One great thing about having pre-teen grandsons living close to us is that they have been willing and able to mow our lawns. And they do a fair job of it although Jake's method of mowing is akin to a Kreepy Krawler pool sweep or a Roomba vacuum cleaner: totally random pathways. Unfortunately, they haven't yet learned to recognize a sprinkler head or distinguish it from a blade of grass. So, we have had to do more sprinkler maintenance as a cost of having our lawns mowed.
The other day I volunteered to help Carolyn repair the system. I would turn the sprinklers on and off and she could fix the heads we determined had a problem. She directed me to the manifold where one can manually turn a knob to turn a particular branch on or off. I explained that I could do it even easier and stay drier with the sprinkler system timer but then we'd have to yell louder or use our phones because the timer is in the back of the garage.
The next day, I wanted to check out the system and set the sprinkler times so I had to use the timer.Turns out, I couldn't use the timer. I pressed the manual override so the first branch should go on. Nothing. Well, not nothing, the LCD display said "No power". Now how, I asked myself, did a timer with electronic display have the nerve to say "No power"? Carolyn had said something about turning our fountain off but that doesn't turn off the timer. I thought. It didn't take me long to determine the outlet was dead and the timer display runs off a battery.
Two other outlets in the garage were dead including one for our microwave oven and the circuit for our driveway lantern. The light went on (so to speak). A GFI (ground fault interrupt) had tripped a safety switch and cut the circuit. Resetting the GFI switch turned on our lantern, the microwave, and the sprinkler timer. I tested out the sprinklers without getting wet and all is happy again. Except we still don't know what caused the GFI in the first place. And, of course, we've had rain almost every day since repairing the sprinkler system so it really doesn't matter if it works or not.
Showing posts with label grandchildren. Show all posts
Showing posts with label grandchildren. Show all posts
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Friday, June 27, 2008
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Warning: Proud Grandpa alert!
My children are starting to discover a couple of the ways into their father's (or father's-in law) heart by either (1) maintaining a blog in which they regularly show off their offspring (or 4-footed friends in the case of Lisa); or (2) emailing me pictures that I can include on my blog. (It doesn't hurt to hint strongly that "these pictures can be used on the blog".)
Stacie and Libby decided that Libby could use a new look that showed off her lovely face and would be a little easier to comb and brush out.
This was taken last summer at Lee and Staci's wedding. Of course it had grown some since then but I don't have a good picture of her just before her haircut.
And this was taken four days ago. Kinda cute, don't you think?
Stacie and Libby decided that Libby could use a new look that showed off her lovely face and would be a little easier to comb and brush out.
This was taken last summer at Lee and Staci's wedding. Of course it had grown some since then but I don't have a good picture of her just before her haircut.
And this was taken four days ago. Kinda cute, don't you think?
Friday, January 18, 2008
Welcome to the Blogosphere, Gavin!
We were just notified this afternoon that our youngest grandson has started a blog. Of course at 8 months he has a little trouble with the keyboard so he is channeling his thoughts through Jenny or Philip. You can reach Gavin's blog at http://mydaddytalksfunny.blogspot.com/
Here are a few samples of pictures available on this brand new blog.
Gavin really enjoys his food - eating it or wearing it.
This summer at camp with two cousins who were much older. Looks like Gavin could hold his own.
At birth he needed a little exposure to reduce his jaundice so he got to wear these cool shades.
See more including a riveting video of Gavin rearranging his own furniture at http://mydaddytalksfunny.blogspot.com/
Here are a few samples of pictures available on this brand new blog.
Gavin really enjoys his food - eating it or wearing it.
This summer at camp with two cousins who were much older. Looks like Gavin could hold his own.
At birth he needed a little exposure to reduce his jaundice so he got to wear these cool shades.
See more including a riveting video of Gavin rearranging his own furniture at http://mydaddytalksfunny.blogspot.com/
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Young Scientists Birthday Party
The food was all ready with munchies on the table:
Some objects in the kitchen seemed to defy description. But they were simply water balloons that had been frozen solid.
There were even trays of cupcakes, cleverly disguised as ice cream in cones.
Early comers were shown to the back yard where Tim and Jake's trampoline was getting a serious workout.
This was not, however, without incidents. Some of the kids were bouncing a little too chaotic causing a bump and subsequent nose bleed. Fortunately, his mom was there to apply first aid kisses as well as a wet, colored wash rag.
Finally, when everyone had arrived, the group marched into the living room where a temporary "laboratory" had been set up. They all donned "lab coats" but drew the line at wearing name tags with various scientists' names on them. We could have added 30 more minutes to the party by using the name tags and then having each of them read a short bio of his/her named person such as Einstein or Galileo.
Here, the young scientists are stirring borax powder into a bottle of warm water. They will then bend a pipe cleaner into unusual shaped and suspend it by string in the borax water solution.
The frozen water balloons were next on the examining table. Each child first scraped, pulled, or cut the balloon from the ice. Then the children sprinkled salt on the ice follow by food coloring. If the food coloring was on the surface of the ice it didn't color much. If it was following a grain or two of salt you could get a fireworks display in reverse with the color descending as the ice melted the rock hard ice block. Gramma brought the mother of all ice cubes to give an even larger demonstration of the ice effect.
Next, the children were introduced to polymers by hydrating (adding water to) a small portion of "Instant Snow". The stuff is similar to powder used in disposable diapers which absorbs much more water in weight or volume than the original powder and the material that you can add to soil to hold moisture rather than let it pass right through.
Slime was next on the list. There were two liquid components shared with the kids. First they dumped in the green liquid and felt the consistency. It was sort of like soapy water. After the second component was poured into the green liquid, it turned into something between half set Jello and snot -- a sort of SLIME
It was difficult to keep all the kids was redecorating the room with slime everywhere. For the next exercise Grandma dished out a cup of cool, sugared milk into a Zip-loc baggie for each child. Then according to their preference, I poured a scant 1/4 cup of instant pudding powder for the flavor. Chocolate was indeed the most favored with vanilla and butterscoth tied for a distant 3rd. And no one picked pistachio. A gallon Zip-loc baggie was filled half full of ice and half a cup of "ice cream salt" or what we used to call rock salt. Moms, dads, and kids toss the bags back and forth vigorously.
After 10 minutes or when everyone's hands were freezing, the group came back inside to eat their soft ice cream.
By this time we had reached the final minutes for the party so Tim hurriedly opened his presents. Some kids had already had to leave so it was impossible to get a picture of each child with the present he/she gave Tim.
When all the presents were opened the kids were shooed outisde to the trampoline again until their parent(s) showed up to take them and their share of the experiments home. Each child was given a booklet with the recipes for most of the experiments. Who knows? We may have awakened an interest in science for one or more of the kids. Tim thought it was great.
Tiffany, Edward, and Carolyn sat down for a much needed hour of relaxation.
Some objects in the kitchen seemed to defy description. But they were simply water balloons that had been frozen solid.
There were even trays of cupcakes, cleverly disguised as ice cream in cones.
Early comers were shown to the back yard where Tim and Jake's trampoline was getting a serious workout.
This was not, however, without incidents. Some of the kids were bouncing a little too chaotic causing a bump and subsequent nose bleed. Fortunately, his mom was there to apply first aid kisses as well as a wet, colored wash rag.
Finally, when everyone had arrived, the group marched into the living room where a temporary "laboratory" had been set up. They all donned "lab coats" but drew the line at wearing name tags with various scientists' names on them. We could have added 30 more minutes to the party by using the name tags and then having each of them read a short bio of his/her named person such as Einstein or Galileo.
Here, the young scientists are stirring borax powder into a bottle of warm water. They will then bend a pipe cleaner into unusual shaped and suspend it by string in the borax water solution.
The frozen water balloons were next on the examining table. Each child first scraped, pulled, or cut the balloon from the ice. Then the children sprinkled salt on the ice follow by food coloring. If the food coloring was on the surface of the ice it didn't color much. If it was following a grain or two of salt you could get a fireworks display in reverse with the color descending as the ice melted the rock hard ice block. Gramma brought the mother of all ice cubes to give an even larger demonstration of the ice effect.
Next, the children were introduced to polymers by hydrating (adding water to) a small portion of "Instant Snow". The stuff is similar to powder used in disposable diapers which absorbs much more water in weight or volume than the original powder and the material that you can add to soil to hold moisture rather than let it pass right through.
Slime was next on the list. There were two liquid components shared with the kids. First they dumped in the green liquid and felt the consistency. It was sort of like soapy water. After the second component was poured into the green liquid, it turned into something between half set Jello and snot -- a sort of SLIME
It was difficult to keep all the kids was redecorating the room with slime everywhere. For the next exercise Grandma dished out a cup of cool, sugared milk into a Zip-loc baggie for each child. Then according to their preference, I poured a scant 1/4 cup of instant pudding powder for the flavor. Chocolate was indeed the most favored with vanilla and butterscoth tied for a distant 3rd. And no one picked pistachio. A gallon Zip-loc baggie was filled half full of ice and half a cup of "ice cream salt" or what we used to call rock salt. Moms, dads, and kids toss the bags back and forth vigorously.
After 10 minutes or when everyone's hands were freezing, the group came back inside to eat their soft ice cream.
By this time we had reached the final minutes for the party so Tim hurriedly opened his presents. Some kids had already had to leave so it was impossible to get a picture of each child with the present he/she gave Tim.
When all the presents were opened the kids were shooed outisde to the trampoline again until their parent(s) showed up to take them and their share of the experiments home. Each child was given a booklet with the recipes for most of the experiments. Who knows? We may have awakened an interest in science for one or more of the kids. Tim thought it was great.
Tiffany, Edward, and Carolyn sat down for a much needed hour of relaxation.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Sage's new look
My granddaughter Sage recently had a major hair re-do. And she donated her hair to "Locks of Love" as well. Click on the picture to see just how much of a re-do it was.
And the end result? Well, see for yourself what a lovely young lady she is.
And the end result? Well, see for yourself what a lovely young lady she is.
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