More pictures

Boone, the black lab, is begrudgingly being used as a pillow.



Let the cooing begin.

Meet Hudson, or maybe Griffin. Possibly Turner.

As some of you know one of our dogs had gotten to the point where we had to put him down. Cole was a great dog and we miss him very much. Our other dog Boone was starting to act a bit lonely and we wanted the kids to enjoy having a puppy so after a little searching we found a breeder and now have a new canine addition to the family. The dog is an eight week old male Chocolate Lab that should max out around 80lbs. A bit smaller than Boone and Cole but a good sized dog.

The puppy has warmed up to Boone more than Boone has to the puppy, but I'm sure they'll become fast friends.

His name is undecided at this point. Matthew want's Beach Dog and Madi is lobbying for Sunset Sparkle Jones.

I'm assuming there will be tens of thousands of pictures to follow.

Hey look another political post

I'm not going to bore anyone with my yapping about the conventions or any of that.

I do want to pass this article along.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/cuba/story/661828.html

I enjoy the contrast of this Punk sticking his thumb in the eye of the political establishment of Cuba compared to the American hating knuckleheads that pass for Punk in the States. The modern American Punk likes to pretend that they're taking a huge risk by telling George Bush to fuck off when in truth it's about the safest thing one can do.

This guy and his band though, they are really sticking their necks out. Standing up against a true tyranny.

Watch the youtube video embedded in the page. Good stuff.

WARNING: Political post

I don't want to post political stuff here. There's enough of that available online and I really can't add to it. I am making this post today because I'm really floored by this article about Obama. The part that blows me over is not even about Obama, it's the creative use of language supposedly objective reporters are using, I assume, to lessen the effect of the truth on Obama.

Here is the article:

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92PL7400&show_article=1

Here is the offending passage:

"Obama's target is an ad by the conservative American Issues Project, a nonprofit group that questions Obama's ties to Ayers, a founder of the Weather Underground organization that took credit for a series of bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol four decades ago. "

So when sixties radicals, Terrorists, bomb Federal buildings we call them "explosions" and we point out that they were "nonfatal", as if that makes the bombing OK. Ayers is a vile man and the Weather Underground crowd are/were as well. It kills me that these people were even allowed to integrate in normal society, let alone become University Professors after the horrible acts they committed. Nowadays Ayers claims he's proud of his actions as a Radical and wishes he'd done more.

In politics a persons associations are a valid way for a voter to determine the judgment of the candidate. You're known by the company you keep, and Obama has associated with some bad characters.

Union Fair

We spent a great day at the Union Fair. Lots of farm animals, really expensive junk food, rides and carni games. The kids had a blast. I'm including some photos but I assume Patty will do an Ophoto album so look for the email notice.

Yup, thems pigs.



This cow was in love with me. wherever I moved it would turn to look at me. When I walked away it let out a sad sounding Moo. We had a moment.



This sheep was in the Muslim section of the 4H hall. It's sporting the latest in sheep Burkas worn by all sheep of the Muslim faith. Ok I kid, there was no Muslim section in the 4H hall. It was a nice day so I'm guessing the covers are not to keep them warm, maybe it was to keep them clean before the were judging.



These two young cows were yoked together. They were absolutely pristine. So clean and pretty you wouldn't believe it. I wanted to go up and hug them.


I promised some people pictures of cute chicks and ducklings. Sadly all the avian critters were adults. The little guy is pretty cute though.



This guy, not so much.



Nor his cell mate.



This one's for you Alison. It was the best I could do.



Here's the family.


Matthew making fast work of his cone.



Believe it or not, there was a big cat show this year. Pretty cool to watch. A Lion, a couple of Lionesses, a big Siberian Tiger and a pair of Bengal Tigers including the white Tiger in this photo. The handler is dragging this Lion around by the foot. This animal was the comic relief in the show. It was a pretty corn show, but the kids liked it.

I envy these handlers, I'd love to play with one of these big cats. I feel the same way about grizzly bears. I just want to wrap my arms around one and wrestle with it.


And what country Fair would be complete without a demolition derby. It's been a long while since I've been to one. All the cars are small imports now. The last one I went to people were still using gigantic station wagons and Cadillacs from the '70.


Night.

BBQ/Rescue call/Boating

Patty, the kids and myself made a trip out to Northeast Harbor this afternoon for a thank you BBQ hosted by the N.E. Harbor Fire Dept. A few weeks ago they had a large fire that destroyed three buildings in the Center of town. Calls for additional man power were made and Fire Fighters from every department on the Island and many from the mainland responded. It was one of the largest fires this area has seen in a long time. The BBQ was great (really good pulled pork) and so was the weather for a change.

On the way home Patty and the kids wanted to take the boat out so we picked it up and headed to the Lamoine State park to launch it. Just as we got the trailer in the water the Lamoine Vol. Fire Dept. was toned out for report of some kids who had capsized their canoe in Raccoon Cove. I radioed dispatch that I was in the water in my personal boat and I was waiting for additional rescue personel before I would be underway. A few minutes later Stu Markoon arrived in 403 and grabbed some rescue equipment and we were off.

There was some confusion regarding location and while we were waiting for better directions we were informed that the kids had made it out of the water on thier own. So back to the dock we go.

After dropping off Stu and Bill, Patty and the kids jumped on and we headed out for the Skillings River because the kids wanted to see our house from the water. They were less than impressed once we got there (it is pretty obscurred by the trees), so we slowly made our way back to the mouth of the river looking at all the other fancy homes, then back to the launch and home.

It was a busy day, but nice to be outside in the great weather (we've had a ton of rain lately).

Lamoine School Playground

The day finally arrived (Thank GOD!), and thanks to Jay Fowler and Sons (Jay and Perry) getting the ground work done on very short notice, EBS (Ellsworth Building Supply) donating Sono-Tubes and timbers, Harold Huebner for clearing the large trees, Granville Rental for providing a post hole digger and Sunrise Materials for the concrete, a group of six volunteers were able to assemble and install all the new playground equipment.

Sunrise will be by Wednesday to pour the concrete and a few days later the site will be covered by wood chips.



Management providing much needed direction.

Afternoon boating

We spent a couple of hours out on the boat today, just motoring around enjoying the sun.

The kids and Patty all had a turn at the wheel. If I can find time this week we'll try and get some Mackerel fishing in.