| leatherman's log |
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November 2007 |
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| Week One: |
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| It's the first day of
November and I just posted the last update to
October (Week 2). To kick off this
month, here are some pictures from Halloween Day when DO and I took
a second trip to the parks, while we were still having some good
weather. (Check out Week 4 of October
after you see these pictures, to read about our first trip.) Today
we tried something totally different - we took my bike along with
us. While DO took pictures, and Rosita chased the geese, I explored
the parks on two wheels. |
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| DO takes pictures . . . |
. . . while mIkIE takes off on his bike . . |
circles around and comes in for a CloseUp
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| MouseOver CloseUp! |
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Riding the bike through the park was
very nice. The Monument Park section had trails rather than paths,
so I was able to go "off road" and down the path in this park.
In the other section of park, where we were most of the time the
day before, they have built very nice walking paths, and bikes are
not allowed. |
| The dirt path, winding between the lake
and a stream, has some segments that were covered in leaves, while
other segments are strewn with pine needles. It was really
beautiful, and quite like a mini-ride through a forest. |
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| If you look in the center
of this next picture, you can just barely make me out, as I'm riding
on the path |
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Guess who was on the opposite side of
the lake taking my picture while I was riding my bike?
MouseOver this picture |
mIkIE hams it up when he
finally gets into some pictures.
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While I was busy riding
around, exploring the park paths, DO was a busy little shutterbug
with her digital camera. She's getting so much better about not
capturing her own thumb or finger in the picture.
 
She really did get some beautiful pictures on the park on a glorious
Fall afternoon. Standing by the lake, looking past the path I was
biking on, you can see the McKinley Monument up on the hill. |
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| Canton is home not only to
the Pro Football Hall of Fame; but also the McKinley Monument and
the McKinley Presidential Library and Museum.. William McKinley was
the 25th President, and the last veteran of the Civil War to be
elected. His 1896 election marks the beginning of the Progressive
Era in America. McKinley presided over a return to prosperity after
the Panic of 1893 and was reelected in 1900. As president, he fought
the Spanish-American War. Later he annexed the Philippines,
Puerto Rico, and Guam, as well as Hawaii, and set up a protectorate
over Cuba. He was assassinated by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, and
succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt. |
MouseOver CloseUp |
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Week Two: |
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| Angie sent me some
pictures of Donny and the girls craving up pumpkins for Halloween |
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| I'm constantly amazed by
how fast kids grow. I was just home this Summer and I swear that
Kayla and Allison have both grown 6 inches each! |
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This past weekend, Ritchie
and I went along with DO to a craft fair. A friend of ours had
talked her into getting a table and then wasn't able to attend.
Since she's been so nice to take me to the park, and since it was
Ritchie's weekend to spend the night, we both went along with her
for the moral support. (I'm may be gay; but I was one of three
brothers. I don't know nothing about doll clothes. Don't they have
cooties or something?!?
)
In the long run I didn't mind going along though. A lady from a few
tables away stopped over to offer samples of the cakes they were
selling. No sooner than she asked, "Have you ever heard of Amish
Friendship Bread?", than I whipped out a big Tupperware container
full of my newest Amish Friendship Bread concoction.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, I've made a batch of
pumpkin/cranberry/walnut muffins. MMM So far, everyone has approved
of them. Jim's co-workers gobbled up two dozen in about 15 minutes.
I'm planning on making another batch in time to take over to DO's
for our Thanksgiving dinner. |
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We've been telling DO for
the longest time that her doll clothes are quite nice and would
sell. Well, we finally got proof of that. Not only did she make back
the money to cover her costs, but she also made close to 100 bucks.
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Week Three: |
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| I'm pretty certain DO and
I have gotten the last nice day of this year in at the park now.
We'll just have to wait till Spring to visit again. So here's one
last look through the pictures we've been taking lately. |
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| Here's the view, coming
and going, of one the the bridges |
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| I just love this area of
the park. During the winter, that building at the far end of the
lake, is where the ice skaters can sit and lace up. |
MouseOver CloseUp
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| I took this picture myself
as I biked through the parks. |
MouseOver CloseUp |
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Click to Animate
for a SlideShow of mikie biking through the park
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| Left to her own devices,
DO took a lot of very interesting pictures. Here are some she took
of the reflections in one the small lakes in the parks. Take a close
look, see anything odd about these pictures? |
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| MouseOver these pictures.
Can you tell which way is right-side-up? |
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Week Four: |
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Even after a super long Summer, and all
that talk about Global Warming, guess what showed up the same time
of year as it always does? The SN*W!
So far we've only had two days with just a light dusting on the
ground; but we all know more is on the way! |
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The light snow moved out
and the rains moved in just in time for Thanksgiving. MMM It was a
feast again over at DO's. I made 6 dozen of my
pumpkin/cranberry/walnut muffins. This time though they came with
cream cheese icing! Of course, I also whipped up the traditional
green bean casserole. The turkey and dressing DO prepared were
delicious as always! I was so stuffed I have no recollection of
going home. All I remember from the rest of the evening was being
crashed out on the couch with the doggies, dozing while "The
Incredibles" played on TV.
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Week Five: |
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The pampas grass looks so beautiful
this time of year.
However, it won't be much longer though till it's all dead and blowing
around the year, and then I'll be fussing about it.
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We have been wanting to
cut down a couple of trees in the backyard because of how they shade
either the pool or the solar panel. One of them is the neighbor's
tree though, so there wasn't much we could do about that one.
Although we did get permission back in Spring, and climbed up into
it and removed well over half the branches. It wasn't the perfect
solution; but we did get more sun into the pool and the neighbors
still had shade on their patio.
However, Carolynn stopped over this past weekend with a chainsaw to
help us do something about the tree in OUR yard.
In no time at all, we had huge pieces of tree dropping all over the
backyard. |
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| Jim says that he's cut down this same
tree 4 or 5 times over the years. I imagine that he's correct too,
as we were able to cut through 4 of the 6 "trunks" of this tree. |
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Together, Carolynn, Jim and I worked
throughout the early afternoon (in some great weather!) and even got
most of the "mess" cleaned up. Unfortunately we could not tackle the
rest of the tree because her chainsaw just wasn't big enough to
handle the job. Carolynn hopes to come back over soon with her
brother's big gas-powered saw and finish it up. |
I was pretty surprised by
how much work I actually did. I had woken up in the middle of the
night, and was quite sick and puking.
It wasn't until Carolynn came over around lunchtime that I really
started to feel much better. I always like to think that fresh air
can't hurt, so I bundled up and worked on cutting off all the
branches connected to the "trunks" that Jim and Carolynn were
cutting down.
[Although I had thought I was better, I wasn't. After Carolynn left,
I began to feel sicker and sicker.
I didn't puke, but I did start to run a fever for several hours. I
spent the rest of the day and night bundled up in a comforter lying
on the couch (and many of you how sick I am when I'm "lying on the
couch", so yes, I was quite sick ).
It wasn't a nice way at all to be feeling after my first full
month not smoking cigarettes. ] |
The poor boyz wanted to come out and
play in the big back yard so bad; but chainsaws and cocker spaniels
doesn't sound like a good combination.
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Gabby stayed inside, all warm and dry
cuddled up in a blanket.
Actually Gabby isn't doing all that well.
Old age isn't creeping up on her, it's running! Just since the
Summer, she's not only lost hair; but weight too. Just in the last
two days though, she's become very lethargic, and I'm seeing bones
through her skin now. She's been a little sick (puking and the
runs); but she's still got an appetite so I've been feeding her
Thanksgiving leftovers. |
It's been almost a year
since the dogz and I moved into Jim's house. Unfortunately, I'm not
very certain that Gabby is going to make it the full year.
At this point, I'm not certain that she'll even make it until next
month.
For a purely unselfish reason, I'm very glad Gabby is hanging in
there though. We invited Richard,
Angie, and Becca over for dinner at our house this
Thursday (Ritchie couldn't make it) . I was very glad Gabby got the chance to see the Clarks one
more time and get and give some lovin's. Ritchie has always been "her
little boy", and Gabby is ga-ga about Angie. Gabby did perk up
for a while, and really enjoyed her company (and the soup too).
So for the last couple of days, and probably for the next couple of
days I'm just watching over my Gabby and keeping her as comfortable
and warm as possible. Of course, I've got some some experience in
this kind of situation, and there's not much comfort for me during this time.
Oh,
I've been through this more times than anyone else I know and I know all the platitudes.
However, right now, in this moment, it's all very real and
very sad. Another little piece of my heart is being ripped away,
it hurts and I'm going to cry.
There's nothing else I can do but
love
 her until she leaves me and goes to be with Randy and the rest
of the family. |
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