Good morning!!!!

[toppop52]

Nice tractor wife pics Rig!
Lynn and I were engaged on a weekend trip to the OBX, not very exotic, but we were poor folks trying to send an RN to medical school. I guess it took anyway, we had 42 years together, multiple careers, and got to do it all with our best friend!


30 up from 27 at 2, mid 40s today then 60s come back. We had 1.02 inches of rain, it’s been very wet here since December.

 

[toppop52]

I miss the crocus here, none in this property that I’ve ever seen, our old place had them peeping up all over the place by now.

 

[daugen]

I miss the crocus here, none in this property that I’ve ever seen, our old place had them peeping up all over the place by now.

well come visit and I'll show you some.
Of course, I might put you to work...

Randy, you were blessed and all you can do now is be thankful. I certainly married my first wife thinking I was going to be with her forever.
Didn't work out for me, am just delighted for those who were luckier in a way. Many of you are still with your first wives. I think that is
wonderful and a goal to hold high. The problems arise when understandings you go into marriages with change radically by one party and
then faced with a situation that is untenable for mutual happiness, people go their own ways again.
In my case thankfully without being hurtful, other than one's heart, because love remained.
And then you try again. Or you enjoy what I can only call peace and quiet for a little while before you try again.
Get your batteries charged up again. Divorce sure is draining...

Now I am growing a flat of zinnias just for the gardening club.
Fishing with zinnias...

 

[ronjhall]

Need to pour second cup of coffee. 3°with partly cloudy skies this morning. Heading to 31° with mostly cloudy skies. Felt like I was coming down with the crud yesterday. But back to normal this morning. Got lots of rest and drank plenty of liquids. Same plan for today after I take wife to a doctor appointment.

I have not had a motorcycle for 30 or more years. Enough problems with driving a car.

Prayers for those in need.

Good Morning All.

 

[ronjhall]

Now I am growing a flat of zinnias just for the gardening club.
Fishing with zinnias...

We always planted Marigolds and Zinnias around out vegetable gardens. They seemed to keep most of the animals away. Yours is probably getting to big for that to work.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 39˚ cloudy, had a shower earlier - rain shower. So, we send in our old helmets to RNG for recycling?

 

[Bird]

We always planted Marigolds and Zinnias around out vegetable gardens. They seemed to keep most of the animals away. Yours is probably getting to big for that to work.

I just spread blood meal fertilizer around my garden and did not water it in. Of course, after each rain, I usually spread a little more. It kept the animals out, and also made the grass around the garden to grow beautifully:laughing:.

40 degrees and overcast this morning with a forecast high of 46 and only a slight chance of showers.

 

[PJSprog]

22°F and mostly clear skies this morning, going up to 44° today. Supposed to be in the 60s the next two days.

Never been able to keep an old helmet very long, as nieces and nephews usually turned them into play toys and destroyed them for me. I never minded much until it happened to my old BMW System II helmet (made by Schuberth). That thing wasn't exactly cheap. The Bell I have now has been around for about 5 or 6 years now.

 

[jbrumberg]

Rick- Thanks for sharing the pictures of your beautiful wife and tractors. I wish you, your wife, and tractors many happy and healthy years together. Wifey and I have been together for +40 years; married 13 according to the wife. It takes lot of work and a sense of humor to stay together with someone for any length of time.

I think the place you and your bride-to-be went to is Bienvenido | Hicaco. And if it's the same place as you remember and desribed,the food is awesome good eats; especially the ceviche. I love the stuff. We are going to Jaco today to check it out and make like touristas.. I will try to get a picture of the restaurant (or the one that I think is the restaurant you mentioned) and we'll see if jogs your memory.

I have not shaved since we got here. I am starting to look like I have been in the "bush" for a long time (BTDT more than once).

My night driving vision is starting to cause me trouble so I am where I/we want to be off the roads by 6:00PM (sundown). This effectively forces us to eat where we are staying.

The swim up bar is one of two at the Hotel Islitas. The one pictured is off the restaurant. The food is awesome there. I never had a more tasty dish of octopus. The second swim up bar is by the beach and the drinks are much stronger, but one really needs a shuttle or drive down to get there.

The beach scene with beachgoers is at Carrera. Most of the beaches here are unsafe for swimming because of undertow annd riptides, but make for some of the best surfing in the world according to some American surfers with whom I have talked.

The other beach scene is looking at the "road" we took to get to Santa Teresa. I bet we travelled ~ 10 miles on that beach "road". We were advised to follow "the tire tracks" in the sand. That's the area where we had 4 of our 5 stream crossings as there were no bridges. I wish that I had my "drone's" Mobius HD video cam as a dash cam for those crossings. One of them had wifey walking point until we ran out of "road" and had to recross back from where we had come from

ATV vehicles are street legal here. They are all over the place in the Nicoya region.

The beach here at Villas Caletas is cobblestone and requires a shuttle. Wifey's iPhone really did not do the sunset here well. I will try with the camera at sundown tonight at the amphitheater (or restaurant above the amphitheater). Hotel Villa Caletas, Central Pacific, Costa Rica

I have not commented on the motorcycle pictures. I am not a motorcycle person. I can barely ride a bicycle. I do appreciate the work invested in modifying and upgrading them. They can be works of functional mechanical art. What I have seen here is good stuff. I know that it takes a lot of work and money to create the "perfect" bike.

Honestly by Friday it will be "time" to return home to the warming trend in the NE as some of you have posted. I've been following the weather up there from here in CR. I bet JaysterAcres got +1" of much needed rain.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Now I am growing a flat of zinnias just for the gardening club.
Fishing with zinnias...

I see what you did there, Drew. Hope you get one in the boat real soon and she turns out to be a keeper!:thumbsup:

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Good Morning!!!! 46F @ 7:00AM. Plentiful sunshine. High near 60F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.

Thanks for taking us with you on vacation, Jay. Looks like you've found some very nice places to stay. What kind of vehicle are you driving that gets you across so many streams?

What I had first thought was a malfunctioning pressure release valve on the compressor was actually doing it's job well. The real problem could have been an eighteen dollar check valve, but after removing it and cleaning it, the problem remained. A new set of intake and exhaust valves for each of the two cylinders is now on the way, and they cost a LOT more than eighteen dollars. About half what I paid for the compressor almost ten years ago, but I've gotten so much good use out of it the amortized cost is very small. If the old valves look anything like that check valve, the motor will have a lot less work to do as well.

Also got a new tire on the touring bike, and seem to have gotten the routine down for shuffling motorcycles and equipment around to use the tire changer and balancer so it doesn't take nearly as long. Then took another look at the water softener, which worked briefly last month then quit again, and found the brine tank flooded again. In that condition a valve prevents it from feeding salt into the resin bed so it can regenerate. So I whittled up a stick to prop open the valve and advanced the control dial to the part of the cycle that feeds the brine, and it pumped the brine tank dry, then refilled it to the correct level. So I'm at a loss as to how it gets over full. At the end of the day I started a full regeneration cycle, and this morning will look at the level in the tank again to make sure it's not over full. If it is, it'll be time for another talk with the water softener man, and probably another visit. They've been here four times already for the same problem, so perhaps this time they'll replace the whole mechanism? Or maybe they just like coming out here, because so far, there hasn't been any charge.

Stayed up too late last night watching the Olympics, so might need to catch another couple hours of shut eye before getting up for the day. Really enjoyed watching the Luge runs, even better that a very healthy lookin' guy from the US won silver. Those were some tough young ladies on the moguls, too, but the USA gals weren't tough enough to podium. Not sure there's anything tough about the US figure skaters, or those flamboyant announcers!:confused2:

 

[jbrumberg]

RNG- The Hyundai (Tuscon) we are renting has 6 speeds. I believe that 5th and 6th gear are overdrive. And one can lock the AWD into 4WD. This is an eco-minded country so I am assuming it has pollution controls. The suspension is "robust," and it has some decent pep when the pedal is to the metal. If the gearing is the same in the USA we want one to replace our ancient Subaru Forester. The dash console idiot upshift/downshift is annoying.

I did put a small dinger on the bottom door panel bottoming out on a dirt road. I hope the rental agency does not see it through all the dirt. I know that they probably will

I was ambivalent about posting pictures here as a lot of people find others' vacation pictures really boring; maybe offensive .

The stonework, the 100's of steps, the fountains, and the twists and turns of the staircases make this place a real labyrinth. One can easily get lost.

Our next and final destination in CR is the Hotel Grano de Oro in San Jose. This is an old mansion with an open courtyard that has been converted to a really nice hotel and restaurant. This is our "go to" place in CR to start and finish our vacations here: Hotel in San Jose Costa Rica | best Costa Rica Hotel | Hotel Grano de Oro

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Also got someone at a local O'Reilly Auto Parts store to order the Berryman Professional Chem-Dip Replenisher 0901, and it should be there today ready for pickup. Not sure why they don't stock it, as it seems to be the product everybody wants, not the water based stuff they do stock and that doesn't work well. So thanks for the offer to black market some to me, Ted, but it looks like this is gonna work out.

Hope your little girl is feeling better, Kyle, and that flu hasn't spread to anyone else in the family. I saw on the news the other day that the number of cases this year is more than double last year, but no where near pandemic levels. I guess that's both bad and good news?

 

[hawkeye08]

I don't find the pictures boring, they bring back memories of our own trips.

 

[RedNeckGeek]

So, we send in our old helmets to RNG for recycling?

Right, Don, here are the instructions:

Please box up your old helmet with plenty of padding so it is not damaged in transit. Be sure to include your name, address, and a bank draft or postal money order to cover shipping and handling of your new used helmet and motorcycle. You have two options, the $3000 K100RS, or the $5500 R1200GS. Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery...:laughing::laughing::laughing:

 

[CWB Wyo]

The low this morning is 5*, and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Yesterday was a mix of sun in the morning and a snow shower in the afternoon. It didn't amount to much . Today is going to the sunny with a light wind for a change. With the high in the low 40's.

Not much going on today. Talked to the neighbor yesterday and he had to go back to the Dr. For more blood clots in his legs. His wife is going back to see him for a few days. I'm not sure if I'm going to be feeding her animals or not. I like the woman but she isn't very organized. Something that should be a 30 minute job takes over a hour. Like taking water down in one gallon jugs. But at least the hey is in the barn. She has five rabbits, three turkeys, about 20 goats and 20 chickens. And she complains about how much work it is.

Hope everyone has a nice day.
CWB.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Bad things can happen anywhere, but i know how you feel and being able to move away to a quieter area is certainly one of the added benefits of a retirement move. Hope you soon find the right place.


Where I used to live the local paper would often have stories of stabbings and occasionally a shooting too. By contrast, last week the story that made the headlines of the weekly paper in the small town that we now call home was a "shock" story that someone out for a walk around a private lake that has a cafe open to the public had found - wait for it - two mole traps - (which are perfectly legal !)

This dreadful event managed to fill the entire front page and half of page 3.

View attachment 539739

Whitchurch's Alderford Lake owner: Mole trap find was one-off | Whitchurch Herald

That's Awsome! What happens when something really exciting happens?

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Jay, thanks for sharing the pics. Looks absolutely beautiful! I'm sure it's far more beautiful than any pictures could do justice. Glad you guys had a good trip, stay safe on your way home.

 

[LS Tractor Owner]

Good morning all! Not too bad out this morning, only down to 36* last night, should be around 62* this afternoon. Going to finish breaking apart the old well house, lots harder than I thought it was going to be. Broke most of it down with the BH. A lot of it stayed together because of concrete in the corners. Broke those up with a sledge. Got 3/4 of the hole filled in with the broken pieces. Only able to salvage about 30 blocks from the whole thing. Gonna go out now and finish breaking what's left, cover it up, and grade it.

 

[sodamo]

65°F and no measurable rain.
Harbor Freight box of goodies I shipped via PO arrived yesterday as did the generator and fan I had shipped fro Az to fix the generator that died just before Christmas. Likely work on that today.

Had Happy Hour at nearby restaurant yesterday, a chance to get caught up a bit with some friends.

Be safe.
Have a great day