Remembering Granny J

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 24, 2023

The morning walk went very well with only one small hot spot to correct. We meandered all over an area near the water taking pictures of anything and everything.

Which brings the OFM to a special memory we have of the lady who took him under her training early in his blog writing in November 2007. She was an older lady in Arizona that could not get out and about for long distances and big adventures, BUT she managed to publish an interesting blog nearly every day for years. She went by Granny J from Arizona and her blog was Walking Prescott at http://walkingprescott.blogspot.com/

She tutored the OFM on many issues of blogging way back then. She passed on several years ago but her blog still exists if you would like to read one of the old ones of blogging. She will not be forgotten by this OFM.

It was Burger King for lunch and local friend Jerry for visiting. We spent nearly three hours talking of many things. Sometimes it is good to sit and discuss life in general and what plans are developing. He is a nice fellow that is very local for his whole life.

And last but not least is a new coloring named Moon Light Valley. A small section 4”x6” was cut from an adult coloring book and modified slightly to produce this painting. The the OFM went to work on it and this was his result.

We hope everyone enjoys the coloring because we have lots more of them coming. And we are starting a new phase of art work so it might get more exciting or strange. We are going to get rested for a long day of trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Feet Hurt

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 23, 2023

The plans for today had nothing to do with what really went on for the whole day. The first thing after breakfast the OFM went to put on his walking shoes and got reminded how miserable the new insoles were feeling. Yet we needed to change that before any walking. Before the new inserts the OFM could feel the thin spots in the insoles as we walked. So we bought new thick soles like we had that lasted about a year and a half and cut them on the size marks and installed them.

Two days later they still hurt his feet. So this morning became fix the new insoles morning. We walked a little bit in the campground to spot the hot spots in the OFM feet.

Then we sat down and checked each spot for WHYS. Sure enough on the first spot we checked the liner and he had cut the liner on the line for one size larger foot than he has. So we changed that and tried it. Instant relief for that sore spot.

For the the next hour we went over and over on the shoes making certain the shoes would not hurt us anymore.

To be certain we wore them all day and went to Walmart shopping, walked short laps here in the campground and just ran around all day to be safe about no pain. Sure enough tonight we had been doing chores all day and no more pains had shown up. So tomorrow it is back to walking in the normal manner.

During rest breaks and lazy guy breaks the OFM colored and made good progress on two colorings. They should be ready for viewing this week.

One thing about colored pencil coloring is the need for a lot thicker coat of pencil lead than we had thought needed. But it is needed to keep the paper from showing pinholes through the color. Then the colorist will wash the painting with a brush or other device with a solvent to make the coloring be nice and smooth. We normally used 91% isopropyl alcohol from Walmart . However an Internet site recommended OMS ( odorless mineral spirits) as a preferred solvent to use, so we went to Walmart to get a small bottle to try. It was also a chance to try out the fix on the shoes some more. The shoe fix was good but the OMS proved to be not our choice. It was way too much trouble we feel. We will keep on doing it the old fashioned way with the alcohol. Now we will soon have two pictures to show our readers and a small bottle of OMS to dispose of safely. So with a little luck tomorrow we will be back up and walking well and trying to have way tooooo much fun again.

Tree Rat Breakfast Spot

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 22, 2023

Another very beautiful day in this area. We put together another new route among all the trails and it was a fun event. The special part was that the fall changes have started and the OFM took several nice fall pictures for future blog postings. Another odd event was the beautiful cool morning did not have many folks out on the trail. Here is a picture of how pretty the morning trails were today.

It seemed like everywhere we looked was a picture hollering to be taken of the start of the fall foliage display of colors.

Our meandering among the trails sections caused the OFM to miss his normal resting bench. So we just kept on going and we found a rest spot in a picnic area near the main Point Mallard Park area. The bench had recently been used for a tree rat to have breakfast from the looks of it.

It worked out well as the view was very nice and a bit of a cooling breeze kept us really comfortable. As we got moving again we realized that we were approaching a hill of infamy for the OFM.

When we first started coming to this campground we discovered the trails and the OFM walked a lot more briskly 12 years ago. This hill is just past the start of the official hike and bike gravel trail. Well the OFM had a good head of steam going down the curved hill on the loose gravel. So he decided to put on a show for any watchers as he went down the loose gravel to make the curve. Sure enough about half way down it his feet took an unplanned detour out to the grass and the rest of his body tried to keep going around the curve. SPLAT AND ROLL time was here. Ego was damaged but not the body since he could still do the airborne roll he laerned in the army.

!2 years later as in now, the OFM goes slowly up or down this hill very carefully. Slipping and falling is no longer in his itinerary of OK to do acrobatic efforts. So we slowed to a slow speed and carefully stepped on the packed dirt parts of the trail. Falling at 77 years old is not a preferred fun activity.

Any way we had a great walk and saw lots of upcoming fall scenery developing. Back at the Castle we tackled the latest coloring effort with a vengeance and made very good progress.

All in all it was a nice day in North Alabama trying to have tooooo much fun.

Dead Calm Morning

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 21, 2023

Another very beautiful day in this area. And we put together a new route from several pieces of other paths and had a good time. The weather was dead calm and cool. Check out this pic of Flint Creek.

We walked steadily and covered over two miles and got to see some scenery from a different angle for a change.

And that was the big event for the day.

A blog reader has asked to see the “ART STUDIO” inside the Castle. Well the art studio is the do everything table in the kitchen, dining room, and living room of the Castle. Here is a picture of the do everything table taken from the living room couch about six feet from the table. As you can see it is a great set up with everything within close reach. Yep the Castle is too little for anything to be far away.

Now we get to see a messed up painting that was done in the above art studio. This is Deer Feeding and what messed this up was the coloring book claiming to have paper pages that handle water colors. So we tried some watercolor pencils and the paper failed miserably. The wrinkles are huge and ugly. Any way this is what lies about the paper can do to a painting with all the wrinkling we tried to iron out of the mess.

Ok that is out of the way. Everyone relax and try to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Gentle Day

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 20, 2023

Another very beautiful day in this area. But not much happened so it was a bit of a lazy but productive day.

We took the walk on the path next to the golf course and around to the other end of the gravel hike and bike trail we usually walk in the morning. To our surprise the number of folks on the trail this morning was less than ten for sure. Below is the normal view for nearly all of the 2.2 miles. The golf course to the right of the pic below had very few folks on it either.

It was a nice cool walk all the way. Back home we did a bit of straightening up and started on coloring using new techniques we have learned about and need to practice. It went ok but definitely needs more careful practice.

We think this was about the total excitement for the day but the restfulness was welcome. So we are well rested if we get a chance at having tooooo much fun.

Cool Morning

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 19, 2023

An incredibly beautiful day kept us entertained today. When we got outside the bright blue skies and pure white clouds were wonderful to experience for a change. When the cool air hit us as we exited the Castle a quick look at a thermometer let us know it was 56F and our shorts and T-shirt might not be enough clothes. But we headed out anyway and as we warmed up from the exercise and bright sunlight it proved that we were dressed correctly.

So off to our daily adventure we went. When we got to the shore line we were greeted with another wonderful picture.

And that is how the day has been. The OFM shot lots of pictures but apparently he had the shakes this morning and a lot of the pictures were fuzzy like he was wobbling but we still remember how pretty things were in our mind.

Since we were about an hour earlier than usual we caught several egrets hunting for their breakfast successfully. We only got two decent shots since the OFM was wobbly and the shots were long distance telephoto attempts. This one is a good example of the other shots we tried to get.

The foliage along the river/creek was in good form this morning also. Even the weeds made a nice picture along the trail.

There were about a dozen of those types of picture the OFM tried but his wobble was just too much. Later in the day he steadied up a lot but morning was when the light was so good.

And once again on the walk taking a few minutes rest about mid way of the 2.5 miles is making a huge difference in the OFM and how quickly he is ready to run and play after we get back to the Castle. Here is a nice picture of the wonderful Bench we generally use. The bench is facing Flint Creek

It was also a bit of a shopping by computer, mainly Amazon, for items we are considering if we get to go rolling soon. Then of course there is the items that catch our attention while scrolling through all the pictures and temptations. But surprise we spent about $25 is all in spite of the temptations that slammed us in the head during the shopping. The OFM is pretty good at remembering we only have 147 SF of space in the Castle.

We plan on being well rested in the morning to be able to enjoy another wonderful day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Good Walk Again

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 18, 2023

The morning walk went very well. Out the door on time and the feeling was good as we briskly marched down the road. It turned out to be a 2.5 miles day with one rest at roughly the middle point of the loop. The OFM was almost frisky when we got back to the Castle. In other words a major change from yesterday. Along the way we go this neat picture of a “long hired” toad stool growing from the hollow core of a downed tree.

.

At one point we stopped at a multi trail junction to get a pic of the trail signs. This is one of two major junctions of the many trails in the park.

From this point you can spend several more hours walking without retracing many of your steps. That is one good reason the OFM likes the walks in this area. It seldom gets boring.

The new magnifying head piece was good help this morning and proved to be very valuable in deciding none of the three colorings we thought were ready for showing are actually ready for showing. We were able to see so many numerous bad line connections and missed spots that we are giving each painting more time to get done properly now that the OFM can see the failures and fix them.

Lawlers Salad with shredded pork was supper with one serving left for later some day soon. The OFM has quit loosing weight so he needs to cut back some more on the food consumption. It will be a not easy task. With a little luck we will be back on track quickly and doing a better job of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Wise Decision For A Change

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 17, 2023

Let us just follow the OFM for a few minutes this evening. He got out of bed doing OK and went about his breakfast and getting ready for the morning walk. Proper clothes were put on and every thing seemed ready for a nice walk. Out the door into nice cool weather with no chance of rain. Down the campground road we went and then out onto the trails area. A left turn to go alongside the soccer field for the 100000th time and away we went. Then as we joined the gravel trail he stopped suddenly and stood there for a minute. Then he made one of the wisest decision he has ever made in his life. I just do not feel right but I cannot put a finger on what or why but I an not going to push it today. And we turned around and headed the half mile back to the Castle. We never did figure out what was wrong but things did not feel right until after lunch.

Just as suddenly around 1300 the OFM suddenly was feeling just right again and the rest of the day went very well. Who Knows, not us. The rest of the day has been very nice.

This morning the replacement art supplies arrived to replace a lot of worn down colored pencils including a new pencil sharpener that captures the shavings from the pencils. It will make things easier for coloring on site in the future. We think that may be in our near adventures. It used to be fun several years ago and we will be trying it out again.

At lunch my friend Jerry brought the OFM something he picked up in his yard sale adventures. We told he needs to write a blog about all his yard sale adventures. Any way it is a head band device that has magnifying lenses built in like the old time jewelry and watch maintenance folks used to wear to see the little details of stuff.

We are trying it out for coloring and so far it really helps. 

While trying out the new eyes we managed to nearly finish three colorings we had been working on. It is not for sure a good answer to the OFM's trouble seeing up close but it seems close to doing the job. It sure was nice of him to think of us while he was out shopping.

Hopefully the OFM will get the three colorings finished out tomorrow so we can start showing them. I like them but not everyone likes mountain scenes.

We are looking forward to tomorrow being a better day so we can get in some decent exercise in the morning. Then we will be ready for trying to have tooooo much fun.

Second Hand Gymnastics Report

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 16, 2023

We had nasty rain this morning as the OFM Teams made their way to the gymnastics competition over in Huntsville. The traffic was very heavy. When we got to the competition location and tried to park there was no parking places available. It had already filled the gym lots and the overflow lot next door at the tractor dealer. And the OFM was at least a half hour early. As it turns out two sets of folks we know had beat us there by about fifteen minutes and they got parking but very nearly the last couple of spots.

With the help of several nice folks guiding us carefully, we got turned around and went out the driveway to the frontage road, we looked left and got a rough count of thirty vehicles lining the frontage road waiting for an open spot to park in the overfull lot.

So we did all we could think of and went back to the Castle 30 miles away. Now we know that these events will be crowded and we will be better prepared for the next one.

The rest of the day was spent coloring, talking to friends, looking at future travel options and later in the day looking at pictures of the competition that Piper's dad had taken and sent to us. She did well but found out what she really needs to work on also. The next competition is a couple of road hours away and may conflict with the repairs on the Castle but we hope not. We want to attend one of the competitions in person to FEEL the competition.

Tonight is a good night to practice getting rid of frustrations and prep for a great day of trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

Dangerous Plans For On The Road Tomorrow

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 15, 2023

A slower paced day today but tomorrow is a gymnastics meet for Piper and we plan to be there to see her perform. We know she is very excited to be in the competition.

The walk was about 2.2 miles with the recommended halfway point five minute rest. Once again we finished earlier than we had been finishing and was not as beat. Thus we plan on the rest break from now on. Now to experiment on longer walks but including the rest break and see what happens then. Maybe we will figure out this walking soon.

Tonight we have the finished coloring named RESTING TIME.

It required some skills we had never done before and need more practice at doing them. We have three more colorings planned in this particular series.

Nothing especially good or bad went on this afternoon as we were shopping for a few items at the neighborhood Walmart but it seemed to take forever to find the hard to find items like aa batteries and a couple of other things. When we asked an employee where they were he turned around and led the OFM about twenty feet to an end cap full of batteries in plain sight. It was a bit embarrassing we did not see them ourselves.

We hope to get ourselves in good shape for driving in the traffic of central Huntsville tomorrow to the gymnastics competition. Tomorrow should be a great time of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Grand Parents Lunch Day

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 14, 2023

A very busy day today due to lunch at my grand daughter's school. Grand parents were invited to have lunch with the grand kid and the turn out was a mob of about 6 year old kids being loud and fun. It was wonderful but LOUD.

Any way we had a good time and a picture was received that has grandpa the OFM on the left, then grand daughter Piper in the center, then Grandma Mary on the right. It was a great fun time for us all and will be remembered.

The OFM ended up visiting folks here and there for most of the day and then grabbed a pork salad from Lawlers for supper. Now we have salad for tomorrow supper also. The OFM is worn and will be kicking back and resting as soon as this is published. He has to get ready for a big day of trying to have too much fun.

Dangerous Cliff

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 13, 2023

As usual we went for a walk and it was a nice walk in cool air with a bit of a breeze. A slightly different route just for the heck of it and it turned out to be 2.3 miles. The first part of the walk was at a very brisk pace. Then shortly after the turn back point we found a nice bench and relaxed for about five minutes. Then the rest of the walk was a speedy but not quite as fast as the first part. When we finished at the Castle the Teams were not near as pooped as normal and we were only five minutes longer in the time required. We feel we are onto something very good. The heart rate was slightly elevated and the respiration rate settled back down in about five minutes. Best of all none of the OFM joints gave any trouble today.

We did see a cute event on the trail this morning. There is a lady that walks a large tan water dog of some sort and a small malamute colored dog of about 14 pounds is all. They run off lease and ignore all people on the trail even if they are requested to visit for a head scratching. Nice lady and pups they are.

Today they were at a trail junction with three ways to continue onward. The small dog was busy dogging around in the low cut brush as its owner headed on down the trail section A.

About two minutes the pup came out of the brush to no owner or other dog around. It looked at the three different trail, stopped and thought a minute then headed licky split down trail C. ZOOM and it was gone. The OFM stuck around for a minute and decided to try to catch the owner on down the trail and tell her about the lost dog.

Just as the OFM started to head on out, here comes old lickity split back from the wrong trail and stopped to sniff for a for a few seconds and ZOOM it was gone on the correct trail. A few minutes late we saw the whole group together about a quarter mile down the correct trail. That was fun to see happen since it came out just fine.

Today was a bit of shopping for nothing in particular and a long lunch with my lunch friend at Burger King. He is a yard sale fan and brings things he buys in for the OFM to see and discuss with him. After a two hour lunch with him we split up and the OFM went home and labored heavily on his latest coloring effort and finished it.

So here for your giggles and enjoyment is DANGEROUS CLIFF.

Tomorrow is lunch with Granddaughter Piper and then who knows what.

We wish we had more accurate time on the Castle's upcoming repair/maintenance work so we could start planning some new adventures for our future. Lately the OFM has been itching for some of the desert fun available in the Elephant Butte area of New Mexico again. It has been several years since we messed around in that area. But we guess we will find out about all this soon enough. Then we will get busy working hard at trying to have tooooo much fun.

 

Old Folks System Worked

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 12, 2023

We put that old folks system to test today and it seems to be a much better style. We ended up with 2.5 miles total exercise walking. From the Castle it was a nice vigorous walk to the turn around point at a large pond near the trail. We made the turnaround with no trouble and headed back on the same trail to a nice bench area about fifteen minutes back. There we sat and goofed off about five minutes and seemed ready to get going so off we went. Sure enough it was enough for this cool morning. Hot weather would have needed more time for sure. The biggest surprise was at the normal slow down location due to getting pooped out went flashing by and we kept on moving to the Castle. Then inside the Castle the cool down period was so quick that it made the OFM think the clock was broke, but it wasn't. So now we will see how this new style works out for the long term. We have three of these length/style paths mapped out for our use.

We have a new coloring for you tonight. It is titled Flowers On Parade. This is a 4x6 small picture but was fun to color. We hope you enjoy it.

We stopped at Hobby Lobby to check out their adult coloring books but all their offerings had a scene laid out on each page front and backside. That wastes a picture you paid for since one side is all that can be painted for our use. It was a waste of time but we now know what is not available there.

In the meantime we have a stack of pictures taken over the last few days we have not handled yet and tomorrow is nominated as CLEAN THAT MESS UP day. Grand daughter Piper has events we plan to attend on Thursday and Saturday so we will be busy being grandpa for those days.

After half of the pulled pork stuffed baked potato tonight we are ready to get in laid back mode and rest up for some trying to have tooooo much fun tomorrow.

New Ideas On Exercise For Old Folks

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 11, 2023

Another busy day that was productive for a change. This morning the OFM was reading about older folks and exercise. They were referring to folks from 55 to 75. Well that lets the OFM out.

Then a few paragraphs later they swapped to age 76 to about 82 with some nice recommendations. Lots of explanations but here is the basics of it. Split tiresome exercise like fast walking into 2 or 3 sessions during the day. Research has shown that old folks like the OFM can get better results on 2-3 shorter sessions of exercise to arrive at a full days worth of exercise a day. Get the same exercise but split it into sessions so your slower recuperating body has a better chance to keep up with the exercising. That seems to agree with what the OFM saw during his year 76 but did not catch on at the time. Today we hit the trail with plans for starting to try that plan. So today the OFM started with a mile and a quarter and with a nice bench rest of about fifteen minutes and then headed back. That rest made a huge difference in the way the second half of that 2.5 mile walk wore on him. So now with that info it is time to go back to the information source and learn some more.

We stopped over at the RV repair place to see how we were doing on the waiting list. They lost a week a couple of weeks ago when the whole place came down sick. So now the schedule is for the Castle to get in for service in about four weeks. So it looks like it will be early October before the Castle will be up to perfect for rolling. At least we have a target month for the OFM to think about.

We have a picture we finished coloring of some sort of flower sort of like a Bird of Paradise flower. It took FOREVER to get the coloring done on it. The coloring is totally water color pencil which basically makes it a water color paint effort at coloring. We would like for our readers to give their opinions on this coloring be they bad or good and what they like or dislike. The OFM is not sure what he thinks about it.

Here is Mystery Flower for your enjoyment.

We do not put our art on display in the Castle in a permanent fashion. The Castle is way to small for all that paperwork. What we do is put them in a frame, sit it on the back of the dining bench and lean them against the wall. This way the three latest colorings are displayed. When a new one comes in the oldest one is unframed and put in a file box in a cabinet. This way all the colorings get displayed for a while and then stored out of harms way.

Here is what that looks like in real life.

And that is it for tonight. May everyone have a great day tomorrow of trying to have tooooo much fun.

2.5 Days Off

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 10, 2023

It has been a day for sure. This morning it was a short looping walk around the soccer field, ice skating rink and part of the biking trail we normally walk. The path was chosen to keep a restroom as close to the exercise route as we could. The route looped past two of them and we never needed either of them and got in two loops for a bit over two miles at a slow pace. For the last two days the OFM has not been but about 60% at the best. This morning was the same but we never found out the trouble. Stomach was somewhat upset but the rest of the digestive system worked just fine. Anyway a bit after lunch the OFM decided he just had to lay down and rest so he set an alarm for a half hour nap. Sometime during the nap the alarm went off and the OFM never heard it. When we did get awake and upright all the miseries we had been having were gone. And we are back at 100%. Wow what an adventure.

We did get one benefit during the slower walk this morning. The OFM feet kept objecting to being walked with. After several stops to check his feet and shoes, we realized the replaceable inserts were wore out at the forefoot area. So later after the miracle nap we changed the inserts and went for a gentle walk to the dumpsters and back. Yep that was definitely one of the trouble spots in the OFM world. Now we should have better walking fun for a while.

We need to be in good shape as we have two grand daughter PIPER events to attend this week and the OFM wants to be in grand shape for them.

Pork chop stoup was supper tonight and it was wonderful especially with a well body to hold it. So every one have a great night and do your best to try to have toooooo much fun tomorrow. We definitely will do our best.

What Is Next?

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 9, 2023

A rough sleep last night and a miserable morning time lead to no walk and back to bed to rest some more. The day was nice but something was not right with the OFM. We piddled around most of the day just feeling lousy and hoping we would do better pretty soon. By about 1500 this afternoon the OFM was doing much better with still no idea why the rough time today. But we will take it and walk with it. This evening we got going good enough to take a short slow walk around part of the Point Mallard park behind the campground. Here is a nice picture of part of the walk area we went into.

It is a very nice place to meander around before supper and just flat out relax.

When the mail finally came today we went down to the office and got our mail. In the mail was the last step to having the Castle being legal to roam the country again. The license tag we paid for three+ weeks ago arrived and was soon installed on the license plate.

Now all we are needing is for the major check/repair of the rolling gear of the Castle to be done. Monday we plan to check with Andy's repair shop to see what the backlog seems to be like now so we can begin serious thinking of the future for the Teams. The last we knew about it was late September/ early October as the time frame for our turn in the shop. Unless something is really bad wrong Andy feels that we will be in the shop less than a day for the usual check and repair including the water pump replacement of our onboard water system.

So things are happening but the backlog was huge. Sierra is fully ready for rolling as far as we know. Now we need to figure out if and where we would be interested in rolling to for a few months. Last fall we found out due to the OFM eye troubles that this area is very nice until just about Christmas. January and February are their actual cold weather time with chilly weather starting about Christmas and lasting until mid March.

That is about it for news. So everyone relax and sleep well tonight. We plan on it.

Snakes

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 8, 2023

First the walk report. It went very well. Here is a pic of the trail today with the nice early fall temperatures.

The spectacular news is that the one hole loosening on the OFM belt left us with no pains at all in either hip. We even made better time today without strain at all so we are calling that error corrected and over.

The walk itself was a continuing nice picture opportunity the whole way out and back. Here is one pic we did take of a heron hunting back in the area of some downed vegetation. That bird can hold more still that a concrete post. They are amazing to watch as they wait for food to be just right before they waste and energy going for it.

So now the OFM is meandering along on the path next to the vegetation. Then suddenly he sees two large snakes about two feet from him all tangled up.

When the OFM finally calms down and looks again it is just two tree vines enter tangled. Sometime his imagination is his own down-falling. Pitiful when he cannot tell a tree vine from a snake.

At another spot the bush there has a small limb that cannot seem to tell what season it is. It has a limb with leaves to cover all the seasons of the year. See for your self.

Which Season Today

We have finished another coloring. We want to let it rest for a day or two to see if the OFM still thinks he is finished with it. The outline that was printed in the adult coloring book was not oriented just right to the finished coloring and we want to consider other options for it right at this time.

In the mean time everyone rest well for trying to have tooooo much fun this weekend. 

Stump Rabbits

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 7, 2023

It has been a day of events for sure. Let us start with the walking troubles. We did make the entire 3 mile loop but we had to sit and rest twice to give the hips a rest from the pains. Now for the big surprise. After sitting for a few minutes again the second time, the OFM shifted his water bottle to his right leg pocket from his left leg pocket where he has been carrying it for years. And for some reason he loosened his waist belt a notch. Surprise the hip pain all but disappeared. Must have been an irritated nerve from the belt being too tight is our guess but you can be sure that he will be paying close attention to details tomorrow.

This afternoon when he wanted a break from painting a new picture, the OFM dug out the yard blower and extension cord and gave the whole site a good cleaning as well as part of both neighbors. The tree leaves are beginning their autumn fall out with vigor already. They are likely weakened from the extra hot August we had.

This afternoon the OFM got busy with the new pot of stoup with the pork chop cubes. In went the cubes, corn kernels, white beans, Lawlers BBQ sauce, fresh onion and black pepper. When it was finished cooking the OFM filled four storage containers with a meal each for later enjoyment and then we had the fifth one for supper tonight. We have no idea why these stoup meals taste do good but we love them.

And now we get to finally see Stump Rabbits. This is the second time the OFM has done this scene. The first one was an all colored pencil set more in the middle of the day. This one is a colored pencil and water color pencil set in the evening. Both were a challenge and this one was a whole set of totally new experiences in shading, fading and color control. It definitely taught the OFM some new lessons in coloring artistic drawings

For certain there is very little boring about art efforts but they can be a great way of trying to have tooooo much fun.

 

New Hip Pains

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 6, 2023

The morning walk went well except for the half hour of rain and both hips having a new pain. The hips started to pain us about half way through the walk. About the same time the nice rain got going soaking the OFM. No problem since we always shower and put on clean clothes after the morning walk.

The new pain is a concern until we figure out what caused it. New pains are always a worry until they are defined and resolved in some way. At least it did not get any worse as we went along in the rain.

Today did finally give us the chance to start preparation of the big pot of pork chop stoop we have been planning on. This afternoon we got the fat sliced off the chops and the chops diced into 3/4inch cubes. Microwaving them at 1.5 minutes with the chosen spices on it with stirring every time the microwave finished its cooking session. It needed three sessions and now it is in the freezer to age a bit until tomorrow when we plan on producing the completed effort for future meals.

The picture we are working on is going well and we are enjoying using the water color pencils to do the painting. We think our readers might like the painting pretty well when it is finished because it is going to be really colorful and bright. But we have a good while to go before we get finished we think.

Pork chop stoop is on the agenda for preparation tomorrow as well as hip resting and recuperation. We will see how it all works out. We also have the small odds and ends of a couple of other small projects in the works just to keep us busy.

Everyone have a great time getting ready for tooooo much fun tomorrow.

A Snippet Today

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 5, 2023

The OFM remembered the drinking water this morning and WOW did we ever need it. We still got in about three miles but the hot humid still conditions put a stop to any hurrying. Meandering our way back to the Castle by 0940.

Then we spent most of the day inside either cleaning or working on a new painting. We are using water color pencils for this work. Our water brushes are our way of smearing the paint around and work well after we bothered to get on the Internet and learn how to manipulate them correctly

We thought we should leave a small clue as to the new painting so here is a snippet from the painting to help you guess what in the world is that?

We did hit up a store once today but it was hot enough that we mostly stayed inside in the AC and worked on learning how to use water color pencils correctly.

Everyone have fun tomorrow. We intend to do a bang up job of it ourselves. 

Remember The Water Dummy

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 4, 2023

A very ordinary day for most of the day. A walk got started this morning and was going along well as we meandered along. A little past the one mile post the OFM reached down for his bottle of water that was waiting for him back at the Castle. Then he looked at the dead calm water and dripping humidity and the 87F temperature and turned back to the Castle. Nope not today without water and as we got to the Castle we knew for sure that going ahead without drinking water would have been a very bad choice.

Nothing special happened for the rest of the day but the OFM did get in a lot of coloring and peacefulness. Then tonight when he started reading the other blogs he found that his old friend the Boondork had something to say about the OFM's age in defense of the OFM. We suggest you go over to his blog for tonight and check out the friendly exchange in his comments section. Here is his blog address and it is supposed to be clickable. http://www.theboondork.com/mainphp/its-time-to-relax and check the comments for an explanation of how old the OFM is in reality.

We are hoping to finish the current art effort in the morning and get it published that night. And tomorrow we will remember the drinking water for our walk.

Food Clearing Day

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 3, 2023

It was an unusual day today in some ways but still a wonderful day of sunshine.

After a restless night of miserable sleep the OFM hit the floor feeling like walking would be wrong so he and the walking team skipped a walk today.

For the last few weeks the OFM has been using up cabinet food and refrig food in order to get the older food used up. Rotating food out for a full timer is a continuous effort to keep the food fresh and tasty. We were down to a can of beans in the cabinets and about two meals of sliced chicken in the the refrigerator so we tackled the Walmart Local Market and made it have a major day of sales. A good bit over $50 got us resupplied with staples and a not normal jar of Honey Peanuts. They are a nice break.

We also found that this Walmart stocks a few varieties of mixed vegetables all chopped and ready for stoop or stir fry. We are trying out the broccoli bag mix with some center cut pork chops tomorrow.

Hopefully we will end up with a great tasty meal from that mixture.

The OFM never did get to feeling decent today and as this is being typed (keyboarded?) he is doing OK so maybe the grandkidding wore him a bit.

The coloring was fairly fun today and the campground was actually fairly quiet all day. We plan on an early bedtime and a nice restful night tonight. You know we have to be ready for another day of trying to have tooooo much fun.

Grand Kidding Day

 

Adventure Location:

Decatur, Alabama

Date: September 2, 2023

Good Evening. It was another wonderful coolish walking day but the OFM hopped out of bed and prepped for a GRAND DAY OF GRAND KIDDING. We got rolling to their house on time and from then until we got back to the Castle it was full time fun of one sort or another.

One of the fun things was a new to the OFM BBQ place we went for lunch. Jim and Nicks BBQ in Huntsville was good food and they have several types of meat and catfish for your pleasure including brisket. And when the waitress asked the OFM if he wanted it trimmed or leave the fat running through the meat the OFM knew he was in the right place. And he was. YUMMITY YUM YUM.

Then it was back to the house and more enjoying living. A wonderful day it was.

Back at the Castle in late afternoon the OFM found out he was tired but not sleepy. He just needed to rest for a bit and a bit and a bit more. Finally after supper tonight he was fairly rested so he worked up this blog entry. And now it is time to put in some real resting time to be ready for whatever comes our way tomorrow.