"How does your garden grow?"

Lots of youngsters in the little woman's garden this past week. Bodes well for a mid to late summer bounty!

Harbor View

Photo of the waterfront looking back toward San Diego's Gas Light district.  Quite a bit of the waterfront has been transformed into a very nice walk with marinas, parks, restaurants and maritime museums that include the USS Midway.

Happy Father's Day!!!

Have a great Father's Day Dad!

And of course, nothing says "I love you, Dad" more than this heart touching video...

Have a great day, Dad!!!

Good Housekeeping Freshness Seal

A recent irrigation project pointed in the direction of multizone drippers and mini sprinklers. The inexpensive timer was purchased to energize the on/off valves controlling the zones. However when the little woman and I went to purchase an outdoor box for the timer we found it more expensive than the timer itself.....so after many ideas involving ziploc freezer bags and old Tupperware containers, a cheap (<$1) sandwich container went into service. After a few rains it is doing just fine !!!

Pink Powderpuffs

The little woman is getting more than lots of broccoli from the garden this year!

Culture Sensitivity

Canadians have a reputation are being "Nice"......I've found out their secret. They eat "Nice" cookies!!!

Back in the Big City

Sunset over the northern Toronto cityscape---building lots of new towers. In Canada this week---which makes two Clarks in the Great White North!

The Young Padawan Graduates

Like his friend Spartan, the young graduate gets his diploma and is looking forward to a summer of leisure before hitting the books this fall!

And for those of you who are unfamiliar with his friend Spartan....

http://youtu.be/Rj7gN3T6l04

Big Day for the Future Skyhawk

Graduation ceromonies were held today for DHS---the photo shows the proud parents and "nervous" graduate. He gets to take a couple of months off and then its back to the grind for the UTM Skyhawks.

Way to go!!!!!!

Dialed up some great weather for our guests

Compared to what we've been having this forecast looks great!  Sorry about Thursday mom, have to water the yard a little!

Tennessee Mountain Gophers

Looks like one of the neighbors has a gopher problem (Again!)  The Tennessee Mountain Gopher is notoriously hard to get rid of once they get a foothold.  If you think these gophers are bad, you ought to try the Florida Skunk Ape :)

For these and other cryptids try:

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptozoology

Fault Lines

A recent trip took me over the Arctic Ocean just north of Iceland--not much to see other than clouds that day.  Iceland lies directly over, and owes its existence to, the Mid-Atlantic ridge where the European and North American Tectonic plates meet.



A few weeks later my flight plans would have been much different as the largest of Iceland's volcanoes lets loose!

Noodlers Needed:No Experience Required

We've got a few empty spots, just report directly to the job site :)

Let me get my penny out....

With about 4 inches of tread depth, these tires need to be measured with a ruler, not the time tested use of U.S. coinage. The treads are still measured in 32nds as with passenger tires, though every 500 hours on both right and left sides of the tire. This generates an estimated life of the tire and allows future projection (in years) of tire needs---really can't run down to the local tire shop and pick a few up when you need them :)

A Bit of Dip

First we need a great recipe.....

The finest ingredients to prepare....

The proper equipment......

To make the best Chunky Guacamole Dip!!!

Now where are those chips?

DIY Projects

Finishing up some unplanned home repairs this week. Having a couple windows reglazed at a local glass shop along with minor gutter repairs.

Happy Mother's Day!

From all of us to YOU!!!

Have a great Happy Mother's Day!!!

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

Days are getting longer and the hair is getting shorter...

The littlest princess decided to go all grown-up and sophisticated.  Between this, her brother getting ready to pack it up for UTM and big sis going into her junior year at MTSU, her  parents dad is getting to feel a touch old.

Very nicely done and gets that big smile out even more---the displaced locks are going to the children's hospital.

New Bling for Mini

Picked up the Captain Skyhawk decal for Mini's rear window.



Now I have all the cool schools covered---though opinions vary widely of course :)

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

Republican and Democratic Feathered Friends

John and Harry eating out of the same bird feeder, albeit with their backs to one another---how symbolic:)

A male Northern Cardinal and a male Blue Bunting show off their colors.  Cardinals are year round residents while the Buntings fly in for the summer.

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

Drilling the Hard Stuff

Here is Alexander, underground drill operator extraordinaire.  He showed a somewhat illiterate Yankee (hey, everything is in Russian!) how the drill he ran everyday operated----and gave me some chocolate :)  Great guy, has family, kids, etc.  Just another guy working for a living.  Here is a video from the sound-deadened cab where we stood.

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

Just Passing Through

 We typically do not see the Rose-breasted Grosbeak very often---just the second time in the past 11 years while they migrate past us.  They stay over around the red pins in a wildlife management area but in years with flooding (like this one) they move further inland and hog the bird feeder.

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

How deep is the water?

Not quite "knee-deep, knee-deep" here at the house, but many of the surrounding areas are either flooded or getting to the flood stage.  We're in the 8"-12" range for the past week and easily half that again for the past couple of weeks.

Sitting high and almost dry

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/

The Captain Knows Coffee

Captain Skyhawk is all around the University of Tennessee at Martin's campus. Spent the day there this past Saturday with #1 son as he registered for his Fall classes while the parents were educated about UTM.

http://gatoringoldcountry.blogspot.com/