back door. Yep, I stepped in it.
I am not angry. But, think about this. How does a dog do such a good job of holding himself. He does not get to schedule his poops. Nope, he has only the opportunity he is given. That is amazing to me. If I were asked to keep the schedule we give a dog, Heaven help us.
Kayak Bandit

Pictures

I should have included pictures with recent posts. Here are some of the pictures that I missed:

Picture of my rug from Sewing Rags


Picture of Bandit sleeping in a child lawn chair



Two grandsons fighting for glory