Premiered another edition of our May 2026 road trip to Missouri. This one had everything to do with President Harry S. Truman. We visited his home and Presidential library & Museum in Independence, Missouri. Additionally, we walked the grounds of the truman family farm in grandview, Missouri and his birth home in Lamar, Missouri. Everywhere…

Home health (hospice) visits in the morning; one off lake city and the other in shoreline. I drive. A little rain and chilly. Quick visits. Michele was glad to be back to work after a month off. Note the changing color of the leaves on the trees. It’s beautiful this time of year. Soon those…

I once reconned that I’d been to Yosemite National Park once a year until the age of 24. On each trip I was amazed at the unusual blue bird that hung around the campground. It had a scratchy voice. Not a kind bird or a singing bird, but exotic to me. Anything beyond a sparrow…

I’m willing and on call when needed. the first need was scheduled weeks ago. MB needed a ride for a dentist appointment. I dropped him off and made a dropoff to the mill creek post office. Afterwards we stopped off at the “dispo” as he calls it. When we got back to the house, I…

Yesterday I noticed the empty cage of suet in the backyard. The birds get busy back there but do they know I have more in the front yard. I’m still working on gifts of suet from Christmas 2025 and my birthday 2026. This stuff is called Peanut Delight and the birds love it, so do…

I’ve never completely grasped the science of condensation and fog. I know there is a temperature differential at play. Without understanding why dew or fog occurs, we can enjoy its beauty. When I walked out for my walk I took note of the fact that temperatures were in the 30’s. I put on thermals and…

Who would start a garden with no expectation that anything will grow. Me. that’s me. Despite planting in the sunniest spot on the property and watering diligently, I don’t expect to get a crop. Be it tomatoes, peas, or pumpkins. Why is that? Starting with the fact that this year I took all my old…

With days like today who would miss summer? Clear skies and cool. Long pants and long sleeves and you are fine. But keep the coat handy as we’re heading into winter. What makes this time of year extra special is the brilliant display of color on the leaves. Leaves that haven’t fallen yet. We took…

As a beginning painter in acrylics, I’m learning from square one. I Absorb huge amounts of Youtube videos. Yes, practice makes perfect, but watching youtube accelerates learning. as a beginner I wouldn’t dare use and waste a canvas. I use sketching paper. I took this picture of a trail the other day. It will be…

When we take a picture we frame the subject. It’s called composition. where we place the subject and how we frame the picture is our main concern. We want to capture the scene as best we can. Photography is great and I have decades of such picture. I’ve been painting landscape lately and my focus…

It’s been on my mind to study the region’s insects. You know, identify them on sight and recognize certain traits. But they’re so many, so diverse, and so small. I finally met a moth that is so large, so unique, and so identifiable. It even goes by a big name; the Hummingbird Moth for the…

I’ve said this before, in order to see the birds and critters around us you need to draw them in. There was a couple of years that I really didn’t see many birds around here. And where are the squirrels? When I set up bird feeders and kept water in the bath, they all came…

Before cassettes and before 8-tracks for that matter, there was reel to reel. A primitive device by today’s standards. A simple device that even kids like me and my sister could operate. Recording was done on tape that spun around reels. The right wheel took up the tape as it was played or recorded. The…

Start the day early before the sunlight. When there is complete darkness and daylight is only an anticipation. The air feels crisper. You’re ahead of the curve in getting things done. It’s going to be a long day. don’t forget to take a nap. Today started way too early; at 4:30 A.M. with a trip…

Every year I plant pumpkins from seeds of the year before. And every year I get huge foliage and flowers. Beautiful flowers. but never any pumpkins. AB suggests I cover the plants to ensure Pollination. It really is a matter of pollination. I also blame lack of sun, but definitely lack of pollination. At this…

I struggle with Exercise. Too much, too often, and too routine, can weigh against my attitude. Even taking my walk along the sammamish can seem like an unwanted chore. But deny me that walk for a week and I’m ready to hit the trail. And so it was this morning. High above the river and…

When I cross the yard I’m often unimpressed. The small lawn creeps where it shouldn’t, so do the weeds. What I do have is birds coming around. We draw them in with feeders and 2+ bird baths. And we get variety. They are fun to watch. Recently I set up a log dangling in mid-air…

When I saw this plane at a garage sale I knew it was special. The age, the completeness in parts, the rust, and the weight. All spoke of a good find that will be appreciated by the paying public. I wasn’t wrong. I paid $5 and cleaned it with care. I researched the name embossed…

I can watch the birds feeding from my window. I noticed the larger birds struggling at the feeders. They are not a little larger but much larger. The pileated woodpecker is a good foot long. The beak is strong and penetrates wood. Along with the Stellers Jay and Downy Woodpecker these are substantial bird. When…

There is a rainy season in Washington state. it starts in the fall when warmth is replaced by declining temperatures. the crossover between summer and fall produces some lovely mild days that only gets better. Soon leaves will start changing color, you can see it now. In a few weeks the color will explode then…

We’ve been waiting months for the return of the Pileated Woodpeck. This is a large bird. You can hear the air flow as it flies away. A woosh with every beat of the wings. Quite a site in the front yard. This isn’t a sub-alpine forest. Before the big guy arrived, the equally extraordinary downy…

You see little birds coming and going at the feeder. They all look the same; same size, same markings, same behavior. I suggest putting that feeder near a window, preferably the window you stare out of when you’re on the couch. buying an expensive camera with telephoto is optional and will not be discussed here…

On a corner of the front porch we’ve had a hydrangea in a red pot. It’s done well until recently. It started to sag. Was it lack of nutrician being in a pot? Lack of water being under the eaves of the house? Or, too much sun. any one of those will make a hydrangea…

With fall comes the rains and the wins and no garage sales to speak of. So we took advantage of this estate sale in Marysville. The owner of the property must have been a reseller because they had great stuff that the resell market loves. Like southwestern vases, cups, and saucers. An old rocking chair,…

Birds are back; Dark eyed juncos, chickadees, stellers Jays, and the large robin below. This robin showed up tonight at the bath. They’re active on the hillside in back yet this afternoon several were swarming at the bath. Their common feature is that they are large. I had to double check this was a robin.…

We left Othello, Washington in the dark of morning. rain falling, narrow road, large trucks oncoming. And my headlights barely made a dent in the dark night. We were on Highway 26 for about 34 miles. I wanted it to end. Actually, I’d like to see it in the day time. But that night, I…

I tell you, he postal person didn’t come here yesterday and I needed to get a package out. The package held six Popular Mechanics magazines from 1962 as bought on ebay. As a result I took the package to the Mill Creek post office. I do not stand in line. In most post offices there…

I’ve become a familiar face walking the sammamish trail. People passing by wave with a friendly, “good morning.” This is a public trail with many passing through, coming from somewhere and going to who-knows-where. Some do an up and back like me. i do just over two miles each way for a total of just…

This summer saw the falling off of bird activity at the feeder. I tried everything to get them back from clearing debris from the feeders to making several feeders accessible. Nothing helped. I changed their food and added suet front and back. Lately we had more activity from the stellers jay and we’re so glad…

On the weekend we try to hit garage sales as we see signs. Sometimes we go online and see what garage sales and estate sales are listed on craigslist and Estatesales.net. When we stumble across one versus it being advertised online, we tend to strike something unique. Sellers are eager to make deals or their…

Those coming to the front door are greeted by healthy hydrangea in a pot I painted red. That poor hydrangea is looking sickly and i think i know why. plants in a pot will soon consume all the nutrients needed for survival. Fertilizer needs to be added and I never do. my solution is to…

I’m listing and still no sales all week. Reselling has it’s good days and bad. A couple of weeks ago and I walked into a local garage sale and he was giving away a bag of old popular mechanics. These go back to the early 1960s. It contained almost the complete years of 1961 and…

yesterday I reactivated my Ebay, Etsy, and Amazon accounts. I placed these on time-away for just a few days and it’s been good to take reselling off my plate. There are plenty other things to do. Since putting them back online I’ve had no sales. The way to remedy this is to list, list, and…

Haircut in Everett at Neal’s barbershop. But before that I stumbled across free diapers on craigslist. This got me thinking. I could pick up the diapers and drop them off at the Everett Gospel Mission where they house the homeless. I used to do this in San Diego. I texted and messaged the person giving…

First four mile walk along the sammamish river in more than a week. Rain came and went yesterday but that dark ominous sky lingered today during the walk. It made for ideal temps. I wore a sweatshirt and shorts. In may we did a road trip that took us from Washington state to Hannibal, Missouri.…

Othello is the largest city in Adams County. I had high expectations. My expectations had to change. I compared it with quaint historic downtowns of Ritzville and Lind in the same county. Othello is a different animal. A place that shares much of the same history and agriculture products, but is more industrial. More processing…

After two nights in Ritzville we decided to spend our third and last night on the otherside of the county, in Othello. On the way we’ll see the towns of Paha and Lind. Our stay in Ritzville was almost flawless and allowed us to see Ralston, Benge, and Washatnu. But there is more to see.…

The big bite comes from taking it one bite at a time. Otherwise you’ve bitten off too much. We are exploring the county of Adams in Washington State. You cannot take on the entire county’s history. There are too many places, names, and dates. Each town owes their existence to someone who long ago platted…

Day one of a planned trip to Ritzville. Nobody plans a trip to Ritzville or do they? We do. Ritzville is located on Interstate 90 running west to east through washington state. It’s where the traffic lightens and semi-trucks and others finally allow space while doing 70 mph. At the sign marked Adams County, the…

While doing the yard work at the street level, I stood back for a look at the gigantic pumpkin vines. Yes, the branches are more like vines stringing farther and farther from the main root. I estimate the length to be 10 to 12 feet. The leaves are gigantic and poking out between the rose…

The birds are coming around but not in the numbers they once did. I’ll work around the yard tomorrow and fill the baths again. I was in the garage and heard screeching birds just outside. I thought they were crows that come around once in a while. They frequent the trees on the cul-de-sac but…

Personally, I love to excersize when I’m overdue and looking forward to it. This moring I purposely got up early and headed out. First to drop off some tubes that belong to a kirby I sold locally. I put the tubes on the porch and drove off. Great blue heron During my walk I saw…

Slept approx 12 hours counting time on the couch yesterday. And yesterday was a day of Covid recovery I got the shot on Friday and the after-effects were flu-like Symptoms and the shivers. Today feel great. Been up and moving all day with a short nap. Today marks the last time we’ll be doing weekly…

Yesterday, I talked about going to the VA and getting two blood draws; one on each arm. Then i went upstairs to immunization and received four shots; two in each arm. The last shot being covid. Forward to 2:00 a.m. and i’m shivering in my bed. You’ve heard of hot flashes? Well these were cold,…

The VA Medical center is located just south of seattle. They have an emergency room and to the right of that door is the main door for primary care, blood work, eye clinic, and other offices. I’ve been there before and was happy to find a parking spot in the multi-storied garage. The bloodwork lab…

A day with virtually no agenda, except to be available. In this case be available to listen, intervene, and reason. At around noon, I started the day by changing the hummingbird feeder water. This involves pouring sugar into the glass feeder and allowing scalding water to dissolve the sugar and kill bacteria, i believe. Where…

This should be called No agenda wednesday. entered this day burnt out of giving so much time to reselling; listing, cross-listing, organizing, and even packaging. Because I list on several sites now besides ebay, i get in trouble when someone buys from me on etsy and immediately and unknowingly buys the same item from me…

My shop is a room in the garage with a garage door that opens automatically with the push of a button. The light must be on or it won’t work. The shop is cluttered with magazines. we bought $60 worth of old magazines from LOOK to Holiday. Stacks of them. Listing takes time. Too much…

With summer waning and fall waxing the days are mild and pleasant. This morning I watched a line of traffic crawl up and across the overpass. A trip I’ve taken many times. But they’re up there in traffic and I’m enjoying a power walk. There’s really no contrast; they’re off to work and thinking about…

The signs are in the trees or rather in their leaves. A slight change of color at the fringes. Summer is winding down here in the northwest. Short as it was, it has been great and there is more to come, at least one or two hot spells. Then spring! Then spring will roll into…

Rain came in the night as predicted. we got a good watering today. The plants probably loved it. Summers here are dry and I know most of us like to see the rain every once in a while. Got chilly. This is a harbinger of things to come. The un-copper wall clock We researched a…

Today we celebrated CBs new job at the local elementary School. The school is within the Northshore School District which we are a part of. She will be para-teacher coming alongside a child with behavior issues. It’s a start and maybe lead to a teaching position. She was referred to the job by a friend.…

With the garage shop and office inundated with a backlog of things to list for sale online, I dedicated this day to listing. Before doing all that I needed to come up with systems that ensure I do this online stuff right. My concern comes from a purchase this morning of something that sold the…

E scooters break down on Occasion. It could be the tire goes flat. Now what do you do? We replace tube tires with solid tires. Doing that work takes patience and a lot of finesse. These solid wheels aren’t easy to get on the rim and then back on the frame of the scooter. The…

Having missed my walk yesterday I was determined to do my 4 mile there and back walk along the sammamish river. I listed to Stuart Woods’ Blue Water. It’s about a desire to sail. He tells the story well as only a professional writer can. i don’t read fiction but I know the name Stuart…

Mondays are my walk days starting in the morning. But I got hijacked to go to a 14 family yard sale in Marysville, Washington, about 25 miles north. the setup was just off the main road with tables, tents, and plenty to look at. Plenty considering this was the third day of the sale and…

On the weekends I drive the wife around to do healthcare visits to assisted living facilities and homes wherever the sickly reside. Today we were in Issaquah at the Swedish Hospital for a visit. Afterwards we did two Bellevue visits then headed home. GARAGE SALE Ofcourse, once the job was done and we were free…

Saturday and chance of rain. It hasn’t rained in weeks. When we approached Bellevue large raindrops fell. Our first visit in Renton went by quickly. All three visits today were in assisted care facilities. We left renton and headed north to bellevue for two more visits. Garage Sales For the few hours we hit five…

We have never chased garage sales on a Friday. However, we are scaling up online selling and we both enjoy going to garage sales and finding treasures which we usually find. We call going to Home Depot a date. Well on this date we decided to hit a garage sale or two and then shoot…

August 20, 2026 – A record six packages were delivered to the post office today. That means six sales in Ebay. When I returned, there was another book sale. This is the best day by far for Ebay sales. Took a load for donation to Value Village. Michele did the itemization. Most of the items…

The American Giants Youtube channel popped up for suggested viewing. This group has a great interest in the Muffler Man. The Muffler Man was a 25 foot fiberglass statue bought by businesses for advertising purposes. Thousands were made and displayed. Phillips 66 gas stations and the Muffler Man were closely associated. In 2008 while visiting…

An unconventional way of gardening. I had stored up a good amount of seeds, both vegetable and flower. Most of these are still in their packets and have been stored in a dry place in my shop. There is little chance they will grow because I get little sun because of the tall trees. Even…

Listed a postcard on ebay today of the Watch Man and his “worlds largest watch store!” He sold the watch business years ago. His name is Ray Lindstrom and he wrote a book called, “Feerless: Confessions of a serial entreprenuer.” I enjoyed the book very much. He was a character. I remember the commercials for…