Brrrrrrrr

Yesterday I had the fire in the living room going and wore a jacket in the house all day. Not only unseasonably cold but kinda raw as well.  The day felt more like mid November than the end of May.

Some Thoughts on Rain

I was on the porch yesterday awaiting the rain.  The gust front had come through and the temperature had dropped 7 or 8 degrees.  I noticed that across the street on Monroe it was raining furiously.  I mean, torrential. While at my porch, nada.
I was struck by the vagaries of nature whereby violent weather was separated from non-weather by something like 50 feet.
Not an earth shattering observation, but one that I think is causation for more reflection.

Begining the agricultural experiment

Today I sowed into peat pots a package of tomatoes and a package of peppers. I will follow the instructions and see what develops.  Normally I can't grow dirt, or if last year is an indicator I can grow gourd vines but not gourds.
I will blog as developments indicate.

Trap Shoot

This morning Dave and I went to the monthly trap shoot at the club.  First time out of the gate and I got 18 and Dave got 17.  He tried it a couple of times more and finished with 23 out of 25 in the last round which is very good by any ones book.

Cubs on top of NL Central

Boy did I feel good today.  Got to the sports section and lo and behold there they were, Cubs all alone atop the NL Central. Now I am not so foolish as to expect that they win every game.  NO!
This year my only expectation is that they earn an honest "D" by winning only 70% of their games.  This is not, I repeat, NOT undo-able. Think of the absolute happiness that could be found in mudville.  These are the folks who haven't won the pennant since the year I was born and I am retired.
I will watch carefully and regularly this season with the absolute promise that this is the year and we don't have to "wait till next year."

Valentines, The Birthday, Easter

Here is the love of my life with her chocolate box.  We have been trading this box back and forth each year since 1974 or 1975,  No matter which this is at least a 40 year tradition.

The next event was the birthday.  I really enjoy getting her things.

She cleaned on the backyard and then

She cleaned on it some more.

Still lots to do.  I think that in May, I will muck out the pond and get the fountain going.

Easter arrived and Justin and Colleen came down to celebrate with us.

Everyone got dressed up for church and off we went.

David and Mason joined us at church.  Mason slept through the service but it did make the time pass quickly.  Mom thought that the  11:30 would be the best choice as Father would be tired.  No such luck.  Those guys really pull out all the stops for Easter.

After Mass we came home for an Easter egg hunt.

Followed by a buffet type lunch with Ham, Salami, Turkey etc.  All from the excellent deli at HyVee.

I chose to cook up a couple of slabs of ribs.

These really came out very nice.  Meaty, juicy, just right.

The dog was very, very, very interested in what I was cooking.  It took about an hour and a half but his interest did not flag.

I made him some dog food with leftover gravy and some bones on top and that seemed to do the trick.

David was also interested in the supine position after consummation of mass quantities of food.

All in all a very good day was had by all.  The weather was beautiful, High 60's and a nice breeze with abundant sunshine.

Bad BAD SONY

OK:  Here is a real frustrating situation.  When I bought my new TV just after Thanksgiving, I purchased a new DVD player from Sony.  In February the remote started acting up and finally quit early in March.  I contacted the store where I purchased it and they said I have to go to the manufacturer.  Contacted Sony.  They instructed me to ship, at my expense, the remote back to them in Laredo Texas.  I did this and they got it on 3-13-15.  I hadn't heard from them so I called today. After ~15 minutes on the phone, I got transferred to "shipping" which turns out to be in the Philippines. There I got a person who "was not fluent in English, She said that they were going to have someone in customer service call me in 24 to 48 hours.  The problem is that they don't repair the remotes but replace them with new units and the didn't have any to send out.  So I guess I am stuck with a product I really can't utilize. I am frustrated because they have my property, the remote, and there is no one that you can get on the phone that has any answers.  I realize that this is not a large $$ item. However, I will be very reticent to purchase other Sony products in the future because if I had not called to check they were just going to ignore me. I guess I have no recourse.
I did think to purchase one share of Sony stock and then attend the next shareholders meeting and make a pest of myself.

Cold Again!!!

It's Friday and it's cold again.  High today and tomorrow is supposed to be 42.  The low tonight is set at 20.  I guess winter doesn't know it's spring.
Tuesday the forecast is for the high 60's.  I think I will go to the range. I'll try for some photos.

Quick note

It's Thursday, Not too cold, not too warm about 50 and rainy. The weather boffins say 1 inch of snow on Saturday.  Bummer. It was in the 70's the other day.  OK so this is normal but.......SNOW?
I'll comment later, one way or the other.

a good day

Had a good day today. Worked on the reloading bench for the morning and then stopped by to see Sarah on the way to church.
Nice mass but father got a little wordy. About half way through I guess he lost the thread of the sermon and just rambled for a while.
Dinner was cooking while we were out.  The love of my life makes a real nice pot-roast in the slow cooker.  Today was just 1st cabin.  The meat was tender, the carrots done just right, and the potatoes smash-able. I ran off some gravy from the drippings and man it doesn't get any better than this.  I am full, happy, and might need a small post repast nap.
It is a real shame that everyone can't be as happy as me.
 

The second Best exotic marigold hotel

Took the love of my life to see the Second Best etc movie.  The title tells it all.  This was definitely a step down from the first movie.  Not terrible but no better than a C-.  I kept waiting for Maggie Smith to shuck off the mortal coil. A nice vacation in India for the cast but not worth the price of admission.  This one should be best viewed from Netflix. Had a good time with my sweetie so all in all a good day. Actually Paddington  Bear was a better flick.
Oh well you pays your money you takes your chances.

Spring?

It seems like Spring may actually arrive.  Unless it snows again.  The talking heads at the weather channel insist that the pattern that has brought us unrelenting cold for quite a while has changed.  But since there is still 12 inches of the white stuff in my yard and there are mounds 2 stories high in parking lots I wonder if Spring could actually be upon us, especially since there are 2 more weeks of winter on the calender.

March enters like a Lion

I am really glad that February is over.  I know why it is so short, it is a really crappy month.  March looks like a retread.  Cold, I mean, COLD.  Got about a foot of snow topped by eight inches of snow followed by freezing rain to cap the experience off. I am suffering from 2 (two) ailments.  (1) I have a really bad case of cabin fever.  We get out to the store and for short jaunts to get stuff, but other than that we are inside.  (2) Mom and I both have vicious nasty brutal colds.  No rest, hack, hack, blow nose, hack, take whatever we can find to ameliorate the symptoms. I swear it is never going to warm up and let us go outside.

Snow

I was just remarking the other day that we have been blessed with little snow this year.  I should a kept my mouth shut.  Got at least 4 inches of the vile stuff, and from the forecast it looks like it will stay till March.  Another cold week ahead. Oh well Spring is less than 30 days away.

Past the Ides of Feburary

OK. Entering "late February".  It is bone cracking cold outside but I have every hope that Spring will be here in about a month.
I was ruminating on the cold that has afflicted the eastern 1/2 of the country and wondered how the vacationer who went to the south to escape the cold is feeling?  Coldernell even in South Florida.  The maps indicate that the cold is reaching down into the Caribbean. Here is the scenario. " OK Flo, here we are on the Isle of vacations.  Have you got my sweater?"
Valentine's day is over lets stock up for St Patrick's.

Valentines 2015

OK I know it's been a while, but that is the past.

Today is Valentines 2015.  I am enjoying the day with the love of my life. 

Here is my sweetie with the valentine heart that we have been alternatively filling for each other since 1975.  That makes for a 40 year tradition this year.
Now we collectively fill with the stuff we both like.  The selection usually starts about 2 weeks prior to the actual date and involves much more than can actually fit in the heart box.
Oh well, I guess we will just have to eat the excess.