Thursday, April 29, 2010

President passes thru Shelby County


We aren't exactly in the sticks here, but you can see them if you look the right direction. President Obama passed thru the county yesterday on his way to an ethanol plant near Macon Missouri. A lot of local residents lined the road near town just to get a look at his motorcade as it traveled along highway 36. Probably a first time event for this rural area of Missouri.

Doesn't take much to get us excited. I think the last major event around here was when the Hells Angels came to town and spent a week.

I haven't been posting much this month. The spring time weather has captured most of my interest. I have been checking in on some of my favorite blogs, trying to keep up on things though. X.

Friday, April 23, 2010

The Young Lady in the MG Convertible


During one of my summer visits to my grandads farm, me and my uncle (Sam was more like a big brother)were in town one day with grandma. We ran into the daughter of the local doctor. She was in her twenties and with just one look you could tell, she was a lady of adventure. Sam and I were 9 and 10 respectively and both enamored by her.

She asked Sam and I if we would like to take a ride in her new sports car. It was an MG convertible. Of course we jumped at the offer. After all we were just a couple of country bumpkins who had never seen a foreign sports car,let alone rode in one. She gave us an exiting ride. Shifting thru the gears in rapid fashion, we thought we had died and gone to heaven. It is a memory that has stayed imprinted on my brain to this very day.


Today I am semi retired. I have a handy man service doing small carpentry jobs and lawn work. A few days ago I had the chance to thank her again. I received a call from a lady who needed some yard work done. The name rang a bell and I realized it was the lady who had given Sam and I that sports car ride many years ago. When i first arrived we began to converse and I told her I had never forgotten that ride and thanked her again. She went on to say she missed that car and wished she had it back. As she talked about the car she went on to say that her daughter was trying to get her to stop driving. She is in her eighties now and her daughter felt she shouldn't be driving.

I told her to keep driving as long as she could. And mentioned how I understood, and that driving is part of our independence. I think any of us who are lucky enough to live as long as she has will face that dilema one day.

As I drove home that day I felt a little sad. Someone who had given me that thirst for life and adventure was on the verge of having her life altered. My thoughts were with her remembering the fun Sam and I had, flying down the road in that blue convertible with our hair in the breeze. X.

Tigger says.....


I should have passed on that last shot of katnip!!! X.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Back in the good old days


My Uncle Jim, Uncle Guy and Grandpa Buck. In the days when horsepower really meant horsepower. X.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

My Mother, The Hunter


My mother is in her eighties. She thinks young however. This picture was taken a few years back. She loves to turkey hunt during the spring season. I plan on taking her this spring and will try to get the hunt on video. X

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

I Love Cats


I just can't eat a whole one!!! X.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Surprise Morels


Saturday evening when we got home Gi Gi went out in the yard to pick up sticks. Wasn't long before she came to the door with 3 little grey Morels. She had found them under one of the elm trees. It's very unusual to find mushrooms in town.

Finding them got our interest up. So yesterday we went to my stepdad's farm to look. We looked in my usual spots but didn't find any Morels. However I did find a few (elephant ear/beefsteak)variety. I've been eating these for over 30 years with no problems. The newer mushroom books that are out now say they are poisinous. That's news to me. Anyway I plan to continue eating them. So, if I don't post anymore you'll have a good idea what happened.

It's still a little early in this part of Missouri for the Morels. It shouldn't be long though, since the temps have been up the last few days. X.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Fifty pounds of ___ in a ten pound bag!







That's how I would discribe my shop. I built it a few years back, thinking it would be big enough for what I needed. It is 20'x 16', should have made it 30' x 16'. We all know how things accumulate. I should have known better.

In one of the photos are some bows hanging on the back wall waiting to be finished. Did I mention that I have a little bit of procrastination in my makeup?

In another is a Viper valve cover from the plant where I used to work. It was a reject. You have to look close to see the flaw. Shows you how picky they were.

One lesson I've learned from this shop. When you build something, make it a lot bigger than what you think you need. X.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter Everyone

Bunno says have a good one. X.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Death

I intend to live forever. So far so good. -Steven Wright

I wouldn't mind dying-it's the business of having to stay dead that scares the shit out of me. -R.Geis

After all, to the well organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -J.K.Rawlings

Death is a gift to have more life. -Unknown

If death meant leaving the stage long enough to change and come right back out as a new character.....would you slow down or speed up? -Chuck Palahniuk

One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it's worth watching. Unknown

Every man dies. Not every man really lives. -William Wallace