Before and After

Here's a few more before and after photos:

In the beginning













Cleared and ready to start












Got foundation?















The dream has become reality!

Finally Florida!

Yes we're finally in Florida! We've actually been here over a week, but this is the first time I've been able to get on-line to post anything (thanks to FC for loaning me his connection!).

The journey started with loading up the truck and trailer with everything we could get on them, and heading down the road.
















When we finally arrived it was amazing to see the difference from the last time we visited the house. The jungle had tried to take over again and I had to rent a Bush Hog type piece of equipment called a "Billy Goat" to beat the jungle back to the tree line. Here's the before and after shots:




















Ok, ok I'll get to the house! The outside of the house hasn't changed much from the last visit so we'll move inside to the drastic improvements. Here are a few before and after shots of the kitchen:























The stairs were not completed yet last time either and we actually got to help finish them. I helped Mr. Trapp (The Builder) lug the cypress trees around to get them cut to fit, and then Lightnin and I applied the sealant to the steps, rails, and trees for the final touch.
























It's been a working vacation so far, but while writing this post we were just informed by the builder that the final inspection just passed and we will have our C.O. in a couple of hours! That means we finally have reason to celebrate and will take the next couple of days to actually enjoy some of our time off!

More to come later!

Yes, It's Me Again!

Sorry for the lag time of almost 3 months now!

There's been a lot going on: The house is nearing completion, but with new issues encountered that have once again pushed the completion date back; changes at work that are requiring extra effort; and physical therapy for me before and after work. All of which have added to the normal stress load that was already a bit high.

So selfishly when I finally get downtime lately, I've tended to take time for myself in a more low profile manner. I realized that this was needed at this time when I left the house the other day without my camera in my hand and it didn't even bother me! What the? That's not me! SO a little sabbatical has been in order in the name of personal sanity.

Don't worry though, the thought of blogging is constantly gnawing at me and I will get back into the swing of things again soon! I promise!

More Flood Scenes and Another Storm

On Thursday afternoon it wasn't raining when we got home from work so we decided to get the bike out for the first time in a couple of weeks and try to get a few more pictures of the flooded areas.

Here's the over swollen White Water River


This is supposed to be a corn field

This is another view of the White Water River, if you see the two clumps of trees to the left the normal channel of the rive is between those!

There's a bridge under there

Looks like it's time to get back home!

Hail that came down with the storm













We barely got the bike put away and the sky let loose on us once again. We had three waves of rain and high winds with the third storm producing a bit of pea sized hail.

So This is What I came Home to!

This spring has been a wet one for us here in the Ohio River Valley!. The ground is saturated and there's no place for the rain to go. We currently live near the White Water River and I ventured out today to take a few shots of the flooding.

These first few are at a boat ramp and park just around the corner from us. Those are trees floating down the river





This is usually a field which should already have corn planted in it, but right now it's a lake


















The White Water River is usually a docile clear running body of water where you can tube, canoe, or kayak down to cool off during the summer.

Right now it's not raining, but there are more storms coming later this evening and we may not see the sun until Friday. that means that it will be a daily check as to see if we can get out to go to work in the morning or get back home at night. I guess we'd better pack a few things and take them with us just in case!

Our Cabin in the Woods, or is This Paradise?

I left the rain soaked (understatement!) southern Ohio region a couple of days ago to come back down to the wilds of Florida to make some final adjustments and decisions to the design before the final stages of construction begin.

The weather could not have cooperated any better! The temps have been in the upper 60's to lower 70's in the mornings and reaching upper 80's to lower 90's in the heat of the day, but with amazingly low humidity so it's very comfortable (temperatures are reported in degrees F for my international followers). This combined with clear blue skies has made the short visit exactly what the doctor ordered!

So with the first 2 days here spent getting the business completed I was able to spend a fun and relaxing evening with my buddy FC enjoying some good music and a couple of cold malted beverages near the gulf, again just what the doctor ordered.

My other good friend Mrs. FC has been very busy preparing for a huge catering job that is taking place today and since I really didn't have any plans, and they could really use the help, I'll be spending my last day here helping with the affair. It should be a fun time, even if it proves to be hard work, and I get a chance to check out some of the indigenous species that I would not normally have a chance to observe.

OK enough of the idle chit-chat I know you're wanting to see what I came down here to do!

So are you ready kids?

I can't hear you!

Whoooooooooooo Lives in a.......... Just kidding! Here's the latest pictures, but take a deep breath because it will likely leave you breathless, it did me!




Definitely Paradise!



We have interior walls


Lightnin's Tree


The side view, Love that deck!













It's been a short and busy trip, but we're in the home stretch now (pun intended)!
I'll be home soon Lightnin!

Finally Some Warm Weather!

Last time I mentioned that I got a new camera, well here's what the little thing looks like:

This is it next to my wallet (for scale). Don't get too excited the only thing in that wallet is cobwebs right now! ;-) This was taken with my old camera.


This is my old camera, taken with my new camera


Here they are in a side-by-side comparison











The old camera is a Cannon Power Shot A560 which takes great pics and I thought at the time that it was really compact. It's capabilities are 7.1 mega pixels with a 4x optical zoom. The new camera is a Samsung SL-50 with 10.2 mega pixels and 5x optical zoom. it's amazing how much difference a few mega pixels makes!

So the weather has finally changed here and in between the rain storms we're getting sunshine and 70-80F temps, YEA!!!!!!

We got the bike out and met up with a couple of our friends to blow some of the dust out.

Here's a shot of our two bikes. Check out the clarity in this picture, that's the power of the mega pixel!

Here's an action shot from Lightnin using the helmet cam technique.











It was beautiful weather and this weekend could be even better.
The bummer is that my bike is in the shop, but not for anything bad, it was time for the 15,000 mile check-up. If you recall, this bike is only 3 years old and the first year I wasn't even in town to ride it, so that means I've logged 15,000 miles on it in just 2 years!

So with the weather great and the bike in the shop it looks like I'll be spending my time getting the lawn implements up and running for the new season.

Ah Spring in Cincinnati!

Here we are another spring in Cincinnati. This is the time of year that we bounce back and fourth between 70F with rain and 30F with sun.
The hops are peaking through the ground so I know it won't be long, but after this long winter the warm temps can't come fast enough!
Today's forecast calls for rain possibly mixed with sleet and snow.
Ah springtime in Cincinnati!

No news on the home at this point, but I'm betting I'll have an update soon!

I got a new camera for my 20 year anniversary gift at work and am still playing with it to figure out it's limitations, or mine! New pics are soon to come!
Can you believe we've been in one place for 20 years, well ok there was the move to Lima, Oh and then a year in China, but at least I've been with the same company for 20! ;-)

Grillapalooza 2

We finally got a break from the cold yesterday and warmed up into the mid 40'sF. So we decided to fire up the grill and have our friends Rick and Julie over to hang out and enjoy the weather.


Prepping the meats for the grill. On the big platter Pictured left: Two types of chirizo; Top: Loin cut pork chops; Middle: Lamb chops; Right: Steak; On the separate plate: Ahi Tuna steaks








Smoke is a good thing!



The finished goods along with some cheesy 'tators that Lightnin whipped up









It was a great evening with plenty of good food, friends, and laughter!

Today it's supposed to get up into the mid 50'sF so I think I'm going to get the little car out and get her washed, then drop the top and ride around a little in the sun to recharge my batteries.

Trip to N.P.R. with Mrs. FC

Having completed my mission of decision making on designs, upgrades, modifications, etc., I had a day off before I hopped on the early morning flight back up to the frozen north. So normally I would have headed directly for Cedar Key, but this time I was able to tag along with Mrs. FC for sort of a family reunion.

(It's important to mention that FC was being a good son and headed over to St. Augustine to help out with his parental units and wasn't able to join us for the trip!)

It was a bit further south so I was happy to find the weather much closer to 70F then the past few days. The get together was held at Hooters, darn the luck, so we feasted on wings and I washed them down with a cool adult beverage from Pennsylvania and the day was looking good! I had the pleasure of sitting with the FC's wonderful daughters for lunch (Jr wasn't able to make it either) and we had a pretty fun time.

After lunch one of Mrs. FC's brothers took us out on a boat ride to see some of the sites around the coast. This was a nice, yet chilly, bonus to the already fun day!

Here's a few pics from the boat ride:

A shrimp boat passing us up to try to make a living


A few of the not so modest dwellings in the area

Some of the local residents

A fish out of water?

Time to head back to shore












I'm looking forward to getting down there sometime when it's a little warmer to enjoy the beautiful clear water up close and personal!

See you next time FC and Mr's FC, thanks again for everything!