Dreaming of beaches . . . . .

Not really, but I have been experimenting with drawing beaches and the waves coming in from the ocean.  This drawing was done on my iphone.  It gives you a very small drawing surface, but you can do some amazing things even within those physical limitations.  ■  Cary is doing one final brush pickup this Monday due to the high winds we had earlier this week.  I only had some small branches come down, but one of my neighbors had a pretty big branch break off from his birch tree.  At any rate I’ve got to get those out to the street for pickup.  ■  Time for bed.  I can’t keep my eyes open.

Drawing and a sore shin . . . . .

Lots done, or worked on today.  The Hyundai goes in on Monday to be fixed for the damage done by the dumb deer.  I’ve been driving 40+ years and have been able to avoid hitting any deer.  This one just came over the guard rail and right into the car.  Didn’t see him/her coming as the slope beyond the guard rail was below my field of vision and – bam!  There it was!  ■  I’ve been doing some drawing.  The sketch above will be for my cousin and his wife that will be imprinted on a thank you card.  It’s a sketch of their porch – at least part of it.  ■  Somehow I’ve banged up my right shin.  It’s swollen and black and blue.  I don’t remember hitting it on anything, but I may have on the boat and not noticed it.  It’s sore and not getting any better at the moment.  ■  Cut the back yard this afternoon and mulched up the leaves on the lawn.  I need to do the front tomorrow.  ■  Next Thursday Holly will have an operation on her left foot.  She says it shouldn’t be too bad, but I’m worried.  You have to worry about any operation.  ■  I’ve been experimenting with the Brushes application on my ipad.  It’ really neat and I’ve done a couple of “paintings” on it that are pretty good, if I do say so myself.  The best thing is that I’m getting better at each new painting.  ■  Yeah, TFB.

Drawing blood . . .

Yep, again I'm having blood drawn. After this it's something for
lunch and then out to get estimates for the car repair.

Home and Blue Herons . . . . . .

What a title.  Home and Blue Herons!  That’s a picture of a Blue Heron that my cousin, Tom, took on our boat ride.  We didn’t get that close to it – he had a zoom on his camera, but it was a sight to see!  We don’t have Blue Herons around here – just robins, blue birds, cardinals, sparrows, etc.  ■  Arrived home this afternoon around 3:30, or so.  It was a nice trip except for the deer that ran into me.  Yes, it ran into me, I didn’t run into it.  It hit just aft of the front headlight – on the side.  I’m glad it hit there and not in the front of the car.  I’ve seen cars totaled by deer.  In 40+ years of driving I’ve never, ever hit a deer.  Just some geese.  ■  The new ipad performed beautifully.  I’m glad I bought it.  It’s nice having it in the car – gps so you always know where you’re at – and with 3g it’s pretty fast.  I tried to interest my mother in it, but I think it’s over her head at this point.  Maybe if I had more time . . . ■  The Brushes app I bought for both the ipad and my iphone is really neat.  Lots to learn about it and I’m not a painter, so there’s really a learning curve . . . I’ve got to learn how to paint!  Yet another skill I don’t yet possess.  ■  Time, yes, for bed.  ‘Night. ■

Getting there . . .

We're north of Indy. Still miles to go. Listening to the Bears
game. Haven't heard a score yet.

Kentucky . . .

. . . and we're behind this slow moving truck in an 8 mile
construction zone.

Crossing another river

I didn't even see a sign for the name of the river. We're east of
Huntington, WV yet.

A deer hit the car . . .

. . and you can see some of the damage. The car is still driveable
and no one was hurt - except fir the deer. It happened about 25 miles
east of Beckley, WV. The deer came from below the highway - out of my
view- over the shoulder barrier and into the car! Stopped and looked
at the damage - took one part off and put it in the car. Filled up
with gas in Beckley and two more gentlemen helped remove another piece
which may have fallen off in the next hundred miles.

West Virginia

I've been sleeping and Holly driving for the past couple of hours.
We're in WV and making progress!

On the road again . . .

. . . just about by Charlottesville, NC. Miles to go . . .

Painting . . . . .

I've been painting using the Brushes app. Lots of capabilities, just need to figure out how to use them. And it's not terribly easy to "paint" with ones finger. Leaving here tomorrow morning. It's a long haul to Louisville. I'll do some posting on the road.

Back in Midlothian . . .

. . . with a couple of small purchases at some antique shops.

On the way. . .

. . . To Midlothian. Stopping for lunch here.

In Hertford, NC . . . . .

In NC for a too short visit with my cousin and his wife. Went for a nice ride in his boat. He does a lot of fishing. Back to my mom's home tomorrow. Below is an attempt to draw one of our dogs using a new app for my phone and iPad. Night.

First attempt at using Brushes

Brushes is a drawing program developed for the iPhone. It's been used to paint, I believe, two covers for the New Yorker magazine. And that's just on the iPhone version! I've installed it on my iPad and this is my first amateurish attempt at using it. Enjoy!

Rainy day . . .

Holly's playing gin with my mom. I've been attempting to reconnect
with my dobro. I, unfortunately, haven't played it much in the past
couple of months and it shows. I'm just initially trying to get back
what I had before I try and add new things. More later.

Dinner . . .

Dinner at Red Lobster. I must say it was very good. Back at my mom's
home. Bed is not long in coming.

Here

We made it a couple of hours ago. Sitting here with a cold beer.
Going out for dinner in awhile.

On the way to Richmond . . .

Got a late start. Stopped for breakfast at a small cafe - pancakes
and sausage for me and eggs and home fries for Holly. This pic was
taken at a senic overlook on hwy 64 going towards Richmond. We're not
far from Monticello.

Fire alarm!

At 1:00 am. The very loud fire alarm went off right after a big boom
of thunder. We and all of the other guests went out into the hall to
find out if there was a fire. No fire, but it took mgmt about 15
minutes to turn it off. Oh, and the fire dept never showed. Back to
sleep - I hope.

Made it!

We made it to Petersburg. That's my old Navy buddy, Chuck, who I
haven't seen since 1973. He's the same ol' guy. I'm so glad we made
the trip. Tomorrow we're off to Midlothian, VA.

Back on the road

. . . after breakfast. About 145 miles to Charleston, WV.

On our way . . .

. . . to Petersburg. Stopping for breakfast in Mt. Sterling, Ky.

F.A.B.D.

Ate dinner at the Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot. Good BBQ and cold
beer. Off to Petersburg, WV tomorrow to see an old Navy shipmate.
Can't wait. It's been 37 years since we've seen each other.

In Louisville . . . .

. . . At last. There was a huge backup on 65 getting into
Louisville. Apparently it was an accident, or so someone told us. We
ended turning around - going back north and then west on 265, etc.
But we're here!

Windmills!

Passing thru the middle of a windmill farm. There are thousands of
them. Beautiful weather. More later . . .

Good gig . . . . . .

Had an afternoon gig today.  It was a wedding reception/open house party at a beautiful home in Lakewood, Illinois – which is just a short drive from Cary.  Nice home and very nice people.  They enjoyed our band.  Maybe we’ll get some gigs out of it.  That’s a panoramic view of the party – although I missed some of it to the right.  ■  Tomorrow we’re off on a trip.  I’ll be blogging from the road.  And I’ll even try blogging via my new ipad.  We’ll see how that works.  So, stay tuned – reports from the road.  Maybe we’ll even find some great diners, drive-ins and dives.  ■ 

A few years old . . . . .

This was taken at Wrigley Field a few years ago – not sure of the date, or score, but it was before Aaron went in the Navy.  It’s just one of my favorite all-time photos.  That was back when I weighed a mere 115 lbs . . . . ok, I’m kidding about that.  ■  Worked today and will work a couple of hours tomorrow morning/afternoon and then off to an afternoon gig.  It may well be Bullfrog’s last gig.  Don’t know at this point, but I’ll keep you filled-in.  ■  I broke down and bought an ipad.  Just couldn’t keep new technology out of my hands.  It’s a weakness of mine.  New technology, guitars and amps.  “He who dies with the most toys wins.”  It’s a tried and true staple of life.  I’m at 19 guitars and 10 amps.  I haven’t won yet, but it’s not for lack of trying.  And I’m not done yet!  ■  Off on a trip next week, so expect some on-the-road blog posts.  We’ll try and make ‘em interesting.  ■  TFB. 

I said “Doctor . . . Mr. MD., can you tell me . . .”

. . . . . “what’s ailing me?”  Actually I didn’t feel poorly, but he told me that my blood sugar is a bit high.  Probably due to my rotten eating habits – orange juice (I LOVE orange juice, but it’s got a lot of sugar in it), orange sherbet (I do love orange sherbet), too much bread (although it’s not as if I eat a lot of bread, but certainly more than I did a couple of years ago) and . . . the other food items that I’m sure I shouldn’t eat.  I’ve got to go for a 2 hour blood sugar test.  Wonderful.  ■  Apple ipad.  Do I need one?  Good question.  Do I want one?  ■  Books.  I have 3 that I want to publish.  Two of them by the end of the year.  The other can wait awhile.  ■ 

A nice fall day in my neighborhood . . .

It’s been yet another beautiful day in Cary.  Temps were perfect, the sun was out all day – just beautiful.  ■  Got the hose rolled up and put away.  Just one more thing done in preparation for winter.  My mailman reminded me that I’ll have to clean the gutters before winter.  What a pain, but it’s got to be done – but first the leaves have to have finished falling.  ■  Doctor’s appointment tomorrow.  He wants to talk to me about my blood-sugar levels.  We’ll see what he has to say.  ■ 

The ribs were delicious . . . . .

The ribs were delicious.  Even better than I had imagined they might be.  Top that off with some home-made key lime pie and mmm……. what a meal!  ■  The weather was absolutely fantastic this weekend.  Couldn’t have asked for better weather.  Got the grass cut, the hose ready to be put away, and got the part I needed to fix the stopper in our sink.  ■  This coming Saturday is a Bullfrog gig.  It might be our last.  Kind of sad to think about that, but things do come to an end.  ■ 

. . . a long time . . . . . . . . .

Some household repairs take a long time.  I don’t want to tell you how long this has taken, but it’s measured in years rather than months, weeks, or days.  The repair?:  The stopper on our master bath was missing a small piece which wouldn’t enable it to stay up, or down with any certainty.  I’ve probably thought about this for the past X number of weeks, months, days, and finally today I went and bought the needed part.  Mind you I haven’t installed it yet . . . so it’s not yet fixed.  I can tell you that I had to spend about $7 for the part – actually the purchase was for a bunch of bundled parts – I just need one!  ■  Holly and I were talking and we’ve decided to do ribs tomorrow.  Terry – I can’t even come close to your ribs, but I will try.  Pictures tomorrow of the prep and cooking.  ■  Need I say it again?  TFB.  ■ 

What awaits you at the top of your stairs?

This is what awaits me every night – and during the day too.  That’s Zoe on the left and Abby on the right.  Right now the 2 of them are lying on our bed – sacking in with Mom.  ■  It was another beautiful day today.  It’s been sunny and temps in the mid to high 70s.  And it looks like it’s going to be that way for the next few days.  ■  Our weekend is pretty much free.  Foodwise I’m thinkin’ maybe ribs, although I’m not sure it’s time for ribs again.  The last ribs we had were Terry’s and his are pretty much unbeatable.  ■ 

A beautiful day in the neighborhood . . .

I’ve heard that line somewhere before.  But, it truly was a beautiful day.  In the high 70s, sunny, and I should have rolled up the hose and put it away.  At least it’s disconnected.  I’ll wrap it up tomorrow.  ■  Even the dogs thought it was a beautiful day.  This is their new spot for lying around in the yard – on the corner of the front yard.  That way they can keep an eye in all directions.  Nothing gets past them!  And they spend their time together as you can see.  They’ve really become buddies over the past few weeks.  In fact I’ve got to kick those buddies off of our bed.  I’ve been kicking them off the bed and shutting the door on them for the past couple of weeks.  They sleep downstairs in the family room and we’re getting much better sleep.  Sunday night I kicked them out, but then left the door open when I crawled in.  I don’t think it took them more than 12 seconds to realize that our door had been left open (this they realized from downstairs) and then hightail it upstairs and jump on our bed – with Abby snuggling up right in-between us.  It’s hard to fool them.  (Oh, I kicked them out again and closed the door.)  ■  Bedtime. 

Completed!

It’s done.  On the left (you may remember the drawing from a previous post) is the pen & ink I did of the original Lutheran church in Cary.  The item on the right is the finished Christmas ornament of the drawing of the church engraved in wood.  I think it came out beautifully.  What do you think?  ■ 

I should be asleep . . . . .

but I’m not.  I have been asleep, but woke up a few minutes ago – not sleepy – so I thought I’d write a post.  ■  This old looking photo was taken about a week ago of the neighborhood trio – (left to right) Steve, Steve (me), and Jac.  Just out on our patio having a drink and talking.  ■  I remembered yesterday to disconnect the hose from the outside spigot.  I think that, on average, our first frost comes around October 7th.  Now I’ve got to lay it out in the yard to drain it; then put it away for the winter.  ■  And speaking of winter – the temps have dropped.  It looks like we’re starting this week out with low 60s and climb a bit to the 71º mark on Wednesday.  I think that’s when I’ll cut the lawn.  ■  Holly gave her bother Barry the pen & ink of him and his 2 St. Bernards.  She said he liked it.  I’m glad.  ■   Time to get back in bed. 

My first print advertisement . . . . .

This is my first advertisement in a printed publication.  It’s in our local chamber of commerce’s newsletter.  It’s kind of exciting for me as it’s the first time I’ve had and seen a printed ad for my business.  Now let’s hope the orders roll in!  ■  I need to get the hose disconnected and put away for winter.  Pretty soon we’ll have our first frost – it’s due on average around October 7th.  ■