Saturday, May 9, 2009

Rain.

Yep, it rained again today, I think that is either the 10th or 11th straight day with rain. Did the Earth turn on it's axis? Have we changed positions with the UK? We just had someone here from the UK, she said that the weather in the UK has been great this year, day after day of sun, and it has rained every day since she has been here (for a week and a half.) She goes back in a week and says she can't wait to get back to warm days and sunshine!
Something is wrong somewhere, Global Cooling, Global Warming, Global Repositioning?

Confused Dave

Guns

Wow, surely you are not going to critisize guns are you?
Am I?
Well, I just saw this story that said that over 250 CHILDREN have been shot in Chicago this year. That is just children and just Chicago and just this year!!!
Tell me again why it is so important for there to be so many guns?
And why do children have to have them?
I know "Guns don't kill people, people kill people," and all that BS! But it would be a heck of a lot harder to kill people if there wern't so many guns. It would be especially hard for kids to kill other kids without a gun to do it. I know, I know, it's our right. What does it matter if a few kids die, as long as we can have our guns?

Terrorists

This post may be disliked by some, but it is not intended as a criticism, more like an observation.
Terrorists are financed in large part by Americans and Europeans. Huh? Yes terrorists are financed by illegal drug production & sales and as the US probably buys more illegal drugs than anyone - terrorists are financed in large part by Americans, much of it by teenagers. The drug money buys weapons and pays the terrorists. This amounts to substantial financial support.
The same thing goes - to a greater or lesser extent - for anyone who uses oil! And by our unwillingness to be in any way inconvenienced in the slightest. That's all of us. That is because oil revenues support regimes that hate us, Iran, Venezuela, Nigeria and to a lesser extent Russia. The only thing we can do to mitigate this danger is use less oil.
So when you decide to buy that bigger house or bigger car or make an unecessary trip or leave the engine running or turn the heat up or turn the A/C down, remember the extra gun or ammunition or bomb that extra oil revenue will buy the terrorist who has someone we love in their sights!
Yes, it's nasty, but think about it, it's also true isn't it? I'm not the nasty one here, just because I'm saying something you don't like - they are - and it IS in our power to cut them off from at least some of their revenue.

The now Unpopular Dave. (But think again about what I said, it is true, and it is possible for us to hit them where it can stop them, in their bank accounts.)

I Love You, David XXX

Bumper Stickers.

Bumper Stickers, remember them? I saw one the other day and realized that they are virtually extinct! When was the last time you saw a bumper sticker? Some people used to have their bumpers virtually covered with stickers. Now it is a rarity to see one.

When a man is tired of London - - -

Yesterday, I gave a description of 24 hours weather on the Lake. Today I would like to tell you why "When a man is tired of The Lake he is tired of life." This time I will tell you about the wildlife - and I don't mean parties! I saw Harry The Heron on our pier with a HUGE fish in his beak. I mean it was huge, I don't know how he was even holding it and there was obviously no way that he was going to be able to eat it. After a while he took off, the fish was so heavy that he could hardly fly, just barely keeping himself above the water. He landed a couple of hundred feet away in the shallow water and stood there for a while. And stood, and stood. I was watching with another man and we disscussed what was going on in his mind. First, it was very apparent to us that he would be unable to swallow such a huge fish, we decided that having caught it he was reluctant to let it go, maybe he was waiting for it to die when he would TRY to eat it. Eventually he did try, and tried and tried, and then Wow, he swallowed it, he really did, we could see it in his throat, his whole throat was bulging out, he just stood there looking real stupid and real funny with this huge throat. slowly it went down and then it was gone, he had swallowed the whole thing! We could not believe it even though we had seen it with our own eyes.
Next, there are the little Diver Ducks, the cutest little things. Then there are the Osprey, the Sea Gulls, the Canada Geese - who have just yesterday had three little babies! We saw them proudly watching three little balls of fluff bouncing around on the lawn. And of course don't forget the Swans, I guess we'll soon have little Goslings. Then there is the Alligator - no just kidding, no Alligators.
Untill tomorrow, David.

Friday, May 8, 2009

An Amazing Moon . . .

I was going to tell you about this amazing sight, but then I got to thinking about the weather and sights of the last 24 hours or so. You may have heard that saying of Samuel Johnson, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life." Well I could say the same thing about The Lake. Yesterday dawned dark, cloudy and brooding. Today the sun is already up and bright, it is obviously going to be a beautiful day. Yesterday it rained, and what a rain, we had 3 inches of rain within a couple of hours, at times I could not see the Lake, sometimes it was so loud it was almost deafening, all the time it was at least distracting. Our bedroom looks out over the Lake, we have ten floor to ceiling windows, it is better than living in front of a huge movie screen. As I sat there I had intended reading a book, but instead I could not take my eyes off of the Lake. The rain was pelting down, and then it was softer, there were patterns on the water surface, then there would be a load roar as a heavy squall would dump itself onto the surface of the water and then against the windows. Then the sun came out.
Earlier - just before the rain started I had put down some grass seed on some bald areas of the "lawn" and covered it with straw. When I went out to check after the rain I could not find a single seed, and most of the straw had washed away too! Then it rained again. Then the sun came out again. At the end of the day Sunset Cottage lived up to its name with another wonderful sunset. By now the Lake was like a sheet of glass.
Then came what I had intended telling you about when I started, The Moon. I awoke at 3.30am and the Lake was lit up almost like day with a huge very bright full moon, there was a "pathway" of silver right across the Lake up to our pier. I went and got our camera, but it is one of those digital things and all I could get was a little dot of white and a thin line of white, nothing. Sometimes the new digital age doesn't live up to its reputation. Oh for my old camera, I could have taken some wonderful shots. I fell asleep and then woke up again at 4.30am, now the moon was very low, just a few degrees above the Lake. It was huge and red and this time there was a red "pathway" across the Lake. I watched fascinated as it dropped further and became a very very large red ball, then I fell asleep again.
Now I have to get going or I am going to be late for work. I just wanted to tell you about that.
Bye Love David XXX

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

A little fun thing -

When Julia and I went up the Empire State Building in New York, New York, I took a couple of sheets of paper with me and folded up a few paper airplanes. They flew rather well! Sometimes I wonder if they are still up there riding the updrafts.

More rain

This is Maryland, for the first three months of this year we had the least amount of rain in 138 years! Officially and undoubtedly a drought. Well today we are officially out of the drought. And there can be absolutely no doubt about this at all. I had to work outside to get some stuff done yesterday and got soaked. If anyone comes to visit us on The Lake today I think I will have to hand out Life Vests! And that won't be for going out on The Lake, it will just be for walking around in our yard! It has been raining almost non stop for 3 days now and the forecast is for rain on and off for the next 15 days - unheard of -is this the US or the UK?

Monday, May 4, 2009

Rain rain PLEASE go away!

It is STILL raining here, and it is forecast to continue all week! My grandson Bradley says it is going to continue for TWO weeks, I don't think I believe him, BUT I just checked the forecast and he MAY be right, it is indeed calling for very cloudy, rainy weather for the next 15 days!!!! Have we changed places on the globe with the UK? It is just unbelievable that could happen, it is very unusual for rain to continue for more than a day or two here. I need to get outside and clear up the mess out there from the winter. With Spring/Summer about to arrive I want to get rid of the dead things, a pile of dead branches by my outside fire pit, building materials for the deck, the lawn needs mowing - the grass is as high as a miniature elephants legs. A clear up is definitely needed of all the winter debris. Well time to get out the raingear I suppose, being a Brit I should be able to handle working in the rain. As I used to say to my employees when they didn't want to work in the rain, "You're not made of sugar, it won't dissolve you, get on with it. If we didn't work in the rain in the UK we would never have worked!"
So I gotta go and work in the rain now I guess.
David.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Rain rain go away,

Yes, it is still raining here, the contractors came to finish off the deck, but after a couple of hours of working in a steady downpour they gave up and went home.
As the old childhood nursery rhyme says ; -
Rain rain go away,
Come again another day.

(When they have finished the deck would be nice!)

David.

I need a lawnmower.

I am in need of a used push motor mower, so if anyone knows of one in this area available for a good price, please let me know about it. Requirements are that it be working, inexpensive, not self propelled and have a grass collecting bag.

Appreciate it, thank you.

Going Around in Circles.

The Ducks that is! Looking out the window this rainy morning I see a bunch of Ducks in the water just outside of our windows who are literally "Swimming around in Circles!" Why is that I wonder? I don't have an answer, do you? Maybe they are more like us than we realize!

Just a thought, David.

My friends Bill & Jane are heading out today - -

Today, they leave Baltimore, City of Ravens and Orioles, and head first to Detroit, City of Industrial Ruins, then to Amsterdam, City of Bars - and other stuff, finally arriving in London, City of Everything. You name it, London has it, everything - Shopping, such as you have never seen anywhere else, try Harrods for any kind of food, I would bet they even have Elephant steaks. Afternoon Tea. Restaurants with every imaginable cuisine. Shows, the best, we saw The Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, The Woman in Black and The Mouse Trap during a 4 day visit. Awesome Transportation - Big Red London Buses, London Taxis, The Underground. Truly as Samuel Johnson once said, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of Life."
I am sure that William & Jane will have a wonderful time, I even wonder if they will want to return to us in Baltimore. Now there is something new for me to worry about! (I am the World's Champion Worrier.)

David