We headed south to Hadlock Field one more time this year.  Tony wanted to include Al and Deb on the family baseball experience so we loaded two vehicles and nearly ran a tank of fuel through them.  It seemed like Musical Chairs with the cars and people, but things settled down after Newport.  Deb and Al drove to our place and left their vehicle over here, then we took them to Newport.  They got in with Tony and Sherry and we took Tyler.  Fueled up on TimBits, we made it straight to Portland in a single hop.  We were early because of a special start, but that was late getting going and so was the game.  This was the weekend for their Field of Dreams theme.  They queued the music and they players walked onto the field through a stand of corn.  We left early and with the game tied.  But not before a few of us did the Speed Pitch beside the Ship Yard.  We made a quick stop at L.L. Beans at my request (replacing a lost multi-tool).  The boys enjoyed the new fish tank and then it was north to Augusta for supper.  Red Robin still meets our expectations so we stopped and left our money there.  Back in Newport we swapped people and gear and parted ways.  Our car didn’t leave the area without stopping at Wal-Mart first but we eventually made it home.  Another busy day, but another attempt at stretching the summer out.

 

Field of Dreams - Click photo for more photos

Cheap rock crabs at Hannaford tonight ($2.99/lb).  Why not.  I didn’t bring any lobster home this summer, so I thought I’d treat myself to some cheap crab.  A lot of work, but it was very sweet.  Nathan tried it and said he’d eat it in a survival situation… oh, OK.

 

Rock Crab, grilled steak and grilled corn.

I grabbed another ton of pellets today, this time I received hardwood. OK, they finally had my second ton available.  Production at the plant here in Corinth hasn’t been going as smooth as the owners would like I suppose.  They had another small fire recently and getting the hardwood machines in place and operating have taking more time than they would like.  My distributor is only getting eight ton a week (soon sixteen).  But to their credit, they give one ton to as many people on the list as they can.  That way, everyone (nearly) has at least some pellets to work with.  I have enough to get me to Christmas now (maybe).  Now, the stove.  I need to get the venting for the stove!

 

Hardwood and Softwood pellets.. which is which?

Well, now you can.  Nathan received his first pair of Rx glasses today.  He had an eye exam this spring and was borderline.  Recently he’s been complaining a lot more about not seeing things (animals while driving, etc) so we visited the eye Dr. last week.  He’d fallen off the fence, the wrong side.  So he’s sporting a pair of glasses like the rest of us here.  Like the rest of us, he was quite amazed at how well he could see when he put them on for the first time, big smile!  He seems OK with them, we’ll see how his first day of school goes with them.  At least four others have glasses in his class, and I don’t think its like it used to be (heavy teasing).  

 

Like Father like Son.

Nathan started school today.  Third grade.  He was sort of ready.  It’s still school, but he was ready to see his pals again and maybe meet some new kids.  We’re going to try the Late Duty scene this year.  That should help me finish my work day without interruptions and give him some extra play time with friends.

 

Nathan begins third grade

I’ve been meaning to take this shot for two weeks now. (can’t you tell? This was taken at 40mph out the front window!) This tree is a mile down the road and started turning at least three weeks ago.  Ok, so it’s one of those early trees.  But still, it’s changing.  We saw a lot of color on our trip north also.  Here and there, but there was some bright solo trees in the stands.  So, it’s over, summer has left the building.

 

Fall has arrived.

This was the first time this year I’ve had the kayak out for a paddle.  It’s definitely been a motorcycle year. I did take the kayak over to the fish pond earlier and practiced my roll, that went well.  But this was the first time I’ve had the chance to paddle.  Nathan and his friend wanted to paddle with me, but didn’t venture far from the camp. I will say I’m a bit rusty.  Couldn’t seem to get into a rhythm.  But that may be from some soreness from the long ride.

 

Kayaking at last

We all got together for Al’s birthday supper and had a the chance to take a photo of the “Libby” side of the family.  Everyone held still to get at least two photos from at least 3 cameras!  Wow, we done good.

 

Photo Op at the Libby residence

I had Dana come over and pull some stumps with the tractor today (no photos).  While he was here I noticed a hornets nest up in under the eaves.  I don’t normally observe much on that side of the house, so one task turned into two.  I still had a can of Raid from a couple of summers ago, but I had left it out on the wood pile all winter.  I wasn’t too sure it would work.  Those of the things its best to try first before it sputters out half way through a fairly important job!  We slicked it down pretty good and now we’ll wait it out and see that nothing progresses

 

Hornets... painted with the color Raid.

The ‘ol pot hole in the driveway keeps getting bigger and bigger.  I don’t think this will help much, but I had to try something.  I grabbed 200lbs of cold patch and tossed it in the hole and maybe that’ll slow the growth of it. Time will tell.

 

Cold Patch test.