Bugs

Becky and I were sitting on the porch enjoying a nice sunny afternoon when suddenly this white cocoon like bug dropped from above and landed next to Becky. It really almost landed in her lap. The bug landed on it's back and it took awhile for it to roll over onto it's legs. Then it just stood there for a bit before starting to climb up the leg of Becky's chair. I knocked it back to the floor where it stayed there.

After awhile I noticed more ants on the porch floor than usual. I came back later and the white bug was gone but there were still more ants... lots more and they were swarming along one side of the door and up along toward the top. Then I saw there were flying ants swarming around a crevice along the top of the door and a line of ants climbing up the side of the door. There were also ants going into a crevice at the bottom of the door too. I put an ant trap on the floor next to the door.

I went down to the basement and got out an old can of Raid. I put on a different shirt, a hat, my big sunglasses, gloves and a mask. Then I sprayed some Raid into both of the crevices and along the path of the ants and along the bottom of the door.

In a little while there was a pile of dead ants at the bottom of the doorway. This all happened a few days ago and I've been checking for any ant or bug activity around the door. There has been nothing but I have that can of Raid ready just in case.

Flowers for Mother's Day

Becky got a delivery today of flowers and a cake for Mother's Day. Sean and Katie got together to make it happen from Wegman's using the InstaCart service. The flowers were spectacular and the carrot cake is delicious.

The delivery came without anything written on a card. I got a text from Sean saying that a home delivery was happening in the afternoon so when the flowers came we assumed they were from Sean. Later we found out the gifts were from the both of them. The came a day early because it much easier to get a home delivery on Saturday than on a Sunday. 

I took a picture of the flowers from both sides of the table.

Mother and Grandmother

We were up on the 3rd floor moving stuff around and came across this old framed photo of my mother as an infant with her mother. Mom and Mom-Mom. 

I tried taking some photos of the picture but it was difficult because of the reflections in the glass frame. Actually this picture was framed at the Koenig family's art supply and frame shop Arttree some 40 years ago. I was working at the store at that time too.

Dave & Donna's

Dave and Donna had us over yesterday for a Saturday evening hang out with Jimmy and his son Sonny who were in town for the weekend. No Cassie as usual. It was great seeing Jim and his little two-year-old was very cute and fun to be around. We were over there from a little after 5 pm until about 8:30. There had been rain expected but it turned out to be a very beautiful evening weatherwise. When we first arrived Donna said we would be eating inside but by dinner time we were all outside eating.

Dinner was simple. Dave ordered pizza and wings and a salad. A mix of pizzas from Mr. Pizza and La Nova. Wings were regular and BBQ. Folks brought desserts... pies and of course Donna had an assortment of his cookies laid out. We enjoyed every bite of the food.

There was a nice group but not as crowded as usual. Jimmy and Sonny. Dave and Donna. Mary. Amy and Doug with the two teenage girls. Eric and Amy and their little one Ivy. And Tom and Diane. Sonny and Ivy played together nicely.

No pictures. It's amazing how many people we know do not take any pictures of diners, parties and actually any gathering of friends and families at their homes. There was only one time when phones came out for pictures and that was a staged shot of Jimmy with Sonny standing alongside of Eric with Ivy. The two sons with the two grandkids. Sadly they are the only grandchildren for both of those families. One and done. 

Dinner for Two - The Terrace

It was a Thursday evening and we decided to go out for dinner. We considered several places including going down to Canalside and almost went to the new restaurant in the Richardson Complex but because it was such a nice day we went over to The Terrace in Delaware Park. We didn't have reservations and we couldn't get a table on the patio. That wasn't so bad because they still had the winter protection up and it wasn't as nice as it would be when in full summer mode out there. We had a good table in the main dining room and the place was very busy.

One of the reasons we wanted to go there was do have some pub food sandwiches and we did good. Becky got a shrimp po' boy with fries and I had a delicious chicken sandwich with fries. I had a couple of nice Lunch IPAs on tap from Maine Brewery.

We had to park down the street a couple of blocks and had to walk through the park on an angle past the rose garden to get to the restaurant. The park was very crowded and we really enjoyed that walk. It was nice on the way back too. There was also a very large crowd at the Albright-Knox because of the free live music that they now have every Thursday evening. We thought about going in to check it out but it was getting near the end of the music by the time we were done with dinner. Maybe another time.

Got Trash

Becky made arrangements with the Got Trash company to remove a lot of stuff from our third floor. The price was reasonable considering how many things had to be carried down the stairs and out to a truck in the driveway. The two guys doing the lifting were great but they did get quite the workout. 

The items carried down the stairs included two CD shelves, one small and one large, my old computer table, the desk from the studio, the old sewing machine, an old book shelf and the treadmill which fortunately folded up in half. Then there was a stack of old paintings done on wood panels that Becky wanted to get rid of. They were several trips.

We had cleared out the stairway landing that had been a storage area and we took down all of the artwork on the walls along the stairs and out the door. Cleared off lots of pottery too just to make sure there were no accidents. They came around 10:30 in the morning and were done in about an hour. Everything that was coming down was marked.

When they were finished and sitting in the front seat of the truck writing up the bill I had gone to the refrigerator and got two plastic bottles of some cold water. They were both very excited and thankful to get that water. The look on their faces was priceless. They certainly deserved it.