RichC | March 13, 2021
Last week I need a small socket and as usual went out to the garage only to realized that even the smallest 1/4” Craftsman socket that I own was too big and bulky. Then I remembered the IFixIt tools Christmas gift my son gave me and voilà … an easy fit and fix. Thanks Taylor! The […]
RichC | December 29, 2020
It was great that the sun was shining in the new windows the day after Christmas, but the hot-spots did make for a challenging family photo in front of the tree (we ended up too busy and forgot to take on on Christmas day with all the presents). Nevertheless, we still wanted to take one […]
RichC | December 25, 2020
Since it is now Christmas day, I will finally post a couple of the woodworking projects that I’ve been working on for gifts this year. Ellerie was my primary focus since I’ve made quite a few items for Annalyn in the past, but I’m trying not to leave anybody out either. So … for the […]
RichC | December 23, 2020
Marking time and happenings is sort of what My Desultory Blog has evolved into … or at least it seems that way lately (reminds me of the “Pacing the Cage” song). I have found that in hindsight I’ve been using the blog as a reference point for events and updates. It had become a good […]
RichC | December 21, 2020
For the baby boomer generation, the mellow voices of Karen and Richard Carpenter were a perfect match for classic Christmas holiday music. I recall watching several television specials over the years with them (although suspect my parents were the ones who selected the shows?). No doubt, MomC and DadC would have preferred Bing Crosby or […]
RichC | December 15, 2020
It has been a challenging year to say the least with the Coronavirus still raging in the US and around the world. So many lives, businesses and plans have been forever changed. Brenda and I just feel blessed to be surviving the pandemic and able to function in a day to day matter. We hear […]
RichC | December 14, 2020
I should be playing Christmas music or doing something more productive with my evening rather than sitting back writing this and listening to 1970’s music (although we did finish our abbreviated and “break” from writing our tradition letter). Those shortcomings aside, I couldn’t help editing down a 4 minute 36 second segment of a “Jam Session” […]
RichC | December 2, 2020
December 2020 rolled in with a light white blanket of snow and colder weather to let us know that winter is probably here for a while. I can’t say that I’m looking forward to the temperature change, but I really don’t mind the hushed beauty of a “new-fallen snow” … as Clement Clarke Moore wrote […]
RichC | December 1, 2020
Last weekend must have been the time to start getting into the Christmas spirit? I was busy getting the wreaths and window candles up (and last of the leaves raked and hauled), Katelyn, Drew, Annalyn and Ellerie were on their Christmas tree outing adventure and Taylor and Megan were adding some decorations to Taylor’s apartment […]
RichC | November 29, 2020
Don’t tell anyone, but while shopping for “my” Christmas gift from Brenda (below … and yes, she sent me out to get it). So … I added a Ridgid 18V USB charging attachment for my inconvenience. Ha! After returning home, I tried it out, but for the record, I didn’t open my actual gift. So […]
RichC | November 25, 2020
Christmas is fast approaching and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet! Yikes. Brenda and our neighbor Pam are already putting up the decorations around our Evergreen Farm Estates neighborhood … something they have been doing for the last 20+ years. I think they enjoy doing it, even though it is time for someone else to join […]
RichC | January 4, 2020
Our family’s 2019 Christmas celebration this year was over New Year’s eve and day, as is our rotation (currently we rotate every other year, but who knows what the future holds?) We were all able to schedule the time off together and enjoyed getting together to exchange presents. Brenda and I had a special treat […]
RichC | December 31, 2019
While getting the Christmas decorations for Evergreen Farm Estates down from the poolhouse-garage loft earlier this month (Brenda and neighbor Pam have always decorated our neighborhood) … I spotted the yard game of Jarts. (you probably need to be a baby boomer to remember them?) What were they thinking??? Just as with the “design of […]
RichC | December 29, 2019
While looking forward to this week, I was reminded by a tweet, that my thought process has been too centered on self in anticipation of celebrating our family Christmas on New Year’s Day. I focused on finishing my Christmas woodworking project gifts (more later) and wrapping of presents. I’ve also been looking forward to picking […]
RichC | December 25, 2019
UPS for the win! (wait for it) Fedex and USPS better step up their game! “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
RichC | December 24, 2019
For some reason, the full text of this post and photo of our 2019 family Christmas tree went missing … or maybe it didn’t post to the blog? Oh well, at least here’s the archived photo of our tree:
RichC | December 17, 2019
As has become tradition, our annual Christmas letter briefly summarizes our year and includes a quote, verse, lyric or statement. Usually, it is something that resonated with Brenda and triggered her to jot it down at some point during the year. This year it happened to be something from Winston Churchill (we watched Darkest Hour […]
RichC | December 16, 2019
While struggling to get into the Christmas spirit and still grumbling about my cracked windshield … and ridiculously high prices on a scarce few Christmas trees this year (I’m late in finding one) … I did turn on some holiday music. Whew … I’m feeling a little better. James Taylor – Winter Wonderland […]
RichC | December 8, 2019
While trying my best to get in the Christmas spirit … how about something from the philately world? Although I’m not a stamp collector, back in the day my company Consolidated Printing and Publishing did some plate work for special cancels and printing for a stamp collecting organization. Besides, my father-in-law had an impressive stamp […]
RichC | January 30, 2019
In an old spinnaker (sail) from our Thistle, I finally hauled out our larger than usual Christmas tree this past week. It was then that I realized I had neglected to archive the “Great Christmas Tree Disaster of 2018” story from December. Hm, how could I have forgotten … likely for the same embarrassing reason […]
RichC | January 7, 2019
After years of posting what I suspect are now considered “oldies” for Music Monday posts, I’ll at least start 2019 with a change. The Christmas season was a chance to listen to holiday music performed by a variety of different artists, and as I have in the past, enjoyed songs by almost all contemporary country […]
RichC | December 26, 2018
A few days, a few more pounds of cookies (and food) and way too many presents and good times to recap appropriately … so as the photos are fired back and forth between our smartphones, here are a few for the archives. What a “great” … and GRATEFUL … time we had with our family. […]
RichC | December 25, 2018
Every tech-loving guy needs a subject for a new gizmo … my son-in-law Drew is no exception. He set up his new GoPro-like camera (gift from Katelyn) to time-lapse our Christmas morning. His effort was a little bit too fast for me to watch … so I stretched out the MP4 clip to last almost […]
RichC | December 24, 2018
Slideshow of photos below [masterslider id=”17″]
RichC | December 15, 2018
Although Brenda and I are making steady progress in getting things ready for Christmas, the iMac surgery mentioned yesterday did not go as smoothly as planned, but at least I do have backups to rebuild things from. Currently the “way too many” cloud services that I’m using are working overtime as my Time Machine archive […]
RichC | November 30, 2018
Just when I thought my granddaughter Annalyn could not get any cuter, she decides to put stickers on Katelyn‘s nose and then her own. The giggling and grins were just too much not to take screenshots of and archive. We are sure anxious to see Annalyn for Christmas … and it doesn’t look like we […]
RichC | January 14, 2018
As my son Taylor said, “ladders will be our family’s downfall.” So true … The old wooden ladder I inherited from the late Harry McKee when we bought our first sailboat Brenich in the early 1980s is still in active service. It is no longer chained to the old boat cradle we kept in Huron, […]
RichC | December 27, 2017
How could we NOT enjoy our first Christmas as grandparents knowing that our granddaughter Annalyn is healthy, happy and loved? Katelyn, Drew and Annalyn came down to Cincinnati and spend the long weekend with us as did Taylor who is in town. It is so great to know they ALL love getting together and spending […]
RichC | December 25, 2017
While reading about the Winter Solstice, songs we call “carols” were not originally what come to mind today. I Saw Three Ships (carol – written in 1410) The first songs/carols in Europe were not Christmas Carols, they were pagan songs sung while dancing around stone circles on the shortest day of the year – […]
RichC | December 23, 2017
Just a beautiful sky (photos doesn’t do it justice) as the new LED Christmas spots and candle lights pop on as I head up the driveway. Good for the blog archive. After a cold start, having sunny but cool weather right before Christmas is welcomed … but should be thinking about getting the blower put […]
RichC | December 21, 2017
Although my memory is a little bit foggy, Brenda and I probably saw each other a couple of Christmas’s prior our first Christmas? We were dating in 1980 and engaged in 1981 and likely celebrated with each other close to the day, but were home with our families for Christmas Day. Anyway, when scanning the […]
RichC | December 20, 2017
Just in case there are a few men looking for last minute jewelry gifts to give to their sweetheart for Christmas, here’s a ring idea that will pretty much guarantee that you’ll never need to worry again – you’ll either be alone … or dead! And since I know there is sure to be a […]
RichC | December 14, 2017
Wow … is this really the 35th Christmas? With boxes all over the basement in search for Brenda‘s "special ornaments," I ran across the old photo albums of our first year of marriage and our first Christmas. We both remember it fondly since it was a relatively minimalist Christmas. The tree came from Brenda’s dad’s […]
RichC | December 11, 2017
While getting my haircut last week, the conversation of holiday themed entertainment was being discussed. The stylist asked me if I had seen the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Brenda and I had not, but I know it is something we would enjoy, especially Brenda with her classical violin background. I may check our schedule as they will […]
RichC | December 4, 2017
It is hard to believe, but I finally winterized the pool and in the same weekend brought home a Christmas tree, put the wreathes up and modified the lighting we use on the house in December. The first years we used 150 watt incandescent floods (also had halogens at some point), then I switched to […]
RichC | November 28, 2017
As someone who is relatively comfortable with ecommerce and shopping for the best deals online, I don’t think I’ve ever been as frustrated as I was on Monday. Brenda and I had semi-planned to do a little more shopping "online" this year and since Cyber Monday is generally a "good deal" day to shop for […]
RichC | March 19, 2017
My son Taylor is geography and map kind of guy so I gave him a mag-lift spinning globe for his desk for Christmas 2016. His interests and innate sense of direction is probably why he pursued “Urban Planning and now coordinates development for Clermont County Ohio as a county planner. Anyway, I had forgotten that […]
RichC | December 27, 2016
After a bit of a delay in maintaining daily blog posts, Brenda, Taylor and I returned from our family Christmas with Katelyn and Drew in Wayzata, MN on Monday night. It was a whirlwind trip and thankfully without incident. First thing first … our growing granddaughter is definitely noticeable as a “babybump” (an overused word). […]
RichC | December 26, 2016
Adding a couple catch-up photos to the mix after driving the BMW X5 35d (26.1 mpg) up for a busy Christmas weekend with Katelyn, Drew and Taylor in Wayzata, Minnesota. We took Drew’s Acura RX out for a nice Christmas Eve dinner and am starting to realize Brenda and I are definitely looking older (and […]
RichC | December 24, 2016
The Apollo 8 Christmas Eve Broadcast Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the Moon, entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts; Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot Jim Lovell, and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders did a live television broadcast from lunar orbit, in which they showed pictures […]
RichC | December 14, 2016
I finally finished up a long overdue project for Taylor … a headboard for his bed. He had giving me a couple magazine images as to what he wanted, but I just haven’t found the time or put together the materials I needed to build it (let alone been ambitious enough to start the project). […]
RichC | December 12, 2016
One of the pleasures of winter and colder weather for me is hanging out and monkeying around in my garage shop with a fire in the woodstove. It has worked out perfectly for those weekends that I know it is going to be "just me" at home …or when I need a man cave (really […]
RichC | December 8, 2016
Tis the season to be starting to think about a “Jolly Christmas” as Katelyn and Drew sent back a couple photos from Vienna, Austria this week … and from the looks of it, they are enjoying themselves. I sure hope little “Baby Oostra” likes long flights? It just so happened that Dr. Drew was invited […]
RichC | December 27, 2015
Katelyn and Drew headed back home to Wayzata, MN this Sunday morning after monitoring the wave of nasty weather pushing north later today. It looks as if they will be in the clear by the time they get to Chicago; the ice, snow and rain should be south of Wisconsin and Minnesota … at least […]
RichC | December 26, 2015
We had a wonderful family time on Christmas day. Taylor came after work on Christmas Eve day and Katelyn and Drew drove from Minneapolis after a half day of work (long day for them), so we were all home for Christmas morning. After our morning gift exchange, which was wonderful, although too much … we went outside and enjoyed […]
RichC | December 24, 2015
Nearly 200 years ago, Clement Clarke Moore “wrote” (still debated) a Christmas poem for his children, not realizing it would later be published and become the classic we all know and love — “Twas the Night Before Christmas” (A Visit from St. Nicholas). Many still do not realize that today’s image of Santa Claus […]
RichC | December 23, 2015
It is time to post the annual Christmas tree photo on the blog. I’m trying an evening pic with the iPhone … as steady as I can? The tree is full, but not quite as tall as our usual trees. I’m sure the kids will be disappointed that it isn’t bigger, but then Taylor always […]
RichC | December 20, 2015
RichC | December 24, 2014
It is shameful that Brenda and I have been too busy with “who knows what” to decorate or even put up a Christmas tree this year – the first time in our married life. We have used the excuses that our kids are not coming home, that we are not entertaining, that we have been […]
RichC | November 27, 2014
I couldn’t believe it, but Katelyn and Drew have picked out and set up a real Christmas tree already. I know she is probably anxious for Christmas, but before a tree before Thanksgiving seems a little crazy … but then it is Minnesota? Christmas aside, it is time to celebrate Thanksgiving … like they did […]
RichC | December 29, 2013
My cousin Diane and I exchanged Christmas greetings and updated each other with the goings-on of our families on Friday night. While talking about gifts, I realized that I didn’t have a photo of the “Tool Stools” that I made for Taylor and Drew. Since one of them was still at home, I took a […]
RichC | December 25, 2013
What a wonderful time we had over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day this year. We were happy to have Taylor, Katelyn and Drew home together with us for a couple days holidays (photo above) … and thankful some in the Corbett side of our family with us for dinner. It was a great to be […]
RichC | December 21, 2013
RichC | December 15, 2013
We’re closing in on Christmas and it is beginning to look a little more festive around our house. I still have a few things to do, but at least the tree is up and decorated. It is a bit smaller this year but I didn’t have someone twisting my arm! This is the first year […]
RichC | December 30, 2012
It has been a busy end of the year, but spending the last couple of days with just the family was a great way to wind down 2012. We enjoyed talking, eating (too much), opening presents and watching a movie together – Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer. (expand photo slideshow below). Taylor has been home from […]
RichC | December 26, 2012
We drove up to Columbus and enjoyed “catering” a Christmas dinner at Katelyn’s fiancé Drew’s house. The two of them (both in their residency) were working the night rotations … Katelyn just off a 24 hour stint at Nationwide and Drew his week of 13 hour nights at OSU. We have postponed our family gift […]
RichC | December 25, 2012
Our rapidly desquamating Christmas tree (photo) is barely holding on to its needles in hope of “A visit from St. Nicholas” on Christmas eve –although even bringing up the poem now known as “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas,” is an invitation of literary debate. No thanks, I’m tired of debates after 2012! The well known […]
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