Cardiologist

Off to the cardiologist at 10:40 today.

Jack is off school today --- Labor Day vacation. And they just started on Monday. Two 4 day weeks to get them used to going back? Anyhow, he likes his teacher. His friend Cameron broke his leg and is in a cast until late November. He is in a wheelchair at school, so cannot go outside for recess. Jack goes with him and plays games with him at the nurses office during lunch recess.


Plan on going to Kipona in Harrisburg tomorrow. Lots of fun activities. They cancelled the boat races --- water on the river is too low.

There is a POW WOW on City Island. Want to take Jack to see that.

Sunday we are having friends over for a cookout and some down time. Monday will be a goof off day.

Shell is going into work at 2300 on Monday night and working until 1100 on Tuesday. She has to spend some time working on the off shifts.

The grass is growing like it is springtime. Cut it on Monday and it needed cut again by Wednesday. Waited until today so it's cut for the weekend.

Got the Hot Tub ready. Wanted to go in last night, but everybody fell asleep on me and didn't feel like going in alone. Hopefully tonight.

The cats are doing great. Using the litter box and eating up a storm. Got antibiotic eye drops for Lewi's left eye. Put third dose in this AM and it really looks good. No more pus draining.

These guys are a riot. You can't help laughing at some of the stuff they do. Yesterday afternoon they gave each other a bath. Worked great until Lewi bit Clark's tail. Then they were rolling around wrestling and biting each other. Funny!

Clark's mastered the stairs to the basement. Lewi just sits up top and stares down the steps.

Til later.

September already.

Day three of school is here. Jack likes his teacher, Mrs. Prisbe. Still hard to believe he is in the fourth grade.

Lewi and Clark (the new cats) are doing well. They are funny together. Two brothers. Got them Saturday and they were litter box trained by Sunday night. Only had one accident. They came from a farm near Lewistown.

Go to Cardiologist on Friday. Hopefully will find out how soon I can get on the new medicine. They are telling me three to five days in the hospital. Not looking forward to that. Basically just sit around on monitor waiting to see if the medicine will work. But hopefully the medicine will work. No wifi in the hospital so will be off line. Will have a big stack of books from the library and hopefully lots of visitors.

Having a get together with friends at our house on Sunday. Need to kick back and relax with good company.

Planning on going to Kipona in Harrisburg on Saturday.

Monday will probably be a goof off day. Whatever we do will be spur of the moment.

Summer at beach over

Two more days and then home to Hershey. This summer flew by.

Jack starts school on the 31st. He will have Mrs. Prisbee as his teacher.

Jack and I are going to the Milton Theatre tonight to see a Buddy Holly tribute show.

Since Bill has decreased to a category 2, the waves along the beach have been reduced to 8 to 11 feet from the 11 to 15 feet predicted yesterday. Will probably still go up tomorrow morning to see them. The surfers are happy. Seen a lot of cars with surf boards arriving.

We had to cancel the lighthouse tours for today due to Bill. Hopefully the dock will hold up. The makeup is September 12. We will be running two tours that day with a group on each lighthouse and then switching groups. Another first, but if it works well is a possibility to increase our number of tours in the future.

I'm building a new web page. Yahoo Geocities is going black in October so had to change providers. Have a bare bones page up now. The URL is the same -- http://www.charleykopp.com/

Calling for scattered storms today. Overcast now, but no rain. Radar shows then passing to the north of us.

Guess we'll plan on a low key day inside. Maybe the sun will come out for a while to go to the pool.


Charley

Harbor of Refuge getting new coat!!!

Spent Saturday, Aug 8 at Harbor of Refuge. We finished giving the caisson it's coat of black and put a new coat of white on the tower except for the top four feet. Next trip, we will break out the ladders and the boatswain chair to finish the tower and the exterior of the watch room.

We also got two coats of lead shield on the watch room level and the ceilings prepped on that level and the level below. These two levels are now ready for finish coats which we hope to do next trip which will probably be the first weekend of October.

Jack was along this trip and did some painting, cleaning and was our gopher. He is standing in front of the new door and shown with his special tool and also relaxing waiting for the boat to pick us up.

We had ten volunteers and we exceeded our goals again. It ended up being a beautiful day. The weatherman had predicted temps in the mid 90's and thankfully was off by ten degrees as the high was 84 for the day with a nice breeze.

Rich and Joanne Fanning were camping in OC and he made it for the work trip.

Jack and I went to OC yesterday and met them at the Embers for the early bird dinner and then we went on the boardwalk. Got back to the house after 2100 with a storm from Bethany Beach to Rehoboth. No rain at our house.

Joe and Corrine are in South Carolina until next Monday, so we're keeping an eye on their place for a change.

Had bloodwork again this morning, then we went for breakfast and to the store for milk and bread and some fresh fruit.

Home and in the air conditioning for the day. Went for the mail and decided it's too hot to even go to the pool. It was 96 with a heat index of 104 at noon. It had gone to 90 before 10 AM.

Well, going to make a light lunch and relax in the cool. We might go to the pool late afternoon. It's open to 1900 today.

Charley

August already!

Beautiful day here in Lewes. 81, sunny and a nice breeze. Humidity is a little high but the breeze counteracts it unless your working outside.

Had some storms last night with wind gusts. Three of the five awnings had seams ripped out. Took them down this AM. Will take them back to Hershey to get resewn. I can get all three resewn there for less than one down here.

Jack and I were going to go into Rehoboth to see the sand castles that were built for the contest today. We were outside talking to the neighbors in back of us. They had just pulled in and said they were going to do the same, but traffic was backed up on 24 past the fire hall. They cut thru there and came back home. Took them 15 minutes to go less than a mile. Maybe we'll try after supper.

Sarah and Emily are supposed to be here tonight or tomorrow. Jack's driving me nuts wondering when.

Shell didn't make it down. She had a hell of a week at work and drove to Johnstown on Thursday to do a presentation. Don't blame her for not wanting to drive in the traffic. According to the news there was an eight mile backup on route 1 at Dover last night and of course it was also storming at the same time.

Calling for more storms tomorrow afternoon and evening.

Jack and I were just out on the golf cart for about an hour. More homes up for sale. We saw three that were listed as sold in the last two weeks. Some of them have been for sale since last year.

Going to grill for supper. Beef stew in crock pot for tomorrow.
Have to see if any of the neighbors are up for happy hour tonight.

Charley

Where is summer going?

Last weekend of July already. Where has the summer gone?

We finally had one of the "scattered showers" rain on us yesterday afternoon. Got an inch of rain in about 20 minutes. Storm popped up out of nowhere and disappeared just as quick. Lowered the temperature but made it humid. We are still waiting for a 90 degree day. I love it. Yesterday's 88 to 90 maxed at 81 degrees.

We are able to use the enclosed porch during the day and the air doesn't run very much. It's nice to sit out and not scorching to be at the pool or on the beach.

Heading for Hershey Monday AM. Will come back to Lewes on Thursday AM. Have it lined up for Jack to see his friends Matt V, Matt N, and Cameron. Will be nice to be in Hershey for a few days, but not looking forward to the drive up and back.

They adjusted my coumadin dosage and I have to get blood work again on Monday. Will do it at Hershey.

Going to the pool at eleven for a little while. Will look what is going on around here the rest of the day and try and do something. Will check Jack's scout book and see if we can complete any requirements.

Later.

Gonna be a hot one!

Looks like we are going to have the second hottest day of the summer today. Calling for 88 to 90.

Jack and I went bike riding yesterday around the beach and estates. We drove it last night to see how far. I was surprised --- 2.2 miles.

Went to the boardwalk. Jack played games and rode some rides at Funland. It started sprinkling as we were leaving. Typical Delaware rain. Rained all along the beach and about three blocks inland. The sun was out at our house. Not calling for more rain until Sunday night.

Was online looking for something to do today. Jack wants to vegetate, but I feel like getting out. We will end up doing something ; maybe only the pool.

Just need to be back home before suppertime to avoid the weekend traffic.


Charley

We got some rain!

We finally got some rain, however only 3/16 of an inch. It's been cloudy all day. Maybe some more tonight.

Went to have my blood draw this AM. Will hear from the clinic at Hershey this afternoon on what my dosage should be and when to get next blood test.

Just got back from a bike ride. Jack and I did about two miles. I figured it would bring the rain again once we got away from the house, but we made it back just sweaty.

So, Jack and I will probably slum for the rest of the day.

Till later,

Charley

Sluming at the beach.

Well will try this again. Blogger just blipped and everything I wrote disappeared.

Jack & I just slummed it today. Cinnamon buns for breakfast, jack had a sandwich for lunch and we went to Capriotti's and split a medium sub for supper. They make the best subs.

I tossed and turned most of the night. Saw about 1/2 of too many shows and movies. Felt like crap today. Nothing specific. Just tired, achy--no energy. Spent about 3 hours at the pool mostly sitting and reading or floating in the pool to cool off. Just laying back tonight.

Shell is on her way to Philadelphia taking Donise there. Then She is heading here and spending the day tomorrow. That will be nice.

The coumadin script finally arrived yesterday. Started it last night and will have to get blood work on Thursday. Will go up to outpatient lab at Beebe Hospital. It's about three miles up the road.

Marks got here after lunch, so Jack will meet up with Sarah tomorrow. He's playing with Julianna now. She's been here all week and goes home on Tuesday.

We are planning on going to Hershey next Monday (27th) for a few days. Will probably come back that Wednesday or Thursday morning.

Till later

Charley

the middle of summer vacation

Well, the 15th of July---middle of summer vacation. The weather has been beautiful here in Lewes. Low eighties during the day. Low sixties at night, sunny with a refreshing breeze. Pool temp is 80 and ocean temp is 84.

Jack spent the day at the beach yesterday with Papa Joe, Corrine, Lisa and Julianna. He took them to Roosevelt Inlet at Lewes where we go. Lisa said he and Julianna had a blast and made some new friends there. They left at ten and came home around 4.

Then they btook him along to the boardwalk last night and they bhad pizza and the he and Julianna rode the rides at Funland. They got home around 9:30. JAck was into his PJ's and aslleep in a few minutes.

It felt good to have a Jack break. I ran some errands and went to the pool for about an hour and a half. Then came home and cooked. Made chicken pot pie and lemon lush.

Looked for ham hocks and had to go to third store to find them. Stopped at Louise's and got a quart of green beans and she gave me a second quart for free. So am cooking the ham hocks and we will have ham and green beans for supper. I love when the fresh veggies are in season. Louise said my lima beans should be in next week.

Dr. S called and he is sending me a scrip for coumidin and for lab work. Then the coumidin clinic called and we got set up to send the results to them. Will probably have to go in the hospital around the end of August to get monitored while I get started on medicine for the A-fib. He also said we will have to repeat the stress echo because they tried to pace me when on the treadmill and skewed the results so the reading were probably not accurate. The results of the echo do not correspond with my symptoms.

Jack and i are probably going to pick blueberries one day this week and maybe some peaches. They are a $1.00 a pound if you pick your own. Seems OK for the blueberries but high for the peaches.

Well making breakfast. Later Pool day today. Calling for chance of rain tomorrow. Haven't had any for two weeks.

Charley

Lighthouse Work Party

Worked on Harbor of Refuge yesterday. Had a 12 person crew and six were first timers. It was nice to have some new people. I hope we didn't scare them off with what we did. They all said they will be back. It was a paint day. We were working both ends. We were removing old paint and putting on new paint. A crew covered the watch room with paint remover. A second crew started on the next level down with scraping loose paint off the walls and windows. The third crew started outside on the caisson.
After getting the paint stripper on, the first crew helped on the next level with the scraping. The stripper had to sit for 4 hours before removal.
The caisson crew hand ground the rust off the bad areas and got a coat of black paint on about 85% of the caisson by lunch time. We were a gallon short of paint, but will get it finished in August.
The other crew got the the living quarters level scraped and a coat of primer on the walls. We also got the windows covered with a coat of white enamel.

After lunch everybody pitched in on the watch room. What a mess getting the paint stripper off and everything cleaned up. We managed to get finished about 15 minutes before the work boat arrived to take us to shore.

Next trip we will coat the walls on the two levels with Lead Shield to seal in any lead from the paint that remains, then will apply the final paint on the walls. We are getting closer to having two levels finished.

We also will complete the black caisson painting, the railing on the first level, and start painting the white portion of the lighthouse. What a difference a coat of paint does to the exterior and interior surfaces.

The summer weather is supposed to arrive this week. They are calling for the nineties on Wednesday and Thursday. Will be the first of the summer. Don't know if I'm looking forward to it or not. The low eighties have been nice.

Also, finally got the boat ready for the water. Plan on getting it in this week sometime.


Charley

Good news, Bad news

Good news, bad news.
Heard from the cardiologist about the stress echo. Will not be a school bus driver. However it was good I tried because we found out about the A-fib.

I will probably have to wear a monitor for four weeks. Then will have to go in hospital for a few days while they try a medicine to see if will help with the A-fib. They will want me monitored while they try the medicine to see if it works.

So anyhow, bad I can't drive the bus, bad about the A-fib, good we found the A-fib and that we can probably control it with medication.

So it's sunny and cooler today at the beach. Working on cleaning the boat. It's ready for the water.

Working on the lighthouse on Saturday. We are actually making some headway and should have the watch room finished by the next work party.

Oh well, back to the boat.

Charley

Thurs

Well, broke out of the AFib yesterday. Pulse rate back in the sixties. Shell went out with the over 70's for dinner and a movie last night. Jack & I cooked; steak, new potatoes, and new peas.

Jack took me for a golf cart ride. We had a quiet evening in. Had storms overnight; about 1/2 inch of rain.

Went into Lewes to the bake shoppe for cinnamon buns and coffee, dropped books off at the library and came back home.. Another golf cart ride from Jack. Probably go to the pool later.

We have a babysitter for tonight so Shell and I can go out. Should be fun. Until later.

Charley

July

Well, drove back to Hershey on Monday afternoon for my stress test on Tuesday.

Mowed the lawn there on Monday night. They were calling for rain on Tuesday.

I was told my appointment was for 11 AM. Had a message from Monday morning saying 10 AM.

Wasn't allowed alcohol or caffeine after midnight Sunday night and no food after midnight Monday.

Got there about 9:40 and they took me about 9:50 and started the IV and gave me the first dose of radioactive dye. Then had to wait for 45 minutes before the first set of pictures of my heart. That took about 20 minutes.

Then the treadmill part. They hooked me up to the monitor and had a surprise. I was in atrial fibrillation. had to wait until they got the OK from Dr. Silber to proceed with the test. He said go ahead and we did the treadmill part. They stopped me before I was ready to quit because my pulse rate was too high. My target was 133 and I was up to 180. They injected the second dose of dye a minute before I was done on the treadmill.

Then had to wait for 45 minutes and then 20 minutes of pictures.

Am waiting to hear from Dr. Silber but the bus driving doesn't look good. Will wait and see.

But at least there was a reason for me to have the test. Otherwise, we wouldn't of found the A-fib.

Oh well, back at the beach for now and waiting.

Charley

At the beach

Finished my classroom hours for my school bus driver's license. Had hoped to hear from Dr. Silber before we left for the beach. Guess when he called. Within fifteen minutes of us getting to the beach house. They are setting up my appointment for the stress test and will call me back shortly. Will have to drive back to Hershey for the day. All my clearances are done and all my paperwork is back to the personnel office. All I need is my stress test; then my permit; six hours of road instruction; then my driving test and written test. Sounds simple but will take about six or seven different days to complete. So Jack and I will be at the beach less this summer.

Was 90 when we got here yesterday. Calling for 92 today. We are now having lunch and will then head for the pool for a while.

Need to go to Lowe's later to get some fix it parts. Either things are breaking or batteries are going dead.

Time for the pool.


Charley

Home from camp!

Jack and I got home from Webelos resident camp last night---one night early.


The rains came were going to keep coming through today. We made the decision before supper to pack up the boys and head out. We were walking in the mud and rain for most of the day yesterday. Two of the boys were leaving early today anyway and three of the other boys were out of dry clothes and footwear----plus even the "dry" clothing was damp. Two of the tents were leaking water around the doors from the rain blowing against them. So we packed 8 boys, 4 adults and all the gear into our three vehicles and drove the hour home. The other 4 parents were called and they picked up their boys at our houses. It was probably good since they had almost another inch of rain overnight.


We left all the tents pitched at our campsite and Dr. V went back this morning to tear them down and pack them into plastic bags to bring home. Hopefully we will get dry weather for a few days so we can pitch them here at home and dry them out.


The boys did a lot of achievements at camp and are well underway towards earning their Webelos badge.


I started washing the clothes from camp. All of them dirty and clean. The clean ones were damp anyway. Load 2 is in the washer.

Need to hand the sleeping bags out to air when the sun finally appears.

Pack meeting Tuesday night -- Bottle rockets, then the beach.

And I interviewed to drive school bus for the school district and they called yesterday and offered me a position. Going in tomorrow to fill out paper work so they can submit me to the school board on Monday for final approval. Then will need physical, clearances, and getting my CDL to drive bus.

Charley

Going to camp!

A busy week. Had FIOS TV installed on Monday. Tim was there from nine until 2:30 until he had all the sets working properly. Mediacom upped their rates again, dropped some channels, and eliminated the off season discount. Plus Fios TV is free for six months and $20 month less after that. 240 channels versus 61 with Mediacom.
Planned on working on the boat on Tuesday, however it was cloudy and supposed to rain all day. Rain finally came after dark. Ended up going to see UP! instead Movie was pretty good but the price. $10.50 per person for the matinees. $14.00 per person for evenings. These are the new prices. $5 for matinees and $7 for evenings last year. And they wonder why the theaters aren't full. Just kind of goofed off on Wednesday. Sprayed weed killer talked with the neighbors.
Checked the messages in Hershey Wednesday night and had one from Derry Township School District about coming in for an interview on Thursday morning at 9:20. We were leaving to come home Thursday morning, Left a message that we would have to reschedule.

Got home around 10:45 Thursday morning. They had called on the way home and my interview was changed to Friday at 9 AM. Had a dentist appointment at 2 on Thursday to fix a chipped tooth. Took all of 11 minutes and $120. Thank goodness for dental insurance. Only had to pay $30.

Church festival Thursday night. Jack spent two 15 minutes segments in the dunk tank. We stayed until almost nine and talked and Jack played some of the games.

Interview went good. Talked with one of the other drivers that I had used for a reference and he said I'll get offered a position. Spend another three hours at the church festival, mostly eating and talking.

Mowed on Saturday AM and packed for camp. Had Jack working on a list since Monday and he was funny crossing items off. Have the back of the Durango full.

Saturday night when to Hershey Lodge with two other scouts and did a flag ceremony for Miracle Ear's dinner. They were having their annual training meetings. They gave each scout $50 and bought the scouts and the adults dinner in the Bear's Den. It was a fun evening and good for the boys.

So the car is packed and we are heading for HiddenValley Scout Reservation at 1300.

Shell was teaching in York this weekend and won't make it home before we leave. Too many retests this morning.

Off the air until Friday. We should be getting home sometime late Thursday night. Thursday evening the parents are invited for dinner and campfire, so it will probably be close to nine before we leave camp.

Charley

At the beach

Jack & I have been here since Friday. Left right after he got home from his 1 1/2 hours of school. Shell came down Friday night and had to go home yesterday. Jack and I will be here until Wednesday or early Thursday morning.

Verizon is here installing Fios TV. Murphy's law: All the cables checked out except for the last one he checked for signal strength. Ended up running a new cable for it. Installing a ground and then will hook up the boxes. Jack can't wait to get TV back on.

We are going to the pool when he's finished with the installation.

Will play this evening by ear. They are calling for scattered thunderstorms.

I was going to work on the boat today, but got up too late to bring it to the house before Verizon came. Maybe tomorrow. Too hot and humid out anyway. But perfect for the pool.

Just finished lunch. Strawberry shortcake with local strawberries. Also have new local peas to make for supper. Will need to go get some meat to make. A steak sure sounds good.

Later

Charley

Another partly rainy day.

Had 1/2 inch in a storm yesterday afternoon and 3/10 in a storm last night. Calling for more rain after lunch. Then showers off and on thru Friday. Hope Mother nature gets it out of her system and it's dry from the 14th thru the18th for Scout camp.

Jack's on his 3rd grade coundown. Full day tomorrow and 2 hours on Friday.

He and I are leaving for the beach after school on Friday and will stay until Wed or Thurs next week. Then home for two weeks for Cub Scout activities.

Had breakfast with a friend from the ER yesterday morning. Dale had left the ER for the baby buggy with LifeLion and is still there. He said he has thoughts about going back to the ER.

Getting Fios TV in at the beach house. Had cable with Mediacom, but they upped the rates $6 per month and are eliminating their seasonal program which gave you half off from October thru March. So I can add the Fios TV free for six months and then $ 29.99 per month there after. Plus we'll get over 200 channels instead of 64. Also we'll get HBO and Showtime free for 3 months. And they will double the speed of the Internet for no additional cost. Jack is happy cause it gives him 15 kids channels versus three on mediacom.

Well off to finish the wash and pack some items for the beach. Also have to get the tent out and figure out how to put it together.

Charley

Welcome the weekend!

Been a different week for the end of May. From the eighties on Monday to the fifties on Tuesday and Wednesday and now back to the high seventies. Lots of rain and fog. Had 1.4 inches with the storms overnight and a quarter of an inch in this afternoon's storm. I did manage to get the grass cut yesterday morning. It's supposed to be a nice weekend.

Shell is in Chambersburg for the weekend teaching. Jack and I are staying in Hershey. NASCAR races at Dover this weekend and I didn't feel like fighting the traffic tonight. Coming home Sunday isn't bad. WE would always leave the beach house when the race started and buzz on by Dover with hardly any traffic.

Jack and I are either going to Hershey Park tonight or tomorrow morning. Will probably go over to the Children's Miracle Network festivities tomorrow during the day that kick off the telethon.

Jack's at his back yard buddies now playing. He'll soon be home. Matt has baseball practice.

Will probably go somewhere Sunday afternoon when Shell gets home; then evening Mass at 1730. She has to go into work to finish evaluations at 2000.

Had my 6 month dental checkup today. Go back the 11th of June to get a broken filling repaired.

Had a special Mass for our RCIA class on Wednesday evening and then we had dinner. Typically, we had enough food to feed twice as many people. It was a fun evening. Will miss seeing the people every week. Hard to believe nine months went by so fast. We were hoping to hear from The Tribunal before Wednesday evening,, but I guess we will just have to be patient. We were the only ones in the class that could not participate in the Eucharist. Everybody wants to know when we can and want to come and celebrate with us. It will be special with Jack also waiting to do so with us.

Last drum lesson for the summer on Monday after school. Five more days and Jack is out for the summer.

Until later.

Charley

sunday

Well, sitting by the pool soaking up the rays (from between the clouds). Water is in the sixties. Polar bears would love it. Went into Rehoboth last night. It's the fullest I've seen the boardwalk in the last couple of years. Of course the traffic Friday night was heavy. Between broken down vehicles (we saw 20+) and the accidents (5), I ended up not using rt 1 very much. Travelled some of the back road I Hadn't been on in over 40 years when they were the main roads. Some of the small towns still looked the same. Anyhow it only took us about 30 minutes longer than normal. Shell came down yesterday morning. Was in the low eighties and sunny yesterday. Caught some sun at the pool. Got the awnings up in the morning. Looks like the rain is staying to the south of us for today. Ate out last night, cooking in tonight. Did some house cleaning this morning and opened the house up to air it out. Well back to the rays.

Charley

To the beach!

Heading to the beach until Monday when Jack gets home from school. Shell has to do evaluations on some of her weekend night shift staff and will come down in the morning. Supposed to be sunny and in the high 70's. Pool opens tomorrow, so will probably catch some rays. Only thing I want to do is put up the awnings. Picked up the porch awning from Tulli's--cost $6.00. Last time I had the same seam sewn (tongue twister) in Delaware and it cost me $20. Looking to relax and have a fun weekend. Cooking out with Papa Joe and Corrine. Hope everybody has a good weekend and remember the troops past and present on Monday.

Charley

Sunday

Home from the beach house. Got the house power washed, the porch painted and the bathroom fan back in. Did not put any awnings up. Brought the porch awning home to get sewn, Will put them up next week. Left around 9 this AM to come back to Hershey, It started raining about 4 this morning and was pouring when we left. Rain finally stopped at the C&D canal. Took Jack to his friends birthday party at 1630 at Shank Park and picked him up at 1830. To the scout store tomorrow for awards for the last Pack mtg of the year on Tuesday. Drum lessons tomorrow night. 58 degrees today,. Where's the warm weather.

Charley

Friday

Cub Scout Committee meeting last night here at the house. Got our summer planning and Sept thru Dec firmed up for next year. We had a good year with lots of activities and good fundraising.
Jack and I are heading to the beach when he gets home from school. No lighthouse work party tomorrow. The Army Corps asked us not to go out to Harbor as the door is only tacked on and they don't want it falling. Hopefully next week they will get it welded.
So we will do some things on the beach house --- power wash, paint the porch (primered it last month) and put the awnings up. Need to get the awning above the door sewn. Will probably bring it back to Hershey and get it done. Been spray painting lawn furniture. Wanted to do mulch, but we had 1.3 inches of rain last night and it's too wet to spread. Well, off to a leisurely weekend at the beach.

Charley

New Door installed at Harbor of Refuge

The Army Corps of Engineers was out working on the door at Harbor of Refuge. They have it tacked in place, but had problems welding the stainless steel to the cast iron. They are working on a solution.

Wednesday it is! Typical last few days. Did the yard yesterday. Still have mulch to spread. Jack had his drum lessons on Monday. Two more until fall. Cub scouts last night. They shot the rockets they built last week. Jack's ended up on the school's roof on his second shot.

Jack's home from school. I think a chest cold plus probably some allergies to boot. The pollen and mold counts are off the map. I've been sneezing my fool head off even with the Zyrtec, Oh well, Delaware on Friday, Hopefully lighthouse on Saturday. RCIA tonight. I guess I will stay home with Jack. One more class next week. Yea! Then the 27th mass and a banquet, Won't know how to act -- No drum lessons, gymnastics, cub scouts or RCIA. Will have Mon, Tues and Wed evenings free for the summer. Of course, it would be hard to attend if Jack and I are at the beach.

Charley

Sunday

Well, the Philly trip was a blast. Left Middletown at 0730 and arrived at 30th st station at 0918. Walked across the street and took the subway to Fifth St. We checked in at the Visitor's Center and got our tickets for the Independence Hall tour. After going through security we did that tour and when finished we had lunch at the Visitor's Center Food Court ( the kids were hungry). Then the Liberty Bell and off to visit some of the other smaller museums. Took the subway back to 30th st around 1700 and ate supper there at the food court. On the train and headed back to Middletown at 1855 and arrived at 2030. The adults were dozing on the return train trip; the kids were still going a mile a minute. Jack crashed in the car on the way home. We followed suit shortly there after. Just a leisurely Mother's Day at home. We were going to pack a lunch and do one of the parks, but had Nicole and Isaac here for a late lunch. Planned on church at 1730 but Jack was with Matthew V and Shell was asleep when I got back from Taking Nicole and Isaac home. I started reading and we woke to the phone ringing at 1800. Jack's eating at Matthew V's house and I'm still full from lunch. Back to the routine tomorrow.

Charley

Fri the eighth

Been a hectic last few days. Got lucky and got the grass mowed on Wed afternoon. The rain hit about 1845 right after we got to RCIA and we got an inch and a quarter overnight. Of course, at 4 AM Thursday morning the alarm went off that the sump pump pit had overflowed. The switch stuck on the pump. gave it a whack and it started and then worked like it was supposed to. Of course I spent most of the day Thursday cleaning up the floor in the storage area and have the fan on the indoor-outdoor carpet in the laundry room that got wet. Also had a spot in the family room that got wet. Can only figure that there is a crack in the concrete that the water came up through since the drain lines were not being emptied. Carpet is still drying. Jack had a back to school night and he was selected to do a clay project as a demo for it. They picked a number of kids from each grade (1 thru 4) to do it. Then I woke up this morning with an infected big toe on my right foot and had to go to the doctor's and get antibiotics. Thank goodness it's not too sore since we are walking around Philadelphia tomorrow. They have changed the weather to 20% chance of scattered thunderstorms tomorrow evening, so hopefully we won't get wet. Jack's over with Matthew his backyard buddy. Quiet night tonight, I hope.

Later,

Charley

Rain, Rain and more rain coming.

Rained again last night, more rain coming tonight and calling for rain on Friday night and Saturday.

The Cub Scouts are going to Philadelphia on Saturday. We are leaving Middletown at 0730 by train. We just found out that Saturday is also National Train Day and the conductor is to present a special program for us. Anyhow, we might end up walking around Philadelphia in the wet. We are doing the National Parks Junior ranger program so the scouts will get patches. Looks like a fun day.

Charlie and I have been able to get our walks in. Going this morning in the mist. It is foggy out. Doesn't look to good for tomorrow morning, but we will wait and see.

Need to cut the grass. Looks like I'll be able to make hay when I can finally get to it. It's already twice as high as when I normally cut it. And of course, the hand mower with the bagger is not working properly.

Time to get Jack on the bus and then walk.

Charley

Rain

Rain since during the night. Calling for it until sometime Tuesday. We need it, three days worth!!
Shell comes home today. Was due in to Baltimore at 11:30 tonight, but was going to try and get an earlier flight. Haven't heard from her since noon Texas time, so don't know if she caught the 1:30 flight or if she's still min Texas awaiting her 4:40 flight. Jack is at Matt V's. They got back from South Carolina right after lunch. Matt called about 3 PM for him to come over. Not much else going on. Just chilling, waiting to hear from Shell and for Jack to come home.
Jack and I spent 4 hours cleaning the house this morning. Still smells of Murphy's Oil Soap.
Oh well, back to the routine tomorrow. Drum tomorrow, Scouts Tuesday, RCIA Wednesday, and Jack's Art show on Thursday. He's demonstrating something for 20 minutes.
This Saturday we take the Cub Scouts to Philadelphia for the day. Leave Middletown on the train at 7AM, then take the subway downtown. spend the day doing the Junior Ranger Tour, the subway and train back to Middletown. Get home about 8 PM. Will be a long day.
Later,

Charley

Thursday 4/30

Well April showers are supposed to be gone and May flowers are to arrive. Forecast is for rain for Fri thru Mon and we are still waiting on most of the flowers to start blooming.
Just got back from the morning walk and it does feel like rain. At least the body joints are saying so.
Yesterday was kind of a goof off day. Got a lot of small things done, but did not tackle the mulch. Looks now like it will be next week for that.
Have an appointment at 1:30 with the Tribunal Priest. Hopefully it won't take more than an hour.
Need to get to Masonic Village and get my Mom's wash. I would suspect they will quarantine the place when the first case of flu shows up. Maybe I can get it today and back tomorrow. I do her wash about every two weeks.
Jack and I decided no beach this weekend since its to rain down there until Tuesday.
There's things to do around Hershey on Saturday and his back yard buddy should be home for Sunday.
Well, off to the shower.

Charley

Tuesday 4/28

Got Jack off to school and then went to Costco to get the tires on the Durango balanced and rotated. Ran to Steelton to get an exhaust fan for the beach house. They were out but the more fans were shipped and are due this week. Came home, had lunch and cut the grass. Jack and I just finished supper. His den is not meeting tonight so we have a free evening. The cold front is due through tonight. High tomorrow only 57. Will feel nice after 5 days in the 90's. Ice Cream Corner is open, so maybe Jack & I will run over there a little later.

Monday evening.

Well, went to the bank, had the oil changed in the Durango, got some food. Went by the car wash and it had a fifteen car line so came home and washed both cars in the driveway.
Shell called and I picked her up before Jack got home. She waited and said goodbye to him and headed for Baltimore. Jack and I went to his drum lessons and then to the Soda Jerk for supper. Now at home, both of us in PJ's just veging. Tired from being out in the heat. Tied old record of 92 for today. I can't take the heat as well as I used to. Dancing with the Stars on soon. Got hooked on it from the start. will either go to Root's (farmers market) or get the tires balanced and rotated tomorrow. Will decide in the morning.


Charley

A beautiful summer?? morning in April.

90's in April?? Got up this AM and the house was still hot. Had the windows open all night and it was 86 in the house at 10PM. Only went down to 79 inside overnight. After I got back from taking Shell to work, I closed up and turned the air on set at 75. It's supposed to be 91 here in Hershey today.

Shell leaves tonight for San Antonio, TX for her annual ONS national conference. She's presenting a four hour mini session on Wednesday. Will be back home next Sunday, so Jack and I will have a boys week.

Will decide by Thursday if we are going to the beach. Probably will, since he only has a half day of school on Friday.

Just now got back from my daily walk with Charlie my neighbor. We do about 3 miles every morning after Jack leaves for school. Walked over by Rt 422 to see the sink hole that has the east bound lanes closed. It's a small cavern under both lanes. Penndot was getting ready to dig about a 30 ft section of the road.

Need to run some errands locally and do some grocery shopping and then will decide what else I'll do for the day. Still have mulch to spread in the back, but will probably wait until tomorrow or Wednesday when it's cooler. Jack has his drum lessons after school today, so won't get into too much.

Later.

Charley

back in Hershey

Safely back in Hershey. Going to chill the rest of the day in our 89 degree weather.

Sunday 4/26

Planned to sleep in, but was wide awake at 0615. Had my coffee, walked the dog and been talking with my son Jack, who was already up at 0615. Will chill some this morning before heading back to Hershey. My friend, Rich, came along this trip. It was his first trip helping to work on the lighthouse. Gladly, I didn't work him too hard and he wants to come back again. It's already 73 and they are calling for another 88 to 90 degree day. Tempting to stay all day. Will have to see what Rich wants to do.

Charley

Lighthouse work party 4/25

What a beautiful day to be out on the water. Sunny and ended up going to 91 degrees. We arrived at the finger pier at the Cape May-Lewes Ferry at 0730 unloaded the vehicles. The Delaware Bay Launch work boat arrived at 0755, we loaded our tools and materials and off we were to Harbor of Refuge. Our main goal was to prep the lower dock for the Army Corps of Engineers to offload the new caisson door this coming week. WE had it finished before noon and we also got the new steps to the upper dock in place, repaired the substructure of the upper dock and got the safety system in place marking the edges of the dock. Plus the interior of the lighthouse was cleaned in preparation of our summer tours. We were picked up by the work boat at 1420 and stopped at Delaware East End to inspect it in preparation for our tours. It also with stood the winter. Back on shore a little after 1400 and thus ended another successful work trip.

At the Beach

9:28 PM EDT

At the beach house getting ready for bed. Will be up at 6 AM to start breakfast and then to Lewes to unload the vehicles and load the work boat for an 8 AM departure to Harbor of Refuge. Will be there until about 3 PM and will stop for an inspection of Delaware East End Light on the way back to the finger pier at the Lewes-Cape May ferry Terminal.

More tomorrow night.

Charley

Heading to the Delaware beach

2:52 PM EDT

Heading to the Delaware beach in about an hour. Going to work on Harbor of Refuge Lighthouse tomorrow getting it ready for the tours this summer. I belong to the Delaware River and Bay Lighthouse Foundation and we own Harbor of Refuge. We are restoring it and offer tours along with Delaware East End Lighthouse which is owned by the State of Delaware. If you are interested go to the website
--- http://www.delawarebaylights.org/ ---


and sign up for a tour. Or better yet become a member and come help us restore the lighthouse.

I'll post pictures and what we did on our work party which is all day tomorrow April 25.


Charley