More last minute powerpoint stuff this morning. Also hooked up the trailer and picked up the tractor at the greenhouse. Mowed the front and back at home before making room for the tractor in the garage. Left at 11 for the Garden show. Not too many people there but we set up in the booth and then did our little presentation. It wa snot worth it but we enjoyed it. Stopd at Hardees on Western Blvd for lunch. I had Cajun chicken. We left at 5:10 to pick up Kathy Lahti at RDU in the Prius. Because 40 was stopped going Eastbound we chose to take 70 to the Hilton instead of the Interstate. Dropped her at the Hilton at 6:00 then went home to get her shoes which she mailed to us. Arrived back at the Hilton at 7:05 then went out to dinner at 7:30 with the Carters, Davidson, Bill Foster, Sure Ramsuer, Kathy Lahti and 2 others. We went to Caffe Luna where I had the Sea Bass special. It was a lovely night.

Getting ready for AVSA. I spent the morning on some library posters then sent them to PIP. In the PM Libbie and I went to PIP and picked them up. I also worked on the bathroom curtains at the greenhouse. Libbie mowed the lawn. Dinner was pork chops with apple sauce, steamfresh corn and shiraz.

I did the USPS research and then printed out a price sheet for the Information table. I went to the greenhouse with the second flag pole and tried it. Looked at the landscape planting. Everything still looks great. Trimmed the bushes around the door. After lunch Libbie and I went to PIP to get the booklets and all our convention stuff. We then went to Walmart and got curtains for the bathroom. I was going to skip sculpture tonight but decided at the last minute to go. I'm glad I did because it was a lot of fun. Came home in a driving rain on the beltline which then tapered into intermittent rain once I reached Crossroads.

Went to the greenhouse and replaced the shutter motor then worked on putting up two flag holders which I picked up in Ace. Dinner was pitty pan with some of the leftover ham. Watched American Idol tonight. The judges saved Big Mike. Called PIP printing. They said maybe tomorrow for the booklets.

Went to the Hilton this morning to get the tables and black cloths straightened out. This was a more relaxing day. Downloaded some sleaze movies then heard that interest rates were going up due to fed action. I emailed Joe who emailed back that they locked their rates. Did the grocery thing today. The pollen outside is horrible. It's visibly raining down from the trees. Dinner was pasta from Trader Joes. Ordered a fruit bouquet for Vicki today and also picked up a birthday card in Krogers but didn't get it mailed.

This was a busy day. I cut the boards for the staging. Need to make the supports. Uploaded everything to PIP today - the ag forms, banquet menus and restaurant directory. Rebuilt the shutter motor and also went to Lowes for screws. Took all the coins to the credit union coin counter. We had $58 worth of loose change laying around. The machine took almost everything except for 2 cents. It was a tiring day. The weeds in the grass are finally starting to die. Dinner was simmer sauce on chicken and broccoli.

I debated about getting a paper but got one with change we scrounged up. Spread potting soil on the shrubbery on the hill and watered everything in. Took the shutter motor home and got dressed for the ballet. Sylphide was quite a surprise. It was fully staged and beautiful. Dinner was Libbie's great pizza again. I started disassembling the shutter motor this evening.

This was a tiring day. I hooked up the tiller to the trailer and hauled everything over to the greenhouse. Needed to bring a 100 foot extension cord for my drill which is needed to start the thing. Tilled the mound then planted the shrubs into greenhouse potting soil on the mound. Planted Osmanthus Goshiki, Loropetalum and Phlox. Keeping the tiller going was a challenge. It would only run at higher speeds and stall out when running slower especially when loaded. Listened to Aida this afternoon but then during the last act I hooked up the weed killer hos attachment and sprayed the back lawn with broadleaf weed killer. Hope it works. I used a granular stuff on the front street lawn and it seemed to do nothing. Dinner was spiral ham, shiraz, broccoli, and yams. We went to Target and Kohls earlier in the day looking for bathroom curtains and a shower curtain.

I went to Bluebird and worked on the drain pipe at the back of the garage building. Got it buried and tied into the main drain. Took a picture of the entrance flowers and put them on Facebook. JoAnn was visiting this orning so I put her on there as well. Later in the PM we went to the Farmers Market and picked up some potatoes and shrubs for the parking lot mound. Dinner was spiral ham with Shiraz, yams and beets.

I did a scouting trip to Lowes today and bought some lawn mower tune up parts. Scoped out the plywood and also saw an Ott brand floor lamp for $55 but I didn't have my $10 off coupon with me. Went back at 4 with Libbie and picked up 2 sheets of plywood and also bought the Ott lamp. The wood is for the design shelves at the convention. I reluctantly went to sculpting this evening. The reluctance was for a new model from UNC Chapel Hill who never modeled before. She was beautiful and quite competent. Part of this fact was she is an art major and does life drawing every day. She wanted to experience being on the other side of art modeling. No dinner tonight. I had a bowl of salad before leaving at 6. Came home a little later since Katlin was in traffic and came late so everything was shifted about 30 minutes.

Talked with Sharon Long about wine and the wood she needed for the design staging. I went over to the greenhouse and replaced the shutter spring. I need to put in a drain pipe and cover the ditch for the garage building. This was Mariachi night at La Cocina so we went over there for dinner around 7:30. It was pretty enjoyable. I only had one Margarita, thank goodness.

I did the groceries this morning then went with Libbie to JoAnn Raymer's house in Cary for lunch and goody bag stuffing. We enjoyed her house and her hospitality. There's something to be said about downsizing and starting with new furniture in a new community. Everything matches and is tasteful. We filled bags until tired. This is hard work. We came home and had Kroger's pasta with Trader Joe's classic marinara sauce. I watched both American Idol and dancing with the stars. The first elimination of Dancing was last night. Idol will kick somebody off tomorrow. I left the leftover goody bags in the car because I was too tired to unload everything.

During Good Morning America this morning I uploaded our printing jobs to PIP in Cary. We have awards forms, Bluebird handouts and the souvenir booklet that needs printing. Drove to PIP at 9:30 and set up the jobs. I waited while they printed the bluebird map and the award form. Paid for everything. Still have to build the program menu's which I did later in the day. Dinner today was chile rejeno while Libbie had a frozen lasagna.

This was the busiest day of the year. Slept in a little and got the newspaper at 7:30. Found enough quarters to use the newspaper machine. I worked on the Bluebird signs today, printing them on blue paper and then trying various schemes to laminate them. Everything i tried didn't work. I moved on to the map we want for a handout. Using Google I came up with a map and directions to Bluebird. In the meantime I gathered info for Adrienne for sign printing and also talked to Laurene about a confirmation package for designers. It looks like Joe and Christa put in a higher offer and locked in the house. they get it inspected Tuesday. Dinner was Libbie's nice pizza but I didn't stay watching TV tonight. went back upstairs to laminate signs with contact paper I had run out to get at Walmart.

Stayed inside this morning since we had to leave early for the opera. I ran out to Krogers at 11:15 for bread for our sandwiches then while Libbie made the sandwiches I got dressed. We were out the door at 11:30 but around Wade Ave we got trapped on the beltline. I got off at Wade and took Blue Ridge all the way to Glenwood. We apparently avoided the traffic jam and got to the theater a little later than usual. Surprisingly there was no line and the theater was empty. We loved Hamlet. It was full of glorious music, good choruses and nice singing. The lead roles were very good too. Talked with jim Fatata afterwards - he said he wouldn't mind seeing this again. I agree. It was a little chilly today compared to the last few days but at least it was clear. We decided at the last minute to stop at Trader Joes for ribs for dinner. We had the ribs with sweet potato and shiraz. It was a very nice dinner.

Spent a lot of today getting my new computer set up. The biggest challenge was getting the printer running which now works fine. Tried printing signs but this was a failure since the toner wouldn't bind to the card stock. I also had trouble with the contact paper which is a removable type. Not great at all. I had to do a restore on the computer which worked very well. i really screwed the thing up with antivirus and adobe acrobat editor. It failed miserably. I managed to stay home all day today working on the new computer. I did load a few sleaze movies onto the new laptop. these worked well also. Dinner was chicken and bbq sauce with broccoli and sweet potato. Very nice dinner.

I resumed installing applications on the new computer. Studio 4 and GCC work great together on the new computer. I heard from John Benziger that he got half of his grant money for the microwaves. This is great news. Changed the tractor oil at the greenhouse and also put the replacement fan motor in house 1. This is the second time I've replaced the motor. At home I changed the Toro oil and mowed the back yard. The IRA check arrived so I drove it over to Schwab on Blue Ridge Rd and deposited it. This was my 401K rollover check which I'm just now getting it put to work. At home Libbie made early crabcakes with tomatoes she bought at the farmers market today. I left at 6 for sculpting after watching the awful live fire pictures of the Chatham county courthouse. The whole building was engulfed in flames. This was our last night at sculpting with Angel. She will be missed. Next week we have a new girl from Chapel hill who has never modeled before.

I waited around the house most of the day since the new laptop was coming and it needed a signature by Fedex. It finally came at 2 PM after Libbie came home. I spent the next several hours installing updates and applications. Windows 7 has some initial getting used to but I will survive. The biggest problem so far is the printer which won't install. We went out tonight for our anniversary to La Concina and had 4 Margaritas. This was too many. Fell asleep as usual to American Idol. They were getting down to the final 10 tonight.

Did the usual grocery run this morning then worked in the backyard filling holes with dirt. After the winter a few of the old stumps rotted and the ground slumped. I dug the dirt from the future pond and used it as fill. Somebody ate all our goldfish and also ate all the blossoms off the backyard Camelia. I took a picture just yesterday of this bush and the green grass in front of it.

I finished sanding the plywood and put both of them on the trailer. Painted both with the roller. They look pretty good. Libbie went with me to Trader Joes. While i got some staples she brought home boxes for the upcoming convention. Dinner was Trader Joes pasta.

We actually woke up early this morning. I went out and got a paper and after reading it hooked up my trailer and went to Home Depot. Picked up the plywood for the AVSA base and also 6 bags of mulch and a gallon of black paint. At home I spread the weed and feed on the front next to the street. I only did one pass from the mailbox to the cable box before it ran out. It was supposed to do 5,000 SF. Cut the plywood circles but had to go out to Ace to get sand paper to sand the edges. Sanded one plywood but not the other. Dinner was Libbie's pizza. Started redoing the Bluebird web page with the new inventory.

Built a bird house today for the AVSA Bluebird from scrap wood I had in the shed. It's a clone of a Bailey box. Libbie will paint it blue and i will decorate it. This afternoon we pulled the shade cloths onto the three houses. I had to go home after we did house 3 and get tools to adjust the house 1 fan belt. After tightening the belt the fan worked fan and we used it to blow the shade cloth while we dragged it onto the house. The top on house 3 is very bad. I put my foot through it in one spot. We came home, got cleaned up and then had dinner at La Cocina where we had Margaritas and our normal single Quesadilla.

I finished the birdhouse and carried it up the hill where I mounted it on the pole by the back pond. Afterwards I spent some time picking up branches. I also started a new path up to the middle bird house.
I spent time on the phone with Fidelity and ordered a rollover of the rest of my TDSP for deposit into Schwab. I will need to deposit the money manually by driving to the Schwab office on Blue Ridge. I hope I'm doing the right thing.
We went to Ace where Libbie bought cups for the birdhouses. I bought some Weed and Feed for the front lawn by the street. Dinner tonight was Whole Food ribs with bone sucking sauce, potato chips and slaw that they were advertising as a package deal for $15. It turned out the ribs were not cooked. Libbie cooked them like pork chops but they did not have the good marinated flavor. We had shiraz with the meal.

I went out to the bailey box first thing in the morning and took some measurements. I'm going to use some scrap lumber and build one or two bird houses. Libbie wants one for the violet show. I'll accomodate her.
I wanted to take it easy today because of sculpting tonight but I went out in the woods and got carried away. I loaded the rickshaw with ladder, pole, hammer and shovel then headed up the hill. Hammered the pole into the hole up to the line I previously marked on the pole. The pole sticks 63 inches above ground and the hole for the racoon guard is 44 inches from the ground. I marked the pole with a sharpie marker and then hammered the pole into a 2 foot deep hole until the mark was even with the ground. Filled the hole in and then worked on brush and twigs cleaning up the general area. I still need to take a clipper up there and trim the smaller saplings. Libbie came home and we had chicken and dumpling soup then I went up the hill with her and installed the racoon guard and snake screen over the guard. Took a short nap before sculpting and also read some more of my Sandra Brown book, "Rainwater". Left at 6 PM and got to Litmus at 6:20. I took some face pics of Angel for my files. She's a nice girl. My legs on the sculpture are awful. I need to do something about that. Below the knee is either too short or too thin. I suspect too short.

Went to the greenhouse this morning and drilled vent holes into the Joy bird box. Back home I worked my on the path and started digging a hole for the pole for a new bird box. Libbie came home for lunch and we sat on the porch enjoying the spring day. Mailed the last of the convention postcards today. This is day 3 of 3 of the mailing of around 700 cards to nearby states.
Dinner tonight was Manicotti with wild mushroom which was Trader Joes frozen. Libbie cooked it the prescribed time but it came out luke warm.