June 25th 2016
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| Just another Parrot Head |
Well I`ll be dipped in buttermilk and called a fritter! Jen and Christian just bought a car. A brand new Toyota Corolla. They needed a car. Christian`s 20 year old Toyota Corolla is approaching it`s end. The motor is still strong but the car is disintegrating around him. He`s taking the Van which will make his job as a painter much easier. And Jen will drive the new car. I`m glad everyone will have a reliable vehicle. I just want to get me some of that new car smell.
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| And in 10 years the car will be mine!! |
In order to buy the above mentioned car they dropped the Grandkids off for Papa Squatch Dayscare. It`s not a great day weather wise but good enough to chase their little butts outside. It`s too cold to swim so they would rather watch TV or Play on the computer. Not on my watch! Within minutes they were playing and having fun. Bouncing on the trampoline and hitting each other. I'm hoping that they have a growth spurt soon so I can get them pushing the lawn mower.
Jen and Christian stopped by to tell us about the car. They were on their way to a Notary to sign a visa application for Christians brother Mario to come for a visit. The Grandkids were playing in the yard and asking me every 3 minutes if it was time yet. They are going to a Birthday Party down at Maklin Park at 1:00. Bella can tell time but there's no clock in the yard. Christo can read the numbers but I don't know if he gets what they mean yet.
At 1:00 we drove down to the park. I dropped the kids off with Reed's mom and swung by the recycling depot to drop off an old Microwave oven and a bag of broken electrical doodads. They won't let you put them in the blue box or the garbage. I understand the garbage but the Blue Box? Isn't that actually called the recycling box?
When I got home we started putting some more stuff into the attic. As full as our house is the attic is fuller. The floor up there is the dance floor from our wedding. The attic only has 3 feet of head room so unless your a midget or a limbo dancer there will be no dancing on the dance floor.
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| May I have this dance? |
With Michele moving in we need to create a space for her to store some stuff. I'm going to lay down another piece of plywood to create more space. I just have to cut it in half to get it through the attic door. Right now the lovely Lisa, Rafter Rat is scurrying around above me doing ??????. I'm drinking ice tea and awaiting further instructions.
On the weather front it's clearing up quite nicely. We are going to a musical party at our friend Annamette's place in Richmond tonight. A great group of talented and interesting people as well as some excellent musicians. I keep saying we should start a band called The F.O.G. That stands for
The Fuckin Old Guys! Sometimes there's 150 years of musicianship playing at one time. Lots of the guys have been playing for more than 40 years. I'm always honored when they let a hack like me sit in with them.
When we finish with the attic I am going to repair the Tomato box that was smashed when the top of the pine tree came down in the windstorm last spring.
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| Broken |
I was on a roll. Not only did I repair the damaged tomato box.
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| Repaired |
I worked the soil and planted some Cukes and squash that Michele had brought over in pots.
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| Planted |
I still have a bunch of tomato plants that I grew from seed and I will put them in tomorrow. They're still pretty small. When I got out of the hospital at the end of December I noticed that one of my hanging tomato baskets still had tomatoes on it. They are called Tumbling Toms and they make hundreds of marble size fruit. They were all soft and wrinkley so I threw them in a pot with some soil and they grew. I pulled the three biggest plants from the clump of tomato plants that came up and put them in their own hanging baskets. They're doing great. I still have 100 or so various sized plant to do I don't know what with.
I was just about to go get them off the front deck when Chris, my tenant, said the kitchen faucet was leaking and no amount of duct tape was going to fix it. I have known about this for about a month. I have the best tenants ever. They always let me know right away if there is an issue and I usually take care of it right away. Not this time! Why? You may ask. I hate plumbing! I especially hate plumbing in places where 280 lb men don't fit.
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| One of the many places I don't fit! |
Like under the kitchen sink.
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| I did manage to get my head in. |
It's the weirdest thing. The leak is in the spout. That's right the long neck thingy that squirts the water into the sink. Leaking right in the middle of the spout. I've been adding more duct tape but if water carved the Grand Canyon what chance does my little IKEA faucet stand! I got it out and planned to go right down to IKEA and get a replacement. Why IKEA? you may ask. Because 8 years ago I put in a new IKEA kitchen and had them install it. IKEA is all metric. So are the holes they drilled in the counter top. All the big brands are not. Faucet in hand I headed upstairs to get my wallet.
"We're meeting the gang at Rivers Reach at 5:00 Honey" the lovely Lisa informed me as I walked in the house. Dripping with sweat from my undersink adventures and, as an added bonus, I was covered in dirt from the tomato box and left a trail of muddy workboot footprints all around the kitchen. "EEEEWWW, You have to have a shower." the lovely Lisa said as I reached out to smooch her. I found myself clutching air where her face once was. "And hurry up. We're going to be late again" Once I was showered and shiny, I put IKEA and the magic faucet on hold till tomorrow. I will do it tomorrow because Tamara has a new baby and water in the kitchen might come in handy! Okay I can't let it go. Nobody has an old baby. Why do we always say "Is that the new Baby?" " What this old thing? No, it's one I got at the used baby store! It's actually 13 but small for it's age! Well that's for tomorrow and if I don't stop going sideways I'll never get this finished!
Rivers Reach for half price pizza night. Willy and Annie, G McT, Duffy and Sharon were waiting when we got there 20 minutes late.
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| Duffy, G McT, Willie, Sharon, Annie and the lovely Lisa |
I was alright with it. The place was as usual, packed. but because we were late they had already secured us a landing spot. Three large Pizzas and some hot wings. I think Rivers Reach makes the best Pizza in the area. Crispy thin crust and generous toppings with plenty of cheese. And at 1/2 price! The place is crawling with Scotsmen. All yelling for warm beer and deep fried Pizza!
The back of 7:00 we headed out to Annamette's place near the airport in Richmond. It only took about 25 minutes to get there. There was already a good crowd when we got there. After all the hello's were said I settled in with my guitar to play some tunes and the lovely Lisa was off setting up the cheese tray she brought and making herself tea. I don't know where the time went. We took turns picking songs and some of them turned out pretty good. Of course on some songs we have 6 guitar players. That's a lot of solo's! It also makes for a very long song. There are some talented people sitting around the fire tonight. The Double Bills, Taylor and Frew on guitar, the Ukalele lady Linda, Jerry on the sax and Gary, Basil and myself also on guitar. With Leon keeping the beat on his Cajon box drum. The effervescent Julia lead the female vocals and numerous and unnamed, because I can't remember them all' joined in with the singing.
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| Bill Taylor |
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| Bill Frew |
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| Linda Ukelele Lady |
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| Julia and Gary |
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| Jerry and I |
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| Double Bill and Leon on the drum |
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| Early tunes |
It was a great time with fabulous people who love making music and all the good vibes that go with it. Around midnight we said our goodbyes. We thanked our hostess Annamette profusely and smiled all the way home. Our hearts full of song and our belly's full of cheese.
That's all I've got
Till next time
Peace out Y'all
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