Saturday . . . and the livin' is easy . . .

5:35 am - The dogs coaxed me out of bed at 5:13 am. I'm not sure coaxed is quite the right word, but it'll do. They've now been let outside, fed and watered and are content. Almost sounds like I'm talking about cattle, or horses - fed and watered. ■ I'm going to have to put a picture up here later on. I think posts need a graphic. Makes it more interesting for the viewer of the post. More later - and a picture, or two. ■ 4:00 pm - Ok, there's the graphic - too graphic of me on the treadmill. Only did 3 minutes, but it's a start. I'll get on later and do some more. ■ It's ribs on the grill tonight. In fact I've got to go start the fire in a few minutes and check to see if I've got enough hickory in the bucket for smoking. ■

Weather, or not?

It's a rainy, windy, not-as-warm-as-it's-supposed-to-get day out. Blah. ■ I thought I'd take a stab at drawing a car. I've never attempted one before. I did draw a tractor before, but never a car. Oops, I take that back . . . I did put a 1950's era MG in one drawing, but it was very small. This one's a little larger. What do you think? ■ Our village has had sort of a "cruise night" every Wednesday evening during the summer for the past few years. I've never made it downtown for it, mostly because my band practiced on Wednesday nights. I intended to go last year, but as I recall the weather didn't cooperate when I remembered that it was Wednesday, and I just plain forgot about it the other Wednesdays. I wanted to take some pictures of the cars and do pen and inks of them. Maybe this year . . . ■ 9:10 pm - Well, the day turned out to be much better than it started. The rain and wind stopped and the sun came out this afternoon - and the temperature went up to the mid 70s. ■ I'm looking at my office and, well, I've just got to get it organized. Too much paper - most probably needs to be thrown out, but some needs to be filed. Gotta tackle that! ■

Drawing and weighing in . . .

It's late in the day. I've been doing a drawing, actually 2 drawings, of a home. As you can see it's the front of the house and the back of the house. My customer has some sort of project she wants to do with these. The drawings are small. I almost always prefer to do larger drawings as you can get more details in the finished product. When I started drawings I began with 4"x6" drawings. They went quickly, but I was unable to put the detail in that they really needed. So I went a size larger - 8x10 and found that those were actually a bit easier . . . and then to the 11x14, which I found I could put much more detail in - and, in some ways, it was easier working on the larger drawings. They do, however, take much longer to complete. ■ I've been losing some weight lately. It's feeling good and I want to keep at it. Now I've just got to push myself to remember to get on the treadmill every day and get that needed exercise in. ■ I've got to run an errand quickly. Maybe more later. ■ 10:45 pm - My errand was running to Jewel, our local grocery store, to pick up some steak for dinner. I did that and then had a margarita on our patio with my neighbor Jac. Jac's son brought him home some cigars from his trip to Mexico. I don't smoke cigars, so I'll assume that they're good. ■ Cooked the steaks on the grill and Holly cooked some broccoli. Delicious. ■ Tomorrow the treadmill!

One more picture . . .

Just one more picture for today . . . . .

Stress test, nurses, almost done.

The picture was taken in the hospital's coffee shop where I'm having a bite to eat between parts of the test. The nurses are all great. That always makes these visits to the hospital good. In about 10 minutes I have to go back in for the 3rd part of the test. Off I go. ■ Ok, I'm done with the test and back home. The stress test wasn't on a treadmill, but with a drug called adenosine, which sort of duplicates the stress your heart/body goes through while on a treadmill - except it's, in my opinion, worse. Your chest tightens up, it's difficult to breath, the blood rushes to your head . . ., but it's only for 6 minutes. Halfway through that they inject you with some sort of nuclear material. I'd rather get on the treadmill. ■ Lots to do today. Maybe more later. ■

Bats, stress tests, . . .

While we were in Louisville we visited the Louisville Slugger factory. It was a fun tour and at the end of it we were given a miniature Louisville Slugger bat. Well, I just had to have a regular bat with My name burned in it. ■ Had a great time in Louisville with our daughter and her boyfriend. We ate way too much, but had a great time. It took about 6 hours to drive there and we used about 3/4 of a tank of gas. It's nice to know that we can make it down there on less than a tank of gas. ■ Tomorrow I go to the hospital for a nuclear stress test. Got to see how the ol' heart is doing. ■ 6:45 pm - I'm glad I called the hospital to make sure the referral for the stress test was there. It wasn't. I called my cardiologist's office to find the status and they assured me that the referral would be at the hospital prior to the test and not to cancel the test. That was a mouthful! ■ I think I have to start the drawing I've been working on all over. At least it's only about 50% completed. ■

Churchill Downs

We went to Churchhill Downs today. Lots of fun. I only bet on one
race - to win - and my horse came in dead last - by at least three
lengths!

FABD

FABD - Frankfort Ave. Beer Depot - a great smoked pulled pork sandwich here. Great ribs too, I understand, but they were out of ribs. Went to the Louisville Slugger plant and had a great tour.

Neighbors - it may seem like an old subject , but . . .

Wow! Two posts today! And two exclamation points in a row! Or, is that three? Ok, enough funny stuff. The person in the picture is my old across-the-street neighbor, Bob. Bob and Roxanne retired to sunny Florida about a year and a half ago. Sunny, warm, no-snow - no-cold-weather Florida. Yes, they missed our beautiful winter here this year. Some folks have all the luck, or are able to see-into-the-future! Hi, Roxanne! Bob did make it up here and caught me mowing the lawn. I took a break and we had a beer and talked 'bout ol' times. He said he misses the snow, cold weather, and the long drives to Antioch. (I think he had a "senior moment" there.) ■ All funnin' aside (sounds like I'm a headin' south, doesn't it?) he does miss Cary and the neighborhood. He does, however, like the warm Florida weather and his swimming pool in his backyard! Ok, we're jealous, but we do have The neighborhood! ■ All for tonight. Goodnight 'yall. ■

Gorgeous flowers and day

What gorgeous flowers. These are in a pot out on our patio. My wife planted them last weekend and they're really looking good. My iPhone takes pretty good pictures, but this one doesn't do them justice. ■ The lilacs are past their prime. Pretty soon the blossoms and their wonderful smell will be done for the year. ■ I'm working on that drawing of the home in North Carolina. Soon I'll have it to the stage when I can take a scan of it. Maybe I'll post that later on today. ■ The Krehbiel-Kalo exhibition in Park Ridge is going super. I received a phone call today that another 6 classes of children are in the process of coming through the exhibit. I so wish I was there. Just going down to Park Ridge and back is a 2 hour trip. I just don't have the time today. Bummer. ■ More later.

Guitar lessons, friends, neighbors . . .

This is a picture of the aftermath of guitar lessons. Well, at least a partial picture. An amp, a music stand, furniture moved out of the way, chairs moved around, etc. I guess I should have stood further back to take in more of the scene. Both of my students are doing very well. ■ Friends, neighbors - I feel that we're, both my wife and I, blessed with great friends and neighbors. It's so nice being outside and having people say, "Hi, Steve", wave, come across the street, or walk next door -- and those are just the neighbors. And friends - geographically close and geographically far away - we have so many - and so many good ones. We still keep in contact with friends from college, my days in the U.S. Navy, childhood friends, friends from when our children were young . . . and I guess I could go on and on. We're truly blessed. ■ Cubs lost. Heck of a note to end the post with. I guess there won't be an "W" flag up across the street tomorrow.

A few gig pictures and drawing

I know, the pictures are hard to see. Simply click on the picture and it'll open up a larger version in another window. Try it! ■ Laid out the drawing I'll be working on today yesterday. This morning I'll start the actual pen and ink of it. It's a beautiful home in NC. Maybe I'll post a scan later. Depends on how much I get done. ■ I think I also need to mow the lawn today - and then again on Friday as we're going to Louisville to see our daughter. ■ Tomorrow I'm meeting an old coworker from one of my old jobs for lunch. It'll be good to see him. ■ More later on . . . . .

When's it going to get warm?

It only got to about 60º today. When is it going to get warm? I want some 70º temps. ■ It was warm enough for my neighbor, Jac, to get out and wash his 'Vette. And look who he has with him! Maybe tomorrow I'll get my picture taken with them. Jac took time to take a look at my brakes. I was hearing a squeal and thought it was my brakes, but no, the squeal is coming from some brushings someplace on the car. He had to explain what brushings were. My ignorance of mechanics knows no end. ■ I've got some pictures from the gig I played with Bullfrog on Saturday. I'll see if I can't get some of those up tomorrow. It was fun. ■

The parade, weather, food, . . .

Being a judge at Lombard's Lilac Parade was fun. I think I've been a judge for the past 4 or 5 years. Lots of fire engines, floats and bands. I think they have somewhere around 50,000 people watching the parade! ■ The weather was cool, overcast, and hinting of rain. It's been like that almost every year for the parade. I keep hearing "Oh, it's been hot some years." - I just haven't seen it. ■ Food! Every year our friends the Murphys host a post parade party. Food! There was so much food! Brats, chicken, homemade salsa, guacamole, apple pie, carrot cake, coleslaw, potato salad, Brazilian tomato salad, brownies, . . . and the list goes on. ■ And we did a bit of jammin' with a few guitars. Even played "bye, bye, miss American pie, . . . drove my chevy to the levy and . . . . . ■ At any rate, I'm bushed again. Two days in a row. "Early to bed and early to rise . . . "

Giggin' again

I'm exhausted. I did a gig with my old band, Bullfrog, this afternoon and I'm just plain tired. I'm not used to standing for such a long period of time with a guitar on my shoulders. My feet ache and I'm tired, but the gig was a blast. The picture above was taken when the band does "Mustang Sally." With that song we get all the ladies up to sing the refrain "ride, Sally, ride . . ." Always lots of fun and the voices! Well, not American Idol quality, but . . . . ■ I'm climbing in bed. Got to get some sleep. ■