December Days

 I'm still able to get up on the roof and put up the lights.

Every year is a victory if I don't fall off the ladder.

Speaking of ladders, this is how I get the finicky dog to eat these days. It's a good thing she's cute.

Project Shipwreck

 I finally used my Father's Day gift certificate.

 It's a model. A really big model. It will be 30 inches long when finished.

 It's the U.S.S. New Jersey. A model of the only warship that provided gunfire support during the Vietnam war.

 There are almost 1400 pieces.

There are 94 steps of instruction.

Enough to keep me busy for a long time- as soon as I finish the US Navy Landing Ship I'm working on now.

What's Cooking?

I had this idea that putting spaghetti sauce in hamburgers would be a good idea. I added an egg and an onion.

 She kept saying I was making a meatloaf but I wanted burgers. Meatloaf burgers.

She thought they would fall apart. So did I but they didn't.

 The next night I wanted some steak and some squash.  The grill hasn't been used in ages but I put it to good use. It's been raining for a week and at the first sight of sun I wanted to cook outside.

I had a audience. Maggie and Hoover knew they were about to get something good-and it was. Even the crazy burgers.

Arts and Crafts

 Daughter has this ice show thing going on. I help out from time to time by putting together scenery and props.

This is a cardboard lamp post kit.  It took hours to cut out all the pieces with an exacto knife.

 I've learned to hate hot glue.

Five hours later I had one together. Almost. I need Daughter's approval on the height of the thing before I can finish it. Then there's lamp post number two to tackle.....

Snow Daze

 Watching all the news coverage of the big snows up north made us feel left out until yesterday.

 We finally got what we consider a blizzard around here-about six inches. Everything shut down.

 It wasn't our usual type of icy winter precipitation. This stuff is white and fluffy. You didn't have to work hard at all to tidy it up.

What's not to like about this kind of snow. When the sun bounces off it, 20 degrees feels like 40.

 Even the pup enjoyed a romp in it without getting too cold. Good thing I really didn't need that glove.

Snowday

 There's not much snow on the ground but it's enough for a ride.

 It's a long way down.

 I'm not alone.

 It's a race back to the top.

I think she's there to keep me company but it's really just my gloves she's after.

2015!

 Happy New Year everybody! We had dinner and a drink down at the beach this year. It's been a long time since we did anything special on New Year's Eve.

Normally I'd be getting ready for today's Polar Bear Plunge.

 But this is as close as I'm getting this year.

 A game of golf yesterday did me in.

 I'd never survive the mass run in the sand to the water and back.

It's tough to get old.

But it's good to be old enough to legally get blitzed. Frolicking on the boardwalk in the cold is a lot more fun when you have some tequila in your belly.

Happy New Year!