Will and NumNums

Meet Will and NumNums, our resident chinchillas. They've lived with us for quite some time now. They were annoyed that they weren't represented on my blog. So here they are. Its amazing how different they are, even though they look pretty much identical. One is calm, and enjoys handling, the other one bounces off walls, literally. But they are cute and fun to watch. For this picture they were posing in a glass aquarium while their mansion of a cage was being cleaned. We'd let them out during cage cleaning, but holy cow its a chore to corral them again. Fast little bouncing critters for sure!!!

Pea Ridge

Colin and I grabbed our Nikons today and hopped in the old Chevy. We drove to Rand Park where there is a civil war re-enactment thing going on. The Battle of Pea Ridge or something like that.

It was pretty cool. People all dressed up in period dress and such. Big guns. What could be cooler? We didn't stay for the actual battle, but we took a bunch of pics. Some of mine are over there on Flickr ------->

Here's a couple more - one Colin took of me taking a picture, and the other I took of him.

Eeegads

Eeegads, we have a teenager in the house. Colin turned 13 yesterday. I must have blinked at some point, cuz last time I saw him he was trying to open his eyes in the delivery room.

Anyway, he's grown up some since then, I didn't really recognize him. One more year, and if we're still in Iowa, he'll be driving a car. (he thinks he'll be driving my old Chevy, but we'll see about that)

So, Happy Birthday Colin!

On a different topic, I finished reading Martha Grimes' book, The Old Wine Shades the other night.



I love Martha Grimes' books, and this one didn't disappoint, even if it was a 'slightly' formula Grimes book, another Richard Jury mystery. Her characters come alive to me, and the humor is excellent. In this story there's even a dog, Mungo, and a cat, Shoe, and in several chapters the story is told from Mungo's point of view. (And of course while Mungo the dog has the microphone, he delights in telling us how he hides Shoe's kittens on her, just to watch her frantically looking for them). And in typical Grimes fashion, the plot is very twisted, and the ending leaves you somewhat confused, meaning you really need to read the book again to actually understand the outcome. This I like, because I will gladly read the book again. And again. And again. Many of her books I have read many times over.

I look forward to the next Grimes book.....

travel

Yesterday was a near-perfect day in southeastern Iowa. (as my son says ..... nothing's perfect). It was in the high seventies, very slight breeze, not a cloud in sight. Not one. Not even a wisp of one.

So, first off, I took my wife for a motorcycle ride, about 20 miles worth, to Montrose and back. We've lived here almost a year and she hadn't been to Montrose!! (she can't say that again)

Then, on the way to Montrose, she spied a greenhouse or two. SO, back home, hop in one of the trucks, and back to the greenhouses we went. I took one of my cameras of course, and took pictures of all the colors. Why do they call them greenhouses?? There's a lot more color than just green in them.

After that, my son Colin wanted a ride, so we rode into Keokuk, hung out at the lock, and watched a barge being lowered. Sorta cool to watch. Then we rode up to Rand park, sat about for a while, then rode back home the back way along the Mississippi.

Then, later on, I took off on the bike by myself, and rode about another 45 miles, visiting the wee towns of Franklin and West Point Iowa. They aren't too far from our home, but I'd never been there. Lots of beautiful old homes. West Point has a very neat and tidy town square and park. A beautiful ride.

So, only my young son didn't get to ride, but I'll catch him up next week! We'll ride to the Schmek Forest, and over to Farmington. Maybe breakfast at the little restaurant on the DesMoines River in Farmington.

Just a few pics from the weekend are over there on Flickr, of course ----->

Wires.....

Don't ask. I just thought it was cool.

Secret

Pssssssst.....in case you didn't know.....its my brother's birthday today.....

Happy Birthday Tim!!!

(he was born just before Bryan Adams had all that fun in the summer of '69, so you figure out how old he is....)

favorite store

This is my favorite store. My Dad and I drove there today, 70 miles each way, just to wander around this store. We didn't buy anything, which if you know me, is a miracle. It takes amazing self discipline. But I prevailed. Lots of stuff I wanted to buy......I mean that's gotta be why the store is called Best BUY isn't it? You're supposed to buy stuff....

Then after working up a huge appetite strolling around BestBuy, we dined at Bennigan's, where I took the following picture, just because I could. I ate some huge Cuban Monte Christo sandwich that had to have been deep fried in the fat from at least 3 pigs. Groan.

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow :-( Its back to the regular routine. Go to work. Come home. Go to work. Come home. Go to work. Come home. Get up the next day and go to work. You get the picture.

happy ladies

Doesn't take much to make these girls happy. That's my mom on the left, and my wife on the right, happy as larks, riding around sightseeing along the Mississippi. They were like a couple of kids back there in the wayback seat, almost had to stop the truck and make them walk. 

after dinner music

I've just eaten enough food to not only choke a mule, but rupture his intenstines as well. At least it feels like I've eaten that much, although I have no data on how much food it actually takes to choke a mule.

We had turkey. Is turkey appropriate for the Easter Holiday? Or should we have had rabbit?

Anyway, that's not important right now. What is important is that I've put recordings of old blue eyes, Frankie Sinatra himself on the table radio. I am slouched on the couch, listening to him sing Moon River, and watching the ladies clean up the kitchen. It is probably the most relaxed I've felt in months. (yawn) (burp) 'scuse me.

Hopefully I don't fall asleep before the cake and coffee......

art??

Result of the cottage industry today. My lovely wife made this. Ain't it purdy?

But is it art?

industry

A cottage industry has sprung up on my kitchen table. Too many ladies in the house.

lazy

Ya, I've been lazy this week, haven't blogged. We gots guests here for Easter, so I might not blog this weekend either. But you can visit my Flickr page - I tend to update it quite regularly on weekends.....

Here's a pic from today. Me and my mom about to go riding.

Full Day

Today was a full day of stuff. Started before breakfast, for some reason I got up, and left the house just before 6AM. (normal on a workday but not on a Sunday). Anyway, I hopped into the Pickle and drove down to the Mississippi at Montrose IA, and watched the sun come up. Took 158 pictures. Some are on Flickr over there -->



I have finally had to put my new digicam's battery on the charger for the first time since I brought it home. Over 600 pics, and it was still goin, but showed low battery so I recharged. 600 shots is pretty liberating, compared to the 100-150 I am used to getting between charges.

Then, I finally found time, no wait, I mean energy to change the oil in the Pickle, and fix that annoying anti-freeze seeping leak at the thermostat.

AND, I washed my motorcycle, and took it for a ride into Fort Madison.

And we grilled sausages while the kids floated in an inflatable boat in the freezing cold, filty swimming pool.



Took lots of pictures today, well over 200, which is in the area of 500Mb worth of pictures, or half a gigabyte. Won't take long to fill up a 100G hard drive at that rate....good thing there's another 200Gb available on the desktop downstairs.

Prom Night?

Its prom night across the road at the school. Crap there are a lot of cars over there. Hope them highschool kids have a fun (and safe) prom. I don't think I even went to my prom. Either it wasn't as big a deal in Canada, or I just didn't care to go. I can't remember. I am sure that if I had gone, I would have been on the fringes anyway, since I wasn't part of the 'in' crowd. Whatever. It was a long time ago.



Today we were required to go to Iowa City to Red Lobster. Mr Young Son insisted that this is the place he wished to go for his birthday dinner. So off we went. Walked around the Coralville Mall for a while, and decided there are just too many dadgum people in these cities. So, we left the mall, and went to the big Red L at about BluePlateSpecial time, 'round 4pm. Got a table right away!! (holy cow are we getting old or WHAT?). By the time we left the place was PACKED with city folk. We had to leave.

Got home and saw this......

Fashion, Baby, Fashion

If you are a gadget geek, this has to be one of the best fashion accessories around. I won't be buying one anytime soon.

It was red day on my Flickr page. I posted a 'boatload' of Ferrari red pictures.

Happy Birthday!!!

 

Yup. The long haired freaky kid had his birthday today. 11 years ago he had less hair, and wasn't as opinionated.

He picked his own cake, from the store....ewwwwww. He didn't want Mom to bake one. So we choked back some of this multi-flavored cake. (it was awesome...don't tell Mrs. Grumpy I said that...)

Happy Birthday Warren!!! 

tri-holer

Its perfect!! The perfect accessory for our home. Us three men, me and my two super-pooping sons can sit side by side, read MacWorld, Rider, or National Geographic and poop worry-free. No more 'oh no that's gonna clog', or 'dang I missed the bowl'. No more reminders to 'put the seat down' or 'you forgot to flush'. Placed strategically, we could even enjoy the sunset while we poop. Real male bonding for sure.

But, can one get a mortgage on an outhouse? What are the tax implications of adding an outhouse? What kind of foundation would I need? By pooping in an antique outhouse, would I encite the anger of the Outhouse Preservation Society? So many issues....

I think I'd better go sit somewhere and think about it....

Ride on

First real ride of spring today. Fired up my filthy Honda, and rode about 30 miles this afternoon. 'Twas a lovely day. Should have washed the bike as well, but I didn't. Couldn't be bothered. Did enjoy the ride though.

Of course, I always have my camera with me, so once again, here's a couple of pics.....

road trip

I went on a road trip today with my son Colin. We had fun. I always have a camera handy, so here's a couple of pictures that Colin took.