The Ohio River

We took Mom to Newport, KY - right across the Ohio River from Cincinnati - to board a paddle wheel boat for a 1 1/2 hour cruise along the Ohio. She had never been to Kentucky, or on a paddle wheel boat for that matter, so there were new experiences at every turn. I haven't been through Cincinnati for a year - so it's easy to forget how big it is. We usually get as far south as West Chester, home of Ohio's only Ikea. :)

We're standing in Kentucky, with the Cinci skyline in back.

Cincinnati's riverfront, near the baseball stadium. I dare not say "Go Reds" or I'll bring down the wrath of the forever Cubs fans, Bob and Penny.

John Roebling's bridge over the Ohio. This one came before his Brooklyn Bridge, but note the similarities.

Mom eats chicken in Kentucky.

Our boat, the River Queen. Yes, my mother with bad hips and a bad left knee climbed all the stairs to the upper deck!

Bob with his trusty camera before the cruise.

The paddle wheel in action. Actually, it's all for show. The boat is powered by big Cummins diesel engines! (Sorry to disillusion anyone out there.)

Mom sightseeing from the upper deck. KY on right; OH on left.

Early August

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. Too lazy, too hot! It's a lovely day today. The humidity is down and the temperatures are lower. Perhaps the weather gods are done punishing us. We're harvesting lots of cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden. We have edible cantaloupes, which surprises me no end, since I've never grown a cantaloupe in my life. The peppers are coming along, too. In mid-May, when we put those small plants into the ground, I don't think we ever expected real food to result! Love it.

Me at Grand Lake St. Mary's - Ohio's second biggest lake after Lake Erie.

One of the marinas at GLSM's.

One of our new dining room chairs. Our dining room is too small for the bigger chairs. We got these at Ikea.

A new house across the street. There are 3 new houses on the next street. Does this mean the economy is better?

Hazy, lazy, crazy days of summer

It's still hot. It's still not raining ... well, other than a couple of brief (a few minutes long) rains that revive the flowers for a while. It was over 100 degrees again today, then the little rain lowered the temperature 30 degrees. Afterwards, the temperature climbed again, though not so high. We've been trying to keep the lawn alive ... many people have given up and have brown and crispy lawns. Our garden is doing well. Tomatoes love hot weather, though ours are very slow to turn red or yellow (we have two kinds).

Grandniece Ava and I attempt to get her on the floating tiger.

I tried to get closer to the sign, but the boxer on the right growled and tried to chase me away. OK, dog, I'm going.

Hey, it's hot outside. The boys decided to rest inside with the AC.

One of our cantaloupes. I'm just amazed that stuff is actually growing out there.

The new motion sensor in the laundry room. No more light switches. Love it!

The replacement ceiling fan in our bedroom. The old one was big, dark, ugly, and somewhat creepy.

Weird weather

It's been hotter than a pistol. Day after day over 100 degrees. On June 29, we were hit by a derecho - which I'd never heard of until it roared through. It's a straight-line windstorm, as opposed to a tornado which rotates. Also, derechos are long-lived. I was confused by the straight-line definition, because I thought "derecho" was Spanish for "right." Turns out it means both things. Go figure. Anyway, the derecho came down on us and ripped limbs off trees (none of ours) and left lots of people with no power (luckily again, not us). Then two days later, on July 1st, we were hit by a severe thunderstorm that ripped some more limbs off trees and knocked out electricity again (this time, ours was off for about 5 hours). Excitement all around.

This limb came down at the golf course. Note my bike in the lower left.

I think the limb above smacked into this dumpster. The tree limb won that round.

A hackberry tree with nearly half itself gone.

A common job after both storms - roof repair.

Our first tomatoes! They're Elbertas.

No, he's not dead. This squirrel was tucked into the dirt on a hot day. Perhaps he was contemplating life.

Yowza, it's hot

For my San Luis Obispo County readers, it's like Paso Robles or Atascadero outside, only we're in Ohio. Our outdoor thermometer says 103.2 degrees and I believe it. It hasn't rained in so long, we sort of forgot what it feels like. The "D" word (drought) is being spoken.

Proof!

No, not the Alps. A pile of Zamboni leavings - I think I'll jump in.

The YMCA pool before we jumped in.

Bob gets ready for his laps.

I "sneaked" onto the new bridge (it wasn't much of a sneak, since two other groups of people were also there). This shows one of the riverview areas. There's not much river to view right now.

The winter wheat has been harvested and we're left with buzz cut stems.

Cinci Pops concert and cucumbers

The Cincinnati Pops came to town last Friday. Wonderful concert, as usual. The featured singer was mezzo-soprano Catherine Fishlock, who has a beautiful voice. The assistant conductor, Robert Trevino, was in charge and he did a great job. He's just a baby (well, like 28 or 29 years old)!

Bob waits for concert to start.

Our new favorite cello player warms up. This is Norman Johns, who teaches at Xavier University and plays with the Cincinnati Symphony & Pops orchestras. We walked into downtown with him, chatting away. A very nice man.

It's hard to see, but Catherine Fishlock is singing and Robert Trevino (white jacket) is conducting.

My Flag Day bunting (and July 4th and Memorial Day and Veterans Day...).

Had we but known .... We thought this was the big cucumber, but then Bob

found this one! (And he doesn't even like cucumbers.)

Late spring

We've been busy. On Memorial Day, I picked up our friend Joan at the Dayton Airport. She left on Thursday, June 7th. On Weds., June 6th, my aunt and uncle from California arrived. They drove across the country - Mt. Rushmore, Minnesota to see their granddaughters, Ohio to see us, and then to Missouri and Oklahoma to see my aunt's relatives. They left on Saturday, June 9th. We were kind of sad when all our guests left.

Joan at the microfilm machine in the library in Wadsworth, OH, where we went so Joan could look up some of her ancestors.

The carpet in the hall in the Holiday Inn Express in Wadsworth. Looks like DNA.

Indigo bunting at the feeder at Brukner Nature Center in Troy. Joan got to see it.

My mom, my uncle Lew (her brother), and my aunt Amelee.

Our winter wheat is golden!

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

I couldn't resist this sign. Coldest beer on earth ... wow, that's a big claim.