ONE TOMATO!!!

I found a baby tomato on the ground this morning! SUCCESS!!! Well... kinda sorta. Unfortunately, after a hard night of frost, both my tomato plants are dead. My cantaloupe plant isn't doing very well either. So looks like my garden is done for the year!

Frost damage

Looks like last night's temperature was low enough to cause some frost damage. I suppose if my tarps actually stayed in place, it would have been fine. But the strong winds had blown my tarp AND the rabbit fence off the ground! When they say it's windy in Oklahoma, they're right. It's WINDY here!! Oh well, I guess it's one less thing to worry about when I leave for FUTURES Tour q-school this Wed.
The lady at the nursery was right... the plants are not going to survive this winter. Let them die out and start over. I suppose I should heed her advise about planting early next year!
It's going to be another cold night tonight. Forecast of 27F... maybe these tarps would hold on for one more night :-) I know,... I just can't let go!

Happy Michael

Here's my little nephew Mikey playing in fall foliage. He's just a little over 10 months now and Sis said that he has just started to take his first few steps! They will be coming over to visit us in Tulsa in Nov. I'll need to child-proof the house!

Mosaic Table Project - Part I 1/2

Ok... I guess maybe there are more than 2 parts involved. Here's a preview of what my mosaic table top is going to look like. By the way, breaking the wine bottles with a hammer does not work very well. Actually, 3 good hits and the bottle didn't even break! I had to just drop it on the cement/patio floor outside... in a plastic bag, of course.

Bundled up for cold nights

Yesterday's low was forecasted for 38F, so I decided to cover my plants up. I figured some plastic tarp would be best since if it does rain, the old bedsheets won't get drenched! The only plastic tarp that I could find were tablecloth protectors and I think they work great! I'm probably going to leave them on for the next few days, since Monday's forecast is going to be high of 56F and low of 28F!!! I think there's enough air going through it that my plants won't suffocate when the sun does come up during the day. My strawberries are finally starting to produce fruit. Can't let them freeze to death now!

Mosaic Table Project - Part I

Well.... after a few hours of sanding, staining, drilling,... more drilling... and getting splinters in my fingers... I now have a new appreciation for those in carpentry. Gosh! It was not an easy task! But I suppose, if I had all the right tool... clamps, extra long screws, a workbench... maybe things might have been different (vs. working on the patio floor).

Nonetheless, here it is! Our new patio table! Well, just part of it :-) It's maybe just a BIT wobbly but I'm going to attempt to put a mosaic top to it - so look forward to the Part II blog of it. Cheers!

Home update

After 13 1/2 hours on the road this past sat from Braselton, GA to Tulsa, I finally reached home at approx. 8:30pm. The next morning, I checked my garden and was happy to see that everything was doing really well! There are a handful of strawberries that are starting to bloom and my cantaloupe plant is starting to produce yellow flowers as well! I'm not exactly sure what that means yet!... but I can't wait to taste those strawberries. Hopefully it won't frost this week!
I must be getting old... I was doing laundry this morning and while loading my next wash, I realized that I had washed the first load of clothes without putting detergent into the washing machine! :-s

Thumb report - Week 17

Slowly but surely, my thumb is starting to look more normal. There is still that weird bulge in the middle of the nail and it's still not quite long enough to utilize the nail's capabilities. Well, at least I don't have to keep answering the question "What did you do to your nail?!?"

A week in Atlanta, GA

I was the first alternate for the Duramed Futures Tour final event for 2008 in Braselton, GA this week. Since not knowing if I'd get into the tournament, I decided to drive from Tulsa, Okla. What would normally take me one day was split into two days (13+ hours total)... shows you how motivated I was to leave after being home for almost a month!
Jen and her husband Brian, and their aussie dog Autumn were really nice to host me this week. Autumn has her own Wall of Fame of ribbons and medals earned in agility. Jen, on the other hand, has a HUGE (and I mean entire spare room huge!) North Pole village collection as well as a Halloween collection. Who would have known!If anything, this trip was not all a loss. I had a really good session with Tetsuro of Srixon and club-fitter Lanny, whom both I haven't seen in a couple of years. I didn't realize how worn out my grooves were. So, I can't wait to start out the next season with some new clubs!

Mushrooms, anyone?

You should have seen the look on my face when I spotted the mushrooms in my herb planter. I'm still freaked out by it! It probably only took a couple days or so for these mushrooms to grow so huge and so quickly. Eeewwww....!!!
On a brighter note, there are more blooms on my tomato plant. I'm still keeping my hopes up... perhaps maybe ONE baby tomato before the first frost?

TPI Evaluation

Yesterday, I decided to start a new workout program with TPI or the Titleist Performance Institute. The evaluation went through some stretching poses and after taking a few measurements, Sean will put together a new workout routine for me based specifically on improving my golf swing. I'll get that on Monday. I'm really looking forward to playing better next year. I started taking lessons from a pro at Cedar Ridge GC as well - Tracy Phillips. So far so good! :-)

First pizza!

Yesterday, I decided to make my first pizza. Ok... the dough didn't come out round. I'm not sure if it looks like a pair of lungs... or a butterfly. Ya... more like a butterfly. A funny looking one :-) Haha!
I have to say, it was rather tasty - although it probably needed more onions and more mushrooms. Well, at least the verdict was 2 for 2 on the taste test!

Wedding crashers!

Ok... we didn't really. We did think about perhaps sculling a ball across the 18th green into the wedding party though. Of course, it would look more natural if Bob did it. Just kidding, honey!

We did see this photo booth on the way out from the club house. I can only imagine the looks on the bride and groom's faces when they finally go through their photo booth album! :-)

New drapes

Well, not exactly new... I've had them since college, but the material was rather thin and so Bob and I went out to buy some brown suede and with the new sewing machine, I put them both together. It took a few tries and they still don't quite look right, but it does the trick. The bedroom was nice and dark for the weekend to sleep-in in. :-) Only one more drape to go for the guest bedroom.
As for the white patches... it took a few extra attempts to put the rods up. I guess knocking on the walls isn't quite the most scientific way to find the stud :-) But, nothing spackling and a little free sample paint from Lowe's can't fix!!!

Thumb report - Week 15

I was carefully examining my thumb today and it looks like the new nail has magically merged with what was the underneath of the old nail plate. Really strange... so now it looks like the entire nail has an indentation in the middle of it. Almost 4 months have gone by and the nail is still looking strange! :-s

Fallen flower

I must have jinxed myself. When I walked out yesterday into the front yard, there is was... on the ground... my hibiscus bud! It was like a sick joke - that someone had sniped it off while I wasn't looking. As I took a closer look, I guess the flower bud had just fallen off it's joint, perhaps being blown by the wind. I'll have to just wait for the next flower bud to bloom... hopefully before the first frost!