Yesterday was the Asheboro alcohol vote. Much $$ was spent by the opposing forces...

Everywhere you turned there was a sign proclaiming the landowner's preference.... lot's "FOR" ....



And lots "AGAINST".....


This was kindof neat driving down US 64....



WAY over-the-top was the person that hired a plane to tow a banner out of the airport. It was fun to watch the pilot set up and lift the banner off the ground.

First he laid the HUGE banner out flat on the grass.

He tied the tow-rope to a couple of flexible poles he had set up.


Then he took off - notice the "tail-hook" dangling behind the plane. He released it after take-off.


This is just as the hook "grabs" the tow rope mid-air


Then he swoops up as the banner trails behind.


Too bad, the sign was not what I would have voted (I'm not a resident, so they didn't ask my opinion!!) So the pilot flew in 3 hour stints around and around and around the city. On a 100 degree day. Yuck....bet he wanted a beer when he landed!!!


By the way, all 4 of the alcohol proposals WON by a landslide according to the news this morning!!! Guess the pilot can have a beer today (if he's not flying, that is...)

We had a quiet weekend, went to our friend Steve's memorial party. It was a perfect send-off to a good friend and neighbor.

I also helped Lindy with some bread-and-butter pickles. Yum!


And of course, I couldn't leave her house without a golf-cart full of veggies - I'll just load the photos, no captions required!! You can't beat free, fresh veggies!

Go here www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/196493.html

to see a photo an "aircraft spotter" shot of Duane and I flying our airplane....neat photo. Apparently, some people have this as a hobby. They just go to the airport and take photos of random planes.

We had a cool airplane fly into Siler City today - a SeaBee - obviously a "amphibian" airplane....





I asked the owner if it was OK if I snapped a photo. He kindly said "why don't I take a photo of YOU with the airplane." So he did!

OK, these are pretty gross - but I'm happy to report that my fingertip may survive it's trauma.....(hey, it's my "world" - I should be able to talk about whatever I want, right?)

Here's a bad photo of my pinkie Monday a week ago. This is when it was it's most painful - all inflamed and angry...the antibiotics are working though -



















Here's the pinkie this morning. Much better, but I'm definitely going to loose the nail - it's already loose and "wiggly"...

Yesterday I went to pick up a few things at the local Food Lion - when I walked out pushing my cart (buggy...whatever they want to call it up in ND...) several people were standing with their necks craned to the east. Here's what they were looking at.



It was even prettier in person - there was actually two full "sets" of the rainbow lines. The lower one was faint and didn't really show up in the photo.

It was a pleasant surprise!

Really not much happening! I thought I'd post my lunch today....Dick brought over some very yummy tomatoes last night. I added some salt, pepper, mayo and potato bread - and I'll have to admit that I ate TWO of the silly sandwiches. They were truly good....

Nothing bad about my finger today! The antibiotics seems to be working....

Below is a view down US 64 in Asheboro - North Carolina's largest "dry" municipality...


There is a vote coming up in a few weeks to allow alcohol sales (beer/wine/ABC Stores)...

The crane in the photo was put up by some "concerned citizens" to try to rally the troops to vote against the referendum. What's interesting about the crane is that it violates the sign ordinance!!! AND what's interesting about that is that the party filed an appeal to get to keep the sign up - and the appeal process takes 30 days....haha - the vote will be done by then....I guess the fuddy-duddies win that one. I, of course, would vote "FOR" my red, red wine!!! (But I'm not a city resident....)

After my gross finger photo, I thought I should post a pretty one:


This lovely lily is the one that our Russian neighbor "Lucy" (I don't know her name in Russian - that's what she wants to be called here) gave me for my 40th birthday party. I've transplanted it two times - it multiplies well and is beautiful and very lovely scented every year. The bumblebees love it!

News on my finger injury - I had to go to the doctor for it today - it has swollen more and my lymph nodes are tender....got some strong antibiotics. He wants to make sure he covers something called MRSA - which is a drug resistant staph infection. He said the drug is likely to make me nauseous....I'll whine about that if it happens - just took the first dose...

He's also not sure if I damaged a tendon or ligament - since I don't have full movement of the finger. I'll go back to a hand specialist if movement doesn't improve in the next two weeks. OK, I've whined enough for now!

I got Richard to snap this photo for me - it's my two pinkie fingers. I did this to show the difference - my right one is still in pretty sorry shape. I have regained most of the feeling in the finger tip, but the nail still feels "loose". I can't grip anything yet - amazing how often a 5th finger would be handy! Sorry for the gross shot - but it really is MUCH better than a couple of weeks ago!

Well, not a lot is happening! Dick and Lindy are gone to Yellowstone for a couple of weeks. I'm tending his garden - there's too much! He should be back in a few days. Yummy proceeds from a day or so ago. I pick 3 grocery bags full this morning...


I baked the eggplant with some onions, garlic and olive oil. Very good. Not too many tomatoes yet - but they sure are good! I just fried the okra....


I snapped a couple of photos of Rich's fishtank - the fish are growing visibly now!

Forgot to post a photo of the boat in the new slip....


Pretty sunset at the marina that night....


The boys are both at the airport (Robert's working today, Richard is there for the high-speed internet)....I decided we couldn't let the 4th of July go un-noticed....so Duane and I jumped in the airplane and flew over with a picnic!!

It was too hot to eat outside - so we used the conference room...