Tax Day

I have spent the last two days getting bored, listening to books on tape and with ice packs on my eyes. I thought I would have more bruising, but it looks like a have bad make-up job on my upper eye lids. I will show you the before and after I have healed pictures later.

I hope you are not in a last minute rush on your taxes.

April 13

I will be off line for a couple of days. I will be going in for a little surgery on my eyelids. My eyelids are getting a little droopy.

http://www.surgery.org/public/procedures/eyelid_surgery
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Easter

A great Easter service and we headed for Albany to have a family dinner with our extended family. Great times.

April 11

The fish went on vacation today. Jef and I fished the Columbia from 6:00 to 12:00 and did not see a pole go down or a net out to bring in a fish.

Nancy and I went to the Ten Grands concert in Portland for the Snowman Foundation. This organization raises money for music education in our area. Ten grand pianos and 8 top piano soloists featured 2 young performers ( a 17 year old girl and a 12 year old boy). Each played a solo highlighting their own style, then joined the others playing duets, trios, and whole group selections. Several young guests played duets with the other performers.

Background for this thought - The organizer, performer and head of the Snowman Foundation (Michael Allen Harrison) invited area middle and elementary school music teachers to nominate someone who would like to perform in front of 3000 people. The most exciting moment for me came when Michael announced the person who would play their solo. We heard the name, then saw a child sprinting down the aisle like she was in the Olympic finals, her head bobbing just above the seat backs. In a flash the young girl appears on the stage. She announces that she is 8 years old and when asked what she would play said, "I don't know." With no hesitation she bounds over to the padded piano bench. She doesn't hesitate when the bench is too high - she just stands up and prepares to play. After a couple tentative notes, she starts knocking the audience right out of their seats. She played two pieces, bowed for a second and raced off the stage. Someone off stage must have lassoed her and guided her back to the stage. After two more bows, Micheal asked her if she would like to play at Ten Grands again. This time the answer was an emphatic "YES."

http://www.snowmanfoundation.org/

Finally a keeper

Mark caught this near the osprey nest. We had another one on the line for a while, but ......

It was good to get a keeper. Doug has been eager to have some salmon to smoke. The Reiners and Lanes will have fresh smoked salmon as part of our Easter dinner.

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It was a very nice day on the river with Doug and Mark.

Life is good.

April 9 --- Sex on the River

I went fishing this morning. One vigorous bite, but only a moment of excitement.

Background for the pictures. Oregon has an increasing number of raptors. Osprey (fish eagles) nest near the water on a high platform in a pile of branches and different kinds of fluff.

The best fishing for the next couple of weeks has many boats trolling slowly within a 100 feet of the nest. None of the fisherman bother the osprey pairs and the osprey don't seem to be bothered with the fisherman. This nest has been occupied for several years. The first picture is the pair building the nest and the second picture is the pair mating. I picked up my camera about three minutes before I took these pictures. Luck is a wonderful thing.

April 8

4:30 A.M. was very early today. I arrived at the boat launch on the Columbia at 5:30 and 30 boats were ahead of me. I launched a little after 6:00 and there were 40 to 50 boats waiting to launch. My fishing partners for today were Doug and Devin. By 7:30, there were boats (200 to 300) everywhere between the I-5 Bridge and the I-205 bridges (about 2 miles) We did not see many fish caught today (2) and about 9:00, Devon hooked a wild Chinook. Remember wild fish are released - hatchery raised fish make it to the table. For the technical difference between wild and hatchery is whether the fish has an adipose fin on the dorsal side of the fish just ahead of the tail (look at the picture and you will see a small fin just in front of the tail). The hatchery people will clip that fin before they are released. Today was fun, but no dinner.

April 6

Sunny weather visited us for the last two days. We ventured outside and it was weed patrol for Nancy and I finished building our raised beds. I have been rebuilding them and moving the dirt from one to the other. Now I have two empty ones to fill (OH joy). These beds are significantly higher than my old ones. It will make it easier to harvest all of our organic vegetables.

North Carolina is whooping Michigan State in the first half.

April 5

Busy day. Early church. A quick trip to Lincoln City to drop off a easy chair and we needed to check on things. On the way home we stopped at the tulip festival to take a few pictures, but the tulips are very late this year. So I have some nice daffodil pictures.

April 4

Nancy and I went to Corvallis, Oregon for the ordination of a young man, Lance Peeler, that grew up in our church. It was a very special special day.

April 3

Fishing again on the Columbia with Doug, Scott and Roger. No fish today.. Nancy and I went over to David and Sherry's to help them lay some sub flooring in preparation for hardwood floors. We will work on that later.

April 1

Wednesday was cold, windy and wet, so Doug and I went fishing on the Columbia River. I caught a wild chinook salmon. The fish was about 30" long and put up a great fight. The downside is that hatchery fish make to the dinner table and native or wild fish are released.

Tuesday 3-31

Katie returned from her trip. Matt, Katie and Nora are now spending some time with Katie's parents so everybody gets some time with the Klamath Falls Lanes.

We really enjoyed babysitting Nora and Ginger the Pug.

Busy Days

Matt and Nora have been with us for several days, while Katie is on a business trip. Matt is working the week days. Nora is taking walking, watching Papa run the little rototiller, going to the play area, eating, napping and we are changing diapers. Deja Vu all over again.

Sunday we had a family gathering with the Wilsonville Lanes, Scappoose Lanes, Albany Reiners, and the Kamath Falls Lanes minus Katie. Great times.

1st post

Welcome to the our new pursuit online. We hope you will find some information and enjoyment in our little adventures. Today we are babysitting our granddaughter Nora for the day and I think she just decided to start her afternoon nap. Three minutes of quiet is a good sign.
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