Postings?

I've sent several posts today, but none have appeared. ???
Hmmm . . . . .

Sent from my iPhone

Relaxing @ home

That's Holly and Rick outside. Holly just learned how to text and
she's been texting back and forth with our 2nd cousins - who taught
her. I think they've created a monster.

My brother

This is a picture of my brother and me. I'm the handsome one. Time
for bed. Tomorrow's another day.

At the reception .. .

At the reception. So much fun seeing everyone. Holly's having fun.

Ah, beer!

The wedding ceremony is over. It was beautiful. We're now in the bar
waiting for the reception to begin. That's my cousin with me.

30 minutes to the wedding.

A long, slow drive up to Washington DC this morning. It's a beautiful
day today. Time to take a few wedding photos.

Finally here!

We're finally here. What a long drive today. Winding, winding,
winding road - a lot, make that a ton of 25mph curves. I'm glad we
can stay put for the night. Tomorrow- the wedding.

What a view!

In Virginia. About 90 mind from my mother's home.

2 lane roads

We're driving through the mountains on 2 lane winding highways. I'm
in a no service cell area now. Will send update when we get service.

Guest house

This is a picture of the beautiful guest house we stayed in. On to
Virginia.

Just east of Zanesville

Eating a quick lunch. Can you see where? Lots of trucks on the
road. And on we go.

Rest stop

Yeah, at a beautful rest stop in Ind. Almost to Ohio.

45 Miles from Indy

Traffic is backed up due to some construction. It rained awhile back,
but now it's sunny.

On our way

On our way at 5:11 am. We've stopped for breakfast at Cracker Barrel.

Overcast & raining . . . . .

This was the weather today. Overcast and raining for a lot of it. We leave tomorrow, so I'll be posting from the road. Probably multiple posts per day. ■ We're almost packed and I need to get to bed.

Late post . . . . .

Sorry for the late post. I've been busy today and will be busy tomorrow. Sometimes there's just not enough time to do everything. ■ My across-the-street-neighbor, Jac, used my alligator loppers today. First time they've been used and they did very well. ■ Cubs lost tonight. Can't win 'em all. ■ Lots to do tomorrow in prep for the trip. Shopping, trip to the dentist, new watch, distilled water . . . just lots of little and big stuff. ■ There's a faint smell of skunk outside. Man, I wish those critters would leave our neighborhood - by at least a mile. Our old dog, Maizy - gone for about a year and a half now, got skunked 3 times. Molly, she's still with us, has been skunked twice. I can't stand the smell of skunk! ■ Time for bed. ■

Dentist

The tooth I had a root canal done on back in March began giving me some pain Saturday night at the gig. I was supposed to go and get it crowned after the root canal, but kept forgetting. Well, nothing like a little pain to remind one! So, this morning I called the dentist's office and the answering service said that they opened at 10:30 am. I thought better to show up at 10:30 am in person rather than a phone call, so that's what I did. I now have an antibiotic to take and an appointment for this Wednesday afternoon. ■ No pictures from the gig yet. ■ More later. ■ 10:02 pm - Still no pictures. ■ Getting ready for the upcoming vacation. We're both looking forward to it. It'll be a lot of driving, but we're going to get to see a few relatives and old friends - and even some new ones. ■ I've been checking the temps in Jane Lew, NC. That's where we'll spend the first night. We'll have to remember to bring a sweatshirt, or jacket as it's down in the mid 60's there at night. Nice for sleeping. The rest of the trip looks like it'll be in the 90's. Hot! ■

A few gig pictures . . . more to come . . . . .

These are the few pictures that I took at the gig last night. These were taken during a break. None of me 'cause I'm the one taking the pictures. ■ It was fun playing and it was great seeing the old crowd again. ■ More pictures once Terry sends them to me. ■

Totem pole?

Totem pole? Not yet anyway. Our friends Terry & Ellyn had this gigantic tree taken down. He's determined to carve it with a chainsaw. Terry is a carver (www.oakforge.com), but this would be his biggest project to date. I thought he could just carve out a small Hobbit door and a couple of fake round windows up the trunk and tell people it was their guest bedroom. Oh, that's Terry in the middle. ■

People at the gig

Ok, it's not all of them.

Ready for the gig.

I'm getting ready for the gig with Bullfrog. Gary, the bass player, has the old set list; most of my equipment is loaded in the car; I just need to change and remember my boots and then we're off! Songs . . . Roadhouse Blues, Mustang Sally, Johnny B. Goode, Smokin' In The Boy's Room, Jumpin' Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, One Way Out, Sweet Home Alabama, . . . . . . I hope I can remember 'em all. ■

Gigs and vacation . . .

I've been working a a drawing and planning our upcoming trip. The trip begins next Thursday with a full day of driving - all the way out to Jane Lew, WV. In Jane Lew we'll stay at the Sunny Pointe Guest House. I've done their website and can't wait to actually see the house. Just take a look at the pictures of it on the website. Beautiful. ■ Tomorrow night (Saturday) I'm playing with Bullfrog and filling in for Greg. It should be a good time. Stay tuned for pictures . . . ■

The days go by . . .

The "W" flag is still up and our Cubs have lost the last two games. Our neighbors are visiting one of their daughters, but their son isn't changing the flag. Right now the Cubs are losing 1-0 in the 6th. More later. ■ 9:58 pm - The Cubs lost. What a miserable loss. Where's the pitching? ■ Got lots done today, but need to get lots more done tomorrow. ■ I'm playing with Bullfrog on Saturday night. Can't wait. I do miss playing. ■

Beautiful day

It's a beautiful day out. 73º out, sunny, just a few clouds . . . ■ I've cut the lawn; gone to the gas station to refill the gas can - $9.34 to fill it. Who'd have thought you'd have to start budgeting for gas to cut your lawn? ■ Went to pick up an doctor's order to have my blood drawn again, but the doctor's office put it in the mail last night. I'll probably get it tomorrow, or Friday. I wonder what this test is for? ■ I still have to go over to Osco and pick up some prescription that's ready. ■

Watchin' the Cubs

Ok, we dogs aren't watching the Cubs, but our dad is. We're just laying around on the patio soaking in the setting sun. ■ 10:47 pm - Cubs lost tonight. ■ Lots to do tomorrow. Busy days ahead. Stand by . . . . . . ■

Weekend is over . . . . . .

The weekend is over. It started Friday when our guests from Baton Rouge arrived and it's ending with everyone going to bed (including me in a few minutes). It was a weekend filled with fun and food. I cooked ribs on Friday night. Saturday we cooked speckled trout and large shrimp that our Louisiana friends brought with them - delicious. And today it was an encore of the trout and shrimp along with some pork on the grill. And that's not even counting the h'ordourves that were included at every gathering. All of this at 3 separate houses - a traveling-weekend-party. I think we've all got some serious dieting to do! ■ Good night.

Shrimp? I think so

Yummy!!!
Rusty & Mary come from Baton Rouge & bring us fresh caught
Yesterday shrimp & trout. They are the best!

Flights, pictures, and gettin' ready for ribs . . .

Our friends from Louisiana are finally on their way! Their flight was delayed about an hour and a half, but they're now over Mississippi and should be arriving at O'hare around 4:15 pm, or so. I'll have to leave in about an hour to go to pick them up. ■ Most of the house cleaning is done. ■ Holly prepared the ribs for cooking last night. I just have to season them and put 'em on the grill for some sloooow cooking. ■ I've been working on getting the pictures up on the Kalo Foundation website. Six pages of pictures. I'll upload them in a few minutes and you can check 'em out. (www.kalofoundation.org). ■ More later.

Bats in the sky and kids who don't know better . . .

Bats. Sitting out on the patio tonight at dusk Jac, Holly and I saw a couple of bats flying around. They weren't flying erratically, so I assume they weren't rabid. It is something to watch for. ■ When I was in grade school my cousin and I were on our way to school and we found a bat lying on the baseball field. We looked around and found an old paper bag and we used sticks to push the bat into the bag. We then took the bat to school. I don't remember what happened to it, but looking back on it I'm sure it was sick - ie rabid. But, heck, we were kids and what did we know? ■ I picked up 6 slabs of ribs and a salmon to smoke. I'll have to post some pictures tomorrow of the prep and feast. ■

Photos, lawn, shopping, and rabid bats!

So much to do today. I've been working on getting pictures ready and up on the Kalo Foundation website. I found that when I used a program to make them smaller, (large photos take too long to be displayed on a webpage) it reduced the quality too much. I'm back to, well square 2 on the photos. Reducing them one-by-one will take a long time, but I'm not sure I have any choice. ■ I also need to mow the lawn again. And I've got to get out to Sam's and buy ribs and salmon. And a couple of other errands to do. ■ My wife called me. She was concerned that there have been a couple of rabid bats found in Cary. It concerns me too. I'll have to keep an eye out for them. You can see the bats in the summer sweeping through the sky getting insects. Here I go. More later . . . ■

Kalo, ribs, and smoked salmon . . .

Another late night post. Ok, it's not that late - only 9:35 pm, but it's late for me. ■ The picture at the left was taken at the Kalo Foundation's Krehbiel-Kalo exhibition a couple of weeks ago. I've been too busy doing other things than getting the pictures from the event up on the Kalo foundation website (www.kalofoundation.org). I've got to make a couple of hours available tomorrow to get those up! ■ I've been cleaning house today to get ready for our guests from Baton Rouge arriving on Friday. Man I wish our dogs didn't shed! I also started working on the cruise video - we're having our post-cruise party this weekend - hence our friends from Baton Rouge, but I just haven't been able to get motivated in creating it. ■ Lots left to do tomorrow and Friday. I've got to go to Sam's tomorrow and buy salmon and ribs. I'm doing ribs Friday night for dinner and have to smoke salmon on Saturday for the post-cruise party. I've got to brine the salmon on Friday. Got a delicious recipe for the brine. Mmmmm . . . . . can't wait. ■

Gig pictures

Finally some pictures from the gig this past Saturday. I had a great time playing with the band again. I do miss it. If you want to see more pictures from the gig go to: www.bullfrogband.com and click on Gig Pictures. ■ It's a nice sunny day out. Finally a chance to cut the grass. More later . . . ■ 9:43 - pm - Did burgers on the grill tonight. Not as good as they normally are, but then I didn't put any seasoning on them. I'm supposed to stay away from salt. Ooooo, salt, I love you. And I'm going to miss you. Bye. ■ Lots to do tomorrow and the rest of the week. We've got company coming up from Baton Rouge. I not only have to clean the house, but I've got to put together a video of our last cruise. Maybe I'll try and post some of the video on the blog. Hmmm ..... wonder if it'll work? ■

2,000 Miles . . . and all of 'em to go . . . .

I've begun the process of planning our trip out to the east coast and back. The trip starts in Cary, IL (letters A & F - the F is covering up the A), goes to Petersburg, WV; then Midlothian, VA; then Nashville, NC; onto Louisville, KY and finally back home. ■ It's going to cover over 2,000 miles. And gas keeps getting more and more expensive! ■ I've been promised gig pictures tomorrow, or is it today - as the clock just passed midnight. ■

Lake Geneva for lunch.

A late afternoon post today. Our friend Vicki was visited us this weekend. She left her contacts here when she left to go back to Milwaukee. In order to get her contacts back to her as soon as we could we decided to meet in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin - a good half-way point. That's Vic in front of the restaurant where we had a nice lunch. The food was good and it was a delightful lunch. ■ With the trip to Lake Geneva I'm a little behind in some of the things I want to get done. Heck, that's life. ■ It's been raining on and off most of the day, so it hasn't been dry enough to get out and cut the grass. That's for tomorrow, I guess. ■ No pictures from the gig yet. ■

The bar - at least the outside of it.

This is the bar we played at last night. Hopefully I'll have the gig pictures to put up tomorrow on the Bullfrog website (http://www.bullfrogband.com). ■ Just did 5½ minutes on the treadmill. Not much, but a start. I'll do much more tomorrow. Promise. ■ It's a rainy Sunday. I had planned on cutting the grass, but that's not going to happen today. Hopefully tomorrow though. The grass has grown quite a bit since I cut it on Thursday. ■ Well, we're off to a graduation party. ■

Tired and sore.

It's morning. I initially got up around 7:30 am. Stayed up for a little while then crawled back in bed and got another ½ of sleep. It's not enough sleep, but it'll have to do until tonight. ■ My hands are sore from playing. Playing for 3+ hours is hard unless you're used to it. Lots of string bending, chording and riffs over the stretch of a gig and I'm just not used to it. I'm doing another gig with Bullfrog in a couple of weeks, so I'll have to start practicing. ■ And as I stretch my shoulder muscles I find that they're sore too. Having a guitar hang from them for 4 hours is something I'm not used to. Practice, practice, practice . . . ■

Home after the gig.

3:20 am - We played until 2:00 am. We broke down, packed up and everyone was on the road by 2:30 am. I made it home in 30 minutes. Not too bad of a drive (about 23 miles), but it rained the whole way home. ■ Not a big crowd. I think the rain and the siting of tornadoes kept people home. I'll have to check the news tomorrow and see if any touched down in our general area. ■ One person at the bar just loved the band and the music. He was dancing with anyone who'd dance with him and alone if need be. He also spoke only Spanish. But music is a common language and he went crazy dancing when we played Santana's "Evil Ways." I wish I had video of it. ■ I've been asked to fill in at Bullfrog's next gig in a couple of weeks. Can't wait. This one was a blast. ■ Maybe pictures tomorrow - I mean later today - maybe. ■

All packed up . . . .

. . . and ready to go. I've got to change my shirt, put on my boots, and put my Les Paul in the car and then I'm off. The set lists are printed, stapled, and packed; my amp, cords, monitor speakers, mic stand, guitar stand, etc. are packed. ■ This gig is probably a good 45 minute drive from here. It starts at 10:00 pm! Man that's late for me. I don't know if we play 'till 1:00, 1:30, or 2:00 am. I don't expect to arrive home until probably 3:30 am. ■ Off I go. More tomorrow.

Songs and set lists

I've been working on the set list for tonight. There it is. Go ahead and click on it and see if you can recognize any of the songs. ■ Recognize any? You should. We start off with a little Stevie Ray Vaughn "Pride & Joy" and we end the night with the classic "Louie, Louie." ■

Getting ready . . . the process

I'll be giggin' with The Frog tonight. It's a process to get ready for the gig - especially since I haven't done this on a regular basis. I need to make sure my ax (guitar) is ready. Since I change strings on it a couple of weeks ago for a gig I know the strings are good, but I will need to check the neck to see if it needs any adjusting. I'll also need to check cables - guitar, mic, and speaker to make sure I have 'em all + backups. And batteries . . . . . ■ It's another hot one today. The temp is about 80º right now and expected to get close to 90º. ■ I need to jump in the shower and get dressed and get some things done. More later on . . . . ■

Day is done . . .

The day is almost over. The sun is going down. Soon the Cubs will be
starting their game in LA. I'll be going to bed. ■ 11:05 PM - Going to bed??? I didn't make my 9:00 pm bedtime. The Cubs are losing 2 to 0 right now. ■ I'm playing with my old band, Bullfrog, tomorrow night. It'll be fun. I do miss the band. I miss playing music with the guys and with other people. And I miss the ol' "Bullfrog Family & Friends." That's the group that's been showing up to gigs for the last almost 10 years. I've got lots to do tomorrow in preparation for the gig. I've got to check my guitars to see if they need to be adjusted; bring up the monitors from the basement ('cause I've got to bring monitors to the gig); load up speaker cables and mic cables, etc. Lots to do. ■

Oil change time.

Yup, time to get the oil changed. Years ago I used to do this myself,
but it's much easier to have it done by the experts.

Drawing . . . it's coming along

A second post for today! The drawing I've been working on is coming along. Still lots left to do, especially with the trees. And then it'll need some sitting time. ■ I've got guitar lessons to give in a few minutes. More later. ■

Working ok the Vette

That's Jac, my neighbor, working on putting the engine back together in his '90 vette. He had to take the engine apart (no problem!) and replace a head gasket - and now is in the process of putting it back together again (problem!). Ok, it's no problem for Jac, but I'd be totally lost working on an engine. ■ I've been working on a drawing this morning. I hope to finish it maybe tomorrow. ■ I need to get the oil changed in my car today. I don't put many miles on it, so instead of changing it every 3,000 miles, I change it every couple of months. ■

Cardiologist appointment day.

This is a picture, actually 2 pictures stitched together, of the Kalo Foundation board meeting last night. It's a hard working group and I'm proud to be part of it. ■ I've got an appointment with my cardiologist in about 45 minutes, so I've got to get moving here. I wonder what the diagnosis will be. ■ 12:30 pm - I've been back from the cardiologist for awhile; had a little lunch; worked on the drawing and now checking email, etc. The cardiologist said my ejection fraction is up and that the blood is flowing through my heart well - so I guess that means the valves and so forth are fine. The biggest thing I have to do is lose weight. And don't I know it. I've been eating less for quite awhile (maybe not enough, huh?), but need to eat even less AND I need to exercise. ■ And on a lighter note - it's raining today and hopefully it'll wash the rest of those "helicoptor seeds" down into the gutters. ■ I'm hearing the sound of shoveling outside. I look out the window and the village is out shoveling those "helicopters" out from around the drains in the street. Yup, that's how thick they are this year. ■

Monday & busy.

(Picture is of the flowers on the bushes by the side of our garage.)
Let's see: I've been on the treadmill for 7 minutes. A little bit each day - or should I say a little bit more each day? I've continued work on a drawing; I've cleaned out the rest of the gutters as best I could. The new ladder is a breeze to move around. Really makes it a lot easier to do the gutter cleaning. And as I said the other day - we've got a bumper crop of those "helicopters." I think we've got easily twice what we've had normally and really maybe 3 times as much. We're supposed to get rain this week, so that should wash the rest of them down from the roof into the gutters - and then I'll be cleaning again on Friday, or Saturday. ■ I've got the Kalo Foundation meeting tonight. I've got to take 30 minutes and get stuff together for that. The drive to Park Ridge is a 60+ mile round trip. At 26 mpg that's about $10 worth of gas. Trips to anyplace are no longer inexpensive. We filled up both cars this weekend. Holly's took about $60 worth of gas. Holly filled my car up and I know it wasn't empty, but it was probably around $40 - a total of $100.00. ■ We've got a wedding to go to this month and the round trip will be in excess of 2000 miles. Earlier this morning I was trying to figure out our route, mileage, etc. It's gonna be costly. ■ 10:25 pm - I'm home from the Kalo Foundation meeting. I've already modified and emailed the foundation's ad that we put in the Park Ridge Fine Art Society booklet. That's one item ticked-off the todo list for tomorrow. Done. ■ As I write, the Cubs are tied 3 to 3 in the 4th inning. Can they keep their winning streak up? ■

What a beautiful Sunday.

This picture is from early this morning - ok, maybe not so early - around 9:00 am - I took it when I went out to get the Sunday paper before breakfast. It's been a gorgeous day - sunny, temps in the mid 70s, and medium humidity. ■ The tree you see in picture is a silver maple. It sheds it's seeds - commonly known as helicopters, about this time of year. And, boy, do we have a bumper crop of them this year! They're just thick on the driveway, patio, and lawn. We bought a new, smaller (16'), extension ladder at Home Depot so I could (and I did) clean the gutters. The gutters are filled with the helicopters. I have a 24' extension ladder, but it's just too heavy to move around for cleaning my gutters. I still need it 'cause it's a 2-story home, but all my gutters are at the 1st story level. ■ Jac, my across-the-street-neighbor, asked me to come over to see his corvette. He has to replace one of the head gaskets and he's disassembled the engine. He knows my famed mechanical abilities and wanted me to see it. I'm impressed. I've never seen the inside of an engine before. I think I could take one apart (-easy - just unscrew things), but putting one back together - not gonna happen. I need to get some pictures. ■ I've been working on an update to the Kalo Foundation website (www.kalofoundation.org). I'm putting together a historical places map of Park Ridge. And while I have addresses and names, some of the people listed - all important - don't have anything I can find about them via the net. I'll check tomorrow at the Kalo Foundation meeting to see if anyone has the data I need. ■ Did salmon on the grill tonight. Delicious. All for tonight. ■