We went to the Farmers Market in the morning and did a lot of plant shopping. Honeycuckle Garden herbs were disappointing but Longwood Gardens of Raleigh had a nice selection of plants. We bought their Coreopsis and Cleome as well as an assortment of herbs. Dinner was Trader Joe crabcakes with the Farmers Market tomatoes.

Joy came over and worked violets with libbie while I worked with the chain saw cutting up the logs on the house side of the creek. I moved the logs into the pile nearest the house down by the creek. I went to Kroger and got all the ingredients for a Cajun meal which I will make on Thursday. Dinner was chicken in Briyani which was really good. I like the Biryani chicken Libbie makes.

Sprayed roundup inside the fence today to eradicate the lawn then I helped Joy, Jack and Libbie pack violets for the Albuquerque club. An interesting offer came today from Cap One. I can use their checks to get 0% money for one year for a 2% transfer fee. The car balance is $8800, it will cost $176 in fees. Interest would be $237. Not much savings. If I buy 1000 shares of CMOpB it will cost 14,720 and will yield $1,260 or $105 per month for a transaction cost of $295. On the other hand WSR costs 13,070 and yields $1,140 for a cost of $262. income works out to $95 per month, therefor 3 months to start making money. Dinner was chicken curry over whole wheat spaghetti.

Up at 6 Central time this morning. We had a 6:30 breakfast and stopped for gas next to the hotel before starting our drive. Opelika is 90 miles South of Atlanta and about 37 miles south of the GA border. Once over the border we we were in the Eastern time zone. Traffic was moderate. We picked up a biscuit and more coffee on the other side of Atlanta. Somewhere up in SC we stopped at a Pilot truck stop for a bathroom break and topped off the tank. It was half full but prices were 3.65 which is lower than the approx 3.80 per gallon in NC. We found 49 in Charlotte and used it to get to 64 and then home. Arrived at 4 PM which is good. Picked up a diGiorno pizza at Krogers for dinner. I also found Slap Yo Momma spices and Andoille sausage in Kroger. Everything looks good outside - unfortunately, the pink double rose I bought was red and not pink. The marigold seedlings needed a little more water than the auto system supplied. The sprinkler needs to be moved back from the edge of the bench.

Early for breakfast. Chatted with Stevie, Grace, Jan and a few others to say goodbye. On the way out of town we stopped at the fresh pickins store and picked up some Cajun spices. Next it was the breakfast bakery for some beignets. We ate them in a parking lot outside of town with our comfort inn coffee. Got to Baton Rouge with no problems. There was a 2 story BN next to the theater. We went to the bathroom there and browsed books. The opera started without the video. I think it was a theater problem. the audience was chatty and noisy. We had to change seats because the lady behind us decided to rattle her shopping bag constantly. Natalie was not in great shape. Worse was the awful sets with corrugated steel walls and austerity. I hated it. We got out at 3:15. Took a wrong turn onto 10 instead of 12 coming home. Doubled back and got stuck for about an hour because of an accident. This set us back getting into Opelika, AL at 11 PM. The Comfort Inn room was large and clean. Nice to have arrived.

Early morning breakfast then over to campus. Today we had a very young chef, Chef Colt who is one of the top 5 chefs in Lafayette. Our menu was collard greens with Tasso, salad with pepper jelly dressing and blue cheese, shrimp creole over grits and chicken smothered in Andoille sausage creme sauce. The cake came out like a brick, it wasn't good. I really got into sauteing the trinity. I think I can do this! I also had fun making the rice pilaf but there was a problem getting the rice to come out correctly. When we got back we took off in the car looking for a Daquiri drive through.Found one called Dix's but it wasn't a drive through. Drove 4 miles turning right on 90 but no deal. Came back and the lady said to turn left and go less than a mile. I went alone and found the drive through. Took some pictures then used the drive through and bought 2 16 ounce daiquiri's, one Margarita and one Strawberry. Very good. Got our diploma at 4 then got onto the bus and left for the boat ride on the Achatafalaya basic. This was quite scenic and our cajun driver was very colorful. Next it was dinner and dancing at Bes Pere. We sat with the Browns of Kentucky. They have done several music Road Scholar programs. I had the catfish with etouffee and a couple of beers. Libbie had the stuffed crab. Yummy. We also got up and did a little cajun dancing. Libbie ended up buying the band's CD. Back home at 9:16.

After breakfast we went to the college and had chef Nick of Bruce foods. Our menu was flounder stuffed with crab and covered with a mornay sauce, a salad with strawberry vinaigrette and pecan dressing, flaming banana foster for desert. Libbie was having fun flaming bananas over the stove. After lunch we went to a produce store and saw some amazing cajun spices. Came down at 4 for a long movie about the history of Cajun music. It was informative. I found some of the names on tom's music server were old cajun musicians. I incorrectly classified the music as zydeco. Dinner was at Prejeans, a unique restaurant with cajun music. I had crawfish half and half, half were fried and half were in an etouffee. Pretty good. The bread pudding was too dense.

We had the Road Scholar buffet again this morning. Eggs, sausage, potato and bagel with cream cheese plus coffee. It was adequate. This morning we had a very nice chef, Sanders who is the Executive chef of the University Dining Hall Services. He had us doing the cooking step by step which helped. Our Gumbo was outstanding. We chopped bread for croutons and chopped bread for bread pudding. The bread pudding had crushed pineapples and raisins added to it. Wow, was it good. It think adding some rum to the mix really spiced it up. Our Caesar salad was also outstanding with our own home made dressing. Yumm!!! After we ate lunch and cleaned up we walked over to the UL swamp. Libbie and I chose to walk around the swamp and skipped the bookstore. We peeked at it then got onto the bus for a tour of downtown. Stopped at the Catholic Church to see the 500 year old Oak Tree then came back. The bus A/C wasn't fully functioning. It's 82 outside. We went to the Martin Accordian company where we learned about accordians and had a pretty nice concert by the Martin family. Libbie bought Joel's CD. He's a pretty good young musician. Dinner was Deano's pizza where we had cajun pizza with shrimp and crawfish and a pitcher of abita amber beer.

I wasn't too keen about the breakfast buffet in our meeting room but I had the sausage and eggs and of course coffee. Our chef was Becky who teaches hospitality at the University. This was her kitchen. We chopped up some Tasso which is like a smoked ham and added some spices, celery and bell peppers along with cream and straight corn to make a corn Maque choux. We also chopped tasso and mixed it with cajun spices and crawfish to make an etouffee. Took some frozen catfish filets, rubbed some Cajun seasoning on both sides and baked. Served it covered with the etouffee. We also coated eggplant and baked it then ladled some sauce over it for serving. After lunch and cleanup we went to see Boudin sausage being made, Dinner was at LA Seafood hooouse where we had a huge plate of Crawfish with beer.

Breakfast this morning was french toast with sweet potato filling and swimming in honey, brown sugar and butter with pecans and Applewood bacon. On the side were slices of fruit. yummy. We packed up and headed for Lafayette around 10:30. It was a pretty straight shot for 133 miles. Once we were in Lafayette I filled up the gas tank then we headed for the hotel. Found it but didn't stop because it was early so tried looking for a lunch spot. We found "Chris's PO Boy" restaurant. We each had a shrimp Po Boy which came with chips, pickle and cabbage. Checked into the Marriott. It's a nice hotel and looks new. Our leader's name is a Cajun named Patti Daigle. The week looks full. Dinner tonight was at the Hub City Restaurant. I had the Blackened catfish over shrimp etouffee. Desert was bread pudding. Our bus driver, a college student, sat at our table. He's a graduating senior.

We started with some coffee early then when breakfast was served at 8:30 we had a plate of fruit and coffee cake for starters. Next was a crepe stuffed with Bagara, a ricotta type cheese. Nice but way too much food. After breakfast we walked the neighborhood touring the Esplanada Ridge. We then got into the car and found the garden district. We had a very nice 2 hour walk before stopping for lunch at a coffee shop. We had a chicken breast wrap and water inside the A/C to cool off. Then we drove over to the French Quarter and parked in the Canal Place parking garage. Libbie caught some beads from the Easter parade, we then walked to Cafe duMonde where we had coffee and beignets. The sugar pile up is unbelievable. Walked the French quarter and enjoyed a few street bands and the Easter hats. I had a Huge Ass beer which Ii shared with Libbie before we made it back to the parking garage and then home.
In the evening I printed a parking garage coupon and we drove over to the French Quarter. I decided against a taxi cause it was later and I didn't want to wait. The parking garage we went into said something about our car would be booted if we parked there. Left that one and drive onward crossing Bourbon, something I didn't want to do. Lo and behold we found parking around the corner from Mr B's. They took us right in to a nice table. I had the gumbo and barbecue shrimp which were unpeeled in a barbecue sauce. I wore a bib and made a mess eating them but they were delicious. Desert was bread pudding with irish whiskey. Wow!!!! Walked down Bourbon after dinner and stopped to listen to some good music by an older band with tuba, piano, horn and string bass. Quite good. Made it back to our car and home around 10.

Had an egg round and sausage on raisin bread toast for breakfast then hit the road. It was cold out, the car said 45 degrees. Went to the other side of Atlanta and stopped at a McDonalds for coffee and bathroom. Once South of Atlanta the scenery was nice and the traffic pretty light. We had lunch at a McDonalds in Alabama and got into Ashtons Bed and Breakfast at 2:15 Central time. We were listening to the live performance of Manon with Anna Netrebko. Very nice but we arrived. The B&B is outstanding. It's an elegant old mansion with beautiful interiors and a large patio in back with a live Oak and resurrection ferns covering the branches. After resting a little we went out front and took a 4:15 bus to the French Quarter. Senior fare was 40 cents. Got off the bus at Toulese and Rampart St and walked into the French Quarter. Walked to the Cathedral and then took in the sights of all the craziness. Lots of bars and much music spilling into the streets. Listened to some black guys playing jazz and a Cajun band singing songs. We stopped for a while and watched a street band with 4 horns, 2 drums and a tuba. They were pretty good. Went into the Red Fish Grill and had a marvelous dinner. I started with the barbecued oysters and blue cheese. Wow, good. We had a bottle of Ravenswood Zinfindel and then for dinner I had the cheese crusted snapper. Very nice and tasty. After dinner we walked along Bourbon. The crowd was definitely getting rowdier. Found a taxi that took us back to the B&B. We didn't know the address but guided him along by site since we knew we were the 3rd house after Johnson.

Did the packing this morning as well as a trip to the USPS with Libbie's click n ship, Lowes for Velcro for her nook and Krogers for bread for our sandwiches. We got going at 12:16 which was good. Took 64 and 49 to Charlotte. It was a nice scenic ride. Traffic in Charlotte was heavy as expected but moving along. We stopped at Tanger Outlet exit 147 on I-85 at 5:30 PM. I discovered I had my work shoes on so I bought new shoes at Reebok. These are brown suede walking shoes. Our Comfort Inn was at exit 137. Checked in and then had dinner in a very nice Mexican place out front, El Jinette . It seemed to be a restaurant visited by locals. I had the Texas Fajitas which had beef, chicken and shrimp cooked with onions and peppers. We each had a 17 oz Margarita. Too much alcohol but outstanding Mexican Fare. We slept well.

Filed the taxes this morning using eFile for federal but mailed the state taxes because they wanted 19.95 to eFile the state. That's a lot of money for two pages which I took care of with a 42 cent stamp! Making last minute tweaks to our watering this morning. the violet towers still have some dry corners and the greenhouse hibiscus needed another emitter. The big one wasn't get enough water. We have been enjoying the ham for sandwiches everyday for lunch this week. Ham, tomato and bread rounds make the perfect lunch. We had the same for dinner - ham, tomato on sandwich rounds.

Finished the taxes today but did not file them yet. I still want to do a little bit of review. We went to the greenhouse this morning where we removed the tractor battery and took it to Walmart in Apex for an exchange and a new battery. It would be $9 more if we did not do the exchange. The new battery was $25.88. The tractor started right up. While Libbie mowed the pipeline I shoveled gravel. We brought 6 pails of gravel home to the new greenhouse. Everything is proceeding well there. For dinner we had manicotti from Trader Joes.

Worked on taxes for quite a bit of time. Also put the step back together in the back and did roundup on the fence edging and the greenhouse under the benches. It's coming along nicely. The auto watering is working out in the greenhouse. Did a short grocery run and also bought Lowes and HD gift cards to get 4x the points for fuel discounts. My tank was empty so I got 40 cents a gallon discount on a fillup with the points. Gas is pretty high, 33.49 after discount. Dinner was ham slices with beets and potato slices. I downloaded some sheets from the 1940 census and looked at some of the areas in the Bronx. The Borowski's, Glembocki and Cybulski all lived on E155 St in the Bronx. St Adalberts was on E156th St. I visited the area on Google Streets - a lot of E155 St is gone and projects in it's place.

BBluebird this morning to trim the shrubs and pick up garbage as well as get 4 more pails of gravel. I helped Libbie transplant some Liriope from the greenhouse. She also took some daffodil bulbs. After a ham sandwich lunch we went to Selma to the Carolina Outlet malls for sneakers for Libbie at the Reebok store. Walked around DeWaynes garden center. There were nicely displayed plants in colorful arrangements on tsbles. We walked around then drove to JR Outlet. What a dump!!!! The store smelled of smoke and had tons of trashy merchandise. Awful, we'll never go back there. Stopped in at the Raleigh Farmers market for tomatoes on the way home. Also got beets and yams. Home at 4 PM.
Out to dinner tonight to La Cocina. We had Margaritas and I ordered the Quesadilla La Cocina. Came home and worked on tax stuff.

Started right away debugging the shopping cart. Found a raw copy on Manon. Zipped it up then started comparing files. found some syntax errors and corrected them. The shopping cart gets further along. Added some file write statements to the perl module accessing the USPS and this was a huge help. It pointed to the error messages coming from the Post Office server. Changed so that I was V4 compliant and then had to figure out how to parse the result using XML and Perl. With some trial and error as well as reading online I was able to parse the result and extract the rate info. Cart fixed. Next job was hooking up the drippers and running a test cycle which I ran through at 3 PM. We will monitor the watering and make adjustments as needed. Dinner was another great pizza by Libbie. I did the click and ship stuff today to avoid USPS slow downs on Monday.

This morning I put the Nook Android image on the 8 GB card from Newegg which arrived Thursday. Placed the card in the Nook Tablet and had no problems booting into an Android desktop screen. Went out and fetched a few free apps including the Nook and Kindle apps and tried them out. All worked well except that the Nook app only can access data on the external flash which meant I had to copy the internal books onto the external drive. This was not much of a problem and all still works very well. The Nook Tablet is more responsive than my Nook Color reader, most likely because of the dual processors and higher clock speed. I really like it!!!
Went outside and soldered all the connections then during the Met Opera broadcast of Elixir I tested the system. The dripper is leaking at the port tap. I need to go to home depot to see if this is the correct hose size for this port. I also need the correct masonry screws for the 5/32 holes I drilled. Juan Diego just sang an encore live on the Met today of una furtiva lacrema. Fantastic!!!!
Panic set in tonight as I tried to change the USPS API to V4 for our shopping cart. What a disaster!!!! Nothing works anymore. Dinner was ham with sweet potato, apple sauce, broccoli and shiraz. Yummy.

We went to the greenhouse where I took down the runs of bell wire running from the garage to the back buildings. Took it all down and rolled it up for use as solenoid wire in the new greenhouse. I also shoveled a few pails of gravel to bring home. Hooked up the solenoid to water floor plants in the greenhouse. Next I'll wire up the solenoids using the salvaged greenhouse bell wire. Finished running the solenoid wire this afternoon as well as mounting the timer controller but did not hook the stuff up. My back is killing me. We went to Walmart and bought socks, some saucers, wine and bath rugs. Went back to return a swimsuit later and bought a folio case for Libbie's Nook. Dinner was sliced ham, broccoli, sweet potato and chardonnay. It was a nice day.

Worked all morning on putting the ceiling lights above Tower 2. This is two eight foot light strips containing 8 light tubes. At noon we went to the Farmers Market for tomatoes for BLT's as well as Sweet Potatoes. Libbie found a double knockout Rose for $20 which we purchased. It was a little more than others but we liked the woman and the way it was grown. She also mentioned another rose variety which is like knockout in mildew resistance but grows low with miniature blossoms. Came home and picked up bacon in Krogers as well as a spiral sliced ham for the weekend. Moved the existing pink rose and replaced it with the double pink knockout. The USPS sent me into a panic since they said they no longer support the old API for the shipping calculator for our shopping cart. I spent some time studying the code to modify our cart. Dinner was chili. Desert was hot chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. Libbie didn't like it but I did. Her issue was the 400 calories. I agree with that part.

Not much done today. Moved the chunk of concrete out of the fenced in garden and put it into the creek. Picked up some pipes at Home Depot and added a watering branch to Tower 1 to cover some dry spots. Planned for some more watering of large pots in the new greenhouse. Picked up a few drippers from Home Depot as well as a solenoid, pressure regulator and pipe fittings for this part of the project. Dinner was Libbie's homemade Chili and fresh baked corn bread., Yummy.

Called Van Wingerden this morning and they still had not sent the check even though they promised to last week. Moved the carpentry equipment out of the greenhouse. It's done except for painting the door. Did the groceries including Trader Joes. It's surprisingly cold out, in the 60's. Learning VB Express by writing the program to copy and paste addresses for Click N Ship. Dinner was Lobster Pasta purchased from Trader Joes today.

Tried click and ship all day, the USPS server was crap. On the side I worked on the Arduino watering timer project. Dinner was chicken in curry sauce over spaghetti.

I took it easy today. Worked on the Relay card trying to get a telnet type feature working. It rained overnight so everything is pretty soggy. Around noon we decided to walk around the flea market at the fairgrounds. Saw some interesting Jack in the Pulpits by an eclectic couple. There weren't too many vendors out. We saw a collection of food trucks. We tried some Spring rolls from one of them. They weren't too bad. Libbie made her wonderful pizza again for dinner. I'm reading 50 shades of gray, it's an alright book with lots of sex but doesn't seem to be going anywhere.