That's a Wrap

Howdy Howdy.
I have kept a secret from you all, though I have given you a little insight into it in some of the blogs.
Back in april or so Discovery Network contacted us to do a sizzle reel (a sales reel of a show to use as a sales tool to convince a network to book or buy a show) of our family and show; a docu-drama like Duck Dynasty or something similar to that. They originally planned to tape us while performing at the Festival in Michigan last month but changed dates on us at the last minute.  Though it was a bit embarrassing after setting up everything with our venue and hosts all smoothed over and they re-set the taping date to this past Sunday and today.

The producer flew out from L.A. and with a hired professional film crew taped our shows and family interactions .   We did something similar with them four or five years ago but in the end it didn't work out but the top producer of development stayed int ouch with us and thought it was a good idea to give us another try.     The producer and the crew were absolutely terrific people. They even treated us to lunch at a local sit down joint and paid for the gizzards and chicken livers for our eating contest.


I won't go into great detail since there was so much and it was a long two days.   I will say thanks to the First Christian Church of London KY for allowing us to tape at their picnic. Also to Oh Kentucky Campgrounds for letting us do taping there.   I will also share how we wrapped the taping.   The whole family fully clothed jumped into the campsite swimming pool making a big splash. Now, will our sizzle cause a ripple and big splash for TV?

Kyle got a special treat today. His family stopped by to visit.  They are on a driving trip across America after dropping Kyle's sister off at college in Florida.

The kids gave us a break from them and Kyle's folks and Mami and I went to the new Italian place called the Gondolier. The food and service was great and the price was crazy cheap.  The building itself is a lot like Dr. Who's Tardis; it looks small on the outside but is huge on the inside.   The owner is a hearty man who when he spoke to us sounded Italian but turned out be from Greece.  He came to America a while back and unable to speak a word of English went to work for an Italian man as a dish washer in NY.  Withing a few months he was a cook and was learning English from his Italian boss. Today he speaks with an Italian accent.

Later we took Kyle down for a hair cut but no one touched his beard. He looks cooler now.

The kids had a great time with Kyle's siblings,mostly at the RV Camp pool.

Kyle's family had a hard time saying good bye, especially his little sister. But comings and goings are part of life and the Fosters had to go since my buddy (Lloyd) has work next week.  It was a blessing having them here.

 The boys went back up to the Pinnacles this week. This time it was to the West Pinnacle which is a little tougher to get to so the girls and I, with my bad back, stayed put.  It was national Juggler's day that day and Jim made a crazy video while on the hill.

http://youtu.be/8USu8AulH9E    click on the video below:

 One of my costumes for this year. Since the film crew wanted us in various costumes and clothing I dug this out from deep in the closet.  Popped a button on my waistcoat.

Venue

Mami and I (and Vic Jr) drove down to London (KY) to check out the layout for the show we will do on Sunday. Normally we don't do pre checks like this but a major TV network is sending a crew out to tape us for a test reel for a potential series about our family and we wanted to make sure we knew what the venue setting was like so we could set up properly.   We are going to do a church pic nic and we are giving the message. I found that out last week.  I don't mind, in fact, I love it. We have done this type of thing many times. And since we love Jesus we are honored and humbled to have this honor.   The venue is absolutely beautiful. Oh, I can't tell you how luscious and green and quiet it is. 

In regards to the taping, please pray we do well. It would be fun to have a series and represent God in such a material way. And it would be great to have the publicity that comes from such a show and to perform for the world. 

The little ones and Kyle lived in the pool today and Vic Jr had to chase two adults staying here away from our aerial rig. hey tried playing on it.....adults......that material on that thing is very expensive. But the cool thing is a 12 year old yelling at them (he was riding a unicycle in their direction, scared them away to the point of running. 

My mom mentioned to me that she saw commercial that had an electronic muscle stimulator device that might help my back.   Mami went out and bought it at Walmart (It is a TENSdevice....something electronic neural stimulator )   It has done wonders for my back pain. Though it doesn't do anything for the spinal nerve pain, it keeps my muscles relaxed and that helps fight the spasms.   Cool. 

Retirement

...home....Retirement Home.   Today's post is by Jim:

One day, I will be THAT guy that juggles his dentures for his fellow residents. And I would move into senior community living later in life, not for the sake of health problems (though i am sure balancing 120lbs on my face will have its repercussions)...but a captive audience. 

Today's shows were at a senior living center out in Richmond, Ky. While it wasn't a particularly large show at all, it was received well and we all had a great time performing for the residents. Olivia and Amelia charmed the socks off of everyone, and can you blame them? Amelia's new hula hoop routine is looking fantastic. Clown noses have such a great effect on all of the audience. People on both ends of the age spectrum seem to enjoy clown noses.....but somewhere inbetween they lose their appeal. Why is that?

More exciting than the show for the kids was our trip to Hastings. Maybe you don't understand how much they love hastings... Well, not so much Hastings as much as they love Doctor Who. Ollie and Amy have been obsessing about visiting the "sonic screwdrivers" since last night. I can't really blame them though. That 4th Doctor sonic screwdriver was pretty tempting. (I mean...I already have the scarf, it's time to finish the ensemble)  We killed the three hours between shows in various shopping centers in Richmond while in Costume, but this was after we ate at the world famous Waffle House. As in classic waffle house tradition, after performing the show we skipped on down to eat and give Kyle his first experience in the place.  Double waffles scarfed down in no time flat.....I think Kyle likes it.

Back at the RV at this time Indiana Miles was working on a brand new trick for the show. For the sake of suspense, I won't tell you what it is or show you any shots of it until we get it all filmed this Sunday. Tell your friends, maybe they would like to read a blog and see photos and pics of "THE CRACK CRACK." Just ponder it. 

You'll see in the photos below some shots of the homes we performed in today and all of their lovely red noses.  Love you all! -Jim

First show today was for the dementia patients.  They were great . they loved the clown noses we gave them

Impending storm on my anniversary.....We didn't care.....we were lost in each others' eyes and love. 

They are all wearing clown noses. It was cute.

Weintroduced Kyle to the Waffle House. 

It is a southern tradition to visit a Waffle House after a show (of any type) , shoot, Johnny Cash did it, So we introduce Kyle to the alway smells the same, always, tastes the same, WaffleHouse. 

Hump Day Report

I know many of your reading this will be doing so on Thursday; this is a report from June 7 until Wednesday June 11.

Jim has been working on photos of the kids in costume this past week. many of you who know us on facebook have seen some of the shots.   Miles didn't like the pix' that Jim posted but he did it anyway and what is done is done.

Cynthia called today to let us know she has a Skype interview tomorrow with a company in NYC. I can't say much about it but we ask you to keep her and her job search in your prayers.  Its a tough market for college grads these days.

We have been blessed with remarkably nice weather this spring. While our home in Cali sees 100*+ days relentlessly we have only hit 85* or so, so far this season.  In fact, today was very mild with a few minor showers.   Last night however, we saw our first real storm, for us, of the season.  It came down in buckets with a light and sound show.   It was fantastic.

AS some of you know Mami and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. I won't go into any detail of our day since these types of things are generally person to us. Let it be said it has been a fabulous, though not always easy, but worth it, 25 years.

Tomorrow we are performing one of James' small bookings in Richmond, KY.  We doing a retirement community.   These types of show are always fun as they are intimate and rewarding.  We always bring a bunny and a puppy as the audience members are made up of people who can't have pets since they are in a medical facility. Animals are so therapeutic.

So of you, whom I have talked with on the phone or in person, have asked about our financial well being. I admit it has been a pretty tough season being beaten up by the weather and weak markets. But with Jim's smaller bookings and the blessing of some help from a few people we made it through the spring and we are revving up for a busy summer.  We still have about 10 days of small shows (four in the next 10 days) we then turn to Canada and kick off a non-stop run through July  and August and into September.   I will post a full list soon.

One friend expressed concern that those who have financially helped us might be concerned about reading about what might have come across as frivolous spending or non-essential use moneys.   Rest assure we have been stewarding our income very well, and what may seem like excess were in fact either very cheap or free and cost us virtually nothing, like visiting Graceland (it was enroute from Ky to LA) ; the RV camp was right across the street and $40 cheaper than the nearest other rv campground, the BBQ dinner we bought was almost exactly the amount we would spend on dinner if we made it ourself, and though,not needed the Elvis clock the kids bought, was with their own money and the least expensive one.   We have given some of our income away to church, AWANA, and other private charities.  But as we were given we wanted to likewise help, even if couldn't be much.  With careful spending we have been able to meet all our obligations and bills though it did get scary there when we were smacked with those Arctic freezes that caused the cancellation of two school districts worth of school shows.  It was no fun sitting on our hands in the snow back then.  That is why it is so good to have things picking up again.

We have big weekend coming up with a very special church pic nic show with us as not only entertainment but as the guest speaker I will give the church service. I've done this many times but this time it is for the church of a very close friend from London and we are going to be taped for a possible TV show, so the heat is on me. Prayers please.

Mami's left arm is still sore with tendonitis. She still insists on doing things when she should just let it all go.  She so wants things to be perfect and just won't stop.   Keep her in prayer too.

Kyle's family has dropped Kyles sister off at college in Florida and is doing a east coast driving tour.  They will swing by here, hopefully, sometime soon to visit. Please keep their safety in your prayers as well.   They plan on visiting the "Creation Museum" , which is about an hour from Berea.   I've read a little about it so I bet they will have a lot of fun.

Bill Jackson from California is visiting us tonight. He is on his way to teach magic at a magic camp in PA. He dropped off a trick I wanted to borrow and is staying the night and having some work on his car tomorrow.  He did 1000 miles in a single day the day before last.  Wow.  I have done many many of those kid of drives....my record is a little over 1200 miles in a day......and no I don't ever ever ever want to do that again.  The guy has stamina.

If you stuck through the pictures then you do get this little bonus:  I will share part of our anniversary day with you. My folks sent us some money to use toward a lunch with each other somewhere. We chose the suchi place that my kids often go to and we tried once already.  The prices are 1/3 any place in Cali and the service and taste are fantastic. The proportion sizes are incredible. Its calle Khin Sushi in Richmond. Before going we stopped by Speedway to gas up.  Since it was 83* and humid Mami and I went into to the store at the gas station to enjoy the aircon while the car filled. While in there the clerk told us it is free tea day June 10.  So our first stop of the day started with a couple of special 32 ounce southern sweet tea treat.
After that we went to the a store and then to the sushi shop where the owner upon learning it was our 25th gave us five star treatment.  I should mention that this place is a hole in the wall and no a fancy place. The table are bare and the floor simple white tile. The walls are lined with soda can boxes and all the drinks come out of a can or plastic bottle. BTW the drinks are free with the food. In fact for every $5 you spend you get another can or bottle of your favorite beverage.    This is all I will share of the day, the rest, though not necessarily what you think it might be was special and to be only remembered and not photographed or blogged, or journaled. I think sometimes we need to flex our memory muscle and put down the devices.
Cheers until next time.

And the Beat Goes on.

Well, the work week of the average man comes to an end today, Friday.  But for us there is no such thing as a beginning or end of a work week. It is simply the time when we are performing a gig and the time when we are not. Sure, there is marketing, calls, paperwork, bills, etc in between, there is, however, nothing we can call a regular work week.
This has been a good week.  We left Toledo on Monday, though my cousin's over to stay an extra day at their beautiful home was very tempting, it turned out to be the right decision. Some serious thunderstorms accompanied by tornado watches fille Tuesday, especially north of KY.   In Berea we got a little rain but no serious weather. I saw the radar on Tuesday and praised God for the wisdom to leave on Monday because the radar showed some very serious stuff that would be no fun to drive an RV through.
I am nonetheless thankful to my cousins' hospitality.  Thank you.

Tuesday and Wednesday were in fact pretty warm days, then we were hit with a very chilly Thursday.  I mean it was night and day difference.   But today warmed right up.  Not too hot, Lower 80s.  And the RV park finally got the county inspector to approve the pool to open so the kids were delighted to hit that today. I took Mami to a Pottery Shop in the foothills nearby.  I had taken the kids there earlier this year. Mami really enjoyed getting away from the RV and driving through the beauty of the Berean foothills. With towns that end in "knob" g "lick" (referring to the top of a hill or the creekside of the bottom of a hill).   She had a good day and made us spagetti from scratch.   She always makes me do the final spicing of the sauce since, as she puts it, I have the nose of a dog (I have sensitive smell and taste).

The kids put on practices today and had homeschool. Victor is in 7th grade know and has been dragging his feet about reading assignments.  I get the kids when they go into Jr. High and this morning Mami told me he was reading an Agatha Christie book.  He has been reading it for two months and only covered two chapters.  I unceremoniously called him on it and announced he needed to have it read by the end of the day and a report by tomorrow.   He finished the book by 8pm, and didn't miss practice or a chore.   Now lets see the report tomorrow.    Heir Teacher Extreme is in the house.

In the past I have mentioned a secret. Well, I will share a little of it now. Mostly because your prayers for such a venture will need them.  Once again a TV network is interested in doing a show about our family. I have agreed and after some stressful date changes (we were supposed to do this last week and since I needed our clients' approval I felt terrible the network had changed the date.)  I had a zit break out and four days of imodium from the stress of telling the clients and dealing with the last minute changes. I don't like to lead people on, even unintentionally. Well, they have booked their flights from Cali and are taping in a week or so. (still keeping some secrets here.)  Its a great opportunity but as we have learned from various experiences we won't count on anything until a contract is signed.  Still, your prayers for us in making the proper decisions and if it comes to be that we have the character and will, from the youngest to the eldest, that we stay firmly on the foundation of Christ.

Funny story: Olivia slept walked last night.  Victor heard her cry then climb out of bed and exit the RV, he followed, as did Miles.   She went to Jim's trailer and Kyle reports that she came in and gave Jim a hug bumping into stuff on her way back.   The boys saw her safely back to bed.   The RV is now double locked at night.

Victor is learning to ride the unicycle on the tightwire so keep his safety in you prayers.

That is the report right now. More to come.

Victor

Weekend (part 2)

Before I continue with the weekend I will share a bit of today with you.   It is Monday June 2 around 8PM as I write this. I got back a couple of hours ago from a drive down the Ohio turnpike to meet a woman!   Scandalous !! NOOOOO!   We met this school teacher IN Indiana when we performed that festival a month or so ago.  She had told us that she had a two body-one head piglet in a jar and since it had formaldehyde in it the school wanted it gone.  And since hazmat destruction of it would be difficult and costly she offered it to us for our side show tent. So today she drove halfway to where I am and I drove half way to where she was and she gave me the pig in a jar. She also had a large squid in a jar that she threw in as well. Very cool, both of them.   I will have the formaldehyde properly disposed of and replace it with other pickling agents.   OK I meant preservative agents.  Great part is the pig was free.  you can't beat that. We have to wait to get the preservative.

Jim took charge of the laundry today as the kids washed the RV and went swimming. Earlier in the day Mami and I did the run around stuff that must be done after most gigs: banking, post office, resupply, shopping, etc. We even had a romantic lunch from McDonalds' dollar menu.   Hard to belief in 8 day we will have been married 25 years.  I have known her longer than I didn't.


Ketchup (Catch up):  Now back to Friday. The shows on Friday went well but the seats, as I may have mentioned were hot, so the best crowd was the last one when the sun went behind a big cottonwood and gave us the shade everyone needed.   It was that time of night that inversion (I believe that's what its called) kicked in and a breeze came through making the fire tricks a little trickier. But all went well.

Our neighbor at the festival was a large mobile zoo of sorts with camels, monkeys, goats, birds, reptiles and more.  Kurt and his crew were super nice folks and the kids spent much time over there with the animals.


Saturday was a great day.   Bigger crowds at every show even with the day being a degree or two hotter.  I met a really nice man named Grover who came down from Flint to see us.   He came to two of the shows and was surprised that we weren't running the exact show at every show; pleasantly surprised.  He particularly liked Amelia's Praise and Worship version of the Aerial Silk.

Now that morning we had the parade as I mentioned.  Usually parades end at the event venue, or start from there. This parade started a mile away at the High school and ended a mile away at a church that had no access except through the parade route.  I had to navigate back streets to find the closest access to gather my guys since they had a lot of equipment and walking back would have been rough.  I got within an 1/8 of a mile so they were ok....but tired and hot.

In case I didn't mention it Cousin Wes, our clown, joined us late Friday night and performed the Saturday and Sunday shows with us.   He has added a lot of new things to his repertoire.  I have some video on FB (Facebook) of him performing but haven't figured a way to tie it into this page.

Sunday the event had morning services which many of us attended.  They also had an ice cream give away and free coffee an doughnuts.  At the donut give-away Amelia got the last chocolate donut. A little girl behind her had asked the servers for a chocolate donut but were told there were no more. In true Amelia style she gave heres to the girl.  The servers were so impressed with her kindness they gave Amy two glazed donuts.

Grover from Flint enjoyed our show so much that he came back Sunday.  In fact, we noticed a lot of faces returning for our Sunday shows.  One grandad and granddaughter watched all three shows.   At the near end of the first show one of my kids came to tell me that a truck had hit our RV.  I ran back to see what had happened and as I did I popped my mike and killed one of our $600 speakers (Marty, if you are reading this I will need your repairing skills when I see you in Iowa.)    The sound guys from the beer/entertainment tent had parked their box truck real close to our RV. As they pulled out their box rubbed against the awning cover for the front slide-out leaving a nice scratch on their truck and bending a 3/4 in bracket bar.  mami said it was like an earthquake in the rv.   They didn't stop. The fair folks chased them down and they faxed their drivers' licenses and insurance info.  They will have to replace that bar but I need to give it a closer inspection when I get back to KY.

The last audience of Sunday was a fantastic crowd in great spirits.

We packed up in some hurry but it still took us a while to get out as many vendors and folks had the same idea and we had to wait for this vehicle or that.    Our goal was to get to Toledo and stay two nights.  I needed to pig up the pig today was the reason for the two nights.   But we leave tomorrow (Tuesday, my and Amy's birthday) to head back to KY.   It is supposed to be T-storms tomorrow so keep us in your
prayers.

Catching You up on the Weekend Events (part1)

Howdy! Sorry for no recent posts. Truth is I have tried to post blog entries for these past three days but for one reason or another I ended up losing the hours of typing and have come to the point of frustration. I won’t explain in detail here. Just know that the fair festival circuit doesn’t always afford the best internet or web access. 

Regardless of that I am pre-typing this in Word and will cut and paste it into the blog site until it takes.  If you are reading this…..it finally took!

(I am in Toledo for the day and doing that cut and paste thing….I will have to break this up into several entries.)

We arrived here on Thursday. Though we left on Wednesday we decided that it would be better to arrive at the festival grounds in the morning rather than the eve that we decided to stay at a relative’s house in Toledo, OH and then make a fresh start of it Thursday morn since Toledo is only about an hour and a half from Swartz Creek, the town in which we are performing. (Notice I didn’t say “performing in”….I’ve been trying to kill the ending in a preposition thingy.

We had a pretty easy go of it driving from KY to OH except for losing about 45 minutes near Dayton where three lanes turns into one quite abruptly.  A four mile bottle neck took forty five minutes!  The drive was only to take around 5 hours but was stretched to 6 and a half when all the stops and the bottle neck are accounted.  With gas at nearly $4/gallon a longer drive is never a good thing. But I seem to be the only one in the world who is complaining about the super high prices and I don’t understand it. But it is something I in which I have no control; like somebody else’s kid throwing a tantrum in public.  Still, I would love to see fuel prices go down, oh how I would love to see that.  I think it is Bush’s fault, but I am not sure why.

We arrived in a very cool Toledo with overcast skies that never amounted to rain. We did hit a cloud burst a hundred miles south of there instantly taking us from the mid-eighties to the mid-sixties instantly, and giving the RV a free bath.   I was wiped out for one reason or another when we got to my cousin’s house and went off to sleep in the RV. The kids in the meantime had a yabba dabba doo time playing with their cousins.  

Thursday we arrived at the festival grounds and began set up. Our lot is about half the size that is ideal for us but we have worked smaller so consider ourselves blessed. When we arrived the kids took to assembling the show and I went to walking around the grounds and the town to  familiarize myself with the event, the town itself, and do a bit of supply purchasing.   I discovered that this is one cute town and almost every home has at least one maple tree. I saw at least five varieties of maples. The people are also very nice. As I walked just about everyone I passed said hello. There is also a pride here of keeping their lawns and gardens and yards neat here. I passed at least seven people mowing their lawns; the lawns here are big, for the most part, and everyone seemed to have a rider mower.

Thursday night was the VIP kick off dinner where the sponsors, volunteers, and visiting fair managers and other dignitaries eat together and a few are honored for various services and honors. We we not only guests but we provided strolling entertainment; Kyle was the 7’ tall T Master Robot Ranger, Miles was Goggles the Robot, Jim stilted, and I was strolling magician/ringmaster.  Then we sat down (the whole family) to ribs and baked chicken and all kinds of healthy sides. But let’s face it….RIBS!  We also met our sponsor, Financial Plus Credit Union.

Friday our shows wouldn’t start until 3pm but the event started earlier so I went out as Maximus Gluteus the robot.  I put a decal showing our sponsor on my chest plate.   Took lots of pix with lots of folks.    Just prior to going out I met with a gent who has a very cool super hero costume from sponsor. He is Benefit Plus Man.   He is a tall man who looks a lot like Conan Obrien minus the big pompadour.   We met to go over a trick where he and I would give the talking points of the company via a demonstration. In this case we tied a chain around his neck and gave the schpeal about being chain with high fees at other banks but at Financial Plus you can be unchained from those fees.  We then had two kids from the audience pull the chain and it penetrated through his neck clean through without him losing his head.  We would do the routine in the first two shows each day.   It turned out to be a lot of fun.

Each day our shows are at 3, 5, and 7pm.   Since our lot is facing west meant that at the 3 and 5 shows the sun is roasting the audience faces. At seven the large cottonwood behind us blocked the sun and so the crowds were larger.  The seats are a huge section of stadium bleachers made of aluminum. Basically with the 82* sun beating down on them they become a convection oven. I was so impressed with the folks who were able to sit through our first two shows without turning into roasted chickens.  Our poor super hero , who sat in the crowd until his turn on stage was up, was boiling in his suit (or so he said later).   I noticed at the next show he stood off on the grass off to the side….smart man.   We did leave a swatch of grass in front of our stage for folks to sit on instead of the bleachers during the hotter parts of the day.    It is also the place I point out to the kids in the stands that I will choose the volunteers.   Volunteers get gifts from us and Financial Plus.  (Financial Plus is giving away these very cool picnic blankets the fold up and zipper up into stadium seat cushions and t-shirts.)

To start our VERY first show off we did the poodle act. Belle was introduced with Tator To, as usual, and came running out only to go the very center, very front portion of the grassy staging area and pooed.  That’s right, live, in front of a living audience. Oh, Boy! That was embarrassing. But when you work with animal…….(and kids).

The first two shows went fine but the heat and humidity, though not terrible, but strengthened by the audience having to look east into the sun and sit on hot benches, we small.  But the seven o’clock show was packed. By the middle of the show we reached nearly 500 people.  Of course the sun was behind the cottonwood.    

A little note about Michigan. As a Californian/Kentuckian (I added the Kentuckian part because over the years we have really adopted Kentucky as our second home.)  most people think “Detroit” when Michigan in mentioned.   But Detroit is only a teeny tiny part of the state. This state is gorgeous. It has over 6000 lakes and water ways and trees are everywhere.  If it weren’t for the snow in the winter I could easily live here.  The towns we have seen are very cute and most the people we have met have been really cool.

Friday morning was parade day. We hooked up with the Financial Plus Credit Union folks and walked with them in the parade.   Sadly I had an Imodium night and morning so I had to lay this one out.   (I will explain the cause for the sour bowels in a future blog post.  Its part of the secret I have mentioned in the past.  It was also the cause of three zits appearing on my face a few days ago. Yeah, there is stress involved, but we shall see if the stress pays off.)   All the kids were in the parade; Kyle was a robot, as was Miles, Victor was a unicycle riding pink gorilla, Amelia was a clown walking a poodle, Olivia was a unicyclist, Jim walked stilts, and Cousin Wes joined us for the weekend as a clown.  

I will pick it up from here next time…..which should be today sometime.

Titus on the phone talking to CC.

Pre parade with our sponsors, Financial Plus Credit Union.

two stilters meet

Quick note

I will be writing a full report of the last four days later on today...including pictures.   I will mention we are in Toledo area tonight after a fantastic festival.   SO much to share so be ready for a long blog entry later on.   We will be in Toledo until Tuesday (Amelia dn My birthday) but will be traveling back to Ky so we will celebrate on Wednesday.  
I miss so mnay of you back in Cali. and I miss my friends and fans I have met on the road.  
Got some (possibly) really big news coming.......
Internet access was week this past weekend, so I will make it up to you with my next entry.
Today (Monday) I am driving to meet a lady we met back at the Maple syrup festival ( a biology teacher) who has a two body -one head pig in a jar to add to our "side show" tent. I have heard of many two headed ones, but this is the first two bodied one I have heard of.   It is neat how most of our "freak tent" are items given to use by fans.  Fans are fantastic. May the Lord bless them all.
More to come....it is 2:17Am so I should sleep.

Fast Weekend

This weekend went fast.  Its not like wee did much. I mean we did stuff, and I will share that in a sec, but I blinked and it is late Monday night.

Summer is here. We are in the mid 80s and the humidity is here. But there has generally been gentle zephyrs to keep it from being uncomfortable.

Yet another pair of cyclists came through Saturday and stayed through Sunday.  Same Trans-America route from VA to OR.  These folks, however, are taking it much slower; touring more than cycling alone.   The take more days off and are moving at a slower pace.  Out of PA they have school and stuff waiting for them in Laramie, WY so they plan on doing the bike run then drive back to WY.   A fun couple, Linda and Phil.  Phil was a punster so James and I had fun with him. My friend JC would have enjoyed his company very much.

Saturday was more of a day of rest than Sunday.  We stuck around the camp and practiced, did laundry, and generally goofed off. Sunday, however, we hot church where they honored those who died in service to our country and the pastor gave a wonderful message on Greed, ending the series of the Seven deadly sins.  The whole series was very cool and very very interesting.  One of the resources the pastor mentioned was a book called Sinning Like a Christian, a look at the Seven Deadly Sins.  On my Amazon list.

After church Miles took us again to the pinnacles. Called pinnacles for five reason; five pinnacles.   This time we went out to the East Pinnacle. It was only a nearly 2 mile walk from parking to the peak, but the first  mile is straight up with tree roots, rocks, and fallen branches ready to trip you. The whole area is forest owned by the college but  over 160 years ago it was corn fields and homesteads.  Its crazy to think someone thought it a good idea to put a cornfield into the side of a steep hill.   Yes, compared to California foothills and mountains these were just hills.  And the pinnacle we went to was like a very very small version of our own Bald Rock in California. However,  the view was lush and green and beautiful.

We were all wiped out from the walk due to the steep climb and the humidity. So the rest of the day was indeed rest.

Today was preparation for our Michigan shows so the trapeze and other equipment was packed and the vehicles checked. I gave Tator tot a grooming today as well. In fact, each of the last three days I gave each dog their summer cut.  Tator had gotten so fuzzy that the clippers, even after hours of brushing just couldn't give him a teddy bear cut so he had to be taken down to skin.   He walks around as though he has been humiliated.

The three younger ones and Kyle decided to have a water-gun fight tonight. But not with any old water.  They took rabbit poo and mixed it with water and used it.  Now bunnies are cute and cuddly but I bet you did not know their poop and pee is very pungent or is it pugniant?  Anyway.  They all stunk at then end of it and Mami was none to happy. Another load of wash tomorrow.

No there might have been more going on these past three days, but to tell you the truth, I can't recall. So If I do remember I will mention it next time.

Cheers.

Forever Endeaver

OK, the title of the post is just a fun phrase to say, it doesn't have a significance to anything except life.

First, thanks for the nice words and prayers for Mami's speedy recovery of her arm. Her right wing is much better but her left is suffering from tendonitis so it is going to take a while. She got back to teaching the kids today. The older kids took the duties over earlier this week. And boy has the week flown by.

As is a tradition in our house, I took Kyle out for his birthday lunch today. Thankfully it was at a Chicken Buffet joint (that really is tasty).  A young man the tall needs to be free to graze.   It was nice. And I got to have my favorite gizzards. Yum.

This morning we awoke to a nice surprise. The group of cyclists who stayed here last night left their uneaten supplies that they did want to carry (yesterday was their day off and they overbought their day off goodies); apples, milk, orange juice, chips, and more were on our outside table with a note.

It was a surprise to see two new cyclists arrive this afternoon.  It seems Oh-Kentucky is a regular stop for these groups.  Like the other group we chit chatted and the kids showed off (actually they just worked out but it comes off as showing off.)  I did do one intentional show off, I brought out my Penny farthing Bike to show them. I even rode.  It's just like riding a bike, I remembered how to do it. They too are doing the transAmerica path with some changes in it from VA to WA (although the other group was heading to OR. Both men are nice guys and very interesting. Both worked in the Forestry industry.  I envy their ability to do what they are doing. Though they claimed to be tired they both looked fit and well rested. I think I would had been on the ground heaving to pull in a breath.

The toughest part of my day was giving Little Girl a grooming.  She had matted up from the particles on the ground outside and the rain. So I had to cut her done to the pink.   I left a top knot and pom poms on the feet.   Tomorrow it is Belle's turn.