Saturday, April 22, 2017

Another First

A few days ago I announced that I was going to do something I had never done before. That was hire a landscaping company to do my spring cleanup chores and spread mulch.  Four men showed up on time and spent the entire day doing the job.  It turned out great and was worth every penny. That's one more major chore I don't have to worry about.

Now I'm reporting another first.  This is much less significant but still a first.  After a run of very warm spring days, we recently ran into a string of chilly, rainy weather.  Normally I would start a fire in the wood stove but I had already cleaned the stove so instead I turned up the heat for a little shot of warmth.  Certainly not a big deal but maybe the start of a trend.  Am I getting soft and lazy or just deciding not to sweat the small stuff?  I prefer to think it's the latter.

It's off to Florida next week for about 10 days.  I don't think there will be any concerns about chilly weather  there.

Next blog will probably come from our condo in Florida.

Monday, April 17, 2017

Two Days in NYC

I spent this past weekend with my daughter's family.  Sandi was still involved with the end-of-tax season rush so they were nice enough to drag me along.

We visited Little Italy and China Town,  the site of the World Trade Center memorial and the new mall, the Empire State Building,  the NY public library and St. Patrick's Cathedral and St. Paul's Chapel among other things.

We did a tremendous amount of walking, riding subways and took Uber a couple of times.

It was a very nice trip and the girls got to see many different sites including a fair number of homeless people which intrigued them very much.  A pleasant outcome of this was the girls realized how lucky they were to have the quality of life they had.

Trips like this are important for kids and adults alike.  They need to see that there's far more to this country or world than their own little corner.  It's an important avenue to learning about and appreciating different cultures.  That in turn leads to tolerance and understanding.  As a nation I regret say many people are in short supply of those things.

To see a few pictures click here georgeswebpage.com


Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Announcing A First

Something is going to happen tomorrow that has never happened before.  A landscape company is showing up to do my spring cleanup.  With a trip to Florida coming up, I find I'm unable to do everything I want done in a timely manner. 

There will be plenty left for me to do i.e. prepare and plant the garden, repair stonewalls and do some waterproofing around our cellar doors.

I got a better than expected price for the job so I'm anxious to see how well they do.

Update: This is day 5 with my son's dog, Boomer.  Yesterday he got me up at 3:30 A.M. to go outside and then went back to sleep.  This morning he got me up at 5:20 A.M. to go out.  Then he has breakfast and plays for a while.  He's now sound asleep but it's too late for me to go back to bed so I'll be looking forward to a little nap later.

More updates to come.

Saturday, April 8, 2017

Our house guest

Beginning today we will be hosting our new grand dog for a week.  Since Sandi is up to her eyeballs in tax returns, the lion's share of the care will come from me.

Boomer is my son's family's boxer  puppy who will be staying with us while they're in Florida for spring break.

I've done a lot of dog sitting over the years for both of my kids.  Becky and her family have a yellow lab.  But this is the first time I'll be in charge of a puppy who has yet to be house broken.

Among the instructions I rec'd are these:
Eats three times a day.
Goes in his cage at about 10 P.M. and is up by about 6:30 (I suspect this is rather optimistic).
Needs to go out every hour and rewarded with a treat when he's done.
Can not be walked in public places where other dogs are walked. He's still too young for vaccinations so he's at risk for parvo, et al.
Not mentioned but assumed is the usual stuff about plenty of exercise and guarding against chewing.

So it will be an interesting week.  When I do go out, he'll have to be caged.  Our house has too many ways for him to get into trouble since it's not really 'puppy-proofed'.

I'll keep you informed as to how things are going.

Cute little guy, isn't he?


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Updated website

The photo gallery of my website has been updated with new pictures added. Check it out. georgeswebpage.com

Saturday, April 1, 2017

Happy April

Yes, it's April already and that's no joke.  Soon the trees will be leafing, flowers blooming and bright sunshine warming us up.

In spite of two big storms this past winter wasn't all that bad.  There have been far worse. 

To learn more about April, click here georgeswebpage.com/almanac