sammy

Just finished a long weekend. Saturday I took the boys to see the latest star wars installment. It was pretty good. I must say it was better than the last two pieces of crap. Nothing will compare to the original though. Sunday we had a few people over for what is hopefully becoming an annual event. Last year we had pretty much the same few wonderful friends over on Memorial day weekend, and again this year. I think everyone had a good time. We cooked steaks and ribs on the grill, threw back a few cool ones and played an impromptu game of charades. What a perfect get together with the perfect people. For the picture from last years get together, visit Seth's blog.


The fun bunch

Here they are!!! I just got the picture. Isn't she adorable?? Everybody is on the way home now. Can't wait to see them in person.


Ansel Kay and Estie Mina

So what is up with all my fellow bloggers??? I finally start writing on a somewhat regular basis, and everyone else has all but disappeared. Seth... Joe... where are you?

Well, I now have corn plants. It was amazing. Two days ago I checked the garden and nothing was up. Yesterday I was out of town all day and when we got home about midnight last night, I just went out and started the sprinklers in the garden... of course I couldn't see anything. I let the water run about three hours before turning it off. This afternoon I went out there and there were little corn plants sticking up about an inch all over the place. So now it is somewhat urgent that I get the chicken wire put up soon so I won't be feeding the 20 or 30 rabbits running around here. I got the posts put in today... I am hoping to get the wire up tomorrow when I get home from work. Actually seeing something growing gives me a little incentive to go ahead and plant the beans, carrots, and onions. we'll see.
I must send out congratulations to the Barngrover's. My little cousin Ansel Kay is the proud Mommy of a little healthy baby girl. She and Mont named her Estie Mina after the great Grandmothers. Everyone is doing great. I am looking forward to holding the baby in a few days when they come home for a visit.
Speaking of babies... I took this great picture of Zane not too long ago. In fact, I think this is maybe my favorite picture in the whole world.


What a face!!!

I have become a gardener. This is my first foray into the world of green thumbing. I hope I have a knack for it. We have this little spot out behind our house hidden from view by a shelter belt. It had been grown over with weeds and grass. I decided a couple of weeks ago that I would like to try my hand at growing some food.
Now, you have to know that I have never been the kind of person who can just decide to do something new and then do it. First I have to convince myself that I can do it... then I have to ask my Dad how it's done (no comments honey)... then I have to make sure I have everything I need, and by the time I get there... I have usually talked myself out of it because it just seems like too much trouble. However, I have in the past couple of years surprised myself with my ability to produce some consumables: I have made some wine... I have made several batches of fantastic Sandhill Plum Jelly... and just recently I put my mind to baking and came up with a great pecan pie with Southern Comort and chocolate chips thrown in.
Now, you may be saying... "whooptee dooo Basil". But like I said, I'm not much of a self starter, so the fact that I have done any of these things is kind of amazing.
Anyway, back to the story at hand. I went out and turned this mess of a space into a nice little garden (with a little help from the boys). I must say, it looks pretty good. Judge for yourself with the picture below. I found out after I got started that the tree in the background is an olive tree planted by my mom. Now, I'd never heard of an olive tree in SW Kansas. So I thought that made our little garden kind of special. When I think "olive tree" I think of The middle east, and the garden of gethsemane, and the mount of olives... so, I wanted to come up with a name for the garden that was apropos to having an olive tree in it. Consequently I am tentatively calling it "God's garden". I know... not very original or catchy, but it is tentative.


God's garden

The tree is not in great shape, but I am in the process of pruning it to beauty. The garden is a beautiful spot... right smack dab in the middle of a grove of evergreen and pine trees. Perfect for meditation, or just sitting down with a cooler of beer and watching the corn grow. Speaking of which... corn is all I have planted so far. I put in six rows, and decided that wasn't enough, so I planted six more. I've got my own little field of dreams started here. I may not plant anything else until I see if I have inherited my Mother's green thumb. Next year's garden will have more variety. At any rate... we're going to have a boat load of corn in a few months. I'll post more pictures as the corn grows.

Our picture for the Melaleuca magazine

Lisa has been working on our home based business, and in her first month she made director. We get to put our picture in the Melaleuca magazine. Shamus took the photo. Not bad eh? Of course... anyone can take a good picture when you have the most beautiful woman in the frame.

I have been thinking a lot about life lately. In particular, the meaning of life. I don't mean in a... "I'm so disillusioned, what is the meaning of my life"... kind of way. No, my thoughts have been going more toward the philosophical. What is the grand scheme? Why were we created? Is it all really planned out and pre-ordained, or is life just one big accident? Is there an intelligent design to the universe, or is it all one big game of dice and we're the lucky number seven? Then again, doesn't that analogy indicate that there is a creator? Who threw the dice? Maybe that's the question everyone should be asking. Not... "Is there a God" but instead... "who, or what is God."
I just finished a book called "Hyperspace." Not the one written by Michio Kaku. (I have read that one too). The one I just finished is really like a coffee table book; big and with lots of beautiful hubble photos. I have developed a fascination with cosmology lately. Fascination isn't even the correct word. Obsession is more like it. I have learned much from my reading, and developed some interesting theories of my own. I would like to share some insights, but first I need to digest this latest book, and... I need sleep!

I just spent the day doing some major cleaning. We are in the process of turning the baby's room back into the "baby's room", instead of the "baby/junk room". We are all kind of sick today. I caught something on friday. I woke up with a sore throat, and by the time I got home from work that day, I was one sick puppy. I still don't know if it was a cold or the flu. I just know it was something bad. To quote Dan Aykroyd from Ghostbusters: "It's a class 7 free roaming vapor... a real nasty one too." I must have been ahead of everyone else, because today everybody else feels like I did.
Just now getting ready to go into town to get some chocolate for the wife and then it'll be family movie night... Eight straight episodes of Star Trek NG. Sounds like a damn near perfect night.

Been a long time. I feel out of the loop in more ways than one. I have been concentrating on work and children, but feel the need to get back in touch with my creative side. However... I'm gonna start out slow. I think maybe I kinda ran out of things to say, or felt like I didn't have anything important to say... or something. But, now I do. More later.