Today's Pics . . .

It has been a drizzly, dreary, windy, cool and fall like day.  Haven't had a day like this for a long time. Probably had some in the spring. 


Went to some garage sales.  They were all in garages today.


A couple blocks of S. Cherry St. is bein completely rebuilt after a water and sewer line was replaced.  Every summer the city replaces several miles of water and sewer lines. 


A switch engine was settin on the tracks beside the tire plant.  Wonder how and where they refuel train engines.  Does a tank truck come to it or are there tank cars of diesel fuel  parked in designated areas?


What is left of my rudbeckias seemed to glow in the day's dreariness.  This is all I have left.  Many of them were cooked by the hot weather.  These are on the stunted side.  Waterin didn't help them much this year.  


And, of course, this is my cat, Simon, stretched out on the floor.  He seems to like to nap stretched out and on his back.

It's Over . . .

It's over . . . My attempt to compete an Operation 365 is over . . . I started the middle of last December. It lasted almost 3 months. They say most last around 30 days. So what is this Operation 365 you may be thinkin? It is posting a photo taken that day for 365 consecutive days. It isn't easy comin up with a new photo everyday. Sometimes ya feel like you've shot everything their is to shoot. Sometimes what ya want to shoot just isn't there that particular day. Sometimes ya wanta say "oh, shoot."

My downfall began last Monday. I had an eye exam. The Dr. dilated my pupils as part of the exam. Not something I really enjoy, but it isn't that bad, either. My eye balls kinda ached the rest of the day. Tuesday I sort of had a headache & achey eyeballs most of the day. Wednesday was the same. Thursday, I got up with a pretty good headache. I finally gave in & took a couple aspirin, which didn't seem to have much effect. I fell asleep a couple times sitting in a chair that PM. I have to be super tired or feelin really bad to sleep during the day anywhere. Went to bed around 6 PM and slept all night. Been fine since. Yesterday I didn't write anything cause there was nothing to write about -- yeah, I know, it is a blog about nothing, but there wasn't enough nothing to write about. Admit it, we all have days like that . . . And since the string was broken I didn't go lookin for stuff to shoot. That's my story and I'm stickin with it ! ! !

Daffodils . . .

Daffodils are my favorite spring flower next to tulips. Tulips are don't naturalize well, so I've planted a heck of a lot of daffodils since living here. The daffodils on the north side of my house are up a couple inches. It's lookin green in there. Weather permitting, I'll have some yellow there soon. I have Russian Sage and all kinds of lilies in there too.

I was thinkin had a few crocuses in front of the garage, but I haven't seen anything poking through. The piled up snow may have slowed them up. The local newspaper had a photo of someone's crocuses in full bloom in the middle of the front page. Maybe I'll get lucky and find my daffodils on the front page this year.

Poor Will's Almanack says the Running Maple Sap Moon will be waning through its final phase this week and will become the new Golden Goldfinch Moon next Monday PM. Wonder who was in charge of naming these things. We were officially 80% of the way to spring as of last Monday. I just thought you should know. Never know when you will need some timely current events to start a conversation . . . .

Found One . . .

Been lookin for a generically messy/cluttered basement for several years. I found this one today. It is the best I've been able to come up with. I really don't think it is all that messy or cluttered . . . but definitely generic, don't ya think??? Sometime ya have to make do with what you have to make do with. Gonna use it for my eBay profile and a couple other things I've been thinkin about.

Today my favorite cousin, Cheryl, and I (No apologies today to all my other favorite cousins . . . Its just that I was with this cousin today . . . that's my definition of a favorite cousin . . . i am almost always available for lunch or dinner . . . It'll move you up in the rankings . . . HONEST !!). Now where was I . . . Oh, we went to the Toledo Art Museum. The actual art museum is pretty cool. Musta taken a long time to paint those portraits. I have no idea how they knew where to start on the canvas, keep everything in proportion and have room for everything.

The best part of the trip for me was the Glass Pavilion across the street from the museum. I like glass. I can stare at a colorful piece of glass for ever, especially when the sun is shining through it . . . really doesn't take much to entertain me most of the time. The building is something you don't see anywhere but there. All glass walls . . . actually 2 glass walls with 3 or 4 feet between them. The doors are very tricky. Ya have to stop about it to make sure there really is a door where you think it is. Got there in time to see a glass blowing demonstration. Took about 45 minutes to make a bowl. The interior was a peach/orange color and the exterior had a lot of reds & maroons in it. Definitely wasn't they first time they made a bowl. There is a glass blower north of me in West Unity. I ought to see how many blobby paper weights I can make before I get lucky and come up with something that can be indentified as something other than a blobby paper weight.

P.S. There is rain in the forecast for tonight and there is also a flood watch for the Tiffin River. Knew it wouldn't be long. This is gonna happen almost everytime there is rain in the forecast till we have our almost annual summer drought . . . I say almost cause we didn't have a drought last summer.

A Fallin Barn . . .

Today was my annual eye exam. On the way I stopped and shot this 'fallin barn.' From a distance it looks like a monster took a bite out of it.

The exam took place in Defiance. The dr. dilated my eyes. This doesn't make my list of Top 100 Fun Things To Do. It isn't that bad, just annoying, especially on a sunny day. Many years ago I crewed for a hot air balloon pilot. In real life, he was an optician. He had his own store and had an eye Dr. come in a day or 2 each week to give exams. One year, the Dr. dilated my eyes. The store had a lot of mirrors and of course it was a bright sunny day. My so-called friend had me sit in front of the mirrors and disappeared to laugh his fool head off. Talk about bright . . . I probably deserved it . . . I was always pulling stuff on him . . . Anyway, I survived that torturous exam and I got through today's exam ok too.

While in Defiance, I saw a guy in a kilt going to his car. Not often I see guys in kilts anywhere. Don't think there were any parades today. The guy was drivin a Prius . . . I'll let you come to your own conclusions. . . .

The ice seems to be melting in the rivers peacefully this year. The means that there is a chance there won't be a lot of river flooding, except, of course along the Tiffin River.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Not much to blog about today. Today was a lot like yesterday.

Every time I by this spot, there are birds hangin around on this phone cable. Sometimes only 3 or 4, sometimes they are pole to pole. I have no idea what the attraction is. They are always a larger bird, maybe doves or pigeons.

March 5, 2010 . . .

A very nice, blue sky, sunny day. It was a lot colder than it looked like it should be!! Made me want to do something neat and interesting, but I couldn't think of anything. I ended up getting a hair cut . . . life in the small town, I guess . . .

Took a package to the post office and while standing in line I spotted the photo and a 'certificate' on the wall. It was about the USPS using the old Bryan air field as a stop on the way west during the early air mail years. A couple yrs. ago the USPS did a commerative flight with an old bi-plane. Don't recall if it was a similiar plane that is mentioned on the sign. For this flight they used the county airport just east of where I live. I decided to take a photo of the sign, which is about a mile north of the present post office. Guess if I would have read it close while I was there, I would have taken a photo of the 'rest of the story' on the back of the sign. Well . . . I think that the next time you are in the mood for a one tank day trip, you should consider coming to Bryan to see tracks where the railroad speed record was set and the location of the old air mail stop. Might wanna make sure you read the back of the sign too.

Oh, and before I forget, I saw the plane headed west after the ceremony in Bryan a couple yrs. ago. I was mowin the rough at the country club.

March 4, 2010 . . .

After discovering first thing this AM that I had no clean underwear, the day wasn't all that bad.

The Dollar General store had a sign in the window saying that DST starts March 14. Seems quick, but that is when it starts. Hope the 40/50 degree temperatures start quick too.

Took some photos to Walgreen's to be printed. Some look good and some were disappointing. Thinking about entering some in contests this year. Coming out of Walgreen's I saw that black SMART car in the lot. Thought about tipping it over, but was able to control my urges. I just always think 'tip it over' when I see one.

Had a Taco Salad at Wendy's this PM. An ambulance crew got in line behind me. I mentioned to them that the last time I saw an ambulance pull into the lot, I saw it go around the building and leave with lights, etc. They said it was them. Said they got diverted to another call before they got to first one. . . and that one got canceled before they got there . . . then they were sent to another call before they got lunch. Lunch was very late for them that day.

Took some stuff to the post office this AM. Decided to shoot the stairs in an alley today.

This is the best of what I shot. Doesn't seem to have the 'pop' I thought it was going to have.

So I decided that maybe black & white would be the way to go . . . Don't know about b & w either . . .

Decide to try some filters on it. This is the water color filter . . . I think there is too much detail in the photo for this filter . . . Let me know what you think about them . . . Seriously . . .

Rail Speed Record . .

For no particular reason I found myself going by the Bryan Amtrack station. I noticed the historical marker about the high speed rail record that was set here back in '66. . . over 180 mph . . . that's movin pretty quick. For those of you visually challenged the photo below might be easier to read.

Ya didn't think I was gonna type all that did ya?????

March 1, 2010 . . .

The setting sun reflecting off the melting snow in the bean field next to the local YMCA parking lot this evening.

March definitely came in like a lamb this year . . . now I'm gonna be worryin about that out like a lion thing at the end of the month. It was a bright blue sky, nearly cloudless, sunny day with almost no wind and the temperature is still 40 as I type this. Hate to be a pessimist, but it will probably be a while before Ma Nature starts stringing days like today together. . .

Home & Garden Show . . .

This PM, The Cooper and I traveled to Ft. Wayne for the annual Home & Garden Show. Every year it seems a lot different. This year seemed to be the year of the chiropractor. There must have been 5 or 6 booths giving free massages, etc. Even the US Census had a booth. They were giving away cloth bags and some other goodies. No wonder the census costs costs several billion dollars. Saw a lady walking around with a parrot on her shoulder. Thought that was pretty strange. I mean, this is Ft. Wayne, Indiana . . . not Cleveland or San Francisco or New York City or . . . gettin the idea yet ?? When I got to the flower section I noticed a booth of exoctic birds. So she probably didn't wander in off the streets. For some strange reason there weren't many of those little blue-haired ladies that live to block aisles no matter how wide they are and get in everyone's way. Maybe they stayed home to watch the hockey game . . .

Took the scenic route back to Ohio. Noticed a cluster of cell phone antennas mounted on a electricity transmission tower. First time I noticed that in these parts. I've seen them in the Cleveland area. Saw four deer near the road in a field. When they saw me they started running toward me. Probably havin some fun with me. Saw a hawk on a phone cable. I stopped to shoot a photo, but he decided to leave. Tried to tell him I had a mouse for him if I could take a picture, but apparently he didn't believe me. Saw a couple more a few miles later flying around. Saw a few wild turkeys here and there. They come out of the woods a lot this time of year.

Spotted a flock of pheasants in a field next to the road. Can't remember when I've seen pheasants in the 'wild.' By the time I got stopped and the camera ready to go, there were only a couple hanging around. Mentioned that I had shelled corn for a group photo, but they didn't believe me either. No one was in the mood for handouts today.

Spotted this scene closer to home. Someone is shelling out some bucks to drain their field. I haven't seen this many roll of drainage 'tile' in one field for a long time.

Finally Did It . . .

I finally did it . . . I finally made myself go out to the garage and do something. I made a couple ball point pens from Corian. When ya think of Corain, most people think of counter tops. It isn't a cheap counter top, but waaaay cheaper than granite. The Corian polished up real nice. Wasn't sure how it would polish. I love making pens from acrylic. It polishes very well and you never know what is inside. Been a long time since I did anything with my lathe. I'm definitely out of practice. My stuff is scattered all over the garage which didn't help matters. I did some re-arranging last fall and haven't gotten everything where I need it yet. My plan . . . whenever I REALLY get in the mood is to make some fancy, high dollar pens and see if I can get anything for them on-line. The other plan is start a collection of pens made of every exotic wood I can get may hands on.

I sold a set of dog theme cookie cutters to someone in Thailand yesterday. Now, I'm pretty sure that the Koreans and a couple other countries in that part of the world eat dog. I wonder if the Thai do too. Makes me wonder why they would want dog type cookie cutters . . . but then I sell a set of farm animal cutters and we eat those animals, so maybe I'm wonderin about nothin again . . .

Before The Storm . . .

An old farm shed in the middle of a field before the snow hit late this PM. At one time there was probably other farm buildings and a farmhouse nearby.

Jackpot !!!!!

Had several auctions end last evening . . . and I won big on a couple of them.

Let me explain how I stumbled into the big winner (in the box above). A couple, three weeks ago I decided to purchase an ebook on selling kitchenware on eBay. It was being written by a successful eBayer who also publishes a pretty good e-newsletter. The introductory price offer was about a third of the regular price. After thinkin about it for a few days, I went for it. Sometimes these things are worth it and sometimes they aren't. The first volume is mainly about the best selling brands on eBay. I wrote out the list and went to the thrift shops to see what I could find. I very rarely go to thrift shops. The first time through I came home with 5 or 6 items that cost me about $3.00. My first sale was $6.50 for 3 bowls that cost me 35 cents each. I'm thinkin this is a pretty good start. The following week I went through the shops again. Spent another 2 or 3 bucks. Spotted a couple Corning Ware individual casseroles for a buck each. One had a glass lid and the other had a snap on plastic lid. I started each auction at $4.99. Didn't sell the one with the plastic lid. The other . . . with the glass lid is in the box. That one paid for the ebook !! Not a bad sale for a dollar investment. Click HERE to see what I got for it. Definitely on the lookout for a small glass lid!!!

A couple summers ago I paid a buck for a Griswold cast iron skillet. It and a couple Wagner iron skillets have sat in the garage for a long time. I finally cleaned them up and have listed two of them. The Griswold auction ended last night. I got over $15.00 for it. I thought that was pretty good return for a skillet that has a slightly warped bottom. Be nice if I had auctions like that everyday.

A Dead End . . .

I came to a 'dead end' today when it came to figgerin what to shoot for today's photo. So I found a dead end road. It is paved and is about a quarter mile long. No houses or building, woods on one side and fields on the other -- power lines that keep goin through the fields. Don't know if it is a county or township maintained road, but the snow was plowed. A couple inches of snow fell overnight . . . bout half of it melted today. It's been one of those days when it seems like I've photographed everything worth photographin. It will be nice once things start greenin up. Plenty of stuff to shoot then. Lookin forward to when there isn't snow piled everywhere and everything isn't muddy.

Ever hear of Blippy.com? It is a website where you can post your recent purchases for everyone to see. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me either . . . It is for real, check it out for yourself. Sounds kinda like Twitter where you can tell everyone what you are doin minute by minute. I better stop complainin about this kind of stuff . . . I mean, I blog a lot about nothin, but at least I only do it once a day, usually.

Did some readin on Poor Will's Almanack today. It seems that the dark Skunk Cabbage Moon is over and the Running Maple Sap Moon will be full on the 28th. Who names these things ? ? ? Almost sound like Indian names, but I can't believe anyone is gonna name their son Dark Skunk Cabbage . . . but then some of the names people are comin up with are almost as bad.

Poor Will also says this is the first week of the year that a 70 degree high temperature is a 10 per cent possibility. Kinda like those rain chance percentages. On March 2 we will have a full 2 hrs. more of daylight than the shortest days of December. That is always a good sign of spring . . . probably better than any of the 'named' ground hogs that were in the headlines a couple, three weeks ago.

Lawn/Gardening Tip

If your lawn is on the thin side, now is the time to be over seeding. Of course you are gonna hafta wait for the snow to melt. When that happens get some grass seed . . . I've seen it on the shelves of the big box stores all ready, and throw it around by the hand full. Grass seed needs contact with the soil to germinate. The freeze thaw cycles this time of year will do that part for you. I've done it for years and it does thicken up the lawn. I've re-done both my backyard then my front yard a couple yrs. later. The back is very thick which makes it difficult for weeds to germinate. The front is still a bit thinner than I like. When the snow melts, I'll be out there with my bag of grass seed.

Just sold 2 more flags. That makes 6 this week. They are going to Norway. If there is a Norwegian US Flag burning in the near future, I'm gonna wonder if they were the ones I sold . . .

Flags, Flags, Flags . . .

I used to sell a lot of new flags on eBay. Flag sales have really slowed down the last 2 or 3 years. I still them, but not near as often. I sell the heavy nylon, embroidered stars, sewn stripes type, measuring 3' by 5'. The last flag I sold was on Dec. 29 of '09. I sold three that month. Today, I have sold four -- so far. So I figgered that a photo of a flag would be appropriate. This flag is in front of the Bryan Eagles.

Then I got to thinkin . . . Been a long time since I sold any dog bone cookie cutter sets. I checked my listings and they weren't listed. Forgot to re-list when the listing expired . . . been doin a lot of forgettin lately . . .so I re-listed them. Less than an hour later, I sold a set. Which goes to prove that ya ain't gonna sell anything on eBay if ya don't have it listed.

Last evening I finished a book I've been reading, 'Blink.' It is about how we make unconcious decisions. Some people are better at it than others. Very interesting book. Returned it today and discovered that the book I wanted, 'Freakonomics,' is still checked out. While perusing the shelves, I spotted an interesting title -- 'Can't Remember SH*T.' In light of the recent cast iron skillet episode, I thought it might be worth bringing home. While I was there I had them look up my PIN. . . I had forgotten it too. Now I can look up stuff while at home and go to the library to pick it up. I did remember to write the PIN down while at the library and I've written it down at home.

It's Ok, I Found It . . .

It's ok, I finally found it. Found what, you may be thinking . . .

I finally found my cast iron skillet. It's a Wagner Ware Sidney #0, catalog #1058T and is about 10 1/2" in diameter. Weighs in at 4 lbs., 6 oz. The bottom is flat, not warped a bit. I was gonna list it on eBay yesterday, but I couldn't find it. Every once in a while I would get up and wander the house aimlessly looking for it. I remembered seeing it on one of my shelves that I keep eBay stuff on, but if it was there, I couldn't see it. Went to bed last night figuring that sooner or later it would appear.

Fortunately I didn't wake up thinking about my lost skillet, but it was one of the first 10 things that came to mind . . .sometimes things get real slow around here. . . Wandered the house a few more times this AM. Checked the refrigerator and the freezer, the garage, closets, under the couch . . . all the standard place one looks when looking for something.

Then, for no apparent reason and when I wasn't thinking about my lost skillet, I remembered!!!! Saturday evening I scrubbed it and added rubbed some vegetable oil on it and 'baked' it in the oven. This is called 'seasoning' for all you teflon skillet users. I left it in the oven to cool and forgot about it . . . till now.

I'm going to list it very right now . . . before I lose it again . . . .

You've Probably Wondered . . .

You've probably wondered now and then where I buy my coffee . . . Well probably not and more like never . . . but I needed a photo. In case anyone asks, you'll have the answer. This is Main Stop, the gas station/carry out where I buy my 64 cent of decaf in my stainless steel travel mug. Got the mug for a quarter at a garage sale a couple yrs ago . . . good deal !! You have any idea how much those things cost new???? A heck of a lot more than a quarter !!

Well that is about all there is to report for today. I gotta take some eBay photos for some new listings.

Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum . . .

Today I trucked myself over to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Automobile Museum in Auburn IN. It isn't far, Auburn is in the next county west of where I live.

Back in the 70's they restored the building that was used to design and build the Cords, Auburns and Duesenburgs and turned it into a museum.

It is a very nice building. They save a lot of the art deco details that was popular in the 20's and 30's. Several offices and the design studio has been preserved. And of course there are the cars. It isn't limited to Auburns, Cords and Duesenburgs.

I took over 300 photos. Many of them are doubles and I used different settings to reach that total. It'll take some time to sort through them. It wasn't easy taking decent photos. Hard to get a decent angle on the cars and the lighting isn't the best for picture taking.

This is a 1929 Duesenburg Model J. Elvis Presley drove it in the movie, Spin Out. He liked it so much that he tried to buy it, but it wasn't for sale at any price.

These cars very high dollar, luxury cars of the 20's & 30's. Most of the prices were 5 figures and sometimes went to 6. That was a lot of money for that time period. The depression didn't affect the company. They actually grew during the 30's.

Did you know that the first front wheel cars were built in Auburn during the 30's?

The National Automotive and Truck Museum is next door. It has new cars and trucks. Saw a '75 Bricklin. Back then I thought is was a pretty neat car. Don't think I've heard about the Bricklin since then.

Then I spotted this . . .

What does it remind you of . . . Yeah, it looks an awful like the SMART car . . . the car I love to hate. Makes me want to tip them over. For the record this is a 1980 Comuta. Made somewhere in Europe. That's exactly what the sign said.

This is a '52 Crosley station wagon. It's smaller than my MINI. It was made by the same company that made the Crosley refrigerators. Crosley made a lot of stuff back then.

Crosley was known for their propellers on the front grill. It turned in the wind. Their idea of a 'fun car' to drive, I guess . . .

The National Military History Center and the Kruse Automotive & Carriage Museum in Aburn also, but I will wait for another day to visit them. They don't allow cameras.

For Sale . . .

I've lived here since the summer of '04 and I it seems like this front end loader has been in this guy's front yard the whole time. Seems to me that maybe he ought to put some dirt in the bucket and plant marigolds or petunias. Don't think its gonna sell anytime soon. Probably get a few bucks for it if he sold it for scrap.

While I'm on the subject of sellin stuff, I did very well on a couple eBay auctions last night. One of the items was a Fire King 2 qt. blue sapphire casserole. There was no lid, the handle was chipped and the pattern wasn't quite right. Click here for details. Had a 1 qt. blue sapphire casserole up for auction that didn't sell. Nothing much wrong with it. I thought that one was gonna sell and I'd be stuck with the 2 qt one.

I always do pretty well with those aluminum coffee pots. I usually get double figures for them. I usually get them for almost nothing at garage sales or auctions. Had one go for $11.50 a couple wks ago. I auctioned off a Comet percolator type coffee pot last night. It did very well too. CLICK HERE to see details. Be nice if I did this well more often, but I don't.