Vacation Day #2

We slept in.

We ate breakfast.

We walked down to the Eastern Trail.

We played the motorcycle game on the walk back.  I lost.

We ate lunch.  Hamburgers!

We left our house and 20 minutes later were sitting on the beach reading.

We live in Maine, baby!

Vacation Day #1

Attended a 40th-birthday celebration for Debbie and Donna (twin daughters of Dick and Carole).  The party was at Sebago Lake.

Lew and Dick took an hour and went snorkeling to the "point" -- apparently their favorite snorkeling destination.  Lew found one golf ball and a very chewed-up dog toy (shaped like the head of a dog).  I don't know if Dick found anything.  If he did, he didn't tell me about it.

Carole put out a spread of food for about 50 people.  Everything was really yummy.  (And I am the one who is worn out!)

A good start to our vacation.

Information Roundup

When Lew gets home from work today, he is on vacation!  Yippee!  We are doing another "stay-cation" right here at home.  I will be posting, but the entries might be really short.  And perhaps even dumber than usual.  I'm just saying....

Anyway, I figured I should update everybody on a few things:

• Kim, Joe, Kelsey, and Cocoa made it home safely yesterday.  Rumor has it that Kelsey even drove for a couple hours in New York.
• We still do not have Lew's vehicle back.  He has been using his motorcycle or my vehicle to go to work.  This has been a long and rather frustrating repair.
• Pepper is in my lap.  She is purring and doing her head-butting maneuver.  Not very helpful when trying to type!  But she's still a sweet kitty.

Just got a text from Lew.  He's on his way home from work!  :)

A Blogger Is Reborn

Today I asked myself, "How come I haven't been taking advantage of all of the Blogger features?"  I had only done a few things before today's post:

• Boldfaced, italicized, and underlined words
• Linked to another web page
• Inserted a photo
• Inserted a video

But I had never used the bullet points -- until now!

I also had not:

1. Used a different font
2. Used a different font size
3. Striked Struck through a word
4. Used a different text color
5. Used a different text background color
6. Used a jump break
7. Changed the alignment
8. Used a numbered list
9. Used the quote indent.

So now I'm saying to myself:

"I can't believe that I haven't been taking advantage of all of the Blogger features!  This sure is a lot of fun, and you can bet I'll be using this stuff a lot more from now on." 

LOOK OUT, WORLD!

I'm going to insert a jump break.

Dad 55: A Defense of Engineering Excellence

(When Dad left four handwritten pages for his post today, I immediately went to address this length.  But then I noticed he had written a note for me:  "Sorry so long, but necessary!"  And my answer:  "Methinks thou doth protest too much!"  For your reference, I'm posting the photo once again.  Enjoy Dad's post -- and believe what you will....  -- Tracy)

Derf Here!  From Exchange Street in the Old Port section of Portland at 9:30 a.m.  It is July 27, 2011 and the day is beautiful.  The Henrys are on their way back to Illinois.  Cocoa's "doggy day care" is now shut down for the year and Pepper is extremely happy, I am sure, although she did not tell me so.  Spouse is in town to see a doctor.

I must, yes I must, defend my engineering excellence of a week ago.  I was "picked on," even vilified, for my excellent work in getting my weather vane working again.  Several weeks of planning went into my decision to fix the problem.  Here goes.  You see, at 73, I must be sure all is properly safe for my work.  The yellowish ladder had a sky hook (that is what I call it) that protrudes over the ridge of the roof and holds it from sliding down.  (Very secure.)  Then I placed my truck so the "Little Giant" ladder rests on the roof following the slope of the roof.  The "Little Giant" comes to rest in the truck bed so it can not slide at all.  For support of the "Little Giant" I placed a step ladder under it resting on the side of the truck bed.  This ladder was not necessary, but was just another safety measure in the marvelous engineering plan.  Now that I had the climbing ladder in place, I had to get into the truck bed.  My superior agility is not what it used to be so I used the second step ladder to climb into the truck bed.  This completed the engineering marvel.  Perhaps unseen in this world anywhere prior to my weather vane repair.  Now I'm ready to do the job.

I climb up the step ladder into the truck bed.  From the bed, I walk (on all fours) up the "Little Giant" onto the roof.  I then change my position to the yellow ladder for my climb to the top.  Being extremely careful I am still on both hands and feet.  (Very safe and secure.)  Upon reaching the top I slip the weather vane off and reverse my upward climb, being very, very careful.  You see, my 73-year-old body doesn't bend and move around the way it used to.

After reaching the ground surface I use a "rat tail" file to clean out the tube that slips over the rod allowing the weather vane to operate with the slightest wind.  I blow the tube out.  I fill it full of WD-40 and silicone.  I repair the backbone of the weather vane by drilling a small hole to reattach the backbone to the rear wheel using a cotter pin.  I then pack my tools (sandpaper, file, lubricant, and cloth) in a grocery bag and proceed to the top of the roof once again (very carefully, I might add).  Upon reaching my goal I clean up the post (the rod that holds the weather vane) by using the file and sandpaper.  I then clean it off and saturate it (along with the roof) with silicone and WD-40.  Once satisfied with my cleaning job, I place the weather vane back in its rightful place, spin it around while admiring my work and the beautiful "Ordinary" (a high-wheel bicycle) weather vane on our garage roof.  Proudly, I carefully go down (reverse climbing order) my engineering feat to "firm" ground.  I breathe a large sigh of relief that the job is complete.

Now I must remove the engineering marvel by standing on the "Little Giant" while sliding the yellow ladder up the roof to clear the ridge.  The ladder is then flipped upon its side and slid down the roof carefully as to not destroy the shingles.  After successfully "downing" the first ladder, I remove the "Little Giant" while firmly in the truck bed.  The remaining step ladders are removed after I use the one to remove myself from the bed of the truck.  I am now safe and admire my work from the ground.  Almost a miracle.  No, not almost, it is a miraculous feat accomplished.

Preparation and breakdown took a couple of hours.  The fix took 20-30 minutes.  The weather vane has been on the garage for about 20 years as it was a gift from sister Deb, who purchased it in Cape Cod.

I apologize to "Mainely Tracy" for the length of this post, but a complete story of what was accomplished was necessary.  The "how" was also important.  I am sure my account clears my name and all will recognize that I am wise for my age and adapt to problems in an extremely efficient way.  Very clever!!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

The End of Summer's Phase 2

Phase 1:  Pre-Henry-family-visit.
Phase 2:  The visit itself.
Phase 3:  Post-Henry-family-visit.

Kim, Joe, and Kelsey . . . oh, and Cocoa, too . . . will be heading back to Illinois tomorrow morning.

It was nice to have them here in Maine for the past four weeks.  They always manage to fit in a lot of activities and family time while they are around.

Here's wishing them a safe trip home!  And as Melodie would say, we'll be praying them "between the ditches."

Monday Musings

Our recent heat wave has come to an end.  We can now breathe again without having to run the A/C.  It's much more pleasant.

Our mail usually comes fairly late on Mondays -- sometimes as late as 6:00 p.m.  But today it arrived before 2:00 p.m.  I was impressed with this early delivery.  I soon figured out why it was so early, though.  Half of the large stack of mail we received wasn't for us.  It was for the house before us on the delivery route.  I guess the delivery run would indeed take much less time if you skipped every other house.  When I delivered the mail to our neighbor myself, I noticed that he even had his mailbox flag up.  The mail truck had driven right by it without even stopping.

Lew rode his motorcycle to work today and came home all excited about his new "gang." He was waiting at a stoplight when some French-Canadian tourists rode up beside him on motorcycles. They asked him about how to get to "the beach motels." Lew said, "Follow me but keep going straight after I turn into my driveway. Then turn right at the end of the road. Keep driving, and you can't miss it." And Lew was suddenly the leader of a motorcycle gang!

Kim, Joe, and Kelsey will be heading back to Illinois on Wednesday.  (Kaelen will stay in Maine to continue on in her summer career at the Clambake.)  Tonight was their final "Pie & Fry" run for the season, so Lew and I went along,  Debbie's family and Nathan went, too.  Kim was already feeling nostalgic, and she thought it would be really nice to take an empty Pier Fries box back to Illinois.  After holding fries, however, the boxes are kind of greasy.  So I boldly went up to the counter and asked for an unused, empty box.  I was successful.  Kaelen then got a clean Bill's Pizza box for her mother, too.

And while we were down in Old Orchard, Lew saw his new motorcycle gang drive by!

Twenty Seconds

Lew and I walked down to the Eastern Trail earlier this evening, and we played The Motorcycle Game on our way back.

It was my turn to guess.  I went with eight.  Lew went "lower."

We saw seven motorcycles, so Lew claimed his second victory of the season.  (I should say "only" his second victory, as I am far far far ahead in the standings.....)

Are you wondering about the title of this post?  If our walk home had lasted that much longer, then the motorcycle count would have reached ten -- and a victory for me.

Rats.

Too bad I didn't have to stop and tie my shoe!

A Hot Summer Tale: The Sequel

I wrote yesterday's post early mid-afternoon while basking in the return of our power -- and thus our A/C.

But about every 20 minutes after that -- for the next several hours -- the power "blipped" off and then right back on.  I gave up resetting the clocks on the stove and microwave after the 4th time it happened.

Working on the computer was a bit frustrating.  My solution to that:  Don't work on the computer.  I spent the rest of the afternoon reading -- which was fine with me, as I love to read.

Around 6:30, the power "blipped" off -- but not back on.  After several minutes, Dad decided to drag the generator out of the garage.  We were all outside on the porch watching him get it started up.  That's when I decided to come back inside the house to retrieve something.... And the lights were on!  I thought at first it was from the generator, but when I went back outside I realized the generator wasn't hooked up to anything yet.  So, using my excellent powers of deduction, I figured out that the power had been restored!  I announced it to the group, and everyone went back inside.  Fans were going, the A/C units were running, and the Red Sox game was about to start.

It appears that Dad's starting of the generator was just what we needed to get our power back for good.

A Hot Summer Tale

It is currently about 97 degrees outside.

In my air-conditioned bedroom, it is closer to 70 degrees.  Ahhhhh.....

But such was not the case only a couple hours ago.  It was hot outside and inside....

We lost power today, people!  I couldn't believe it.  One minute I was sitting in my air-conditioned bedroom, working on my projects for the day -- and the next minute I was hoping that we had just blown a fuse in the house.  But, NO!  It was a widespread power outage in our area.

Dad called the power company and learned that it could be up to two hours before power was restored.

I ate an apple and a whoopie pie.  I read a few chapters in a book.  The heat was making me drowsy, so I started to fall asleep.... when I finally heard the magical sound of a fan coming on in my living room.  Hooray!

I am so, so, so very happy that the power is back on.

It could have been worse, though.  For example, Friday is my laundry day.  I got an earlier start on it than I usually do, and so by the time we lost power I only had a load in the dryer.  I was already finished using the washing machine -- I'm glad that it wasn't interrupted in the middle of a cycle.  The timing of the power outage obviously took my laundry into consideration.

The dryer just buzzed!  Gotta fold now.... and I will do that folding in my air-conditioned bedroom.

Ladder Engineering Marvel

So, Dad gave me a bit of a hard time about my introduction to his post yesterday.  (All in fun, of course!)

But can I say that I think I was on target with my comment?  My niece Kelsey happened to take a picture of the ladder setup and posted it on Facebook.

In Kelsey's own words:

"this would be my grandfather..it was his 73rd birthday today and he decided to risk his life by climbing a ladder to fix something on his roof...actually there are four different ladders in this picture. He says that he is a genius...but we weren't to sure about that!"

Dad 54: Older and Wiser

(Older and wiser, Dad?  Really?  Did you see how you had the ladder?... OK, just kidding.  Kind of....  Happy Birthday to you, Derf.  And enjoy Dad's post, everybody!  -- Tracy)

Derf Here!  Coming to you from the Northeast corner of these great United States.  I'm a year older and wiser today.  Hope it shows in my writings.  We're having a great stretch of summer weather.

A busy week has once again been had by me.

Last Thursday we had a baseball game as Josh's team lost 3-1 for the District 6 Little League (11-12 years old) title.  Josh pitched 4 innings and did a good job.  If anyone told me before the game that Yarmouth would score only 3 runs, I would have been happy.  Josh's team didn't score but one run as their bats went dead for the first time in the tournament.  Perhaps partially due to Yarmouth's pitcher.  There were some solid hits but were right at fielders.  Great job Josh and team as you went 6 wins - 2 losses for the tournament.  You guys gave us all a lot of extra baseball that we thoroughly enjoyed.  Now, it's back to the Red Sox!  Not a bad team to fall back on!  Go Sox (Red)!

Ali (Kelsey's friend) is now home in Eureka, Illinois honing her skills as a cheerleader.  Mercy me!  Ali (a.k.a. "Ralph") actually made an egg salad sandwich at home.  If I'm not mistaken it was the first such sandwich made in the Midwest.  How did Ali become known as "Ralph?"  It was Glen as he said he couldn't remember names so he would use "Ralph."  The name stuck.  Will see you this fall, Ralph!

I must clarify the picture in last week's post.  Emily was not trying to show her bulge (which is getting larger as I write this).  Glen actually was "funning" Emily by trying to match the belly.  He did well but in the future he doesn't have a chance competing with her.  Go, Emily -- October will be here before you know it!  We all wait with you!

I spent this A.M. climbing on our garage roof to get our weather vane working again.  It had stopped spinning about two weeks ago.  I finally figured out how to get the ladder safely arranged so as to reach the top of the garage.  It was another engineering feat unseen before in this part of the country.  It took 30 minutes to fix the weather vane.  It took 2 hours to set up the apparatus and take it down.  The result is fantastic.  I sit here now watching the wind at work.  What a sight!

Today is not only my birthday, but it is day baseball for the Sox (Red).  Spouse and I have company as we watch the last game of the Baltimore series.  Sixth inning and Sox have 2-0 lead.  Our company is Cocoa.  Another day of "Doggie Day Care."  Only one more week and our friend goes home.  Pepper is cheering that move.  Still can't get Pepper and Cocoa in the same room.  Cocoa seems to like it here.  Sleeps a lot, either inside or on Uncle Lew's porch with me.  Pepper likes Lew & Tracy's side!

There was a time when my birthday was important.  July 20th has a couple of events within the family that overshadow an old man's birthday.  Today is Glen and Deb's 15th anniversary.  Lew and Tracy are celebrating their 11th anniversary.  Congratulations go out from spouse and moi to both couples.  We wish you many more!

That's all for now!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

The Cost of Today

Walk on the beach -- $0.00
"Pie & Fry" -- $11.50
Car repair -- $1,700.00
Car doing same thing as before repair -- Priceless

The Day That Got Away

So, here it is, around 8:00 p.m., and I am wondering where this day went.

I did get some things accomplished, mind you.  But the day did not go as I had planned, and that always throws me off a bit.  Maybe tomorrow will be more normal.  Although I'm not entirely sure what "normal" is.

Kaelen came over a bit ago to invite us to walk down to the ice cream shop with her and Kim.  We did.  Debbie and her family were also down getting ice cream.  We ate, talked, and walked part of the way back together.

Now Lew and I are dubbing around watching the Red Sox....  Aha!  There's some normalcy to this day after all!

A Lovely Weekend

Lew and I went for late afternoon walks on the beach both yesterday and today.  The sun was *H*O*T* -- so late afternoon was definitely the best time to go.

Lew just mentioned (really he did, just now!) that the temperature is not going down very fast.  It's about 8:10 p.m.

You may be thinking, "Oh, what terrible sleeping weather."  And you would be correct.  But....

My dear husband already put the window air conditioning unit in our bedroom.  Ahhhhh.... all is well.

Sweet dreams!

Spelled The Same, Different Pronunciation

A few days ago, Lew and I saw a sign on the side of the road that said, "Live Lobster."

I know that "Live" was with the long "i" sound.  But I jokingly read it out loud as "liv" -- as in rhyming with "give."

We then tried to think of other words in the English language that can have different pronunciations with the same spelling.

I can't remember all that we came up with -- too bad I didn't think to write them down!  But here's a few:

read -- current tense, past tense
lead -- be in front, what's in a pencil
bow -- after a performance, shoot an arrow (or wear in your hair)
sow -- the animal, the seed
dove -- the bird, into the water

Can you think of more???

Mark Lowry at OOB

Tonight a bunch of us -- Dad, Kim, Kelsey, Nathan, Lew and I -- went down to the Old Orchard Beach Seaside Pavilion to see Mark Lowry on his "Unplugged & Unplanned" tour.  Mark Lowry is a gospel singer and humorist; he is always enjoyable to see in person!

My cousin Robert and his wife (Carrie) were also there with two of their nieces (Meghan and Nicole).  Aunt Debbie was there, too, with a couple friends of hers.  It was fun to run into all of them.

Kim, Kelsey, Nathan, and I waited in line after the concert was over and got our pictures taken with Mark Lowry.  I told Mark that Kim and I are Maine natives.  He asked if we liked lobster.  I told him that it makes me throw up.  Kim couldn't believe I told him that -- she's still giggling!

Well, here are the best of the pictures.  Not so great of me, but at least everyone else looks good!



Kelsey and Nathan with Mark Lowry



Me, Mark, and Kim (photo by Nathan)

But We Still Love This Game!

Tonight was the Maine District 6 Little League Championship game:  Yarmouth versus Scarborough.

Alas.... Yarmouth defeated Scarborough, 3-1, in a hard-fought game.  (Congratulations to Yarmouth and good luck to them in the State tournament.)

And a final congratulations to our Scarborough All-Stars on a wonderful season. You were great fun to watch.

I am especially proud of my nephew Josh (#24).  Josh, you are a talented baseball player, a great sport, and obviously a wonderful teammate. Congratulations on a spectacular Little League career!

Dad 53: Baseball, Buddies, Bellies, Birthdays

(As Dad starts his second year as my weekly guest blogger, I am giving him a "new look" for his post titles.  Today's post -- written this morning -- covers a lot.  Enjoy!  -- Tracy) 

Derf Here!  From the "Doggy Day Care of the Northeast."  Cocoa is trying to eat my cookies.  Or pen -- I'm not sure.  The cookies are "Fat Free."  OK, so now he is laying on the couch with head on my leg.  What a dog!

It has been an action-packed week here at 198 Pine Point Road.  We have seen Josh's team win the Buxton division of Little League District 6 playoffs.  What a team!  A win tomorrow evening will put them in the "States."  Good luck to Josh and his buddies.  Check out "Mainely Tracy" for the past few days to see how they got to this game.  Josh pitched four innings last game and gave up two runs in the 10-6 win.

Kelsey's friend Ali left via plane back home to Eureka, Illinois this morning.  Upon her arrival at the Jetport her flight had been cancelled.  However, this worked out well.  She leaves a couple hours later with a direct flight to Chicago.  No layover in Pittsburgh as Ali flies for the first time.  In fact we are here at home listening on the scanner for her flight to leave in about 30 minutes.  Bon Voyage, Ali.  We've enjoyed your presence with us over the past couple weeks.  (You are welcome ANY time!)  When out in Illinois this fall, we hope to see you again.  Hope you have fond memories of your visit to the great state of Maine.  Hope you have a good flight!  Have a great senior year in school.  I'm still not too excited about Kelsey and you being cheerleaders.  To each his own!

Cocoa has now settled on the floor resting.  Kelsey is giving him a well-deserved petting.

Yesterday, I bought a new battery for the Bantam and put the car on the front lawn.  It was the first time on display in two years.  A man stopped by and I had a good conversation with him.  He is a retired military man and just happened to be born in our house.  Not born elsewhere while living in the house, but actually born in the house.  We had a nice informative chat and he told me he'll return sometime with pictures of the area prior to our moving here.  Also learned a big old farm house was next door prior to the golf course.  Now, all of this land is a sanctuary.  What used to be a clear look at the train passing by and overlooking some clam flats has been grown up by trees and bushes which no longer allows us such a view.  Perhaps just as well!  When we moved here in 1974 we could view the tracks, etc.  Stuff grows in that length of time.  Good or bad?  Don't know.  Can't complain living so close to the Atlantic.

I'd be remiss if I didn't give a "shout" to "Its just me, M.L.E." for her renewed blogging.  You can follow her posts using the link on "Mainely Tracy."  My advice to Emily is to keep up the good work, even if only weekly.  We must keep posted on your bulging while carrying the next member of our extended family.  We enjoy your sense of humor that seems to be an underlying theme.  At least I get a chuckle out of it.  The picture of you and Glen on the 4th at "Camp Reed" is priceless.

In closing I must say Spouse is now one (that's "One") year older than I am.  Her birthday was yesterday.  No celebrations necessary!  In all honesty, I'll catch up to her one week from today.  Next blog I'll be one year older.  Can you believe it?  I CAN!

Until next time!

Toodle Pip!

Derf!

(Postscript:  Tracy here.  After Dad referred to a certain photo, I HAD to add it below!)

Lazy Hazy Day

Lazy?  I really wasn't.  Up early.  Mom and I went for a brief walk.  Then I went for a little more of a walk on my own.

Ran an errand.

Did lots of reading.  I'm taking a self-paced online course, so I worked on that a bit, too.

Lew is working a little late tonight.  When he gets home, we'll eat egg salad sandwiches and watch the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.  (Won't be as exciting as Josh's game last night, though!)

Hazy?  Rained a couple times late in the afternoon, but everything is still hot and sticky.  Including me.  Gross.  Sometimes fans just don't help all that much.

Signing off for today with a HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to my mother (a.k.a. Derf's "Spouse")!!!!!

Final Update: District 6 Buxton Bracket

Josh was the starting pitcher for tonight's game, and he did an amazing job.  Scarborough was ahead, 4-2, after four innings.

Another Scarborough pitcher came in to pitch the top of the 5th, and Westbrook (unfortunately) scored four runs to go ahead 6-4.

But the Scarborough team has great team spirit, and they know how to pick each other up.  They tied the score in the bottom of the 5th.

Top of the 6th for Westbrook ... no runs.  So Scarborough needed to play for one run in the bottom of the 6th.

First batter -- strike out.
Second batter -- legged out a ground ball -- safe at first!
Third batter -- hit!  (Runners on 2nd and 3rd.)
Fourth batter (Josh) -- intentionally walked to load the bases.
Fifth batter (Anthony) -- with two strikes on him...

A walk-off grand slam!!!

Final score:  Scarborough 10, Westbrook 6.

Scarborough wins the Buxton bracket!  Congratulations to Josh and his teammates!!

Now, on to the District 6 Championship game against Yarmouth on Thursday night.

WE LOVE THIS GAME!

Ice Cream and Baseball

And yet another beautiful day here!  We went to church and for a walk on the beach, but let's get right to the real news of the day:

Josh's baseball team won!  Scarborough beat Westbrook 7-4, so they will play each other again tomorrow night at 7:00.  The winner will be the champion of the District 6 Buxton bracket and will go on to play the Portland bracket winner later in the week.

I have discovered a wonderful ice cream treat while attending this tournament.  The snack bar sells Crusher Crunch Bars, which are apparently the big treat sold at the Maine Red Claws basketball games.  Gotta love a dessert with the word "chocolate" in its description three times!

A Successful Summer Saturday

Another gorgeous day in Southern Maine!

This morning we met Dick and Carole for breakfast, visited Verlie, and went grocery shopping.

I had ten coupons to use at the grocery store, and the cashier was impressed that all ten of them scanned.... Hooray for me!

When we got home, we quickly put the groceries away and changed into our beach-walking attire.

During our walk, Lew spotted two "items" in the water which we had trouble identifying.  They were pretty far offshore, so I was hoping that they weren't people.  We had just seen a Coast Guard helicopter, so we wondered if they were out looking for something. (This got me speculating that the "items" were enemy spies coming to infiltrate our coast....)

They kept coming closer to shore.

I said to Lew, "You know, they could be seagulls."

"No, they're not birds," he replied.

Approximately a billionth of a millisecond later, the two "items" spread their wings and soared into the sky.

Hooray for me!

And the Beat Goes On

Josh's All-Star team won again tonight, 18-0! The game was called after 4 innings due to the 10-run mercy rule.

So now it's on to play against the undefeated Westbrook team on Sunday. A Westbrook win will end Josh's Little League career. But if Scarborough wins, they would have to play Westbrook again on Monday night in order to win their bracket. (Double elimination tournament.)

Go, Scarborough!!

Tourney Update

Josh's game was postponed last night. We were all there waiting for it to start. The player introductions were made, the National Anthem was played, and then lightning was spotted on the horizon -- requiring a 30-minute wait per Little League rules. It rained. It poured. There was more lightning. And there was no game.

So we returned to the field tonight.

And we will return again tomorrow night... but this time because of tonight's 10-4 win. Josh's team continues on in the tournament.

Hooray!

Dad: Unedited LII

(Today marks Dad's 52nd weekly post on "Mainely Tracy."  A full year!  Enjoy! -- Tracy)

Derf Here!  From the steamy, summery, hot, muggy Northeast corner of these great United States.  Another Independence Day birthday has passed since my last post.  Happy Birthday, America!

The weeks are just flying by.  The older one is, the faster time goes by.  I have my theory but I'll not share it now.

Josh's team has won its last two games in the tourney and will play again tonight, weather permitting.  We have been warned of thunder showers.  He added another home run (2 games ago), and had a four-hit game in their last win -- a 15-0 four-inning game due to the 10-run mercy rule.  However, every game is a must-win as the loser goes home.  Tonight could be the season's end or a step to a game on Friday.  We'll soon see!  Tonight's opponent will be the team that put them in the losers' bracket so Scarborough has a chance for revenge, or as Barney Fife said, "REVENG."

It seems that a neighbor of Josh, who pitched for the Scarborough High School team, may attend tonight's game.  The Illinois girls, Ali and Kelsey, are quite excited about seeing him there.  They want to return from their trip to the beach to the cottage to "prep" themselves for the game.  Never heard of such a thing.  But what do you expect from teenagers who eat ice cream (Reese's Peanut Butter) for breakfast.

We spent a great July 4th at the Reeds' camp (Wilma and Bob) on Little Sebago.  A good time was had by all, even though a hail shower halted water activities for a very short period of time.  Lightning and thunder will clear the waterways.  I might add that Glen helped clear the lake of boats and swimmers with his "Air Horn" and "Dinner Bell" routine.  One knows when Glen is around.  I hope his coaching tonight works as well for Josh's team.

I have just decided that I'll mow the lower 40 tomorrow and take the rest of the day off in preparation for tonight's game.  We live for baseball until the season ends.

Until next time;

Toodle Pip;

Derf.

P.S.  Just received word that Josh will start as the pitcher tonight.  Good luck, Josh!!

A Final Beach Saunter

Lew goes back to work tomorrow.  We've had a fun 11 days off together.

We had breakfast at IHOP and went to OOB late this afternoon for Pie & Fry.

We took a nice walk on the beach.  Actually, Lew sauntered while I zigzagged.  :)

Just watched the 1981 version of "The Clash of the Titans."  Better than the recent remake, in my opinion.

And now -- Go Red Sox!

It's been a beautiful day....

It's Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July, USA!  Let freedom ring!

Went to the lake today.  The highlight was Glen's "warning" to get everyone out of the water before a thunderstorm passed over.  The bell, the horn, the screaming... I'm sure everybody on Little Sebago must have heard him!  (I put "warning" in quotation marks, because he was doing it to be funny.  He thought we were going to miss the storm.  Ha!  The joke ended up being on him.)

After the storm ended, the weather was beautiful for the rest of our visit.  And something happened that rarely occurs:  I went in the water!

Today's To-Do Done

Go to church.
Go to grocery store.
Make crunchy cole slaw salad for tomorrow.
Eat steak (grilled to perfection by Lew) for midday meal.
Crash on couch for afternoon to:
-- Read newspaper.
-- Skim through a couple magazines.
-- Watch the Red Sox win!
Check e-mail and Facebook.
Write blog post.
Probabilities for the evening:
-- Eat a bowl of cereal.
-- Watch a movie.
-- Start reading a new book.
-- Enjoy the fact that Lew still has two more days of vacation!

Tuckered Out

What a lovely day it was today!  I spent most of the day outside, so I am exhausted now.  The sun and fresh air tend to wear me out.  I was tempted to just type, "Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....." for my blog post and call it good.

We started the day off by going to Josh's baseball game.  His team won easily, 15-0.  He caught the whole game and had a great day at the plate.  His next game will be Wednesday evening.

After the game, Lew and I headed to some friends' house for a big birthday celebration.  Sat outside, laughed a lot, and ate too much.

We got home around 5:00 (or so), caught our breath for a bit, then went on a nice walk.  We played the motorcycle game on our walk back to the house.  It was my turn to guess.  I said, "9."  Lew said, "Under."  We saw 11.  I win again.  (I have lost track of this season's motorcycle game record.  But I do know that Lew has won only once.)

Will sleep really well tonight.  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.......

Food, Glorious Food

Much of my vacation has centered around food.  Surprise, surprise!

Lew's buddy Steve brought over Tony's Donuts this morning.  (Steve was the source of Monday's breakfast goodies as well.)  Just in case anyone reading this ever feels the urge to bring me something from Tony's Donuts... the Raspberry Bismarck is my favorite.

Tonight we went over to Verlie's for dinner.  Matt and Emily met us there after they picked up food at Amato's.  Again... just in case... my usual Amato's order is a large roast beef sandwich with green pepper, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise.  That's it.  No salt, no pepper, no oil.

It was a very yummy day!