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Dec
24th
2011
Sat
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New Garage: We have spent years saving money for a garage, and we finally got it built. Isn’t it absolutely gorgeous? We are sooo happy to have it. Now, we need to save up for garage doors…one thing at a time! We had a soft-sided garage without doors for 10 years, and figure another year won’t hurt;-) Nighttime illumination is provided by two battery-powered motion sensitive floodlights. You can also see the wood shed we had built onto the back of the garage. That will be so handy, and we figure we can fit 2 to 3 cords of wood in it, if we stack it tall. It will be so convenient being near the back door.  I was so busy planting bulbs in autumn, that I ran out of energy to deal with the cinquefois, hibiscus, dwarf spirea, and peony that needed to be transplanted so the wood could be stacked after the garage was built. We’ll just have to wait until spring to dig them up after the ground thaws!

Nov
24th
2011
Thu
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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! We spent the day creating a Shutterfly book of our life with Kasha. I alternated between tears, cheers, and laughter as I looked at all the photos and videos through the years. Drew created the artwork for the front and back covers on his iPad, and we also sprinkled more of his creations throughout the book. Enjoy! (Note: You won’t be able to see the slide show if you don’t have Adobe Flash Player installed on your computer.)

One more note: We are having a hard-covered copy printed and will have it available for family and friends to see (if you are in the neighborhood:-)

Sep
23rd
2011
Fri
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Neighbor Carla on Caesar Pond: As soon as I got home from school, I hopped into the kayak and toured the pond with neighbor Carla, who was chompin’ at the bit to go for a paddle. The pond was glassy smooth and the trees are changing color. (Click on photo for a larger view)

Neighbor Carla on Caesar Pond: As soon as I got home from school, I hopped into the kayak and toured the pond with neighbor Carla, who was chompin’ at the bit to go for a paddle. The pond was glassy smooth and the trees are changing color. (Click on photo for a larger view)

Sep
7th
2011
Wed
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Barb’s 80th: Mom will celebrate her 80th birthday soon and we had a nice little surprise party for her last weekend. Drew created this video which contains the slides that I put together for a rolling tribute at the party. Enjoy!

Aug
21st
2011
Sun
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Lighter Than Air: A short video of our visit to the Great Falls Balloon Festival.

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The Wow Factor: One of the pleasures of attending the balloon festival was what I term the “Wow factor” which was present all around us. The balloons are huge. They are brilliantly colored. They billow as they are inflated. I heard kids running to parents excitedly saying, “I got it! I got the best picture!” In this photo, you can see the girl, in the lower right corner, exhibiting the “Wow factor” as she gazes at the really cool photo she just took. That really made my day. In this world of digital photography, more and more people are introduced to the pleasures of photographing the world around them. (Click on photo for a larger view)

The Wow Factor: One of the pleasures of attending the balloon festival was what I term the “Wow factor” which was present all around us. The balloons are huge. They are brilliantly colored. They billow as they are inflated. I heard kids running to parents excitedly saying, “I got it! I got the best picture!”

In this photo, you can see the girl, in the lower right corner, exhibiting the “Wow factor” as she gazes at the really cool photo she just took. That really made my day. In this world of digital photography, more and more people are introduced to the pleasures of photographing the world around them. (Click on photo for a larger view)

Aug
20th
2011
Sat
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Great Falls Balloon Festival: We got up before the crack of dawn to get ready to go to Lewiston’s Simard-Payne Memorial Park to watch a multitude of hot air balloons take to the sky. This was the 19th year of the event and it is so much fun to attend. When the burners are flaring and the fans are blowing air into the balloon, the anticipation of the crowd rises. There was a collective “Hooray” when the first balloon lifted off, which was around 6:45 am.

The balloon festival had events all day long and there was just a small crowd in the morning. The crowds build all day and there are evening balloon rides, balloon glow, etc. Since Drew and I are not crowd lovers, we tend to enjoy being present for the morning launches.

Go to the Plano Balloon Fest website to see information on the anatomy of a hot air balloon and how all the parts of a hot air balloon work…really neat! I went up 30’ off the ground in a tethered balloon several years ago and was hanging onto the basket for all I was worth. I like keeping my feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much…

(To view larger versions of the photos above, click on any photo in the slide show and wait for it to load. Then, click on the same photo again and you will advance to the next photo in the slide show. Click on black space to return to the main page.)

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Balloons (1/11): These balloons were in different stages of being inflated. We felt dwarfed by their size. (Click on photo for a larger view)

Balloons (1/11): These balloons were in different stages of being inflated. We felt dwarfed by their size. (Click on photo for a larger view)

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Balloon Closeup…(2/11): (Click on photo for a larger view)

Balloon Closeup…(2/11): (Click on photo for a larger view)