Smile for Miles

The hubby headed out this morning before 0500 heading to a new fishing buddy's home for a trip to Florence.  I received this picture from a group text.  I don't know any of the details, weight, length or location and time caught.  I do know the most important one...he (BT) is VERY VERY HAPPY!

Looks like the purchase of that Alabama rig paid off!  Happy Fishing!

Handyman's Centerfold

Ok, I am pretty sure this is a dangerous way to 'hold' down a board.  All types of thoughts ran through my head as I saw this, however my sister captured it best when she said " I think you are watching a emergency room visit in the making.  So, here is how that conversation would sound like at the ER with the technician..it would go a little like this.

Laurel & Hardy Handymen:  Can you assist us, we have a little emergency
ER Tech:  What seems to be the problem?
Hardy:  My buddy had a slight altercation with a skill saw
ER Tech:  Slight huh?  There is a blade up his butt!
Hardy:  Yep, that would be it, can't hide the obvious from your keen eye!
ER Tech:  How did that possibly happen?
Hardy: All we can say about this is this is what you get when you try and bring "sexy back" to home improvement!

Pantry Progress

 

The pantry make-over is still a work-in-progress.  I am telling you this will be one strong pantry, I am convinced an F5 would not be able to blow these shelves down!  Here is the photo series of where we are to date. 

 

Support strips for the wrap around shelves.  Holes in the back were patched were the previous shelves were attached.

 

Check out how secure these boogers are...no less than (10) screws per strip.  My nephew said I would be able to climb up the fronts of these bad boys when he is done!  He also said, I had better like it because these suckers are not coming down anytime soon! 

 

Primer and putty over the gazillion screw holes and it is one to test fitting the shelves 

The guys are using the drill press to drill the holes for the screws - nice touch!

 

Chef Bacon....aka (Hardy the handyman)...this guy is a MASTER of all things ladies! 

 

Test fitting to get the necessary measurements - I can't wait for these bad boys to be stained and ready for stocking.  Did you notices the corners are even mitered....sweet!

 

These guys are not working in the most ideal conditions.  It is 32 degrees outside with 25 mph wind gust.  It is as cold in the garage as it is outside.  They have on jackets, gloves, hats and their noses are still beet red.  Guess I am going to have to do something extra special for dinner to make up for it all.  Gotta run...I need to call Papa John's ( ha!)

 

Out the Door and ...Four!

BT and his buddy Paul are off for a day of 'guy' time.  They are heading to the Waffle House for breakfast, a book signing and then to the golf course.  we are off to get some thing together for dinner tonight and bum around!  Have a Happy saturday!

No Rest for the Chef!

For Labor Day B decided to try his hand at smoking a Boston Butt for dinner.  He has smoked meats before but never in his brand new Green Egg.  Yesterday we ran to Lowes and picked up a bag of Apple Wood chips.  The neat thing about the Green Egg is it does not require any water in the smoking process.  You just throw some wood chips over into the natural lump charcoal and call it a day.

It is times like these, that I wish you could upload scents to the blog, because this thing smells scrumptious!  We only have about 2 more hours before we can get our grub on!  I will let you know how it taste.

DIY Gone Wrong

So in an effort to save some money, after a crazy month of landscape expenses  ( due in part to the kids 16th party blowout bash)and postpone yet another visit from Arturo who helps out with this massive lawn,  my sweet husband borrowed his buddy's hedge trimmers and decided to take a whack at trimming the 65+ bushes we have around this house.

 

When Mom and I arrived home after a few errands, we saw him stretched over the loropetalum swinging that trimmer back and forth.  When I asked how he was going to get the other side, he firmly stated, I am going to walk on the brick retaining wall.  Ok!  It was then that my Mom turned to me and said "I will bet you he will either fall off the wall, and that will hurt or he is going to cut that cord in two and that won't be good!"  I turned to her and said "either way, I am not going to stand out here and watch that go down." so up to the porch we went to take photos of the potted plants.

 

I stepped out side to check on him, and he was standing on the porch dripping with sweat (it is 96+ degrees today) and rolling up the extension cord.  I said "Are you done?" his reply "I am now", I said too hot, he said no "I cut the cord!"

 

I had to come in and tell Mom she had guessed right..he cut the cord!  Oh well, now a 'free' day of labor actually has turned into a $50.00 trip to the home improvement store to replace the heavy duty 100-ft extension cord he made short work of!  You know what they say, "there is no such thing as a free lunch" and evidently "free yard work" as well!

 

Bringing Home the Bacon!



Bringing Home the Bacon!

Do you know what you do when you get your 'first' real civilian paycheck after 27.5 years in the military?  CELEBRATE!  I had to insist that "B" not deposit his first check right away, as I wanted to get a photo of it for the scrapbook.

So there you have it, I have snapped a photo of his with his first check, he is truly "Bringing Home the Bacon!" 

I Owe...I Owe...so it is off to work I go!

Congratulations are in order to “B” who started a new job just (8) days ago.  He is really excited about the organization and will get the opportunity to apply much of what he learned in the ARMY as a safety specialist in his new position. In addition, his new supervisor is a guy he worked closely with during his tenure in the military, can’t get better than that.

While he will have some task focused on aviation he will be learning a great deal on how to handle environmental issues.  So, for the next few weeks his days will be slam full of training and certification course and a lot of ‘drinking from the fire hose’ until he gets familiar with all he is responsible for!

So join me in wishing him much success in his new position.  They could not have made a better choice for the , even if I do say so myself!

Ouch! That had to Hurt!

As 'his' luck would have it no project is complete until my husband has fallen off, fallen through or torn something up!  This time that 'something' was him when he had a disagreement with the pressure washer wand and came up on the losing end of the deal.

True to form he wanted to keep on going, but I said "no" and that up went the leg and on went a cold pack.  It helped to control the bleeding and hopefully minimize the bruising.  I swear, I don't know what it is with the men in our family, but I know for a fact my sister has (3) at home just like him!

Hopefully, today will go off without any additional incidents, I don't know how many more body part he has remaining to donate to the cause!

DIY....is more fun with two!

My wonderful husband made a gallant attempt to unearth me from boxes of DIY furniture I purchased to outfit our sewing/craft room. It arrived just days before my mother's surgery and I was sure it wouldn't take that much time to assemble...right!

My first clue should have been that every box weighed more than 85lbs and there were no less than 10 of them! It was all I could do to pull them into the garage with the UPS drive in his infinite wisdom barricaded our garage door with them leaving them to soak up the ice and rain!

Needless to say when it took (5) hours to get the top half of the hutch assembled, I knew this wasn't going to be a 1-2 day affair. You have got to love the new version of DIY instructions ...there are none only pictures, so it makes everything a challenge.

So, this past weekend (yes Superbowl Sunday) my hubby drug the boxes in from the garage and began the arduous task of assembling all this fine furniture. It went much faster with two of us at work and when the pictures got a little fuzzy, my sister was there to lend a hand in interpreting what they were suppose to mean.

Of course she and I missed no opportunity to get the heck out of dodge and head for the mall, when our buddy Jimbo came to the rescue! Two guys are always better than one, when the room is packed with a bunch of DIY project fun!

Boyz rule and Girlz drool!

On Saturday morning our daughter had to be at the football field at 0730 in the morning as her school drew the early time slot for their football game. This meant an early rise for all of us (0620) on a Saturday morning (that should be illegal).

The game was over about 10:15 and we were off to Wal-Mart to grab some hoagie bait ( that is snack food in case you were not aware) for their fishing trip.

They had planned a day with my husband's buddy "Doc" and two of his kids , his son "Z" who is a year older than our daughter and his daughter "V" who is (4) year younger than our daughter. The group was headed to LBL for some afternoon fishing as it was a perfect fall day with temps hovering around 70! Of course they took an hour or so delay as they had to make a pit stop at CK Outfitters to purchase some minnows and to try out a few of their different hunting bows. They finally made it to their launching spot around 2pm.

As you know our daughter can be somewhat of a "trash" talker when it comes to fishing. The bet for the day with Z (evidently no fishing trip is complete without a wager on the table) was the first one with a fish in the boat won....however the fish had to be as long as the persons foot. Well as luck would have it (NOT) the only people who scored fish were Doc, his son "Z" and my husband. This left "V" and "O" with nothing to claim as their own in the bin.

I received a call from them on their way home from the lake and I asked if she caught anything to which she said "does drift wood count?". I could hear her Dad in the back ground chanting "Nope...cause Boyz ruled and Girlz drooled this trip!" Oh well, everyone can't be a champion angler on every trip. Despite coming up fishless (is that a word?) she had a wonderful time. Can't beat a beautiful fall day, fantastic weather and a great time with family and friends!

Intruder Alert!

Intruder Alert!!!

We had a busy Labor Day weekend. Our furniture had finally arrived and my husband and I were off to KY with a trailer in tow to pick up our new couch, chair, dining room table and chairs and my Mom's new bedroom set.

The day started off early as the carpet cleaner arrived at 0715 to begin steam cleaning our upstairs rugs. We made it to Ky and back in record time. We (mostly the husband) unloaded the trailer and off loaded all of our goods into the garage. We had moved the couch and a few of the upholstered dining room chairs into the house, when he decided to leave to return the trailer to U-Haul.

Mom and I began "rearranging" where the couch was sitting when I decided to break out the vacuum. While chatting away I caught a glimpse of something to my right standing oh so still by the baseboard. I thought to myself "self what is that" and then it hit me a "RAT.....Oh no a rat!"

I quickly told my Mom to look and then it scampered off an up into one of my new chairs!

What to do, well what do you think I did I called the husband. "Intruder alert, I need you to get back to the house asap we have a rat loose in the family room". Until he could return Mom and I barricaded all the openings to the hallways as well as the bottom of our entertainment units. My husband arrived home and I gave a quick point of my finger to the chair and said "it is in there". He turned it over and announced quite flatly I might add "there is nothing in there" are you kidding me? I said "turn it back over and I proceeded to pull back the dust covering only to have it jump across the underside of the chair. I announced quite animated I might add "it is in there; get on the business end of this chair we are taking it outside!"

We managed to get it outside and down the steps of the porch. He proceeded to beat on the cushions (attempting to scare it to death I believe) and with no luck said "what do we do now". I said "lets turn it over and if I have to take it apart I am going to get that rat out of my new chair." Well, thank goodness luck was with us as he picked it up to put it in the grass the "rat" sprung free and my Mother announced "it is out there it goes into the potted plants". So, back in house the chair went. We were feeling quite victorious I might add, little did we know the fun was just beginning!

We got the rest of the furniture into the house, boxes broken down and taken to the dump and as we settled in for the night I headed for the shower and over the sound of the water and TV, I heard my mother squeal "we have another rat!" OMG are you kidding me? This time she professed it was a field mouse. My husband's take on it "I am sure they came in when the carpet cleaner was here this morning, afterall the garage and the front door were open for a long time." Yep, I thought I don't think that is the case I think that is a big fluff piece to make us feel better...but only time will tell!

Alaska...Land of the Midnight Sun

This post is dedicated to my "hubby" who was recently deployed to Alaska for a business trip. I must admit I am more than just a "tad" bit jealous as I have always wanted to see Alaska for myself! Alas, that is not to be...but he is permitting us to "live" vicariously through him by sending some beautiful pictures. I have posted some for you to see, I am told by him that the camera does not begin to do this place justice...I can only imagine!

Moose or Meese......they are large and in charge in Alaska !

This one is out and about on a major highway. You can spot his head right at the back of the yellow pick-up truck. This road is located about 1/4 mile from the airport. This fella must have been running late...slow down Bullwinkle no airline runs on time anymore!

Alaska's Lake Hood - It serves as an active runway for aircraft no recreational fishing going on here!

Alaska - Palmer Alaska's Kink Glacier

Butterfly Beauty

This morning my husband and I were cleaning out our fountain when I saw a swarm of butterflies out an about in our lantana. I sent him to grab the came and then the game was on as to who could capture the best butterfly picture.....I won, when I snapped this one of the Pipevine Swallowtail perched on a lantana flower.

He was close behind with this "honorable mention" of a Hummingbird Moth, which was doing double duty trying to steal his fair share of pollen from the butterflies!

We will be heading out later today to see what type of photographic mischief we can get into as well!

Got Me Looking So Crazy Right Now!

Today our daughter and her friend were making "crafts" in the project room. They were deeply engrossed in what they were doing and were working away to the rocking sounds of Beyonce's Crazy in Love. I was busying snapping pictures and in an effort to gain their attention, my husband decided to offer up a momentary distraction (like only he could do) and cleared off a spot on the floor and broke into dance...keeping in step with the music. I like any other good wife stepped off to the side and pushed record on my digital SLR and let him dance! He was just getting into a good groove when our daughter's friend said out loud "Ms "K" are you videoing taking Mr. B".....imagine his surprise! I thought it only fair that I post this wonderful dance footage, with mad skills like these I am sure he could be a contest on next seasons "So you think you can dance". So to frame it for you imagine the song and the intro lyrics I have posted below in the event you want to sing along! You ready? Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh, oh no no Got me lookin so crazy right now, your loves Got me lookin so crazy right now Got me lookin so crazy right now....you get the picture

Sky Rockets in Flight!

The Fourth of July went off with a major "BANG" in our neighborhood. A large group of our neighbors "pooled" fireworks and migrated to the end of the cul-de-sac for a firework extravaganza. You know that my gang (husband & daughter) insisted on being well represented, which meant there was money to be spent on a mack daddy box of Goliath fireworks. These are the ones that rival those you see at the "professional" firework displays.

Man on a mission..... You have to "put" on your 'game' face if you plan to set off these things!

Our daughter was thrilled to shoot off roman candles, Saturn rockets, bumble bees and the like. Somewhere along the way it has become a bigger thrill to light the fireworks than to view them!

There were more fireworks than any of us knew what to do with. At some point we became firework weary and headed back to our end of the street. One great thing about all that smoke was it kept the mosquitoes at bay. The down side, our dawgs were nervous wrecks and refused to venture outside for the rest of the night. Oh well, it only comes once a year they will just have to suck it up just like they do on New Years Eve, Memorial Day, Labor Day and every other holiday that we find a convenient excuse to set off those wonderful sky rockets!

Happy Anniversary

Happy "15th" Anniversary

Today my husband and I celebrate our "15th" wedding anniversary! So in honor of "Flashback Friday" and the event at hand, I have posted a picture from our wedding! Happy Anniversary to Us!

Dinner and a Drink?

I spied this vase fountain at our local Sam's and thought it might be a good addition to our front paver patio. So, prior to my husband's departure he purchased it and installed it in about 10 minutes flat. I would have to say without any hesitation this is the easiest fountain we have ever purchased. It came in (2) pieces, had (1) submersible pump, you put the pump in the water reservoir, insert the vase onto the basin plug it in and you are ready for business.

Of course my husband had a comment for our latest yard feature, which was "You know the deer will be in business now. Not only can they get dinner, but we will also serve them a drink!" Whatever....in the meantime I am going to stand back and enjoy our Dinner and a Drink yard addition!

Rucker Bound

The majority of our holiday weekend was spent packing a U-Haul in preparation of my husband's departure to Ft. Rucker where he will be stationed for the next +/- (2) years. Never one to "miss" a opportunity, I freely offered up our kitchen table and chairs, a chest from our bedroom, couch, end tables, table lamps, desk chair and such. This served two purposes, one was to outfit his "monstrous" apartment, the smallest apartment we could find which did not look like it needed to be condemned was 1200 square feet. Secondly, it provided me with a great reason to purchase new furniture and who doesn't like that! So we sorted, loaded and packed the trailer with furniture and about a bizillion bags of "stuff" from Wal-Mart, Target, Sears etc. Who knew how much "stuff" it took just to set up another household. Believe me when I say we just touched the surface yet it was enough to make one hold their head in disbelief. At times I felt like a human $ATM$...single handily spurring the retail recovery in our community with all the cash I was throwing around....whew! He left on Sunday "Rucker" bound. At the time of this posting he had successfully unpacked the U-Haul and commenced to "settling" into his new place. I received a text message that he was heading to the commissary for some "light" grocery shopping. This is not possible with my husband as he is prone to "bulk" buying when it comes to food items! Well at least I won't have to put all of those groceries away!

Are You My Mother?

Spring brings with it a host of new babies...fawns, bunnies, and fledgling birds. My husband was outside around his trailer yesterday when he happened upon this little fella. I had to snapped this picture as he peered upon my husband. I couldn't help but laugh as his expression made me think he was saying to himself...."are you my mother?" This was one of my favorite books growing up and I even played the "mama bird" in our kindergarten presentation, but that is a story for another day.

There he sat "stranded" so to speak on the driveway. I quickly pointed out that his 'parent's' were close by as they bounce from tree top to the column in our front yard. My husband was concerned that harm would come his way as he looked so frail he thought he might not be able to move fast enough to survive anything dangerous, so off I went to put on a pair of my gardening gloves.

Just as I bent down to "scoop" him up he let out the biggest squawks and off he bounced across the yard an into the flower beds (so much for being frail). I looked up at my husband and announced "job done" and off went my gloves. My husband asked if he would survive...yes was my reply. We have already had a couple "fall" from the nest early, but if you leave them alone and the mother is able to get to them to feed all will end well.

So take care as you are out and about in your yards for the next few weeks, you never know when you will "happen" upon some baby wildlife something and they will want to know...."are you my mother?"