Photos

Our backyard bird feeders are back in service

/ Roadtirementvintage / 32 Comments

Hummingbirds are so amazing!

In May 2021 some species of songbirds began to be afflicted with a deadly disease of some kind. This started in Virginia and moved west. Indiana birds began to die in late May and by early June the Indiana Department of Natural Resources put out the warning to stop all bird feeding in private yards. We posted about that. We both really missed our almost daily birdwatching time our back.

By the first week in August the DNR published the news that 76 out of Indiana’s 92 counties were bird disease free, and could resume the use of bird feeders.

Our cute little Nuthatch is back

We soon refilled our two seed feeders, and also refilled our hummingbird feeder. (DNR also had said to stop using hummingbird feeders as well.) It has been a couple of weeks since we started feeding our avian friends again, and slowly lots of the birds are coming back to our yard. We haven’t seen all of the species we had seen before the “lockdown”, but perhaps that is to be expected. We are grateful that we can again enjoy birding from our backyard swing!

A nice Labor Day weekend family visit

/ Roadtirementvintage / 27 Comments

Sher and I and our son took a quick trip over to Ohio for a Saturday before Labor Day cookout at our #2 son’s house. (He’s the one who got married a little while back.) The trip over was fortunately uneventful with light traffic and no rain.

We had a great time! It is so nice to see family. We had the chance to visit with three of our grandchildren and our new step-granddaughter. The food was great (see the grill photo!). After the meal Sher and I watched the others play some funny and fun online games. We also played the two pinball machines that our son has in his basement. Both he and his new wife are serious pinball machine players, both doing very well in tournaments. While I played the Star Wars pinball machine, I kept remembering the classic song by The Who about that deaf, dumb and blind kid, Tommy the “Pinball Wizard”.

Sher enjoying the lovely day outside.

It is so nice to spend time with family. Sher and I both shared stories with the grandkids about their parents, went over genealogy and pictures, and even discussed future get togethers, including the upcoming Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. We certainly enjoyed our time in Ohio. Soon we’ll be in Seattle for more time with more family…

Diet and cycling update

/ Roadtirementvintage / 55 Comments

It’s been about 10 days since I have mentioned the diet and exercise program I have been on. So far, so good I have to say. The regime of having a salad each day with a couple of meal replacement shakes has been a chore, but I have been fairly faithful to it. My blood pressure has been greatly improved, and stays improved day to day. I am losing weight as well.

Sher and I met relatives at a local restaurant over the weekend. It had been over a year since we have seen them, and we had a most enjoyable visit. For my meal I splurged and chose a cheeseburger. I did, however order it without the bun. (I have not had any bread since I started the diet. Damn, I miss wheat toast.)

Chillin’ on his “front porch”

I’ve been riding my bike everyday. More often than not I ride a second time too. The ground hog pictured is a critter that I see everyday during my morning ride. When I starting riding he would duck under his yard barn as soon as he spotted me. Now he just ignores me and keeps sitting on his “front porch”. I guess he has gotten used to me riding through his territory.

Wild strawberry or COVID virus??

/ Roadtirementvintage / 75 Comments

Took a picture of a couple of mushrooms yesterday.  Within the image was a little red wild strawberry. Once the photo was enlarged and the red berry zeroed in, the details of the berry came into focus.

That looks eerily close to COVID

Immediately the  shape of the berry looked very familiar. Yes, that shape has been displayed just about everywhere since, oh, sometime around March 2020. It does look way to much like the renderings you see of that damned COVID-19 virus.

Fungus still among us

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OK, promise this will be the last time for the fungus among us headline…

The clover leaves will help you judge the size of these mushrooms

Once again the wet conditions seem to have offered a good environment for the growth of a couple of mushrooms. These two popped up under our yard swing. The shade may have helped.

How they are growing

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Welcome to our tomato growth pictorial

 

Flower/pollination

Flower petals still hanging on the bottom

More possible starts here in addition to the two already growing

A little further along (yes it rained last night)

These two look like they are going to make it

These were the first two that showed up

This year we bought two plants instead of growing from seeds. The last photo is from a different plant from the other images. The header at the top of the page is actually of a “volunteer” plant that just showed up in the backyard. It seems to be doing well and will soon earn the right to have its own tomato cage.

Spotted on my bike ride this afternoon

/ Roadtirementvintage / 50 Comments

Today while very humid, was really a decent day for a bike ride. Part of my diet regime is also a renewal of exercise. Bike rides in the neighborhood fit that bill nicely. No fancy multi-geared hand brake bike here. Nope, I have a simple coaster brake bike. Works for me and best of all I know how to ride it.

There is always something to see while pedaling around the area. Today’s ride definitely served up some neat observations. Here goes! I’ll share some photos of the flora, fauna and other stuff I saw.

A citizen added a touch of patriotism to this sign at a boat access ramp

Originally a WWII concrete practice bomb, they once lined the road with chains stretched between them

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The concrete practice bombs had two of the iron loops enabling them to be loaded in the bomb bays of the planes. They were used during WWII at Camp Atterbury at Edinburg Indiana, and repurposed for the road side chain marking. The wooden sign is next to a boat access ramp leading to Big Blue River.

A big ol’ groundhog was eating apples from nearby tree

City maintained, note the volunteer maple saplings in the center

 

 

 

 

 

 

Like I mentioned, bike riding is a big part of my new diet and exercise ‘program’. I have been riding at least twice a day with a goal of at least 3 miles each ride. I know compared to real serious riders, that’s not much, but for me it is an accomplishment, and I’m trying to increase my distances each day.  So today I have pedaled 5.25 miles, consumed one shake and one salad. Don’t know about tonight’s supper yet. Probably another shake. Blood pressure is still down.

The beard sail

One funny thing happened to me today during the ride. It was the first time I was pedaling at, for me, a rapid rate and wham! here came a strong headwind. It made my beard feel like a sail, and actually created quite the resistance.  Felt really strange.

Hot day at the track

/ Roadtirementvintage / 19 Comments

Last Wednesday we went out to the Indiana Grand Racing and Casino  to see what was going on with the day of the 27th running of the Indiana Derby. The Indiana Derby is touted as the premier thoroughbred race in the state. There was a full race card with 12 races and several high stakes races with purses totally nearing 1 million dollars.

The parade of entries

Ready to run…

 

 

 

 

 

Looking at the parking lots and garage, it was obvious that there were tons of people at the facility. We parked in the garage, having to go to the top (5th) level to find a parking spot.

We went into the casino for a bit first. Complimentary drinks and the AC were a draw for sure! Not having a tremendous amount of luck at the slots, we headed to the track. The first floor was packed, with folks at the large bar and at the many tables looking at the screens with tracks from all over. Many were placing wagers with tellers or at pari-mutuel kiosks.

We sat out side for a while, at least there was shade from the building. We stayed for four races, and then decided it was too hot even in the shade. It wasn’t the best time we have had at the Indiana Grand, and headed home to the AC!

New home for an old bridge

/ Roadtirementvintage / 22 Comments

By 1870 Shelby County Indiana had 154 miles of new gravel roads. It was time for the county to start building bridges at principle crossings of rivers. By 1880 there were 10 “substantial and elegant” iron bridges  with additional bridges planned each year thereafter.

The bridge’s new home, seeing bicycles and pedestrian traffic only

The Clover Ford Bridge over Buck Creek was constructed in 1889 by the King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company of Cleveland, Ohio. The cost of the bridge, Shelby County Bridge No. 13, was $3,384.50. The bridge served many years but was closed due to structural issues in 2011.

Beautiful and sound reconstruction

History board

 

 

 

 

 

Deemed historically important, it was refurbished in 2018 and moved to the Blue River Memorial Park in 2019. It is now part of the Blue River Trail that traverses Shelbyville. USI Consultants was the company that oversaw the relocation of the restored bridge, as well as designing the new Shelby County Bridge No. 219 which replaced the old Shelby County Bridge No. 13 over Buck Creek.