Yah, spring is here!

Just a quick note - we heading to Ocracoke - Dick and Lindy are going to join us for the sail over. Sharon and Buddy + Pat and Diane are going to ferry over, so it should be a nice way to get-together before our St. Martin charter trip!!

One of my "late" daffodil bulbs. This one is always 2 weeks later than the others and has an orange hued trumpet. Lovely....

Balloon night

Dick and Lindy invited us up to the "Meet the Kiwanis" night at their house. They did some tethered balloon rides for the members. It was almost dark by the time the wind died down enough to do the flights.

Getting the balloon set up..


First he blows it up with cool air from a large fan. Then he starts heating the air to lift the balloon.


I think they all had a good time. It got dark too quick for me to volunteer to go up. I've said I wouldn't like to go up for a "real" flight - but I think I wouldn't mind the tethered one....maybe next time.

A little more road work

A pretty spring day - a little chilly, but good for working outside! The kid's treehouse was out in the woods and a little dangerous these days. It was up about 10' in the air - supported by 4x4's. It was time for it to come down! I don't think anyone had been in it for years.

You can see it to the right in this photo. It was made from scrap boards and left-over siding from the hangar.



So, Duane just started disassembling the legs and it eventually fell in one piece to the ground. Notice the bucket still attached to a rope. This was used to lift things up into the treehouse...there was a trap door that you used to enter via a ladder from below. I removed the front panel .....and now....it's a....


Shed for firewood! 'cause we're making plenty of firewood right now! Don't know why - because we don't have anything that burns firewood!


Oh, can't forget the story about the stray dog. Duane went to get the paper this morning and this beautiful dog followed him home. And then wouldn't leave! He was adorable. Looks mean - but just as sweet as he could be! About mid-day a lady came over to Diane's house looking for him. So, Diane sent the lady over - she lives about a mile away and was tickled to get "Rock" back!

Pittsboro Courthouse, a sad day!

The courthouse in Pittsboro was the center of the town - anyone who has driven thru knows that the building sits on a little patch of ground in the middle of a "round-about". It was actually the first one that I ever recall driving around. Back in the day before I-40 was complete to Raleigh, Duane and I always drove down the old-2 lane Highway 64 from Mocksville all the way back to NC State. We knew we were getting close to Raleigh when we made it thru the round-about...

Here is the view this morning- all kinds of policemen preventing you from getting close to the courthouse. It's still smoldering.


I went out to my old photos and found this one of the kids in the band. It shows the courthouse in the background.


This is what it looks like now. I'm sure it will have to be bull-dozed.....the town is shell-shocked.

Potty on the Sidewalk!!

Well, this is certainly different!!!

Our restrooms and hallway in the terminal building at Siler City were in need of a "facelift". The building was constructed over 20 years ago - and everything is pretty much original with the exception of the carpet.

The Town graciously hired the work done this week. I picked the colors for the paint, tile and covebase.

Just thought this was a cute photo ---- I'll back up to the beginning last week.....



Here is the "before" photo of the ladies room.... what can I say other than "pink". UGH.


And here is the equally garish men's room. Hospital chalky green anyone???


First, a painter was hired. I picked a soothing grayish/white paint color that matches the soon-to-be-installed floor tile.


Next came the floor crew - very noisy process to remove the existing tile! What didn't pop right 0ff the floor had to be "vibrated" loose with an EXTREMELY noisy machine.



Men's room underway


Ladies room underway.


Snack area almost ready for new tile.



Just about ready for the fun part!!


Applying the glue...these are some hardworking guys!!!


New tile!!! Yeppeee!


Very nice!!


Yep, a much better view!!

Otis - Really - Can they not spell Karen??

How long have I been driving past the Friendly Florist - waiting for Karen to be on the sign? Two years, at least!

Wonder how many people are named Otis in Siler City??? Not many, I expect....

Wheatberry Salad

I had these Wheatberries in the cabinet - had never managed to be in the mood to cook them....just got the inspiration, I guess...

In case you're not familiar, Wheatberries are just the entire wheat kernel - just not the husk. They're really hard and require about an hour to cook.


A loosely written "recipe" I found for a Wheatberry Salad called for chopped veggies, balsamic vinegar, cumin and olive oil. So, I chopped up all the fresh veggies I found in the fridge - broccoli, carrots, sweet onions, celery, and some cilantro.


Then I cooked some frozen onion/pepper mix with some olive oil until they were just brown.


The wheatberries are pretty and reddish while they're boiling in some saltwater. The recipe did not say to do this, but after the wheatberries were done, I tossed in the fresh veggies just long enough to soften them.


I drained the above, tossed with balsamic vinegar and cumin - put in the fridge to let the flavors absorb. I really liked the crunchy nutty grains and the flavor.

Just a little driveway re-vamp

Duane wants to re-route the "upper" driveway....this involves taking out several large pine trees. Normal people would hire someone to do this....

who said anything about normal???

Page thru these photos quickly and you'll see Duane pushing down a rather large tree. He did this for several more and a LOT of scrubby trees this afternoon.












All the way down!! Next he cut off the root ball with the chainsaw. The root ball was carried away to another area to rot! The trees themselves were chained up and pulled away.



Repeat this for 4 more trees.....cut off all the branches with the chainsaw, push all the branches clear.......All that just to clear a little path for the new drive!! Not even done yet - more next weekend, I'm sure!!



He'll cut these very long logs up and haul them away to the pulp-wood buyer. Anybody need some quick-burning firewood?

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

I know she's not "online", but I do want to wish my Grandma Happy Birthday!! I believe it's her 94th!! Happy Birthday Helen Thomas Hall!!

Fly-out to Carthage Airport (again!)

It's official, we're in a rut....3 weeks in a row we've had lunch at the Pic-n-Pig at the Carthage Airport. Oh well, there are worse things that can happen to a person!!


Today, we teamed up with Pat & Diane. In separate planes, we made the short flight in some slightly bumpy air. The local EAA Chapter 1114 had also flown over, so there were lots of folks we knew there.

Pat and Diane right before the banana pudding was served, I think.


Yep, having a good time!!


Look at that pretty blue sky!! We headed over to Siler City for a quick fuel-up with our favorite lineman - Richard said he had been very busy all day - Good!!


Chatting while we wait for fuel....


Pat pulled in close to us as we flew back to Eagles Landing. It was fun to watch the two planes in relation to each other on a bumpy day.

This little video is at Carthage - some of the TeamRV guys were down and did a little fly-by.

Care package bound for Afghanistan!

I know other family members have already sent our "Little Eddie" care packages....I just thought I'd document mine...

I made Mom's "No-Bake Cookies" - wrapped each one in wax paper, then sealed them in ziploc's...



Next was the ginger/molasses cookies - I figured they both would "travel" well.



I also picked up a few packages of Haiwaiin Punch water additives. My friend Bobbi's son had been over a few years ago and she said that the guys asked for those to put in their bottles of water - so I thought Eddie might like that also.

All went into the $10.70 medium sized US Post Service flat rate box.


Along with a short note from Aunt Karen - and some packing material to try to keep the cookies whole.


Addressed and ready for the Post Office!!