We met in early 2003 and were married in the first day of summer in June 2004. The beginning of summer this year we celebrated our 20th anniversery. I’m so lucky to have met such a wonderful woman when I met Connie. It’s been a great 20 years and looking forward to many more now we are both retired (as of 2023). Below is a photo from around the time we got married in 2004. Yeah my hairs a little longer these days but that’s… Read More »Our 20 Year Anniversery
Here in central Indiana we were lucky enough to be in the path of totality for the solar eclipse on April 8th this year. It was a beautiful day and I smoked a pork butt while we sat in the driveway watching the whole event play out. It was a day to remember, as we listened to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon cranked up loud, had cocktails and watched the show. Photos of the actual eclipse from the Internet.
Once again over the cold months of this past winter I collected some odd and ends wood scraps and built a few more birdhouses for our feathered friends. Some of the wood was scrap from new construction from my builder friend Charlie. In some cases I was simply rehabbing some older houses that had fallen apart. Right off the bat several birds checked them out (mostly house sparrows) and several of the houses were used to raise their young.
For years this sturdy block building on our property has sat, mostly used to store junk that I never used. I finally decided to change that in 2020 and spent several months cleaning it out, sorting the stuff and trashing most of it. In 2021 I started the demo of the roof to convert it to a greenhouse. Using my tractor I pushed the roof off and in the process collapsed the front wall. In the end it worked out as having the south facing… Read More »The Greenhouse
Part of my Greenhouse project was trimming down the 2 Bradford Pear trees on either side of the building. While not the best trees when trimmed down they are manageable and give the greenhouse a little protection. So to further utilize the downsized trees I mounted birdhouses on both trees, and as usual, all the wood and paint were scraps/ leftovers so the only investment was fasteners and my time. I did this over the winter in 2021/22 and mounted them in the spring of… Read More »Birdhouse Trees
I’ve lived in few homes and apartments over the years, first in Evansville up until 1989 when I then moved up to the Indianapolis area. These are a few of the places I’ve lived as rentals and the 3 homes I’ve owned up to my current house where I’ve lived since 1996. Right after I was born my mother purchased this house on Clayton without my father even seeing it. At the time it was only a few years old as you can see in… Read More »Houses I’ve lived In
Since my first car in high school I’ve gone through a few that were special to me and others that just served a function. In my youth I spent a lot of time tinkering and fixing up my vehicles but by the 90’s I just started buying brand new vehicles. Below is a list of the first up to my current vehicles. My first car was a 4 door 1969 Dodge Dart. It was my mothers but she bought another Dodge and gave this to… Read More »My cars
In my youth my family liked to camp and for a time we had the opportunity to rent a small beach area (100 ft per lot) on the banks of the Ohio River just upriver from downtown Evansville. Several families chipped in and ended up with 2 lots side by side. No electricity / water, etc, just 200 ft of sandy beach. So it was common on the weekends there was always someone there and many camped overnight. Several people had boats so there was… Read More »1970 ~ Ohio River
The weather geek in me decided to invest in personal weather station. I’ve been fascinated with weather since I was in grade school in the 60’s. So in my 60’s now I decided to get my own station. Ended up getting a Ecowitt system with rain gauge, anmometer, indoor and outdoor humidity and temp, and barametric pressure. Photos below. Online I’ve hooked up to the Weather Underground and our station information shows up here: https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/KINAVON48 There are other options available so I might be adding… Read More »Sol Farms Weather
One of the features of our old house is the trees, some that were there when I purchased the home, many I’ve planted over the past 20+ years. One tree, a hardwood maple, that stood out because it nicely shaded the back porch. In the summer of 2000 it was damaged in a storm (I wasn’t home so I missed the excitement). Matt’s Tree Service trimmed it the best he could and it hung in there for many more years. Slowly the damaged area slowly… Read More »The Old Back Tree