Wine Moon & Pelican over Healdsburg

This morning at 7:10 A.M. the full moon that started out on the East side of the house the night prior was making it's way through the Western horizon . . . because almost every other morning this week has been hazy and foggy this was striking:

It probably could be called a "harvest" moon but since we live in the wine country "Wine Moon" is more appropriate. The weather all week has been chilly in the morning and this morning it was already giving signs that we might reach some of the forecasted temperatures they have been calling for i.e. triple digits.

We'll see if we really need the a/c today or not. Shortly after the moon went down a very bright and intense sun came up indicating it would be likely that while watching football today we would only be cool if we had the a/c on . . .

Dino's Big Day

Our yellow lab that we picked up on December 4, 2011 at 10 weeks old weighing in at just under 20 pounds turned 1 year old on Monday September 24th weighing in at just over 80 pounds. We have had Dino 303 days (today Sunday) and the time unfortunately ticks closer to the day they make a decision on what is next for Dino. We are told that due to a Parvo virus last year they may just need to call pups -- like Dino -- in sooner than the 16 - 18 months that is customary. OR he could be considered to be a "breeder"  . . . which would be nice too.

In the meantime we celebrated his birthday, one by giving him a new "Nylabone" -- a larger and heavier one than usual. In the top photos you can see him waiting patiently while Gail sets the new toy down and then he "goes to work" on it right away. It is amazing how he seems to always pay attention to the new toy as if "saying thanks".

But also for his birthday, secondly he received a personal emery board treatment on his nails from Gail. He almost goes into a trance (not unlike the trance he goes into as he gets his hair blown dry in the mornings) as his nails are "done". I kinda know what he means . . . on the very bottom middle pic he is so content he is sitting close-eyed waiting to continue . . . such is life for a one-year old.

Rent - A - Refs & MNF

While all the hoopla for Dino goes on, Gail and I are also watching MNF -- this week an exciting game between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks. Often I am rooting for the Packers, but this night due to attending many Seahawks games in (the old Kingdome) Seattle I am rooting for them. But what turns out is not the way I wanted the Seahawks to win.

On the very last play of the game a hail-Mary pass is thrown into the end zone and the impact changes a

lot of the negotiating between the locked out refs and the NFL:

 In the above collage there are several pictures (taken while watching the game on TV) and then one of the "bad boys" of the Packers leaving the field after the results of the game are announced  -- not a pretty sight. 

During the week, every morning news cast on NBC led with this story about the missed call and how the replacement refs were negatively impacting the game -- we agree -- Green Bay really was slighted on that final call. It should have been a win for them. As much as we were rooting for the "Hawks" I bet that they would agree as well. 

The discussion even got so intense it was brought up that the Presidential election might even be impacted in as much as Wisconsin is a "swing state" and irate Packer fans might not show up at the polls.

By Thursday morning the labor dispute was about to be settled AND in time for Thursday Night Football. That game -- we watched -- was great in that "everything" seemed to be back in place. The crowds were glad to have the regular refs back to boo -- and rightly so. All is well at the moment.

So What Else Did We Do This Week . . .

Again, we found it to be apple-pickin' time. We have two apple trees in our yard and a partial one from the neighbors. Most of the season we have randomly picked some apples and either dried them or made apple sauce with them AND  we have scraped up many that have gone splat on the ground and have been very unsightly. 

So, it was get the picker that we bought last year and paper bags along with rakes and brooms and take care of our harvest.

 Dino was not of any help and was not that interested in what we were doing. In the above photos after clicking on it you can see some apples still remaining on the tree AND even a picker (in the brush) working to get every apple.

We managed to get several bags of apples which on Monday will find their way to the "food pantry" in town. There were a lot of really nice-looking apples, we still are not sure of the variety. 

Family History This Week

While I have done some this week and I did attend another Legacy Family Tree Webinar on Friday. The Webinar was the third in a series to help in using the software (that I just purchased) Heritage Collector.

I am hoping that I can get "into" the habit of using the program as I do think it will be an aid to organizing photos and other documents that I have accumulated over the twenty to thirty years that I have been doing this hobby. 

One of the many photos that I need to organize is the above. It shows my family (minus my older brother who is taking this picture) in August of 1954. We are about to travel to Florida. Pictured are my Father & Mother, Marilee, Jon & Me (Dan). We are in front of the apartment we lived in (in La Grange)for a year before we moved to a new house in Hinsdale, Illinois. I was just starting the seventh grade . . .

And Finally . . .

A few years ago, I almost hate to admit it, Gail and I were guilty of the very same activity as depicted in the following comic that appropriately appeared in today's paper:

I mean, it was the humane thing to do . . . we should have probably done this with our tomato crop this year -- we have learned our lesson about the Z-Squash though. Next year we will be more diligent about our crops.

So that was our week -- last night we had our traditional burgers -- tonight it is roast chicken.