I guess it's that time of year again. We have the tree up and so far the cat has left it alone. As you can see there isn't much under it, but I haven't started shopping yet. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of good grits and family. We smoked a turkey and had some smoked salmon and smoked walnuts. It was all good. The nuts were from Jim and Kathleen's trees in Wenatchee. Cindy and I picked up the nuts and I cracked them watching football games on TV. I ended up with 5 1/2 pounds of nutmeat. You brine the nuts in salt water over night and then spray them with olive oil and sprinkle rub on. I smoked them for four hours and they are a keeper. Since I have smoked another batch and sent them to Germany for the kids to try. It will probably become a yearly deal. Many years ago my dad bought a black walnut cracker from a guy in Missouri. It was made from a Model A gear. His son later took over the business, but ran out of gears and they are no more. It is a fantastic cracker and leaves the nut whole. That makes the job a lot easier. From the pictures you can see the kids are enjoying the Christmas Market season in Germany. We had those cinnamon rolls last year too. They are fired in a wood burning oven. I guess the line was a lot longer this year. We will go to Wenatchee for Christmas again this year. Cindy will be here later today on her way to Seattle. We get to be doggie sitters for a couple of days. The cat really loves that. . . . . . not. We had a skiff of snow this morning. It is about gone now and hopefully the golf course will be awaiting shortly. May all of you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year.

Well, it's been a long time since I posted anything on this site. It has been a great summer and fall. We are starting to see the signs of the other side of summer. It is supposed to freeze tonight. I have blown the water lines and am ready for the long cold winter. Annette lost her mother on Monday night, Oct. 17th. We were expecting this, so it wasn't a shock. Barbara was 91 years old and had lived a long and for the most part healthy life. It has just been the last year that she has gone down hill quickly. I am sure that we will miss her on the holidays, as we generally get together as a family to celebrate the occassions. Annette is busy quilting and enjoying the big room out back. She is doing the Senior Quilt that they sell raffle tickets on now. She has done a number of Quilts of Valor that are given to military past and present. She got an email from an Austrailan Naval Warrant Officer who had served with our Seals in Viet Nam. He had been awarded one of Annette's quilts and wanted to thank her for the beautiful quilt. He had a flag that had flown over the Arizona in 1984 and said he was going to hang the quilt beside it along with a number of comendations from the USN. We are quite proud of her work.

We had a beautiful sunrise on Saturday and I happened to be able to capture it on the camera. It is another reason we love living in this area. The grapes and apples are being harvested now. It's a little late this year, but it is never too late for the good stuff. We are not planning any big trips this winter at this time, but anything could happen. We always enjoy the four seasons, but if it gets really bad, I think I could be persuaded to head South for a short break. Golf has been good to me this year. I am playing pretty good for an old guy. Brother-in-law and I won our flight in the Fall Bestball last weekend. I will try to get information here quicker. I just have no excuse for the delay, other than I must have been having too much fun.

We are enjoying the time with Jim and Kathleen and Zmo home. We spent the evening on Tuesday in Wenatchee having dinner and playing. Annette is having a ball with the little one. Cindy and I went to her 30th reunion last Friday in Issaquah and saw many old friends. One of the guys that was there was in the second class I taught in Issaquah. He had his boys with him. It was really neat to see and talk to all. We went to Tonasket, WA on Tuesday to see a ex-student who missed Friday night because his son was in Pendicton, BC in a Hockey tournament. He lives in Sweden and was home for the Reunion and a family reunion. We had a good talk with the family before heading back to Wenatchee. We will head for the beach on Monday. We have a beach home rented Monday through Friday and will spend the time with family before they head back to Germany. We are going to the Long Beach Peninsula west of Portland. We are looking forward to spending time on the beach, kite flying and all the goodies that come from the water. Cindy has found a job and is back working, so she can't go. We will miss her but understand why she won't be there. We will send pictures of the trip when we get home.

Well I think that summer is finally here. We are anticipating that there will be plenty of sunshine and blue skies to follow. The gang is back from Germany and Zmo is already taking swimming lessons at the local pool. We enjoyed the 4th of July with burgers and fireworks in Wenatchee. Earlier in the Day it was the Desert Aire Firecracker Scramble. My team tied for 5th and received $37.00 each. It was a fun time and the new irons are working well. Cindy's 30th class reunion is July 15th-17th and Friday night is party night at the Gas Lamp Tavern. I will tag along to see how the group is doing. They were one of my favorite classes. Annette and I chaparoned their Senior Party. We are looking forward to the month of July as we will be spending a lot of time with the family. As the weather is finally getting hot I guess I'll have to add more water to the grass. Water is no problem this year. The Columbia as most of the other River systems of the West is full and there is much more to come. We are lucky that we don't have a flooding issue. Many parts of country aren't so lucky. More to come later.

55th Reunion Trip

We have just returned home from another wonderful trip. It is always fun to get together with family and friends. Particularly when it's old friends. We went to my 55th reunion in Stockton, Ks. over the Memorial Day weekend. 15 of the 30 remaining classmates where there and we shared many great memories. The reunion was at Rooks County Country Club and two other reunions were taking place. The Class of 1951 and the Class of 1946, so you see we were the young ones. It was a good night of conversation.

We had the opportunity to see Ralph and Glenda and Mike and Mary who had celebrated their 5oth and 4oth reunions at Planville. We met for dinner in Hays on Sunday night and Betty was there also. From Hays, we headed back to Sidney, Ne to see Dixie. She had just been to Minneapolis to receive her Doctorate in Ministry. We enjoyed our time there and I got a round of golf in with one of her flock. I would highly recommend the Sidney Golf Course to anyone that enjoys the game. Great course and only $19.00 to play.

We then went to Gary and Nancy's to live on the pond. The Platte River is very high and there are flood concerns. We hope they will make it through the summer with no problems. Gary and I fished three different days. He has planted both Hybrid rainbows and German Browns in his ponds. As you can see, the Rainbows have grown well in the short time they have been there. This fish was 24 inches long and weighed almost 6 pounds. It was a lot of fun on a light fly rod. But the good eating was the Bluegills. I have always thought that they are about the tastiest fish around. Needlest to say we had our fill.

Could not get over how green everything is throughout the mid-section of our country. The weather was beautiful and temperature very nice. I will post some other pictures when we get caught up.

Annette took a two-week Grandma trip to Germany to get some hug time with Zmo. The weather in Germany was wonderful. I was home with the cat. It was cold here, but in Germany it was in the 70's all but two days. I think she really enjoyed the time with the kids and grand-daughter. I found out that our Class of 56 was going to have a 55th Reunion over Memorial Day weekend. We have decided to share in the festivies. We will be going to Stockton and other points along the way. Ralph and Glenda will be in Hays for Ralph's 50th in Plainville and Mari Ellen and Mike will be in Plainville for her 40th. It sounds like Betty will be in the neighborhood also. It should be a fun time. We will stop at Dixie's on the way to and from Stockton and Gary and Nancy's after Dixie. Jim will be on the Cape in June to work on the house there and Kathleen and Zmo will be home in early July. We are busy with yard work getting ready to be away for a couple of weeks.

It's a wonderful day in Central Washington. The sun is shinning and the wind is quiet for the time being. It's supposed to reach 65 today. I think that golf will be on the agenda. As you can see I'm smoking some salmon and thinking about what wine will go the best with it.

As you can see the Ralf's were in Italy in March during a break. As always the food looks good. Annette is flying out to Germany on Tuesday the 12th. I'm staying home and watching the cat. Well I guess I'd better get the garden tilled and ready to plant. See you later.

As I looked at the site this morning, I realized I hadn't written anything since Christmas. It seems we have been running around like chickens with our heads cut off as my Mother used to say. I am sharing a couple of pictures that were taken recently. The Elk picture was taken about 25 miles from here as we were coming home from the Tri-Cities. The Eagle picture was taken last week by a school mate of mine that lives on Hood Canal. He said this was the best eagle picture that he had ever taken. He thought the caption should be. "Don't come back to the nest now, it's too late." It is a beautiful shot. It is Super Bowl Sunday and I am getting ready to go play a round of golf and follow that with a good viewing seat in front of a 60 inch big screen. There's a group of five of us that have been going to my brother-in-law's for the Super Bowl for five years now. It is always a lot of fun. It shouldn't be any different today. Lot's of Food, Wine and Eloquent Expressions of Wisdom as the commercials are viewed and the action unfurls on the field. The weather today is about 46 degrees and no wind for now. They say we will get lots of wind tonight. But after a game of golf and football, I guess we can handle that. Hopefully we will back to regular on this blog shortly.