Day 17

Got up a bit late today. Almost 9am. Worked on fans until it was time to talk to Istanbul.

I love video conferencing. When I see everybody every day like that, I never feel lost.

Got the fan fixed, installed. I took off all the hand rails and child gates around the stairs. There's a lot of stuff there. I will pack up the kitchen and dining room tomorrow. Also, I'll get the boxes around the cabinets straightened up and start sorting out the boxes the cabinets are in so I can put cabinets together in the evenings.

My goal is to be to the "turnaround point" in the kitchen by close of business Monday. You reach the "turnaround point" when you start putting the whole thing together.

I finally got pictures of the deer that has been coming around in the daytime. She went into Rosanne's back yard and just stood there, finally.

Day 16

Monday, July 6, 2009

This was the day for running errands.

Got to the Children's Manor School at 9:30. Visited a class. Talked to everybody about everything. After you checked out some school or another 10-12 times, the process becomes kind of routine. It looks good for our purposes. They have a very good front office, which doesn't say much about the teachers, I know, but maybe there's some continuity.

Got back home to visit with everyone in Istanbul. The word game is turning out to be a lot of fun. T, especially, is really wanting to stretch for some really hard ones. M just wants to stay in the game. So cool.

Then back out to Bright Stars Academy. A superior school, by every measure I could think of, but there may be some demographic issues.

Then to the library to return books and back to start my workday at about 3:30pm, as it turns out. I refurbished the furnace blower we got from Rosanne. The other one I'll set up in the house so I can control air flow and the dust. Whatever room I'm in, I can open those windows and close the rest and all dust will go out the window and NOT into the rest of the house.

Love...

Day 15

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Kind of a blah day. Much activity in the shop and the house and not much accomplished. There was one interesting thing, though, a bird flew into the house through the deck door. It flew around for a little while and found its way out. Anyway, I got a couple of pictures...



Love...

Day 14

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Fourth of July. Got some more painting done. Got the lawn mower fixed so it will mow TALL. It shows, too, Most of the lawns are starting to turn but ours is still green. Need to water the trees.

Mowed the lawn. Went to the Baltimore Museum of Industry with the Rowens. Took our folding chairs. They forgot theirs. Brought an old beach towel, just in case. They forgot their blanket. Brought some peanuts and cashews. It turns out Martin LOVES peanuts.

You sit right at the edge of the Inner Harbor almost directly across from the Aquarium. The barge that all of the fireworks launch from is only 200-300 yards away. You can see all of it clearly.

The fireworks were as impressive as always. We've seen fireworks like this so many times, however, that it's hard to say, "Wow".

One of the neatest parts was the weather. There was a breeze out of the West and the temperature and humidity were so much like Istanbul that I could tell the Rowens this is what it's like.

There was a musical group (A banjo, a guitar, a mandolin, and a couple--sometimes three --violins). They were sitting in lawn chairs 15-20 feet over playing all kinds of old American Folk Music.

So it all felt a bit like sitting next to the Bosphorus in the evening and a little like sitting on the Pont Neuf bridge in Paris all rolled into one. Very nice. I was really wishing you all were there.

Love...

Day 13

Friday, July 03, 2009

I guess I'm more or less caught up. I had gotten a TV antenna but it turned out the control box lettering was in Spanish. I've returned it and the folks know about it and will refund. I tried to get the appeal letter to JoAnn Murphy but the post offices all closed early. Will send it out Monday.

Got some more painting done in the shop. It's looking good, but it's not the kitchen, is it...

Love...

Day 12

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Boy, did this get behind. I guess I'll just put in fillers until I get caught up.

Love...

Day 11

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

Boy, did this get behind. I guess I'll just put in fillers until I get caught up.

Love...