The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey June 21, 2015

Stormtime

Yes, yes, according to the calendar, it's called Summer. But around here, it's Stormtime. The calendar season of Summer coincides with the combination of heat, humidity and passing fronts that yields lovely, lovely thunderstorms. Well, *I* like them, more or less. Lexi, however... For a while, she just sat there in the corner of the sectional sofa, facing the cushions, and shaking. Finally she yielded and tried to hide behind me (or between me and the cushions). That may have involved trying to excavate a cavity either in a cushion, or through my kidneys. Hmmm. The other less fun thing…

Brian Bilbrey June 14, 2015

Heat

Summer officially arrives next weekend. But so far as I can tell, it arrived this last week. 90+ degree temps, high humidity, big thunderstorms. Today, in fact, we had a storm line pass through that gave us a bunch of lightning and thunder, and 1.4" of rain in 45 minutes. Note: Lexi really hates thunder. She spent the entire storm (and last night's late storm) huddled against me, trembling. * * * The garden is doing okay with this heat, though. I saw one tomato starting to turn color - that's a good sign. Once I spot that, I'm usually…

Brian Bilbrey June 7, 2015

Garden goodies

The garden is still just getting rolling. The tomato plants are all 2' high or so, and the pepper plants have all been suffering through the last week of rain and cooler temps. The cucumbers and squash are trying to produce fruit. But while Marcia's cousin Barb was visiting us over the last week, we did get to enjoy some broccoli out of the garden: There's not much else to report - I had a busy week dropping back into the groove at work, and spent a few hours today working on lawns and gardens. Oh, yeah, I stripped out…

Brian Bilbrey May 31, 2015

Vacation Over

So... the big deal is that we were in California for purposes of vacation and only vacation - 15 days worth. We visited family in the SF Bay Area, in San Diego, and near Sacramento. We visited friends in Saratoga (SF South Bay) and Dillon Beach (North coastal Marin). What a wonderful, wonderful trip. Oh, oh - AND I got to make it to Maker Faire Bay Area 10th Anniversary. That was fun and awesome, too. I could give you the full rundown on the trip, but it's a lot like inviting you over and showing you slides, so I…

Brian Bilbrey May 26, 2015

A Belated Memorial Day

Our belated thanks to those who defend our country. * * * It's a busy time of year, and the best intentions meant that I never spent more than a couple of minutes near the computer. When I did remember (twice!), I was a-bed, and though it better to post the following morning. #FAIL. More details sooner or later, I have work to to do. * * * Our condolences to the families and friends of these fallen warriors: Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan D. Burris, 24, of Lisle, Illinois, died May 21, in Abu Dhabi, UAE, of a non-combat…