Saturday, October 28, 2006

June Bug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No, It's a Red October Bug



Billy found this one in a picture of his Dad's patented 4th of July Roses.


If you have any idea what they are, please tell us.


I only hope they don't eat big holes in those pretty buds.


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Note: Billy said: "This rose bud is [named] the 4th of July. I am not sure what the bugs are but it's a neat picture."

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# posted by Jim : 10/28/2006 12:04:00 AM  6 comments

Friday, October 27, 2006

Russia With Love, 11 Days, 12 Pictures

[That's 12 pictures out of the 748 we brought home on the little digital pocket camera. You can click on any of them to see a fuller size.]

Welcome Back Jim!
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And didn't Billy do good!

I enjoyed reading all his posts, my vote is for the roses or the sleeping or the college on the cheap or the Adi Can, they all pleased my palate [Wikipedia][other palate pleasers].

Our holiday was an 11-Night Viking River Cruise, Waterways of the Czars. It was the ship's last cruise of the season. All the vendors were waiting to see us come, then go. Quite a lot had already folded their tents and stored their wares.

If we look cold in some of those pictures, we might have been. But then when we left, it was shorts and cut-offs weather in Houston. It really wasn't all that bad, lows generally in the mid 30's and highs in the high 40's. The last three days it got into the high 50's.

Today's blog will be a preview of our itinerary, with one picture from each day. In all I brought home 748 picures on the chip in my Kodak VR530. I haven't sorted those yet, some I took in the bus were too blurred, others had several shots of the same thing, some needed lightening up, and so on.

I will post about our trip maybe once or twice a week. Here's hoping it will be better and I will be more faithful than for our European visit this spring.
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Day One and One were spent traveling. Here we are, some of us who came from Frankfurt, Germany, waiting at the Moscow airport for a straggler.
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Day Two started with a Moscow tour in the morning, ending at the G.U.M. department store [found an ATM to get some Rubbles] and Red Square.

This is Red Square, with Lenin's tomb on the right and St. Basil's Cathedral at the west end. It would be our first of many cathedrals we would visit.

Later, in the afternoon we visited the State Tretyakov Gallery, the largest art museum in Russia.
That evening we would attend a performance by the famed Moscow Circus.
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Day Three found us at the Kremlin for a nice tour. This is the Kremlin Wall.
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After the Kremlin visit, we cast off. There were ceremonies that had to be performed because it was the crew's last voyage of the season. The dining room wait staff pulled toss the balloon duty.
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Day Four included a tour of the city of Uglich.
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Day Five was a stop at Yaroslavl. Of course we toured this Church of Elijah the Prophet. Afterwards we made an Internet stop for e-mail and a comment on Billy's blog [here].
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Day Six meant we got to visit a monastery in Goritzy. There were all of two monks staying at this 23-acre haven. Goritzy is a quaint little town, larger than it seemed with a population of about 9,000.

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Day Seven was like a little bit of heaven. Here at Kizhi, an island four miles long and protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, we were to visit this wooden Church of the Transfiguration you can see from our landing dock.
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Day Eight was spent entirely at sea. In the evening we attended the Captain's diner. We were sitting with my newly found Mason friend and his wife from Pennsylvania. He was proud of his new fifty-year pin. I had left mine home for fear of losing it in this distant land.
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Day Nine we were at our destination, St. Petersburg. Here were having a nice visit at Catherine's Palace in Pushkin.
Later would come an afternoon tour of St. Petersburg. That evening we visited a nice ballet performance of Swan Lake.
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On Day Ten we visited this magnificent Pavlovsk Palace (link) and its lovely grounds.

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Day Eleven found us out again, this time visiting the Hermitage, or the Winter Palace.
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Day Twelve came and we were out of there. Back to Texas and all of that. The downside found us getting up at 2:30 AM. It seemed worth it though, when we got to Houston at 1:30 in the same day's afternoon.


# posted by Jim : 10/27/2006 12:11:00 AM  17 comments

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Is Life a Bed of Roses?

My dad has a problem. Growing up, he was always my coach at any sport I played. He was always doing anything he could outdoors. He was a hunter, fisherman, and sometimes even a golfer. However one day it all came to an end. It started slowly. One day, it was one little change in his habits. Slowly over time I think he may have became addicted. My dad became a.............................rosarian. Somehow, my dad began growing roses. He started slowly with a few bushes here and there. Now he has over 200 species of roses in his yard. He hybridizes roses to create new varieties. He travels to rose shows with his other fertiziling friends in the Golden Triangle Rose Society. I don't think this is going to stop. At some point there may have to be an intervention. I think these few pictures show just how far he has went:


This a Mexican Firebrush.

This one is called Ms. Linda. It's created by dad and named after Mom



This rose bud is the 4th of July. I am not sure what the bugs are but it's a neat picture


Even Adi and Karen can stop and smell the roses.




One side of the yard.

In reality, due to his habit, his yard is very pretty year round. If he didn't grow them, I would not have been able to give Karen many dozens of roses. I think it's awesome that he has named roses he created after every member of his family except for his son (Yes, even Karen has a rose coming soon). So if you ever need advice about growing roses, I absolutely recommend my dad. I may give him a hard time about roses and those dreaded Cowboys but I wouldn't have it any other way.

By the way, after meeting with a high powered attorney, Karen and I have successfully negotiated for Mr. and Mrs. Jim to be released. I expect we may see him on Friday or soon after.

# posted by Billy & Karen : 10/25/2006 09:58:00 PM  7 comments

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Shopping and Sleeping

Karen and I can not agree on sleeping and shopping. We both have different views on how shopping should be done. She, like some women, can browse all day and eventually buy something. I, like most men, go right in and purchase my item(s). I am in and out as quick as I can. Well after my recent purchase of golf clubs, she sent me a cartoon that she felt describes my shopping perfectly. Being the good husband that I am decided to share you views with anyone I can. So I present Karen's view of Billy shopping (Courtesy of Foxtrot):



Of course that couldn't be more wrong but I digress.

Sleeping is another point of disagreement. Karen sometimes is a bit of a non-sleeper. For various reasons (sometimes work, etc..), she can be a night owl and sometimes only sleep 4 hours a night. I personally like to sleep a bit more. That is where we disagree on how this should take place. Since she decided to use a cartoon, I felt the need to do so in return. My example of her sleeping theory by way of Marvin.


(I will let you guess which one is Karen. )

Have a great day!


# posted by Billy & Karen : 10/24/2006 05:47:00 PM  2 comments

Sunday, October 22, 2006

A Few Sunday Laughs (Maybe very few)



Bloopers in Church Bulletins

Have a great day!!!


# posted by Billy & Karen : 10/22/2006 07:44:00 AM  8 comments

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