It wasn't Santa in the Chimney

Several months ago, Marie, one of the Sisters of Charity who lives next door, borrowed one of my traps to catch a squirrel that got in their house. Yesterday she called to borrow the trap again. She said there was something in her chimney and thought it was a squirrel. So, she set the trap in her fireplace and pushed the fire screen up close and braced it so nothing could get out. I told her that when she caught it I wanted to see it because the last time she said it was a flying squirrel and I have a hard time believing that. Because, I've never seen a flying squirrel in the area. Well, she called a little while ago. "It's not a squirrel, but you and Mary Lynn need to come over and see it or you'll think I've been drinking!" We went over and sitting in her fireplace was a duck! According to my identification book, it's a Wood Duck, very young. It really seemed to be exhausted and half starved. So we caught it and put it in a cage to feed it and try to get it's strength back before the neighborhood dogs or cats got ahold of it. We've had bats, squirrels, birds, and raccoons in our chimney, but never a duck!

Birthday Season - Golf - Metal Detecting

* The last day of March and Birthday Season is fading into history. The whole month of partying and gifts was nice and I hate to see it end. Oh well, Derby Season is starting to gain momentum and I'l just slide right into it to keep the fun going.

* I decided not to play golf today, thinking it would be a rainy, windy day. Bad decision. The rain held off and the wind didn't pick up until around noon. It would have been a nice day on the course.

* I metal detected at The Water Tower Ball Fields today. I didn't find anything on the Softball field on the east side near River Road. But then went over to the other side of the drive to the soccer fields and Softball fields and found 76 cents and this charm. I guess it's either a butterfly or dragonfly. I didn't get to cover much ground, the area is pretty large, so there is a lot of field yet to cover.

St. Matthias Field Finds

I found 1 quarter, 2 dimes, 5 pennies, a metal clamp, and a ring today at St. Matthias field. I detected for about 2 hours. I think the ring may be silver because it was shiny when I dug it out of the ground. There are no markings on it other than an 'L' on the inside, which tells me nothing. There were six stones, but 4 are missisng. I'm pretty sure with the type of cheap settings that they aren't diamonds. Not much profit, but it was fun.

Crossville Tenn. Trip Cancelled

This will be a major disappointment to the many golf fans who read this blog, but we cancelled the Tennessee golf trip scheduled for this weekend due to the weather. The rain was going to hold off, but the two nights we were to be there it was getting down to 37 degrees, which meant that we'd be teeing off on our only two morning rounds in pretty cold temperatures. We decided that we didn't need that for the money we'd be putting out. If we cancelled 48 hours in advance we could get our deposit back, so we had to make an early decision. I know many of you golf fans are as disappointed as I am, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet!

If it's Tuesday, this must be Shawnee!

I played my 8th round of golf for the year at Shawnee GC today. I shot a 42 - 40 = 82. Pleased overall, but as with most rounds you look back on it and see so many shots that were wasted or caused you trouble. And you think, if only......
Weather permitting, I'm headed for Crossville, Tenn. this weekend for a 4 round, 3 day golf trip. I was there about 8 or 9 years ago and they really have some nice golf courses. So I'll have golf rounds 9 - 12 for the year to report on when I get back.
One final note, I birdied #18 to finish up today! Good drive, nice iron to the green, and sunk about a10' putt for birdie.

The King of Louisville Pizza

Kevin wrote a post a couple of week's ago about Impellizzeri Pizza and I commented that I was going to have to get there soon. Well, Mary Lynn and I ate there tonight. It's the first time have had Impellizzeri Pizza for several years, since it was still on Bardstown Road near Taylorsville Road. It is without a doubt the best Pizza in Louisville. All Hail the King!

Spring has Sprung!!!!!

It was my usual Tuesday round of golf at Shawnee GC today. I walked 18 holes, which I have done since the very hot weather of last summer. I shot a 43 - 43 = 86, which I think would be my average score since I started playing there last April. I hit the ball pretty good, but my short game was really bad. I say that it is Spring because the golf course cut the fairways for the first time this week. Last week they had cut and rolled the greens and the quick greens kinda caught me by surprise. Anyway, the grass is growing now so it must be Spring!

Sonne Park yields a Ring

I metal detected in Sonne Park this morning. I found my first piece of jewelry, a 10k gold ring. Not a major find, but better than the pennies I've been finding. At Sonne this morning I found 10 pennies, a nickel, a quarter, a ring, and a bullet. Plus, a lot of can tabs, cans, etc. I finished up detecting in the areas I saw Eddie and Arthur in last week, but all the hits I got were junk when I dug them up. I have a feeling those two guys have the experience and equipment to tell the junk when they hit on it and leave it alone for fools like me to dig up. The nickel and 3 of the pennies came out of one hole. I'd like to go back there again. I found all this on the baseball field, mainly in right field.

Metal Detecting on Sunday

I went down to the old River Road Country Club Site again today. I found 1 quarter, 2 nickels, and six pennies. No silver coins. One of the pennies was a wheat penny. Later this afternoon I went out to Kentucky Country Day School to look for Dub's wedding ring. I checked the area around first base where he said he lost it, but didn't have any luck. I did find a small silver chain and a key plus other junk, but no ring. Digging on the baseball field was tough digging. There was a plastic mesh down under the ground, I guess it was put down when they planted grass, and the dirt was hard packed clay.
So far I have found 99 cents! My next find will put me over the dollar mark.

Amazing Free Gifts at St. Pat's Parade

I went up to the St. Patrick's Day Parade yesterday. Mary Lynn wouldn't go with me because it was cold. It was a cold and rainy day, I'll have to admit. But, it didn't rain during the parade other than a very light drizzle close to the end. There were a lot of people lining the parade route and it looked to me like everyone had a lot of fun. I guess Mardi Gras has caused it to be a custom for every celebration to give out beads! Every group that came by had something to give out. If I'd tried to get this stuff I'd have had 3 or 4 times as much! The parade lasted close to 2 hours. I watched about an hour and a half before I left because of the cold and the need for a bathroom break! By the way, I had more candy than that but I ate some.

Metal Detecting Finds

I metal detected in the front yard today. It was a little cold. I found a quarter and a penny, both about 2 inches below the surface. I also found a bottle cap, a 4-5 inch piece of pipe, a screw and a nail. I just checked the area between the sidewalk and the driveway. Those who know the house know that is a very small area. I got a little cold so I didn't check the rest of the yard. I also dug 2 holes that I got a good signal from but found nothing. I guess that happens all the time. Either I missed something or it was a little deeper than I dug. When the weather gets a little warmer, maybe tomorrow, I'm going to try the old golf course where Brian has had a little luck.

Round 6 for 2009

I played Shawnee GC today. I shot a 42 - 45 = 87. Not to pleased with the score from the senior tees. But it was very windy again today and the wind always balloons my score. The greens were very fast today, I think the course started cutting and rolling for the season. Even the water fountains were turned on. I 3 putted 3 greens on the front side and 2 on the back. I couldn't slow those downhill putts down enough.
On a different subject, I found my first coin metal detecting yesterday. It was a 1941 penny! I found 2 pennies and a quarter. Things are really starting to roll now!

Metal Detecting Booty from my First Day

I metal detected yesterday for the first time with my new metal detector I got for my birthday. I'll identify these items for you. Across the top, there are 2 fan blades that I think came from fire works, and then 5 nails. Across the bottom is a glob of aluminum, a glob of lead, a piece of pot metal, and two beer bottle caps. I checked the book on the value of these items and they're worth more than my IRA account! Well, I know these aren't great finds, but they do show how well the metal detector does work. Just about every one of these items was 2-3 inches below the ground. The machine has a screen to tell you what the item is that is in the ground, jewelry, coins, junk, etc., and I knew what I was digging up probably wasn't worth digging. But, the instruction say that in the beginning dig up everything so you get used to the beep tones and what the items are. So I did, and the machine was right every time. I think this will be a fun hobby and something to fill my idle time between golf and working around the house. Oh, these items came from the backyard next door.

It was a Birthday for the Ages, er, Aged

I had a wonderful Birthday Party Yesterday. All the family was there and we had a nice dinner and Birthday Cake and Ice Cream. I got a metal detector! If you've read my past blogs, you'll know it was a complete surprise! My two pretty grandaughters, Erin and Jill, gave me birthday cards they made themselves and helped me blow out my candles and open my present.
After some assembly, I went out in the back yard to try out my new toy. In about 15 minutes of metal detecting I found 1 roofing nail and 1 ten penny nail. Both were about 2-3 inches below the grass. Sure, I didn't find much, but IT WORKS! After browsing through all the information provided in the kit it's plain to see the more hours you detect the better you get. Both in finding objects and determining what that object is before you dig it up! Thanks to my whole family for the great day and nice gifts. I look forward to many hours of detecting fun.

Golfing and Metal Detecting

I played Shawnee GC today and shot 43 - 49 = 92. I was not pleased with the way I played. I had way to many bad shots and I didn't putt as well today as I did yesterday. It was very windy again today, and I played from the white tees. Two of the par 3's on the front nine were against the wind and I couldn't reach them with a driver. I couldn't reach a lot of the par 4's in two and the 2 par 5's on the back I couldn't reach in 3, so I think par for me should have been around a 78-80 instead of 70. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!
On the way home I decided to go by Sonne Park off Dixie Hwy to see if it was still an open field. Well it is still a park and when I pulled up there was two trucks parked beside the road and two guys out there metal detecting. I went out and talked to them for about 20 minutes. They were very nice guys and had a lot of information for me. They belonged to the Louisville Metal Detecting Club. They also said that they were the ones that have caused the recent stir in the City about Dectecting in the City Parks. It seems they were run out of Shawnee Park a couple of weeks ago by the Park Superintendent and told it was illegal to to that in City Parks. The took it to their Council Representative and found out that it is not against the law, that as of now it was just a rule. They asked me if I'd like to join the club and sign a petition against thise becoming a law. They also said that since I was retired like they are, would I be available to go the the Metro Council meeting when this issue comes up. I told them I'd be willing to help in any way I could. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. So, we'll see what developes from there. These guys had pretty good equipment, expensive anyway. One guys equipment cost about $800 and the other guy said his detector was a $1200 unit he bought used for about $800. They found a silver quarter, dime, and 2 wheat pennies since they'd been there today, which I assumed was only an hour or so. They were both very good about not making a mess, and while I was there one guy covered a whole he'd been digging and you couldn't even tell where it was. They both had on knee pads , and had a leather towel they used to put the dirt on they dug out of the holes. I'm glad I ran in to them. It was very interesting.

More Bad Golf Round 4

I played Sun Valley GC today with J. R. We played from the senior tees. It was 66 degrees today, but the wind was blowing 10-20 mph with gust from 35-40 mph. I hit a lot of good shots and only had one real bad hole, number 14. Those of you familiar with Sun Valley, it's the last hole before you cross back over the road. I hit a good drive, middle of the fairway, 110 yard from the green. Then proceeded to plunk 2 in the water, ending up taking an 8 on the hole. Still, I ended up with a 42 - 43 --85 to J. R.'s 55 - 52 -- 107. I feel real good about the round. I missed a few shots here and there but hit a lot of good ones. Overall, very satisfied with the round today. And, as any golfer would say, anytime you can play this time of year it's a good round!

IT'S BIRTHDAY SEASON!!!!!

It's the first of March and it's Birthday Season! For the next 31 days let the good times roll. For those of you who don't know, Birthday Season begins the first day of your birth month and last till the end of the month. Christmas has a Season, Easter has a Season, it's only fair the the most important day of your life has a Season. So, Happy Birthday Season to all of us March babies!