Adjusted the string along the property line early this morning then went into the greenhouse to begin bench construction. Mixed up some hydraulic cement and patched around the hole where the gas pipe and conduit pass through. Cut the riser boards for the stairs. I'm one short, probably the bottom step when I get them all nailed down. Cut the wood and assembled the second Southernmost bench. I want both benches in place before I start building the boardwalk. I hung the Bluebird thermometer which I retrieved yesterday from the Jessie Rd greenhouse. Best place for it seems to be over the thermostats which is out of the sun. Dinner was Chicken peanut Thai. Yummy.

Went to the greenhouse and picked up 20 2x4x12's to work on the benches and walkway. I bought some mason string and located the fence line between us and Longo. Kids have been playing in our woods, we found a teepee fort made out of sticks in the woods. I want to stop this so will run a wire fence for a few hundred feet from the corner of the property. I used the fence digger and dug one hole and located the corner post. Ran the mason string from there for about 300 feet. Dinner was Lobster pasta. We finished the chicken from last night today. Had it for lunch with baked beans.

Jack Shannon came over today to help Libbie and her shipping. I painted the gas pipe in the greenhouse. It's a hot day inside the greenhouse structure with no fan to exhaust the air. I also worked out the problem with receiving comma separated data with commas for the Meistersinger energy collector Arduino. This is the last day of the current charge cycle with Sparks Visa. Tomorrow Ii can spend again! We need to book the rest of the New Orleans trip but I'm waiting for a new charge cycle. Dinner was baked beans and a rotisserie chicken from Kroger.

Picked up some more 2x6's from Lowes then added the decking boards for the stairs landing. Cut and fit the stair stringers and bolted them to the wall and to the landing. Placed the treads over the stringers but did not nail them because I need to move them to paint the pipe. Libbie made her very nice pizza which we had while listening to Tales of Hoffman from the met instead of the Silly Bowl.

Today was digging day in the greenhouse. Stabilized the platform which will serve as the landing for the stairs. Used the dirt under the fence gate to make it level. Decided I wanted to listen to Anna Bolena this afternoon from the Met so stayed inside working on the computer on Arduino projects. In the late afternoon we went to Fresh market and bought some Shrimp and Broccoli and forbidden rice which we had with shiraz for dinner. Very nice meal.

I spent the day wiring the new lights on the top shelf of Tower 1. This involved a trip to Home Depot to pick up wiring supplies and a fourth light. This project took all day but it's finished and the lights work We went to Litmus at 6:30 and saw Clara's contemporary art work which were large oil paintings, some of them 2 panel pieces.
Next we went to Visual Arts which was a surprise. They had a large crowd and many young people on bicycles. The crowd was young and eclectic. We also popped in next door and walked through an Artspace like facility. Next stop was Buku. This was the former Fins but now reconfigured as a global street cart restaurant. Wow, we were blown away by the taste and flavor. I had Thai BBQ Snapper with Papaya salad. We each had Shiraz and shared a Tiramisu for desert. Wow, this was yummy. I'm definitely going back.

Nancy came over this morning. While she was here the fence guys came and worked all day until 3 PM. The fence looks pretty good although the enclosed area seems smaller than I imagined it to be. While they worked the fence I was in the greenhouse building the porch landing and digging out the ground to get it level while on bricks. I achieved this. Dinner was Trader Joes barbecue on flat buns.

Check book is replenished today since it's the first of the month. Immediately paid off Home Depot which was down to $400 balance for the oven, range and hood. I also paid the vehicle tax for the Prius which was $117. Worked outside most of the day building a greenhouse bench. I moved the saw out there on the potting bench. After lunch I picked up some 2x4's at Home Depot and then bought an HD gift card to get fuel points. Libbie and I both filled up for 3.37 with a 20 cent discount due to fuel points. Kroger gas is 3.57 today. Next task was to start installing the lights for the top shelf of Tower 1. Mounted 3 lights on the ceiling. Have to wire them up and buy a new timer. Dinner was Lobster Pasta.

It was a slow day. I went to Trader joes and Krogers then went outside to remove nails from the 2x4's in the yard and move them out of the way. Didn't do much else today. This morning I talked to the gas line locator guy and also the cable locator. The cable locator service painted the ground where the septic line is located. Dinner was the leftover Pollo Chipotle.

Got up at 6 and loaded the rest of the suitcases and arranged the Dandy pots. We got going at 7 am but had a little under a half tank of gas. Stopped at the second exit on I-4 for McDonalds and gas at 3.47. It was convenient, the Raceway Gas and the McDonalds were next to each other. We slowed down a little through Orlando morning rush but got back to cruising speed shortly after downtown.

We stopped at the visitors center in GA for Libbie then stopped for gas and food at a combo McDonalds and gas pumps at Exit 8 in SC. We saw on the highway signs that there was an accident 15 miles ahead so we got on 17 North along with a line of trucks up to Ridgeland at exit 20. It wasn't too bad, we could see I-95 stopped as we traveled at 60 MPH. We chose not to stop in Florence and kept going till we arrived home at 6:15. Not sure how it took 15 extra minutes since we didn't have any delays. Went out again for dinner at 6:30 to LaCocina where I had the Pollo Chipotle. Nice to be home.

Started out on the computer updating my musings. It looks to be another beautiful day. Libbie is spreading her quilting out on the floor. It looks beautiful. Libbie did most of the cleaning of the floors. We went for a short walk around the subdivision. Christa had lent us a New Orleans restaurant recipes book. I liked it so I ordered one used on Amazon and returned their copy to them and said goodbye. Will see them in the Fall. I told them I would cook them a Cajun dinner. Around 6:30 we ordered a Pizza from Valentinos on Clark then went to Publix to get fruit for our trip and new sponges for the condo. Got to Valentinos at 7 and our pizza was ready. It was good as usual. After dinner we packed some of our stuff and started loading the car. We have the Dandy Pots so space will be at a premium.

The sun is out and it's beautiful. We left the condo at 9 heading North. Found Diane in Wesley Chapel via GPS. What a dump. Her garage is junked up with boxes, toys all over an unkempt yard and junk cars everywhere. We losded the Dandy's wherever we could find room in the Corolla. After loading up we went in to see Diane's light stands. The house smelled bad with dogs. She has a surprisingly large number of light stands. Libbie bought two violets. We then left for Dunedin via FL 54. Stopped at a very busy McDonalds for bathroom and lunch. On the way to Dunedin Darrel called and said Holly had a stroke last night. Libbie called Sue, Mary and Bill. We arrived at Rainbows End around 1. There was no parking so I parked across the street and then moved it later. Libbie got all her materials for the three baby quilts. On the way home I stopped at the Ellenton Outlet mall and got new jeans. The mall was pretty crowded but it was a Saturday. I cleaned the front screen door of the condo when we got home and also the back door. At 5 we went over to Peter and Christas. We had wine and Italian Salami on the back porch to start. Dinner was Quiche Lorraine that Christa made with bacon and cheese. Desert was three flavors of Sorbet. Very nice. We enjoyed the dinner and the conversation.

We woke up to thunder and rain. It rained most of the morning. I used the time to write and debug the Xbee_Enviro program which collects sensor data in the workshop and sends it out the Xbee. Next step is to receive this data in the office for web display and Pachube data logging. We went out on our bikes in the PM. Took the new Honore extension to Venice. Amazingly the road has curbs and sidewalks on both sides through the cow pastures. We took the South side of the waterway trail to Shannon Park at the end. What a nice surprise. We had to use the bathrooms at the park. I talked to a lady for a while who was seated on a bench. She was from Utica and staying in Florida for a month. In the evening we went to Bangkock Thai on Proctor where I did not have wine but did order the seafood pad thai. Yum.

We had the carpet shampooed at 9 AM for $80. The carpet was too wet to walk on until 5 PM. We laid on the bed, did some napping and some reading on my Nook. After a lazy day we washed some of the fans then went to the clubhouse for rib night. Took a wlak around the block first, noticed that Verizon had a tent set up to sell Fios. We took some granola bars from their table. At dinner I had prime rib and wine. I finished the whole thing. Very good. Desert was back home. We had the Moose tracks ice cream.

We had a late morning in the condo. A little after 10 we got outside and went to Selby Gardens. This was an enjoyable experience on an enjoyable day. It's 81 degrees this afternoon. Next stop was Whole Foods for crackers and pizza for lunch. When we got back we knocked on Peter and Christa's door and chatted with them for a while. I came back and dusted the living room fan. It wasn't too bad but the kitchen fan is pretty greasy. For dinner we went to the clubhouse pub night after 7. I had Florida wreck fish over brown rice which was excellent. Moose Tracks for desert back home.

Up at the normal time and on the road at 7:01 am. It was a little foggy but not as bad as they predicted. We had good visibility. the sun came out while in SC. Stoppped for gas in Florence and a Mickey Dee biscuit. 3.24 per gallon. Next stop was lunch, snack wraps at Mickey Dee and 3.37 gas fill up. Traffic was light. We had some heavy episodes through Orlando because it was 4:30 pm but nothing to stop us. Sailed right through Tampa and into Stoneybrook at 6:15 PM. We went to the clubhouse for dinner - 2 glasses of Cabernet and Florida Wreck fish pan seared over rice and Broccoli. Very enjoyable. The parking lot was very full because it was Bingo night.

It's cold and overcast today as well. We had the same weather yesterday. I sold my CQP after reading about the company in the WSJ. They keep referring to it as debt laden and hapless. It didn't sound like something I wanted to be a part of. Went outside and put the threshold on the storm door. This concludes the door project. Next step, stairs and benches. We'll be traveling to Sarasota tomorrow. I scheduled a carpet cleaning for Thursday morning. I packed up my suitcase. Forgot my glasses last time and did not want to do that again. We went out to La Cocina for dinner. I had a Margarita and Quesadilla La Cocina. I was hungry. Had been doing good on weight loss till now. Have to make sure I don't stray too far.

A cold and yucky day. My first task in the cold was to get a wheelbarrow of muddy clay and level the potting bench. I ended up using paver bricks too set the bench on after propping up the low side with the muddy clay. It should dry and be OK. Next I used the bench to lay out the hardware for the storm door and set up a couple of saw horses to lay the door down so I could attach the hinges. Attached the door to the frame, drilled the door for the latch mechanism and basically got everything hung and working today. Still need a threshold and door sweep. Libbie made her nice Pizza. We had an interesting time microwaving peppers. The bell pepper sparked and flamed like it was metal in the microwave. I put some cut pepper on a piece of saran and the same thing happened. This eliminated any influence of the bowl. We ended up having the pizza with only onions and left the peppers out of it. I finished reading the Chelsey Handler book and started reading a Clive Cussler. So far this is a nice read.

This morning I worked on the W2 and W3 for the greenhouse. I need to complete this before our trip. Finished it up and mailed it on the way to the theater. The hard part as usual was getting the numbers lined up on the form. They keep moving the boxes around on the form which means Ii have to add or delete rows or columns on the spreadsheet I use to print this. We drove to Crossroads for the Opera. It's nice getting there just past 12:30 for a 1:00 performance. Libbie made sandwiches which we had in the theater during intermission. We both really enjoyed the Enchanted Island. It was over the top sticky sweet. Nice, nice, nice. It was pouring rain when we got out. I wanted to stop at BJ's but it was too messy, I just wanted to get home. Dinner was very nice. We had scallops with Broccoli and wine.

This was a busy day. It started with a greenhouse trip for cinder blocks and an inflation jumper tube. Next stop was Krogers for a Lowes gift card and the gas. The gift card let me get a 40 cents per gallon discount to 2.99. I needed 10 gallons. Went home and hooked up the trailer and went to Lowes for a storm door and some 2x6's. I used the gift cards from Krogers and also a $15 off coupon received in the mail. Came home and stapled the deadmen plastic. Libbie had picked up a roll of strip tape on her journey today to Wyatt Quarles. Fired up the inflation blower which is on the interval timer. I need to monitor the top to see how far it deflates after 20 or more seconds of inflation. This is an empirical job. Dinner was Bryani. Just before dinner I decided to get Met HD Enchanted Island tickets for tomorrow. Unfortunately, Fandango automatically charged my FIA card. I need to fix this to use the Sparks card.

Nancy came over early. I worked in my shop tracing wires to the relays. I then rebuilt two relays using the new 24 VDC relays I purchased earlier this month. I made two new 24VAC relays by retrofitting the new ones with old AC coils. Installed these in the relay box. Everything is now powered in the greenhouse. In the afternoon Libbie and I put the deadmen plastic up. We don't have strip tape so we only fastened it at the top and bottom. Dinner was chili and cornbread. After dinner I worked on the Social Security taxes so we could get a handle on them. The payroll tax break for Social Security deductions worked to our advantage since we didn't have to pay such a large deduction out, 10.4% instead of 12.9%. This allowed us to cover the payment with the money in Paypal.

Left at 9:25 for a 10k maintenance check at Leith Toyota. I drove there without effort. They wanted to sell me $49 tire balancing for $29 but I refused. The Corolla now has 9,807 miles. Came back home at 11:30 and started wiring the relay box. This went pretty well but took all afternoon. Libbie started making a pot of chili and wanted to turn the heat on downstairs but the new greenhouse is hooked to the downstairs heat which has no power while I work on the wiring. When I was done I fired it up and the top inflated. I found that a significantly less amount of time is needed for the inflation on/off period. Either way less time or blocking the input so there is much less flow, possibly even a block over the output. Dinner was some homemade chili and corn bread. After dinner we listened to tosca live. I don't care for Patricia Racette's rendition of Visi D'arte.

I went on the roof pretty early to try caulking the greenhouse edge. I found there was no room for caulking. Instead I tucked the leftover plastic top material under the drip edge all along the roof. This made me pretty sore. It started raining while I did this task. Went to the grocery store and did the Tuesday old geezer day thing. Later I entered a bunch of click and ship packages for Libbie which she took to the post office. Dinner wad trader Joes BBQ on a bun. Fell asleep to the Enchanted Island in the evening. This was being broadcast live by Sirius. I'm slightly warming up to this opera but if I had a clear choice I would choose to skip it.

I went out early and started running the thermostat wiring even t though it was cold out. Temp this morning was in the thirties. I made all the runs of the thermostat wire. Next step will be to mount the relay box on the porch that the thermostat wiring will control. Libbie and I made a Trader Joes run this afternoon. We also researched doors at Lowes. Saw somebody laying in the parking lot being worked on by EMS. Bought a pipe to be cut up as table leg extensions in our pack and ship room. This went very well. I ended up putting the smalll blue chair next to the table to raise the Ott light now that the table is raised. The Lowes parking lot and the Trader Joes parking lots were pretty full because it was MLK day. I didn't count on the crowds but we got through it OK. Dinner was Lobster Ravioli from Trader joes.

I got up late, it was after 7 when I got out of bed. Went downstairs and found Miss Wisconsin won Miss America. Her talent was the operatic aria Il Bacio by Isit. I found Anna Netrebko singing it on YouTube at Versailles. We first hooked up the trailer and went out to the greenhouse and picked up the potting bench and 4 2x4's and pieces of 2x4's for the first of the growing benches. Next I hit the rototiller and leveled half of the greenhouse. It's ready for the potting bench, growing bench and stairs. Libbie and i then moved the potting bench into position. It needs some cinder blocks and leveling but next task is going to be wiring of the thermostats and then the power from the relays. We watched the Golden Globes red carpet while having Libbie's wonderful pizza made from scratch dough. Afterwards we watched the Golden globes. It was bright and sunny today but cold with temps only in the 40's.