After digging out the stump, we tried to knock off enough dirt that we could lift it. All I did was get dirtier.
It turns out that the birds did not get all the fish. We have about 50 baby koi. Anybody need some fish for their pond?
Things went up and down, good and bad
| It has to be a slow news day when you get on television for a tornado that was only about 1/2 mile long. It touched down in our back yard and traveled between houses and went up the street. It lifted before it got to the end of the street and was "only" a category 1. The news people made me feel so inadequate. | |||
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| It was some kinda surprise to come out on the deck after a 30 second storm and see the tree right at the door. I just barely had time to scream "Oh S*%T" and tell Cindy to get to the center of the house. Kate ran downstairs and Cindy tried to stuff her and the dogs in the back hall closet. By the time they figured out who would get in first, the storm had passed. | |||
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As it ended up, the tree just hit the house. It tore off some siding
and gutters. It was the second time that we had trees fall on the
house or property. It was also the second time Safeco denied our
claim. The estimate came back as $2750. They told us our
deductible came out to $2800 because of the age of our house. We told
them that they were no longer our insurance company. Don't wait to
file a claim with Safeco, cancel now and find a decent company.
After digging out the stump, we tried to knock off enough dirt that we could lift it. All I did was get dirtier. |
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| Lars turned 22. How did that happen? | He looked awful excited though. | ||
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We had a problem with herons coming and eating our fish. I thought we
were safe because of the dogs. The birds just started coming at night.
We installed a net over the pond and the poaching stopped. But we lost
about 8 fish. The water cabbages began to really take over the pond
and give the fish more cover. It turns out that the birds did not get all the fish. We have about 50 baby koi. Anybody need some fish for their pond? |
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| :Like we do every year, we went to the Indy car race at Richmond. Team Penske has two drivers in the race, Helio Castroneves and Rayn Briscoe. | Helio came in 2nd. | ||
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| We also spent a little time up in Illinois again. There were a couple soft spots in the kitchen floor, so we replaced that. | Dwight and Ceci came out and helped. Dwight made a big difference with the floor. Ceci and Cindy worked hard out in the yard. | ||
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| The new tile in the kitchen looks pretty good. | And we only have before images of the back hall. We fixed a spot in the ceiling that had some water damage. | ||
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| Lars tightened up some of the plumbing fixtures. Marty couldn't fit in there so well. | Lisa and Mike came by and helped in side and out. Because of Mike's Cub shirt, we thought we better go into Chicago and try to see a game. | ||
| Naturally, we made a couple stops on the way there. | |||
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| First stop was the bar at the Irish American Heritage Center. What an incredible place. We got a personal tour of the facility by one of the founders. | Cindy posed with Harry Cary after having a Holy Cow burger. | ||
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| They thought I would be embarrassed to let anybody see my glasses. Heck, I think they make a nice fashion statement. Lars snapped a few great pictures on the way to the Adler Planetarium. Chicago can be a very beautiful city. | |||
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| Somebody must have made a joke to lighten the mood. | It is usually sad when we have to leave. | ||
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| We did a little boat maintenance before boating season got really heated up. Lars and Marty replaced the brakes on the trailer. | Cindy and Marty saw a few concerts. Busch Gardens had a Summer Nights concert series where the concerts were free with admission. We had season tickets so we saw a few good concerts. The bands included Rick Springfield, Grand Funk Railroad, The Charlie Daniels Band, The Guess Who and Peter Frampton. We only got to see the last two, but it was great fun. | ||
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| 50th Birthday? | Don't believe it. (But it is true) | ||
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| We got the family together for a quick trip down to Charlotte to see the Bears/Panthers game. | Even with these scary bears, we lost the game. In the last 4 minutes. Sucky ride home. | ||
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Diane and Scott joined us for a trip down the river to Urbanna. We had a nice time exploring and getting burned. Kate turned to toast. | ||
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| And we kinda wrapped up the summer with a trip to Kings Dominion. | We had time to ride some scary Merry Go Rounds. You can see the look of terror on Marty's face. | ||
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| Lars and Marty rode the tower about 300 feet in the air. then they just drop you. It is a wild 3 seconds. | Diane thought the test chair was enough. | ||
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| We had a great view of the park from the top of the Eiffel Tower. | And it made a nice back drop for a family portrait. | ||
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| Diane and Cindy posed for Scott... | and then Scott posed with Diane. He is both photographer and subject. | ||
It was pretty wild, even if these pictures look tame. For example, we blew out a tire on the way back from the river. I did not take pictures of the stuff that wasn't fun.
At the end of each summer, I invite people to come visit. There is always something to do and the weather is generally good. It is not too cold in the winter, and when it is hot, we can go to the river or the mountains. Just give us a call or drop us a line.