Florida homeowners hit hard by insurance premiums

| August 8, 2023

Archiving an article from last week’s Barron Magazine which highlighted what I’ve been noticing with homeowner insurance rates on our condo in Florida. When I called the agent about the increase last year, she commented that I should be thankful for the increase as it was on the lower side compared to most. Yikes .. […]

Archive: Summer vacation and hiking in Zion National Park

| August 8, 2023

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Archive: Family photos and visiting NW Ohio as move nears

| August 6, 2023

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Project planning: A box for my dad’s military service flag

| August 5, 2023

The making of a traditional black walnut box, for the military service flag I was presented at my father’s funeral, has long been on my mind. As I close in on almost a decade since his passing and the flag still lives in the plastic holder provided by the funeral home. It has been my […]

Archive: The Oostras short summer 2023 vacation to Michigan

| July 19, 2023

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Weekend leftovers: Paslode battery project and fence repairing

| July 18, 2023

Nothing earth shattering from the working around the house projects, but archiving a couple photos from staining a section of last years repaired fence … to more repairing of fences as well as using TiteBond 3 glue as before (this could be a forever project — our fences are deteriorating A LOT). I was going […]

Summer storms have been blasting through with a lot of wind

| July 11, 2023

We’ve had several short-lived summer storms blasting through this year. Often I wrap up my sun sail in the back of the pool house garage (use it for a little shade), but didn’t last week. Unfortunately some VERY high winds hit and stretched out my homemade bungee (steel cable inside rope) and bent the hooks […]

Archive: A great time in Perrysburg with our granddaughters

| July 8, 2023

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Workshop tips and project ideas, with no particular need

| July 1, 2023

Before I archive clipped workshop tips and ideas to a computer folder (saved in a place I will never look again => #humor), ideas that I’ve snipped from a variety of library borrowed woodworking magazines, I’m going to save them to my blog. If I were sharing and posting correctly, I would footnote or at […]

Annalyn and Ellerie with Oma and Bompa Summer 2023

| June 26, 2023

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My 40 year old bicycle is now rideable again

| June 20, 2023

Around the year Brenda and I were married (1982), we bought a couple of bicycles to ride around Aurora, Ohio where we bought our first house. Her 10-speed has long since disappeared (perhaps garage sale) but we kept mine through the years. It is a bit on the heavy side, but my Jamis bike was […]

Happy Father’s Day with a few leftover garage sale photos

| June 18, 2023

It was an end of the week “Safety Town graduation” and garage sale for Katelyn, Brenda and the girls (and Saturday sale for Drew) as they “unloaded” some stuff before having to move it. They did well and on top of it was a great time to be together (from what I’ve heard). All in […]

Woodworking: Restarted the Octagon Side Table project

| June 17, 2023

Since the Cornhole game project for Taylor’s birthday is finished … and because we had a little bit of rain … I decided to restart work on the Octagon side table. The challenging eight-sided top was finished a couple months ago, but not the legs.  The legs need to be sturdy enough to hold the […]

Archive: We had a great time celebrating Taylor’s Birthday

| June 13, 2023

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Busy weekend at our house so just archiving photos

| June 11, 2023

We are with family and friends for Taylor’s Birthday this weekend and suspect I won’t have time to post on Saturday … so I’m clearing out and archiving a few photos in my “possible blog archive folder” that have collected from the week.  First was a photo from western New York where my nephews Justin […]

Happy Birthday Taylor. Embrace the change this year.

| June 10, 2023

It is hard to believe Taylor, our youngest, is celebrating another birthday (although better than not having them) and that he was born AFTER the long running television show (1952-1989) American Bandstand ended. It just so happens that Taylor was born a month after Dick Clark finished the final episode … it does not seem […]

Archive: Coffee and then mixing compost and planting flowers

| June 7, 2023

Who doesn’t smile when waking up to a cup of coffee in the morning — oh, I can smell it now. I know I do … and would be shocked if it actually smiled back! Really this is just adding to the archive in getting the yard ready for summer and the family this weekend. […]

Books: Started my birthday book as a Sunday devotional read

| June 6, 2023

The above subject line of this post needs to be clarified a bit as I “only started” to read my birthday present book on Sunday … but it will be excellent. The new birthday gift book, “God’s Bible Timeline: The Big Book of Biblical History” from Katelyn, Drew and family should be an enjoyable one […]

A Music Monday Happy Anniversary with “Open Arms”

| June 5, 2023

Once upon a time, I would have defaulted to “Happy Anniversary Baby” by The Little River Band … but as the idiom goes, “been there, done that“ in a 2014 post. So to wish Brenda a Happy Anniversary, this Music Monday I’ll zero in on the year we were married and opt for “Open Arms” by […]

Taylor settled into his new office in Batavia Township, Ohio

| June 3, 2023

What a super nice office and comfortable place for Taylor to work. I find myself envious of his new position as “Director of Planning and Zoning” in Batavia Township, Ohio. As a parent, it is rewarding to see your children excelling in their careers and appreciated by those they work for and with. I’m confident […]

Our six-year old granddaughter’s dance recital weekend

| May 24, 2023

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Minor issues upgrading Brenda’s iPhone7 to an iPhone14

| May 16, 2023

Something unanticipated happened last weekend when secretly trying to prepare a new iPhone14 to give to Brenda for Mother’s Day … it was likely the busiest time for wireless cellphone towers … especially if on Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO).  In other words, the day I gave Brenda the new phone to play with was […]

Angel Food Cake, Strawberries and Whipped Cream Leftovers

| May 9, 2023

Although few of us getting older really want to spend too much time highlighting “yet another” birthday, last weekend was mine … so I celebrated by hauling 68 pounds of aluminum cans to the recycler (above). Since we were with KDAE the previous weekend … and Taylor stops in regularly (twice this past week) and […]

After 8 years as a Clermont County Planner, Taylor has accepted a new position in Batavia Township, Ohio

| May 2, 2023

It is a bitter sweet departure from Clermont County for my son Taylor. He has grown professionally and enjoyed his job as Planner for the last 8 years after moving back to Ohio from Williston, ND (being a Planner for Williams County was his first job out of college). He has been patient and taken on […]

Archive: A brief overnight stay from KDAE as they head home

| May 1, 2023

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KDAE were hiking in the Smokies as we returned from Florida

| April 27, 2023

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Archive: Catch-up photos from April 2023 trip to Florida

| April 23, 2023

A trip to Florida would not be compete without at least one timeline marking photo of us … so this catch-up post with a few leftover photos from our “condo window installation” trip will start with a Brenda and Rich beach photo.  Between a few rain and heavy wind days, we had some sunny and […]

Archive: The new condo windows have finally been installed

| April 22, 2023

We have had our share of rain in Florida this April while in Delray Beach, but have finally finished the upgrade of new windows in the condo. I should have done it back in 2018 as I would have save a few thousand dollars, but as the saying goes … “better late than never” (they […]

Archive: Family photos from weekend text messages

| April 4, 2023

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April 1st, but no fooling as roof shingles are damaged

| April 1, 2023

We have had several windstorms in recent days and weeks, but I didn’t notice the missing ridge cap shingles until last week (not noticeable in this photo). Shockingly it has been 8 years since we put on a new roof, but I was thankfully able to track down the company who installed it and they […]

Presentation by Taylor and time with our granddaughters

| March 26, 2023

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Archive: Homemade band sander idea for the workshop

| March 22, 2023

Archive: The Cornhole woodworking project was a success

| March 7, 2023

For years now, I’ve been planning to make a set of Cornhole boards for the backyard when entertaining in the summertime, but never really wanted to just slap together construction grade 2 x 4s and plywood. So when thinking about a project gift for my granddaughters 3rd and 6th birthdays this year, who are now […]

Archive: Leftover family and condo photos from the past week

| February 26, 2023

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Archiving: Saving woodworking condo side table idea

| February 19, 2023

While at the condo in Florida this past week, Brenda was  searching for a side table and lamp to replace the very ugly and cheap one between the couch and chair (photo right). She found one online that was way overpriced for "particle board or manufactured wood." I’m not a fan and mentioned that it […]

Archiving a few WWII B-26 Marauder videos

| February 9, 2023

Here are a couple of B-26 Martin Marauder YouTube videos to archive (saved to personal cloud too) due to my interest in aviation and military history … but also because my late father-in-law serving as navigator on “this beautiful ship” in World War II (I can still hear him saying that). 

Music Monday: A Little “Just Keep Livin” reggae by Mishka and Brenda’s hip replacement surgery and physical therapy update

| January 30, 2023

Generally, reggaeis not my thing, but this time of year it is easy for me to include something a little more tropical for Music Monday. So my music listening turns to either “No Shoes Radio” or Radio Margaritaville on SiriusXM. This week it was listening to Mishka Firth’s 2010 recording of “Just Keep Livin” as […]

Recipe reminiscing, the lost art of handwriting and longer days

| January 5, 2023

A little bit of recipe reminiscing for Throwback Thursday #TBT this week. Over New Year’s Day, I enjoyed a “Bean Soup” recipe conversation with my daughter Katelyn. We discussed using the ham bone and pieces of ham from our Christmas dinner. I opted for a delicious Ham and Potato soup and froze a couple smaller […]

What a difference 90-days can make when #homebuilding

| January 4, 2023

It has been about a month-and-a-half of steady construction on Katelyn and Drew’s #homebuilding project (the hashtag is how I’ve tagged their home construction on MDB). Since the Oostras were together on January 1st, they enjoyed a drive out to their Whitehouse, Ohio property as a family to check on the progress. It was shocking […]

Saving family photos from our Corbett-Oostra Christmas 2022

| December 29, 2022

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Archiving our early 2022 Christmas present: A New Rug

| December 23, 2022

Brenda has struggled most of the year to find a replacement Oriental or Persian Rug for our Great Room after retiring our original rug to my office. In November, Katelyn connected her with “Donald,” the decorator she is using to help with their homebuilding, and after several Facetime calls finally decided on a VERY large […]

Boring shoe waxing and updated family homebuilding photos

| December 23, 2022

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My brother emailed a photo of our grandfather from 1966 #TBT

| December 22, 2022

Tis the season, to reflect a bit …  at least for me. I posted a few old photos last week, so when my brother sent me one of Earl Daniel Corbett, our grandfather, it seemed appropriate for Throwback Thursday #TBT. He mentioned  that he came across it at a Corbett family reunion and said it […]

Archive: Old photos found from my ONU college days #TBT

| December 15, 2022

First up, is a rainy photo of the second car that I rebuilt … but this 1974 Capri was really my first car since I bought it with my own money (paid $600 at a junkyard in 1978). The car I think of as my first car would be a 1967 Ford Custom 500 (link […]

Archive: Merry Christmas 2022 and have a Happy New Year

| December 14, 2022

As is my December tradition, I’m including a digital copy of what once was our Corbett Christmas Letter but is now a just a “card” on my blog. Our year as a family was full of too many great times to include, but highlighted by a special event: a 40th Anniversary and trip planned by […]

Archive: Christmas trees, homebuilding and Ellerie’s big bed

| December 11, 2022

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Archive: I love seeing “homebuilding” progress photos

| December 3, 2022

Thankfully, even as the weather begins to cool these days, the homebuilding progress doesn’t screech to a halt as it did years ago (showing my age). With that, it is great to archive a photo or two as the walls go up on Katelyn and Drew’s new house in northwest Ohio. There is a small […]

Tech Friday: A big screen TV deal and Christmas light flashback

| December 2, 2022

It is hard to believe that watching sports and movies on a 37" television just isn’t satisfactory enough these days? So when I saw a Walmart pre-Black Friday deal on a 65" TCL Roku TV for $228, I could not pass up the deal. It is very impressive for the money and a perfect upgrade […]

Our family together for Dave Schneider’s Celebration of Life

| November 15, 2022

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Archive: Promedica CEO Retirement and Succession Plan

| November 13, 2022

A little family hospital business … and related news to archive … as Randy Oostra (my daughter’s father-in-law) announced his retirement last month. It was something we knew was coming (mentioned to me in September), but was no doubt one of those decisions that a successful career driven person does not take lightly. I can […]

Progress on Katelyn and Drew’s house and 1995 #TBT

| November 10, 2022

In keeping with the desultory and archiving nature of MyDesultoryBlog, here are a couple construction progress photo of Katelyn and Drew’s new house in NW Ohio. One with the first floor “sticks” going up and the other just the subflooring. Katelyn also sent me a walk-thru video from their property (narrated by my oldest granddaughter) […]

Archiving photos from our Trick or Treating family in 2022

| November 1, 2022

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Our granddaughters’ First Ohio State Buckeyes football game

| October 25, 2022

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Archiving: A trip to NW Ohio to see our granddaughters

| October 22, 2022

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A beautiful pile of lumber is air drying and beach pop

| October 12, 2022

The sawmill has returned Katelyn and Drew‘s lumber and it’s a BIG pile (very exciting!) What Is Air-Drying? Air-drying lumber simple means to stack lumber and expose it to the outdoors. Depending on the species of wood and desired moisture content the air-drying process could take several months to almost a year. Make sure to […]

What would October be without our fall trip to Florida?

| October 9, 2022

Brenda and I have been fortunate to almost always taken an autumn trip to Florida. Years ago it was often to visit my parents who would go to Panama City Beach or take a trip with the kids. After Katelyn and Taylor were in college, it was often to visit Brenda’s parents and then to […]

Archiving a photo of our 1998 Toyota Rav4 for #TBT

| October 6, 2022

The old Chrysler Town and Country Throwback Thursday #TBT post triggered my archiving of another old automotive photo of Brenda’s beloved 1998 Toyota Rav4. Having own that small ute with a surprisingly large interior for so many miles (265K) and so many years (18), it may be one of the best vehicles we have ever […]

Taylor has a CAN-DO attitude that can get him in trouble

| September 27, 2022

After fixing “Arthur Avenue Pork Sausage and Pepper Heroes with Melty Mozzarella Cheese and Garlic Potato Wedges” … as the recipe card states on Sunday night, which was the last of our subscription meal for a while … my son Taylor called at 8PM after getting himself “in a pickle” (a perfect place for a Shakespearian […]

Taylor’s slow move, galls autumn oak leaves and pool pump

| September 20, 2022

After helping Taylor move a few larger things over to his new condominium last weekend, he sent a photo of his still bare living room, but it is coming together. The TV is working so he could watch the 2022 losing Cincinnati Bengals (now 0-2) on Sunday afternoon. He has been slowing moving boxes of […]

Leftover family weekend photos and a Mud Hens game

| September 13, 2022

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Desultory - des-uhl-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee

  1. lacking in consistency, constancy, or visible order, disconnected; fitful: desultory conversation.
  2. digressing from or unconnected with the main subject; random: a desultory remark.
My Desultory Blog