TwoBigCats

We are very, very sad.

2012-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, after a relatively brief illness, Dad recently passed away. We've spent the past couple of months shuttling back and forth being with him and, after, putting his affairs in order. We're back home now and beginning to settle in.

Thanks to everyone for your support during Dad's illness and after ... as always, we appreciate your friendship :)

Hal, Joanne and the TwoBigCats Pack

It Hasta Be Shasta

2012-01-25T14:46:00.000-08:00

Taken yesterday while driving home from dad's.

TBC life around the house

2012-01-17T15:32:00.001-08:00

Busy for a bit ...

2012-01-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Folks,

Sorry for the delays / time in between posts lately ... we've been busy with some family issues lately and haven't been taking as many pics or have the time to post. We'll get back to "normal" as soon as possible.

Until then, be well.
hal

Some things to think about ...

2012-01-11T09:17:00.000-08:00

A relative of mine was recently diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer and has been placed in hospice care @ home. Induction in to the hospice program was extensive and included several pages of life-review questions / topics for the patient to consider ... and if they wish, complete for their friends / family to understand their feelings about their lives. I found the questions / topics thought-provoking ... perhaps you will, too.

My earliest childhood memories

The things I enjoyed most about my childhood and adolescent years

The people who are strongly influenced my life

The happiest events of my life

What I want people to remember about me

What I value most in life the greatest achievements of my life

What, if anything, would you look back on and do differently

If you could talk to anyone from your past who would it be? What would you say would you say?

OVERSIZED PHOTO POSTS ...

2012-01-02T09:58:00.000-08:00

What's up with that, anyway? Not sure, to tell you the truth. I can see the latest video and pics bleed in to the right hand margin / panel, but since I'm using the same devices / tools that I've always used, I don't understand where the problem lies. I'm on the hectic side of busy right now so won't address until things lighten in a few weeks time.

Sorry for the lousy formatting, film @ 11.

New Year Morning @ Vasona

2012-01-02T06:40:00.001-08:00

Good Fortune to you in 2012!

2011-12-31T16:28:00.000-08:00

Fortune Cookie Fortunes just for you!
1. A beautiful, smart, and loving person will be coming into your life.
2. A beautiful woman is a paradise to the eyes and a curse to the purse.
3. A bird in the hand can be messy.
4. A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses. - A Chinese Proverb
5. A cautious person leaves no stones unturned.
6. A cheerful letter or message is on its way to you.
7. A cheerful message is on its way to you.
8. A close friend reveals a hidden talent.
9. A friend asks only for your time not your money.
10. A friend is a present you give yourself.
11. A goal is a dram with a deadline.
12. A good book is the best of friends, the same today and forever.
13. A good memory is one trained to forget the trivial.
14. A good time to finish up old tasks.
15. A good time to start something new.
16. A great deal of what we see still depends on what we‟re looking for.
17. A great man never ignores the simplicity of a child.
18. A handful of patience is worth more than a bushel of brains.
19. A huge fortune at home is not as good as money in use.
20. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
21. A liar is not believed even though he tells the truth.
22. A long lost relative will soon come along to your benefit.
23. A man‟s dreams are an index to his greatness.
24. A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance.
25. A modest man never talks of himself.
26. A new opportunity will soon come your way.
27. A new relationship is about to blossom. You will be blessed.
28. A perfect statue never comes from a bad mold.
29. A person is as free as they believe themselves to be.
30. A quiet evening with friends is the best tonic for a long day.
31. A real patriot is the person who gets a parking ticket and rejoices that the system works.
32. A romantic mystery will soon add interest to your life.
33. A sense of humor is your best ally, don‟t lose it.
34. A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows. [Francis of Assisi]
35. A small lucky package is on its way to you.
36. A thrilling time is in your immediate future.
37. A true friend is someone who is there for you when they would rather be anywhere else.
38. A vacation to sunny shores is soon in store for you.
39. A very attractive person has a message for you.
40. A wise man knows everything. A shrewd one, everybody.
41. Absence sharpens love, presence strengthens it.
42. Action is the proper fruit of knowledge.
43. Admire a rose for its beauty but beware of its thorns.
44. Adversity is the test for strong men.
45. Advise is like kissing. It costs nothing and is a pleasant thing to do.
46. Affection is the broadest base of a good life.
47. Affirm it, visualize it, believe it, and it will actualize itself.
48. After readying the every emotion, there is an understanding entering the realm.
49. Age is nothing but a number.
50. All decisions you make today will be most fortunate.
51. All your hard work will soon pay off.
52. Allow yourself time, you will reach success.
53. Allow your curiosity to lead you to the answer you seek.
54. An angry man opens his mouth and shuts his eyes.
55. An empty stomach is not a good political advisor.
56. An important word of advice may come from a child.
57. An inch of time is an inch of gold.
58. An unexpected windfall will be yours.
59. Anyone who dares to be, can never be weak.
60. Appreciate the caring people who surround you.
61. Ask advice from everyone, but act with your own mind.
62. Ask advice, but use your own common sense.
63. At 20 years of age the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the judgment
64. At this moment, someone is thinking good thought of you.
65. Avert misunderstandings by calm, poise and balance.
66. Be adventuresome and try a new look.
67. Be alert for new opportunities – pleasure or business.
68. Be content with your lot. One cannot be first in everything.
69. Be direct, usually one can accomplish more that way.
70. Be generous and the favor will be returned.
71. Be guided by the hand of friendship.
72. Be moderate where pleasure is concerned, avoid fatigue.
73. Be on the alert for new opportunities.
74. Be tactful: Overlook not your own opportunity.
75. Be true and trust each other and al will be well.
76. Be worthy of the faith others have in you.
77. Beauty in its various forms appeals to you.
78. Behind an able man, there are always other able men.
79. Being aware of your fears will improve your life.
80. Birds are entangled by their feet and men by their tongues.
81. Chances are present to make huge personal gains.
82. Change is the watchword of progression.
83. Changing tide brings new kind of happiness.
84. Compassion will cure more than condemnation.
85. Confucius said: Angel with wings not so hot as angle with arms.
86. Confucius said: Learning without thought is labor lost; thought, without learning, is perilous.
87. Confucius said: Lovers in triangle, not on square.
88. Confucius said: Show-off always shown up in showdown.
89. Courage conquers all things; it even gives strength to the body.
90. Depart not from the path which fate has you assigned.
91. Digital circuits are made from analog parts.
92. Diligence and modesty can raise your social status.
93. Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself.
94. Do not let great ambitions overshadow small successes
95. Do something unusual tomorrow.
96. Do what you love and the necessary resources will follow.
97. Don‟t accept that others know better than you.
98. Don‟t be hasty; prosperity will know on your door soon.
99. Don‟t let unexpected situations “throw” you.
100. Don‟t panic.
101. Don‟t pass up a once-in-a-lifetime offer.
102. Don‟t underestimate yourself. Your social skills are needed by others at this time.
103. Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.
104. Emotion hinders your true self.
105. Engage in group activities that further transformation.
106. Enthusiastic leadership gets you a promotion when you least expect it.
107. Even the longest of days will come to an end.
108. Every minute, every day, life begins all over again.
109. Everyone has the right to choose one‟s own lifestyle.
110. Everything will now come your way.
111. Executive ability is prominent in your make up.
112. Expect the best and life takes on new meaning.
113. Failure is opportunity in disguise.
114. Failure is the tuition you pay for success.
115. Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.
116. Fortune truly helps those who are of good judgment.
117. Friends are kind to each other‟s dreams.
118. Friends long absent are coming back to you.
119. From now on your kindness will lead you to success.
120. Generosity and perfection are your everlasting goals.
121. Get your mind set. . .confidence will lead you on.
122. Give what you have. To someone it may be better than you dare to think.
123. Good beginnings are half done.
124. Good books are friends who are always ready to talk to us.
125. Good health will be yours for a long time.
126. Good news will come to you from far away.
127. Good sense is the master of human life.
128. Good things are being said about you.
129. Good things are coming to you in due course of time.
130. Great thoughts come from the heart.
131. Handsome is as handsome does.
132. Happiness is an attitude.
133. Happiness is contagious, pass it on.
134. Happy events will take place shortly in your home.
135. He asks advice in vain who will not follow it.
136. He that can‟t ensure the bad will not live to see the good.
137. He who has imagination without learning has wings but no feet.
138. He who is afraid of asking is ashamed of learning.
139. He who loves you will follow you.
140. He who suffers remembers.
141. Home is where the heart is.
142. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.
143. Idleness is the holiday of fools.
144. If you are poor of spirit, you have nothing.
145. If you continually give you will continually have.
146. If you don‟t enjoy what you have, how could you be happier with more?
147. If you fail, start again. If you try hard, you will eventually succeed.
148. If you go fishing, your catch will be plentiful.
149. If you have a difficult task, give it to a lazy man – he will find an easier way to do it.
150. If you laugh a lot, when you get older your wrinkles will be in the right places.
151. If you look in the right places, you can find some good offerings.
152. If you tell the truth, you don‟t have to remember anything.
153. If you think you can, you can.
154. If your friend wants to learn to drive, don‟t stand in the way.
155. Ignorance never settles a question.
156. Imagination is the highest kite one can fly.
157. In growing old, one grows more foolish and wise.
158. It is almost impossible to smile on the outside without feeling better on the inside.
159. It is better to have a hen tomorrow than an egg today.
160. It is easier to curse a candle than to light the darkness.
161. It is easier to make friends than to keep them.
162. It is impossible to please everybody. Please yourself first.
163. It is most gratifying when a goal is achieved through one‟s efforts.
164. It is not enough to have a good mind; the main thing is to use it well.
165. It is not the outside riches but the inside ones that produce happiness.
166. It is only great souls that know how much glory there is in being good.
167. It‟s time to write a letter or email to one who is distant.
168. Keep in mind your most cherished dreams of the future.
169. Keep up the good work. You soon will be rewarded financially.
170. Keep your eyes open on Thursday, for a special opportunity.
171. Keep your face to the sun and you will never see the shadows.
172. Keep your feet on the ground even though friends flatter you.
173. Keep your idealism practical.
174. Keep your ideas flexible and don‟t ignore details.
175. Keep yours plan secret for now.
176. Knowledge and not doing are equal to not knowing at all.
177. Laugh uncontrollably…it clears the mind.
178. Life begets life. Energy creates energy. It is by spending oneself that one becomes rich.
179. Life is a series of choices. Today yours are good ones.
180. Life is a tragedy for those who feel and a comedy for those who think.
181. Life is about making some things happen, not waiting for something to happen.
182. Like life, few gardens have only flowers.
183. Listen not to vain words of empty tongue.
184. Listen these next few days to your friends to get answers you seek.
185. Look with favor upon a bold beginning.
186. Love and kindness promote happiness, money can‟t buy.
187. Love Lights up the world.
188. Love truth, but pardon error.
189. Luck is coming your way.
190. Malice is stupidity raised to a higher power.
191. Many admire your social and physical appearance.
192. Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers.
193. Many receive advice, few profit from it.
194. Many receive advice, only the wise profit from it.
195. Marriage is something you have to give your whole mind to.
196. Meet a new challenge with calm assurance.
197. Meeting adversity well is the source of your strength.
198. Memorable moments will make your trip delightful.
199. Mental activity keeps you busy at this time.
200. Mighty Forces will come to your aid.
201. Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open.
202. Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely.
203. More important then length of life is how we spend each day.
204. Nature, time and patience are three great healers.
205. Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.
206. Never doubt logical things.
207. No one knows what (s)he can do until (s)he tries.
208. No profit grows where there is no pleasure to be had.
209. No single hand can block out the sun.
210. Now If the time for peace in your life. Go along with other‟s ideas.
211. Now is a good time to call a loved one at a distance from you.
212. Now is the time to call loved ones at a distance. Share your news.
213. Now is the time to set your sights high and go for it.
214. Now is the time to try something new.
215. Old age is always 20 years older than you are.
216. One that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
217. Only you can decide what is important to you.
218. Opportunity is not a lengthy visitor." (S. Sondheim )
219. Others will appreciate you good sense of humor.
220. Our first and last love is. . . self-love.
221. Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
222. People find it difficult to resist your persuasive manner.
223. Planning is the prelude to successful action.
224. Pleasures await you by the seashore.
225. Positive attitude will bring desired results.
226. Practice is the best of all instructors.
227. Pray for what you want, but work for the things you need.
228. Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.
229. Put yourself in another's place and act accordingly.
230. Reality is the leading cause of stress, for those in touch with it.
231. Re-examine your assumptions about a new situation.
232. Rely on your own good judgment to lead you to success.
233. Remember three months from this date. Good things are in store for you.
234. Remember to share good fortune as well as bad with your friends.
235. Remember, every downhill has its uphill.
236. Remember three months from this date! Your lucky star is shining.
237. Respect the power of words, choose them with care.
238. Romance is likely; strike up a conversation.
239. Sell your ideas – they are totally acceptable.
240. Show your love and your love will be returned.
241. Simplicity and clarity should be your theme in dress.
242. Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.
243. Sing and rejoice, fortune is smiling on you.
244. Society prepares the crime: the criminal commits it.
245. Someone is looking up to you. Don‟t let that person down.
246. Someone is speaking well of you.
247. Someone is watching you from afar.
248. Something on four wheels will soon be a fun investment for you!
249. Speak only well of people and you need never whisper.
250. Start believing in your dreams and others will catch the fever.
251. Stop searching forever. Happiness is just next to you.
252. Strike while the iron is hot.
253. Strong and bitter words indicate a weak cause.
254. Take only memories; leave only footprints.
255. Take the plunge in a personal relationship.
256. The best way to be understood is to be understanding.
257. The coming month shall bring you much happiness.
258. The constructive use of riches is better than their possession.
259. The current year will bring you much happiness.
260. The eyes believe themselves; the ears believe other people.
261. The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.
262. The joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.
263. The laws sometimes sleep, but never die.
264. The longest day has an end.
265. The most direct approach isn‟t always the best. Use diplomacy.
266. The only constant since the beginning of time is change.
267. The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.
268. The only rose without a thorn is friendship.
269. The only way to have a friend is to be one.
270. The physician heals, nature makes well.
271. The poor seek food, the rich seek an appetite.
272. The problems of today will be buried by the sands of time.
273. The respect you get is proportionate to the respect you give.
274. The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
275. The smart thing is to prepare for the unexpected.
276. The star of riches is shining on you this month.
277. The star of riches is shining upon you.
278. The time is right to make new friends.
279. The ultimate test of a relationship is to disagree but to hold hands.
280. The way to get to the top is to get off your bottom.
281. The will of the people is the best law.
282. The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.
283. The world will look a little better with some love given by you.
284. There is a prospect of a thrilling time ahead for you.
285. There is a true and sincere friendship between you both.
286. There is no mistake so great as that of being always right.
287. There‟s no better spice than a good appetite.
288. They say a person needs just three things to be truly happy in this world. Someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.
289. This coming Friday will be an exciting time for you.
290. This is the year when ingenuity stands high on the list.
291. This week, you have a good head in matters of money.
292. This year will bring you much happiness.
293. Those who wish to sing always find a song.
294. Time is precious, but truth is more precious than time.
295. To be beautiful externally is like a glass rose, one false move and it can crack.
296. Today is a perfect day to give that special person a gift.
297. Too much confidence has deceived many a one.
298. Travel with a light heart and happy expectations.
299. Treasure true friendship, it it priceless.
300. Trust him, but still keep your eyes open.
301. Two important decisions shall be made by you soon.
302. Unseen forces are working in your favor.
303. Unusual offer will enhance your future.
304. Unveil your ideas. Be ready to act on them.
305. Use your abilities at this time to stay focused on your goal. You will succeed.
306. Versatility is one of your outstanding traits.
307. Visit a park. Enjoy what nature has to offer.
308. Waste your money and you're only out of money. Waste your time and you've lost a part of your life.
309. Watch your relations with other people carefully, be reserved.
310. We carry with us, the wonders we seek without us.
311. We forget ourselves, we usually do something that everyone else remembers.
312. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. [Winston Churchill]
313. We must always have old memories and young hopes.
314. We will not know the worth of water „til the well is dry.
315. Welcome the change coming soon into your life.
316. What is the distance between the eyes and the soul?
317. What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity.
318. What‟s a vice today may be a virtue tomorrow.
319. Whatever your destination, happiness awaits.
320. When two hearts race, both win.
321. When winter comes heaven will rain success on you.
322. When you gather all your resources together, goals are accomplished.
323. Who bravely dares must sometimes risk a fall.
324. Wine should be taken in small doses, knowledge in large ones.
325. Wise men learn more from fools, than fools from wise men.
326. Wishing you a long life.
327. With integrity and consistency – your credits are piling up.
328. With perseverance, one can succeed in the most difficult tasks.
329. You and your spouse will be happy in your life together.
330. You and your wife will be happy in your life together.
331. You are a bundle of energy, always on the go.
332. You are a perfectionist. Don‟t spoil it.
333. You are a practical person with your feet on the ground.
334. You are always welcome in any gathering.
335. You are always welcome in many ways.
336. You are bright. SO give out that light!
337. You are broad minded and socially active.
338. You are capable, competent, creative and careful.
339. You are capable, competent, creative and careful. Prove it.
340. You are careful and systematic in your business arrangements.
341. You are contemplating some action which will bring credit upon you.
342. You are contemplative and analytical by nature.
343. You are deeply attached to your family and home.
344. You are demonstrative with those you love.
345. You are fortunate in the opportunities presented to you.
346. You are generous to an extreme and always think of the other fellow.
347. You are going to change your present line of work.
348. You are going to have a very comfortable old age.
349. You are going to have some new clothes.
350. You are heading for a land of sunshine.
351. You are imaginative in using your skills.
352. You are independent politically.
353. You are kind-hearted and hospitable, cheerful and well-liked.
354. You are never bitter, deceptive or petty.
355. You are next in line for promotion in your firm.
356. You are one of the people who “goes places in life.”
357. You are sociable and entertaining.
358. You are soon going to change your present line of work.
359. You are strongly tuned in to those around you.
360. You are talented in many ways.
361. You are the center of every group‟s attention.
362. You are the guiding star of his existence.
363. You are the master of every situation.
364. You are the next in line for promotion in your firm.
365. You are very expressive and positive in words, acts, and feelings.
366. You believe in the goodness of mankind.
367. You create your own stage. The audience is waiting.
368. You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual.
369. You display the wonderful traits of charm and courtesy.
370. You easily win friends and keep the old.
371. You have a deep appreciation of the arts and music.
372. You have a deep interest in all that is artistic.
373. You have a friendly heart and are well admired.
374. You have a keen sense of humor and love a good time.
375. You have a natural grace and great consideration for others.
376. You have a potential urge and the ability for accomplishment.
377. You have a quiet and unobtrusive nature.
378. You have a reputation for being straight forward and honest.
379. You have a strong desire for home and your family comes first.
380. You have a wise spirit, an advanced intellect and faith in human nature.
381. You have an ability to sense and know higher truth.
382. You have an active mind and a keen imagination.
383. You have an ambitious nature and may make a name for yourself.
384. You have an important new business development shaping up.
385. You have an unusually magnetic personality.
386. You have at your command the wisdom of the ages.
387. You have the ability to adapt to diverse situations.
388. You have the ability to sense and know higher truth.
389. You have the power to write your own fortune.
390. You know where you are going and how to get there.
391. You lead a useful life no matter what riches are coming to you.
392. You look great, and you know it!
393. You love peace.
394. You may attend a party where strange customs prevail.
395. You may lose the small ones but win the big ones.
396. You never hesitate to tackle the most difficult problems.
397. You should be able to make money and hold on to it.
398. You should be able to undertake and complete anything.
399. You stand in your own light. Make it shine.
400. You think that is a secret, but it never has been one.
401. You will advance in your chosen field.
402. You will always be successful in your professional career.
403. You will always be surrounded by true friends.
404. You will always get what you want through your charm and personality.
405. You will always have good luck in your personal affairs.
406. You will attend an unusual party and meet someone important.
407. You will attract cultured and artistic people to your home.
408. You will be advanced socially, without any special effort on your part.
409. You will be asked to a wedding soon.
410. You will be awarded some great honor.
411. You will be called upon to fill a position of high honor and responsibility.
412. You will be called upon to help a friend in trouble.
413. You will be fortunate in everything you put your hands to.
414. You will be fortunate in the opportunities presented to you.
415. You will be recognized and honored as a community leader.
416. You will be recognized and honored as a community leader.
417. You will be reunited with old friends.
418. You will be rewarded for your efforts within the month.
419. You will be showered with good luck.
420. You will be singled out for promotion.
421. You will be successful through innovation and determination.
422. You will be transforming a situation in your life now with a positive attitude.
423. You will be traveling to distant lands for business purposes.
424. You will be unusually successful in business.
425. You will bring sunshine into someone‟s life.
426. You will conquer obstacles to achieve success.
427. You will do well to expand your business.
428. You will enjoy good health; you will be surrounded by luxury.
429. You will find your solution where you least expect it.
430. You will gain admiration from your peers.
431. You will gain money by a speculation or lottery.
432. You will get something new within a week.
433. You will have a close encounter of a surprising kind.
434. You will have a long and healthy life.
435. You will have gold pieces by the bushel.
436. You will have good luck and overcome many hardships.
437. You will have good luck in your personal affairs this month.
438. You will have many friends when you need them.
439. You will have no problems in your home.
440. You will live long and enjoy life.
441. You will make a change for the better.
442. You will make a fortune with your friend.
443. You will make a name for yourself.
444. You will make many changes before settling satisfactorily.
445. You will never need to worry about a steady income.
446. You will overcome obstacles to achieve success.
447. You will pass a difficult test that will make you happier.
448. You will profit soon from an investment opportunity.
449. You will profit through experience.
450. You will receive some prestigious prize or award within the month.
451. You will receive unexpected support over the next week. Accept it graciously.
452. You will soon be confronted with unlimited opportunities.
453. You will soon be crossing desert sands for a fun vacation.
454. You will soon be crossing the great water.
455. You will soon be honored by someone you respect.
456. You will soon be involved in many gatherings and parties.
457. You will soon be part of a team. Work cooperatively for success.
458. You will soon find more adventures in life.
459. You will soon receive pleasant news of a personal nature.
460. You will spend old age in comfort and material wealth.
461. You will step on the soil of many countries in your lifetime.
462. You will take a chance in something in the near future.
463. You will travel far and wide for both pleasure and business.
464. You will travel to many places.
465. You will win success in whatever you adopt.
466. You would do well to work as a team in the coming week.
467. You‟ll accomplish more later if you have a little fun this weekend.
468. Your ability is appreciated.
469. Your ability to revise plans guards against mistakes.
470. Your bright outlook avoids small worries.
471. Your business will assume vast proportions.
472. Your dearest wish will come true.
473. Your destiny lies before you, choose wisely.
474. Your efforts will result in much profit.
475. Your emotional nature is strong and sensitive.
476. Your financial outlook is excellent.
477. Your financial situation will soon be improving.
478. Your flamboyant personality will soon bring you to a new hobby.
479. Your flare for the creative takes an important place in your life.
480. Your future is as boundless as the lofty heaven.
481. Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life.
482. Your hard work is about to pay off. Congratulations!
483. Your heart is pure, and your mind clear, and soul devout.
484. Your home is a pleasant place from which you draw happiness.
485. Your ideas may take a philosophical turn today.
486. Your impossible dream can become a reality.
487. Your kindness to another will not be forgotten.
488. Your kindness will lead you to success.
489. Your leadership talents will bring you an incredible opportunity
490. Your love life will be happy and harmonious.
491. Your luck has been completely changed today.
492. Your mentality is alert, practical and analytical.
493. Your mind is creative, original and alert.
494. Your passions sweep you away.
495. Your perceptions are sharpened through careful observation.
496. Your present plans are going to succeed.
497. Your present plans will be successful.
498. Your principles mean more to you than any money or success.
499. Your random act of kindness today will spread quickly to others.
500. Your skills and talents will be called on in unusual areas.
501. Your surrounding friends will take good care of you.
502. Your talents will be recognized and suitably rewarded.
503. Your winsome smile will be your sure protection.
504. Your work interests can capture the highest status and prestige.

How difficult is it ...

2011-12-28T16:00:00.000-08:00

for BOTH of you to look in to the camera @ once?!

Christmas recovery

2011-12-26T08:03:00.001-08:00

Announcing Plumagranate, the NEW TBC Goodie!

2011-12-22T10:35:00.000-08:00

A brand new TwoBigCats jam / jelly has been created - Plumagranate!

Joanne made some plum jam the other day and had a bit of processed plums left over. With some pomegranate juice left over in the fridge she wondered out loud how they would taste together ... I said I thought it sounded good, let's give it a try.

She made a small, reduced-sugar batch and it was GREAT (a lot like Sweet Tarts from when we were kids).

She and Liv made 2 cases yesterday and will likely make a few more cases to use up the plums we have in the freezer. (As you know, we have two very productive plum trees!)

Thanks to our distant friends ...

2011-12-19T08:10:00.001-08:00

From Scandinavia and Europe for the special regional and homemade treats - we've begun sampling and they're yummy!

Thanks so much for thinking of us :)

Lap of luxury

2011-12-19T08:06:00.001-08:00

Calvin asleep between my legs while I read the morning's news. Next time around, I wanna be a cat @ my house.

This is Ming

2011-12-19T07:20:00.001-08:00

Great little guy, he's been Pop's closest companion these past 6 1/2 years.

Ok, so, how does your rear end work?

2011-12-18T17:36:00.000-08:00

On your car, I mean ... how does the differential actually work in transferring power from the engine to the wheels. Check out this very cool 1937 movie / video and learn some pretty interesting things. Also, note that the video shows (1) an apparently undeveloped Southern California (2) some pretty cool motorcycle drill team work included to demonstrate the principle idea of the video and (3) that the movie was produced by The Jam Handy Production company.

Jam Handy ... I LUV that name!

Assume the position!

2011-12-18T05:11:00.001-08:00

I was called away last Sunday and returned home last night. After grabbing a bite to eat I was off to bed - gimmeabreak, it was after 9!

Within minutes, CherryBerry was curled up and snoring in my ear, asleep on my shoulder and pillow. A few moments later, Calvin crawled up in between my knees and we were off to LaLaLand. Up @ 4 for a bit of fish/shrimp food (them, not me ;) and coffee (me, not them) then it was "to the couch" and within moments here we were:

Reports are streaming in ...

2011-12-16T17:20:00.001-08:00

From all aound the world that TBC Goodie Packages are arriving intact and immediately being set upon by parents and children alike.

We love it when a plan comes together :)

TBC Christmas goodies ready to go

2011-12-14T08:46:00.001-08:00

As you can see, TBC Goodie Packages were recently being prepared and as of this writing are in the mail and on the way. Seen here in a very rare photo is Inspector Cherry checking each package to make sure it has the right goodies for the intended recipient.

This year some of the packages include hand carved Christmas ornaments.

Team Santa RARIN to go!

2011-12-14T08:34:00.001-08:00

How To Wrap A Cat For Christmas

2011-12-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Judy @ Homeless Cat Network for sending this over to us :)

How To Wrap A Cat For Christmas

Homeless Cat Network

2011-12-05T08:38:00.000-08:00

Since Joanne and Ellen were off learning how to use their new high-powered, super-duper sewing machines on Saturday (and Joanne was making Pomegranate Jelly yesterday), I attended the Homeless Cat Network (http://www.homelesscatnetwork.com) Holiday Boutique by myself. As usual, the boutique was jammed with so many types of goodies that I can't remember them all ... but I DO REMEMBER the cookies and cakes ;)

What always stands out in my mind about HCN (and the other rescue organizations we know) are the people who continue to devote their time and care to these creatures. Keep in mind "these creatures" are wonderful pets like Cherry and Calvin, Penny and Pepper - all are rescue animals who have been with us and given us love (yep, even Pep!) for a total of 25 animal-years. That's a lot of lovin' :)

Thanks to HCN and their volunteers for being there for the cats who patiently to rescue humans like us ... we are in your debt :)

Holiday Goodie Pack update ...

2011-12-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

The last of this season's pomegranates have now been pressed in to juice. Thanks to Tracy K-S and Joanne for making the first four cases of this year's pomegranate jelly - those are are now labelled and on the shelf. We'll begin sending TBC Goodie Packages to our European and Scandinavian friends tomorrow, U.S. / Canada early next week.

Happy 100th Birthday to our dear friend, Ida

2011-12-02T09:23:00.000-08:00

A belated but loving Happy 100th to our friend in So Cal, Ida. Thx to Olivia's txting us that it was Ida's B'day, we called Ida and sang Happy Birthday to her in our best (now there's a relative term ;) voices. We had a great talk - Ida sounds the same as she has for the 27 years I've known her and the 35+ that Joanne and Owen have known her.

Ida and Joanne met in the mid-70's when Joanne lived down the street from Ida and her husband, Sam. Being the friendly and happy types they are, the two of them hit it off immediately. Now, I don't know if they met before or after Owen was born, but with Owen in tow, Joanne and Ida spent tons of time together laughing and carrying on about their East Coast upbringing, raising kids and life in general (Ida is a **true** fireplug of a personality!). I know that when Owe and Joanne moved up here, among the people she missed most were Ida and Sam. So they stayed in touch.

Every time we visited LA we did our best to visit with Sam and Ida; then a couple of years ago after quite a full lifetime together, Ida lost Sam. On the plus side, Ida has family that lives nearby (grandson and wife live on the property with her) so she's always got company. We continue to exchange cards and phone calls throughout the year while making sure we visit when we're in LA. And we still receive Ida's holiday cookies in the mail, which always results in another phone call to catch up and hear her voice again.

As with so many people in our lives, Ida has become family ... and we really savor our relationship. Likewise, we really, REALLY, like the idea that Owen and Liv continue their relationship with Ida by making time to visit when they're in the area, too.

So here's to you, Ida - we love you and wish you all the best in your Centennial Year!

Some people dream about world peace. Me?

2011-11-29T18:25:00.000-08:00

Neighborhood ch-ch-changes ...

2011-11-23T09:28:00.000-08:00

Recently a couple of neighborhood homes that have been on the market for a prolonged time have sold ... and in a couple of cases, we've lost some very good neighbors that we'll miss spending time with. On the flip side of that very same coin, though, we extend a warm welcome our newest neighbors!

Worth sharing ...

2011-11-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

The more interests you have - and share with others - the more interesting you'll be.

To our American friends and family ...

2011-11-22T09:13:00.000-08:00

We wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving (week)!

We've been fairly busy and thus behind on our posting lately, but we hope to return to our "normal" schedule in the weeks ahead (as we begin making and shipping TBC goodies packages).

Happy Thanksgiving :)

Owen's Manly Run competition

2011-11-20T13:32:00.000-08:00

Received this pic from Owen this morning ... seems yesterday he participated in a CrossFit / Manly Run / Spartan Race event and placed 1st in his heat and age class. (Buahahaha, his "age class" ... dang, I've got socks and ties older than him. sigh. anyway ...)

Way to go, Owe!

If I'm not mistaken, on his chest he's written, "Fit Happens" :)

A VERY charming and clever video for you to watch

2011-11-19T13:00:00.001-08:00

Note there have been > 13 MILLION views of this video.

Guess who showed up in the old neighborhood the other day???

2011-11-19T12:05:00.000-08:00

Long time no post, eh?

2011-11-19T10:37:00.000-08:00

Howdy and sorry for the long time since my last post ... we've been pretty busy lately with things - fun things, work things, medical things - and now that we're heading in to Thanksgiving Week, it's not slowing down.

But I DID want to share with you a pic of Cal asleep on my lap that I took just this morning with my (new) iPhone 4S camera ... as you can see, it's not only a high resolution pic (compared to earlier iPhone cams) but with the new / extra sensors, lenses and software, it makes a pretty neat pocket camera.

After running laps and waking me @ 3:45 this morning, you-know-who thought since I was drinking coffee and reading the NY Times it was ok with him to go to sleep ...

This was taken with the ambient light (augmented by The Lamp) and no flash ... pretty neat, huh?

As some of you know, I've recently initiated a refresh of our ~20 year old Ibis Cousin It tandem. A bit of history:

We bought It (we call it The Grape Ape) "back in the day" and rode the heck out of it. Around town, up to Menlo / Palo Alto and back many times, out past Calero and on many weekend trips around the state and Lake Tahoe basis. In Aug of '94, Scott and I rode it down Hiway 1 from Big Sur to Buellton / Solvang, camping / moteling it along the way ... having the time of our lives before he turned teenager and I turned stoopid ;) All told, my guess is it has >20k+ miles on it.

Over the years our availability to ride dwindled as we both became more involved in being full-time parents, then our careers and then health issues added to the drag ... in time, we weren't riding @ all. Now that I'm near normal health again and we both have some time, we felt it was time to refresh It to our envisioned future riding desires.

So as I did with my single bike back in '07 / '08, we're transitioning It to an upright riding position to create less stress on abdominal / back pressure areas ... it'll be more of a "cruiser" type bike. I'll add hammered fenders, leather-wrapped porteur-style handlebars and grips, ultra-comfy saddles, an ab-so-lutely bitchin' front rack (complete with bamboo picnic basket), rear rack with panniers. And we'll liven it up a bit with our iPhone and stereo speakers. And at some point down the road (when settled on the specific technology / manufacturer) we'll liven it up quite a bit more by adding an electric rear wheel to give it a bit of extra oomph when our "oldie-moldy" bodies need some extra oomph to get us where we want to go (and back). And since we'll be moving a bit faster, we're adding a rear disc brake for extra stopping power. On Thursday I got It back from my custom bicycle framebuilder ... he cleaned up some rust spots, reinforced a weak area or two and added the disc brake frame holder and new rear rack mounting points created for our new rack. Next it's off to be powder-coated (painted using a special process) a brand new Brite'n'Shiny color and two weeks later we should have it in our hot little hands. Hopefully I'll get it rebuilt soon thereafter and we'll be on the road again.

On the "work" front, we're now reading our proof copy of my materials on my Kindle ... looks great but does need some formatting cleanup. On the medical front, it seems we're all pretty much back to "normal" (what's normal, anyway? and hoping to enjoy the holidays with everyone w/out any issues.

We'll see how that goes, we've got the talkin' part done, anyway.

See ya when we see ya.

Hanging out @ Vasona last week ...

2011-11-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

We saw ...

Local wildlife ...

2011-11-06T10:57:00.000-08:00

Joanne and I headed out a week ago Saturday to see what wildlife we might spy out in the Calero / Alma area. Voila!

Busy week around here ...

2011-11-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Catching up on all things things fall / prepping for winter.

Early last week we had Ian Geddes, a local arborist, come in to clean up trees around the rear of the property. They removed several HUGE limbs and tons of med-to-small limbs overhanging our area and as a result the garden now receives a great deal more sunlight - very cool. They also aggressively pruned the apple, cherry and apricot trees to (we hope) improve the quantity and quality of the fruit. And, finally, they removed the dead almond tree and its stump so we're free to plant there again. (These pics are of the team working to trim down our side of the neighbor's massive pecan / walnut tree by the back 40.)

The Geddes crew were excellent! They arrived exactly on time - to-the-minute - worked very effectively as a team, worked around our garden (directly underneath the walnut tree) and didn't so much as bend a leaf on any of our plants, cleaned up and hauled away EVERYTHING they took down and even remembered to return any yard items to their original locations if they'd had to move them to do their work. We highly recommend them for work such as they've done for us.

Happy Birthday Sis!

2011-11-03T06:29:00.000-07:00

Today is Cris' 64th birthday, so here are a few brief reminders of who she was and what she meant to us.

Sis and I "back in the day" :)

Tribute I created for sis on her birthday in 2008.

As always, we'll sing Happy Birthday out loud to her first thing this morning ....

Grow new skin! (UHmazing science video - WATCH IT!)

2011-10-31T15:45:00.001-07:00

http://www.thatvideosite.com/video/the_skin_gun

(and, btw, this is our 1,000th post on blogger. luv you, pan. luv you, dee. luv you, sis. miss you all, terribly.)

Wow(!) - a TwoFer!

2011-10-30T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today was a volunteer-recognition / open house for a cat rescue organization we're fond of, 13th Street Cats, in San Jose. I'd visited briefly with Janice and her husband, Don, at PetSmart yesterday so made plans to head over @ noon to say hi and contribute a bit.

Turns out a LOT of other people had the same idea and brought food with them ... it was a cat-love fest that included food! Janice, Don and I were able to visit for a bit, and I met a few of the volunteers and **all** of the cats who are waiting for their Forever Homes ... it was all very nice.

And then who should I run in to but Judy from the Homeless Cat Network, the group who were looking after Calvin and Cherry until we were rescued by them - heck, it was like Christmas and my birthday all in one! Judy introduced me to a few of her fellow HCN volunteers and then she and I had a chance to catch up a bit. Several months ago (after losing her companion cat, Jasmine, earlier in the year), Judy had adopted Coquette and Hansel from HCN and from the sounds of things, they're beginning to settle in as family :) Like Ringo said in his album title, though, Time Takes Time.

It was great seeing the folks from 13th AND HCN both at one time ... we owe a great debt of gratitude to each of their organizations for being there for creatures and humans, alike.

Lotsa posting done today, I'm out for now - see ya when I see ya.

hal

Panoramic of backyard ...

2011-10-30T17:26:00.001-07:00

A quick panoramic pic I took using my iPhone4 and Photosynth (free msft app). Enjoy.

Nice flowers! (A bit of craftwerk going on here ...)

2011-10-30T17:22:00.000-07:00

Joanne's been saving and drying these ugly-as-sin seed pods for the past year or two ... I can't tell you how many times I darn-near threw them out (seriously - I can't tell you - she'd kill me!). About a month ago she and Ellen began working on their Holiday Flower craft stuff and these (iPhone) pics don't begin to do justice to how well they look in person.

Nice job, Ellen and Joanne!

Owen is The Man!

2011-10-30T17:13:00.000-07:00

Owen recently became certified as a certified CrossFit instructor. CrossFit is a conditioning methodology whose motto is, "Your workout is our warmup." Looking @ these pics taken @ a recent competition, I bet you can imagine that's true for (at least) Owen. (Btw, Owen maintains a body fat of ~8%, or roughly that of celery. ;)

Congrats on the certification, Owen - you've worked hard on this and, frankly, in the pics you don't look a day over 35! ;)

It's pomegranate harvest / juice-prep time again!

2011-10-30T16:59:00.000-07:00

This marks our 13th year of harvesting pomegranates and making pomegranate jelly.

Two weeks ago Joanne and I harvested ~100 lbs of Hector and Elsa's pomegranates, and we pressed those in to juice. Then earlier this week Ellen harvested *her* pomegranates (no small amount - maybe 75-100 lbs?) and we washed and pressed *those* in to juice. So far we've got ~ 6 gallons of pure, deep purple juice - good, good stuff! (I will harvest *our* pomegranates tomorrow before the rain comes through the area next week.)

Here's a great example of nuclear fruit - this one from Ellen's tree. As you can see, four pomegranates have grown from one blossom / single area (I'm not sure how this works, actually ;) and what you see on the sundial is a "cluster" of 4 pomegranates attached to one another. Weird!

Not sure that I took a pic of the pomegranates in the harvest bag, but here's what our basic process looked like set up on our patio.

Thanks **so** much to Ellen for her pomegranates, help pressing / cleaning up and for letting us put Al's table to good use ;) (Thanks, Al!)

Based on having, say, 6.5-7 gallons of pomegranate juice, we think we'll have ~20 cases of jelly for the next year ... and that may be *just* enough ;)

Random pics coming your way ...

2011-10-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Here are just a handful of pics I've taken over the past couple of weeks. I have a **stack** of them to post over the next few days, but you might enjoy these for now.

My pal, Cal, and I.

Praetorian Guards outside my office.

Lalalala - Who, me?! (CherryBerry caught red-handed in my upper drawer.)

I'll post more over the next day or two ....

Remembering Delilah

2011-10-19T08:58:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Dee's passing. If you were a friend of Dee's, you may enjoy these reminder photos taken of her over the years.

Luv you, Little One.

Delilah's kitten years.

Delilah's adult years.

When the going gets tough, the tough ...

2011-10-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Take a nap.

The Calvinator :)

C'mon ... you know you love 'em!

2011-10-10T21:34:00.000-07:00

Beek's Log: 10/10/11

2011-10-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

Not too long ago I harvested ~ 1.5 gallons of honey from Honeyfabrikken (dang, did I spell that right?!) and one of the other hives. When I finished that effort I thought to myself, "Ah, done for the year ... next up are fruit harvests.). And a couple weeks after that harvest I checked the honey supers to see if they were tucking any away - they weren't - and went about my late summer business.

But then over the past few weeks when we've had hot days I've noticed a lot of what appeared to be pre-swarming activity ... in fact, on a couple of hot days it seemed to me Honeyfabrikken was about to leave town on me. So I made a note to myself to inspect the hives and see if by chance they've been storing honey down in the brood boxes ... which I did this past Saturday. Good thing, too, because Honeyfabrikken was practically honey bound in the lower box, with only 3 frames of capped larvae in place while the upper brood had hardly any brood in it and had several frames of capped honey. Great ... now I've gotta harvest those frames ... what about the other hives? Turns out the 3rd box (Dutch name, doesn't come to me @ the moment) had a fair amount of honey in the lower brood box and a bit too much in the top box, too ... so out several of those came. By the time I was done pulling frames - and sweating like a pig @ a Mississippi BBQ - I had 14 deep frames of honey loaded in the big ice chest with wheels that I use for moving frames.

What does one do with that much honey to be scraped on such a short notice? Call Ellen - she loves to scrape (and eat!) honey more than anybody I've ever worked with. Ellen came down and between the two of us, we scraped honey for the next hour or two, then I redistributed frames to the hives I thought would benefit from the left-over honey / comb on them. (BeeTopia got most of them; I partially blocked the entrance to their hive to make robbing more difficult for their neighbors and easier for them to defend their hive. Go BeeTopia!)

After we scraped comb / honey, I set about straining honey for the next 24 hrs ... messy work, that's for sure. Late yesterday afternoon while Joanne was finishing up planting the winter garden (more on that tomorrow) I began jarring honey. Turns out we had about 5 gallons of honey to put up - wow, that's a lot for an accidental harvest. (Seems to me I should always check the deeps late in the season "just in case".)

See ya when I see ya.
hal
btw, turns out that one of the hives had built some extra hanging comb and filled it with honey, so some of these jars have filled / capped honey comb in them as well as being filled with honey - VERY, VERY COOL!

So long, Ted Mehalko

2011-10-10T10:50:00.000-07:00

We've lived in Campbell for the past 27 years. During that time we've met and befriended some pretty good - and interesting - people. But, to my mind, the most interesting character we've met is Ted Mehalko.

Who is this Ted guy, you ask? Here's a pic of the memorial held for him last night at Orchard Valley Coffee by his many friends and acquaintances ... if you were ever in downtown Campbell or driving / riding along Campbell Avenue over the past few decades, it's pretty likely you either saw or interacted with Ted on some level ... he was the "old guy" (his words and mine, too ;) with the colorful do-rag on his white-haired head.

I found out about Ted's recent passing when I cycled in to OVC this past Saturday morning. One of the "usuals" (Mark the piano player) mentioned his passing and memorial so I made plans to attend. When I arrived @6:30 I was not surprised to see the familiar faces I'd come to know from OVC but, to tell you the truth, at first glance I was blown away to see a hundred+ folks I didn't recognize. But as I thought about Ted and how interactive with people he was, it made perfect sense to me ... Ted had hundreds of friends and acquaintances and we were all coming together to pay our respects to this truly original character of a man.

You can read Ted's MercNews obit here.

Those of us who knew him - even a little bit - will miss Ted and to paraphrase Ted's own words I'll say, "I won't say GoodBye but So long for now, Ted."

Mmmmmm - TwoBigCats PondScum is yummy!

2011-10-03T09:07:00.000-07:00

Remember back in April of this year when I post that we'd made a large pond liner into our tomato container garden? No, huh? Well, here's the link ...

Over the past 4 months or so the thing's gone crazy and we've ended up with ~26 lbs of tomatoes (of all varieties). Now the big question is What the heck do you do with 30 lbs of tomatoes? Aside from eating them in salads, by themselves or sliced and layered with buffalo mozzarella cheese, fresh TBC basil and olive oil, it seems the right thing to do is make tomato sauce from them ... we love pasta and sauce through the winter (especially) so I scoured the internet for a few Hal-friendly recipes and set to work making two separate batches from two different harvests. In the end, ~26 lbs resulted in ~2 gallons / 8 qts of luscious sauce.

I'll provide more process details later, but for now just know that the sauce is WONDERFUL and we've decided (after some lively discussion - thx, Ellen, for your vote on MY name!) we've decided to call it TwoBigCats PondScum.

Here's a pic to satisfy your visual needs ;)

Lots to report / show pics of ...

2011-09-26T07:55:00.000-07:00

But unfortunately, not much time right now for posting. Over the past few days we've harvested carrots (had some with lamb the other night - very, very good), tomatoes, cukes, quince ... hmmm, what else? That's it, I think. I've made tomato sauce from the tomatoes (we've dubbed it TwoBigCats Pond Scum since the tomatoes are from our "tomato pond" ;), had some of it last night (OH YUM!) and will "put up" the remainder of it today. Next I'll do the quince and likely pears from 10 days ago.

Joanne continues to make rehab progress (thx again, Ellen) and the dogs are doing fine, too.

See ya when I see ya.
hal

Congrats to Owen for ...

2011-09-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Recently obtaining his CrossFit trainer certification and just this weekend, an excellent placing in the CrossFit Frogman competition ... way to go, Owe. (Pretty good for an old guy, Owe ;)

The Calvinator hard at work!

2011-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

When our new chairs came in last week, Cherry immediately hopped in the shipping and it was "lights out". Over the next few days, Cal inspected and marked the corners of the box but didn't climb in. But over the weekend when I moved the box to the sunroom (where my guitar, amp and ipod are still set up / in use), he hopped in it and was asleep in seconds. (Note how he always used his foreleg / paw for a head rest :)

One small step for a woman ...

2011-09-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

and a pretty good thing for an old guy, too.

The "small step" involves Joanne's ability to walk for a limited distance wearing a tennis shoe on her injured foot and use only one crutch. Between Ellen's working with her on rehabilitating her foot / ankle and her physical therapy, she's slowly but surely making a recovery. We're hoping she'll be close to normal by Thanksgiving. (Phew!)

And the "pretty good thing for an old guy"? Well, there are two things by two old guys.

First, I was able to take the boat out yesterday for the first time in 4 years. Between the surgeries and the chronic pain associated with those surgeries, I hadn't been able to do what I needed to do to prep and operate the boat until very recently. So that's the first "good thing" - our Whaler is back in use and it ran perfectly.

Second, our good friends Springfield Al and Oasis Ellen were my guests for the morning laps-on-the-lake. Over the years I'd heard from Al that he used to water ski a lot in days gone by ... to hear him tell it, he had been pretty $hitHot. So I threw the skis in the boat and when we were out on the water and I was convinced things were copacetic with the boat, Al jumped in the water and slipped on a ski, "Only ski slalom and don't need two to get up" he said. Pretty big words for a guy who turned 65 this year and hadn't skiied for 30+ years.

We got him lined up behind the boat, tightened the line and hit the throttle.

WHAM! There was Al, slalom skiing like a bad boy who had been doing it just yesterday! We took him for a half lap around the lake, him weaving in and out of the wake and having a great time.

After he dropped, Ellen and I swam for a while, then put up the bimini top and cruised a lap of the lake, then called it a day.

Pretty good week: Walking, Boating and Skiing.

It's the little things, folks.

See ya when I see ya.
hal

They got a couple of new "camping" chairs ...

2011-09-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

But I got a new place to sleep ;)

(Note from GrandpaCat: A while back I read numerous reports on a couple of Gold Wing motorcycle forums I frequent that there was an UHmazing hand built, oak camping chair that favored by long distance touring fanatics. When I checked out their website - http://www.kermitchair.com/ - I was pretty favorably impressed, so I ordered a couple for us to use with the motorcycles, bikes or whatever we happened to be using to get where we were going.

The chairs came in on Wed, so on Thurs we set them up (<1 minute each) to check 'em out. Yep, they were pretty neat, alright.

In the time it took for us to unpack, assemble, test-sit, disassemble and place in their carrying bags, CherryBerry had found the box and was taking it on a test snooze. What a cutie, eh?

So, we get the chairs and CherBear gets a new sleeping place.

I love it when a plan comes together!

Check out this dog

2011-09-22T19:36:00.000-07:00

trying to get a stranger to play fetch with him ...

(Sent over to us by Judy of HCN.)

Congratulations to our friend, Judy, and her new feline companions ...

2011-09-18T20:09:00.000-07:00

It seems that last Thursday, Judy brought home two new housemates, Coquette and Hansel, both of whom she's had in her life as shelter-cats @ HCN (who introduced us to Calvin and Cherry).

Congratulations to each of you, Judy, for finding one another :)

Bad infestation ...

2011-09-15T15:30:00.000-07:00

Of the dreaded BedCats ...

Busier than a one-legged man at a butt-kicking contest!

2011-09-12T13:56:00.000-07:00

(Again) Sorry for the delay in posting, but "things" are busier than ever around here.

First things first: Joanne's foot is doing much better (she's able to move around a bit easier on crutches than earlier in the healing process) so Joanne is doing better and since Joanne is doing better, I'm doing better ;) (Stuff flows downhill.)

Suddenly we're deluged with fruit / veggies that need to be harvested or go to waste (NOT), so yesterday I spent time harvesting.

I'll use the tomatoes and celery in preparing tomato sauce that we'll use as the basis for spaghetti sauce, and the pears will likely end up in some jam and some pear liqueur that will be ready for consumption 2+ years down the road. I also picked a few figs yesterday and the GIANT quinces are ready for harvest, too; in a day or two, I'll harvest more tomatoes.

As you can see from the pics, CherryBerry and The Calvinator are both doing well, though Cal had a sinus infection a few weeks back - he's back to normal now (and is asleep on the left hand side of my desk as I type this.)

My health has recovered enough that - for the first time in FOUR YEARS - Springfield Al and I will be taking the boat for a lap or two on Anderson Reservoir in the near future.

That's it for now. We're doing well and - so far - life is good ... and we hope it is for you and yours, too.

See ya when I see ya.

Catching up ...

2011-09-05T08:29:00.001-07:00

Sorry for the severe lag in posting but I've had my hands full these past 4+ weeks. I've continued to take pics / make observations that I hope to begin posting soon.

Please stand by while we return you to our normal programming ;)

(Btw, Owe, Live and The Hershinator have been up for Labor Day ... Hershey: Always an adventure ;)

Happy 65th Birthday Freddie Mercury

2011-09-05T08:13:00.001-07:00

Google has done two special things to remember him on this birthday:

They've created this collection of Google Doodles only good for two days ;)

and

When you click on the collection, it plays a great little Freddie cartoon set to "Don't stop me now".

Tomorrow, Tuesday after Labor Day, this Google Doodle will appear on the US Google homepage.

Rock on, Freddie!

Cherry and I drinking our morning coffee ...

2011-08-24T16:09:00.000-07:00

Early Monday morning I was sitting on the couch drinking my coffee, when Cherry walked up and peeped to me that she wanted to hop up in my lap for our morning Heart-to-Heart SnuggleBunny time. Up she came and in a moment snuggled in to this position and fell asleep. I grabbed my iPhone and took the shot - just in time to catch her (for just a moment) wide eyed and bushy-tailed.

Not a bad way to start the day :)

"I'm with the band"

2011-08-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

(In my office late this afternoon.)

Nice and quiet ...

2011-08-22T21:51:00.001-07:00

Last week I made a hastily-scheduled visit to pop's. One afternoon I headed out for a drive and took these photos.

Oh, THAT'S THE SPOT!

2011-08-22T21:49:00.000-07:00

Wait, what ... what was I saying?

2011-08-22T21:45:00.000-07:00

Guess who had the post-massage sleepies?

Hold my hand, please ...

2011-08-22T21:43:00.000-07:00

And then after getting a full body massage last Sunday morning, Cal decided to hold hands with Joanne :)

Hello Gorgeous!

2011-08-14T21:45:00.000-07:00

Rinsing through some system clean-up tasks this evening, I came across this pic I snapped of Pan in my office back in '04. Beautiful creature, Pan was. Click the pic to see her gorgeous fur in beautiful detail ... she had a beautiful coat :)

Luv you, CatGirl.

The End Of The Road

2011-08-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lag time between posts ... actually, I'm not quite sure if I'm more "sorry" on your behalf or mine ... I enjoy rinsing through the minutiae of daily life and choosing something to write about, so when I'm not posting it means I have less time for rinsing / reflecting / writing / sharing, all of which I miss.

Today's post is about the last minute of the girl's 2,700+ mile two week road trip. During the last 5 hrs or so of their trip they'd call / text me to provide an update of their location / ETA. When they were about a minute away, Joanne called and said, "we'll be there in 1 minute, come out and take pics of us arriving home.". So I did:

As you can see, they were still smiling and laughing as they arrived ... who knew they could have such fun! (I thought they might :)

I'll really try to post up some other TBC-related pics over the weekend and I'll make sure Joanne has the ability to begin sharing pics and stories, too ... so hopefully you'll get to hear her voice / perspective on "things" :)

SKUNK!!! (a backyard arcade game ... )

2011-08-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

Ellen came over for dinner yesterday and after we'd finished dinner, she and Joanne headed off to Joanne's office to check out the ~500 pics taken on Joanne and Liv's recent road trip. While they did that I headed out back to do a bit of light plant watering before it got dark.

I turned on the water and headed out to the middle of the lawn to pick up the hose / sprayer when out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash of white and black tail bobbling around the pear tree (close to the bee hives - rumor has it that skunks like honey. ACK! In my loudest manly-voice I yelled out, "Skunk" and damned if nobody came running.

FINE, I'll handle it myself ... so I charged the little bugger, water nozzle spraying @ full velocity (a good 25' - honest! ;) Apparently skunks like spraying water less than pears so it took off @ a full, er, skunk-gallop/canter (ba-dump, ba-dump, ba-dump) down along the path toward the cana ... the big green plants with orangish flowers on them. AH-HA, got it on the run now ... but then it occurred to me if I chase it down that path it'll pass under my office window and end up by the citrus grove, which houses our garbage cans that I have to take dinner garbage out to.

Dang. I need a new plan.

OH, I KNOW(!) - SQUIRT, look, he's turned around and running back from when he came ... hey, this is kinda fun ... SQUIRT, look, there is goes again toward the flowers / my office and ... UH OH, SQUIRT, he's going back down the path toward the bee hives. This is just like being at the local carnival playing one of those old timey shoot 'em up games - ping (!), the skunk goes one direction, ping (!) he turns around and heads back (repeat as long as this sounds funny to you ;)

HEY, THIS IS FUN (for me, at least).

Actually, I wasn't trying to torment the little thing but I DID want it to not feel good about coming in our property for any reason. Last I saw of it was the rear end (tail up!) and running @ a gallop / canter toward the other side of the yard.

It's dusk now so I'm heading out to see if we're going to have a replay.

Hal - 1
Skunk - 0

Film @ 11

Happy Birthday, Little One!

2011-08-04T14:07:00.000-07:00

With all the retirement and medical excitement going on around here lately, Delilah's 14th birthday slipped right past me yesterday. Following are a few links to pic / info bits about Dee that you may enjoy viewing ... especially if you knew Dee :)

Here is a link to pics from Delilah's kitten years

Here is a link to pics from Dee's adult years

Dee has been gone from our side for almost 3 years now, but she's never far from our memory or thoughts ... that's for sure. It's interesting (to me, at least) that all this time after her passing that as I walk through an area of the house, my eyes jump to Dee's favorite resting / hiding places, automatically, expecting to see her tucked in, waiting to be petted or hugged (almost always to her mild protests). But as much as we miss Delilah, I know that Pepper misses her most of all ... Pep and Dee had a wonderfully close relationship and Pep - true to her dog nature - never willingly left Dee's side when Dee was sick.

Life, huh?

Miss you and luv you, Little One.

Brief post-surgery update

2011-08-03T07:56:00.000-07:00

Howdy,

Thx for the emails and phone calls re Joanne's injury and impending surgery. Her surgery was yesterday and went as planned / hoped for. She's resting reasonably comfortably but says she won't be dancing or taking walking with the neighborhood "gals" anytime soon - doc says 2-3 months, sigh - so she's begun doing virtual walks while in the reclined position.

Thx to everyone for your interest and support, especially Audrey and Ellen for their "call me when you need me" offers ... very much appreciated.

See ya when I see,
hal
btw, I bet you can bet Pepper-Do-You-Want-Her has become even MORE protective of "Mom" since she's been hurt. otoh, Calvin and Cherry are a little freaked out by the crutches / inflatable cast outfit Joanne's sporting these days ... much like Pan and Dee were when I came home (after 12 days) from my first surgery in '08.

Sorry for no updates ...

2011-08-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

Folks,

Thx for the site visits and emails, but I'm running quite a bit behind due to Joanne's sudden health issue. What health issue, you say? Well (girlfriend!) after returning from a two week, early retirement road trip with Olivia - 2,700+ miles and they were still laughing and talking to one another when they got home - the day after putting Liv on the plane home, Joanne tripped and broke a bone in her foot :( Turns out that it's a fairly common break - called a Jones fracture - and that it requires surgery to provide the highest possibility of healthy recovery. We, er, SHE, is having the procedure later in the week so is pretty well non-ambulatory most of the time.

I have TONS of stuff to post - pics from their trip, some "thank you's" to friends who have recently sent us goodies from afar, general TBC update kinda stuff ... I'll try to get some of it up later tonight / tomorrow ... but don't hold me to it (please).

As always, thanks for stopping by and I'll see ya when I see ya.
hal

Settling in for the long haul ...

2011-07-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

... It seems we are returning to "normal" around here.

For all the years since we've been in this house, Pandora would be by my side in the office - if I was in the office, she was there. When Pan passed away, I felt her loss most when I was in my office. But these past few months - this past month, especially - things have changed and these days most of the time I'm in my office I now have (at least) 1 BigCat with me ...

And he pretty much occupies the same physical places that Pan did. (Moments after I took this pic, he got up, stretched and hopped up in her chair (it was MINE but Pan used it far more than I ever did!) and promptly went back to sleep.

Yep, things are starting to look and feel normal again ... and it feels great!

Our thoughts are with the Norwegians ...

2011-07-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

We are shocked and very, very sad to learn of the bombings in Oslo today. Selfishly, we are very pleased that our Norwegian friends are physically unharmed, though we know events of this type create other types of pain and issues.

We send all the best wishes for their well-being that we can muster.

Do cats dream of being able to fly while they sleep?

2011-07-21T10:58:00.000-07:00

Apparently this one does ...

I realize the quality of this photo isn't very good, but it's the best I could do "on the fly" ... I'll explain:

The cats were doing laps this morning @ ~4:30 ... so I was up soon thereafter. About 45 minutes later, after they'd eaten and THEY were ready to sleep again, I got up from the couch to head to the kitchen and when I stepped in to the foyer, there was Calvin - dead asleep, laying on his left side with his front and back legs stretched out in front of him as if he were flying (a la Superman). I don't think you can actually see it, but he left front leg is laying on the floor and his right leg is rigidly stretched out in the air ... as if he's Superman.

(I grabbed my iPhone and snapped the shot; unfortunately, with the phone in the landscape position one of my fingers was close to the flash so it reflected light back, resulting in this low quality image. sorry.)

Thelma and Louise they're not, but ...

2011-07-20T16:52:00.000-07:00

I hear Joanne and Liv are sure having a lot of fun out on the road!

Last week they cruised SoCal, San Diego, the SD Zoo, SeaWorld and enough local restaurants to make ME jealous! (Waaaay cool :) They came home on Monday night, washed their trip clothes and did a bit of gardening - boy, was Liv thrilled with that ;) and this morning they left ~ 6:40 for the Northern leg of their trip. Here are two pics taken as they passed through the Shasta area:

Based on their last rowdy phone call several hours ago (as they crossed the CA / OR border), I'm betting they're visiting and shopping their way through Ashland right about now.

WooHoo, party in a Prius ;)

In need of stress relief?

2011-07-20T16:08:00.000-07:00

Then you need to visit Tea and Kittens to have a cuppa and check out their kittens. (There's an app for that, btw, and IT'S GREAT ! ;)

But here's the thing: When I read about this site the other day, I thought, "Blimey, that sounds great!" and visited it right away ... and I fell in love with the little buggers right away - I was gob smacked! But when I showed the site to Joanne, she said, "I don't get it" ... like she wuz lookin' @ Komodo Dragons or something. I said, "Look - it's TEA AND KITTENS fer God's sake ... don't they just make you go ... ahh, that's the spot ... ?"

"Nope", says she, "Doesn't do a thing for me".

So there you have it ... you may like your cats and you may like OUR cats and you may even like the cat next door ... but you may not instantly relax when you see Tea and Kittens like I (and apparently, MANY others) do. If that's the case ... pfffft to you!

Hive naming contest "Goodies" selection

2011-07-17T18:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings naming contest winners!

Following is a list of the goodies from which you can choose your prize(s). Please note that all of our goodies are made with fruit from the trees on our property, though we also use pomegranates from the homes of our friends.)

1) Pomegranate Jelly (Our award winning recipe :)
2) Just Fig Jam
3) Dancing Orange Fig Jam (VERY nice and especially tasty blend of our oranges and figs - extra yummy!)
4) Chunky Spiced Peach (wonderful taste ... like eating a peach pie)
5) Olivia's Royal Ann Cherry Jam (royal ann cherries ... very limited production due to limited amount of cherries on our trees.)
6) Orange Cranberry Sauce (if you were in the U.S. @ Thanksgiving, THIS is the stuff to put on your plate!)
7) IMA Tart Tangerine Marmalade
8) Tart Orange Panalicious Marmalade (wonderful ... and named after our first BigCat, Pandora)
9) Left Plum Jam (satsuma plum is the plum tree on the left hand side of the garden)
10) Right Plum Jam (santa rosa plum is the plum tree on the right hand side of the garden)
11) H&J Tart Tangerine Marmalade
12) Honey - light, medium or dark ... you get to choose which you want :)

We can put 5 or 6 jars in a box (can't remember which @ the moment), so please choose 6 and if we can ship them, we will ... otherwise, we'll only ship 5. We will ship within 7 working days of receiving your request and if you are located outside of the U.S., please allow ~3 weeks for shipping, customs, etc.

Thanks again for naming our hives - I'll post some hive news you may find interesting on Monday.

Until then, be well.
hal

Misc TBC pics ...

2011-07-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

A few random shots from around the house over the past two weeks or so ...

Cal and Penny's toy, Gator, snuggled in and taking a nap in Cal's latest pre-fabbed home. Cats and boxes, what is it about boxes, anyway?

Last weekend we picked and Joanne processed 30-40 lbs of Santa Rosa Plums (the "Right" Plum)... this is just a sampling of fruit that we washed and dried in racks (for a day) before processing.

It's a jungle out there ... tomato jungle, that is. To give our tomatoes the fullest possible amount of sunlight this year, we planted them in our unused pond liner and placed it on the lawn by the birch tree. So far, the plants seem to be doing well and producing a fair amount of tomatoes ... we even have a couple that are nice and red but not yet ready for picking.

All of these were taken with my iPhone 4 so the quality "is what it is"; I'll try to post some from the Canon over the weekend.

ROADTRIP 2011: the girls seem to be having fun ...

2011-07-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Thought you might be interested to know that Joanne and Liv are having a good time as they move down the coast, terrorizing the locals and fellow summer vacationers. Here's a quick pic they took on Wed morning as they were leaving Owen and Liv's to head to San Diego ...

I hear from them a couple of times a day and in between the bursts of laughter from their end of the phone, it sounds like they're having a great time :) Last night they reported they'd spent several hours cruising Old Town and taking Ev out to dinner, today they're @ a major tourist attraction and tonight they're off to dinner with Marly.

Sounds like a great time on a well-deserved break for both of them.

see ya when i see ya.
hal

Joanne is now re-wiring (rather than retiring :)

2011-07-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

A brief heads-up to mention that yesterday marked Joanne's first day of retire... er, re-wirement! Yep, she took the generous early retirement package from her employer and is looking forward to some long-delayed activities, beginning with this morning's drive to LA to pick up Liv, then head to San Diego to visit family and the local sites.

Below is a brief video of her leaving on her trip this morning @ ~ 6:30 ... note that she's taking MotorMoose, our long-time motorhome traveling companion of many years (I can't believe she let him drive!!)

Woo Hoo, give 'em heck Liv and Joanne!

Bee Hive Names

2011-07-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

Greetings TwoBigCats honey-lovers!

Our thanks to everyone who submitted names for the newest TwoBigCats bee hives! We've had a wonderful time reading your submissions as they've come in ... each email and each name we read triggered a fond memory of our friendship with you :)

Nature being what it is, in the time that elapsed since we announced the game, one of our three hives left and never returned ... leaving us with just two hives to name and not three as we originally planned. DARN! So we jiggled the rules a bit and decided that we'd still choose three hive names (saving one for a future hive) and because we had so many GREAT submissions, we decided to use another round of names for upcoming harvests of honey. (Our honey labels all have names and they all "tell a story".)

The chosen hive names in alphabetical order are:
BeeTopia (Drew and family)
Honningfabrikken (Eirik and family, Norwegian for "The Honey Factory")
Honingpotje (Manus and family, Dutch for "The Honey Pot") (Future Hive)

The chosen (upcoming) honey harvest names in alphabetical order are:
LetMeBee (Bruce)
OBEEHave (Suzanne)
WannaBee (Ralph)

This coming week we'll post the list of goodies so you can make your selections and we'll pack and ship your goodies soon after receiving your selections. We hope you'll have as much enjoyment eating the goodies (and honey!) as we did in playing our game :)

Congratulations to all whose names were selected!

All the best,

Joanne, Hal and the entire TwoBigCats pack :)

Hive Name Suggestions (in Wordle :)

2011-07-10T14:36:00.000-07:00

Here is word cloud that includes ALL of the names that were submitted for naming of our hives. To see the cloud up close, just click the pic (the selected names will appear in the next post :)

Beek's Log: 7/6/11

2011-07-06T15:23:00.000-07:00

While Owen and Olivia were visiting over the 4th of July weekend, Owen and I checked our remaining bee hives.

It turns out that the hive known as Olivia (because we received two small swarms during the weekend she was visiting us last April) had left their hive ... no eggs, no remaining larvae ... just a small group of bees who are eating the remaining honey. I'll check them again in the morning (when it's <100F) to see if there's enough left to capture and transfer / introduce to one of the remaining healthy hives. If so, they can become productive in supporting the new hive; if there are not enough to contribute, then I'll simply remove the remaining honey frames and let the survivors fend for themselves as best they can.

Interestingly enough, THE bee guy for the valley had exactly the same thing happen to one of his 14 hives at about the same time - the bees just left and didn't return. As some of you may know, this is a key identifier of what's become known as Colony Collapse Disorder - the "bee epidemic" that has been occurring over the past 5 years - but these two are the first time it's happened to me and to this other beekeeper, though.

The remaining two (as yet unnamed) hives appear to be doing well and I'll likely pull a box of honey from THWNN#1 over the weekend. Just a few more weeks and we'll likely not see much more honey being pulled in by the bees for a while.

That's it for now, see ya when I see ya.

We've got about 30 names submitted so far ...

2011-07-05T12:51:00.001-07:00

The names submitted thus far ...

2011-07-05T12:40:00.000-07:00

Bee Barns. North and South. East and West. 1 and 2. Cherry’s Bee Barn. Cal’s Bee Barn.

Bijenkorfje (Dutch for beehive) 'Kit's Bijenkorfje', Honingpotje (Dutch for honey pot),
Honinglepeltje (Dutch for honey spoon), Bijenhemeltje (Dutch for bee heaven) (The words end with -tje and -je: it basically means 'little' (ie bijenkorf is beehive; bijenkorfje is little beehive), Pandora's BeeBox

Archive, Beethoven, Walden (Mark Walden is the author of a series of books H.I.V.E., Higher Institute of Villainous Education), TCI (TCI Hive is a game), Bedlam (Keeping with Hal’s music theme’s, It’s the title of an album by Hive) and (yes there are the obvious: Bumble, Fris, Free, Wanna, they are all Bee’s)

Trump Tower, Funny Honey, Money Honey, What’s the Buzz?, Home Sweet Home, Let Me Bee, Carroll’s Bee & Bee, To Bee or Not To Bee

"Sekskantbolet" (hexagon hive), "Sekskantslottet" (hexagon castle), "Sekskantfabrikken" (hexagon factory) and "Sekskantfortet" (hexagon fortress), "Bieblokka" (block of flats for bees), "Biekolonien" (the bee colony), "Kua" (the cow), "Honning" (honey) and "Honningfabrikken" (the honey factory), "Trolldalen" (troll valley), "Rullesteinene" (the rolling stones) and "Tveitablokka" (the block of flats at Tveita).

OBEEHave

Shangri-La, Waterloo Sunset, Wonder Boy

Global Swarming, Bee Nice, RubMyTummyHoney, Cream o' Wheat, Pan's Place, Delilah's Delight, Little One, Hello Gorgeous!, Catitude

For Judy ...

2011-07-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we had a gathering of family and friends @ our house. One of our guests was Judy, of the Homeless Cat Network. Judy was one of the two volunteers who brought Calvin and Cherry to our home in '10 and she and I have stayed in touch from time to time.

Just a few minutes ago I opened a thank-you email from her and as I began to type a response, into my office walked Calvin, vocalizing that he wanted some company. So I picked him up, placed him on my desk and in < 1 minute he assumed the position:

(Note: If you had to ask, "what position?", clearly, you are not a cat owner ;)

Free Honey (!) for chosen name(s) for bee hive(s)

2011-06-30T08:58:00.000-07:00

Folks,

We've got a couple of problems we think you can help us with and we're awarding a case of honey, jams'n'jellies to the people whose suggestions are chosen. Calvin and Cherry provide details in the following video that I posted to my Facebook account. (Please note that I only use FB for connecting with former co-workers so just email Joanne or I your name suggestions and we'll take it from there.)

View our YouTube video here

Good luck on having your submission selected!

Beeks Log: 6/24/11

2011-06-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

Lots to catch you up on and not much time, so here are the recent highlights:

* Multi-year / multi-swarm hive Fuzzy swarmed (apparently) sometime over the past 3 weeks.
* Fuzzy Was He! honey harvested and harvested frames re-homed to remaining hives.
* Last weekend there was a swarm in the corner fir tree, apparently from The Hive With No Name #1
* Four hours later, swarm gone and - maybe / maybe not - swarm returned to THWNN #1
* All hives THWNN #1, #2 and Hive "Olivia" (Easter weekend swarms hived when Liv was visiting)
* All hives appear healthy
   #1 has multiple emerged Queen cells; fresh larvae, capped larvae and honey
   #2 has VERY STRONG, ACTIVE LAYING Queen - woof! Also has tons of honey being placed / capped.
   Olivia has capped larvae and honey; no Queen observed

I'm somewhat skeptical of my heat-of-the-day inspection (I may have been rushed due to 100F+ inside veil / helmet) so I will likely re-inspect this Sunday afternoon.

IIRC, we now have ~10 gallons of honey jarred and being stored. woof! that'salotohhoney! (for us, anyway)

It's been warm and busy around here, so ...

2011-06-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

These two are takin' cat naps.

Is there an Echo in here?

2011-06-22T14:51:00.000-07:00

Yep, and she's one of the kittens we found / rescued from under our porch just after C&C came to live with us. From time to time we hear from her loving caretaker, Jeanee, that she's a real love of their life over @ her house. Here are a couple of pics Jeanee recently sent to me:

Echo, Queen of the CatBloggers ;)

Looks like she's got a pretty tough life, huh?(Now, which toy should I play with?)

I may just invite myself over to Jeanee's house to visit with Echo one day in the near future :)

(Thx, Jeanee, for sending these over - you're both really lucky to have found one another, eh?!)

Beeks Log: 6/21/11 Fuzzy Was He!

2011-06-21T12:24:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered that my two year old hive (a collection of three swarms), Fuzzy, had swarmed and all that was left in the hive were some remaining honey frames and residual bees (who were eating MY honey). I harvested the honey and reduced the hive to a single box "just in case" there happened to be a passing swarm looking for a new home. (btw, we're supposed to be pretty much out of swarm season :( I processed and jarred the honey and Joanne made labels for this harvest / batch, which we're calling, "Fuzzy Was He!" since the hive was named Fuzzy, after my beek mentor.

Here are the freshly harvested, processed and labeled jars of Fuzzy Was He! (details about the honey below)

This is a medium-dark honey, VERY full of pollen and has a nice and rich flavor. It's full of pollen because I harvested it from the brood chambers, where bees keep honey and pollen to feed their brood. In some cases, honey was placed in the same cells as pollen so when I scraped it out, it was blended together pretty well ... holding the jar up to light, you can easily see the chunks / bits of pollen floating around in it ... very cool! Btw, the yellow block of wax on the upper left hand side is the processed honey from the frames of this harvest.

The new, er, tent is here - Let's go camping!

2011-06-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

How hot was it yesterday?

2011-06-21T12:07:00.000-07:00

It was THIS hot!

Going to the Alameda County Fair ...

2011-06-21T12:05:00.000-07:00

Joanne needed to take some carvings to enter in the county fair over the weekend and you-know-who wanted to make sure she was included in the trip (NOT!):

As you can see, we've done some remodeling ...

2011-06-18T08:26:00.000-07:00

And guess who likes their new digs?

Sadly, I understand City of Campbell Building Inspectors will be here on Tues to check for code violations so it's likely the new addition will go bye-bye-by-then.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game, Take Me Out With The Crowd ...

2011-06-17T17:30:00.000-07:00

Last week Joanne's company had a field trip for her group, so they headed up to SF for a Giants game. I hear they had a great time, as evidenced by this pic of Joanne and Heather that I received on my phone: "Girls Day Out!"

(Giants is baseball, right?! ;)

Ben and Suz' newly-formed pack

2011-06-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

This past week I caught up with my long time friend and former co-worker (IBM, '77), Suzanne. Over the past few years they have lost two of their dogs, Mack and Benji. Not long after Mack passed away, they brought Spirit (a toy collie) in to join their pack.

After losing Benji (in April of this year) their home was missing the presence of a full pack, so they invited a puppy, Charley Caroline (Caroline was the name agreed to with a granddaughter when they thought they'd be getting a female puppy ... so when they discovered they were getting a boy, they "adapted" ... sometimes life just works out that way, doesn't it?)

Sent by Suz' cell phone, here are the pics of the Charley Caroline, their newest puppy:

The pic below is of their eight year old dog, Suzy

Here's Spirit, their two year old toy collie:

As you can see, Spirit and Charley Caroline don't mind hanging out together and I can tell you from hearing them during our phone call, they're certainly verbally communicative with one another :)

Congrats to Suzanne, Ben and their entire pack on finding one another. Lots of smiles and laughter to them all in the years ahead :)

Very busy week, but here's a quick pic of ...

2011-06-17T07:53:00.000-07:00

Cherry and I this morning ... she needed a face-hug while I was reading the paper. (Note how Cherry has her eyes closed, "I love you food-guy." Yep, that's me: the ultimate food-source guy.)

I have some great new pics of my friend Suzanne's new puppy (and entire pack) but am busier than a one-legged man @ a butt-kicking contest right now, so hope to get those posted later in the day. (sigh)

LOTS going on, but for now ...

2011-06-13T16:05:00.000-07:00

Just relax and I'll update the site as I have time :)

Calvin's weekend massage ...

2011-06-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Life is good when you're a Bright Orange Cat like The Calvinator!