This, that and... some other stuff

I thought I'd take the chance to post several random things.  I couldn't really figure out a way to make each of these a post of their own so rather than do that I thought I'd just throw everything into the pot and see what happens.  You'll get a couple of pictures and a video.  The next post will be much more "house-centric" but I need to get these off of my plate.  So, here ya go...

We discovered a well known local place a couple of months ago.  It's a farm that is owned by a local family that have turned it into a destination.  There is a GREAT restaurant, a store, a petting zoo, gardens, ponds and play areas.  You can have a fantastic fried chicken dinner, pick your own seasonal fruit AND drive a four wheeler through the woods.  It's quite a place.

One of the other things you can do is feed the ducks and the fish in the small lake.  There are food vending machines that dispense little pellets that the ducks, geese and koi love.  The object is to throw the food out into the lake for the animals.... but ONLY the food and NOT your wedding ring... Yep, a lady was feeding the ducks and fish and not only threw food out into the lake but also threw her wedding ring.  Here is a picture of a diver (you can't really see him but he is there) in the pond yesterday looking for her ring.  Sorry that the picture isn't better but they noticed me taking pictures and seemed none to happy to be the object of my interest.

The process went something like this:  The diver swam around with a metal detector, a man walked around with a small child looking less than happy about paying for a diver and a woman paced around the deck area talking on a cell phone looking frustrated.  I'm not sure ladies, but wouldn't you know if your ring was so big that it may fly off your hand when you throw duck food into a pond?  I know things happen but this seems like a preventable situation to me.

One of the things I love most about living here and that I didn't have in San Jose is the ability to go out in the yard and build a fire in a fire pit.  To sit and stare into the flames as the sun comes up (or goes down) has given me back the inner peace that I didn't realize was missing.  When I have talked about this simple thing with some of you (especially my friends in CA) you have said how much you wish you could do the same sometimes.  Well, here's something for you.  A 2 minute "vacation" for when things are just too overwhelming and too much to deal with.   Set it on full screen and enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNrIR1z10Eo

Fall arrives here overnight.  One day it's green, lush and hot and the next day it's gold and red and yellow and there is a chill in the air.  Here's a picture of a soybean field just down the road from our house.  It's impossible to capture the beauty of it all with a picture but I tried.

Well, I'm off to the house.  There is more concrete work to do before we can put the kitchen floor back.  We'll get photos of that and post them soon.  Thanks again for following our blog.  We enjoy your input.

Take care.

--Kevin