To Make a Long Story Short . . .

We didn't get the new chairs. The delivery guys arrived, but the chairs were not what we had ordered. In fact, after a whole afternoon of working things out with the furniture store, the chairs that they told us we would be getting are not even made. They had told us that if we paid for an upgrade charge to top-grain leather then the whole chair would be covered in 100% leather. Turns out that the company doesn't make anything but "leather match" and "leather touch" stuff. So, we took a refund. The funny thing about that is that we sold the love seat from the TV room yesterday morning! So, now we're in the market for a couple chairs. I'm sure that God has some waiting out there --- now to find them!

We're planning on going to the auction tonight. Several things there that would be great to pick up. We went to a local thrift store today, and Elizabeth and I got some Beanie Babies. Some bears and a really cute cat. We also went to a rummage sale and got a pair of curtains for the TV room. They are long and have old English town scenes in browns and greens on them.

Tomorrow is going to be a salsa making/canning day. We've got all of the ingredients here, so we're going to make that and freeze some peppers and onions. Elizabeth and I are going down to Buddy and Kay's on Friday for a jam session and just to have fun. Not to mention that they need Lizzy's help on hooking up some electronic stuff!

Well, I've got to go meet up with an ice pack. Some mean, nasty little bug bit me six times on the back of my thigh, so it's driving me bonkers!!! More later.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Long ago (26 years to be exact) and far away (in New Hampshire) --- Mom and Pop got married. Two years later, we were born. Life has been a barrel full of fun ever since!

Dad gave Mom a little silver charm for her bracelet. It's a set of wedding rings that look almost exactly like her rings, except that her rings are gold. Here is a picture:

Mom and Elizabeth spent the day up in town running errands. I stayed home and got all kinds of things done around here --- laundry, vacuuming etc. We're having a couple new chairs delivered tomorrow, so I was also moving some furniture around upstairs. Right now, Mom and Dad are out to dinner by themselves, so the two of us are going to have dinner upstairs and watch a show or something. We're probably going to see a Wagon Train, but we haven't decided.

Well, I'll post some pics of the new chairs tomorrow! More later.

Needed: DVD Case Designer

Elizabeth has put me to work designing a DVD case for her. Some of the old VHS movies that she's turning over haven't got cases, so she wants me to make a few in Photoshop that she can print out. Since we came home from church she's had me making a case for Thunder on the Hill --- a Claudette Colbert mystery film from 1951. This isn't too bad, as she said that she'd help Mom make lunch if I made a case. Not a bad deal, in my opinion.

Claudette Colbert plays a nun who has to prove a young girl innocent of murder. Not the hardest mystery to slove, but the film is very well done. The other star of the film is Ann Blyth, so we left a blank space on the case. Elizabeth wants to send it to her to autograph. We have autographed pictures from her, but we're planning on sending some sheet music soon.

We spent yesterday working in the yard. Mom and I got a ton of weeding done in the flower garden. Some of the plants were so big that it felt like something out of a Jules Verne story. We also got the mower fixed, so the grass is nice and short today. Yay! Buddy and Kay stopped by to pick up some chain saws. We haven't seen them in ages. Hopefully, we'll get together soon.

Well, it's about time for lunch, so I better get going. We're going to watch the last couple shows in the first season of Wagon Train tonight. I'll be kind of disappointed to finish them. They've been really enjoyable. The Dan Duryea show is still the best!

The price of tomatoes . . . and the lack thereof.

We spent most of today driving around the surrounding counties looking for tomatoes at canning prices. It's amazing. Here we are, living in one of the largest Amish/agricultural areas and only one farm was selling tomato seconds for $1.50lb. We found one little old gentleman selling some from his garden for $0.75lb, so we bought some from him, but not enough to can much.

We stopped at Sandy Hill and a local stand to get some melon, corn and peppers. We also drove out to pick up a new belt for the lawn mower. It broke the day before we left, so the yard looks like a prairie. Dad's out putting the belt on --- so guess what I'm doing in the morning?! Mom and Elizabeth are going to make a little batch of salsa with the stuff that we were able to pick up today.

We're having two new chairs delivered this next week, so it looks like we're in for a little furniture rearranging over the weekend. The cats are all little cling-on love bugs since we've gotten back. I think they missed us. I can't think of anything else to write at the moment, so I'll post more later.

Over the hill . . . to Gramma's house we go!

Here we are in Central Florida! We're at Mom's Mom's house today and heading off to Dad's family later. Gramma took us to the most amazing pizza place you've ever eaten at. Wow! It's called Pizza Gallery and Grill. There is only one of them, too, and that's here in Central FLA.

Dad and Elizabeth are out boating/fishing (she's boating and he's fishing) this morning with a guy out in a wonderful spot . . . "Mosquito Flats". Sound like a good place to visit? Not. Elizabeth made sure to take a whole bottle of mosquito repellent. She's hoping to catch sight of a dolphin and/or manatee while they're out. The guy that they are going out with is a marine biologist, so she's looking forward to having an educational experience.

Well, it's about time to eat Breakfast, so more coming up later!

2011 APS Stamp Show / Trip to Florida

I haven't been doing much blogging lately. We've been so busy having fun that there just isn't time to write about it. Last week was the 2011 American Philatelic Society Stamp Show. In other words, the American National Stamp Show! This marvelous event was held in Columbus, so we were able to attend all four days. What an experience. We met some really nice vendors from all over the country (and some from all over the world). We made friends with some from Kentucky, Michigan, Arizona and Oregon! And we got some amazing stamps. God really blessed us with some amazing finds. My favorite addition to my King George VI collection is a Hong Kong definitive (Scott #166). It took us two days to find a dealer with one of them, but it's a real beauty.
Another thing that was really cool was that I got to see the Stanley Gibbons collection binders for the British Commonwealth during KGVI. I'd seen a couple pictures of the set online, but never for real. Wow! One day, I'd sure love to have those . . . so maybe in the future. They're made with hingeless mounts already attached to the papers, which would sure be nice.

We're getting ready for our trip to Florida, which is coming up soon. Dad and Elizabeth are planning on going out on a boat for a half day while we're at Gramma Gail's house. Dad to fish and Elizabeth to see all of the local wildlife. That is Lord willing and weather permitting of course. Mom and I are planning on going shopping with Gramma.

For the last couple weeks we've been watching some of the old Wagon Train TV shows. Our library has gotten them on DVD, so we're working our way through. They've really been quite enjoyable --- a few shows that aren't so good, but in general they're pretty cool. Major Adams and Flint are great. We just saw my favorite one last night. Dan Duryea was the guest star in a show that centered around him and his old pal, Flint. Boy, was it great. Dan Duryea had some of the best one-liners ever. I've got to watch it a couple more times just to memorize a few of them. They'd be likely to come to good use at some point in the future!

Well, it's late, and it hasn't been the best of days. The lawn mower broke down. A belt on the PTO broke --- with only 93.3 hours of use on it. Man. Even when you buy something that supposed to be quality, it isn't. They won't even stand behind it as the mower is two and a half years old. Never mind that the dealer has never seen one of these belts break. More later.

Off to Collect the Ribbons!

Hi! This is a short one, but we're off to collect the State Fair stuff today. Mom and I are going to make a day of it, and Elizabeth is staying home. She's trying to get in a day of "alone time" before all the upcoming socializing. :)

There is a Whole Foods grocery store down at Sawmill, so we're going there after we've picked everything up from the fair. Might stop at a few other places, too. It's very hot here today, but it looks like there's some cooler weather coming later this week. The Stamp Show starts on Thursday! How fun is that?! More later.