The Freeds Online

Thanksgiving...

2011-11-24T14:51:00.000-08:00

A few shots of Thanksgiving at our house.

one more about the fair...

2011-09-23T07:02:00.000-07:00

I can't resist posting a few shots of the 4*H stuff here in our area. After having done a few fair booths myself, I always enjoy checking the offerings of other local clubs. My favorite this year was the one about being stuck in 4*H fun.

Seems to me that being "stuck" in something is really a bad thing, isn't it? I don't know, but their booth looks more like the scene of an accident than getting stuck in fun. The vehicle seems to be completely submerged in mud. Makes you wonder if there are any bodies of 4*H'ers in there.

Why do booth decorators think it is cute to paste photos of children's heads onto homemade cartoon bodies? Around 1% of the time this is cute. The other 99.9999% percent it is just plain creepy. Or maybe the above is really what Zach looks like these days. Maybe he got injured in a freak Market swine/woodworking/welding mishap.

So here is a cute booth with wanted posters that list each lil' outlaw... oops, club member. Some of the kids appear to be missing in action- my guess is that Sebastion wasn't big on attending club meetings. Or maybe he was really good at hiding out from the club authorities. No matter, the booth creators post a blank poster for him anyway. WTF?

This booth had an Oz theme complete with munchkins. Nothing too unusual. I've seen that one done before. But WTF is the one on the right doing with his hand?!!! What kind of activites are we having in 4*H anyway?!! This guy appears to be stuck in 4*H fun a bit too much.

Even more fun at the fair...

2011-09-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

I can't resist posting a few more random images from the fair. It's almost over. I am so sad that the fair only comes once a year :-(

Hmmm. Ralph is a colonel. Perhaps he could open Kernel Ralph's and run Kernel Dan out of business. Perhaps Ralph could become the cornhole king of the county. Sigh. A girl can dream.

Only in Wayne county can you find a punk rocker hosing off a dairy cow's hiney.

To another chicken this guy is a bad ass mo'fo.

Miniature horses have it rough. Not only did human beings breed them to the point where their bodies are ridiculously uncomfortable and distorted...

...they also give them humiliating names. When will someone realize that Snickers is a majestic creature deserving of our respect!

OMG! If this thing didn't have an entry ticket and a ribbon on it, it would look like someone abandoned their newborn. Call 911 anyway just to be sure.

I will end this post with the cutest thing I saw all day. Awwwwwww! He looks like a lil' wild eyed doe.

More fun at the fair...

2011-09-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more random pix from our day at the fair. We had so much fun. It's a shame it only comes once a year....

Above, the girls are checking out a giant pumpkin. This one wasn't the largest, but it was the most photogenic. The picture below shows some sort of winter squash. I don't know why, but everytime I see one of these, I think of that obese woman in West Virginia that had the huge tumor removed a couple of years ago.

This has to be the most amazingly beautiful squash I've ever seen. The photo doesn't do it justice. I noticed it came in second and had to find the squash that beat it. Below is the first place winner. WTH? I guess I don't know enough about squash anatomy or something...

Catherine thought some deep-fried cookie dough sounded like a great lunch... check out the shot below.

Live and learn, right?

I know that meat is a large part of most people's diets, but somehow this seems so creepy. Pictured are photos of the actual steers and the lovely steaks they made. They all had names too. I think I am making humus for dinner tonight.

In the same vein, many of the chicken exhibitors named their entries cute food names like the above. If the chickens ever take control and rule the world like I am sure they want to, I would never want to be the guy who called his chicken Cordon Bleu or Deep Fried. Those folks are going to be the first to die in the chicken revolution.

Alright! WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS! 'FESS UP NOW!!!!!!

The closest thing to a kiddie beauty pageant in Wayne County.

Freak show at the fair...

2011-09-13T12:09:00.000-07:00

There is a new vegetable category at the fair this year. It is called Freaks of Nature- Gardening and other Crops. This surprised me a bit. I didn't think the word freak was acceptable to use anymore. Maybe it is or isn't, it just seems like labeling something a freak (even if it is a vegetable) is wrong somehow...
Well, let's all embrace our differences and gawk at this year's offerings. There were a lot of entries, I am guessing the freak category is here to stay.

It's hard to tell from this picture, but it looks like the pumpkin grew on top of a deer antler. The antler is embedded around the side of the pumpkin. I am not sure if it was planned or if the rack was a happy accident.

This is weird. This is supposed to be a tassel at the top of a corn stalk. This tassel grew an ear of corn instead.

Somehow a gourd became a beehive. If this happened on our place, my hubby would have shot it with a shotgun from the safety of his truck.

This entry was my favorite freak. Here we have an empty plate, an exhibition tag that is torn and stained, no ribbon, and no vegetable. It looks more like a crime scene! I wonder what misfortune befell this entry? Maybe someone didn't pay their protection fee or what not.

This cucumber looks like something you'd pick up at the dog park.

A wide view of the freaks. Someone should call Maury Po*vich.

Can you find the freak? Don't tell me it's one of the girls. I know that already.... the freak entries are the unusually tall stalks of corn in the center. The one next to J must be 16 feet high! Boo-yah!

This display was not part of the freak exhibit. This one only freaked me out. Why the baby? Why the American flag? Why the red pepper? Why why WHY?

On second thought, if you can't celebrate a basket full of summer vegetables with a doll in a flower costume festooned with American flags, then the terrorists have won.

Yee Haw! It's fair week! :)

2011-09-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

This year's fair is going to require several blog posts I'm afraid. I saw so much to comment on. I will start with some of the home economics displays.
The girls entered the arts and crafts categories. This was the first year Margo entered in the adult division. People around here take their fair artwork entries soooo seriously. The adult division is a whole new ball game for Margo. She entered four pictures and won ribbons for three of them. She did well. Catherine got four, two firsts, one second and one third. Juliet entered one in the craft division, earning a second behind Catherine.
The girls entries pale in comparison to some of the stuff entered in the other home ec divisions. Here are some of the cakes.

A world of war*craft cake. I think these people were my neigbors once. I hear players get obsessed with this game and play it for days on end. I am surprised they took some time away to create this. It didn't win anything. I suppose the fair judges are not gamers.

A positive affirmation for fairgoers... "thank you! so are you!"

This adorable cow seems to be saying "WTF! Somebody give me some $#%&ing ears!"
Not to worry, it did have some very small ears on the other side of it's bulbous head. Meow- I am critical, but I really couldn't do a better job...

Ok, let's move on to some of the other stuff in the home ec building. Here is the frock that won best in show...

It's a lovely ensemble sewn out of the finest poly knit cammy. For the woman who hunts down dinner during the day, then enjoy a night on the town without the fuss of changing.
I thought this dress was an oddity, but then I saw these...

Another camoflage dress... maybe it's a new trend I am not aware of. Maybe I am reading the wrong fashion magazines.

I love this one- repurposing old fast food wrappers. Juliet... I think we've found your Homecoming attire! Juliet? Juliet?

OK, this dress was truly amazing. Somehow, someone sewed it out of corn leaves. It is assembled as carefully as a dress sewn from fabric. I should have gotten a shot of the back. It had a bustle made out of corn tassels. Super cool... and when you are done with it, you can put it by the curb on leaf clean-up day.

Trippin' down memory lane...

2011-08-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

OK, so the girls had a violin lesson at the local art center today. This gave me a chance to peruse the brochures in the reception area. Much to my surprise, I found this one which discusses ways to give art center scholarships to children in the community. One of the happy children on the cover is none other than Juliet, I am guessing circa 2005. It looks like she is creating something in clay.
All of the other kids in the brochure are white. I am guessing that Juliet's photo was chosen because at the time she looked like a person of color. LOL, swim team changed her race every year. Just sayin'.

J in her pre-dark child days...

There's no deal like an ordeal...

2011-08-22T13:27:00.000-07:00

We got a chance to attend a conference in Washington DC this weekend. The travel agency we were forced to use was horrible and goofed up our airline tickets so badly that we lost a 1.5 days of our three day trip. The hotel was wonderful, the food was delicious, and we did find some time to take in some of the sites of our nation's capital. Here are a few photos. We really have to get back there again. When we do, we will book the tickets ourselves on any other airline besides US Air. I forgot how much they truly suck. Juliet wants to go to business school and become CEO of the airline. When that happens, she will immediately shut down the airline and send everyone in the country a letter of apology. I look forward to that day.
We did manage to see some cool stuff. Below are a few photos of the fun.

Long story short, USAir abandoned us in Richmond VA at midnight on Friday night. We were lucky to rent this beat-up Mercury at Dollar rental. Ralph had to squeeze it into a compact car space at the hotel. What defines a compact car? After all it fit into the parking space...

For mom, the coolest part of the trip was the National Gallery of Art. Even the girls look cool sitting in the garden in front of the museum.

Five Grecian sprites in the rotunda of the National Gallery.

Ralph stabbed by the DC monument.

Margo hangin' in the hotel lobby.

Checking out the sites by trolley. The threat of terrorism has changed DC tourism since the last time I visited. We used to be able to actually drive by the important buildings. Nowadays we got to see the blocked driveways that lead to them. When we have more time we will walk around the monuments.

Outside Ford's theater. "Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?"

Visiting Charleroi...

2011-08-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

After my dad's funeral we got the chance to see Charleroi for the first time in a long time last week. It was fun and somewhat comforting to be there with so many family members. Some of us went for a walk and took a photo in front of the house my great grandparents built. It is still there, but the town has fallen on difficult economic times. I don't think they get many tourists there, and I am guessing that if anyone saw us touring the neighborhood, they'd have wondered WTH?

This building was owned by our great grandfather. He had a respectable office here. The pool hall and speak easy were a few blocks away. We haven't figured out yet where that establishment was. The place is for sale right now if anyone is interested. I guess hair designs wasn't a big trendsetter.

Same place (?) back in the day.

I don't know, maybe we got the wrong house.

Here's a link if anyone needs retail space in my great grandfather's old building...
http://www.downtowncharleroiparealestate.com/512FallowfieldAve.html

Cowboys in Ohio?

2011-08-14T13:18:00.000-07:00

A bunch of cowboys stopped by the fairgrounds this weekend. Every year they hold a shooting and riding competition. It all seems good-natured and fun. The goal is to ride around a course as fast as possible while shooting at balloons with single action revolvers. Seems easy doesn't it?
The skills displayed were very impressive. I saw several race through at a gallop and hit every target. Most of the competitors wore authentic western clothes, looking like they stepped right out of a Remmington painting.
They had classes for young and old and really young and really old. One grandmotherly type got a bit annoyed by her coach as she was entering the ring. The coach asked her five or six times if she was sure she had loaded her guns. The balloon guy told us later that she had entered several races last year forgetting her ammo. The club presented her with the "Click Click" award at the Christmas banquet. I am not sure if she had much of a sense of humor about the whole thing, but today she did send off a bunch of bullets.
I wonder what these guys use for ammo. I was a bit freaked out being in the line of fire the entire morning, but nobody seemed to get shot. The pistols made a very large bang and some of the horses were spooked by that. It takes a special animal to not freak out with all of the gun fire and smoke popping right behind their ears.

That balloon is toast.

Since all of the natives have been driven out, balloons will have to do.

Did the wild west have pylons? I don't think so, but the horse sure looks fine.

"Take that you varmit!"

Cute photo of the many spectators... and the people riding them.

Now there's a job I could do.

This crew kept the balloons full and ready to shoot.

A little girl on a giant horse wearing a duster. Is anything cuter?

Well maybe another little girl shooting things.

Remembering Dad...

2011-08-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

I don't know if this was Dad's favorite song, but I remember how he liked it when I was a kid. It just seems like a fitting tribute to him.
Unfortunately I can't seem to find any Gordon Lightfoot versions of this song on youtube. I will try to make one. Instead, here is a different song, another that my dad liked a lot. It is a bit sad to hear them again.

http://youtu.be/LyTSFObsRcg

Christian Island
by Gordon Lightfoot.

I'm sailin' down the summer wind,
I got whiskers on my chin,
and I like the mood I'm in,
as I while away the time of day,
in the lee of Christian Island.

Tall and strong, she dips and reels,
I call her Silver Heels,
and she tells me how she feels.
She's a good old boat and she'll stay afloat,
through the toughest gail and keep smilin',
but for one more day she would like to stay,
in the lee of Christian Island.

I'm sailin' down the summer day,
where fish and seagulls play,
I put my troubles all away.
And when the gail comes up I'll fill me cup,
with the whiskey of the highlands.
She's a good old ship and she'll make the trip,
from the lee of Christian Island.

Tall and strong she slips along,
I sing for her a song,
and she leans into the wind.
She's a good old boat and she'll stay afloat,
through the toughest gail and keep smilin',
and when the summer ends we will rest again,
in the lee of Christian Island.

and when the summer ends we will rest again,
in the lee of Christian Island.

Remembering my father...

2011-08-04T04:48:00.000-07:00

My dad passed away last week. He had a two month battle with cancer. Thankfully school was out for the summer and we got to spend our last few weeks together.
His funeral is in Charleroi PA tomorrow. I will post more about his life and what a wonderful dad he was over the coming weeks.

http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/thereporteronline/obituary.aspx?n=richard-k-phillips&pid=152792514#.TjIoYxSjnVc.facebook

Are we rednecks yet? Part three...

2011-05-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

Just had to post this photo of my brand new as seen on tv topsy turvy tomato planter. I think I need to go back out and buy some whirly-gigs made out of old pop bottles and a yard gnome or two. Tractor supply sells a two-person swing with a beer cooler in the center. That will have to wait until after the recession is over.

Sigh. We can only dream.

Got Grapes?

2011-05-22T16:45:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at the farm today. The fruit trees are looking good for the most part, with the exception of the peach trees. They seem to be getting eaten up by something. We sprayed them on Friday but they aren't showing improvement yet. Ralph mentioned that peach trees were fussy. I am wondering why we thought we could grow them. I am going to see what information I can find online tonight.
The ground is still very wet, but today was our third dry day in a row. I am hoping the little trees don't rot away. They must think we planted them in a swamp.
The farmers who rent our ground haven't begun to work the fields yet. I hope they will be able to plant this year. It would be awful if we didn't get their rent.
Today we weeded and mulched the blueberry bushes. All six of them made it through the winter, but some of them look pretty beaten up. We roto-tilled and weeded the ground around each one and applied holly-tone. Then we covered the ground around them with organic mulch and grass clippings.
Catherine will be sad to hear that I pinched the baby berries off of them. This year the plants need to devote their energy to getting their roots established. In a few years hopefully we will have lots berries.
I was happy to see what looks like teeny tiny grapes on the vines. Does anyone know anything about this? Are they grapes?

Baby grapes?

I probably should have pruned this one more.

The mud and sloshy ground is unbelievable!

Ralph tying up a young grape vine (I told him to suck in his gut).

It's hard to see the blueberry bushes here. They blend into the grass.

Prom 2011

2011-05-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Daughter 2.0 and her boyfriend Ryan are attending the prom together this year. This is his senior prom and her junior prom. Much to D2.0's dismay, I picked the dress. She isn't happy with it. She's not a fan of pink and wanted something long, slinky and backless. I told her that she can choose next year. We'll see who does better.
Aside from the dress controversy, they do make an adorable couple, don't you think?

Here is a link to the grand march.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViIMh9mgaqo

The high school hosts a big party after prom called Post Prom. The idea is to provide something fun to do that keeps the students out of trouble. This year Post Prom was at Acres of Fun. This place has mini-golf, go-karts, laser tag, roller skating, and lots of video games. They also bring in photo booths, a cash tornado and a mechanical bull. The entire place is free for prom-goers from midnight to 3am. Dominoes provided a ton of food. With all of this fun, who would want to go to prom?

Margo had a great time playing ddr on the arcade machine for free. Catherine got shot up in laser tag and rode the mechanical bull four times. The coolest thing was when Patrick got picked to spend thirty seconds in the cash tornado. He won over fifty bucks. Here is a video of the cash winning action-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9kw2a0oftY

Acres of Fun lived up to their name. Below are much different photos of the happy prom couple...

Trees are finally all in the ground...

2011-05-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

When will you allow me to kill this?

Ralph looks like he wants to snap this one in half. Good luck with that...

J recording what is planted where.

Looking down the top row. We planted these in the middle of the night. They're pretty close to being where they need to be.

Dragging water up the hill from the creek. We are going to get a water tank for the little tractor, but for now it is fun making the kids fetch the water.

The leftovers.

We planted the last of the trees today. It has been a very wet and cold spring. The ground was still pretty wet, but hopefully it was drained enough to plant the remaining trees. Here are a couple of pictures from today.
After they were all in the ground I offered to mow around the seedlings. I almost hit one straight on. I would have had some 'splainin to do... It was on a bit of a hill and I was so worried about tipping the mower that I almost drove right over the little tree. I will have to develop a strategy for not killing the trees.

Spring Orchestra Concert 2011

2011-05-08T18:03:00.000-07:00

Another year of Woosters music program is wrapping up. Here is one of the songs the kids did. I wanted to sing along karioke style, but I doubt that would have gone over well.
I am looking into getting the girls fiddling lessons this summer or at least violin lessons of some sort so they can continue progressing.

The costumes are cute but I can't help thinking that they look like they should be busing tables at the old Indian Valley Country Club.

still trying to plant...

2011-05-01T12:06:00.000-07:00

So we've had these bare root trees for a couple of weeks now. The nursery sends them out when the time to plant is ideal for our region. What the nursery can't take into account is how much rain we will get in a given year. This spring has been one of the coldest and wettest on record. The ground is completely saturated. We haven't had a truly sunny day in a long time. We've tried to finish the tree planting to no avail The ground is just too wet.
Yesterday was the first slightly sunny day we've had for a while. Things seemed to dry out a bit. The only problem was that Ralph was flying and wouldn't be home until around nine Saturday night. He has Sunday off, but believe it or not, it is supposed to rain again all day. So the only solution is to get the generator, shop lights, shovels and a kid or two and go out to the farm and plant trees all night.
The weirdest part was that nobody stopped by to check out what was going on. We thought a sheriff might be interested in what all of the midnight shoveling. Ralph was prepared to stress to him that the Freeds take Arbor Day VERY SERIOUSLY.
But nobody cared. Note to self... a farm can be a great place to dispose of evidence. Not that I would ever need that.
Also, three of the properties surrounding the place are currently vacant. It is kind of sad. I hope the local economy improves soon.

Here a few photos. The girls have yet another fun memory of dad and his farm. I am betting their peers were all out at the Cinemark checking out the new Pirates of The Caribbean. Johnny Depp is hot! But they have bare root trees to plant. Hmmmm..... choices.

Planting, day two...

2011-04-19T04:32:00.000-07:00

So glad we found a hitch for the tractor at Lowes.

Dad finding a body.

A baby tree. Awwww!

Rollin wit da hommies.

Supervising is an important job.

One down, 47 to go.

Just like Martha Ste*wart except without all of the undocumented Mexican helpers.

No wait Dad, plant that tree about two feet to the right. Sorry, my bad.

The weather hasn't been cooperating much on day two of planting. We've had a lot of rain, but the ground doesn't seem too wet to plant yet. We are trying to get the rootstock in now. The other trees can wait a week or two until conditions are better.

staking out the orchard...

2011-04-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

We chose the windiest day of the year for staking out the garden.

Awww.... Margo and Hildee. BTW, the braces come off in a week :-)

Surveying the space was a bit harder than I thought. I guess "eye-balling" it is okay for fruit trees. Everything else will be left to the professionals.

Despite extremely high winds, some rain and laziness, we started to plant the apple orchard today. We staked out an area and hope to have thirty trees planted by the end of the week.
Driving the trees to the farm was an odyssey in itself. We bought the trees in Wayne county. They were piled under a tarp on a trailer. Ralph didn't want to take the trailer over 45 miles per hour so we had to drive the back roads instead of route 30. There is no direct way to get the farm on the back roads. We had our Gar-min GPS device on and the friendly Australian voice of Jill yelled at us the entire way there. I guess Jill didn't know about the fruit trees on the trailer and our speed restriction. She kept redirecting us to the 30. "RECALCULATING! You stupid Americans!" The usual 45 minute drive lasted almost two hours. I don't want to think about how many gallons of four dollar gasoline that trip cost.
To make the trip bearable for the kids I put in my new music cds. I got Loretta L*ynn and El-vis singing gospel songs from amazon last week. Loretta has this one song from the 70's about how proud she is when she hears her children pray. The song features a child (I am guessing it is Mooney junior) singing the chorus and Loretta herself talking out the verses. It is a smarmy super-Christian country song that had Juliet declaring she was having another zen moment in her sarcastic manner. Then she told us she was going ahead with her plan to poke her eardrums out. I mentioned that I had foreseen this scenario and removed all of the sharp objects from the back of the car before the trip. There was much knashing of teeth at that point.
Heck, the kids need some adversity in their lives. That way they can tell their children how tough it was to grow up having to listen to really bad country music and plant fruit trees and shop at Big Lots.
Oh, btw we went to Big Lots. Yep, I don't think I set foot in that place before the recession... now it's our go-to store for bubbly water, lunch box food, and Pawla Deen brand condiments. We have this Big Lot super shopper card. After we make ten purchases, we get 20% off our next purchase. They have this GIGANTIC reclining lounge chair. The sales lady calls it "the double" to imply that it is for two people to sit in at the same time, but we all know the truth. It is for a plus-size gamer who wants to put his feet up after planting a few fruit trees. I don't know if we will end up buying one though, we probably don't have enough room in the house. I'm not sure if we could even fit the thing through the door.

Ralph placing all of the baby trees in a corner of the house to protect them from the punishing wind.

Giving them a bit of water... we got the trees at OARDC, Buchwalters, Rural King, Jungs online, and even two from Big Lots.

Oh well... more on the fruit tree project in a few.

shed inferno...

2011-04-10T06:46:00.000-07:00

We spent the day at the farm yesterday. The weather gave us the opportunity to burn up the shed and some other old wood from around the farm. Juliet ceremoniously burnt last year's math homework. That was something she enjoyed immensely. Catherine got a kick out of burning small pieces of plastic trash. Before they burnt, they melted away like the wicked witch on The Wizard of Oz. Everything she threw into the fire was given an "Agggh... Help me! I'mmmm MMMmmmmelting! personality."
Not much else to tell. It was a fun day and we took some cool photos.

another shed bites the dust...

2011-04-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

Its been quiet this winter. There hasn't been much to report on the blog. Hopefully I will get my blogging mojo back soon.
We went out to the farm today and knocked down the old summer kitchen. I hated to do it, the shack was probably over a hundred years old, but last summer it was home to a groundhog and yellow jackets. I was afraid it would fall on someone and we couldn't afford to fix it up. I didn't have any before photos so I included one of Ralph standing in front of it.
Ralph loves knocking stuff over. I wish I had pictures of the process. He painstakingly removed all of the old weathered boards and cast iron hardware. Those got stacked away in the barn for another project. Then he knocked it over with Grammy's truck. It was awesome. The old f-150 was a great wrecking ball.
Afterwards we hooked up a trailer to the riding mower and Juliet got to drive bits of it out to the burn pile. It was windy today so the fire will have to wait.

Taken last summer; Ralph standing in front of his victim.

Juliet taking a load of wood to the burn pile.

Ralph knocked down the school bus shelter last month and a small pig stable last summer. After this, there is one more shed that has to go, but it is a two story and full of stuff. We'd light it on fire but it is close to another building.

The grisly aftermath.

Margo's 10K

2010-10-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Margo dragged my butt out of bed this morning and downtown for a 10K race. It is a benefit to buy sporting gear for disabled kids. Here are a few shots. I am going back to sleep now.

Outfitting the man cave...

2010-10-18T15:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. Things are really quiet around here. So much so in fact, that we've been able to visit our local Habitat for Humanity thrift store. The re-store sells donated building materials and machines. There is a ton of junk there, but once in a while we find something that our house really needs.
Case in point- our local supermarket just replaced their photo department with a UPS store. They donated the counters and shelves to the Habitat store. There are four pieces with drawers, cupboards and places to drop off film rolls and return videos. The entire set weighs a ton- it was custom-made and probably was expected to last another ten years.
I walked by this pile of of cabinets and didn't give it much thought. Ralph took one look and immediately saw the ultimate furniture for his garage. Even though it was love at first sight, Ralph was able to negotiate the amount down from the $300 asking price to $200 bucks. The guy at the Re-store didn't want to let it go for less than asking price. His wife, the manager told him "Are you kidding? Take his offer. Let's get it out of here."
It must be a guy thing...
So, we picked it up with the pick-up and trailer (it took two trips) and drove it out to the farm. It took a couple of hours to roll it into place on steel pipes. There is a lot of tweaking to do. The wood stove has to be moved, or the cupboards have to be moved before it gets cold.

I will post a new photo when Ralph gets it together :-)

Here's another view of the same thing. We have to level the cupboard. The drawers used to be for people s photos.

When I think of the hundreds of times I went to Buehlers to pick up photos or return a movie. I never once imagined their photo/video department would end up in my garage.

On a personal note, here is a photo of a shitbox for my father. Check it out- it's a turbo. Also, I am pretty sure that's a bullet hole on the rally stripe above the license plate.
For realsies though... how on earth did this car survive the Cash for Clunkers program!!??

Do you have Lance in your pants?

2010-10-13T16:14:00.000-07:00

I hear it is treatable with tetracycline, Adderall, therapy, a hot compress, and some bed rest.
Lance relocated to the old Archway factory in Ashland a few years ago. I try to buy their products whenever I can to support the local economy. They have a few tractor trailers parked around town. I saw this one today and had to ask "WTF?"
What marketing genius thought a deformed hyperactive kid with a giant cracker coming out of his butt pocket would sell cookies?

I am sure that idiot has no children and has never actually purchased the product. Perhaps he or she is a secret agent working for Little Debbie and are set to sabotage Lance.

Who says there is a recession on?

2010-10-03T18:33:00.000-07:00

Recession schmession.

Is the economy were really that bad? Do people really have no extra money to spend on non-essentials?
The answer is NO.

I discovered this while shopping at Buehlers today.

Near the frozen food section, by the wine department was Buehlers latest offering. Non-alcoholic beer for dogs.
Bowser Beer is available in chicken or beef flavor for only $2.99 per bottle. Heck, you could go to the Speedway and pick up a king-sized can of malt liquor for that price. It isn't beef or chicken flavored, but at least Colt 45 would allow your dog to enjoy a real alcoholic beverage. What the heck? It ain't like he's driving.

Quite an effective package and logo design don't you think? That dog looks like he's been on the sauce for at least two years (which is fourteen in people years).
Really, he looks mean when he's sober. I'd hate to be near him when he falls into a drunken rage. Many a leg would be humped, the mailman would be taken down, and the neighbors trash would be rummaged into the next school district.

The kids wanted to try Cock-a-poo Brew. Hmmm. Sounds good but I'd really rather have an import from a German micro-brewery. Who came up with these names? Possibly the human taste tester who developed this product.

It looks like a store employee wrote "per bottle" in ball point pen on the sign above the doggie beer. It makes me wonder what ugly scene led to this. Who went up to the cashier with six bottles of dog beer thinking it cost $2.99 a six pack and got furious when the total was over 18 bucks?
Also, I wonder if Wayne County taxes this product.
Do they consider it part of the sin tax? Can you buy it on Sundays?
Is doggie beer available on WIC?

What to do on a Sunday afternoon? Hey! I know! Let's body double for famous fast food icons!

2010-09-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

We got the tailgater's special. It came with a soda that was so big it had a bucket handle.

Take the #$%&* picture already so I can eat the props!

This project has Hildee's full undivided attention.

OK, it is silly, but a certain fast food chain is running a "sketch the colonel" contest. The terms and prize money are dismal, but times are tough and I am starving. I thought about it and decided "why not?"
The fast food chain is very protective of their image which I find counters the whole idea of the contest. Artists are absolutely not allowed to use any copyrighted reference for their portrait of the colonel.
That being said, I employed Ralph to pose as ole' Harlan. I dressed him up in the clothing that had the most similar cut as the suit the colonel wears. We even bought a bucket of chicken for the occasion.

YAY! We can eat the food now!

I will keep you posted if I win anything, LOL.

Ralph is such a good sport.

Grandpa's Cheese Barn

2010-08-03T16:29:00.000-07:00

Right by the entrance to the interstate in Ashland sits a tourist mecca called Grandpa's Cheese Barn. We've passed by it hundreds of times over the years, never stopping to see the cheese Grandpa was offering.
I don't know, maybe it is the name that put us off. Something about Grandpa and cheese in one phrase...
So we would laugh at the place but never actually stop the car and check it out. Last week one of the guys that works with Ralph told him how shortsighted our view was. He said that Grandpa has the best cheese and much much more to offer. We had to check it out. Ralph's coworker was right- Grandpa's Cheese Barn was a lot of fun.
We went on Sunday. The place was mobbed.
They had more than cheese- they also sold a lot of pickled things that looked like the stuff you see in biology class during the dissection lessons. There was ice cream and candy and fudge- all of which were sold by surprisingly thin women. They must not eat much of their wares. I wonder if I should be concerned about that.
What I found most interesting was that Grandpa also rented honeymoon cottages. Again, this place is on the exit ramp of the I-71 in Ashland Ohio. It is on the beginning of a four-lane strip that has a Walmart, a couple of business plazas and a Wendy's. It isn't the place I'd think of when considering where to honeymoon, but I guess there is a recession on.

Oreos dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with candy. Is this why midwesterners tend to be overweight? Have the vendors at the state fair heard of this idea?

Some of Grandpa's offerings. The girls were in heaven. I gave them twenty bucks and let them go to town.

Grandpa's B&B suites? Looking at this sign now, it seems like you don't need a reservation. I wonder if Grandpa rents the rooms by the hour. Come to think of it, JUST WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS GRANDPA RUNNING????!

There is nothing more homey than a building shaped like a shed.

Except one that has a lovely view of the interstate.

If you are interested, here is a link. It looks like they do mail order for out of towners.
Grandpa's cheese barn website
They also have a fan page on facebook if you are so inclined.

Are we rednecks yet?

2010-08-03T15:38:00.000-07:00

I guess that is a yes.
Nevertheless, we had some fun this weekend at the farm. Ralph pruned and restaked the grapes. I am not sure if you are supposed to do that at this time of year, but oh well. He is trying to make them look like the ones we saw in Germany. I will have to post some photos from the Rhineland for comparison with our sad little bunch of seedlings.
Anyhoo, after that, he gave the girls a shooting lesson. They really loved archery when they were away at camp. Ralph is the one who got the arrow stuck in the barn.
At the end of the day, right before it was time to go, Ralph p*%#$d off a whole bunch of bees who made a delightful condo on the front of the garage. He pulled the car up alongside the nest, got out and wacked it with a board. Then he sprayed bug spray into the center of the nest. There are so many things that could have gone wrong with this game plan. If the nest weren't on the front of the garage, one of the girls could have shot a flaming arrow through it. Hopefully the bees will pack up and be gone when we go back in a few days. If not, I hope they don't hold a grudge.

Fun at the party store.

2010-07-05T14:19:00.000-07:00

I found these offerings at the local party store this afternoon. I wonder why I don't go there more often.

Wow, they sell instant disguise kits. I know that when I don't want to be recognized, it is best to dress up like Uncle Sam or a pilgrim lady.

It looks like the giant wig is cutting off circulation to this little girl's head. She seems to be saying "take the %^#@ing picture already!"

Are there really many Moms buying fishnet stocking for their little daughters?!! This kid has more makeup on her face than I've worn in the last three months.

Apparently when you put on this body builder costume, it makes your head ten times it's natural size.

Call child services! The parents of this boy are making sure he will not stand a chance in normal society! Maybe with some intervention or foster care...

Looking back at Margo's Wooster City Schools career...

2010-06-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a milestone for Margo. She graduated from high school. Yeah, I know, we all go through this at some point. Still I was surprised at how sentimental I felt as I sat in the stands and watched so many kids that I've known for twelve years now get their diplomas. Each one of them is going on to something different, a new chapter if you will. Most of Margo's class will go on to college, one is attending the Air Force academy. There are five brave souls who enlisted in the Armed Forces.
Because the weather was stormy, they had the ceremony in the gym. It is amazing who crawls out of the woodwork to attend a graduation ceremony. Oops, that's not nice.
Oh well, here are a few shots from yesterday. I am going to dig up some vintage school photos too. Her thirteen years in Wooster's school system has been a long, sometimes rocky, sometimes happy journey. She ended it on a very positive note. We are all looking forward to seeing what is in store next.
One down, Two to go!

Life comes at you fast.

2010-05-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

It seems like just last week my little baby went to prom.
Her AARP member card arrived in the mail today.
WHERE DID THE TIME GO?

Prom time!

2010-05-25T10:36:00.000-07:00

Margo got asked to go to the prom by Patrick, a neighbor of ours.
Proms haven't changed much in the twenty or so years it's been since I went to mine. There are still lots of over done dresses in a rainbow of pastel colors, over done hair, shiny lip gloss and stretch limos.
What is new to prom since I went are the required breathalizer test at the door, the mosh pit in the center of the room where "grinding" had to be stopped several times by Mr Journey Gifford, and the bevy of tattoos that poked out of many of the attendees dresses.
LOL, some things never change, some things never stay the same.

Building an Orchard

2010-05-22T05:42:00.001-07:00

Catherine thought it would be fun to have an orchard. Like everyone in the midwest, we get a bunch of seed catalogs in the mail the day after Christmas. They inspire Catherine who wanted to grow every fruit imaginable. Ralph thought we would start small with a few blueberries, raspberries, and grapes. We went to Lowes to browse the selection. I was thinking we'd order root stock from the catalogs, but Ralph and Catherine couldn't resist picking out full size plants in gallon-size containers.
They rented a roto-tiller and planted the patch at the farm yesterday. The camera broke before they could take a photo of the bushes planted in the ground. I will shoot some more photos when I get out there next week.
I am concerned about this. I hear deer eat everything. Ralph and Catherine put netting on the bushes, but I wonder if that is enough. There are a lot of animals out there. I hope the berry patch doesn't become some deer's salad bar.

The need for speed... well, kinda.

2010-04-02T05:00:00.000-07:00

Juliet participated in her first track meet yesterday. It started at 4pm after school and went until after 8:30pm. I will just post a few photos since I am still recovering from hangin out in the mud at the junior high for four hours.
She had a good time- little "Flo- Jo" wants to do this again, after spring break.
OK, I included a photo of Catherine rolling on the minibike Ralph got them at the farm store. It has nothing to do with track but I thought it was cute.

A new barn wall.

2010-03-21T09:21:00.000-07:00

While I was away on a school contact period last week, Ralph had some Amish guys come out and fix the barn wall. The side with the barn bridge was starting to give way. We knew we had to do something about it soon before the barn fell down completely.
The way the crew went about their work was amazing. They knew just what to do, I suppose they've done this type of thing before. It is interesting, the Amish guys hire a driver to take them back and forth from home, yet they use Bobcats and other types of engine powered tools to accomplish their work. They are going to wrap things up this week- the barn is still jacked up and they're going to replace a few rafters. After that, it will be lowered onto it's new foundation. Hopefully, one that will last a long time.

Still snowed in.

2010-02-20T07:16:00.000-08:00

The driveway is still blocked with snow. Here are a few shots of the hike to get down the lane. If I can get some work this year, maybe we can buy a tractor with a blade. Anyone need some digital illustration? Pet portrait? House cleaned?

Cool stuff at undisclosed airline...

2010-01-15T05:46:00.000-08:00

Ralph has gotten to do some cool stuff the last few months. Since November he's flown tourists to Vegas, Cancun Mexico and south Florida a bunch of times. Layovers at places like those make the sting of staying at Sewark easier to bear. Since the recession he's noticed that Vegas has gotten a lot more red-necky, but that is a whole other blog entry. I think I need to go see that for myself. I have an inner redneck thats just dying to get out. I digress... I guess I am a bit out of practice when it comes to writing.
About a week ago Ralph had the privilege of flying Captain Sullenberger from a city in the west to a city in the east. Ralph was going through the preflight checklists when an excited cabin attendant came in and told him Sulley was on board. Ralph had a few extra moments so he ran back into the airport to the Barnes and Noble and bought a copy of Sulley's book. He had the attendant take it to him with a note requesting an autograph. Sulley signed it and took it up to the cockpit personally after which they talked planes and airline regulations until it was time to pull back from the jetway.
The flight was uneventful which is the best kind always. The winds were strong that day, requiring Ralph to land on the short runway. He treated Sulley and everyone on board to one of his signature Navy landings. WooHoo!
The other photo shows Ralph in Vegas in front of undisclosed airline's retro 737. Said airline celebrated a big anniversary last fall. To celebrate, they painted a brand new 737 in a retro paint scheme. Ralph's been waiting to get the chance to fly this one. He hasn't yet. It was parked next to his assigned plane with the boring 2009 color scheme.
Maybe I am old. I prefer the retro design.
Update- April 2010- We are not allowed to show photos on the web that identify the airline or it's worker. You will have to take my word for it- the retro plane is really cool.

To new beginnings...

2010-01-13T18:09:00.000-08:00

I am repainting and rearranging my studio this week. The entire place is ripped up right now. The only thing not moved out of the room is my computer table and the old shrank we got at the flea market in Germany. That will be a big piece of furniture to move.
With this home renovation come a couple of new years resolutions...
I am going to-
learn Corel Painter
finish my MFA
get my photos and files organized
wear dresses like Donna Reed
learn Adobe Illustrator
have a bitchin' vegetable garden
train Hildee not to bark at passersby
and
eat vegetarian three times a week.
2010 is going to be FABULOUS!
Oh, and I am going to blog more too.

Black Friday

2009-11-27T18:47:00.000-08:00

Thought we check out the sales at Bigots.

Grey day in Mansfield...

2009-11-23T15:32:00.000-08:00

They finally took off the corn. It's like a real life FarmVille around here. Now that the corn is gone, we can walk around and see the fields and woods. In the field behind the barn is the remains of a giant oak tree. We could see a bit of it from the road, but couldn't walk out and get a good look until today.
The neighbors said the old man who owned the place before us cut it down about a year ago. He was afraid it would fall on someone. It was a giant ancient oak tree that was really sick. All that is left now is the massive rotted out trunk. It looks like there are twenty racoons living inside of it. I wonder who Mr. Hoover thought the tree could have fallen on.
The farm was really pretty, even when it is muddy and brown. We found a lot of deer tracks, muskrat holes and a few mysterious burrows.
At the farm store we saw an Amish cart parked in the handicapped section. I guess the wheelchair sign makes a good hitching post.

OMG! What if Mom and Dad went Amish?!

2009-11-18T10:46:00.000-08:00

I am sure everyone has asked that question from time to time.
Today I am working on my Amish farmers market story. The final scene has the entire clan gathered around the table for a post-flea market feast. Mom and Dad were good humored enough to pose as the grandparents in the scene. Since Amish families are typically large, I have to find a bunch of other good humored people to pose for the rest of the family.
Does Dad's beard look realistic? I am surprised how difficult imagining an Amish beard was until I looked at some ZZTop reference. After that, it was a breeze.

Catherine breaks a board or two...

2009-10-24T07:31:00.000-07:00

Catherine has begun breaking her boards at Karate. Those poor little boards never stood a chance. She's about halfway through the board breaking. When she gets through that, she'll be a purple belt! We are all proud of her :-)

Little Miss Orange Belt!

2009-10-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time coming, but Juliet finally was awarded her orange belt today. WOoHOo! We are proud of our little butter bean. Now if we could only get Catherine to break her boards...

Another wet day at the farm.

2009-09-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

Ran out to check on the farm today. It's been raining off and on for the last two weeks. The grass really needs to be mowed, but it's been too wet the last few times I was there. We had a cold front move in. It is chilly, I cranked up the furnace here at home yesterday. I was hoping I wouldn't have to do that for a few more weeks. The cold front brought high winds for a couple of days. I couldn't find any damage and the house still has electricity.
The creature under the porch seems to be very happy there. I really really hope it's not a skunk.
Not much else to tell about the visit. Hildee got to sniff a whole lot of stuff and I just picked up the mail and ate a peanut butter sandwich on the gazebo in the cold.

Homecoming 2009

2009-09-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

We never had homecoming in Souderton, or did we? I can't remember. I am pretty sure we didn't have a Homecoming Queen. That is something I would not have ever been chosen for, but I would have remembered who was.
Wooster does have Homecoming celebrations. They have a parade on Thursday after school, a football game on Friday (we won it this year for a change), and a semi-formal dance at the high school on Saturday. By the end of Saturday, I was wiped out.
Both Catherine and Margo went this year. Juliet wished she could go, but it's only for ninth grade and up. Catherine went with a gaggle of girlfriends, and Margo went with Justin, her boyfriend.
Margaret and Justin looked cute together. He and his mom went out of their way to make sure his attire matched Margaret's dress. Margo had to be ready early, since they decided to go out to eat before the dance. I was surprised at all of the formalities. Homecoming is like Prom in the fall!
Getting ready for the dance drove my entire day yesterday. I had to get shoes, strapless undergarments, boutonniere, pantyhose, and an assortment of cosmetics. Apparently, everyone else in town had the exact same idea as me. The stores were packed with Homecoming shoppers. By the time we got back from shopping, we were out of time. I quickly did Margo's hair and then drove back up to the northend to pick up the boutonniere which wasn't ready when we stopped by the first time. When I got back, Justin was already here. Catherine cleaned up the house while he stood outside for a few minutes. We were using the kitchen table by the front door as our staging area. After she threw all of the makeup, hairspray, and curling irons into a cupboard, she let Justin in and attempted to make small talk. Juliet was back in the bedroom putting the finishing touches on Margo. I got home in time to pin on the boutonniere, take a few photos and send them out the door. I wanted to photograph them on the back deck amidst flowers and pumpkins, but it was pouring down rain. A flash photo in front of the bookcase had to do.
Catherine and Zoe were next in Juliet's beauty assembly line. We got them done and ready to go with time to spare. I drove them to the dance were they met up with their group of friends. I was a bit worried that Zoe might not be allowed into the dance since she didn't have her student id with her. I told them to call me and confirm that they got in. After about 45 minutes, I still hadn't heard from them. I called to see what was up, and they didn't know yet- they all had to stand in line and wait their turn to take a breathalizer test. I am wondering if drinking is a big problem at these events. I guess the girls passed, because they did get into the dance a few minutes later, and if, God forbid, they're ever stopped by the police, they'll know what to expect.
The theme of the dance was Saturday Night Fever. We were psyched about this and played some of the soundtrack while we were getting ready. It's a good thing we played the disco here, because the dj at the dance played only rap. Not one disco song. I guess he was bringing sexy back or something.
One of the girls teachers, Mrs. Thorley, was chaperoning the dance. She was a bit dismayed by some of the dancing, thinking the kids were way too close, especially during the slow dances. She regretted not bringing her salad tongs along to demonstrate to the girls and boys how far they should stay apart when dancing. I don't know if Margo and Justin got salad tong lecture. I will check into that.
Juliet wanted to go sooooo much! She was so helpful in getting her sisters ready. She even put on an old dress from the 50's for the pictures. Maybe next year. I took her out to Bob Evans to ease the pain.
Not much else to tell here. I am so fried from yesterday, as are the girls. We are going to stay close to home this afternoon and try to get ready for the school week.

Summer's Last Stand...

2009-09-21T16:17:00.000-07:00

This mega-intelligent animal decided to put it's home under the concrete slab between our side door and the cellarway.

Hildee and I out for a walk. The guy that rents the ground agreed to mow down the grass twice a year. It looks so much better all cleaned up.

Another shot of the mowed up pasture.

There is this ancient rose bush in front of the house. It was overgrown and I pruned it way way back. I worried that I might have killed it, but it has come back gangbusters. It's roses are yellow, which remind me of Ralph's dad. He gave Ralph's mom yellow roses every year on their anniversary.

Hildee and my woodpile.

There is really not much to report these days. I went to the farm today. We are letting one of our neighbors cut up fallen timber on our property for firewood. In exchange, he dropped off a cord of chopped up wood. I was expecting it to come a little later in the fall, but it was waiting for me today. I got to make my very first wood pile. I am going to be popping Motrin for the rest of the week.
Anyway, there is something living under our porch. We are going to trap it when Ralph gets back. I am thinking about asking another one of our neighbors who likes to trap coons, if he wants to catch it. The question is, what kind of creature is it? We have been trying to figure that out for quite a while. At first, we thought it was a ground hog, but it seems to be nocturnal because we have never seen any sign of it during the daytime.
A couple of times when we drove out there, Ralph parked the car at the end of the driveway. Then he tip-toed up the lane with a shotgun. The kids were quoting Elmer Fudd- "Shhhhhhh.... be very very quiet... I'm huntin' wabbits!"
That is exactly what Ralph looked like, but the wasckly wabbit or whatever is under there was safely in his burrow.
I guess the worst case scenario is that it could be a skunk. Man, if it was and it sprayed under the porch, we'd be so hosed.
Oh well, we will have to wait and see. Maybe Ralph can sign out a sniper rifle and a pair of night vision goggles from the base. He could be the nocturnal dealer of death to the little beast.

Mary's Debut...

2009-09-18T17:40:00.001-07:00

Ok, hopefully this is the last installment in the saga of the statue. This afternoon, Rob had a little party to celebrate the unveiling of his beautiful statue. Friends, patients, and fellow church members turned out for the occasion.

Installing a statue...

2009-09-11T14:53:00.000-07:00

Rob looks like he is levitating the statue. I was a bit freaked out. The thing weighed over 1200 pounds.Mary seems to be saying "let us out of here!"

My friend Rob thought it would be cool to have a beautiful statue outside of his new medical office. He wanted a sculpture of The Virgin Mary with Jesus and he wanted to dedicate it to Sharon, the mother of his eight children.
Rob found some sculptors online . The ones with the best price were Chinese. They were talented carvers, but didn't really understand what made a beautiful western-style Mary sculpture. In their samples, the figures looked heavy and clunky and Jesus looked like a dwarf Roman man. Rob found a painting he liked of Mary and showed it to them. The Chinese said they could recreate the painting. Rob wanted my advice on all of this- I convinced him to get them to make a clay "sketch" first. They did this and sent us pictures. My job was to try to convey to the Chinese sculptors what we were looking for with pictures since there was a huge language barrier. We'd draw pictures of what changes we wanted them to make, then they would send us more photos of the revisions. We went back and forth several times.
The Chinese were very patient with revision after revision. Finally, after about six weeks, the clay statue was just right and we were ready to go to marble.
They got this huge block of marble in Italy. They shipped it to China and this guy hacked away at it with a big electric grinder. I can't believe how he just dug in and chipped away at the marble. One slip of the grinder and someone would have to make another trip to Italy for a new piece of marble.
They sent us photos of Mary and Jesus coming out of the chunk of marble. It was truly the coolest thing I've done all year.
It was finished in August, shipped to California and then trucked to us here. The statue was removed from the crate yesterday and put on her new pedestal in front of Rob's office. It was weird seeing her in the crate. The contractor and I both felt like they were somehow alive and required extra caution in moving and setting them up. I guess the sense that a piece of artwork is alive is a sign that the piece of artwork is really good.
BTW, the photos are hopelessly out of order. The statue was dropped off in a crate. The contractor removed the crate then got a crane and a strap and hoisted her into the air. Rob had the pedestal all ready to go. It had an opening in the center which they filled with concrete. The statue had three holes drilled in it's base. They put rebar into the holes, and covered the top of the pedestal with some sort of contact cement. Then we stuck Mary on the base. We had about two minutes to adjust her position before the cement got too hard.
BTW, the guy in the grey t-shirt is a statuary expert who came down from Cleveland. He was afraid we didn't know what we were doing. LOL.

when your mom is an illustrator... part three

2009-09-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

I am working on an illustration of turn-of-the century suffragette Alice Paul. It is an assignment for Hartford, due in November.Thankfully, Margo looks just a little like Alice Paul and is a good sport about posing. Here are my first attempts at a costume. I have to collect some better items, mainly a good sash and a fancier hat.
I included a photo of an actual suffrage parade. There aren't a lot of photos on the subject. I wonder what the two women in the front row are saying to each other. I've been using this photo to get ideas for costuming, but I can't help but wonder about the cat fight that seems to be forming as the photo is being taken.
Cat fight is a sexist term, isn't it.
The woman on the far right seems to be snickering or yawning. The baby in the stroller is probably wondering why every walk isn't like this one.
Oh well, back to work.

Last Chance Judging...

2009-08-11T16:46:00.000-07:00

Catherine and Juliet took their projects to Last Chance judging tonight. This may be the last time we do anything with 4-h. I was glad they both got outstanding ratings with their projects. Juliet's was a medium-level cooking project call Food and Fitness Choices For You. It was a lot of fitness stuff and not as much cooking I think she liked that.
Catherine did an advanced cooking project, Global Gourmet. She wasn't too thrilled about the India and Africa sections, but was a big fan of Germany and Japan. She is a picky eater, but didn't admit to the judge that I had to threaten her to eat the food she cooked.
I am glad it is over. The worst case scenario for tonight would have been if one of them had won and one had bombed. That's happened before... then I spend the entire evening comforting one and praising the other without making the losing one feel bad. It's always so much easier when they bomb or triumph together.

a few shots of the farm...

2009-08-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of shots of the farm. We are trying to make the place feel like home, but it's a challenge. We can't do a lot of renovating right now, so we're just trying to clean it up as best as we can. All of the remodeling will have to come later.
He got a little John Deere lawn mower. And a string trimmer. Maybe it's a guy thing, but he is in his glory zipping around the place keeping dominion over the plant life. We probably should have done this sooner.
We've been having a lot of fun hanging out at the farm. Even with the launcher, we can't throw the tennis ball for the dog far enough. The girls like to throw balls into the corn field, but the dog only ever finds about half of them. I am not made of tennis ball money, so they've stopped doing that. We've all been mountain biking around the corn fields. For me, it proves one thing. I am REALLY out of shape when it comes to mountain biking. I will post pictures of the girls riding around though. It is cute to watch.
This is where they buried the former owner. I guess he REALLY loved the place and didn't want to leave.
Garden shed? Or two-hole outhouse? We aren't really sure yet. We have to kill a bunch of wasps nests before we can investigate.
Our goose, Gladys, keeping watch by the door. She's a bit worn down by the elements, we might have to put her on our covered porch in Wooster.
We're thinking about fencing in that meadow and putting sheep there, but then we'd have sheep.

Pig Racing

2009-07-31T17:51:00.000-07:00

OK, it's official, we are rednecks. Why you ask? Because this week we attended a pig race. The state fair had one of these sanctioned events every two hours in the center of the midway. Pork Chop Downs was run by The Show Me Swine Racers from East Bay Missouri. They gave the pigs clever names like Britney Spare Ribs, Snoop Hog, and Hamma Montana. The announcer picked kids from the audience to be pig routers. Margo and Catherine jumped up and down like crazy trying to get picked to be a pig router. Juliet would have no parts of any of it. None of the girls got picked, but that didn't spoil the fun. They played Cotton Eye Joe and Rocky Top between the three races. At post time, the pigs ran out of the gate and around the track like crazy to get what I assumed to be a sugar cookie. For the finale, they had pot-bellied pigs who lumbered around the track at a very slow pace. It was all very cute, but I doubt most of the piggies will be alive by Christmas. If they do attend next year's fair, it will be on a stick.

This year's state fair food.

2009-07-31T17:22:00.000-07:00

Here are a few shots of the tasty offerings at this year's state fair. A lot of it is the same as last year, but there are a few newbies. I am wondering how one would put manicotti on a stick? What is with fairs and sticks? They even put chicken wings on sticks. How is that possible.
Juliet and Catherine got into the spirit of the day by eating corn dogs, a traditional stick food.

Macaroni and Cheese is apparently too healthy for Ohio fair goers. It must be deep-fried to satisfy buckeyes.

To be honest, Ralph likes deep-fried pickles... but what is with the creepy kid pants planters? What happened to the top of the kids?!

When I think of a meatball splash, I think of scalding tomato sauce. Ralph has a more earthy take, saying something about hitting porcelain a few hours later. Ewwww.

If the girl scouts had deep-fried their smores, maybe my kids would have stayed in the club. BTW, Catherine pointed out the deep fried Captain Crunch sign in the bottom center of the photo. I hadn't caught that until she saw it.

How do you put wings on a stick? I will find out next year, if they're still there.

Cheese on a stick?

Oh, heck with it...

Buckeye candies are sugar and fat bombs... all the better to deep-fry!

I have nothing left to say.

Margaret wins at the state fair!

2009-07-30T17:19:00.000-07:00

Margaret got picked to represent Wayne County at the Ohio State Fair in the 4-H Creative Arts category. We took her down to Columbus today for judging. She had to present her completed project book, a sample of artwork, and complete a written exam based on the principles taught in the project book.
Margaret knew the book really well and sailed through all of the interviewer's questions. And she won best in the state! Her prize was the coveted 4-H clock trophy. I am sure it will grace her mantel for many years to come.
It was a great day, after the judging we got to eat really weird food and watch pig racing. More on that later...

Finally, a farm...

2009-07-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

After years of bids, walk-throughs, drive-bys, inspections, and auctions, we FINALLY got a farm! John, our realtor, must have shown us over a hundred properties. He has the patience of a saint and probably won't know what to do with all of his newly found free time. I told him to give us a call sometime if there is a property he wants to walk, just for old time's sake.
I will have to blog sometime about some of the funny experiences we had when we were touring properties. John would joke about the fact that odd, unforseen things always seemed to happen when the Freeds tried to make a deal.
This transaction was no exception. Apparently, the farm has been in the same family since the turn of the century. When we sell it, we will have to pay for a new survey. It hasn't been surveyed in over one hundred years and uses a system of measurement that nobody uses anymore.
The farm came with a gazebo. This structure meant a lot to Ed, the former owner and he specified it stay on the farm in his will. Neighbors told us that he had a crazy ex-wife who stole it and put it in front of her trailer in Holmes County. One night last year, when Ed was fighting a terminal illness, he and a couple of neighbors snuck down there and stole it back. Our sweet neighbor was sure he was going to get shot, but the crazy ex-wife never heard them jack up the gazebo and strap it onto a flat bed trailer and drive away.
Oh well, we sure are delighted he stole it back. The gazebo will always have a special place on our farm.
Our farm. I still can't believe I can say that now. Of course it won't be entirely ours until we're done paying for it in 25 years, but it is still fun to say.
BTW, the house is a shack. It was built in 1884 and has great bones, but is in serious need of updating. It will be a long time before we actually move there, but I am looking forward to bringing it back to it's former glory, LOL.
It has a bank barn too. The barn is teaming with ground hogs and honey bees. This is gonna be interesting.

July Happenings...

2009-07-08T07:40:00.000-07:00

It's another lazy July in Wooster. Juliet is hating having to go to swim team, the girls wrapped up summer gym, and Ralph is far far away. I don't think he's spent a summer in Wooster ever, but he did get to be here for the fireworks last year.
Anyhoo, here's a shot from yesterday, Catherine's 15th birthday. Margo and Juliet made her a cake. Unfortunately they frosted it while it was still hot, so the icing ran down the sides. It still tasted good and Catherine seemed happy with the results.
As a special birthday treat, I took Catherine to the oral surgeon to get one of her teeth pulled down. She has two teeth up in the roof of her mouth. One seems to be drifting down to where it should be, the doctors want to give it time to move in on it's own. The other tooth is descending right into the root of one of her front teeth. The surgeon dug up in there, exposed the tooth and put a bracket and a wire on it. Now the orthodontist can hook it up to the rest of her braces and pull the tooth down to where it should be.
The procedure took about half an hour. Catherine had general anesthesia because it can be painful. I was surprised to hear that the anesthesia wasn't covered by our dental plan. Apparently they consider it a luxury, not a necessity. So, the drugs were Mom's birthday gift I suppose.
Catherine was really loopy when she woke up. She almost slid out of the chair a bunch of times. Her tongue and mouth were pretty bloody. Juliet wanted to go and seemed cool about the entire situation, but then she left to go to the restroom. A nurse came in a few moments later and informed me that she almost passed out in the hall and they had her resting in another patient room. So for a while I was going back and forth between the rooms making sure both of them stay in their chairs. I told Juliet she'd think this was funny some day, but she didn't agree.
I found that Catherine becomes really honest when she's looped up on anesthesia. She told the doctor that his frog mobile was creepy. I bet they hear that all of the time.
The morning was more stressful than I realize. I think I am going to go pass out for the rest of the day.
BTW, I love Cat's crooked smile in these shots. Her mouth will be numbed up until this evening, LOL.

Street Art in Wayne County

2009-06-18T11:04:00.000-07:00

This is a stop sign on Wooster's north end. It got defaced about a month ago. The sign is outside Pat Catans, the town's craft store. I am guessing the graffiti artist shoplifted a paint pen there and walked about 100 feet to create his street art.
Graffiti pops up around here now and then. Some of it looks like the big city stuff, probably created by a Clevelander. But a lot of the street art in Wooster cracks me up. The penmanship is often good and legible, things are spelled correctly, and sometimes, they even use cursive.
What struck me as odd about this act of vandalism was the spelling. The correct spelling for an urban princess is Ho. This guy spelled it Hoe, like the garden implement.
Also, are we in danger of Hoes stopping? What would they be stopping and why? I have a hunch that there will be no Hoe stoppage at any point in the near future, so not to worry.

Margo breaks nine boards in two minutes.

2009-06-15T18:05:00.001-07:00

This was the last step Margo had to take before she advanced to purple belt.

Landing a plane in primitive conditions.

2009-06-07T07:13:00.001-07:00

Apparently there are some complex issues that can arrive when one lands an airplane on a runway that isn't paved. Ralph's been learning about this stuff and got to land his plane on a dirt runway somewhere down south yesterday. I thought these pictures looked pretty cool. I think they're in Georgia, it's definitely not Ohio.
I have some more shots of parachuters jumping out the back of the plane, but they're still on his phone. I will add them to this post later. He can never understand why anyone in their right mind would want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane.
The girls are doing well- though nothing interesting is happening. We may go to the pool this afternoon.

another grizzly scene...

2009-06-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

The girls got back from their last day of school today. Tomorrow is Juliet's birthday. Margo built her a cake. Juliet and Margo decorated it after viewing the cakewreck blog site.
What are we going to do this summer????!!!!

Flying the friendly skies with baseball teams, beauty queens and trophies...

2009-05-27T02:25:00.001-07:00

Ralph got to fly some impressive people around this week. One of his flights was a red-eye from Houston to Minneapolis. I wondered who on earth would want to fly that route late at night? It turned out to be a charter for the Milwaukee Brewers. Charter flights are always interesting. They weren't sure of the take-off time. I guess the game the team was playing took longer than expected and then there were probably showers and interviews. The food is better on charter flights, no king crab or anything, this isn't the Yankees. But they got poached tilapia and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. WTH? The plane also had several rows of seats removed and replaced with poker tables. Ralph thought it be cool to go back and play a few hands but he had to fly the plane.
The team was very polite. Ralph thought they were the nicest bunch of skoal-chewing rednecks in Armani suits that he's ever met. It's a shame the Twins went on to whoop their butts.
On a later flight, Ralph got to fly Miss Kenya and her giant trophy. She is very poised and well-spoken. She politely laughed at Ralph's lame jokes and posed for a picture with all of the crew members.
Question- how did security let Miss Kenya on board with that giant trophy? A few swings with that thing could kill a person. I don't know, maybe it's the girls karate stuff that makes me think this way. Did the giant trophy go into the overhead? Under a seat? Maybe they bought a positive space ticket for the trophy and they strapped it in a seat alongside of her. I have to ask Ralph about these important issues.
Ralph's big dream is to one day fly the Stanley Cup.

tribute to farmers...

2009-05-23T14:44:00.000-07:00

There was a nice letter in the paper today about Grandpop.
Here's the link-

http://www.thereporteronline.com/articles/2009/05/23/opinion/srv0000005368637.txt

OK, we're a little bored today...

2009-05-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

While I was downstairs working, the girls built a tent city in the livingroom. They are watching Aladdin on tv. WTH?
I have to think of something constructive to do with the rest of today.

From The Archives...

2009-05-22T06:29:00.000-07:00

I found this old cartoon in my files. It looks like Pop, doesn't it? I have to find the rest of the story. There are a few others. It was for a very simple board book. I think I painted it in 2002.

Grandpop, the supermodel...

2009-05-18T07:28:00.000-07:00

Ralph brought back these pictures from the farm in PA. Someone there found them while going through Grandpop's files. In 1954 he modeled the latest in New Holland's forage harvesters. He is the big, muscular farmer running the latest equipment New Holland had to offer in 1954. These photos were featured in the October and December issues of the New Holland Digest during that year. There are other professional shots of him running other equipment too, but I don't have the corresponding magazines.
Ralph never knew that farming could be so glamorous. He also wonders if the Harvest-Graze system ever caught on or if it was just another flash in the pan. Fifty years later we can all agree that providing digestable nutrients and avoiding bloat are still important issues.

Robert Landis Freed

2009-05-18T07:01:00.000-07:00

We said goodbye to Ralph's dad this week. He'd been struggling with a bunch of health issues for several months. We were hoping he could overcome them and have a few more good seasons at his farmstand. Though that wasn't meant to be, we are thankful that he was given great care by the hospitals and doctors, Ralph's mom Valeria, and his sisters Nancy and Dawn. Ralph and Catherine also got to be by his side at the very end, which we are grateful for.
Hundreds of people turned out at the calling hours and funeral. I guess that is an indicator of a life well-spent.
Way to go, Pop.

The local paper wrote an article about Grand-pop. Here's the link-

http://montgomerynews.com/articles/2009/05/13/souderton_independent/news/doc4a0a78dbd08f6130249400.txt

Here's the link to his obituary-

http://montgomerynews.com/articles/2009/05/13/obituaries/doc4a0a65a424dc8595557928.txt

Future Suitors Beware Part II...

2009-05-05T15:46:00.000-07:00

Ralph had to shoot at the pistol range today. I guess they make the pilots do this every few years. He thinks it's kind of a waste of time. If he actually gets shot down in enemy territory and survives the crash, a little pistol isn't going to do him much good against combatants on the ground. He thinks his plane should have a gun rack with some decent fire power on it maybe even some rocket-propelled stuff, but I think that is simply his inner redneck coming out.
Anyway, showing the girls his target is a pretty good motivational tool. We are going to hang it near the front door. Ralph got a decent score- he hit his target on all but three of the forty-five shots.
Pretty good for an old guy. Afterwards he celebrated with the early bird special at Bob Evans and a crossword puzzle.

Diversity Day Part III

2009-05-03T12:14:00.000-07:00

Margaret rocked the diversity celebration this year. Two of her pictures and a quote were selected for the billboards. It was really cute- the wind didn't blow the billboards down like they did last year.
Margaret also got to read her quote at the opening presentation. So, aside from the one redneck who drove by in a pick up truck honking his Dixieland horn, it was a fun occasion.

Margo enters a poster contest...

2009-04-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

The ACT Test organization is sponsoring a poster contest. The point is to encourage high schoolers to take the ACT instead of the SAT. They offered this contest with a big prize.
This is Margaret's entry. She was trying to be a bit edgy, like Catherine's eating while driving picture, but I am not sure if she succeeded at that. It is eye-catching though, and it illustrates their point.
We'll see.

Snowqueen and Twinkie's funeral...

2009-04-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

I thought this was sad when we buried them about a month ago, but now it seems amusing.
Snowqueen passed away after a brief illness. I think she missed her companion Twinkie.
I created a burial container out of a cracker box, but Ralph insisted on stuffing Snowqueen into Twinkie's pop tart box that was still in the freezer.
The ground was somewhat thawed and it wasn't raining, so we thought we'd bury them straight away.
I guess as far as gerbils go, they had a decent life... and a respectful burial by the shed where the guinea pigs and a few fish are interned.

Juliet Gets Confirmed!

2009-04-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

After completing her class requirements, Juliet got confirmed as an official member of the church today. We are so proud of her. Way to go Juliet!
BTW, anyone notice she's wearing Dad's old jacket? She found it in the basement storage area last week. At least it fits someone LOL.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.

2009-02-22T13:30:00.000-08:00

Alright, I admit it. There is absolutely NOTHING going on around here this weekend. We are enjoying another lake effect snowstorm today, have a stew in the crock pot and are watching the same old dvds over and over. Catherine and Juliet are happy that they figured out how to kill a couple of things on Final Fantasy and Margaret is in the midst of some elaborate writing assignment that is leaving her less than humorous.
The biggest excitement around here today was the news that everything in Odd Lots is on sale for 20% off. You'd think that they would be recession-proof, but even Odd Lots looks like they're struggling right now.
I found a lovely Las Vegas lamp there back at Thanksgiving. Hard to believe, but it was still there today! I might go back and pick up a sofa-size oil painting, some root beer-flavored chapstick and a formal plaster art deco vase stand.
Odd Lots was making room for all of the garden decorations. I saw something new there this year- plastic garden gnomes! Oh Yeah! I think we're the only house on the street that doesn't have one!

What is wrong with this picture?!

2009-02-11T09:39:00.000-08:00

MY VIEW

RALPH'S VIEW

Ralph called me from the road today. He also sent a photo that showed where he was calling from. I emailed what I was looking at right back to him. WTH?
I am going to make him clean the house when he returns.

Safety Poster Contest...

2009-02-02T08:16:00.000-08:00

Margo and Catherine designed posters for a contest the Ohio Chapter of the AAA is holding. The winner gets some bucks, so they were motivated. Margo went for the dramatic- that is Juliet's hand dropping a cell phone on our couch (it's supposed to be a car). Catherine took more of a Simpsons/Invader Zim approach. The theme of the contest was design a poster encouraging teen drivers not to be distracted while driving.

double bummer...

2009-02-01T07:51:00.000-08:00

OK, we did not get the country property we were bidding on this weekend. They had the auction on Saturday. It was four degrees out and there were only about 20 cars and four Amish buggies in the parking area. We've learned that when Amish people want to buy land, you might as well put your checkbook away. They always show up with bucketloads of cash and you can never outbid them.
The Amish guys who were there yesterday were more interested in the contents of the barn. The only other land bidder was a local grain farmer whom nobody knew was interested in buying the place. I guess that grain must be bringing in a few bucks these days because he was able to beat our limit without much hesitation.
Oh well- I am sure there are other huge dumpy farms to buy and fix up around here. Maybe next time. I really was looking forward to shovelling out the house and seeing how nice we could make it.
As for bummer number two, our local department store Freedlanders is being torn down this month. Freedlanders was a fixture in Wooster for many years. Unfortunately, over the years they got beat out by the malls and the chain stores. I am glad the girls got to see an old fashioned multi-service department store for at least a few years. The city is going to put a mix of shops, offices, and luxury apartments in it's place. I am sad to see it go, but the new complex that is going to be constructed makes more sense for Wooster's downtown.
Above is a picture I painted for a sequel to The View From Under The Pew. It shows Diane and Grant walking down Liberty Street in front of Freedlanders. We will all miss that store.

The girls play The Song

2009-01-22T19:10:00.001-08:00

Here's a quick video of the girls practicing for the first time since Christmas. The dog thinks it's a little rough, but she has sensitive ears.

Remembering Twinkie...

2009-01-20T17:20:00.000-08:00

I had to write the strangest note today.
One of our little gerbils decided to step behind the veil while we were in PA last week. My good friend Joy generously offered to watch the gerbils while we ran out to PA.
Joy watched Twinkie and Snowqueen the entire time we were in Germany last year.
During those five months, she took great care of them and they thrived in her care.
The gerbils lived past their life expectancy in July of this year. They were still looking pretty good for their age, but I noticed the morning we were scheduled to leave that Twinkie, the tan one, was looking sort of bloated. It didn't look good, but she was old and we had a plane to catch.
So we packed them up and took them to Joy's house. According to Joy, Twinkie passed away on Friday morning. I felt bad about the gerbil dying, but I felt even worse about leaving my friend to deal with one of the grossest aspects of owning a "pocket pal."
Joy was a good sport though. She double-bagged Twinkie in zip-locs and hung her on the back door outside in the freezing temperatures until we got back. Joy even waited to tell us, lest the news spoil our trip. Twinkie is now interned in a Pop-Tarts box in our freezer until the ground thaws.
It is times like this when you discover who your friends really are.
So, back to the strange note. I felt compelled to write Joy and her family a thank you. I practiced several times on scratch paper until I was happy enough to write the message on a good note card. Later in the day I glanced at the scratch paper and reread my earlier attempts.
Though they seemed appropriate when I wrote them. later they seemed bizarre.

Here are some:

"Dear Joy,
We are so sorry that Twinkie died on your watch."

"Dear Joy,
Thank you so much for taking such good care of Snowqueen and Twinkie. I am sorry that you had to deal with gerbil death."

"Dear Joy,
Whatever was plaguing Twinkie came on very fast, so it didn't have anything to do with your caregiving."

"Dear Joy,
You went above and beyond the call of gerbil sitting duty. I hope it wasn't too gross."

"Dear Joy,
We all appreciate your concern and care and hope to return the favor very soon, without anything dying of course."

There were a few others, but those were my favorites.
Anyway, the note got written and sent. Hopefully I can return the favor sometime.

Until then, maybe I can get a job writing for American Greetings.

Should We? part II

2009-01-19T12:52:00.000-08:00

We are still considering that lovely country property I blogged about last week. They realtor held an open house yesterday, but we couldn't attend because we were traveling back from PA. Our extremely patient realtor had some time for a showing today, so he graciously took us over to see it.
I have never seen anything like this place before. Only one person currently lives there. His family has owned the place since 1959 and has recently decided to sell. He mentioned the fact that it's never been cleaned since he's lived in it.
He was very personable and even told us that the dogs could stay with the property if we desired.
I was speechless. So was Ralph. So was our Realtor.
Here's a shot of Catherine picking out her bedroom.

Here's a vacuum cleaner.

I didn't actually go into the bathroom. I just stuck my camera in there and took this photo.

Wrapping up our trip to PA.

2009-01-19T12:25:00.000-08:00

Grammy and Grandpop- August 2008

We are back from our visit to PA. It was great to see everyone again. Ralph's dad is still pretty sick, but is making progress. We are hoping he will make a full recovery and be back to planting pumpkins in the spring. He is even considering buying a new John Deere. That would be a goal worth working toward.
Many things in Philly have changed. Center city is gleaming with new sky scrapers and the Avenue of the Arts. There is more culture and stuff to do these days. Many things in Philly have stayed the same too. We got a great pizza at one of my old college hangouts. The place still has the dying houseplants in the picture windows. And the Eagles choked in the playoffs. There is nothing like being an Eagles fan. It's almost as bad as being a Browns fan.
All in all, it was a good visit. Wooster had a blizzard and record cold temperatures while we were gone, so the girls only missed one actual day of school.

Now if I could only get Ralph to stop drawing eyebrows on my parent's dog. They really hate that.

Zerns

2009-01-16T16:19:00.000-08:00

We visited one of our old stomping grounds in PA this week. I am actually embarrassed to say that I have an old stomping ground.
The place is called Zern's Farmer's Market. It's open on the weekends in Zeiglersville Pa. The weekly event attracts Mennonites, rednecks, rappers, the affluent, the elderly. It really is a place where all walks of life come together and shop for cheap crap.
We hadn't been there in twenty years. It hasn't changed much. Back in the 80's there was this creepy fat guy who would sit by the front door and stare at you when you walked in. He had these sexist sunglasses that had ladie's high heeled legs on them. Kind of like the trucker mud flap or the leg lamp in the Christmas Story. Nobody who has ever walked by this guy has forgotten him. He wasn't there though. I am guessing he was taken out by his addiction to Marlboros, beer, or maybe, ladies legs.

Everything else was the same. Ralph was back to his boyhood. He bought cheese, cured meat, and priced out K-bars and work boots. We saw baby gerbils, hamsters, and parakeets, got some vintage Christmas ornaments and knit hats from Peru, and two state quarter collector folders. My favorite purchase of the day was a handmade quilt. I got it at a booth that featured QVC leftovers. It was the best buy I've made in a while. The Chinese can really do justice to a traditional American quilt pattern.

The highlight for the girls and Ralph was the guy who was selling these big coolers on a motorized platform. I guess you could fire the little two cycle engine up and drive your beer to the picknick sight. He also had a bar stool on a similar platform that you could ride on. I wonder if you had to be careful not to get a dui on one of those.

Here's a shot of Catherine in front of a sign boasting some sort of meat grab bags. Ewwwww, that could be bad. I could only imagine trying to talk the kids into eating a dinner made from mystery grab bag meat.
We were all having a great time except for my dad. He thought he'd seen enough of Zern's to last another twenty years.

Ralph seems to be saying "ahhh... this is fun" while Dad seems to be saying "when the *#@! are we leaving?!"

Flying from Cleveland.

2009-01-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

We are traveling to PA this week to visit Ralph's dad. He's not doing too well healthwise, so we are trying to get to see him when we can. The only time off in the month of January was this week. Unfortunately, the mid-west was hit by another Alberta clipper. Thank yoou Canada.We decided to fly rather than drive which was quite an experience for me. I never saw a plane get de-iced before. Maybe I've seen too many movies, but the de-icing equipment looked like the Alien villans in the new version of War Of The Worlds. That movie really s^%$&%$, btw.
Anyway, the plane had to taxi to this pit where first this brown stuff was sprayed on the wings, then this green stuff. The brown stuff was there to keep ice from forming on the wings. The green stuff was supposed to slide off on take-off, removing any accumulated snow with it. If the plane sat on the runway for more than 20 minutes after de-icing, it had to go back and get de-iced again.
The Airport staff took turns using the two runways. The sent all of the air traffic to one runway, and plow the other. When the landing runway got too snowed up, they shifted air traffic to the plowed landing strip. After every couple of take-offs and landings, some guy in a Ford Explorer would do a skid test on the runway. He'd drive really really fast down the center of the runway and slam on the brakes. If he skidded a certain distance, they'd have to close the runway. Ralph has often wondered how he could get that fun career.
You know, the girls were so non-plussed. I was the only one who was amazed by all of this. I kept asking Ralph about everything that was going on until he finally gave up his Sudoko puzzle. The girls occasionally looked up from their copies of Twilight and Super-powered Ninja girl. I guess they've flown a lot.
It was fun to watch all of the airport people work together to keep the place going in the storm. It was even more fun when we broke out over the clouds and saw the sun for the first time in several weeks.
Hopefully it will be sunny when we fly back in a few days. If not,I could use some nice, boring overcast.

What's wrong with this picture?

2009-01-10T12:09:00.000-08:00

My friend Denine commented that it must be a kiddie work camp around here because I post so many photos of them doing chores. What else is there?
Well, here's a few more from today. We are getting snow dumped on us, as is much of the northeastern U.S.
Poor Ralph is flying through it today, hopefully that's alright.
Juliet and Margo are cleaning up the driveway, so hopefully all of the weirdos in town will stop knocking on the door to see if they can do our shoveling. I shouldn't call them wierdos, Ralph and I used to shovel sidewalks in Philly back in the day.
Anyhoo, Catherine is having no parts of this. She wants to stay inside and read. Little does she know that I am making her do the dishes once this blog is posted.
Hildee has spent most of the afternoon in the front yard. She's taken shelter on the porch next to the broken snow shovel and the vintage sled I got at the Hospice charity. Everytime I go there to donate stuff, I find something else to buy. It seems to be an even exchange, volume-wise. Ralph gets a little chagrined about the fact that I am giving them stuff to sell and buying more "junk" to fill up the house, but it's a cute sled and it makes me happy. So there!, Funny boy!

Should We?

2009-01-04T15:23:00.000-08:00

Ralph and I drove by a country property that we heard was coming onto the market later this winter. It's got a bunch of acres and a house and barn.
I told Ralph that I would only consider the place if the dogs, the tractor trailer and the stuff in the yard came with it.
Juliet was thrilled to hear that the local high school has rodeo.
I will keep you posted on what happens!
Any thoughts? We know that it might be a bit of a fixer-upper. I bet the TV on the front porch is not digital so we'd definitely need the converter box.

Wrapping up the holidays...

2008-12-31T18:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, it's been a while since my last post. The truth is that nothing blogworthy has happened lately. I am very thankful to have had a great holiday and we got to do many of the same activities that we did last year and the year before.
One thing was different however. This year we finally got it right with the decorations on the tinsel tree. It was the most fabulous Christmas tree ever!
I got the idea to put only glass ornaments on it this year, no lights, no other stuff, except for a few feet of reflective garland. There wasn't one natural element on it, most everything there would last 1,000 years in a landfill, but it was pretty and sparkly and I am sure the neighborhood crows were eyeing it through the window.
The pictures don't do it justice. It was the bestest tree EVER!
I also included a shot of the tree wrapped up before it gets stored in the basement. We wrap it up in saran wrap. It is now in the larval stage until next year, when the pupa emerges and it again becomes a beautiful butterfly.
Happy New Year!

Juliet won an Essay contest!

2008-11-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

Juliet won the Kretschmar Deli Meats Back To School essay contest! The theme was "The Most Important Thing I learned In School."
Juliet wove a true tale about the time she didn't follow directions when we watched the classroom hamster over Christmas break three years ago. Catherine was the one who suggested she use this idea, so I guess she should get a few bucks for thinking of it.
Juliet won a $5,000 dollar savings bond which will probably pay for a semester's worth of books and a pencil or two.
The essay is below. We are very proud.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I LEARNED IN SCHOOL
BY JULIET

Mrs. Alford was my fifth-grade teacher. She is really fun and outgoing, but can also be very strict. She is different from other teachers because she has lots of different animals in her classroom. Her room had two turtles, three hamsters, a rat, and two guinea pigs. I hear that she has thirty cats at home! Some of her pets were very outgoing, and some were lazy. They were fun to watch.
I was thrilled when Mrs. Alford announced she was looking for volunteers to watch her pets over the three-week winter break. Mom and Dad gave me permission to watch one, and I was thrilled when Mrs. Alford agreed. I almost jumped for joy because I was so excited!
Mrs. Alford let me watch Peewee the hamster. Peewee was the oldest pet in the classroom. He might have been brown at one time, but now he was a light tan with long thin tufts of grey hair. It reminded me of Yoda.
Even though he had lots of tunnels and toys, Peewee only stayed in one part of his cage. That made things easy, there was only one part of the cage that ever needed cleaning. I think he slept for 23 hours a day! He didn’t do very much. He had an exercise ball, but he just sat in it. Once, he even fell asleep in it!
Mrs. Alford gave me careful, specific instructions on caring for him. He needed to be fed and watered every day. I was to clean out his cage (or only the dirty part) every other day. But, she emphasized that the most important rule was to remember to always latch his cage, then place a piece of duck tape over the latch to keep the door to his cage closed. It seemed silly to worry about latching the door since he didn’t do anything.
I took care of Peewee for two weeks. His favorite treats were carrots. We liked watching him rearrange his little bed and go to sleep. It was going very well, but mostly because he didn’t do much. Mom worried that he wouldn’t live until the day school started up again.
One morning after Christmas, I woke up and saw that the door was slightly ajar. To my horror, Peewee was gone! We have a big German Shepard dog that was quite a bit confused when we threw her in the garage. I would hate to think what would have happened if she found Peewee first. Or maybe Peewee would have eaten her for breakfast. I am not sure.
I was so sad. Would Mrs. Alford think less of me if I lost her hamster? What if it died? What would happen then? These were some of the many questions that were going through my head. The whole family went on a wild hamster search. We looked all over the house, even in the basement. My sister put treats in front of all of the closets.
Two hours later we were starting to give up hope. Maybe Peewee was in the attic chewing up the wiring. I was the only one left still looking for him. That’s when I noticed a little bit of chewed up sock on the floor by my bed. That hadn’t been there before. I moved it a bit and looked along the wall behind the bed. There, in the corner, was a little ball of fluff that I realized was Peewee. He was fast asleep in his little nest only about ten feet from his cage! I got Dad and he gathered Peewee up and put him back in his cage. We were careful to latch it and tape it. I don’t think he ever woke up!
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief when school started up the next week. Peewee was still alive and we brought him back to school the first day after the New Year. Mrs. Alford asked how it went and I told her it was fun. I didn’t mention Peewee’s escape.
So, in the end, I learned that you always, (ALWAYS!) listen and follow directions when someone who is an expert gives you specific instructions. I’ll make sure I do that from now on. Over that break, I got smarter and you could say that Peewee had a big adventure!

She's mentioned briefly on their site-
http://www.kretschmardeli.com/

I guess we have to have a trail bologna sandwich to celebrate.

Future Suitors Beware...

2008-11-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, we really haven't been doing anything worth blogging about this fall. The girls are doing well in school and still going to Karate.
Tonight, Juliet was taught how to tear off an attacker's ear with a credit card. This oughta give new meaning to the phrase "shop til you drop."
Dad thinks he's getting his money's worth at the Dojo.

Karate Tournament Update...

2008-10-25T13:57:00.000-07:00

OK, so Mr. Old Guy didn't win the Grand Champion round, but I am glad he tried anyway. It was a good time overall. Everyone still has all of their teeth and they all want to twirl bow staffs next year. I don't know if that's the George Lucas influence or the baton twirling influence.
oh well.
BTW, do you like the medals? I wonder if he could wear them with his Air Force dress uniform.
Great Job, Karate Boy! Now rake the yard!!!

Karate Tournament!

2008-10-25T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today we competed in our first ever Karate tournament. Ralph and the girls each competed in sparring and forms (which is another word for Kata). I was a little dismayed when I saw that Margaret and Catherine had to spar against much bigger boys. Apparently, teenage girls on average are not into beating others up so there weren't any girls in their age group to compete against. Catherine got hit pretty hard but she did ok and got a second place and a first place. Margaret also got a first and second in her events. Juliet had many more kids in her class. She got a high score in her kata, but there were a lot of other kids who did better. She came in fourth in her Kata and sixth in sparring.
Ralph also competed. He came in third out of three in sparring, and got first in kata. He is still there in the "dance off" round. Keep you posted on whether or not the old guy wins anything.
Holmes County Ohio is quite a host to the students of martial arts. The Halloween Spooktacular was held in the gym of the rural West Holmes High School. Most everyone there was dutchy looking. There was one, lone Asian guy. He was one of the judges in Juliet's events. He told Juliet a bunch of things in Chinese. I wonder what he thought of Millersburg and what he was saying to Juliet.
There really is nothing like a big, blonde dutchy guy tossing around nunchucks. I wanted to shout, "watch the beard, Ephram!" Then I realized that my family probably looked even less Asian. It'll be fun to get back to Soke Yoder's dojo and discuss.
The girls and their friend from the dojo, Tracy. She just got her black belt last week.
Juliet, that's a cookie, NOT a throwing star!
I can't believe how cute a bunch of preschoolers wielding weapons can be. They had little fake knives, nunchucks, and bow staffs.

It's time for a shed painting...

2008-10-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

That's how dull life has become these days. I am blogging about painting the shed.
There really is nothing interesting going on. The girls are having a busy but good year so far at school. They are all getting close to their orange belt in karate. We are advancing at a pretty slow pace, but we are advancing.
Ralph still seems glad to be back even though the house needs so many mundane repairs.
Yesterday we painted the shed. I think it needs another coat. After telling the girls NOT to splatter paint on the wood landing in front of the shed, I dumped half bucket of paint on it. That's not coming off.
Oh well, it all looks pretty decent from a distance and the girls are working on a valuable skill. House painting probably pays better than airline pilot or illustrator these days.
The kids wanted to paint a skunk stripe down the middle of Hildees back, but that'd be pretty cruel I suppose, and I don't think oil-based barn paint would come off to soon!

The Buckeye Book Fair...

2008-10-06T06:15:00.000-07:00

Sorry it's been such a long while since I blogged. Truth is, NOTHING interesting is happening! The kids are in the routine at school, going to their activities, I am working a lot, same ole' stuff, Ralph just returned nach Deutschland, had a good time, goes back to his Ohio job on Wednesday, etc. etc. Not much blogworthy stuff is going on.
We got invited to be part of this year's Buckeye Book Fair. I just got the program. I am really looking forward to hanging out with one of the top illustrators working today, C.F. Payne. I met him a few years ago at Syracuse. It'll be great to see him again. The former first lady of Ohio, Hope Taft will be there as well as "Big Chuck," a tv personality from Cleveland. The girls are most excited about meeting Big Chuck. I don't think he's really all that big. I am guessing he got that name because his on-air partner is a small person who calls himself "Little John." Anyway, I will report back on whether or not Chuck is big.
Jim Tressel, the head football coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes will also have signed copies of his book there. Jim can't go himself because he's got to coach a game on that Saturday. Oh, the choices. What to do what to do?
Anyhoo, I am betting that even without Jim's presence, his book will be the top seller there. The entire state of Ohio is made up of rabid OSU fans. They love them their Buckeye football!
Here is a link to the site-
http://www.buckeyebookfair.com/

Presidential Debate Excitement

2008-09-26T19:34:00.000-07:00

We're watching the debate right now. Actually, just the dog and I are. Margo decided to go wash her hair. Juliet and Catherine are enthralled with every word from both candidates.

A few more from the Fair...

2008-09-11T16:01:00.001-07:00

This is a shot I took of one of the harness races. It's funny, in Wayne County you can kinda bet on harness racing without the state of Ohio really having legalized gambling. Forget I said that.
Anyhoo, I included this shot because I think that pace car would be a great vehicle for Margaret to drive around town. She might have trouble parking at school, but think of the possibilities. Our neighbors would also be thrilled if we parked it in the street in front of our house. I wonder if the heavyset guy in the front seat would part with it.

I thought this picture was amusing because the mini-draft horse is actually named Brutus. Sometimes it can be a cruel, cruel world.
Apparently he has a brother, Titan. Titan is back at the farm bulking up for the Ashland County Fair.

Think any of these gentlemen are Obama supporters?

Fair Day...

2008-09-11T11:15:00.001-07:00

It's fair week here in Wayne County. Fair week is a great time to go shopping in town because everything is empty because everyone's at the fair. Actually, Fair week is almost as big as Christmas around here. It is truly a spectacle.

It wouldn't be an Ohio fair without a giant pumpkin. Can anyone grow one that doesn't look deflated? This one wasn't the big winner, I couldn't get a clear shot of the winner because of the mob scene around it. This pumpkin was a runner-up. It reminds me of a story I saw a while back about a woman from West Virginia who had a 250 lb. tumor removed from her abdomen. I don't know what would make me think of that.

Here are some prize-winning zucchinis. Whenever I see these displays I wonder what keeps people from going to Buehlers Market and buying themselves something to exhibit. "Uh... Oh yeah, I grew those... really... and they were on special!"

Texas Longhorns are new to the fair this year. When I saw them I was tempted to put some of my body parts into the pen, but then I read the sign.

Juliet won Best In Show with her painting of a tennis shoe. She put about half the effort into it that Catherine put into her painting of a woman inspired by Mucha. No offense Juliet, but Catherine had the better picture this year. I guess the judges don't care for French artists. We are all happy for Juliet anyway!

I didn't know you could get a prize for exhibiting a steer carcass. I guess he didn't give his handler any trouble in the show ring. Does Lacy have to be able to lift the thing up for the judge? How does this work? Anybody?
BTW, I am guessing that Lacy is NOT a vegetarian. Or a member of PETA.

Alright... this is the Clinton Lads and Lassies fair booth and I have to say that they're just showing off. Hmmmph.

Livestock Mania gets more Wayne Countians into major trouble on a regular basis. It's especially worse now that we have the internet.

I know this is supposed to be cute, but it's just CREEPY.

Evolution of a fair booth...

2008-09-04T08:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, this is one of those things in life that I can't believe I am stressing out about. For some reason, back in July, I thought it'd be a great idea if our little 4-h club had a booth on display at our county fair. In previous years, this has been a lot of fun. I didn't know when I signed up that Ralph would be away (yep, he's away again with the Chair Force) and that I'd be soley responsible for creating a tasteful, quality booth that represents our lovely club.
Our kids completed lots of projects this summer, so it wasn't hard to fill up the space with their masterpieces. In the end, I think our booth looks fairly respectable. If you have the chance to attend this year's Wayne County Fair, please stop by the 4-h building and vote for our booth in the people's choice contest. Actually, don't bother. I hear that the booth popularity contest is a horse race this year between Smithville Simmer-n-sew and Apple Creek's Happy Hoppers.
Maybe if Ralph was on the fair board I'd have some pull in this town!

Ralph made Lt. Colonel!

2008-08-14T09:08:00.000-07:00

After several long years of being a Major, Ralph found out today that he made Lt. Colonel.
I think that means he's field grade now. Ralph always said that you had to have part of your brain removed when you made it to field grade. Now he's part of the problem.
Maybe it's time to buy a Corvette and look cool. Maybe I need to get serious about entertaining and order up a current book on etiquette and some fresh calling cards. I actually still have my calling cards from my days as a Marine O wife. I wonder if they still use them.
Oh well, we're all proud of Colonel Ralph here. But he still has to take out the trash and paint the shed when he gets home.

A Walter Plushie... would you buy?

2008-08-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

Abingdon is in talks with toy people this week to see if it is feasible to create and sell a Walter plushie along with The View From Under The Pew. I created a prototype with pipe cleaners and felt. I think it would be a hit, but maybe I am biased.
We have an idea for a shivering Grant doll too, which would be a follow up to Walter's book. I hope they can make it work out. It'd be fun to have a plush Walter doll on my shelf.

Are we fat in the mid-west?

2008-08-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

For some folks, the state fair is all about food. I couldn't imagine eating some of these things and then going on the rides. I am sure the carneys have lots of mops and buckets on hand.
BTW, did you notice that so many things are better when they are deep-fried and put on a stick? Who thought that one up? I wonder if the deep-fried fudge comes on a stick.
The egg on a stick did come with dipping sauce.

Fun at the State Fair...

2008-08-06T10:17:00.001-07:00

We went down to Columbus for the State Fair twice this week. The girls competed at county level 4-h judging a few days ago. 4-H is big here in Ohio. Margaret was picked to represent Wayne County with her cooking project and her art project. Juliet was also picked for her cooking project.
We went to state judging yesterday. Margaret did very well in the art category, placing in the top eight. They did well in the cooking, but didn't place in the top. The food people are very serious and if the girls are going to achieve in the culinary stuff, we have to take it up a notch. Margaret knew only two of the four signs of a fresh mushroom. Dayum, Girl! Where've you been?!!!
Oh well. Maybe next year. They got pretty participation ribbons and plaques, and Margaret got a beautiful purple rosette for her outstanding in the art category. The big winner gets a trophy clock. We really need to shoot for the clock. Maybe next year we'll be more mushroom savvy.
Here's a few shots from yesterday. You can see Margo at judging, holding up well in the skill-a-thon, the kids climbing the giant ear of corn, a funny shot of Catherine at the main gate "holding" the state bird, a cardinal, and a few more.

Art Supply Warehouse.

2008-08-02T04:11:00.000-07:00

One of my pictures got picked for the cover of this year's Art Supply Warehouse "Back To School" sale catalog.
Cha-Ching!
They pay in art supplies.
Not sure whether to spend it on Bob Ross oil paints (magic white has always been a mystery to me) or perhaps on a replica set of Van Gogh's watercolors. I didn't know Van Gogh painted in watercolor, but he's got a set of paints in the catalog.
What fun. It's like Christmas in August.
The picture will be up on their site for the next few weeks.

http://www.aswexpress.com/