Mr. Andy Is In His Garden

psst . . . be sure to read the posts below first so you'll know where I've been.

Howdy Eveybody!

Boy it's hot outside today. I've been nursing a sick son back to health and also taking care of our family garden. My son is getting better but he's still not ready to go out and do too much just yet so we've been spending alot of time around the house this week.
My tomato plants are growing like crazy - I have them staked up and so far they are each about 7 feet tall and loaded with green tomatoes. I also have planted some basil, rosemary, mint and lots of marigolds (to keep the squirrels away).
I recently purchased a rain barrel and have it hooked up to one of my downspouts so that I can collect and use rain water in the vegetable garden. It's made from a 55 gallon Coca-Cola syrup container and it smelled like root-beer when I brought it home. It's just white plastic right now but I plan on painting it green so that it doesn't stand out quite so much. I'll take a picture after I have painted it.

Mr. Andy is Back in Nashville

Psst . . . dont' forget to read the posts below first so you'll know where I've been.

Hi Everyone,

It was a long drive home but we finally made it. The highway was closed down near Knoxville, Tn due to a bad accident and we were forced to take a long, long, long detour to get back home. While it was nice to get to see parts of the state that I have never seen before, there were a few moments while driving down narrow twisting mountain roads in bumper to bumper traffic that I was wishing we were back home and off the road.

My family had a great time at the beach and we were lucky enough to have been able to stay for two weeks this year. It's the first time we have ever taken that long of a vacation and boy oh boy was it relaxing! We didn't take a vacation at all last year so we decided to make up for it this year.

I'll post a few pictures on here this week when I get a chance to transfer them to my computer from my camera.

Mr. Andy is at the Beach!!

psst . . . be sure to read the posts below first so you'll know where I've been.

Hi Everbody!!

I'm vacationing with my family at Kure (rhyms with curry) Beach, North Carolina - we are currently into our second week here and everyone is having a great time. I'm sorry I haven't been posting on here, but it's been hard to find the time or the urge to get on the computer. The sand and the water are keeping me and the family very busy.

Last night we went to one of my favorite ice cream parlors - Squiggley's - it's located just up the beach from us in Carolina Beach. I had my favorite flavor - mint chocolate chip. My kids both had cotten candy flavor. YUM!!

Today I saw several dolphins swimming about fifty yards off the beach - they were swimming in pairs and moving back and forth right in front of our beach house!! Very exciting.

I will fill you all in about my trip when I get back from the beach.

Aloha

Mr. Andy is at Home

Psst . . . don't forget to read the posts below first so you'll know where I've been.
Hello All,

I've been very busy since my last post - my children are also out of school and this has kept me and my wife, Ms. Kristen, very busy.
Today I took my children for a bike ride on the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. Actually, I was doing the cycling, they were relaxing in our pull-behind "bike wagon". We followed the trail all the way to the new pedestrian bridge at the North end of the Shelby Greenway and crossed the river into Two Rivers Park. We met our friend Ms. Jenny and her children over there to play on the playground and have a picnic lunch under the picnic shelters. We all had a great time until Ms. Jenny's daughter Annie got stung by a honey bee - ouch! But she made a quick recovery and everyone got back to chasing bugs and gathering flowers.
After a hot bike ride home I took my kids over to the Pied Piper Ice Creamery to cool down and then we walked around Five Points and took a peek inside my favorite shop Eastside Cycles.

Last weekend my family and I went to the American Artisans Festival at Centennial Park. We were walking around in the hot afternoon sun looking at all of the pottery, paintings, sculptures and other neat stuff when I spied our friend and fellow classmate Cole! He was with his Mom and Dad and brother doing the same thing we were. It was really nice to see Cole and his family and I wish that I had had my camera with me, but I didn't. So 'Hello' Cole - I enjoyed seeing you last Sunday - hope you're having a great summer.

Also - every Monday morning at EC3 I drop my son off at the EC3 summer program and when I do I always see Gracyn and Declan (and their Moms - 'hello' Moms). It's been nice to see you all this summer as well.

Well my children are fighting about something so I guess I should finish this post. Keep checking in here this summer so you can see where and what I will be doing next.

Mr. Andy Goes to Lowes

Psst . . . don't forget to read the posts below first so you'll know where I've been.
This may not sound very exciting to you all but I had to make a trip to Lowes today to get a few things that I need around the house. My kids usually like to go to Lowes, it's one of those places that has a ton o' stuff to look at and they can be noisy and crazy in there and no one seems to mind.
One of the things that I needed to get was a length of braided nylon rope. Why would I need braided nylon rope? Well, since you asked, I'll tell you.
I am making a Wash Tub Bass. Hmmm . . . maybe this needs a little more explanation. I am making an instrument using a metal wash tub, about 6 feet of rope and a bamboo stick. The rope is threaded through a hole that I made in the center of the bottom of the washtub. Then the washtub is turned upside down. The other end of the rope is attached to the top of the bamboo stick. the stick rests on the edge of the bottom (now the top) of the washtub. While keeping one foot on the washtub I pull back on the stick- this makes the rope very tight and when I pluck the rope it makes the washtub vibrate - it has a very low, booming sound to it - kind of like an Upright Bass. You might see me with it this Fall at EC3. I'll post a picture of it here once I get it finished.

Mr. Andy Goes Home - Last Day in Virgina

Pssst. Be sure to read the post below first - so you'll know what's going on and where I am.


Well it's been a fun filled and very busy week in Virginia visiting with friends and family but now it's time to go. At the time of this writing I am in a hotel in Knoxville trying to wind down after driving for the past eight hours.
We left my folks house around noon and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove and drove until we finally reached Knoxville, Tn.

There were no ant adventures this time. Nothing eventful really happened at all - it was an uneventful drive. However, there were a lot of pretty sights to see as we drove through the mountains. Occasionally we would pass an overlook where we could see down into a valley and my kids would pretend we were riding in a flying car. That's what my brother and I used to do when we were kids too!
It's very late and I'm finally feeling sleepy - goodnight all!

Mr. Andy Visits with Ms. Elaine - Day 6 in Virginia

Pssst. Be sure to read the post below first - so you'll know what's going on and where I am.

Today I had lunch with a dear friend of mine - Elaine Haley. The kids and I met her at a Red Robin near downtown Richmond and we had a great time catching up and munching on our lunch. Ms. Elaine is the mother of one of my oldest friends. My son Benjamin is named after her son Benjamin. The Haley family have always made me feel like I was part of their family, but they do that with everybody - that's what I love about them!

Ms. Elaine has a very cool red car that my kids love - they told me they wished our car was red. Maybe we can get out the paint set when we get home and paint ours red too.

Mr. Andy Goes to New Town - Day 4 in Virginia

Pssst. Be sure to read the post below first - so you'll know what's going on and where I am.

Howdy Chickadees!

Today my Mom, my kids and I went driving around Williamsburg seeing the sights and to do a little shopping. We went to a place called New Town, which looks like a little old town that someone picked up and dropped in the middle of a great big field. We looked at clothes (boring) and shoes (boring) and then we went to a comic book shop (yipeee!).
My son Benjamin was eating one of those yogurt tube things and he squeezed it out all over his shirt. His shirt was covered with flies in a matter of seconds. We had no clean clothes with us so I bought him a shirt from one of the shops in New Town.
Not much more to report - shopping is kind of boring for me so I was happy to get back to the house so I could read and relax.

Mr. Andy is off the Road - Day 2 in Virginia

Pssst. Be sure to read the post below first - so you'll know what's going on and where I am.

We made it to my folks house! Hooray! Today we're having a Surprise Birthday Party for my brother.
My brother Mike is turning 40 today. That probably seems pretty old to you little ones, but the parents know that 40 is the new 30 (or so I've been told). Regardless of this we have been telling my brother he's over the hill all afternoon.
The birthday party was a surprise party for Mike and he had no idea that we were driving up to be there for his birthday. When he pulled up in my parents driveway we were hiding behind some lawn furniture on the side porch. He walked up to the house and everyone was saying "happy birthday" and "howdy-do" and what-not when we (me, son Benj & daughter Charlotte) jumped out and shouted "Surprise!!". His smile was from ear to ear and he kept saying over and over "I can't believe you came all this way for my birthday".
It was fun to give him a big surprise like that and it was also fun to see many of my relatives that I haven't seen in a long, long time.
You all would have loved the party - there were lots of balloons, cake, ice-cream, cookies, chips, hot-dogs, and juice. Pretty yummy stuff. I played my banjo ukulele for him and sang "Happy Birthday to Little Sally Spingle Spungle Sporn". You can see my big brother in the picture to the right - doesn't he look like he's having a good time?

Mr. Andy is on the Road.

Aloha Future Bluebirds and Cardinals!



I am on the road to Virginia to visit with my parents and other family that live there. They live in Lanexa, which is just a few minutes away from Colonial Williamsburg. We're traveling east and have stopped for the night in Roanoke. My kids are excited because the hotel we are in has an indoor swimming pool and they love to swim. After being in the car for seven hours I decided to let them swim even though it was past their bedtime.
I thought you all might be interested to hear about the excitement that occurred while we were driving through Knoxville, Tennessee earlier today.
When we reached the western edge of Knoxville we had to take a detour around the city. I had never been this way around the city before so I was trying hard to pay attention to where I was going and to the other cars and trucks on the highway. Suddenly I heard a scream come from the back seat. My kids were shouting, "there's an ant! there's an ant!!"
"Where?" I asked.
"On the back of your seat!!" they both shouted back.
"Daddy!" my daughter Charlotte added, "it's coming around the seat toward you and it's a big ant Dad, a big army ant!"
I didn't like the sound of that.
"Where is it now?" I asked
"It's coming back to the back of your seat - it's right in front of Benjamin!"

I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that my son had his knees drawn up around his chin, his face was bright red and was he was screaming with all of his might. I knew right away it was time to get off of the highway.

I exited the freeway and this led me to another exit onto another bit of road, then I had to make a couple of lefts and a right and then I was parked. I jumped out, found the ant and swished it into the grass. Whew. That was a lot of work for such a little critter, but as far as ants go, it was a pretty big ant! I'm glad I stopped to get rid of it.

But our adventure wasn't over quite yet - I had to figure out how to get back to the detour highway where I had been. Unfortunately I hadn't been paying close attention to where I was going when I got off so I had to make a couple of wrong turns before I found my way back to the road I was looking for.
The rest of our trip was mostly uneventful and we finally arrived at our hotel and now it's time to get to sleep. Goodnight all.















Getting ready to go after a good night's sleep.