Merry Christmas

The kids and I spent Christmas Eve at my brothers house.

Galaxy of Lights

Went to see the Christmas lights at the Botanical Gardens. They strongly suggested we remain in the car at all times (so that we wouldn't get eaten by the dinosaurs).

Christmas Tree: Finally Decorated!

Merry Christmas

I finally got around to putting together the Christmas tree this afternoon. Yes, it's fake, but that minimizes the number of needles I have to vacuum up right? After assembly was complete, I made a trip to the store to buy some lights and ornaments. Having waited until December 11 to get started, the lights and ornaments were pretty well picked over. I managed to acquire just enough multi-colored lights to create a nice glow. Unfortunately I forgot to get hooks so none of the decorations are hanging yet. Guess that will wait until tomorrow.

Hard to See, But It is Actually Snowing

Tuesday Is My Favorite Day of the Week

This is true because Tuesday happens to be woodworking night. Tonight was supposed to be our Christmas Party, but it kind of fell apart at the last minute for a couple of reasons. Regardless we are rescheduling it for two weeks from now.

One reason, well never mind that, it wasn't important. The second reason is that Danny called and said he had locked himself out of his house. Jordan and I decided to load up in the Miata and drive to Rogersville to antagonize help him. After breaking down his front door with a 10 lb sledge hammer, we all went out to dinner, leaving the front door hanging from the hinges for the Christmas elves to repair.

This was the second time this week a friend had locked themselves out. The other time involved keys in a minivan. Don't these things come in threes?

On the way back home, we stopped to fill up the tank. $3.03 for regular. Unfortunately the 12 gallon tank only needed 10 gallons. When was the last time I filled up the tank for less than $30?

Drove home in the rain. Dark, dark rain. I hate driving at night in the rain just like Indy hates snakes.

That is all.

I found out today that my Grand Mother passed away on Wednesday. She lived in Birmingham, Alabama and was 92 years old.

Pie Day II

I ended up making a total of nine pies this week. Two went straight to the trash. Here you see two pecan pies and another blackberry. Homemade crust makes all the difference.

Pie Day

One peanut, one blackberry, and one lemon chess. Yum!

Another Camping Trip to Foster Falls

Happy Halloween

A creeper!

I Have More Friends Now

I Found Another Mouse

This one was in my office at work.

Miata Oil Filter Relocation Kit

Kit installed - check
Oil and filter changed @ 117.5k miles - check
Replaced valve cover gasket - check
Fixed leaking coolant hose to oil cooler caused by oil leak from bad valve cover gasket - check
No extra parts - check

DOHC

So that is what a dual overhead cam looks like.

Moontown Fly In

Bri and I attended the annual Moontown Fly-In this weekend. Had we not run out of time, she might have gotten her feet off the ground. She said she didn't necessarily feel like she was tied to the ground.

Finally Got the Intake Manifold Off

Now I have easy access to one end of the split coolant hose.

Out of Order

The Miata blew a small coolant hose a couple weeks ago. I put off working on it for over a week just to get my head right. It looks like it would be easier to pull the engine that to fix it in place.

2005 C6 Corvette

Guess what I found a good deal on recently? Yeah, it is mine now. Only 41,000 miles on it. I have been wanting one of these since I first saw it in a magazine in 2004. Want to come help wash it?

There in only room in the garage for one more. What's next?

Mr. Mouse, R.I.P.

I set out 8 traps at lunch yesterday baited with sharp cheddar cheese. Being a nocturnal, Mr. Mouse chose not to partake until about 11:30 pm. The sound of the trap snapping echoed through the house. Mr. Mouse, though a gentle soul, will not be missed.

The remaining 7 traps are still set waiting to see if Mr. Mouse has any cousins living nearby.

At times it seems that there is nothing to blog about, but I posted rather diligently anyway. Recently there has been plenty to blog about but I haven't made the time to do it. For instance:

1) We found a small mouse in the house last night. Oddly, I had the pest control guy in the house just a few hours earlier doing and inspection. Coincidence?
2) I may have set a record this weekend for emptying the hot tub. I used 4 hoses to drain it which went rather quickly. After cleaning it, I connected 3 hoses up to fill it back up. OK, yeah, that was boring, but ...
3) I helped David replace the heater hoses on his '91 Miata last Tuesday. The next day my Miata blew a hose. :(
4) My okra plants are over 10 feet tall.
5) I made a small batch of beer last Tuesday night. It is currently fermenting and should be ready in a couple of weeks.
6) The PCV valve on the Morris broken several months ago and some on the parts disappeared on the road. I plugged the holes for a brief period, but without the valve in place the engine leaks like a sieve. I found a close replacement part of a Triumph on ebay. The housing is not the same, but the internal guts are identical. Should have Roger up and rolling in no time.
7) One of my neighbors has started a Cars and Coffee for Huntsville/Madison. The first event went well. The second is only a couple of weeks way. The proceeds from the coffee are going towards an Autism.
8) Wind damage from the Tornado back in April is responsible for several leaks I have on my roof. I will get getting a new roof and painting some ceilings in the near future.

Hop Blaster American IPA

Brewing The Hop Blast

Replaced David's Miata's Heater Hoses (117k miles)

Six Flags

This weekend the kids and I went to Georgia to visit my seester and ride the roller coasters at Six Flags. We managed quite a bit in the six hours we were in the park: (The list is not in order)

Goliath (x5) - Twice in the front, and twice in the back. I even got hit in the head by someones cell phone.
Batman (x3) - This is my second favorite roller coaster at 6F. Goliath is my first!
Mind Bender (x2) - Old school
Scorcher (x1) - This is a standing roller coaster. We should have ridden it again.
Acrophobia (x2) - I skipped this one! Fear of heights you know.
Mine Train (x2) - Old school. This one jerks so much it was almost painful.
Superman (x1) - "I am, I am superman, and I can do anything." Wow!
Monster Plantation (x1) - For the A/C!
Dare Devil Dive Coaster (x1) - This was the newest coaster so we had to ride it. Other than the first hill which is 'more than straight down', this one was a bit disappointing.

When it was over, we were all beat! Eighteen rides in 6 hours was not bad, and that includes two brief rest periods to fill up on frozen lemonade and pretzels.

The only two coasters I know of that we missed were the Scream Machine and the Georgia Cyclone; both of these are the old wooden type coasters. I would like to have ridden them both at least once but it wasn't really in the cards. Maybe next time

Mmmm, Okra!

The garden is mass producing okra at this point. This evening, after dinner, I took the time to prepare a couple of skillets full of fried okra. The okra is now resting gently in the fridge awaiting tomorrows feast.

In other cooking news, earlier this week I tried out a couple of new (for me) recipes. Monday I made guacamole using 2 avocados, onion, lime juice, and fresh cilantro from the garden. I also made a big bowl of salsa using tomatoes, jalapenos, cilantro (all from the garden), and onion, with a splash of lime juice.

Wednesday's kitchen experiment involved homemade spaghetti sauce. Again most of the ingredients were from the garden: about 30 Roma Tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, garlic, and jalapenos. Yep - jalapenos - I removed all the seeds so they were not hot - this turned out to be roughly the equivalent of using bell peppers. The sauce turned out pretty awesome, especially after it had a chance to rest in the fridge overnight. I will definitely be making this again.

Happy Birthday Captain

Jordan and I drove to Rogersville this evening to help Danny celebrate his 60th birthday. After Jordan coerced him into a boat ride, we went out for a nice steak dinner, at least I had steak. I good time was had by me. Hopefully Jordan and Danny enjoyed the evening as well. To top it all off, Jordan and I had a very pleasant trip back to Huntsville in the Miata - top down of course.

Garden Update

I finally picked my first two tomatoes yesterday, each slightly larger than a baseball. It seems like someone told me I could generally expect the first tomatoes around the 4th of July. I guess they nailed it. I have also had several cherry tomatoes already but they don't really count.

Only two squash plants remain. I removed the other 3 after things started getting really crowded. I also removed one of the cucumber vines. As it was I was bringing in more cucumbers and squash than I could give away.

The peppers are still looking pityful. I have picked a few jalapenos and two banana peppers.

Planted Seeds On Monday - Bean Stouts On Wednesday

I Fixed My Laptop

Danny's Cedar Urn ( 2 of 2)

Danny's Cedar Urn (1 of 2)

Does The Garden Look Over Watered?

Time to build a dock in the backyard!

Danny's Cedar Box

PVC Tomato Cage

Garden 2011

This years garden is 24'x8'.

What is it about a couple of days of warm weather that makes everyone want to get outside and work in the garden? This same garden that is getting so much attention right now that will be the garden that is almost completely ignored come the hottest days of August.

February Camping

Friday evening was my second camping trip of the year. This time we went to Foster Falls and stayed at Father Adamz campsite. The weather just happened to be perfect - near 70 during the day and low 50s at night. The group consisted of myself, Chad, Robert, and Barry.

More Snow

Camping

On Thursday I received an email from Chad asking me if I wanted to camping this weekend. After checking the forecast, bitterly cold - overnight low in the lower 20's but no precipitation, I commenced to obtaining permission.

Due to the limited notice (less than one day) most of the regular campers didn't make it. Many excuses were heard. The lamest was

"I can't go, I will make up an excuse later." - D.G.

In the end, the search party would have only had two campers to retrieve.

Our destination was Sipsey Wilderness. I believe we stayed in White Oak Hollow. I never can remember the name of the trailhead. We only saw two other campers on the first day. We beat them to the best spot. They were disappointed.

Because our chief fire marshall did not make the trip, I had to wear this hat. We arrived early enough this time that we had time to gather the wood before sunset. (The sun drops fast when your down between two ridges.) Most of the wood in the area was damp so it was a challenge to get the fire to 'take'. We almost lost the patient twice.

The cuisine this trip was BYOF. No steaks. No Jambolaya. No omlets. No Bacon. Yes instant oatmeal. Yes Ramen noodles. No complaints though. As cold as it was, both the evening soup and morning oatmeal were nice and hot and hit the spot.

I told Chad this was my last camping trip ever. I usually say that and mean it. I will get over it in a few days and be ready to start planning the next trip. Despite the complaints about the cold, it wasn't really that bad and I definitely prefer the cold weather camping to the hot weather alternative.