World of Karen

Daffy's!!!

2012-01-26T10:35:00.000-05:00

Is it really January 26th??? Gotta love this La Niña weather!!

Happy B-day Robert!

2012-01-24T23:24:00.000-05:00

Thought I'd share this - it is a card from my co-workers at IBM 23 yrs ago. It's a list of possible baby names from some kind of office pool....."as of 1:30PM 1/25/89"....so the day after Robert was born.....

We hadn't named Robert - actually, we waited 3 days before we actually did the paperwork....so we were apparently the talk of the "department". We went to the hospital not knowing if he was a girl or a boy, so we really didn't have a name picked out. Plus, we had agreed that Karen would "birth" them and Duane would "name" them. Fair trade, huh?

I think it's neat that this is written on a key-punch card. We actually were past that phase in the computer world, but there were so many of them around, we used them as scrap paper. The note on it is from a good friend at the time, Tim. "O" was my boss, "Overcash". Ahh, the memories!

Foggggggg

2012-01-23T15:45:00.000-05:00

Sorry, I've been remiss in getting anything interesting up on the blog lately....mainly because we've not been doing anything the slightest bit interesting!! And still aren't, for that matter!

Rather dismal weather we've been having - luckily fairly warm....warm and wet equals misty fog! No flights into the airport for several days now - not good for the bottom line!!!

Daffodils???

2012-01-15T22:30:00.000-05:00

Can you believe it? January 15th and I've got daffodils budding!!!

Quote

2012-01-13T15:58:00.002-05:00

Saw this today:

..................................................................................

You can never make the same mistake twice.

The second time it's not a mistake, it's a choice.

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Bananas!!

2012-01-12T12:38:00.000-05:00

A very nice pilot this morning brought me these little bunches of bananas....

He said he had stopped at a gas station where they had a few bunches at the counter. He said he'd like one. The attendant said they were $1. So, he paid and reached for a bunch from the counter. He was waved away - "no, no - it's $1 per CASE, they are stacked outside." So, the pilot is giving bananas to anyone who wants them! Yum, I've had this type before. Once they are yellow, they are sweet and yummy!

McCraw fun at Gatlinburg

2012-01-08T20:53:00.000-05:00

This weekend, we flew over to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Airprot for the annual McCraw family get-together. We had never flown into this airport before - the route took us over some pretty desolate terrain....no easy emergency landing sites below!!

Past the higher mountains, the terrain around Gatlinburg actually is mostly level.

Very nice, new terminal building at the Sevierville/Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge Airport. Almost deserted (it's off-off- season there!) but the staff was very helpful. Within moments we were in our rental car and on our way to the "cabin" in Gatlinburg.

The view from the back porch - the "cabin" was a 3 level house with 5 bedrooms....

Lots of easy cooking....

It was close to Carolyn's birthday....so Sharon made sure we had a little celebration.....

And now we know why there are no professional singers in the McCraw household!

Much relaxing and playing with electronic gadgets.

The fog and clouds rolled in Saturday.

About half us us went to the Titanic display....the other half went to the Muscle Car Museum.

And it got foggier and cloudier!!

Sunday, we needed to head home....but the forecast had changed from "partly cloudy" to misty and ice in the upper level clouds (where we need to fly to get back over the Appalachian Mountatins!).....

So, we did the only thing we really could - we flew an hour out of our way to avoid the worst of it!! Here's a little map that shows what we did (click it to blow it up):

An un-eventful flight - no ice - just some light rain and clouds....

Here was the view for the first 45 minutes....

Then we started breaking out of the clouds over Hazard Kentucky.

I love to see the valleys in this area - you can actually see how the glaciers moved thru this area eons ago...

Getting closer to home - there was a thick overcast cloud layer....but nice and smooth air. Easy approach and warm weather below for January!

Another motorcycle

2012-01-05T17:27:00.000-05:00

Richard and Robert have acquired another motorcycle. This time, apparently to fix and sell. It wasn't running and the guy that had is wasn't able to fix it....soooo...

Cleaning carburetors and such -

Here it is taken apart a bit. I'll post a better photo when they get it back together. As of this afternoon, they had it running great!

Last of the little winter vacation

2012-01-03T09:06:00.000-05:00

Our last day in DC, we only had until 1PM to tour, because we had to catch a train back to the Manassas airport.

So, we went to the only museum that we paid to enter - the International Spy Museum. I really wasn't that impressed....but it was crowded and we were a bit rushed.

So, back to the hotel for our stuff, and a couple of blocks to Union Station to catch the train.

Union Station - really cool.

The roof inside Union Station, shopping mall, restaurants. A mini-city unto itself!

We were catching a commuter train that runs on the Amtrak rails.

Here it is!! Country girl in the big city.

Ours was the first run of the afternoon, so we were the first to enter our car. It never was crowded, I'm assuming because this was a holiday weekend and no real "commuters"! Double decks - the view from above was great!

Relaxing on the 1 hr ride

After a chilly and very windy takeoff, we made our way south to Williamsburg/Jamestown. Flying over the sound on the approach, you can see the Navy "boneyard" - where they anchor some ships. I don't know if they are just stored there or going to be scraped.

We met some of Dick and Lindy's friends from long ago for a wonderful dinner. The next day we toured the historic Jamestown site.

Their friend Tom is retired, but one day a week he gives tours at the site. It wasn't his normal day to tour, but he came out and provided us with a wonderful, insightful tour of the original Jamestown settlement.

What a whirlwind!!! Here Dick and Lindy and the McCraws parted ways. They flew on home, we flew to the boat!!

Nothing much going on....beautiful day, though!

I guess it's back to work and the New Year!!!

Another Day in the Big City!

2012-01-02T08:12:00.027-05:00

We knew that it was going to rain....so we came prepared. Luckily, it was not too terribly cold.

You have to get the classic "in front of the Capitol" photos!

And then it was full steam - walking down the Mall to the various Smithsonian museums.

Enjoyed the newer American Indian museum - none of us had seen this one before.

Lots of bead work! This is a decoration made of what looked like millions of tiny glass beads!

Walking in the rain!

We stopping in the Air and Space Museum for a short visit - it was much to crowded for our tastes, so we cut it short.

And the group gave in and trudged down to the Natural History Museum so I could peek at the Hope Diamond! The big center diamond itself is too big to be really sparkley....but the rest of the necklace is made of gorgeous little rectangular diamonds. Really more impressive than this photo!

More walking in the rain!

It was getting close to 5:30PM (when most of the museums close up for the day) and the sun was finally peeking thru - and we spied this full horizon-to-horizon rainbow....unfortunately, my camera wouldn't take a wide enough photo to show it.....but the lighting on the "Castle" was just spectacular! And it was brightening as we walked...

Probably the brightest rainbow I'd ever seen - a nice way to end the day!

Little Winter Vacation!

2012-01-01T11:11:00.001-05:00

This year, we (Duane/I and Dick/Lindy) decided to head north for our after-Christmas mini-vacation. The "dueling Mooneys" took off within a few minutes of each other -the weather for the flight up was fabulous! Here we are approaching Manassas. It's a short train ride to DC from the Manassas airport.

We made quick work of getting settled into our hotel rooms and set out for a bit of sightseeing before it got dark.

I love the city scenery - we walked past a fire station - thought the doors were interesting!

I wouldn't want to live there, but I do enjoy the city-scape and "vibe" of all the folks living/working so close together.

Our first museum (of many!!) was the American Art and Portraiture Museum.

Lots of various art types - and some portraits!! I will not bore you with lots of photos. Go see for yourself!!

There were some really bizarre things - this exhibit is a janitor's art...made pretty much entirely from aluminum-foil. Kindof creepy if you ask me!

And here are a couple made from beer bottle caps.

Yeah, and there you thought beer bottle caps were trash....

We were getting hungry by then - and we were close to Chinatown!!

Really - it reminded me of China! Hanging meat and noodle-making. We picked one of about 100 restaurants that were side-by-side. We were ushered to the back and up a slender set of stairs to our table. I think we picked a good restaurant - we were the only non-Asian people in the room!

Then it was back to our hotel room - walked past the homeless shelter where the "residents" were outside on the streetcorner smoking their cigarettes in the cold.....

Our hotel was very near Union Station and this was the view walking down the street on the way back to our rooms! Neat-o!

Christmas!

2011-12-31T15:09:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the delay...I haven't been very good at blogging recently!

We had a very nice little Christmas party at our house - starting with a fairly standard big meal.

After a bit of pool-playing....it was upstairs for the present opening.

Richard and Miranda got a few doggie-related gifts - this doormat reads "Wipe Your Paws"...

Robert acting silly amidst all the wrapping paper...

Everyone had a nice time, I think!

Even me in my silly Santa hat! Happy Holidays!!

Christmas Breakfast at Barney and Jackie's

2011-12-29T21:23:00.001-05:00

I'm posting from my little handheld itouch for the first time so this may look weird. We are always invited to our neighbors for Xmas breakfast . I will post our actual Christmas photos when I can. But I have these photos on my itouch so they are what you get for now! Robert joined us ... But I didn't get a photo of him !! Richard and Miranda were at her folks house then. Fun as always and no dishes to clean up!!

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Christmas Cactus

2011-12-22T09:03:00.000-05:00

My Christmas cactus seems to know it's Christmas!!! I didn't do anything to it (like take it to a dark room or anything like that). Quite lovely this year!

Mills River Christmas

2011-12-18T18:46:00.001-05:00

Time for the Christmas get-together in Mills River. Duane, I and Miranda flew up, of course.....the boys decided they should road-trip Raleigh-Mills River. I think they were just a little bit chilly!

Everyone gathered at Mom's house for snacks and the "Chinese Christmas" game that we always play. This time, Eddie II and Brittany joined us from Italy via Skype! First, they thought they had Conner (who is over 1 month old now) asleep.....

But apparently not, so he got to join the party too! He seemed like a real trooper and only fussed at the very end. It was really cool to be able to see and talk to them!

We were projecting the Skype image up onto Mom and Frank's TV, but the camera was off to the side - so everyone was looking away from the camera.

The house was packed!!

More baby shots!

Random gift shots.....

Everyone had a great time with it - several gifts were stolen a couple of times.

Daisy, of course, had to sit on Duane's lap - the one guy that really doesn't want much to do with dogs or cats....she made herself right at home!

Good time was had by all, I believe.

We had breakfast with Pat and Cordy - Happy Birthday to Cordy, by the way!!!

Then it was back to the airport for the flight home - with a much more full airplane than we had on the way up, somehow!!

Beautiful day - we extended our climb-out from the Asheville Airport a bit...

And got a really nice view of the Biltmore House from above!!!

Book Club Christmas Party

2011-12-15T19:44:00.000-05:00

It's time for the once-yearly Book Club "Dirty Santa" party.....

First, our hostess had some nice goodies for us to munch on. We (very briefly) discussed our book - The Thorn Birds. I actually hate to admit it, but I did enjoy the rather long, epic story. It's really just a soap opera in one big book....but it's a fun read, anyway!

On to the "Dirty Santa" - lots of fun - several gifts got "stolen". We had a "2 steal" rule - the 3rd person who has a gift gets to keep it!

Decisions, decisions....

A nice, fun evening!!

Another boring office party.....

2011-12-13T18:14:00.001-05:00

Every year, I go to great pains to subject the Cardinal Air gang to my version of the "office party".

I think everyone had a nice time visiting "away from the airport"....

Isn't it weird when you look at your camera later and see that a photo that you thought you snapped was recorded as a video????

Rum balls/last of an era/liquor story

2011-12-09T20:57:00.000-05:00

This is not just any old bottle...stay with me here....

I definitely didn't drink much of this. I'm actually not a rum-drinker....you know, the red-wine gets in the way of hard-liquor-drinkin' !!!

I made my rum-balls for Christmas yesterday.

You know, crush the vanilla wafers, add powdered sugar, minced pecans, syrup and RUM.

I finished off this bottle of rum with the last batch of rum-balls.

And I was cleaning up.

And I was walking over to toss this bottle.

And I realized it was the last of "Daddy's" liquor cart.

Let me explain. My dad was not a liquor drinker. He often drank cheap beer after mowing the lawn, but I'm not sure I ever saw him drink liquor.

This is the way that I know the story - it may not be quite accurate....I was long gone, we were living in Boca Raton raising 2 toddlers at the time.

It was probably 1990. I don't think he'd been diagnosed with prostate cancer at that point.

My mom worked as an accountant at a local firm and was very friendly with her co-workers.

They invited everyone from work over for a "pool-party".

Being wonderful hosts, they got a bunch of liquor for the party. I'm sure it was a fine party.

Most of the liquor was left over. The party-er's must not have been liquor drinkers either.

All the liquor was stored on a cart in their den.

Then he had the nerve to leave us.

And somehow, I got a few of the bottles of liquor. And his overcoat. And a few special guns. All precious.

The liquor was toted in a big Rubbermaid tote as we moved from New Hill to Apex to Pittsboro. There were several half gallons of various brand-name liquor.

Through the years, I've slowly used them up in various recipes and drinks. The bottles were actually dusty with age.

The liquor stayed very fresh. Going on 20 years. Wow.

So, if you get a rum-ball this year.....enjoy!! I know I will.

News!! Extra, Extra!!

2011-12-08T21:10:00.002-05:00

I'm assuming since it's out on Facebook that I can announce it here!

Richard and Miranda are engaged!! No details yet. I'm very happy for them!!!

Quote

2011-12-07T22:19:00.002-05:00

When she says, “What?” it isn’t that she didn’t hear you; she’s giving you a chance to change what you said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

NC Pecans

2011-12-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

Most every year, my sweet neighbors Al and Shirley, offer to bring fresh pecans to me. There is an elderly couple who they know near Siler City that have a bunch of pecan trees and they sell nuts, word-of-mouth.

This year, I got "just" 10 pounds for my Christmas baking.....of course, they are not shelled!!

So, I borrowed Al and Shirley's very neat nutcracker and got to work!

Here's a close-up view - it's cool and so simple. Whew...I've cracked alot of nuts!

Quote

2011-12-05T23:09:00.000-05:00

I'm going to start putting cute quotes I see up randomly....

You can sail anywhere on the planet and never be more than 7 miles from land - it might be straight down, but its never more than seven miles

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Myrtle Beach

2011-12-05T14:04:00.010-05:00

It was such a lovely weekend, we needed to fly somewhere Sunday!! So, off to Myrtle Beach...wandered around Broadway at the Beach - as we came upon the notorious "bull ride", Duane was goading me to try it again. I think not!! This is NOT me - but a young lady - who did not fair as well as I did as she fell off after just one "spin". I think I made it thru a few spins before I was bucked off!

Had a few oysters for a snack - then an uneventful, peaceful flight home!

Hushpuppies

2011-12-04T23:04:00.000-05:00

This weekend was our friend's annual "customer appreciation day" at his business....and I always volunteer to cook the hushpuppies in the "turkey cooker" that Mom and Frank gave us years ago....

Lot's of food and an absolutely gorgeous December day!

And the hushpuppies were wonderful, as usual!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2011-12-02T13:19:00.000-05:00

I've started the preparations for my company Christmas party now......let's see how many things I can put in ziplock bags in my freezers!!! I can't do it all the day before, so some of it has to be done ahead of time..... (Party date is next Saturday night....finger food for 35+ !!!!!)

Yummy lettuce from the garden

2011-12-01T15:06:00.011-05:00

I had planted a 99 cent package of "Variety Lettuce" in my little fall garden. I am actually surprised that the deer have left it alone. (They've eaten the radish greens instead....go figure!!)

We had freezing temperatures finally, so I thought I'd better get me one last salad:

I can't identify all the different greens - I see Chard, Arugula and various red/green leaf lettuce. The Arugula was actually quiet "peppery", but the others were very mild and crisp. I've got enough in the fridge of a few more salads if it doesn't wilt. Now all I have in the garden is onions and collards. Looking forward to a batch of "frosted" collards next - I've read that they get a sweeter flavor once they've been exposed to frost. I'll let ya know!!

Brunswick Stew/Neighborhood gathering

2011-11-30T17:05:00.000-05:00

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, our lovely neighbors, Barney and Jackie, always invite the neighborhood and their families up for an outdoor gathering. We've had pretty good weather over the years for this event - sometimes it's quite chilly, but never has it been raining or worse. This year, if not for all the fallen leaves, you would have thought it was spring!!

I couldn't have any of the Brunswick Stew because it had beef and pork in it.....but someone had set aside a wonderful pot of vegetarian stew this year!!!! It was fabulous (I'm sure the high-octane variety was equally yummy!)

Barney was frying the hushpuppies all morning - I never have seen him take the time to eat! And they were fabulous also! Fun gathering.

St. Martin mini-vacation

2011-11-27T15:45:00.000-05:00

We spent a little over a week in St. Martin with Sharon and Buddy - lots of relaxing and not much else!!!

This was the view every morning from our little apartment overlooking Oyster Pond on French St. Martin.

Breakfast started out simple and got a lot more complicated and yummy as time flew by. Always breakfast on the deck in the beautiful sunshine!

Our little apartment. There was a loft overhead that we never used, but a couple or kids could sleep up there.

Lots of beautiful beaches!

Sharon surprised us by getting her hair braided!!

Cool "island girl" for a while!!

Lots of eating was accomplished!! This was a shrimp/goat cheese pizza - and a fabulous salad that had honey drizzled over a calzone. All the food we had was wonderful and fairly inexpensive.

Obviously, this is a different meal.....wonderful seared fresh tuna.....

Before breakfast one morning....lots of reading was accomplished by all of us this trip.

See, breakfast got more complicated....leftover pizza and salami were added in for some variety!

Pretty view of Marigot harbor

Our swimming pool at sunset

Our really, really tiny rental car.

We spent a while at the Sunset Beach Bar - which is famous because it is literally right beside the approach end of the SXM runway. You actually get blasted by the sand from the jetblast if you stand in line with the runway.

An American Airlines jet approaching. We were actually there during the KLM 747 arrival but the photos were not good. It only arrives two times per week so a lot of people actually come out to see it. Quite interesting to see once, not sure I'd do that again.

One morning we spent time at Dawn Beach - the chairs we picked out were right beside a volleyball court (which was not in use when we sat down in the shade of a palm tree). But soon a big group of guys came over to play - we chatted with them - they were a family of 22 from a cruise ship and had rented 1 room at the nearby hotel for the day so they could use the amenities. One of the guys got called away by his wife and they asked us for a player......nobody else wanted to, so I volunteered. I am NOT a volleyball player - but they were good sports. My team lost.....good fun.

Pretty beach....

Had lunch at a neat restaurant - the Boathouse.

Yummy seafood wrap - lots of calamari - which I didn't realize was so tender and good!

Sorry for the weird order of photos - I didn't actually take as many as I usually do....breakfast was the next photo I took - fresh croissants from the little corner grocery (1 euro each - $1.40) and some tasty caviar ($4 for a little jar). Sliced red onions to add some zip!

Sharon pointed out some iguanas - just sunning themselves in some trees. Ugly things, aren't they??

Pretty flowers abound, of course!

We spent a day at Anse Marcel - a beautiful little beach on the French side - this is a small resort that you can walk thru to get to the beach.

Some fruit hanging from a palm tree...

Some green ones on the other side of the tree....

We stopped at an overlook leaving Anse Marcel - a couple was there taking photos and asked for us to take their photo....and they did the same for us!!

The photo I took by turning around from the previous photo!!

We ate a couple of meals at the "LoLo's" - which are open air restaurants that serve up all kinds of barbequed food in great quantities for low prices. Lots of locals eat there as well.....this dish cost $8 US and the beer is $1. Yum....

See - pretty beaches everywhere!!

Outside Busby's Beach Bar - another nice meal.

Traffic on the island is a bit of a problem - so we didn't go to the "city" Phillipsburg very much. It's more of a cruise ship passenger place anyway.

We did a lot of lazing around under beach umbrellas....plenty of time to "people watch".....I snapped this photo because I looked up and saw a pair of swim trunks that rival my son, Robert's swim trunks that I do believe are the ugliest in the world!!! (I think Robert likes them just for that very reason!)

Orient Beach

Complimentary rum drinks (came with renting a beach lounger for the day)....

More food - Duane's burger with French Camembert cheese

We rented chairs for several days from the same fellow - who appeared to run the Orange Fever restaurant. He was very nice to us - cheerful and gave us some "special drinks".....

Ah, the vacation is coming to a close....because US Air cancelled our flight on Thanksgiving day, we were forced to stay another day......but our little apartment was not available the extra day. So, we had to pack up and move to a different one. This one was equally neat - but did not have the beautiful view!

Off to the airport - caught this Piper on takeoff (actually from the smaller airport on the island, not the international one).

One last photo on our way back to the airport!!!

I saved these photos to the end - hope you don't think I'm making fun..... St. Martin is pretty well known for it's tolerance for nude and topless sunbathing. No, I didn't take any nude photos!!! But, while people watching, I did spy an interesting couple. We saw them several times - walking up and down the beach, hand-in-hand. What was cute was that they were wearing matching bathing suits. Each day a different suit - and one day we saw them in one color suit in the morning, and a different color suit in the evening. Just page down, you'll get the idea.

Saved this one to the last. Enjoy.....

New Weather Station at the Siler City Airport

2011-11-15T15:30:00.001-05:00

We've been waiting a long time for the Siler City Airport to get a certified weather station.....it's finally happening! With the aid of the NCDOT and the FAA, construction started last week.

The weather station has a 10 meter tower with lots of gizmos to interpret the weather conditions instantaneously and transmit them over a specific frequency (125.775mhz if you're wondering!!) to all the pilots in the area.

A large footing had to be dug in the extremely hard dirt for the tower base.

Here's the tower components before assembly.

The tower being assembled! I would not like to be up there!!

One week later - all done and operational!!!

Drum roll please!!! Turn your speaker on! Here's what a pilot will hear in the air - very critical info when the weather is bad.

Starting to think about the sunny Caribbean!

2011-11-10T14:47:00.000-05:00

Our trip to St. Martin with Sharon and Buddy is coming up soon....so I thought I had better start thinking about packing. Fun to get the summer clothes back out. Amazing how colorful I'm gonna be!!

Cleaning up a bit at the airport

2011-11-06T21:17:00.000-05:00

There was a decrepit mobile home that was set up behind the terminal building at the airport. It was originally put there 20 years ago for a mechanic that was living at the airport....but lately it had started to really show it's age. No one had lived in it for 8 or 9 years. The Airport Authority requested that it be removed....

So, out it goes!!

By next spring, the area will be nicely mowed grass, I hope!!

Compliment to Richard

2011-11-05T12:24:00.000-04:00

Richard worked for me at the airport for a day last week...here he is with a little puppy he and Miranda are "fostering". Anyone want a pretty little yellow lab puppy??

This couple flew in from Florida while Richard was there in this little experimental "Long-Ez" to visit their daughter who is a freshman at Duke. Richard handled the rental car and such for them.

When they came a few days later to leave, they raved about the "nice young man" who helped them....I, of course, took all the credit for raising the nice young man!!!

What is that noise?

2011-11-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

I kept hearing a "roaring noise".....then I realized it must be a hot air balloon!

Yeah, look hard over the rooftop....

Neighbor Dick was out having a late evening joy-ride!

NC State Jazz Concert

2011-11-03T10:22:00.000-04:00

Miranda and I went to see the NC State Jazz concert last night...nicely done, as usual!

The obligatory "mom" photo after the concert...eating pizza on Hillsborough St. at 11pm because nothing else was open in the sleepy town of Raleigh!!

Here's a little sample (Robert's middle of the back row in case you don't see him):

Shorts

2011-11-02T13:43:00.002-04:00

I saw this on Facebook - and I had to put it where my sis the knitter would see it!! Hilarious!!! (I have NO idea who that is!!!)

Happy November

2011-11-01T09:31:00.000-04:00

Sorry for all the food stuff lately.....just nothing much going on!

This is very cool!

How to Peel a Head of Garlic in Less Than 10 Seconds from SAVEUR.com on Vimeo.

End of summer veggies

2011-10-29T11:33:00.000-04:00

Gotta love neighbors who bring bags of peppers! Lindy harvested all their peppers today because it is going to freeze tonight. Lucky me!! Most chopped and ready for the freezer....a few saved to be used in the chile for lunch today!!

Apple Jelly

2011-10-27T19:33:00.000-04:00

While we were in Oriental over the weekend, we strolled through the very small farmer's market there.

I picked up a bag of "mountain" apples for a donation to a charity. Duane was standing behind me already seeing that the apples were not very good....but, what the heck, seemed like a nice charity.

I picked some McIntosh, some Romes and the "last Arkansas Black" according to the nice lady. I took a bite out of one as we were walking away....yuck! Not crisp at all.

Anyhoooo, I did take the bag home and decided to make some jelly - hadn't done that in a few years, actually.

Turns out, they were from Tennessee....maybe that was what was wrong (our NC roots showing thru!!)

Chopped 'em up....boiled them down to a thick sauce. I left the peeling on to try to get some nice color for the jelly.

Squeezed the sauce thru my food mill to separate out the peeling.

At this point, I usually put the sauce in cheesecloth and let it sit for hours to drain out all the juice....but I didn't have any. I did, however, have some fairly fine netting. So, I doubled it and left the sauce sitting.

Isn't that pretty, fresh apple juice. A little less than clear, but I kindof like my jelly more like "jam" anyway!

After the juice was mostly drained, there is just a small ball of "pulp" left.

Boiled the juice down a bit and added tons of sugar until it "sheeted" off the spoon. Into sterile jars....now I need to bake me some sourdough bread and I'll be in heaven!!!

Fun at Oriental

2011-10-22T15:14:00.000-04:00

I'm going to post this over at Glory Days too.....

We've had a nice long weekend in Oriental....Friday night the Oriental Old Theater showed the movie "Psycho" - 5 bucks got you into the movie and all the popcorn you cared to eat! What a deal....plus there was some local entertainment and "introduction" to the movie....many wore shower caps....

There was even a shower cap "hawker"....we just relaxed and watched the festivities. Good fun and the theater was packed! I didn't know there were that many people in Oriental!!

Remember, our foresail was destroyed in Hurricane Irene.....we finally received the replacement.

Here is the barren bow of the boat....

The sail laid out ready to be hoisted...

Easy, peasy! All set for sailing again!

So, we had to take her out an make sure all is well. Wonderful fall sailing with fairly warm temps and 20 knot breezes.

We sailed for a few hours - approaching Oriental we sailed through a race course.....pretty little spinnaker...

Fun, fun!!

Oriental

2011-10-21T08:18:00.000-04:00

Beautiful morning at the marina, cup of coffee in hand with Coffeemate's new Peppermint Mocha flavor!

Sunday Dinner in Hendersonville!

2011-10-17T14:51:00.000-04:00

We had missed visiting with Granny and Cordy when we were home for my high school reunion....Granny invited us up for lunch on Sunday. And it was a beautiful day for it!

Leaving the house - all is still pretty much green down our way.

I know, the photos never do the pretty leaves justice....here we are approaching Asheville. It really was pretty - the leaves started changing to pretty yellows and reds as we passed Rutherfordton and the foothills.

Landed at the smaller Hendersonville airport - Cordy arrived a few minutes later to pick us up.

The Hendersonville airport is a bit small compared to most of the airports we fly into. Duane, of course, always does a nice job no matter what kind of airport. (I usually choose calm days, good visibility and long runways for my flights!!)

Here is a photo of an airplane landing over the pretty trees....I think they need a good trim, myself!

After a very yummy lunch and a little harvesting from their huge garden, it was time to head back home for some Sunday chores....Granny and Cordy seeing us off....

Oh, and here's my "loot" from the trip!

Pickled Okra!

2011-10-14T14:19:00.000-04:00

Lindy's garden is still producing copious amounts of okra....thanks very much!

For today's batch, I decided to do a little "pickle" operation....yummy, they will be!

Packed tight in clean jars....

Crushed up some of the dried hot peppers from last year....

Spices on top - dill, garlic, mustard seeds, salt, black pepper.....

Poured boiling hot vinegar/water to cover the okra....sealed up bright green now.....

This photo is this morning - they are "curing" - we can eat 'em in a week or so!

Motorcycle!

2011-10-12T22:36:00.001-04:00

I searched my photos, and can't find a single photo of my "previous life" that shows my "motorcycle days"....but, honestly, I really did ride a Honda 175 street bike between 1978 and 1982. Duane had a Kawasaki 185 about the same time-frame. We had them at NC State because freshmen couldn't have cars on campus - Mom trailered them to the "big city" of Raleigh for us in the fall of 1980. Good times - grocery shopping with a milk crate strapped to the luggage rack....then we sold them - purchased a pristine 1978 Suzuki 550 when we were newlyweds (1982).

Kids and life got in the way - a few rides in the ensuing years.....

Amazing that you never forget how - same gear pattern - no help necessary - had a nice cruise around the neighborhood on Richard's bike (he borrowed the pickup and left this in driveway!!)

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000-04:00

Just a quick update on the fall gardening....my newly tilled and planted garden has a little surprise for me - a leftover cucumber has "volunteered" it's seeds! I'm suspecting the frost will get them soon though.

The only thing popping up so far is a row of radishes. I see little sprouts of lettuce and collards. I buried the onion sets deep so they might survive the winter - so they're not peeking up yet!

Otherwise around the house we've still got some color -

And one remaining pepper plant on the deck in a pot. I'm saving these until closer to frost.

And of course, some mums. The buds on these mums were completely nibbled off by the deer about a month ago. I thought for sure that I would have no blooms.....

Mums must be different than other flowers because they grew new buds - and they're just beautiful and autumn-y!!

Monty Python's take on Fall

2011-10-06T13:28:00.000-04:00

My sis apparently has fall in full force in ND....this reminds me of her one-and-only tree during fall:

More reunion photos

2011-10-05T19:43:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd share a few extra photos that I've found from other folks at the reunion!

30TH (loud gasp!!) High School Reunion

2011-10-03T14:36:00.001-04:00

Off to Mills River for my 30th high school reunion....amazing to think it's been that long. Seems like yesterday!

We flew in to Asheville airport early on Saturday morning because the runway was going to be closed their 50th anniversary celebration that included a 5K run on the runway! Very strange to close a public runway for a non-aviation event. We arrived just in time -

We visited with Mom and Frank for a while at the airport (they were at the airport participating in the "Leaf Flights" that the WNC Pilots Assoc. does every year). We had lots of time to kill before we could check into our hotel, so we did a little sight-seeing. As youngsters (17-18 yr olds) we used to hike down to Green River or the Big Hungry....so we found a trail and went for a hike. This was NOT a trail we had been on before and ended up being a couple of hours and ALOT of elevation change!

It was a chilly day - but the jacket eventually came off because I was sweating!

We ended up at an overlook of the "Green River Narrows" - some crazy white water that crazy people ride kayaks down.....you can see it thru the trees here.

If you care to - look at this video on Youtube....crazy people!!

This is the trail leading down to the river....you literally had to grab the roots to climb it. They also nicely provided some ropes to help you in areas that didn't have tree roots!

A fun hike - which we weren't really prepared for....

Drove past the Big Hungry dam....

On to the hotel - where we met up with Michelle and Daniel, good friends from grade school/high school. Before we knew it, time for the reunion!

Now, most of you know that I spent my senior high school year at NC State....so I was NOT part of the voting to choose the "class slogan". It really was "We are Sexy, We are Fun, We're the Class of '81"!!! Wow, see what I missed?

Sorry for the dark photo - there was a professional photographer there - so we didn't take many photos. They will be sending us a disc with lots of (much better) photos.

I grabbed this photo from Facebook....this is just the graduates....acting silly after our formal "group shot"...

Who are these people?? We had a great time! (Or at least I know I did, Duane did a nice job of appearing to!)

That was pretty much it for my photos from the reunion - I will post some more when I get the disc.

On Sunday, we did some more sight-seeing, waiting for some gusty winds to settle down for the flight home. We decided to go back hiking down a trail to Green River that we had taken several times back in high school. This one was a much easier trail. Ended up at the point where the kayakers put in for the "Narrows".

So pretty and quiet there (except for the rushing river, of course!) I guess these guys are getting up their courage as the rapids are just down-river.

Back up the Big Hungry - this is a spot I remember from all those years ago.

Beautiful!! Hiked back out and had an uneventful flight home!! Now for the next 30!!!

Fall garden

2011-09-30T14:56:00.000-04:00

It was time to clean up the garden again!! About this time of year, I always seem to ignore the garden an it gets overrun with weeds.....

I meant to get a photo of Duane doing the mowing....but just did miss him "in action".....

All mowed/tilled.....ready for the fall garden....I asked him to just till up a small plot so I wouldn't go overboard.....I'm thinking onions, radishes, collards and lettuce!

Frogs at the airport

2011-09-27T10:32:00.000-04:00

It is very "froggy" at the airport!!!

Miranda will love this one - it resembles the frog on Richard's tie-dye shirt!

The first two were outside - this one found it's way inside! I got the broom and swept him out the door - and he "peed" every time I pushed him towards the door!! Yuck!

Mom's Seventieth Birthday Makeover

2011-09-26T07:44:00.000-04:00

Since Mom should be on her way back home now....it's safe to post this here!

And so it began! Mom's birthday was coming up and we were searching for ideas for something special to do. Denise suggested new carpet for their living room...and then of course we had to do paint too! Sneaky timing - she and Frank would be out of town for a 5 day weekend for Frank's grandson's wedding in Missouri - so we had a nice window of time. Keith arranged to meet Lowe's at their house the Friday before to do the measuring while Mom and Frank were away from the house on their normally scheduled Grandma Hall visit.

These photos are a mix of my camera and Keith & Denise's camera, so you'll notice some slight differences. Denise snapped this one before I arrived Thursday evening. She snapped lots more of the walls, etc. so that we could put everything back where it was!

With most of the stuff out of the room, we started with the ceiling.

Keith & Denise had gotten the paint to loosely match both the existing paint and the new carpet. Kindof tan for the walls and a lighter tan for the trim.

Patched some holes in the walls

Took a few phone calls - texted Mom Happy Birthday!!

Started taking up the carpet because we couldn't paint all the way the floor with the old carpet in place. Fun to see the old, original tile.

Paint mostly finished. Windows washed and repainted.

Burning the trash... beautiful weekend after some heavy rain.

Final cleanings, getting ready to re-install the blinds.

Keith took them down so we thought he needed to put them back up!!

Now for the miraculous part. Three men and a van!

They made quick work of it!

Padding in place

They swept the pavement, then laid out the carpet and rough-cut it.

Amazing to watch this - and it re-affirms my belief that this should be left to the professionals!

Putting the seam in.

Stretching....

All done - they hauled the couch back inside for us.

Starting to put everything back in place.

Denise wanted to put stove black on...so we let her!

All done!!

Ta-da!!!

Banner and cards in place ready for Mom to walk in!

No more diet drinks

2011-09-22T15:34:00.000-04:00

We decided to try to stop drinking diet sodas. It seemed like I was drinking them one after the other....more like a habit than for thirst. Too, too many. There are all kinds of discussions about the artificial sweeteners and their effects on blood sugar and the nervous system. None good....

So, I simply quit buying them for the fridge at home. And I refuse to get them out of the machines at work. Cold turkey.

Here is what I drank at work yesterday. Coffee and water. Never fear - they were bottles I rinsed and filled at home with tap water (the water at the airport tastes like rusty nails!)

And, when we want a little fizz, we're drinking seltzer water.

Tomato soup!

2011-09-21T10:39:00.006-04:00

I was hungry this morning....but I didn't really bring my proper lunch today. So, I went foraging on top of the refrigerator at the airport. This is where various food is stored and sometimes forgotten by the various employees. There have been a couple of cans of Campbell's Tomato Soup there for, I think, a year or so. Hmmmm, thought to myself "it's a chilly morning, I think I'll have some soup!"....

Well, it's been literally years since I've had tomato soup. This is as far as I got - first few "slurps" were fun. If I'd had some saltines or Ritz crackers, it would have been pure nostalgia. But, the saltiness got the better of me and I could eat no more! Wonder how big the pile of salt would be if they separated it from the soup - scary, I bet!!!

More turtle

2011-09-20T09:41:00.000-04:00

Just a random photo....this morning driving out I spied this turtle. It was kinda chilly, and he was just "frozen" with his legs out. I actually thought he was dead. I touched his shell and he jerked awake, hissed at me, and retracted his appendages! I moved him to the other side of the road in the direction he was pointed. Hope that doesn't confuse him.

Beef allergy finally explained!!

2011-09-17T15:14:00.019-04:00

An article in our local paper was about a lady with a beef allergy. Turns out, after all these years that I have been dealing with this "mystery allergy", they've discovered that it's TICKS that are causing it! My symptoms exactly! The article also states that it's any "mammalian" meat, which I suspected. Since chicken and fish are not mammals, that explains why I can eat them with no problems. Interesting... I get about 200 little tick bites a year, so I'm probably re-infecting myself.

http://allergicliving.com/index.php/2010/07/02/food-allergy-beef-emerges-as-issue/

Another airport photo

2011-09-16T18:07:00.000-04:00

I know, more airplane stuff......

I expected today to be really boring. The weather forecast was for cloudy skies and rain. Usually that makes me the "Lonely Maytag Repair(wo)man".

But, for some reason, it was busy all day! Interesting aircraft today!

Cool, calm morning at the airport!

2011-09-15T15:11:00.000-04:00

I went to the airport early this morning because I had a King Air that needed fuel for an early departure.....

When I arrived, there was lots going on!

Neat way to start the day!!!

McCraw Reunion

2011-09-13T10:46:00.000-04:00

It's reunion time again! This year, "our" branch of the McCraw family tree was responsible for the setup of the fellowship hall for the reunion.

We were up before sunrise (unusual for me!!) to fly up to Asheville for a very yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Afterwards, there was a little bit of prep work before we went over to the church.

Always have to include an Obie photo....he's on a strict diet now (I guess he's getting old like the rest of us!!) No more treats, poor thing!

All the usual suspects attended. Great to see everyone. Really great to eat all the yummy stuff....my blackberry pancakes from breakfast failed me.....I was hungry! The McCraws are good cooks!

We made little "goodie baskets" for the 7 brothers and sisters to take home.

Lots of old photos were discussed - trying to figure out "who was who" in some of them.

Then back to the airport.....getting some fuel alongside all the business jets. A beautiful pre-fall day!

Siler City Airport on our way home - a beautiful flight. Fun day!

Happy Birthday to my Daddy!

2011-09-11T19:32:00.000-04:00

It's that date again - the forever infamous 9/11.....because it's my Daddy's birthday! He would have been 72 today - here he is with Mom and the boys - likely in 1992 but the photo is undated - all wearing their "Piper" tee-shirts. I still have all of them - Mom gave me theirs....I guess if we ever go over to the "dark-side" and buy a Piper, we'll wear them!

I believe your life still has meaning as long as you are in someone's thoughts!

Fuel Pump Paint Makeover at Siler City Airport

2011-09-09T18:07:00.000-04:00

I've been meaning for a while to spruce up the fuel pump at Siler City Airport. It's just gotten a bit rusty over the years. Here's the "before" photo from the back of the pump.

I first used a pressure washer and blew off any loose paint/rust. Then I painted it with trusty Rust-o-leum "Rusty Metal Primer" - then top-coated with gloss white (also Rust-o-leum). It's not perfect, but should help protect it for a few more years!

Similar views of the front of the pump "before":

And after....I think it looks a good bit better (as long as you don't look too close!)

Stormy Weather

2011-09-08T13:27:00.000-04:00

I took these photos during a particularly heavy downpour at the airport...the photo really doesn't show just how much rain was coming down.

And then a few minutes later, the air was very clear.

And we found a little snappy-turtle. He wasn't too happy to be toted around!!

Join me for our little mini-Labor Day vacation to Myrtle Beach

2011-09-05T14:36:00.001-04:00

Since Ocracoke is still closed to visitors, we had to head south for our Labor Day weekend....Buddy and Sharon joined us in Myrtle Beach. We got a terrific deal on a very nice condo in the same complex we spent last Thanksgiving with the McCraws.

No real plans, just wandering and relaxing. Wandering on the boardwalk. Friday almost deserted. By Saturday evening this same spot was wall-to-wall people! No recession here!

Since one of us is named Marvin.....we had to enjoy a meal at their namesake!!

Yes, every one loves Marvin.

How's this for a healthy meal?? It was fresh and yummy and inexpensive!! No, it's not all mine!!!

We contemplated a few of the "rides"....but opted instead just to watch and keep our $50 in our pockets....the 60 second thrill rides just seemed to cost a tad to much for our tastes.

Enjoyed some of the "caution" statements.....read some of these.....I don't think we would be allowed on the ride anyway!! (especially the "undiciplined people" notice....and a few more, but we won't say which....)

Duane resting a bit. We took every opportunity to relax!

Many strolls down the beach too!

Probably hard to see, but it was fun watching the guys playing in the sand with their young kids.

Went to Boardwalk on Broadway for some afternoon entertainment. Always something interesting going on there.

At a restaurant Buddy found a sign that he liked - thought he could trade his wife for his bill!!

Silly stools - I thought the pink pokadots went terrific with the lime green shirt!!

Somehow, the guys convinced Sharon and I to "ride the bulls"....Sharon is about 20 feet away riding a similar bull. I'm not showing you her photo because I'm only going to embarrass myself here. Really. Embarrassing. And Painful! We are definitely too old for this!!

If you look close, you can see the ending of the ride. Ugly. And I'm sore now. Guess I should have put that on my bucket list so it could be crossed off now.

And of course, there had to be oysters. Lots and Lots and Lots of oysters. I'm the only one in the group that eats them....but they were kind enough to interrupt all the bull-riding fun and take me to Shucker's for the all-you-can eat oyster roast. Yum, I enjoyed 2 1/2 buckets worth. The little waitress seemed truly amazed - said something like

"really, that's the most I think I've ever seen anyone eat - it's always the tiny ones that can eat the most!"

Cool - I like her. She called me tiny!

More beach walking - beautiful day!! Looking north from Pier 14....no one was catching much....

Looking south from the pier. Lots of family fun at Myrtle Beach!

Sharon and Buddy - so sweet!!

The vacation is about over - went to play the silly trivia game at a local pub - you play with these little handsets. My "name" was RED2.

Just wanted to share - I won a round!!! Really, we all won a round, but this is the World of Karen, so it's the one I'm showing!!!

And that's all, folks!!! We left early for a rainy flight back home. We're pretty good at the relaxing vacation - but I'm always eager to practice....

More hurricane damage

2011-09-04T17:23:00.000-04:00

Hop over to Glory Days for an update!

Glory Days Blog

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Hurricane Irene photo from Pecan Grove

2011-08-31T00:05:00.001-04:00

Just thought I'd add another view of the marina. This was taken during the hurricane. Notice that the pilings appear to be just a few feet out of the water. They are normally about 10 feet from the surface of the water. Amazing that the crew of volunteers kept all the boats safe during the storm! They were walking between those boats on the docks that are beneath at least 4 feet of churning water. I'm in awe that anyone would volunteer to do that!

Here is a photo showing the decking and pilings in the marina - this is all hidden by the huge amount of water!

A little torn foresail - thanks Irene

2011-08-30T11:42:00.000-04:00

We finally got some info from the marina about Irene damage. Could have been much worse! The marina suffered some damage, don't really know the extent yet. Most of the boats came thru well. Glory Days suffered a torn sail....bummer. Must have come un-wrapped during the high winds.

Here is a photo that someone took in a lull - you can see the torn sail flapping. Also note that there are no docks to be seen - they are under 4' of water!

New home for Axle

2011-08-28T12:32:00.000-04:00

Richard and Miranda needed to get a fence installed in their backyard so Axle could stretch his legs.....so they came and picked up the old dog house for him.

Then Robert joined Richard for a little fence-building. I think it looks great!

Gutter Forest

2011-08-22T23:33:00.000-04:00

We got back from our little trip to the boat Sunday afternoon. When we were taxiing to the hangar, I said "we've really got to do something about the forest growing in our gutters". Notice the pine tree saplings that are extending up from the roof of the building. I think the hangar was built about 13 years ago....and no one has been up there to clean the gutters in all those years. The building is 18' tall, so not an easy task.

Luckily, we have wonderful neighbors!!! One of them, Barney, has a nice little bucket truck! I called him and he said "sure, come on over"! My only task was to move the truck forward as Duane got the gutters cleaned out - no easy task!

The little trees were tough little things! Amazing how much root each one grew - no real dirt, just decayed leaves that had blown into the gutters over the years.

A little hard to see, but an amazing amount of trees/debris was thrown down! Some of the saplings were 4' tall!

See? All nice and clean, ready for the next 13 years!!!

We are NOT really that stupid!

2011-08-19T17:04:00.000-04:00

I get this wonderful Parmesan cheese at Sam's Club. This is a big 2 lb hunk.

But, I noticed this on the label.....Contains: Milk. Like, they need to warn us that CHEESE contains MILK. Geeze.

News14 Video

2011-08-17T20:14:00.001-04:00

I've got 10 more seconds of "fame" to add to my list!! There was an airplane stolen from Chapel Hill today and it crashed north of Pittsboro......(they're still hunting for the thief!!)

Stolen Airplane News14

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Bahamas bound!!!

2011-08-16T22:28:00.001-04:00

Hang with me on this. It's "project time"!!!!

We are going to the Bahamas next year...... In our airplane........

The FAA now requires that you have very "visible" registration numbers on your aircraft. Just in case the F-16's want to buzz around your aircraft - they want to be able to identify you.

But, alas, our airplane was manufactured prior to this requirement. Our airplane's registration numbers are small. Entirely legal for flight inside the borders of the U.S.A. See? The numbers are visible as small gold digits near the tail of the aircraft. We have to fix that!!!

So, we start painting!! Lots and lots and lots and lots.....of tape.

Duane wanted to do a nice "outline" for the numbers.....so, it's about twice as much tape!! Here the airplane is all wrapped up ready for the "outline" color (brown to match the bottom stripe).

Trust me - it will make sense in the end!

Brown painted for the outline.....

OK, now it gets a little complicated - next, the outline has to be masked over for some primer to be applied to the inside of the numbers.

Primer applied so the "under colors" don't show thru.

At this point, we still hadn't decided on the exact color for the numbers. So, I went to Lowe's - and got about a hundred paint chips....No, we're not using regular paint. The paint we're using is very expensive 3-part Acrylic Polyurethane. We just used the chips to decide what color we wanted - took the chip to the paint shop and had them mix it.

Drum roll........

And the color is GOLD! To match some emblems on the plane and it goes nicely with the earth tones of the airplane.

Just page thru the "unveiling":

Peeling the masking (in the reverse order in which it was applied):

And there you go - ready (almost) for the Bahamas!!!

Tee Shirt Hemming Trick

2011-08-15T14:34:00.004-04:00

Some of you may have noticed that I like to trim off the bottom of my tee-shirts. I'm just more comfy with them loose and not tucked-in.

I've been using a "blind hem stitch" on my machine for this - but it sometimes puckers the fabric. To remedy this, I thought maybe the needle was dull, so I decided to replace it. I got down my little box of sewing "stuff" that came with my very basic sewing machine 20 years ago. While searching for a new needle, I found a weird DOUBLE NEEDLE. It is an amazing thing!! So simple, so easy, made me so happy!!

You thread the needles just like you would one needle - just using two spools of thread. Both threads go thru the tension wheel together.

This is the result - a very even, smooth hem!!

Here I've pulled the hem aside so you can see both the top and the "wrong" side. I'm a happy camper - see, it doesn't take much to make me happy!

Big Sale!!!!

2011-08-12T14:51:00.000-04:00

I know, it's not the "big sale" at Belk's.....

It's the "Karen got to SELL a BIG AMOUNT"!!!!

2700 gallons of jet fuel....that's a little more than one third of a tanker truck load!

Yep, damn the stock market. If only I could sell this much every day!

The airplane is a G-4 (Gulfstream 4) - one of the biggest we see. A very nice ride...to say the least!

Poor Ben - the fueling took about 45 minutes! I took him a bottle of water half-way thru and let him leave early for the day....it was the least I could do for the record-setting fueling.

"The Help" you gotta see it!

2011-08-11T22:02:00.003-04:00

Our book club had read the book "The Help" several months ago....universally liked (which is unusual in our group!) We went to see the movie on opening night - it was PACKED - we could only find a couple of seats together and had to spread out in the theater!! Bravo - a really good movie - and you don't need to read the book first!!!

Just a little table

2011-08-05T11:51:00.000-04:00

So, most of you guys know I occasionally score "finds" at the "swap-shop" at the local recycle center......

My latest is a little side table. I knew immediately what I wanted to do with it! Miranda and Richard needed a little table to set on their porch - and this one can be customized to match their house!

Here's a close-up of the pretty top

After a few little repairs, the table got a good primer coat - then a couple of coats of exterior paint.

Starting to add some color! (I borrowed their house paint!!)

Pretty yellow accents

And lastly - some very bright blue!!!

A little hard to see - but I got a sheet of glass cut for the top. Ready for delivery!

Birthday picnic

2011-08-04T12:49:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, we scooted up to Mills River for a quick family picnic/birthday celebration/sister visit!

What a nice relief from the 100 degree heat at home....gotta love the mountains for the wonderful temperatures! This crowd knows how to relax!

Mom and Frank enjoying their meal

Yep, relaxing visit

The birthday girl!! Fresh from N.D.!!!

Somebody reached the 1/2 century mark.....had to add black/white candles to the vegan cake!!

More birthday girl!

What trip is complete without a little dip in the pool - just a bit chilly for me at 80 degrees!!!

More silly water fun

Over too quick!

Closet Catastrophe

2011-07-28T10:32:00.003-04:00

I heard a big, muffled "bang" in the spare bedroom (where I keep my clothes).

Obviously, I had too much weight hanging on the cantilevered shelf. It collapsed and all the clothes fell off. Like, hundreds of pounds of clothes!

Here is the closet with the shelf just propped back in place (the supports were bent)....

I had asked dear hubby to fix it - so in true McCraw style, it had to be "improved".

First, he built a little stud-wall around the old triple-walled chimney pipe.

Sheetrock installed to safely hide the old (currently unused) pipe. Extra shelving installed and the original shelf modified with much better support!

Taaa-Daaa! A still messy, but better organized closet!

Rodeo (local this time!)

2011-07-24T19:23:00.002-04:00

We were invited to attend a local event - in the 102 heat!! There was a nice breeze most of the time, so it was tolerable.

Here is our friend Mark - he owns the farm. This is an annual event - lots of their friends come from far and wide to participate.

Herding the steers -

Fun to watch! (and it looks really hard to do!)

I've been waiting 3 years for this!!!

2011-07-21T18:42:00.004-04:00

Can you believe it?

Driving by the Friendly Florist this afternoon, I did a double-take. Yaay! They finally invited all the Karen's in the town to come by for free flowers!

I chatted with the owner - I really should have gotten his name. Nice fellow - he said they have a long list of all the names they've used for the past 3 years. No repeats so far! So, I guess I'll have to wait over 3 more years before it's my turn again.

He handed me a pretty little bouquet of lovely fresh flowers. Thanks Friendly Florist!!

Veggies!!!

2011-07-19T00:23:00.001-04:00

Yep, it's that time of year again!!! I'm about over-run with the yummy things!!!

Water for my deck

2011-07-18T15:20:00.002-04:00

I know it doesn't look like much....but Duane installed a spigot for the deck over the weekend. I've wanted one for years - just never got around to it. I've been hauling the water hose up 12 feet in the air all these years to water my plants. Thanks, dear!

Boys working on cars

2011-07-15T10:32:00.000-04:00

All "my" boys were at the house - helping Richard with a transmission for his 4Runner....well, Duane was helping - Robert appears to be "supervising".....

Quick-change Weather

2011-07-14T10:05:00.003-04:00

When I left Asheboro yesterday, it wind was blowing and a thunderstorm was fast approaching.....I guess it felt like a Chinook wind!

Six minutes down the road I drove into the thunderstorm - wow what a difference!!!!

Deer, lots of deer

2011-07-13T12:01:00.000-04:00

The deer are really pests around here....they are even eating the buds off all my chrysanthemums!!! I didn't think ANYTHING ate mums!

I was driving down the driveway and caught this little herd - they just looked at me for a while, then scampered away.....

Siler City Airport Helicopter - Chinook

2011-07-12T10:42:00.000-04:00

We had a Army Chinook helicopter visit Siler City Airport - very cool....

Siler City Airport Open House

2011-07-11T14:31:00.002-04:00

Saturday we hosted an Open House at the Siler City Airport - the first "event" that we've had there in a good while.

The weather was "frightful" to start the morning, but the clouds cleared and it was a beautiful day!

Hundreds of people from the Town and surrounding areas came out. Lots to see.

Our local EAA chapter gave Young Eagles rides to all kids 8-17 (and some adults too, if they begged enough!!)

The Siler City Fire Department sent some of their equipment and personnel. The UNC Hospital helicopter came over and were "on call" most of the afternoon.

Our local WNCA radio station was "live" from the airport.

It was a great day!

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Birthday and Trivia

2011-07-07T07:58:00.003-04:00

It was Duane's birthday - our usual celebration is just going out to eat....so, the boys met us at the Brewery in Pittsboro for a nice meal. Miranda is on a family trip to Illinois :-(

We were about ready to leave when a lady came to the table and asked us if we would go over into the bar area and play a trivia game that they were just starting....since we really didn't have anything much to do, we said "sure".

We had to have a "team name" - Robert came up with the "Bomb Diggity's". I've got no idea what that means, I think it just sounds cute.

Now, we are not really trivia people....but it was fun. Plus we won!!

And we got $50 in gift cards!!! How cool is that?

Some of the questions - test your skills!!

What is actually eclipsed in a solar eclipse?

What is the most "covered" song?

Who was Mohammed Ali's opponent in Manilla?

What Queen song was rejected by Sly Stallone for the Rocky movie?

How many teams play in the World Cup soccer tournament?

What nation produces the most orange juice?

What is the name of the golf course that hosts the Master's?

What was the name of the boy in the movie E.T.?

What was the name of the dog in the movie Back to the Future?

What actually holds pollen on a bee's legs?

The answers:

The earth

Yesterday by Paul McCartney

Fraizer

Another One Bites the Dust

32

Brazil

Augusta National

Elliot

Einstein

Static electricity

So, how did ya do??

Boating for July 4th!!!

2011-07-04T21:53:00.001-04:00

Sailboating and POWER-boating this past weekend. Hop over to Glory Days to see what we've been up to!

Trip to Hendersonville for a special Nephew's wedding celebration

2011-06-28T16:02:00.003-04:00

Since we're such home-bodies......we decided we needed ANOTHER trip!

When we got home from Yellowstone, we sorted thru a pile of mail....and there was an invitation to "Little" Eddie and Brittany's wedding celebration just two days away. Hey, what the heck - bags are still packed. We can toss them back in the airplane and head to Hendersonville!

First, I just have to add two photos that I got from my Mom's computer - these are from Mother's day - and I thought they were nice:

Mom and I at Eddie and Trudi's luncheon.

And Eddie and Brittany looking at a couple of "Italy" books I brought them. Aren't they so young and sweet? (Leaving for an Army deployment to Italy on Friday!)

On to the wedding celebration:

Brother Eddie offering the toast to his son and new daughter-in-law (Trudi a bit emotional in the background!!)

The newlywed's listening to their toast - sorry for the glare but it was a sunny day!

The cute cake topper

The assembled cake (made by Eddie, of course...) and yummy raspberry filling...oh my....

The newlyweds were soooo nice to each other as they took their bites of cake!

The lovely couple - we wish them all the best!!!

We also went over to Granny and Cordy's house for a nice, relaxing visit. All is well there - the garden is beautiful and I came home with bags of veggies, as usual.

The spoiled kitty, Obie, is doing great keeping Granny and Cordy in line!!

Home now!

2011-06-26T16:52:00.002-04:00

Ah, well....gotta go home some time, don't we?

Leaving Cody on a dreary morning. This is looking out over Yellowstone park.

On to Omaha for a stop. They are having bad flooding there also - this area is on approach to the airport - and there is an interstate highway down there completely submerged!

The flight from Omaha to home was looonnngg.....the flight time reads 05:03:56 in case you can't read it.....5 hours is a long time to sit in one spot!

Arriving home, everything is safe and sound (although the yard/runway is crispy from lack of rain). Miranda took care of the fish and the flowers - happy to say both are doing beautifully!!

The Rodeo!!

2011-06-25T10:29:00.004-04:00

While you are visiting the west, you really must see a rodeo!! Very nicely done.

Nice looking livestock - clean and fresh.

They always have a pretty girl carry the flag around the arena for the National Anthem....

Lots of tries at the team roping....not too many successes!

There was a mare and new foal in a corral also.....not sure why as neither could be used in the rodeo! It was nice to see the wobbly wee one.

Lots of photos like this - my camera just can't do long range action shots.

Cowboys getting ready for a ride.....

Lots of photos like this one too! I think there was only one successful ride - looks painful to me!!!

But, by far, this was the best event of the night. All the kids 12 and under were asked to come down out of the stands - the idea was to get the "flag" off one of 4 small steers to be let loose in the arena. Prizes were ice cream cones and milkshakes....ready, set.....

Chase!!!

It was hilarious!! The kids were having a ball - and the steers darted here and there. All flags were eventually grabbed. Two girls and two boys won the treats. Good, semi-clean fun!!

Cody, WY

2011-06-24T10:52:00.001-04:00

Back to Cody, where we parked the airplane a week ago.

A friend had told me that the Buffalo Bill Museum was a "Must See". And he was absolutely correct!!

You probably know that I'm not a big history buff - didn't really know much at all about "Buffalo" Bill Cody - but the museum was fascinating. I learned a lot about the famous "showman/star" of the day.

Lots of neat Native American items, clothing, etc. A wall of Stetsons were available for modeling!

Outside I spied this plant - a border plant that my mom has at her house. Never heard it called this, though.

Wow...so many guns you can't imagine how many!! I tired of this quickly - after the really old guns, the displays went on and on and on with every manufacturer's lineup. Gun buffs would love this! I think I saw that there were over 3000 guns on display.

After the museum we had to see the street play - done every night outside the Irma Hotel, built by Bill Cody and named for his daughter (Irma, of course!)

A rather contrived story line about robbing a bank and a wedding ring....

Cute, though - and the price (free) was right!!!

I think we all know the ending, don't we?

Yup....somebody's gotta die!!

Thermopolis, Wyoming

2011-06-23T13:50:00.000-04:00

Really, I didn't make up the name!!! We decided to stop in Thermopolis - it looked like a cool town. The first hotel we stopped at was full! We had been driving for hours - and this town seemed small, so we were surprised to be told that the hotel was full....but they told us the number to a Days Inn about a mile away. This was lucky - because it was a really interesting place. The owners apparently are avid hunters - the hotel is populated with 100's of mounted animals. I think it's a popular hobby out west.

The town itself is named for the hot springs that run thru the area. The Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians have a treaty with the US Govm't that says that the government will provide perpetual free access to the hot springs.....lucky for the public!

The "public bath house"

You can soak in the indoor mineral tub-

The water comes from the spring at 127 degrees .....they let it cool to 104....

There is a large outdoor pool also - notice the milky water - - that's the minerals...

We needed to move on - back to Cody....again, the terrain changed as we drove.

Pretty, though!

On to Jackson, Wy then Wind River

2011-06-22T20:48:00.006-04:00

Next stop Jackson!

I guess I was expecting a really "Ritzy" town.....Jackson Hole.....jet setters going skiing. And I'm sure that's available if you want it.....but the town itself is just a really neat, western town. The "arches" are made of antlers collected by the local Boy Scouts. There are 3 1/2 of them on the 4 corners of the "Square". The last one is still "under construction".

A big change from all the trees in Yellowstone and Teton.

Stage coach rides available.....probably more comfy on a city street than the real thing!

We went to the "Million Dollar Cowboy Bar" - just because it looked too cool to miss! Been a long time since I've sat in a saddle - actually since we went with the boys on a trail ride on our Grand Canyon trip about 10 yrs ago! It was actually a pretty cool and comfortable bar stool.

From this point on, we didn't have any reservations - so we stayed at a local motel - one with the art-deco bathroom that was just a beautiful, original specimen - very clean and comfy & right downtown. We walked to dinner and then to the local theater to watch the latest Pirates movie. Enjoyed that - gotta love Johnny Depp - I don't care what the critics say....

On eastbound thru the Wind River Indian Reservation - this is the area south of Yellowstone that is inhabited by the Shoshone and Arapahoe Indians.

Traveling out of Jackson - the terrain changed several times - snowy and cold -

Then dry and rocky

And you just never know when you happen across some wildlife. Beautiful area.

The Tetons

2011-06-20T07:54:00.003-04:00

Leaving Yellowstone, off to see the glorious Tetons!

Did a hike to a beautiful lake...on to Jackson Hole!

More Yellowstone

2011-06-19T12:36:00.002-04:00

Today was geyser and thermal feature day. There are several different areas in Yellowstone - amazing how different they are.

Driving south towards the "Old Faithful" area - we happened upon a elk. Cool to see them up close.

When you travel most of the way across the country, you just have to see "Old Faithful" - luckily, we arrived just 10 minutes before the predicted next eruption. Neat to have seen it - but several of the other geysers were actually more interesting.

Love, love, loved the springs and pools.

Crossed paths with some more bison - this time a bit too close!

We waited about 2 hours to see the "Grand Geyser" - well worth the wait - it was spectacular! Plus, we were allowed to be very close to this one (we were a long way from Old Faithful).

The Old Faithful Village was lovely - look at that beautiful blue sky!!

More thermal pools - we saw what seems like millions of them!

Took a hike along a beautiful stream...

More thermal pools....

And more bison on the way to our next room in the park - this time at Grant Village.

View of the Yellowstone Lake....

And this deer was grazing as we approached our room.

Come on vacation with us!!

2011-06-18T09:37:00.005-04:00

We started the day cool and cloudy - off to explore the northern "loop" of the park. I picked a few of the photos - there were hundreds! Beautiful landscape, cool animals.....

Interesting formations abound - we didn't have a guide book - just a map and wanted to enjoy what we came across. Sulfur smell was in the air at this spring....

Yellowstone river

Another spring

Beautiful vistas-

The Upper Falls of the Yellowstone River

Snow on the ground when we were out walking on a trail

Very peaceful and untouched....but you really did see signs of bear - footprints and droppings!

A different beautiful vista

This is the Lower Falls - probably one of the most photographed areas in Yellowstone - really amazing to see in person, though.....

Had to pose in front of it like a proper tourist!! Sorry for the sunglasses - but I tried to take them off and couldn't keep my eyes open!

More beauty - what can I say?

Impressive landscape....

Snow patches in the distance with hot springs steaming

Mud volcano - just like it sounds - boiling mud bubbling to the surface - smelly!!

"Sour Lake" - beautiful mineral lake - again kinda smelly!

Yellowstone River was beautiful -

And bison - everywhere!! Stay tuned for more!

Off to Yellowstone!

2011-06-17T10:49:00.003-04:00

Bright and early we went out for one last breakfast at a local diner that my sis's family frequents....then it was off to the airport for us. A very nice facility, although the general aviation portion was rather deserted.

The first 2 hours were rainy and we were in the clouds completely....so no sight-seeing on the way west! But finally the clouds started rising above us, so we got spectacular views of the mountains approaching Cody, Wy. This is the mountain range that borders Yellowstone.

Parked on the ramp at Cody - there are two FBO's there - and they compete savagely for business. We had two people trying to park us on two different ramps.....but we had reservations with Choice Aviation for our rental car, so that's who took care of us......here the line guy is washing our windscreen.....

And we truely got the "red carpet treatment"!!!

After a few supplies were purchased at the Albertson's in Cody (we haven't seen an Albertson's Grocery since we lived in Florida 17 years ago!!), it was off to the park!

The center of the park is about 1 1/2 hrs from Cody.....as we drove, the scenery changed!!! I knew it would be snowy, but I didn't realize how much! Here are a couple of shots just out the window of the car to show you how deep the snow is in places. And this is not piled up snow - this is just where the snowplows cut the roadways out.

Our first two nights are at the Lake Lodge - in the center of the park......here is a view of the lake - still frozen in areas. (That is not surf, it's ice!)

Here is our view out of our window - a nice cozy place. Just settled in for the night - park visiting tomorrow!

More sister visiting!

2011-06-16T12:50:00.000-04:00

We needed to give my brother-in-law some time to himself - the following day was their Confirmation Sunday and he needed to prepare. So, we went to the casino!! My nephew played at the very nice indoor pool (what other kind is there in North Dakota??)

Nicely run casino by the local reservation - we even came away with a few extra $$ playing an hour or so of blackjack. Fun way to spend a few hours.

To get to the casino, we had to drive over the "landbridge" accross Devil's Lake. The lake has been rising (due to several natural and political factors). The rising water has been taking farm land, houses and the road with it!

As a result, they are trucking in huge amounts of dirt and making this landbridge higher. Apparently, this is not the first time this has been done. The road is a mess - but everyone seems to take it in stride. Several miles of roadbed is in constant construction.

We got a kick out of these portable red lights. Everyone is so polite here, they hardly even need them.

This gives you just a small view of the road in the distance. It's like a 10 mile long stretch like the stretch across Jordan Lake - and they are raising it several feet!

Anyhoo - I was just amazed at the enormity of it all.

Next we toured an old fort dating back to the Custer days. Lots of history - very well kept with lots of original buildings.

Then on to a nature preserve that they love. Very pleasant afternoon.

Back at the ranch.....time for my sis to get the wine ready for the service tomorrow. Kindof fun to help out.

Pretty sanctuary almost ready for the service.

Then we had a wonderful end to a nice visit - a terrific meal out on their almost finished deck.

Back online, finally!

2011-06-15T16:46:00.005-04:00

My sis and her hubby took us on a whirlwind drive around town. Very interesting and different than North Carolina to be sure!

Neat old buildings - here is a school that has been closed down a good distance from town.

This is big farming country! We passed lots of farm equipment on the road - some of it I have no idea of the function....

There was a group of Jewish immigrants that settled nearby in the late 1800's. We toured their cemetery. Some of the headstones were made of tin with nail holes punched to indicate the name/dates. I guess you use what you have!

We went out to their friend's LARGE farm. (Large by NC standards, for sure!) The friends are letting them grow a garden on some extra land. Very nice.

Duane getting some info about N.D. farming.

Sis feeding "Charlie the horse". He's a old-timer and very nice.

More farm equip.....

Huge fields - barley, wheat, sunflowers...

Had to get a close look at some equipment.

Aren't we cute?

Picking up arrowheads and sea glass.....yes, sea glass (well, lake glass)....

More huge farm equipment....

And more farm equipment - and every one of the farmers waves at you!!! Cool...

Yellowstone!!

2011-06-12T21:38:00.001-04:00

Sorry!! No pictures, although they will be gorgeous when you see them!!

There is almost no internet available in Yellowstone.....and no cell coverage either!!

Check back later, alligator!

Westward!

2011-06-11T11:20:00.003-04:00

Off to North Dakota! Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating for a direct flight - a cold front was near Chicago. So we planned to go more west than a straight line to fly a little south of the storms. A fuel stop was to be at Red Oak airport in the edge of Iowa - about 6 hours away!! (hard to see, but it says distance 806 miles!!)

But, as sometimes happens, the weather was worse than predicted...so we diverted to a different airport - Sterling, Illinois. We still had to fly thru some weather - but our new Ipad with radar setup helped us wind our way thru the worst of it. (The little blue airplane shows where we were at that moment).

Sterling had a wonderful little airport - loaned us a car for a quick hop into town for lunch. Then, under very grey, cloudy skies - we were off direct to Devils Lake!! Only 540 more miles to go!

We finally broke free of the clouds over beautiful lakes....I mentioned it to Duane, wondering what state we were over (the aviation GPS does not tell you when you cross state lines because it doesn't make any difference what state you are in when you are in the air) - he said "it must be Minnesota because it is "the land of 10,000 lakes".

As we got closer to N.D. the lakes got fewer and farm land became more prevalent.

More lakes again as we approached Devils Lake

Then, finally, we could see Devils Lake - it is bigger than I was expecting. This is just a small part of it.

Pretty clear air as we descended into the Devils Lake airport.

The family met us at the airport - they're only 3 or so miles away and saw us descending in for landing from their back yard.

We went to a great restaurant and caught up all evening. We were pretty tired after the long day of flying!! Here is the final photo of the day - taken at 10PM. Teresa covered up our window with a black cloth so that the light would not bother us.....and also, so that the 4:30AM sunrise would not wake us up!!