Memorial Day Parade in Sandston Virginia!

Well , it has been sometime since my last post -"how time flies". Everything is going well here with the exception of not finding a good job. We have had over 3 inches of rain the past 2 days and it was needed since we had not received any for a week or so , the garden needed it due to the unusually hot days that we just had- the temps were at 98.

I have started to pack items in the house in the event I sell , which is about inevitable at this point. Not sure what the plan is since I do not have a job. It is difficult to figure out what to do as you could imagine. Its a shame that the Factory has not been able to be sold yet..and it does not look like any viable buyers have any negotiations. There may be a hopeful prospect for a good job but I am still waiting for the posting..more later on this.

Well , last week I went with my "bud" Rabbit to the Memorial Day Parade (1st Annual) in hopping Sandston Virginia and attended the Memorial Day service at the Seven Pines Memorial Cemetery. I was a little upset that the persons presiding over the ceremony made many political comments which on this day are very much uncalled for. What a shame. I'll leave you with a few photos of the parade..Rabbit is pictured along with Hillbilly Red (in the golf cart). Hillbilly stoked the grill at his restaurant and cooked up some great hot dogs with all the sides which was very nice of him to do for all of us.

My Hydrangia Flowers in FULL force

I have a 22' ring of these that come back every year around my deep well head. I call these snowballs but the real name is Hydrangea. They sell these things at the flower shop for 5 bucks each! I usually get about 300 of them easily around this well head. They love shade and wet soil...Sun is their enemy!

I am ready for more monster tomatoes

You can see here evidence of my "premier" virginia grown (organic) tomato from my garden the previous seasons. Things are looking good out there other than the rabbits terrorizing my green beans for the 3rd year in row. I need to call Dick Cheney down here to eradicate them! Don't worry I'll stay far away when he is around with a loaded weapon.

Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs

Well, since I was feeling lucky when I woke up Saturday morning I thought I'd head down to Colonial Downs here in Virginia-New Kent County (about 23 miles from house) to wager on the biggest horse race of the year. I did quite a bit of research on the internet to help me choose the winning horse and came up with #6 Frisian Fire , #15 Dunkirk and #16 Pioneer of the Nile. These horses were heavily favored to win the roses. I also went ahead and picked my long shot horse #4 Advice since I usually always do. The track was super sloppy since it had rained so much and the inside horses through the day seemed to be favored so this did not fair well with my #15 and #16 choices. I knew this , but was content with my picks.

Wow..was I ever wrong...none of my horses placed and were far from placing throughout the whole race. Horse #8 Mine that Bird as you all know was the horse that had the longest shot at winning 50:1 , and you know the result..#8 pulls in the big win by far. I mean BY FAR. This horse took them all out and left the herd in the mud. This was the second biggest win by a long shot in the history of the Run for the Roses at Churchill. The last time a long shot won by this distance was 1918.

Since 8 is my lucky number I should of placed a simple Win bet on him for poops and grins. A $2 bet on this would of yielded $104 big smacks...Whew. I only heard a few people holler at the result at the track and likewise only a few people go to the window to collect any earnings. What a loss for SO MANY PEOPLE today. I still wonder if anyone out there put a Win for $2000 bucks on number 8 because if they did it would of been a $104,000.00 gain !!! What a race. I am sure Mine That Bird will be one of the most famous wins at Churchill and would bet that a movie will be coming out to tell the story of this great win.

Lipton Tea 250

Friday night I went to watch the Lipton Tea 250 at Richmond International Speedway with James Key. We found some great tickets in the Commonwealth Tower section so that was very cool. The higher up you get at these races the more you can see. Our seats were just about at the top (highest point in the stadium). The race was fun to watch, not that many accidents and Kyle Busch ended up winning the race fairly easy.

The 2 pictures you see here I had taken at last years Indy Car race at RIR. You can see how high the Commonwealth Tower is in this picture. The Indy cars run near 200mph while top speed on the NASCAR's are about 145.

Lisa's new Miata!

Well , looks like Lisa may be having a bout with Mid-Life crisis since she ran out and purchased a Miata! I say good for her! Of course I laughed at Becky's serious comment with regard to only being able to get one weeks worth of groceries in the car rather than 2 weeks worth of food! Becky was very concerned about this issue! LOL , you'll live Becky!

Record Heat for April in Richmond

Wow it has been hot the past 3 days , It was 97 degrees Monday which is very unusual for this part of the country. Luckily the humidity has been fairly low.

I had planted the garden last week and noticed this morning the seeds are starting to pop through. The tomatoes are in overdrive right now so maybe I'll have some ripe ones before July 4th - This is usually when you get the first ripe ones here in Richmond. The strawberries should be ready to pick right around Mother's Day...so I can't wait for that.

Tequila

I got a real kick out of this Tequila Ad ! Thanks for sending it to me Lisa.

Back from Pennsylvania

Well, I made it back home from Pa. after a very nice visit with many relatives. Grandma is doing very well and has a nice new place to live in a convenient area of the town. The weather was very cold and windy the whole visit but that did not stop us from taking on some hikes on the local trails behind Bill's house, a baseball game - Penn State vs Purdue and 9 holes on a very nicely groomed country club course. Although it has been at least 8 years since my last golf game I only managed to slice one shot into the water and then played another ball the whole game (very unusual for me to say the least!)

Very miserable trip driving home due to rain and a bad accident on I-81 which stopped southbound lanes for hours. I had sat for 1.5 hours with the truck turned off..so very long day driving home. I put a bottle of GUM OUT gas treatment in the tank and got the best mileage ever in my pickup on the way home..good stuff!


Well...I'm out for the night.

Laters...

Meet the new Fisrt Dog

I am finally glad to see the Obama's finally chose the 1st Dog! Looks like a really cool choice! I believe Ted Kennedy gave them the dog, these Portuguese water dogs actually like to eat tomatoes of all things!

Heading to State College PA for Easter!

I'll be driving up to State College Pa. to visit Grandma and the gang for Easter. Look like the weather will be cold only in the 40's and still freezing at night. (yuck!) Anyway it will be nice to get out of the house for a nice drive and visit. Mary and Herb are suppose to coming up from Florida and Steve , Rosie , Alice should also be coming up for Easter so Bill and Peg will have a full house. State College is the home of Penn State so there plenty of things to do around the area.

Botanical Gardens Washington DC

Happy April Fools Day !

Well it has been a while since my last post. I guess I have been fairly busy and have not had a chance to say hey! I have been doing extensive work around the home since I have some free time! LOL! Hey I'd rather be working for some money now! free work around the house is just another chore..no fun to say the least. It is funny how the painting never seems to cease , the worst job in the world....painting.

Spring seems to be ready to roar...finally. It has been very cool/cold and rainy/cloudy for weeks with only a few sunny days in between. I cannot wait for summer...

I'll leave you with a few shots from the National Botanical Gardens in D.C. , these pictures were taken by me in the past 2 years around March 28th. A very good time to be in the D.C area since it is Cherry Blossom Festival , Kite Festival among many other cool things to see and do.

Paul

Anthony , Becky and Mom Spring Break - Phoenix AZ.

Tulum Mexico

Cancun in the Morning

Playa Del Carmen Mexico

Yucatan Moon (Luna)

Happy St. Patrick Day !

Wishing all of you a Lucky Day!

Happy St. Patricks Day !

Many nice tropical plants to marvel at.

Several new Condos being built in Cancun

Sunset on the Isla Mujeres

Becky swimming with Sharks!

Here is the Harbor area in Isla Mujeres

I did browse through the fish market area where the fresh fish were hauled in and seen some nice red snapper ,barracuda (the locals favorite) and king fish. At evening end many large fishing boats arrive with the catch. I see quite a few Carolina Boats down here. Many of the nice fishing vessels are registered in Texas and Florida along with several Canadian sail boats. Never see what the big private boats caught only the smaller local boats.

Another day in paradise on Isla Murjeres

Cervesa at the Isla Bonita after the snorkle trip

Hey..I am Back in Virginia after very relaxing weekin in Cancun

How much better than this get? Too bad I don't have a nice sailboat like that. And the water...well you can see here why Cancun has the some of the best water here on Earth. This picture was taken in between the mainland and Isla Mujeres while riding the ferry. The cost for the ferry ride is 7 us dollars or 100 pesos round trip from Puerto Juarez Terminal in Cancun over to the Island round trip.