Strange Characters Appear at Family Christmas Party

Somewhere in "Snoose" Country; Before the Winter Solstice --

As Grumpy reviewed the photographs that were downloaded from his camera after it appeared at the Family Christmas get-together earlier this month, he happened on some views that are seldom seen and should never be left to mold in a mere album. No, these pictures need to be discretely publicized. And so that is what Grumpy will proceed to do!

The first pair of characters to appear from Grumpy's camera were these two, pictured on the right. They appeared to be welcoming the invited guests, but Grumpy thinks they may have been more effective in discouraging any attempt by interlopers who might have tried to crash our party. And they would have too, if they only knew how much fun we had.

Notice the expression on their faces. I believe they are saying "cheese", the usual word used to encourage a smile on the faces of the people whose photo is being taken. Unfortunately, these two Norwegians are saying "cheese" in Norwegian! [pronounced "oost" by we of the English-speaking persuasion.]

The next character is one with whom Grumpy always tries to be pleasing, but seldom succeeds -- (he doesn't understand why??!!). She was commenting that she felt chilly [the majority of the guests had not yet shown up so the party room had not reached the warmth that was acheived later!], so the Blonde Norwegian previously pictured with her husband, graciously offered the headdress you see worn here so well. Actually it is about what you should expect since this gal is the progenitor of the Blonde Norwegian -- the original 1930's version, if you will!

Now, before Grumpy gets into some kind of trouble, he is going to end this post and hope that all enjoy reading it and seeing my goofy photos.

Happy New Year everybody!

2010 Family Christmas Party

Snohomish County WA; A Warm Day in December --

Well, the day wasn't really warm in the minds of lots of folks. But since it was a day when the Grumpy  one (who is sometimes not grumpy) and the Great Grand Mother (who is almost always grand and great), got to see a bunch of the Great Grandchildren (especially many of the youngest ones), we thought it was a pleasantly warm Day. The most "un-warm" thing about the day was the fact that four of our "blondest" Great Grandchildren didn't make it. But we hope to see them again before too long.

The event was highlighted by a roast beef dinner, prepared by our very own "Nancy Nurse". Accouterments to the meal included veggie's, pies, cakes, chips and who-knows-what, brought by the varied guests. I'm sure everyone was stuffed with food before they departed; hopefully none of the wee ones ate too much and got sick.

One of the parents (whose name shall remain Anonymous to prevent subsequent potential harassment!) brought the foundation for a fancy, decorated Gingerbread House. Her idea was that the activity of decorating the Gingerbread House would keep the attention of the entire crew of ambulatory tots busy so we adults could carry on our various conversations. Whether this Grandmother, whose name we won't reveal, was successful in achieving her intent must be left to the readers of this post.

The bare Gingerbread House was gently placed in the middle of a conveniently sized table; a gooey mixture of icing was placed in a dish so the Great Grandchildren could do as they wish in sticking the colorful candies onto the outside walls of the little house. In no time at all the children had "used up" all of the loose candy -- whether all of it wound up on the sides of the Gingerbread House, or if some of it went into some of the tiny tummies is not pertinent to this discussion.

To the assembled crew, the next order of business was to "eat the Gingerbread House"! Here on the left, they are asking the responsible adult (whose name we have promised not to mention) who, being the Grandmother of everyone of the Great Grandchildren pictured, was fully within her rights to make that critical decision.

The go-ahead was given and the DE-struction of the Gingerbread House began. Grumpy could barely click his camera fast enough to capture all of the action! Little hands flew and sticky pieces disappeared into little mouths just as fast as they were freed from their former decorative places on the little Gingerbread House.

And so the 2010 Family Christmas party came to a close with no blood shed, no angry squabbles to be mediated and all the tummy-aches, if any, were relegated to the homes of the respective parents -- just as it has always been!

MERRY CHRISTMAS  to all, and to all a  good night!!

A Great Grandpa's Paradise!

18th of December; A Condo Rec-Room in Everett WA --
It was a family get-together at a far-away place called Everett WA. An old guy, commonly called Grumpy, had the pleasure of seeing a whole bunch of his Great Grandchildren: Malachi and his brother Amos and their sister Elianna; Gracie-Mae and  her brother Zeke and their baby sister Faith; Emileigh and her baby brother Oliver. Grumpy also noticed several who were expected but were missing: Baby Ezekiel Gaines, who was sick; Alex (the Great ... Grandson) and his sister Joshlyn, who were otherwise occupied; Jamey G. and his brother Arthur, who couldn't come because of weather; Abigail and her sister Amelia, who couldn't come because a previous engagement. Of course also missing were the Great Grandchildren who live far, far away in the Mary Land: Jordyn, Dalton and James, and Aidan, all of whom would have had to take a week off to travel out here to be with us; I don't think their parents would have allowed them out of their sight and sound that long.

 Faith Dickinson being held by her Great Grandpa Ward.

Later on, the Grumpy one was caught "red-handed", trying to smuggle little Faith out the door in a bright red, Christmas-y shopping bag. Fortunately, he was caught before he got too far.

A highlight for Grumpy was the opportunity he had to hold two of the more bashful on his lap for some historic photos.

 

Gracie-Mae Dickinson, always shy before today, smiling at Great Grandpa Ward.

In the past Gracie-Mae has not only declined to give her Great Grandpa Ward a hug, but has demurred to allow him to even take a photo of her. Now, with one of the shy girls warming up to Great Grandpa, it was only a matter of seconds before the other shy one approached and requested to sit on Great Grandpa's lap and have our picture taken!

Elianna, finally gets on Great Grandpa's lap. Is she admiring his gold teeth?

Emileigh in a tender moment with GGpaZ

On some previous occasions, other Great Grandchildren have also had their photos taken with Great Grandpa Z. Here on the right is one of Emileigh taken a year ago.

Malachi & Amos enjoy reading about cars with GGpaZ

And here, below left, is one of Malachi and Amos with Great Grandpa Z reading about automobiles.

The youngest Great Grandson who was present, Oliver, was caught taking a nap; I guess his idea of a good time was to sleep off a good meal after a long auto trip.

Oliver, just a short nap!

And so it went throughout a most enjoyable day. A later post will tell about the other things that went on during this day.

The Colors of Autumn

Grumpy's Castle; On a Rainy, Windy Monday --

Grumpy took special note of the beauty of the leaves turning red and yellow and orange and purplish-brown and ...

All this surged up in his artistic heart and inspired the following "poor man's poetry":

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2883923/Autumn%20Colors.docx

Your comments are enthusiastically welcomed. Grr-rr!!

Oh, What Trouble a Senile -- er, Senior Citizen Wroughteth!

Grumpy's Castle; Last Days of October 2010 --

As some of the more knowledgeable members of the Clan are already aware, the Grumpy One really got himself in deep "doo-doo" with his desk-top computer this past couple of weeks. It all started with the irresistible temptation to Upgrade his desktop to Windows 7 operating system. Let me start at the beginning of the process.

First, after carefully reading the instructions (ha! ha! you all thought I would skip them, didn't you!?), and purchasing and installing a brand new half-Terabyte SATA hard-drive, Grumpy gently placed the legal MS CD in the DVD drive and pushed "GO", intending that the upgrade would be installed on the new drive.

Somewhere, I apparently missed the clue that the upgrade was being installed on the same drive as the EOM Windows XP operating system. The first time this was noticed was when I rebooted the computer, expecting to start enjoying the exciting, new Windows 7 operating system. To my surprise, I was greeted with a choice of two operating systems. Fine; either one worked just great at this point.

Next, I proceeded to MOVE (not COPY!) several of my most prized folders of data from the IDE drive to the SATA drive. At some point, not being content with my new OS installed on the same IDE drive as my XP OS, I then decided to reinstall the Windows 7 operating system onto the SATA drive. [At this point, Grumpy neglected to heed the warning label on the Windows 7 upgrade package about SAVEing all your data on a different drive before installing Windows 7. Alas, when all was said and one, my most prized folders were no where to be seen!!

What is even worse, suddenly Grumpy found that he couldn't even access the IDE drive!! An UNERASE program was downloaded (onto the SATA drive), but not being able to "see" the IDE drive rendered the unerase program useless. After much council with Number One Son, gnashing of teeth and sweating  blood over Grumpy's carelessness, the #1 Son suggested a data recovery outfit who might be able to salvage Grumpy's self-made disaster.

After a detailed communication with the data recovery person via telephone, Grumpy shipped off his deaf, blind and dumb hard-drive to this outfit for their diagnosis, investigation of what (if any) data was recoverable, and an estimate as to how much said recovery would cost. I await their e-mail some time this week.

Stay tuned for follow-on -- "smoke" and tears, or cheers of joy!!

Gosh a'Mighty, Grandma turns Eighty!!

Best Chinese Restaurant; 18 October 2010 --

The years have rolled by and the Grand Mother and Grumpy have grown older [and wiser?]. The Grand Mother's 80th birthday happened this day; Grumpy, wanting for it to be extra special, invited all members of the family who live in the State. They were the only ones who could practically come to the site of the celebration: the Best Chinese Restaurant this side of San Francisco -- or Boston.

And it was to be a surprise! In this, Grumpy was completely successful. You see, the reservations were made for six o'clock and everyone was told that it was to be a surprise. Grumpy waited until late Monday afternoon when he casually invited the Grand Mother for a date to eat out. [Leaving home to go to  the restaurant at six o'clock!] Fortunately, she accepted!! [Grumpy had no "plan B", in case she had refused the invitation. Talk about taking one's wife for granted!]

As Grumpy entered the restaurant, he was greeted by the usual question of "just two?", to which Grumpy lied, "Yes, just two." The matre d' offered a table close to the front, convenient for Grandma, who was wielding a cane. Grumpy ignored the offer, of course, as he spotted the invited crowd at the far end of the dining area. As soon as we were spotted, they began to sing, "Happy Birthday to you ... " and Grandma looked like the proverbial "deer in the headlights".

After gorging ourselves on a wide variety of Chinese dishes, a birthday cake, baked by the oldest Granddaughter, was revealed complete with ice cream spirited in by the oldest daughter. Two large candles ["8" and "0"] on the cake showed the true age of this Matriarch of our family. [Were we actually responsible for this great group!?]

Eight Great Grandchildren (evenly divided between girls and boys) and four Grandchildren were counted, making for a lively -- even joyously raucous at times! -- time for all. [Anyone notice that the dining area had cleared out sometime before we left?]

To Monya goes the credit for all photos included in this POST. As is becoming more usual these days, Grumpy forgot to bring his camera to record this historic milestone.

Thanks Monya! And thanks to everybody who came and to those who, not being able to come, nevertheless sent their greetings to the Great, Grand Mother. Our oldest, living in Florida, called the Grand Mother shortly after we had come in and sat down.

Pure Gold ... Sun Gold Tomatoes, that is!!

Grumpy's Castle; 7 October 2010 --

I have been alternatively boasting and bemoaning my Upside Down Tomatoes for about four months now. Some readers may have tired of this incessant braggadocio and/or crying in my beer*. But a recent inspection of the one tomato plant that has really "put out" this season begs for one more showing of something worth talking about. At least for Grumpy.

Grumpy planted four different varieties of tomatoes: Fantastic (Grandma's favorite), Hybrid Beefsteak (good when raised by Carpinito's), Early Girl (should be a winner, right?), and Sun Gold (the one last year did pretty well). Today's POST is all about the little (fruit size, not plant size) "cherry" tomato called Sun Gold.

In an earlier preview of the promises of this little gem, Grumpy pictured a blossoming branch with 26 yellow flowers. Well, Grumpy might have exaggerated a bit because here is that same branch, cut from the main vine just this day. The empty stems are ones that Grumpy plucked in previous days as they ripened on the vine. The reader can count 13 fruit (or empty stems) on one side and 12 on the other.

The Sun Gold is definitely one that Grumpy will plant next year -- maybe two or three plants instead of just one! I would also recommend it to anyone considering their own grow it-yourself tomato.

Six Cousins Meet in Central Illinois

Central Illinois; 1 October 2010 --

One of the things that happen when family relatives congregate to remember a fallen member, is that there is a meeting of a group of relatives who too-seldom see each other in happier times. Such meetings, while motivated by a sad event, give a breath of happiness to the occassion. Such was the scene when these six individuals got together in Central Illinois:

Left to right: Paul, Jeff, Kay, Kathy, Carl, Jim

This group represent cousins from three branches of the Zimmerman ancestory (Hazel, Donagene and Ward) who were present. It would have been even more memorable if the two ancestors who were present (Hazel and Ward) could have also been in the picture. Unfortunately, Hazel suffered a temporary health problem and so could not stand for the picture; this fact dis-motivated Ward from being the only "old" person in the picture.

Other memorable people, whose photos would be deserving of showing, include the members of the family who invited a bunch of us in for supper the first full day we were there, and who offered sleeping quarters for several of us. Their hospitality will be long remembered, and any opportunity to reciprocate will be anticipated.

Fred Schwink [1962-2010] -- Husband, Father, Nephew, Friend

Central Illinois; 29 September to 1 October, 2010 --

Sad news came to Grumpy's family, that Frederick Ward Schwink had passed away at the young age of 48. He is survived by his wife, two daughters and one son, all of whom live in Central Illinois. Our condolences and prayers of comfort go out to this young family.

Grumpy booked his flight to Chicago via Southwest Airlines without coordinating with the Kayaker Son, who booked his flight with United; both flights were scheduled to arrive Chicago at noon or a little after. All would have been well with this independence except that United flew into Chicago O'Hare and Southwest flew into Chicago Midway. Kayaker rented a car and found his way from O'Hare down to Midway where he had to wait half and hour or so for Grumpy to arrive.

Grumpy had lent Kayaker his Marine/Auto Garmin GPS for use in navigating the devious (and sometimes dangerous!) streets of Chicago. After picking up Grumpy at Midway, Kayaker allowed Grumpy to manage the pesky GPS -- which Grumpy promptly decided to ignore her plaintive pleadings to "turn right, turn right, turn right" -- all for the purpose of making a U-turn to get us going in the right direction for the shortest/fastest route to Champaign, our interim destination.



A "Tailgate Lunch" in a Chicago Suburb



Fortunately, Grumpy's misguided attempts to navigate a "better route" resulted in our coming upon a grocery store where a variety of edibles (well, most of it was edible!) were purchased for an immediate lunch and then bedtime snacks later on. We got some apples, some grape juice, some breakfast cereal, some rice cakes (hereinafter referred to as "Styrofoam"!) and some peanut butter. The last item was intended to be used in an attempt to make the Styrofoam "edible".

Rice Cake, with peanut butter

Putting peanut butter on a rice cake results in a "food" which chews exactly like one would expect of a clean piece of pure Styrofoam, and tastes exactly like one would expect of a table-knife full of peanut butter. With some trepidations concerning whether the Styrofoam would lurk in our digestive systems for a few decades -- Grumpy had read that Styrofoam bio-degrades ve-er-ry slowly! -- we each consumed a couple of these peanut butter-laced "treats". In fact, this item of our diet fulfilled one very useful function: we now felt full!

We arrived in Champaign about 5 p.m. and, after finding one of the three Indian cuisine restaurants, had a delicious dinner of some kind of chicken and a spinach dish with Roti paan.

Hickory Tree bark



Wednesday morning, we went for a short walk in a park, listening to crickets chirping, birds singing and scolding; squirrels complaining and freight trains hooting. A large, old hickory tree was fascinating, in that its loose, deeply-striated bark is very different from any trees we see out here on the Wet Coast.

 

Hickory Leaves and Nut (in husk)

The hickory nuts from this giant old tree are formed in a pithy husk which splits open to reveal the quarter-sized, three-corner shaped hickory nut inside (click on photo to right and note nut in partially-opened husk just left of center). Grumpy remembers breaking open a hickory nut when he was about 6-8 years old; the hickory nut was sent to us by our Grandfather in Illinois. Hickory nuts yield very little nut-meat with a great deal of effort; Grumpy would advise the readers not to waste their efforts.




A Blue Wild Flower

 

Grumpy spotted this brilliant blue flower, growing in amongst some tall weeds near the creek. Its brilliance contrasted with the sad purpose for which we were here: to memorialize my Nephew, and Jim's Cousin, Fred. This afternoon was spent in relative solitude, sharing sad and happy memories among Fred's family and relatives. Fred left a priceless legacy of pursuit of knowledge of the Germanic languages, which he tirelessly shared with graduate students at the University of Illinois. But he also left a legacy in the little family he loved and headed.

Interspersed with the grief was the pleasure we had in meeting many of Fred's friends and neighbors, not the least of which was the family who invited many of us to stay in their home, and who prepared a fine meal for us. The friendly hospitality and the meal, we especially enjoyed -- an incomparable relief from the previous day's lunch of "Styrofoam".

An Effort to Improve Gas Mileage

Grumpy's Castle; 17 September 2010 --

Grumpy noticed that his prized automobile, Red Rocket, was trending downward in miles per gallon. It was first noticeable last summer when the Grand Mother and he drove to the midwest (at a maximum speed of 65 mph, of course) but averaged just under 31 mpg. In 2008, Grumpy's first "experiment" with slow driving, he had averaged over 34 mpg. What could account for a 10% drop in mileage?

One possibility was that the sparkplugs were in need of replacement*. The owner's manual says that they should be replaced at 105,000 and the 'Rocket' odometer was showing 84,000 of "hard" driving (the Grand Mother's term -- not Grumpy's!).

With this in mind, Grumpy searched the INTERNET for information on the best plugs to buy and any special tools needed. Yep, a special thin-wall deep socket was required. Grumpy chose a set of Bosch platinum plugs with four radial gaps -- similar to the plugs in Uncle Bob's Mooney engine.

The spark plugs on the Honda V-6 engine are not visible -- even when you open the hood. Grumpy removed a "suspicious" looking cover on the front of the engine. The plugs were still not visible, but a set of three small-gauge wires led to three black caps each held on with a single bolt. Removing the bolt and pulling on the black cap uncovered a deep hole about one inch in diameter; at the bottom of this hole -- about six inches down, to be exact, was the top of a spark plug. Would Grumpy's standard six-point deep socket fit down this hole?

The answer was a comforting "YES!" However, the problem arose as to how to lift the plug up out of that hole after it was unscrewed from the engine head. Scrounging in Grumpy's odds-and-ends tool chest, a short grabber was spotted -- something inherited from his Father-in-Law perhaps -- not yet used by Grumpy (he had a longer one that he had bought years ago to retrieve something that had dropped down through an engine block and into the oil pan).

The "Grabber" was useful for extracting each plug after it was unscrewed, but was also used to carefully lower the new plugs into place and finger-tightening them before torquing them with the deep socket to the proper spec.

All went well until the removal of the last plug -- #6. By the time Grumpy had fetched the old plug from its deep hiding place, his hand looked somewhat familiar. Yes, the Zimmerman gene had shown its ugly head again. Now the reader can see why Grumpy can sincerely say that he "FEELS" for his Grandson whose bloody knuckle was the subject of much pondering, guessing and ridicule a few days ago. Up to this point Grumpy was thinking that this job would be an exception to the long tradition that suggested that "A good job isn't done until there is a bloody knuckle or two."

Of course, Grumpy successfully finished installing the new plug in the #6 position -- and the 'Rocket started on the first cylinder!

Then Grumpy went in, washed his hands and took this picture of the "special" tools used on this job:

From left to right, the "special" tools are: six Bosch Platinum-4 plugs (with black marker pen used to identify each used plug so it could be replaced in the same cylinder if necessary); 8mm Allen wrench (to remove cap-retaining bolt); 5/8" deep socket with six-inch extension; 3/8" square-drive ratchet wrench; six-inch "Grabber" (for snagging tops of old spark plugs so they could be pulled up out of the deep hole they were in). Grumpy suspects that the so-called "required" special deep socket was one which included some kind of plug removal device. With the willingness to try something available rather than spend good money on a new tool that may only be used once or twice in his lifetime, Grumpy saved probably twenty bucks -- the new fancy plugs cost almost twice that much! But, as an old friend used to say, "There is more than one way to skin a cat without kissing it to death!"

*For more Automotive technical information, including things that affect gasoline mileage, go HERE.

Upside-Down Tomatoes; Year Two, September Update

Grumpy's Castle; 13 September 2010 --

Good grief, Charlie Brown!! Here it is mid-September and Grumpy hasn't posted an update on his Upside-Down tomatoes for almost two months! What has been going on? Stay here and I'll show you.

The first thing to say is that our Resident Grandson's diligent care of the tomatoes, during the Grand Mother's and Grumpy's absence in early July, resulted in them being healthy in spite of the very hot, dry Summer we had. Grumpy tries to be nice to this Grandson, since he was so good to take such good care of Grumpy's tomatoes and the lawn. It is kind of hard to do this even though there is the possibility that we will get to share a Lemon Meringue Pie some day.

The other notable thing that happened after Grumpy returned from his July vacation, was that the Sun Gold was moved from around the corner where it had been originally hung, and now hangs in a row with the other three plants, each spaced about 3 feet apart along the Southwest (street) side of the house. At least they all get pretty good mid-day and afternoon sun here.

The Sun Gold plant bears small, bite-size fruit that turn from a gold color to a deeper Orangey-gold color -- and then, if they are not picked, they drop off! Grand Mother and Grumpy agree this is our favorite tomato to nibble on. As you may notice, the plant is prolific in bearing a great many fruits.

The Early Girl has given us a few vine-ripened fruit this year, but the size and flavor have been disappointing; not as much "tomato" flavor as we would like. Also, all of the larger tomatoes seem to have pretty tough skin. Grumpy has not determined what causes this yet.

The Beefsteak Hybrid, which should have fruit about the size of a Grapefruit, has barely given more than two or three small tomatoes so far. Some of these fruit are also grotesquely shaped; again Grumpy has not yet determined why.

The Fantastic, the Grand Mother's favorite canning tomato (she used to go to Wenatchee each summer and haul back over 100 pounds of these, bringing them back and canning them the same day!), has not yet produced a ripe fruit. Some early ones developed "blossom rot", which Grumpy found was the result of the soil being too acidic. A cupful of Dolomite lime in each planter seemed to resolve that problem. Was a cup too much? Was it not enough? Grumpy doesn't know; the grotesqueness occurred before the lime was added.

Next year, Grumpy may concentrate on just two plants: maybe just two Sun Golds.

A New Fence

Grumpy's Castle; Early September 2010 --

Grumpy took advantage of Son-in-Law's extended period of unemployment by asking him to assist in constructing a decorative concrete wall to replace 20-25 feet of the deteriorating cedar panel fence that was built before the Grand Mother and Grumpy acquired this place in the mid-'60's. As it turned out, Adolfo was much more experienced and skilled in masonry than Grumpy could have imagined (he even had all of the professional tools!); instead of Adolfo assisting Grumpy, Grumpy was the "hod carrier" and Adolfo the "Master"! Grumpy was happy to work for such a skilled and good-natured boss -- although Adolfo "fired" Grumpy two or three times for gross mistakes (such as "accidentally" spraying the Master with the garden hose; dropping a decorative block in the dirt, thus delaying its timely setting in its place on the wall; and some other misdeed that neither of us can remember).

The first and most important task was clearing the debris from the line where the wall was to be installed and digging a shallow trench for the footing on which to stack the decorative blocks. Part of the area was "infested" with an old stand of tough bamboo. These had surprisingly not invaded Grumpy's yard (as the other neighbor's bamboo has been trying to do), but still presented a very challenging resistance to the removal of their roots and stalks where the footing was to go.

After the footing was poured, the decorative blocks were skillfully stacked by Adolfo, keeping the sides vertical and the tops level and perfectly aligned so the succeeding courses would also be level and aligned. The Master even allowed Grumpy to help place a few blocks and tap them gently into alignment. Grumpy really appreciated this opportunity to learn a little bit about another manual skill. It helped to develop a better appreciation for those who do this sort of work for a living.

Alternate courses of the decorative blocks were overlapped; Adolfo explained that this makes the wall much more substantial since there is not the weakness of a straight-line vertical mortar joint. Of course this meant that a few blocks had to be split. Grumpy was able to split one with both halves useable! Often, one of the halves will have a piece broken off so that it is incomplete and just wasted.

The end result of their labor is shown above. After consultation with the next door neighbor, the fence will continue for at least another 15-20 feet. But the next section(s) is not as critical, as the current cedar panel fence is quite sturdy in the remaining sections.

Grumpy designed a reusable form with which to produce the steel reinforced concrete posts located each 15-20 foot section of the new concrete fence. The "post" is poured after the blocks on either side have been placed and their mortar cured sufficiently. The form consists of two identical parts that are clamped to the opposite sides of the block fence over the gap in the blocks left for that purpose. The lumber used for the form has a distinct wood grain which is reproduced on the surface of the concrete post as can be seen in the photo on the right. So far it has been used on just one post, but there are at least two more on which it will eventually be used when the next several feet of fence are rebuilt.

Ten-Day Birthday Party

Grumpy's Castle; 10 August 2010 --

When a guy reaches the age that Grumpy has finally attained, I believe he deserves to have as long a birthday party as he wants. So this past ten days has been a "party"! Let me explain -- with pictures.

On the first day of August, the eldest Daughter, Anonymous, had a crowd of descendants, who were mostly-related to Grumpy [-- but few, if any inherited the 'grumpy' genes, however -- thank God!!], over to her home for a very pleasant outdoor barbecue picnic. This photo shows at least part of that crowd. It is left up to the reader to supply names of the people milling around. Grumpy would attempt to do it, but he depends on the Grand Mother to provide the names, birth dates and parental relationships, so he will not attempt to help the reader in any way. The results would be in error anyway.

A few of the participants, however, cooperated by allowing Grumpy to capture some fine moments. Here are Alexander the Great- (Grandson) with his youngest sister Gracie-Mae (in a wistful-shy mood). Gracie-Mae has been one of the more difficult Great Grandchildren for which Grumpy has been able to capture a photo opportunity.

 

One of the highlights of this occasion was Grumpy getting to hold one of his youngest Great Grandsons "Zeke", captured in this "mutual admiration" photo. Grumpy also got to hold the the very youngest (so far!) Great Grandson Oliver, but no photo-documentation was made of that occasion. It may have  been of rather short duration because tiny Children seem to prefer their Mommies rather than their Great Grandpa. Grumpy will investigate and try to solve that mystery. 

On Sunday, August 8th, the Grand Mother [a.k.a., First Wife] feted Grumpy to a surprise birthday dinner at a notable local barbecue restaurant. Our long-time good friend Margaret and younger daughter Nancy Nurse with husband Paul were there to watch Grumpy eat too much -- including a scrumptious Blackberry cobbler ala mode! Afterwards, this photo of the dinner participants was taken by Mr. S. T. Sony*, showing in the background the evidence of where this all took place.

Birthday greetings included two musical cards with a "Western" theme (Grumpy always appreciates good country-western music!) and another card prominently displaying a cow on the front, with suggestive phraseology inside about pies. The sender, whose identity Grumpy will not reveal because it might embarrass him (or, worse! it might actually enhance his standing among some of his own family!! Well, his boys anyway; his wife Peggie is nice -- she never gives me a hard time, but those boys, they always like to get their Grandpa in trouble!), lives in Green Cove Springs FL and has the same legal name as Grumpy. E-mails, long-distance telephone calls and more birthday cards have all given Grumpy plenty of reasons to be thankful for having survived this long with this family.

One of the more unique "material" gifts Grumpy received for his 83rd birthday was an I-Pod -- from his baby sister Hazel.  Having been born and brought up on a farm and having lived quite a long time in a rural area of Iowa devoid of television advertising and even a good Conservative newspaper, perhaps she hasn't quite captured the true meaning of the term "I-Pod". At any rate, Grumpy is thankful for her thoughtful gift, shown at right, delivered postage-paid in an envelope.

• * "S. T. Sony" is the self-timing mode on Grumpy's Alpha-20 Sony camera.
  

Do-it-Yourself Upside-Down Planters

Grumpy's Castle; 26 July 2010 --

A while ago, Grumpy said that he would describe his design for a do-it-yourself upside-down planter. This post will be an attempt to do that, using easily obtained recycled materials. The reader may use his own imagination and ingenuity to modify the design to suit the materials he/she has available.

Main items needed:

Here are the primary pieces that are required: A five-gallon bucket & lid, preferably black so the heat of the sun can keep the roots warm; a sturdy plastic 4" planter pot, preferably having a rolled top; a 3/4" thick piece of porous, fairly rigid plastic foam.

Tools required: A compass with which to scribe a circle to guide cutting a round hole in the bottom of the five-gallon bucket; A sharp knife or Xacto knife with which to cut said round hole and also to cut a 1 1/4" hole in the bottom of the 4" planter pot as well as to trim the piece of porous plastic foam to fit snugly in the bottom of the 4" planter pot. A slit should be made to the approximate middle of the foam disk. If Grumpy could figure out how to reliably cut a hole in the bottom of a terracotta pot, that would be his ideal!

I prefer the plastic planter pots which have a rigid rounded rim (e.g. 4" 'Shuttle Pot', #SP433); this rim will support the weight of the tomato plant without being deformed and pulled through the 4" hole in the bottom of the five-gallon bucket.

I also have white five-gallon buckets; I plan to spray paint them with flat-black paint (the type that will adhere well to the polypropylene plastic of which the bucket is made). Other dark colors would work OK, just not quite as good as black however.

I anticipate that cutting the hole in the bottom of the bucket may be the most difficult job; the plastic buckets are fairly thick and it may be slow work to cut through the plastic as well as keeping the hole very closely round. If you have a sabre saw or Dremel tool that can cut on a 4" diameter  circle, that might be easier. At any rate, if you use a knife (as I probably will) or an Exacto knife, be careful not to slip and cut your fingers. Grumpy probably will ignore this precaution!

4" pot, with hole cut in bottom

The 1 1/4" hole in the bottom of the 4" pot need not be as precise; it is important to leave enough bottom material that will support the 3/4" thick porous plastic foam. The minimum size of this hole needs to accommodate your tomato seedling at the time you decide to replant it to the upside-down planter. It is important that this hole have no sharp corners or "nicks" in it; these imperfections will greatly weaken the ability of the remaining material to withstand the weight of the tomato plant as it grows to maturity. Think about how heavy your tomato plant will be by mid July and early August when it is loaded with luscious tomatoes -- the foam must not rupture the pot bottom and slip through the bottom of the 4" pot!!

Depending on the hooks on which you plan to hang your upside-down planters, you may need to remove the handle-piece typical on a five-gallon bucket. Keep in mind, though, that without that add-on handle piece, the small diameter wire bail that is left will be painful to your hands when the planter is full of soil -- and even more so when it is adequately moistened! I  initially put in only enough soil to cover the roots on the seedling I have just inserted; after hanging the planter, I then pour in more soil (and organic vegetable fertilizer, in layers) as needed to fill the planter to within 3-4 inches from the top.

Finally, after your planter is hung and filled with soil, the top should be placed over the opening. This is to prevent loss of moisture due to evaporation. Before placing the top on the bucket, cut a hole about 1 1/2 to 2" in diameter near the center of the top; this is the hole into which you will provide irrigation for your upside-down plants. Grumpy's preferred method is to drill a 1/8" hole in the center of the plastic lid from a 3 liter Ocean Spray juice bottle, then poke (with a large needle) a 1-2 mm pin hole in the side of the 3 liter bottle between the handle and the neck. The distance between the 1/8" hole in the lid and the 1-2mm pin hole in the side provides approximately the right amount of pressure difference, when the bottle is full of water and turned upside down into the hole in the 5-gallon lid, to provide about 1-2 drops of water per second. Ideally, 3 liters of water should last 2 days during the early season; during the hotter days of July and August, 3 liters per day may be advisable. If the 3 liter bottle is allowed to lean at approximately a 45 degree angle, the rate of drops can be adjusted by turning the 3 liter bottle slightly to the left or right (decreasing the vertical distance between the hole in the lid and the hole in the side).

Upside-Down Tomatoes; A Comparison between Year One and Year Two

Grumpy's Castle; Two Different Years, Two Different Methods --

Grumpy stated, in a recent post, that his tomatoes were significantly better this year than last. In some respects, this is true. However, it depends on what one considers as "better", as the two photos below demonstrate. Note the red-ripe tomato on the 2009 "Early Girl" in the left photo; the much more robust 2010 "Early Girl" in the photo to the right can only  boast several somewhat larger but still green tomatoes!

Early Girl, July 19th 2009   Early Girl, July 23rd 2010

Grumpy believes the difference is due to: better watering in 2010; better soil used in 2010; only one plant per planter in 2010. Further, the cooler weather in 2010 probably accounts for the earlier ripening in 2009. He believes that, by the end of Summer, the 2010 tomatoes will produce much more edible fruit than was the case in 2009. And that is the purpose after all, isn't it?

Upside-Down Tomatoes; Year Two, July Update

Grumpy's Castle; 19 July 2010 --

I cannot say I'm sorry for boasting about my tomatoes -- but if any reader doesn't want to hear about my fantastic success this year with my Upside-Down Tomatoes, then he/she should stop reading right now and find something more entertaining to do/read/watch.

On thing I did this year differently from last year is that I planted only one (not two, as the advertisement suggests is possible) tomatoes per planter. The evidence is overwhelming that one planter provides the nourishment that only one tomato plant requires. This year the plants are more than twice as robust as last year. The quality of the fruit will have to be determined later.

I planted four varieties this year: Early Girl (also last year), Hybrid Beefsteak, Fantastic (Grand Mother's favorite), and Sun Gold (also last year). Actually, the only tomato from which I was able to harvest any tomatoes last year was from the Sun Gold. Besides producing some edible fruit last year, Sun Gold also was a flavorful little cherry-type tomato, so it was a given that we would plant at least one of them again. But look what bounty it is promising this year! Careful counting will reveal at least nine multi-blossomed bunches in this view.

One of the blossomed bunches on the Sun Gold sports at least 26 flowers! Another bunch is hidden from view in these photos, but it has at least ten full-(cherry)-sized green tomatoes, just waiting to turn golden color and ready to eat (yumm!!). I like this "tomato" weather we are having!!

Each of the other tomato plants have at least two or three green tomatoes in various stages of growing larger. The Early Girl has the most (15) and also the most bunches of yellow flowers promising a bountiful harvest later, maybe starting in August; the Hybrid Beefsteak has the fewest (2-3) green tomatoes, but also has many yellow flowers for a good potential later.

Oh, one other thing I am doing this year, as opposed to last: I am maintaining a drip irrigation of about 1-2 liters of water per planter per day (Note the 2-3 liter plastic water bottles in the first photo above). I may describe the details of my design for this device in another BLOG.

For more news about Grumpy's tomatoes and Raspberries, just watch this BLOG!

The Untold Story About the Birth of Son Number Two; A Sequel

Long Ago and Far Away; Today's Memories --

It is kinda funny the way different people -- even different people who have lived together for over sixty years! -- have differing memories about the same subject. The case in point is the recent post in this BLOG about the hair-raising experience of a young and fairly inexperienced father-to-be delivering (ahem!) his young, and also fairly inexperienced, wife to the maternity home just in time.

A certain "Anonymous" commented that, in that BLOG posting, the author had subtracted a full 12 months from the normal human gestation period. That's funny because Grumpy happens to know that Anonymous wasn't even there when the events described took place! Anyway, being relatively clever with the modern replacement for the old Underwood, Grumpy made this important correction before any more eagle-eyed readers took him to task.

Another reader (none other than Grumpy's long-time companion and LMP baker -- hint! hint!) commented -- privately -- that no mention was made of passing an oncoming car on a narrow bridge on the way to the maternity home. She further alleged that this scary incident, caused by me, resulted in the hastening of her labor pains -- and then she added, "I'm thankful; I was ready to have that baby!!"

Well, about that supposed narrow bridge, as was implied in the original version, the Daddy was pretty much set on getting to the maternity home on time, and if that meant exceeding the speed of birth, then that was what he was going to do; as for "narrow" bridges -- well when flying that low, they just looked wide enough, whether the oncoming driver -- or the pregnant passenger -- thought so or not. Obviously, the bridge was wide enough to accommodate both vehicles for the fraction of a second it took to pass (closing speed may have been in excess of 120 mph; ~50 plus ~70-80).

Now, before I end this sequel, I must admit to a bit of devious thought in conjunction with the previous post on this subject: I wanted to include a black and white photo of this quick addition to our family. But, not finding one in my digital file, I seriously considered putting this one in instead:

I was sure that no one could argue with me that the appearance (especially the  sky-blue eyes and wild blonde hair!) is similar, as you can perceive by looking at this one on the left. 

But, not wanting to deceive anyone (heh! heh!) I thought maybe this one (below) would be a fitting memento of what a great son he turned out to be:

Well, the Grand Mother thought this one was pretty good, too. That's why I am ending this sequel with this memorable photo.

The Untold Story About the Birth of Son Number Two

Western South Dakota; 18 February 19501 (Corrected, thanks to an Anonymous comment!)--

This day started early on a Sunday morning; the Mother awoke the Daddy about 0330 in the Hohum, announcing that she thought "today is the day"! This "coded message" could mean only one thing: our second baby (in the olden days, sex was only a speculation by the Doctor, based on criteria like fetal heart rate, phase of the moon and the orientation of the tea leaves among other things, until after the birth!) -- was due.

Even the Daddy was excited by this news; he had nearly died of unfounded fear when his first son was born just 18 months before. About six o'clock, the Mother put in a long-distance call to her parents, who had previously agreed to stay with the Daddy and toddler while the Mother tended to the business of giving birth to the anticipated girl (see method of predetermining baby's sex above). She had purchased yellow blankets and "onezies", hedging on the possibility that the Doctor's prediction was wrong -- wise woman!!

After making the aforementioned telephone call, the Mother set about making a Sunday dinner fit for the guests who would arrive in about three hours. I can't remember the menu she prepared, but needless to say, it was a feast fit for a king and queen! As she toiled to prepare the meal, the Daddy noticed the increasing frequency and relative severity of the Mother's reactions to the labor pains. Finally, about noon all was ready; the guests had arrived and the table was set.

• "Okay, let' s sit down and eat," said the Mother.
• "Yes," echoed the Daddy. "But not you! We are heading for the maternity home (in Spearfish) -- right now!!"

The Mother was surprisingly agreeable on this day and hopped into our second-hand 1942 flat-head Ford V-8. The Daddy tore out of our driveway and headed down US-85 to Spearfish, 10 miles away. The road was not straight, but the curves were decently tilted such that they could all be taken at 60-70 miles per hour. All cars that were not in a hurry were passed with the throttle wide-open, blue smoke from the crankcase oil being "burned" in the engine spewing out the exhaust in a dense cloud. On the straightaway once down in the Red River valley, the old Ford showed its best speed -- the Daddy was fully-occupied watching the road ahead to avoid entering cars, trucks and tractors, so he did not register the top speed, but a blue haze still hung over the valley a half hour later when he returned to Belle Fourche.

Upon entering the Spearfish city limits, the Ford was only slightly throttled back; when the street to turn up neared, the Daddy simply squealed the tires around the corner and hit the gas again, the exhaust emitting more blue smoke. As he pulled up in front of the Calvert Maternity Home, he helped the now-ready Mother into the home's maternity room, then letting out a huge sigh, noticed the City cop slowly driving away; it seems that he saw/heard the commotion/pollution entering "his town" and was determined to "do something about it", but then he realized that maybe it was "an emergency".

The Daddy had barely sat down at the kitchen table to have a cup of coffee with the husband of the house, when the nurse came out to announce, "You have a son!!" And what a son he turned to be!! (See photo on right.) One of a kind.

The Daddy jumped back into the still fuming Ford and made his way (now at legal speeds!!) back to Belle Fourche to inform the Grandparents. When he popped in the door, the Grandmother started chastising him with, "You should have stayed with the Mother until she had the baby!"

The Daddy explained that he had stayed, and that the baby, a boy, was already born and that as soon as they had finished their dinner, we could all go over to Spearfish and see Mother and new baby boy.

Back to Tomatoes and Raspberries -- The Garden After Our Vacation

Grumpy's Castle; 16 July 2010 --

Upon our return home, after being in the midwest since 23 June (yeah, I know, we were gone 17 days, not just 15!) Grumpy was happy to see that his trusted Grandson had kept his bargain to mow Grumpy's lawn at least a couple of times, but more importantly, he kept the Upside-Down Tomatoes adequately watered. The results were obvious: each of the four varieties of tomatoes had at least one developing fruit and multiple blossoms, promising a bumper crop in the warm days ahead.

The persons to whom we extended the invitation to reap the crop(s) of Raspberries during our absence, apparently did not take our invitation seriously as there were numerous ripe and dehydrated berries still on the vines. However, that next morning after our return, Grumpy took his berry pail and picked nearly half a gallon of the sweet-tart gems. He also ate a few -- just as a test to make sure they were edible! Ha! ha!

Grand Mother noted the pail-full with some trepidation, as she was tired from washing our accumulation of clothes from our trip plus a sizable amount from the bachelors who remained behind. Nevertheless, she summoned up that reserve that Grumpy can only marvel at, but not explain, and baked a super-delicious Raspberry pie. Due to circumstances almost entirely beyond Grumpy's control, the last bit of the pie disappeared before he could take a photo. The photo on the right is the best he could do; look closely and you may see the evidence in the corners of his mouth.

A day later, Grumpy picked another half pail of berries; now, three days later, yet more berries await. Grumpy will be out there in the morning to pick them before the heat of the day dehydrates them. Another Raspberry pie is surely in the offing!! Hurry; reserve your piece now, before yet another pie bites the dust!