Welcome, and Thanks

To my new friend and follower, NightSky.

The coffee is hot so pull out a chair and lets sit and chat a while.

Again, thank you and welcome. You are now among friends.

Stephen

Sunday

I've a busy day ahead so this will be short and sweet. She's due home any moment from church and I'm supposed to be showered and shaved and dressed so as not to embarrass her when we're out in public. I haven't. Will do so, in a moment.

Out in the garage my projects await my attention but she has scheduled a business meeting on the other side of this huge city and I'll be on the road for at least two hours. Which means my day is basically, broken.

Hopefully tomorrow will shine.

And, before I forget, I will write a big thank you and welcome to those of you that have recently hit the 'follower' button. I see you. You are not forgotten. If you write a blog please let me know. And, thanks.

Until then.

Stephen

A Thanksgiving Thank You

Several sticks of butter wait upon my butcher block; I want them soft and easy to spread on the turkey's breast.

My fresh herbs are on standby, and the stock, at a low simmer since yesterday, has given the house a thyme and sage scented richness.

The fresh cranberry sauce, prepared last evening, chills in the refrigerator. I hear the Macy's parade issuing from the family room where Sweet Wife sits with a blanket wrapped around her legs.

It's cool outside.

My coffee is hot, and for all this I give the Good Lord thanks.

I'm also thankful to Mike Miles. Thanks and welcome my new friend. Mike took a chance and hit my follower button a couple of days past, and Mike, I promise to always answer your comments. Take a chair and jerk a cup of coffee and let's have a chat.



May God bless each and every one of you.

Stephen

Cool Whispers

The weather has finally turned towards heaven with cool breezes and bright sunshine. When I arrived at the shop my old mercury gauge read fifty-nine degrees. We Florida residents think of this as a cold snap.

Rev. Paul would be wearing swim-trunks and a sweat rag, and my lovely friend, kymber, up in the far frozen reaches of Canada, well, she'd skinny dip in fifty-nine degree water. On the other hand, Sweet Wife wore a sweater to work.

*****


I'd like to remind you, my dear followers, that my best friend (I have at least thirty best friends) Senior Chief, now writes a blog. He's a really nice guy. Remember, though, we military guys tend to cuss, on occasion. Just wanted to let you know he can be colorful in his word selection. More importantly he can teach you a thing or two about food preps....his logistics system and methods are worth close study.

Please, drop by for a visit.

For those of you new to my blog it's a well kept secret that I am a founder of a group of like minded individuals (we hold the same world view) sworn to help each the other in times of emergencies - man-made or natural. Membership requirements are simple - members must have military experience, veterans, or currently on active military duty. Any branch will suffice. Another group member is my very close friend, Duke. Of course wives are also considered members, case in point, the lovely and talented, Glock Mom. The poor girl is married to Senior Chief.

We have (the Group) a sub-membership category. Auxiliary membership is simple; any member with a vote (there are only six) has the right to reach out and tap a worthy individual for auxiliary membership if the voting member feels the person will bring a talent or skill valuable to our group.

One such auxiliary member is my good friend, MDR, better known as The Modern Day Redneck. He lives way out yonder in Texas....
Sad to say I've been remiss in my friendship. Life you know. But none the less, when the cow patties hit the fan our arms will be opened wide.

Excuse me, lost my train of thought....he moves to jerk a cup of coffee.

My point - they're great people, each and every one of them and I'm proud to have them as friends.

Sometimes we forget.

***** 

 I've made many wonderful friends through the magic of this blog. My blog would have never made it off the ground without the very valuable assistance and kindness of my lovely and sweet and talented friend, Patrice Lewis, of Rural Revolution fame. Patrice, and her nice husband Don gave me much encouragement and help in the early days as I made attempts to find my voice. I owe them much. I'll always think of Don as a brother.

*****

It was the cool whispers of my sweet friends, Brigid and Tam, that boosted my readership and kept my nose to the grind stone.

I still remember when Tam wrote and left a note of encouragement after I made some comment about 'not sure if people will read this drivel.' She said, 'If you write they will come.'  Indeed. Thanks, Tam.

 And, Brigid, I still have the photo....it makes me smile. You're a sweetheart. Thank you so very much for your kindness and help.

*****

As you can tell I'm rambling....business is slow this morning and I'm in the mood to say 'thanks.' I truly wish I had the time to leave a link to each of you that have been kind enough to leave comments on this little blog. A blog I've written solely for selfish reasons as a chronicle to my grandchild, Little Bit. But, the effort of such would fill a good weeks worth of time.

I must leave one big thank you to my friend, James Wesley, Rawles. Trust me, if you ever write a piece on your blog and it catches the attention of Mr. Rawles, get ready, you'll be in for an evening of fun and hard work. I promised readers if they left any comment on my blog I'd always reply. Early on one of my simple pieces was linked at SurvivalBlog. I sat that evening and wrote 'thank yous' until two the next morning. It's a humbling experience. Thank you, James.

*****

 And, to my Little Bit.

You are the reason.

Stephen

  

Just a Short Note

To let you nice and wonderful folks know I'll try and get back at you tomorrow. It's been a long hard day. Most of it spent at my desk writing checks with paperwork scattered around its surface. All that in between dealing with the customers.

My day is made even more difficult when certain guys insist in idle chit-chat, they darn near talk me to death. I'll stand there swaying foot to foot, my dance of escape, in a vain effort to escape and continue my work...and still they stand and chat. Bless 'em though, I do need their business. I'm awful at idle chit-chat.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to say thank you. Thank you all for the kind and generous comments left on my piece, 'Just An Old Pair of Boots.' You humble me.

Think I'll pass out now, and pray for a peaceful nights sleep.

God bless you each and everyone.

Stephen

Thank You and Welcome

Thank you and welcome to my new followers, Jatico, Duke, Lamb and 45er. Nice to have you on board.

As always when I welcome new followers to my humble little blog I promise to always reply individually to all comments. It might take a few hours or in some rare cases, days, but I shall respond.

Again, thanks and welcome.

Stephen

Update and Little Bit's First Day of School & A Warm Thank You

Good Morning, My friends.  I beg you patience please. It's been a very long weekend and I'm behind in much of my work. I have plans for a much longer and picture heavy article for tomorrow, if I'm lucky, I should add.

My friends and I had a very successful road trip and work day this past weekend. Details to follow.

First allow me to give a warm welcome and thank you to the kind individuals that have recently joined my humble blog.
To Franklin Pierce, Flier389, Michael, and my friends, Arsenius the Hermit and Rev. Mayron, and any others I might have missed. Thank you all very much.
I again promise to answer all comments left on this blog, individually. It may take me a few hours, and in some rare cases, days, but I promise to reply.

This morning I had the honor of escorting my sweet Little Bit to her first day of school. When I arrived at her home there was much fear and tears. It took a while to settle her down. I simply went to my knees and held her and told her how pretty she was in her new uniform. Told her how special she was to all of us, how much she was loved.
Later in the truck she dried her tears, pulled down the visor mirror (as any female) and checked herself over, approved the result and we were off to breakfast.

When the school came into our view, "Papa, is that my school?"

"Yes, Honey, you know it's your school."

"Then hurry it up, Papa, I can't wait."

In the driveway drop off area, the principle opened my truck door and helped her exit. She was so excited she didn't even give me a kiss and hug; just dashed away....

Fine with me, I'm just happy for her. The tears and fear had long faded.

Have a great day and I'll see you later.

Stephen

Thank You and Good Morning

First, I'd like to extend my hand in welcome and say thank you very much to my new followers. I came on line this morning to find my hit list now stands at fifty (50) which, I must admit, surprised the heck out of me. So to, RobertM, Jonathan, odysseusofithica (say that five times fast), Tincan Assassin (great tag right there), and last but not least, keangnt. Again, thanks.

I again renew my promise to all my followers and to all those that comment on my humble little blog - I shall always reply, individually, to each and every comment left here. It might take me a few hours, but bet on it, I will reply.

I've had a long hard weekend. Not complaining, it was fun, but hard. My son and DIL are on vacation so Sweet Wife and yours truly kept our grandchildren, Little Bit and Sport Model, for the past few days. Didn't even have a chance to burn gunpowder; did cook. Sport Model is now 10 months old and holding that child is like wrestling a monkey....

Now you understand why I haven't had time to post...sorry. Miss Tamara, the queen of all things gunny and snark, kept me busy yesterday. Kinda fun, but I'm not use to such attention, and to those nice people who left comments on my post 'Cop Attitude,' thank you.

I promise to travel around the web and try and meet all my new followers today. If you have clicked my blue button, I shall follow you too. If you've linked to me, your blog will be linked here also, as my dear departed mother used to say, 'It's just good manners.' I've three days of blog reading ahead of me too. But first I need to catch up on paper work here at my business, middle of the month and all that you know...

Again, thank you, my friends. And, Good morning. Here's a shot of my Little Bit. She wants me to say hello to her fans...Lord, I do love her....

Stephen