More tulips anyone?

I don't have much to report as new material so I thought I would share some more tulip pics. Tuesday we are getting our new water hydrant installed then I can get to work killing the weeds. The price of gas is getting depressing. We are now over 3.00 a gallon here on the island but not by much yet. We are hearing 4.00 a gallon this summer :( Oh well what can you do! I did hear about a gas strike on the 15th of May so I wont buy that day but Will it really make a dent is the 64,000.00 question. We are still struggling to get into spring here and cannot seem to leave the rain behind but hopefully the sun will shine soon. Well enjoy the tulips.

Later

Got new toy, one phase complete

So the other day I went to get my weed eater and fire it up for the first time this season and wouldn't you know it would not start. After trying all the tricks I know to get a small engine to start after a winter of sitting I ended up with a sore forearm and a really bad attitude. After getting authorization form the powers that be I got a new toy. OK maybe its not a toy but new power tools are always a plus in my book. So this past weekend we had a successfull yard sale at Rhonda's boss's house and made some good cash then sunday we hit the yard hard. Finally got all brush removed including the roots. Now I am waiting to hear back from the handyman who is going to install the new water hydrant then I can get to killing off the weeds and vegetation and start over with grass. I am hoping for the shed/shop to get built by June but We'll see. The plans are on the way and I have to go price the materials first. The next project to start while waiting for everything else to come together is the sifting out of rocks fist size and larger. I also must make a few more srategic cuts on the pine in the front yard to better its look and get rid of some dead stuff as well. Till next time...

Enjoy

A Little Doggie Style

This is our middle dog Joey. Every now and again he requires a bit of lovin so we got him a bitch. He got his new stuffed bitch and immediately went into violation mode. I never thought I would have to get my dog a hooker but heres the proof. You will notice the after sex cuddling and then the look of content. He is our most expressive dog and undoubtedly has the most personality of the three. The things we do for our pets!

Enjoy

My best friend is a 12 yr old

Well not exactly! We have some friends that live near Seattle and their oldest boy is 12. John (the 12 yr old) is the oldest of three and takes the most shit when the poo hits the fan at his house. So John asked if he could come up to our house for a visit w/o his siblings and parents. Johns a cool kid and he spent a few days with us over new years weekend. So we have been planning another visit during his spring break which was last week. We had a great time starting with the day we picked him up. We picnic'd at the beach with his family then went to the tulip festival. The rest of the week we watched movies, played video games, tooled around Orcas Island and climbing up the tower on Mt Constitution (high piont on Orcas), enlisted his youth labor skills to help me move my brush pile to another location, host a yard sale then finishing the week off with a trip to the Olympic Game Farm. For those who are not familiar with the OGF it is a sanctuary for retired show bears and/or mistreated animals rescued from wherever and home to many other animals. The original owner was an animal trainer back in the 30's or 40"s and worked with Walt Disney on movies like The Incredible Journey. The OGF was originally named after Disney but was changed to OGF in 1972. The og owner is long dead but his park is still in the family. While feeding the Bison one tried to lick Rhonda. The elk love to stick their heads into the car and will eat the bread you feed them right out of your lap if you not careful. The llamas run alongside the car and the yaks meander over to get their fill of bread. The big cats and wolfs are behind too much fence to feed them but are still cool to see. The bears as usual are so majestic and look so cuddlely. Anyway the trip to Orcas Is. was cool and the weather was great. The pic is from the top and is of Mt. Baker and the surrounding San Juan Islands in the foreground. The latest edition to the house is going to be a water hydrant. Since the house did not come with an outside water hookup I have to install one so I called a guy and if I dig the ditch he will install the hydrant in about 1 hour. I perform the sweat equity and that will save me about 150 bucks, no complaint here!

Enjoy

Seeing the hilarity in life

Today Rhonda and I were doing our monthly shopping at costco as well as picking up other things for the house and as you can imagine so was everyone else in western washington. Naturally traffic was a nightmare, parking was out in the south forty and all lines were long as hell. Thank the lord for costco feeding you samples of promotional food items so to stave off the hunger pangs while actually feeling yourself getting older waiting in those lines. Frustration would be an understatement to say the least! So on our way home we drove a bit out of the way to check on a couple of parks to have lunch at tomarrow when some friends of ours come up for the day. Naturally I was tired of driving around and just wanted to go home when we drove past a couple and their son on the side of the road. Thing is the boy was standing there with his pants down around his ankles, willy in his hand facing oncoming traffic and a nonchalant look on his face as if he was saying "right here works for me"! You just have to laugh at that no matter what kind of mood your in. Continuing down the road and arriving at the park we were looking for, I pulled in the parking lot and incidentally went past the toilets when out comes this little boy running at full speed. It looked as if the boy got into a wrestling match with the toilet paper and lost. He was dragging nearly half the roll behind him which he was all tangled in. Funniest thing I have seen in a while. I'm sure we have all had our moments of peeing off the side of the road or a rumble with some tp but I don't recall it being as funny when I was on the side of the road trying to pee. Either way there is plenty of hilarity amidst the chaos, you just have to be lucky enough to be paying attention.

Enjoy

Had an Epiphany

The other day I was watching the news and I saw this police officer at a crime scene. He was acting all sorts of cool and tough, like most of them do, but it was clear as day, atleast to me, that he was overcompensating his actions and I immediately thought that this guy must have been beat up during his high school years. Then the epiphany came and I thought of this kid I used to taunt in hs by the name of Steven Hohstadt. I remember Steven was a gangly kid, wore glasses and jumped at the slightest noise. If you were to make eye contact with him he would quickly look away and take on a look of worry. I am sure that this had much to do with why he was heckled as much as he was not to mention the the others just like him in his clan of friends. So it was at this moment during my epiphany that I questioned whether it was truely possible if Steven ended up becoming a police officer. Could it be possible that I may have contributed to the existing police populus of another overbearing, overcompensating individual with a bad attitude and a sidearm in a position of authority? I can only hope that Steven was a better computer nerd than a tough guy wannabe but if he did end up as a cop well, God help us all!

Another thing I must share:

Lately I have been on this karma thing and following the "my name is earl" movement. Seems fitting that at some point in your life you must finally take responsibility for your past actions in order to balance out the good/bad things you may have been party to earlier in your existence. At some point you must become a member of the community and not just a body taking up space. So naturally I want to try to change my life and become a more positive person and do positive things thus allowing life to recipricate favorably back onto me and mine. So the other day my dog buddy (the lab) dug up part of the back yard (still just dirt) and uncovered a concrete slab. Upon further inspection I realized it was part of the old foundation and there were two slabs not just the one. These slabs are about 8" thick 14" wide and about 9' long. No I was not exactly a happy camper because there was only about 2 to 3 inches of dirt over them and I was planning on putting grass in. The next day the guy clearing the lot next door brought in a back hoe and I got to chatting it up w/him trying to figure out the best way to remove the slabs. He then asked me if I could drive the back hoe then offered to leave me the keys and a chain to dig them out then drag them over to the empty lot where he could make use of them. Talk about karma throwing me a bone! That worked out great. So today while standing in line at a store I noticed there was a 10 dollar bill on the floor and the couple in front of me were standing right on top of it. When we moved I bent down and grabbed it, folded it up in my hand and thought BONUS! I did not see anyone drop it but I figured if someone spoke up then I would offer it up. Wouldn't you know that the couple in front of me had dropped it and once they tried to pay realized their loss. I immediately offered the money to them and the 3 or 4 people behind me were so amazed at my honesty felt the need to speak up and congratulate me as well as the couple whose money I picked up. Do good things and good things will happen to you even if it happens backwards.

Enjoy

Woody Woodpecker

I just wanted to share some new pics I took of a Bald Eagle and a Pileated Woodpecker. The eagle was here on the island over on west beach near a marsh. Although I took several pics of him perched on the post none were as amazing as this one. We truely are blessed to live where there is such majestic and awe inspiring birds as this in such abundance. The woodpecker was seen at our friends house down near Seattle. What is so cool is these woodpeckers seem to be a bit more rare or maybe shy. This bird is 16" long, thats one heck of woodpecker. This guy must have stayed on this powerpole for nearly an hour pecking away at the pole and causing insects to come out of it and picking off his meal. Weather here is starting to get warmer although you would have never known it today. Slowly the rain is giving way to sunshine and is giving me hope that there will be a long summer. The annual tulip festival started this weekend and goes for the month so you may get treated to some pics of the fields of tulips and all the hybrids the farmers plant out here. A couple of years ago Rhonda and I took a helicopter flight over the fields and it was so cool seeing all the different colors.

Ciao!