Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween!!!!!

Happy Halloween!! For the first time in a few years I dressed up for Halloween and went to work in my costume! My boss, 2 co-workers, and myself decided that we would be the girls from the Facts of Life TV sitcom from the 80's. We had a blast. We got our uniforms from a local 2nd hand shop. We walked around the hospital and every corner we turned we had people laughing and guessing who we were. It was so much fun.

We even had people come from other buildings that had found out about us come over with candy to have a good laugh. Each time a group would come into the office we would turn on the theme song and dance. We tried to re-create one of the original sitcom photos. I think we came pretty close!!

Radio Stuff This is Pat's Field!!

10-15 -20m beam






40meter off center fed dipole




again...different view

again, another view

10-15-20-40m Hustler...not the magazine :) BTV

I can thank my amateur radio addiction to my dad. Since I was a kid he kept on me about being a "ham". Finally after almost 2 decades I got the idea that this a great hobby. Since I have joined the amateur radio community, I have talked to a person (station) in almost every state in the united states, and over 35 countries worldwide. I Vonlunteer as the Deputy Radio Officer for Washtenaw county, and I'm involved with SKYWARN, ARES, RACES and many other amateur radio public service communication entities. I schedule all RACES and ARES nets for my county, report our monthly activity to the ARRL, and help with future event planning, such as fox hunts, search and rescues and disaster management and mitigation.

If dad had not kept pressing me to do this.............man I would have been bored!

73 de KC8UAV

My First Apple Pie!!!

So I had so many comments and questions about my apple pie pic (pre-bake) that I posted in the apple orchard post. YES!!! That pie is homemade and YES I made it. Actually it was the first apple pie, well first pie I ever made! I made it after we went to the orchard, peeled all the apples and made the pie crust homemade by myself & a little help from Betty Crocker :)

I slaved over a hot oven to make this pie just for Pat...I hate cooked fruit! I was impressed with the outcome and sneaked a little bit of the crust. Pat took the pie to work and according to his email he sent me the next morning while at work, there was a small riot trying to get a piece of the pie ;)

So here it is!!!!

A Christmas Story

A Christmas Story is one of our favorite movies. Pat and I decided to make a trip down to Cleveland, Ohio yesterday to visit the house where parts of the movie were filmed. We went through the little gift shop and we got Little Orphan Annie decoder pins and Ryan a bar of the famous Life Buoy Soap.


Here it is! If you look closely at the front window you can see the leg lamp.



Had to get a shot on the front porch. I loved that porch!


"His End Up" We were told that in the movie they had a hard time trying to get the crate through the front door. They had to hire a master carpenter to come in and shave 4in off the sides and that is how they ended up with the front saying "his end up" instead of "this end up". After shaving down the sides they couldn't close the crate so they tied a thick string around it. In the movie pay close attention because there is a string around it when it's outside, but inside it's gone.



Pat was afraid to touch it.


He said what? Do you know where he learned that from? No not his father.



Daddies going to kill Raphie. Pat and I had to hide under the kitchen sink, but no one brought us milk and cookies while under there. :(


Getting the turkey ready.


Ahh the leg lamp. We took about 10 pictures with the leg lamp and only 2 came out. The flash wouldn't work on the camera.



The blue ball christmas gift.



Before we had to leave Pat wanted to feel the leg :)


This is the original shed used in the movie. In the begining of the movie you can see it when the robbers are in the back yard and also when Ralphie "shot his eye out"


This is the street where it all happened.


Here is the map of visitors


Our trip would not be complete without eating at the Pearl of the Orient where in the movie they had their Christmas Turkey. I had orange chicken and Pat had a shrimp and noodle plate. We decided not to go for the full duck with the head on it.

Once we got home we rushed over to Target to buy the movie. We have it on VHS but not on DVD. Once we got home we heated up our left over food and sat down to watch "A Christmas Story". I have to admit, I didnt pay attention to the movie itself, I was too busy trying to figure out each scene and if it was filmed in the studio or the house. What a neat feeling it was to have been able to walk around the house and street.

Leaves are falling and my flowers are on steroids

Ok so we have had a couple of frosts and plants and flowers are starting to die. But my dahlia's are out of control!!! These things must be on steroids. I dont even water them! They keep growing and blooming. I cant get over the size of these flowers!






Now that its Fall I thought I would share the changing of the leaves. These pics were taken about a week apart. They are changing so fast and soon there wont be any left on the branches!

Apple Orchard

Pat and I went to the apple orchard about 3 miles away from our house today. There were so many people out since this weekend it has been in the 70's! It was alot of fun but we picked way too many apples. We got to get a pumpkin right off the vine too.

Pat and Cory are going to make a batch of beer with all the cider we got today. It will be their first cider beer for Fall and are hoping it will be ready in time for our Fall Bonfire.

I decided to make my first apple pie. Its baking as I type so I will have to post the finished product later.

Since we had so many apples left over we thought Emma and Turbo should try one, they loved it!

Pictures of Fall here in Michigan

Our Front steps


The Wreath Pat & I made


Our view from the backyard


Side of the house


Back yard again

The leaves are starting to change colors. You know its Fall here in Michigan when the news channels tell you the best places to go in MI to see the changes in the leaves.

Leaves are changing

So it is starting to get a little chilly! I decided the first day of October would be the perfect day to decorate for Fall! I decorated the house with all of our Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving decorations. Pat and I made a huge wreath that we hung on the fireplace.

This past Sunday we went to a local nursery and got some pumpkins and freshly picked apples. After my mom and I went to a local farm down the road from our house and picked raspberries. It was such a beautiful day, not many left. We got home and Pat bbq'd dinner for us.

This month we are going to have a Fall bonfire with family and friends. We are going to carve pumpkins and sit around the fire.

I had to go up into the attic and bring down all of our winter clothes, hats, and jackets. The worst part of this whole thing was that we had to try on things! Boy the dryer shrunk alot of clothes!! Even Turbo had to try on her jackets and sweaters. We had a large variety of choices but the dryer must have shrunk her jackets too ;)!!!