I don't think these light bulbs live up to the hype!

I've seen all the hype about the new compact florescent bulbs being so environmentally sound...
they're supposed to take so much less energy and last so long.....

So, I invested....for months, every light bulb that would blow got replaced with a florescent bulb. I got used to the strange tones and the little bit of a slow "warm up" period before they are fully bright.

And now, just a few months later - I'm REPLACING FLORESCENT BULBS!!!



They're ceasing to light (they don't really "blow")....at an alarming rate. I am not happy! These were costly items - the truth-in-advertising leaves alot to be desired here....

And, I bought these things at different times - different brands and wattage bulbs - so it's not just one manufacturer. I checked the cupboard where I keep them - Sylvania, Phillips and GE are all the brands - I expected better....

Bathroom renovations

The hallway bathroom needed help! It was outdated (circa 1995) and had some leakage problems and lots of hard water stains over the years. I've been wanting to update the "look" for a while now. I'd gotten pretty tired of the beige, seashell motif....here it is a few minutes into the "demolition".


Much sledge-hammering was accomplished. Amazing how heavy wallboard is when you attach a bunch of ceramic tiles!


All the fixtures gone - wow, what a mess!


Off to the dump with load #1....more as we progress!

I say not much going on, but really, there is!

Busy, busy at the Siler City Airport....not me, but lots of other folks.

It's beee-uuu-tiful hay-baling weather. Hot, hot, hot and dry.


The expanded ramp area is finally finished grade and ready for pavement next week.



And we've got a work crew out sealing cracks in the ramp and runway. This is a NCDOT project, but I end up having to coordinate the work with the runway closures. This is difficult when someone needs to land but can't due to the workers on the runway!



Here's what they're doing - this is a crack in the middle of the runway. It's been sealed before - a few years ago. But, freeze/thaw cycles open it back up and will eventually "crumble" the runway if not addressed.


Here's the finished seal - good for another few years!

Not much happening!

Really, it's just another day in paradise! (A scorching paradise, that is!) So, The Friendly Florist still doesn't think KAREN needs free flowers...but I know someone who could get some!!!

Oops

There is an old saying "One hand for the ship, One hand for yourself"....it just means "hold on". I ignored that today and tripped over one of the lines at the front of the boat....went tumbling onto the deck. Just skinned knees, a bruised palm (caught myself with my out-stretched hand..), sore muscles and a bruised ego....see my skinned litt'l ole'lady knees? Not really too bad, but it sure hurt! It's been a long time since I had a tumble that hard....


Ignoring the pain, I proceeded to wash the hull of it's Dismal Swamp "beard" as they call it. I'll have to do it again in a few months - the Neuse River has it's share of staining components.....

Chox for the airport

The Siler City Airport was in terrible need of chocks on the ramp to keep the aircraft from rolling when parked. The ones that we had were about 15 yrs old and falling apart.

One of the airport authority members volunteered to help - so off I went to Lowe's to purchase 4 x 4" pressure treated lumber. He sawed them on the diagonal and sanded them nicely (the hard part!!)

Then we let them rest.....for about a month! They were "wet" - so they wouldn't take paint properly...

Next we painted oil-based primer. 48 of 'em!


Next holes were drilled and "eyes" screwed in to hold the rope that will eventually make them a "set of chocks".


Next was the bright yellow paint....hung to dry. This is as far as we've gotten - I'll post a photo of the finished product in use in a few days.



Then we're off to the boat for the weekend - here's New Bern circling on approach to the airport. Hot, hot, hot, it is!!

Garden Photos

It has been dreary and cool since we got back from our Chesapeake trip.....not much happening -

Here's a shot of the my little "no-till" garden. Just tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and a few peppers. I'm really liking the maintenance - just mow/weed-eat around the plants.



Just some pretty plant photos - my sis-in-law Denise gave me a bunch of different plants when we were last at home....I've managed to keep them alive and well!






I had to snap a couple of photos of my hydrangea's - Richard gave me one for Mother's day many years ago - and Mom also brought me one a couple of years ago. They are the prettiest they've ever been this year.



Must be the amazing amount of water we've had recently!

Oh - here's one of the first "harvests" ....yum...

Little Birdie Nest

This is a little bird nest that is at waist level outside the entrance door to the terminal building at Siler City. This is a big rose bush.

I'm shocked that a bird would build a nest in such an accessible place. I've been looking, but haven't see the actual bird yet....I hope that she hasn't abandoned her egg!

Fun Sunday

It's been several weeks since we've been flying, so we took off for a quick flight over to Siler City just for fun this morning. While in the air, a friend from Apex heard us on the radio. He said several of the folks from Cox Field (off US 64 in Apex) were going to head over to the Carthage Airport for lunch....so after a couple of practice landings at Siler City, we headed south to Carthage.

There is a little restaurant there adjacent to the airport called the Pick'n'Pig....obviously a BBQ place. We've been there a few times - they've got quite a big following -both from the flying and the local population.



You just get out of your plane and walk over to the restaurant. 5 planes from Cox field were there in addition to us. They pushed a couple of tables together and we had a nice visit.


Strangely, we ran into our neighbors, Ramsey and Dottie there also....it's a very small world!!


Beautiful flying day (beautiful day, period!) View from the front of the plane on landing at home.


Snapped a shot of the runway - click to enlarge - let's you see where everyone is on the airport.


After the flying, Pat and Diane invited us up for a dip in the pool - Miranda and Richard joined us.


A.D. the airport dog was there, of course.




Lindy came over too....





Yep, it was a fun Sunday!!

Nice Neighbor Veggies Again

I love this time of the year - our wonderful neighbors/friends Dick and Lindy always generously share the excess from their huge garden with us.

Lindy called this afternoon and invited me up to get a few early items - yum!!



We've eaten almost all of this already and that was only a couple of hours ago! (The yellow squash is from my little "no-till" garden experiment....)

Airport improvements

Boo-hoo - I'm still whining about being back from vacation! Oh well, back to the real world - it's not so bad, after all!

While we were gone, a construction project started at the Siler City Airport that we had been waiting on for years. We had an overcrowding problem - too many airplanes tied down on the ramp - a couple of years ago, we had to install some tiedown rings in the grassy area adjacent to the ramp. This is not ideal - it's difficult to move the planes when it's particularly wet. Plus we have to mow the grass around the planes - not really a good idea!

Since they started while we were gone, I had to dig back and get a "before" shot out of my archived photos. This was the best I could come up with - you can see the airplanes tied in the grass in the foreground.


The construction is underway now - it's actually a bigger project than I thought it would be....


They have dug out about 2 feet of dirt and replaced it with packed gravel. I'm looking forward to the 11 more tiedown spaces!! (Sorry for the dreary photos - but it's dreary today!!)

Chesapeake Sailing Trip Last Day - Back Home Now!!

Boo, hoo - all good vacations must come to an end!!

We're back at home now....easing back into work.

I think this "last dinner" photo is one of the best!

Chesapeake Sailing Trip Day 14 - at Deltaville, Va on the Rappahannock River

OK, so today is not really a sailing trip report....it's been constantly raining - so we decided to stay put on the dock at Deltaville. A very nice marina (Dozier's).

Last night for dinner, we called a local restaurant to come pick us up - they sent a bus-boy that only had room for us in the back seat of a Jeep Cherokee.....this was quite comical - Duane is buried back there somewhere....


This morning we borrowed the marina courtesy car to go into town (about 3 miles away). The white Mercedes is the courtesy car! I guess my courtesy cars at the airport need a little upgrade (one is a 1990 Taurus wagon and the other is our old 1991 Chevy Blazer!!)



Later in the day we decided we were all in the mood for pizza - I ordered a veggie pizza, of course - isn't this yummy?

Chesapeake Sailing Trip Day 13 - to Deltaville, Va on the Rappahannock River

We've had great weather so far....today was overcast and threatening rain....

Leaving Point Lookout - lovely homes bordering the Potomac River....


Marina at Point Lookout


We had 6 hours to our next stop. First time we've had to dress for wind and cooler temps.



Cooler temps begged for chili! I had the following ingredients on board - so that's the recipe:

Can black beans
Can blackeye peas
1 onion, chopped
handful of red/green/yellow peppers leftover from burritos
celery
Can diced tomatos
TVP (textured veg. protein)
Cumin
Chili Powder
Onion Powder

Served with optional sour cream, cheese and tortilla chips. Hit the spot!




Arrived in Deltaville, this time off the Rappahannock River (last time we were near Deltaville, it was off the other side of the city on the Piankatank River.)

Pretty duck and her duckies.


Turns out she was trolling for crackers....I obliged.


We went out to eat at one of the local establishments.....it poured rain while we were there. Sharon stole Buddy's dreaded CAROLINA jacket.....really, Sharon, you could do better!!!



Back to the boat at the marina....a little soggy - and 100 percent chance of sogginess tomorrow....we may just stay put and enjoy the break.