Working and Visiting

ADVERTISEMENT : My Cranberry Barbershop Group is selling MUMs as a fundraiser so we can buy new music. The MUMs are 6 1/2" pots with a bloom diameter of 12"-14". They are only $5.00 each and come in six choices of colors - yellow, red, purple, orange, white and light lavender. If you'd like some let me know ASAP as the deadline is September 15th. (They come from a local Greenhouse and are beautiful. Last year's plants are thriving this year!) The price includes tax. You can reach me at chapaiello@aol.com or 724-591-5115.

Saturday I worked at Treesdale as starter ranger on the Lakes course. It was a busy day, but I did manage to take a few pictures of the deer roaming across the first fairway and also a monarch butterfly draining the goodies offered by lakeside plant. Both the deer and the butterfly posed for me. Remember you can click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Here is another video clip from our "Duckie Tour of Pittsburgh."

Dee spent the day with her friend Kathy from Butler. They shopped for a valance for the living room and got caught up regarding Kathy's new grandson. She loves spending the day with old friends. Then we finished the day with some time at Barnes and Noble

On Land and on the High Seas

Friday Dee and I decided to go downtown to Pittsburgh. First it was lunch at Wholeys for a fish sandwich and then the 21st Street Cafe for "cold brewed iced coffee" (the best in the city) and then off for a ride on the "Just Duckie Tours". They are small buses that can ride on land and in the water. It was a tour of Pittsburgh on land and the rivers of the city. Here is a picture of our vehicle, and one of the skyline and plus a video clip of the fountain at the Point where the three rivers come together. The Fountain is actually make from a fourth river beneath the other three. It's called an aquifer. I took other pictures and you'll see them in the coming days. (Remember you can click on the photos and they'll be enlarged on your screen, and you can play the video with a click of your mouse.)

We finished our outing with dinner at Pizza Hut (Wing Street) back in Mars near our housing plan, and I got a haircut at Great Clips for $5.00. They just opened and are having a special. We had a great day!

A Day Outside

ADVERTISEMENT : My Cranberry Barbershop Group is selling MUMs as a fundraiser so we can buy new music. The MUMs are 6 1/2" pots with a bloom diameter of 12"-14". They are only $5.00 each and come in six choices of colors - yellow, red, purplse, orange, white and light lavendar. If you'd like some let me know ASAP as the deadline is September 15th. (They come from a local Greenhouse and are beautiful. Last year's plants are thriving this year!) The price includes tax.

Yesterday was an outside kind of day. Mr friend Gary W. invited me to join with him and two others to play golf at Cranberry Highlands at 7:30 AM. The weather was beautiful and we had a great day. I even got two pars, but fell apart on the last hole again. Hummm. I went straight to work from there and did my ranger thing for the next 5 hours. Here is a picture of one of the holes on the Lakes course - a par 3...

When I got home, Dee had a great dinner of boneless spare ribs prepared for us (she'd done them in a crock pot). Yuummmm. (No picture because we ate them all.)

Afterward we went out to hear a local musician play guitar accompanied by drums and bass guitar at a local outside mall. It was relaxing and we enjoyed a Frappe and iced coffee while we listened.

Dee spent the day looking for material for the front windows. She also got to talk with her friend Kathy G. and Kerri on the phone. Kerri is planning on coming for a visit Labor Day weekend. That'll be nice.

A Three Bubble Day

Yesterday I hung the new picture on the living room wall. Since the picture is4 feet wide and about3 1/2 feet tall, I wanted to make sure it was level before I put the holes in the wall. I used the small hooks called superhooks. They are "J" shaped and make a tiny hole less than an eighth of an inch in diameter. They worked just fine. And when I put a level on top of the picture after hanging it, the level bubble (Bubble One) was dead center! God is good.

Then I want to Rotary and hit some golf balls on the range afterward. Dee went out to Contours to exercise while I was at Rotary. She got to talk with her sisters later in the day to reconnect since their mom's funeral. Dee went to JoAnn Fabrics and took her lesson on the new sewing machine. She leared all about zigzag stiches and button holes. When I got home, we decided to go out and check out a fabric store for material for living room curtains. We didn't find any , but we learned a real neat shortcut to the lower part of Route 8 when we tried an alternate way home. Cool.

In the evening I went to quartet practice at the Presbyterian church and Dee checked out Walmart and Barnes and Noble while I was gone. When we got home we decided to take a dip in the hot tub. Picture this... Candle light, Chardonnay wine (Bubble Two), Jets operating at the right intensity (Bubble Three), and leaning back and looking at the stars in the clear sky. VERY relaxing. Ahhhhh.

Making new Friends

While reading the book "Eleven indispensable relationships" I came across these thoughts... "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words."

He also says that "Jesus is God's middle C, God's tuning fork to the eternal, God's perfect pitch."

Yesterday Dee had a luncheon with a few women from the Adams Ridge neighborhood. She went with Sandra B. and they all ate at the Texas Longhorn Restaurant. She said there were about 12 there in all. Sounded like she had a nice time. Prior to that she'd gone to Contours for her workout.

While she was there I went to play golf at Treesdale. As I was about to start, I met up with two other Rangers unexpectedly and the three of us played 18 holes. Pat and Steve are good golfers, so it was nice to watch them hit the ball. My front 9 was terrible, but the back 9 was almost the best I ever played, before I fell apart on the last hole. The weather was awesome! It was a good afternoon.

When I got home, Dee had had a chance to talk with Kerri (It was her birthday.) as well as her friend Clif W. (from her old job) and sister Ruthie.

A Warm Day

Here's a photo of my golfing buddy - John Curdie. I took this picture with my cell phone camera. I'm amazed at how clear it is. John and I stopped for an iced coffee at McDonalds after our round of golf on Saturday.

Yesterday Dee awoke with a cough so we laid low until the doctor called back with a prescription. Then we went to get the prescription and checked out some things at local stores. We're thinking of getting rope lights for the deck, stairs and hot tub area. Then we spent the afternoon at home. In the evening I went to Bogmeister Barbershop Harmony practice and then for milk and cookies at Ol' Uncle Bob's. We put the finishing touches on the music for Sundays performance at the Park Memorial Presbyterian Church in Allison Park.

A Great Weekend !

It's been 4 days since I last entered an update. Thursday I was able to go visit my mother and take her to the doctor's office. Her report was a good one with normal blood pressure and cholesterol. We had a nice lunch together at Ponderosa and then bought a nice rug for her porch and park bench for her back yard (the north shore).

I decided that I wanted to connect with an old childhood friend - Kenny Jackson. He's moved out of town but I didn't have any phone numbers so I called his mother in town and she gave me his phone number. When I called he wasn't home. His wife said he was at band practice (he's part of a country band). I tracked down where they were practicing and since it was just a couple of miles away, I paid them a visit. He was surprised to see me. He looks the same as the last time I saw him years ago, but now he wears glasses. They were playing in a garage - Kenny and Rudy. It turns out Rudy went to school with Faye. He took her to the 7th grade dance and they won the "cake walk" together. LOL ! While there I took my Qchord in to the session - they'd never seen such an instrument. Since it plays rhythms and chords, I could jam along with them. LOTS OF FUN !

The Friday we built the park bench and carried it to the back yard. I took some pictures of her there. It looks great and really perks up the area, as does the new rug on the porch. Here are two photos of our efforts...

Then I spent part of the afternoon cleaning away branches and trees so she could have a nice view from the front porch out across the intersection by her home. The tools she had for the yard came in handy. Later in the day we went to the bank, took care of business and then had lunch at Bill Hill's in New Eagle. Then we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon on the porch reading the paper and watching the sights. In the evening we watched a Barbershop Harmony DVD of championship choruses. I hadn't seen it before and we enjoyed it together.

Saturday, John Curdie stopped by first thing in the morning and we went to play golf at Riverview Golf Course across the river from Nee Eagle. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time! No one pushing us from behind and a light breeze all day. After he took me home, I relaxed on the porch with mom and then we went up to Chess Park for a "memorial jam" held in honor of Harold Weaver. It seems he taught thousands of people how to play the guitar. This was the 3rd Annual tribute to him and his music. Kenny Jackson's group was playing with other musicians. Kenny didn't get to play because he had to watch his grandchildren. Here they are... They had food at the concert and mom had a couple of hot dogs. It was a nice event and about 100 people came with lawn chairs to enjoy the afternoon of music in the shade.

After I took her home, I went to my 45th reunion at the local Elks club. It was a nice place. There was a DJ and 40 classmates and 30 guests. The food was good, and it was amazing to reconnect with so many people from my youth. It's strange hearing people say "You are still the same." I thought, gee, I've been through a lot and been lots of places and have a family and yet, "I'm still the same." - Something wrong with this picture if you ask me... Any way, here are a few pictures from the evening.

My batteries died on me while I was taking photos, and so I didn't get as many as I'd hoped. Above is one of all the girls from our class who were present at the reunion; one of Mr. Zober our Chemistry and Calculus teacher (We had class on Saturdays no less) and Maureen Gustafson who teaches in the Masters program at Pitt now. The DJ was good and we got to do some dancing. I of course tried to dance with each of the girls, but there was so many of them and so little time, that I ran out of time. And it was a long ride back to Mars.

Today I went to church in the morning and chatted with the Campbells. Then Dee and I went to the Bogmeister picnic in the afternoon. It was a a member's son's place. A lovely setting with lots of good food - burgers, hot dogs, fresh corn, beans, pineapple upside down cake and a buffet of much much more. We even played Bocce - a first for Dee and me. Then some singing after dinner before heading home. It cooled of nicely and we enjoyed the evening on the deck. Whew! A great weekend.