Stripping the Aluminum Siding off the house next door

Our new neighbors have decided to strip all the aluminum siding off the house next door.  That siding has been on that house since we've lived here.  If you'll notice in the pictures above there is a large 'S' on the side of the fireplace.  Looking at the other picture on the front of the house you'll see that same large 'S' outline to the left of the front door.  For some reason it used to be there before the siding was installed.  I was watching the guys work for awhile and noticed a lot of wasps flying around up by the overhangs.  When I was talking to the foreman I mentioned that and he said they've found a few wasp nests, but that all along the side eaves of the house, when they pulled off the aluminum, it was full of bats! Mary Lynn and I can't believe all the work that is being done to this house.  It has been stripped inside and out and completely remodeled on the inside. They've enclosed the side porch to extend the kitchen plus exteded the kitchen further inside the house. And, they're planning to take the big tree down in the front yard.  We've been wondering what they plan on doing with the porch on the driveway side, the one with the lattice work all the way around it.  That's one the first things I'd have gotten rid of.

Well, it's been fun watching what's going to happen next.

Good Golf from Bad Bob

I played pretty good today at Iroquois GC.  I shot a 40 - 36 = 76.  My 12 handicap netted me a 64.  The only problem was, J. R. Harris's 84, with his 21 handicap, netted him a 63!  So, he beat me out of low round today and $16 by 1 stroke!  We were both on the same team and our team won low team score, so I did get $8 for that.  I've been playing pretty good here lately.  I think the part of my game that has been the best is my drives.  I've been hitting the best drives of my life.  My putting has been good.  My fairway play has been so-so. My tee shots and putting have been what is making my scores low.  If I could get some play from my fairway woods and irons.......who knows what could happen. 
They've been using our handicap scores from Shawnee GC.  Today they decided to start having separate handicaps and keeping track of the Iroquois scores by themselves.  So, my 76 today is not going to get my much handicap.  They won't start using this system until we get two scores in....so next week I might have to throw off a little to help my handicap. Naw....I could never thow off on purpose just to raise my handicap.  I figure it will come up on it's own over time.  Today was round 65 for the year.

A little metal detecting.....

I metal detected again today at St Matthias field.  This time I detected the other side of the field than I normally check, over behind the church. After the rain yesterday I thought it might me damp enough to dig.  It was still very dry about an inch and a half down.  I found 67 cents and a Mackanac Island token.  the token, on the other side, had "Sunoco American Landmarks".  So, I assume Sunoco Stations gave these out as  a promotion at one time, having people collect all 'Landmarks". I also found some kind of medal.  I thought it was a religious medal of some kind, but now I'm not sure.  Trying to make out the image, it looks like more like "Granny Clampett".  Anyway, pull it up close and see what you think.  Besides this stuff, I also found about a half dozen pieces of aluminum cans.

The little white fence next door bites the dust again....

We've lived here for over 41 years and this little white fence has been knocked down by tree limbs numerous times.  The first time was when our big tree by the rock wall fell down across our yard, the driveway, the yard next door, and halfway across the next yard up the street.  Crushing a VW bug sitting in the driveway.  At that time, the fence had a light on top a pole by the steps, as I illustrated in red.  After that first time. the light never worked again but remained for a long time on top a pole there.  Lately, the pole was shortened, the last time the fence was repaired.  Well, it'll need to be repaired again.  Earlier this morning I went out and pulled the red car out on the street in front of the house and pulled the van down to the end of the driveway....just in case.  Good thing I did.

Thursday golf at Iroquois GC is a Scramble

We played a scramble today at Iroquois GC with the usual Thursday group, plus a few more.  We had 5 3-man teams.  I don't know why, but I haven't played well in a scramble for a couple of years.  And each team I'm on plays the same way.  We hit good tee shots, actually putt pretty well, but we can't get a ball close to the hole on our approach shots.  I don't care if we're 50 yards from the green or 150 yards from the green, we won't have a ball within 30 feet of the hole.  Always a long putt for a birdie.  We finished today 2 under par, with a birdie on each of the par 5's on the back nine.  We had par on the other 16 holes.  We finished 4th, one stroke better than the last place team.  The winners were 8 under.  This won't count on my rounds for the year because I only count the round when I play my own ball.  I walked the course today.  Very nice day to walk.  And, I have fun playing scrambles, but I never seem to play them well. 

The latest varmit to be caught in Bad Bob's trap line...

Once again I was pretty sure I had a larger varmit getting into my squirrel traps, turning them over. I thought it was either an opposum or raccoon, because I knew it was after the peanuts, and cats and dogs aren't particularly fond of peanuts.  So, I set my big trap last night.  I'm playing golf at Iroquois Park today, so, that park will have a new addition to their wild animal population.

Tuesday golf at Shawnee GC...Round 64 FTY

My usual Tuesday at Shawnee golf day.  I shot a 41 - 41 = 82.  Played pretty consistent, got off the tee well and putted well.  Could have hit my fairway irons a lot better.  I'm pleased with a score of 82.  It won't win me any money, and I don't think it will change my handicap.  I've been in a putting 'zone' the past 5-6 weeks.  I've really been putting well, with only occasional lapses.  I feel good over a putt and think I can make almost anything.  I haven't been afraid of hitting a putt a little long because I feel confident I can make it coming back. Sometimes I putt well, but the putts just don't fall.  They've been falling for me lately.  Hope it keeps up!

Rake'n in the Money!

I played Weissinger Hills GC today with Greg Lynn and J. R. Harris.  I gave J. R. 3 strokes a side and Greg 2 on the front, 1 on the back.  We played $1 front, $1 back, and $1 for the 18.  I took'em both for $3! I shot a 39 - 44 = 83, to Greg 44 - 50 = 94, J. R. 46 - 52 = 98.  They both shot a pretty good front nine, and if I hadn't shot really well They would have beaten me.  I'll have to tell you about hole # 16.  It's a par 3, a pretty tough green to hit, even though it only plays about 140 yards.  It's flanked by a big tree on each side of the front, and the right side of the green falls off steeply into a bunker.  To the left side of the green is a large stand of Pampas Grass.  They both hit their tee shots to the right, and I pulled mine left, behind the Pampas Grass.  Well, I needed to lob my ball over the tall stand of grass, not daring to be long and over the green or I would be down in the bunker on the other side of the green.  Well, I punched it right into the grass, and had to take a drop.  Then lob it over, short of the green, chip on and 2 putt.  For a Seven!  The whole time I'm thinking I'm really blowing my lead. Well, they had just as much trouble on the other side of the green as I was having.  Greg ended up taking a 7 also, and J. R. a 10!  On ONE hole we were 15 over par!  You could say we had a little trouble.  So, my 44 on back for the other 8 holes wasn't that bad.
This was round 63 for the year.

Fall Slyder Cup Classic is now in the books...

Twice a year J. R. and I   play Harold Goad and Barry Rahn in the "Slyder Cup".  Losers buy the White Castle's.  This year Harold and Barry came with their "Slyder Cup" Team Shirts.  Make sure to enlarge the photo to see their "special made" Team jerseys. The White Castle emblem, and below printed "Hit it hard, go find it."  However, it did them no good.  J. R. and I won.  We blew and early lead, 3 up with 6 to go, and were even with 2 holes to play.  My partner, J. R. Harris, on the par 3 17th hole, playing alternate shot, hit his tee shot right over the flag, stopping about 15 feet from the hole.  Harold, hitting their teams tee shot, pulled his into some weeds where they had to take a drop. That hole put us 1 up with one to play.  After getting in trouble on 18, hitting a tree on 2 consecutive shots, Barry and Harold conceded the hole and match.  We played this round 3 holes scramble, 3 holes play your own ball, 3 holes alternate shot, and repeated on the back nine.  Each hole being worth 1 point.  We won 2 up.  You see the remains of the Champion's Dinner.  Great weather, good friends, and lots of fun.

Recent rains didn't wet the grounds enough for Metal Detecting

After the recent rain I thought the ground might be ready to start metal detecting again. No. It's still dry as a bone. Down about an inch and a half it's hard as rock.  I tried metal detecting at St. Matthias field today, found about a dollar, but the ground was not ripe for detecting. I found 2 pennies at Algonquin Park last week and 98 cents at St. Matthias today. We need a couple of days of a good, soaking rain.

Bucket-O-Pennies Follow-up

I finished rolling all the pennies. These were the pennies I was going through to keep all the ones I found 1982 or older. I found $18.20 worth of pennies, of which 10 of them were Wheat Pennies. In the bucket was a total of $86.60.  $55.10 in pennies, $25.00 in dimes, $6.00 in nickels and 2 quarters.  So I now have a pretty good supply of pre-1982 pennies. This was approximate, because I added a few dimes and nickels to make even rolls.  But the total is correct.

Thursday golf at Iroquois GC Round 62 FTY

I played my usual Thursday golf at Iroquois GC today. I shot a 38 - 39 = 77.  Pretty Good.  I made a lot of good putts to save par today. I only had one double bogey, that was on hole #4, after hitting a very good drive.  I messed up to fairway shots.  Once again my team was low team, so I won $6.  We played another game today besides 4 man teams. We played 2-man best ball teams, pairing up lowest handicap players with highest handicap players. It was a disaster.  The main problem was, we started on the back nine, and 2 of the 3 groups put the score down on the wrong side of the card. There was a big disagreement on whether it would make any difference or not.  I was of the opinion that it would. We kept score using best ball as your team score, totaling the 18 holes.  So, comparing someones front nine scores to someone else's backnine scores, there has to be a difference. Anyway, I didn't win that one.  Either the game or the arguement. But I still feel it has to make a difference.

Bucket -O- Pennies

Since I started metal detecting last year, I've been saving any penny I find that is 1982 or older.  Just because they are made out of copper and the ones newer than 1982 are made out of zinc.  While playing golf last Thursday at Iroquois GC, one of the guys I was playing with, Bruce, had marked my ball for me with a penny.  When I picked it up to give back to him I remarked "That's a good penny, a 1963!" So, he gave it to me and told me he had a big can full of pennies at home that if I wanted to go through them he'd bring  them the next time we played. Well, I couldn't turn down that deal.  So, today he had them with him.  I told him I replace any of the ones I wanted to keep and would roll them for him.  Just now started to look through them and there are a lot of pre-1982.  I'm hoping to find a few 'wheat' pennies.  I'll have a follow up blog on what I find and how much money this is.  I can tell you it weighs about 33-34 pounds!

Another Tuesday at Shawnee GC

It was another typical round at Shawnee on a Tuesday.  Didn't play very well, but I can't complain about a 43 - 42 = 85.  It's still better than bogey golf and I'll raise my handicap a little.  It was a real nice day to walk 18, cloudy and about 75-80 degrees.  I tried the same putter I used Thursday and I didn't have any trouble 'scuffing' the putts. I ground down the bottom of the putter so it didn't have such a rounded edge. However, I didn't putt very well, so I think I'll stick with my old putter. But, I think this putter will be OK for a 'back up'.  This was round 61 for the year.

Halloween Parade

 

We went to the Halloween Parade tonight on Bardstown Road.  They WANTED to go. I think they like it, but starting at 7:00 o'clock I believe they got tired pretty quick.  Jill didn't like all the loud cars and Fire Trucks and kept her ears covered a lot of the time.  There were a lot of good costumes and floats.  We stayed for about a half hour or 45 minutes, then the girls were ready to go.  Jill told me her  favorite was the gorilla carrying the man in the cage.

Round 60 for the year....where has the time gone?

I played Iroquois GC today for round 60 this year. I shot a 43 - 38 = 81.  Our team won, so I got back $6.  I tried a different putter on the front nine. I liked the feel, and it had a little more weight behind the face, and that's why I tried it out. I'd been putting pretty good with my other putter, but I thought I'd give it a try. Well, there was one problem that it took me 8 holes to figure out.  Several times on a putt I 'scuffed' the ground, which drastically changes the speed you want to hit the putt. After nine I went by the car to change putters and looked at the bottom of each.  The one I usually use is on the left, and has a perfectly flat edge across the bottom.  The one on the right is slightly rounded, not much, but enough to cause me to 'scuff' the ground every so often.  I really liked the 'feel' of the putter on the right, but that rounded bottom caused me problems. So, I won't be using it. I found that interesting.  I would never have thought that little bit of rounded edge would cause a problem. It was more of a problem when putting from the fringe.

Tuesday golf at Shawnee GC

We played our normal Tuesday golf at Shawnee GC again today. They had just  aerated the greens and fairways. Some of the greens hadn't even had the sand applied yet.  The plug holes were very bumpy, most of them sticking up around the edges where the plug had been pulled out.  Made for very tough putting. The fairways had been overseeded, too.  Made for very little roll on your drives. So, overall, the course played a lot tougher today than normal. I shot a 41 - 43 = 84.  I had one bad drive today. I tried to hit it low into the wind, ended up topping it off the tee and rolling it about 30 yards.  I still was able to keep the damage to just a bogey, with a one putt on a bumpy green. Plus, on the first hole I hit my second shot OB, ended up taking an 8.  Nice way to start any round.  So, a 41 on front wasn't so bad when you start with an 8.  Walking 18 holes in 66 degree weather is a whole lot better than walking 18 in 99 degree weather.  This was round 59 for the year.

Bad Bob plays Valhalla Golf Course

I finally played Valhalla Golf Course.  I played from the member tees, green tees. The course played very long for my game from those tees.  First of all, let me say I played the 4 par 3's in even par. I had 2 pars, 1 bogey and 1 birdie. However, I shot a 51 - 49 = 100. I really got off the tees well today. I topped a lot of 3 woods, which you can't do when you're not going to reach the green in regulation anyway. My putting was bad early, but I think I finally got comfortable with the greens after about 12 holes. The picture on the left is hole #18. Yep, I put it in the water on that hole and took an 8.  It was a lot of fun and a good experience. It was round number 58 for the year.