Cheers!

In celebration of the marriage of His Royal Highness Prince William Arthur Philip Louis, Duke of Cambridge, Earl of Strathearn, Baron Carrickfergus, Royal Knight Companion of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Master of Arts, and his bride, Her Royal Highness Princess William Arthur Philip Louis, Duchess of Cambridge, Countess of Strathearn, Baroness Carrickfergus; and, because we like a martini now and then (Terri's is the "dirty" one at left); we raise our glasses and say, "Cheers" to Wills and Kate.

Soup

One of the best parts of Easter is actually a part of the aftermath. Yes, I am talking about using the ham bone and the scraps of ham that cling to it to make split pea soup! Wednesday night I did just that. I made a double batch-- about six quarts. It was lunch and dinner on Thursday. And when we've had our fill, we will probably still have some to freeze for another day.

Spelling champion!

Way to go grandson! He finished in FIRST PLACE in the spelling bee yesterday!

The winning words were "paragraph" and then "monument".

By the way, nice face Alex.

It's been raining...A LOT

This is in my neighbor's yard. He's been building it for a while now. Should I be worried?










NOTE: Ark photo is from the movie Evan Almighty.

Morgan

We have an eight year old yellow lab named Morgan. In June of 2007, Terri and I visited Rocky Mountain National Park. We stopped at Kind Coffee in Estes Park twice that week.

The second time there we happened to look up at the artwork above the counter with the coffee "extras". We laughed and thought about our dog back home who made that same sad face. Then we saw the dog's name: Morgan, and were amazed at the coincidence.

Later, we searched online for the artist and found prints-- at more than $300 each. Oh well, we thought, too bad. Not long afterwards, I received an email from AllPosters.com and found the poster for only twenty bucks! Yes, we bought it. Then we bought another as a back-up in case something happened to the first.

We always said she could be a model!

Have you seen these?

They're called "QR codes" and they are popping up everywhere. I recently saw an iPhone QR code reader app, so I downloaded it and tried it on a code I saw in a magazine. What a clever idea! The code is a hyperlink to a website or a video. So, you can extend your message well beyond what is printed in the ad or-- in the case of the pineapple I bought Saturday-- the tag that was attached to the leaf.



The iPhone app also has a "creator" function. I used it to make this QR code, which is a link to this blog.

Happy Easter

In their Easter finest

All the Easter ducks, dressed for the holiday. As you can see, it is an integrated lot. No one is turned away just because of his stripes.

Baby ducks

Just before Terri took them to the "tanning booth".

Blue sky

It's been a while since we saw the sun or a sky so blue. I missed them both.

BP: Beyond Pollution-- Never Forget

One year ago today, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 workers and causing an estimated 4.9 million gallons of oil to be released into the Gulf of Mexico.

BP made a lot of Big Promises and they did offer some help to those affected by their careless, bottom-line-oriented thinking and Bad Practices.

But, later in the year, we were told that the British Polluter was also involved in some very Bad Politics. It was reported that they worked to secure the release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi as a favor to Muammar Gadaffi in exchange for Libya granting the Bad People the rights to drill baby drill off Libya's coast. (In case you don't recognize the name, al-Megrahi is commonly known as the "Lockerbie bomber" for his role as the one person found guilty of the bombing. Interestingly, just eight weeks ago, Libya's former justice minister, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, claimed that Gadaffi had personally ordered the bombing.)

It seems that BP's Bad Practices are not limited to its oil rigs. It has left more than oil stains on Gulf beaches. It has the blood of 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing on its hands as well.

Never forget. Never buy a cup of coffee, a candy bar, or a drop of gasoline from BP.

Never.

Wet glass

On this cold and rainy Tuesday in April, thankfully, I am on the inside, looking out.

Vino

A nice glass of port wine after dinner.

Philosophical question

If I made a decision here, but Terri didn't hear me, did I really make a decision?

A church in Decatur, Illinois

Flowers

I don't know what this flower is called, but we have a big vase of them in the kitchen. Fresh flowers make such a difference in a home.

First bloom

The Star Magnolia bush we have is loaded with buds-- all ready to burst open. This one was first.

Seven

Seven years ago on this day, I was standing under a natural stone arch in Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada with a pretty and amazing lady who gave me this ring.

Thanks, Mrs. Muckian. The first seven have been great-- let's have many more!

Porch lizard

Terri picked up two sheet metal lizards at the end of last summer. Both are about three feet long. We just "opened" our porch over the weekend and put them up. This guy looks pretty good, doesn't he?

Hyacinth

If you could only smell this photo-- the sweet smell of hyacinth. They're like turbocharged lilacs. Ahhhhh, spring!

"Magic resistance to fire"

While putting our house back together we ran across an old book that was a source of a few laughs. For instance, the Library of Universal Knowledge, ©1954, defined a "computer" as "one who computes". Hmmm.

There was also this interesting article that talks about how asbestos is mined and used. The best line is the last: "Research engineers are constantly finding new ways to use asbestos in the modern home and in industry, ways in which no other known material could serve."

Makes me wonder what we're using in our current "modern homes" that will be found to be as damaging as asbestos 50 years from now.

Morgan

Comfy in the new digs.

Soon

I remember the line from the movie Somewhere In Time when the aged woman tells the young Christopher Reeve, "Come back to me," as she hands him the pocket watch. If you saw the movie, you know he did return to her.

The roses in the back yard will come back too. And not soon enough.

Fog

Parts of the drive in to work this morning were like driving through this stuff.

I love fog though. It's about as close to being invisible as I'll probably ever get. When I was much younger, delivering papers on my bike in the fog was always more fun.

But, ever since I saw the movie An American Werewolf in London, when I see fog I think of the warning given to the American travelers in a thick Scottish brogue: "Beware the moors, laddies!"

Yeah, and watch out for flying rolled up newspapers flung by invisible paperboys too!

Beginning to end

February 28, 2011

April 6, 2011

Crossing the finish line

Today is the final day of construction.

It's hard to believe what a transformation has taken place during the past 37 days.

We made it. Whew!





NOTE: In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that this is not an original photo. It was picked off the internet.

Happy 9th birthday, Alex!

Yes, he seems to always be this happy.

Tomato on granite (close-up)

Got granite

It's in! Not without a hiccup though. The eight foot long rectangle over the row of four cabinets in the background was cut one inch too short. And the radiused bar top was also undersized. The stone company did well to cut a new piece for the countertop and mill the sidesplashes so the bar top would work.

It only added one day, so I guess that's just a bump in the road, not a disaster.

Daffodils in the dark

A sure sign of spring, these daffodils add a nice touch to our new great room. When I returned from my trip downstate late Wednesday, Terri held the door open and greeted me with, "Welcome to your new home." I carried all my things in and saw the flowers and two glasses of wine on the coffee table in the living space that just a week ago was a "jobsite".

Now, as I sit here in the dark not seeing much of all the work that has been done, I am pleased that we made the changes and glad we are so close to the end of the project.

And I realize that I'm lucky to be married to a lady who can turn a $4 bunch of flowers into such a beautiful memory.