my best friend and fishing buddy called me from maine where he is doing some work on his place up there with a few questions... he is a plumber by trade... retired and very capable but once we got into the conversation i said STOP !!! i'm sending 2 guys up tomorrow... he asked how much is this gonna cost me... don't worry i said we will settle it at the bar... he said but it's a 6-7 hour drive... i said what fuckin drive??? i'm flyin em in up in the morning... call me later for the details... it's nothing less than you would do for me... hell if i had a problem and didn't call him he'd be barkin at me for weeks!!!

good friends are hard to come by and i'm blessed... almost all are trades men some still work but many retired...

i'm trying to teach my grandson the importance of sticking by a friend through thick and thin and that the value of friendship is more than the cost of a good deed... something my gramps taught me...

have a great day

back on the water... beautiful day... mid 80's... calm seas just drifting around the sound with a line in the water... got a stripper earlier... well over the limit... the budettes go crazy when the the fish flop around the deck...

other than the budettes i'm alone out here... my wife is in maryland... my best fishing buddy is at his place in maine fixing it up and my grandson is getting on his school schedule which starts a week from thursday... hard to believe the summer is almost over...

as with last year i'll spend many an afternoon with my grandson in the fall... homework first... then some fishing... woodworking... a little hunting or target practice... and SHHHH a few days of playing hookie but i'll remember to call it in as that's what got my ass in trouble last year... funny how that truck lost it's way... HEY!!! whats a gramps for...

the ex son in law is paying up... my wife and daughter can find anybody if they have an ssn# or a few other things through many agencies... sadly he has never even expressed and an interest in meeting his daughter and still no contact with his son...guess he did snap...

i reviewed the preliminary plans for this equestrian village and housing development we are bidding on... not bad... the shopping area is like a colonial town with a feed and tack store... hardware store... small grocery/drug store ... gas station and UPS store... i told them to add a lunch counter to the drug store section of that store...must be my age... the houses are not cookie cutter and range from 2500 to 4000 sq ft... the enclose arena even has a bar... never thought of that...get drunk... get on a horse and let it take you home... hmmmm

the bar is doing well... got many of the old customers back and my daughter the CPA if doing the books and counting the money... it pays the salaries of the 3 other partners who actually run it and the 2 other employees with a little left over... we have all the paper work done and approved for the bar league football team
which is mostly insurance crap and have many players signed up and shirts...balls and flags ordered... they have also started a bowling team... hey good fucking luck... and after labor day... the first bi-annual uncle milty's triple play saloon golf tourney... i'm not a golfer but told it will be fun...

so all in all life ain't bad in the august of my years...

thanks for reading and have a great day...

yep... my wife... grandson and the budettes are here... the repairs are complete... got in some fishing and horseback riding with my grandson... he knows how to saddle his pony but not quite strong enough yet...it will come in time...

not in big trouble but my daughter says he all but sleeps in his work boots and tells anyone who will listen about the train village he's makin... guess he has sawdust in his veins as well...

we fly back to ct later today... i start to get hives if i'm away from the water too long...

thanks and have a great day

my lovely wife the budettes and i floating around the sound... she is aft sunning and every few minutes i go lather her up with more sun screen... if she gets any darker we will be able to apply for...

we will be flying to vermont later today... i want to see the progress on the few repairs we are having done and to check the farms out also the wood cutting and stacking should be complete... 20 cord in all... for those that don't know a cord is 4'wide 4'tall and 8'long and between the 2 houses and the sugar house we will use it all and may have to buy some...

man!!! i miss my brother... 3000+ miles away... i don't mind looking after the farms... hell he always counted on me for that anyway but not havin him here is a drag... bad enough our dad can't hunt or fish me but now my brother will only be back for one week of hunting and at christmas... i'll have to make it extra special for them both...

my grandson is learning to fish but too young for hunting although this year he has been to the range at a rod and gun club i belong to and i will take him in the field with me... no gun for him... a 30-30 would knock him on his ass...

have a great day and thanks for reading!!!

had some heavy heavy rain here... not what we are used to having... we live on a hill so it's not bad but a lot of roads got flooded out... long island got hit worse... i had to take different roads to get to the boat and it's a beautiful day here today...just floating around the sound with the budettes maybe 4 foot seas... did a little clamming earlier... and if a blue bites great if not ... oh well...

i had my grandson over yesterday and we worked on the buildings for his train village... he is not ready for most of the power equipment but the scroll saw... band saw and drill press he uses with a watchful eye over his shoulder... he seems to have a genuine interest in woodworking...

a couple investors we have worked with in the past want us to present preliminary plans for an "equestrian development" all 1-3 acre lots 2500 and up sq ft homes with a 1-3 horse stable... traditional fences ... an enclosed riding arena and a small shopping center... they have another contractor to do the other riding things... the jumping area etc... we will clear trails in the hills surrounding it once but then it's up to the association
to maintain them... it's a fun project...we did another one years ago and it worked out well...

have a great day!!!!

i'm really bummed out over robin williams... didn't know him but loved all his work... i got to see him live once and he was laugh out loud funny... what a tragic lose... as another comic who is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict said "those demons are huge and can devour you through your depression"...

RIP robin... i know you'll raise a little hell in heaven and make it fun place...

so i guess it's appropriate that it's a rainy day here... i was gonna bring my grandson over to work on the train village buildings but he has his school physical exam today... the old turn your head and cough routine... hard to believe he stars back in 2-1/2 weeks... man the summer just flew by!!! but i love the fall as well... i'll get my my little buddy out on the boat a bunch more times for a variety of things...

we have another kosher kitchen to do... a recommendation from the last one we did... if you don't know it requires 2 of everything... a side for meat and a side for dairy and has to be approved by a rabbi before it can be used...as with the last couple they are newly wed and 1st time home buyers we have to blow out a wall to give them a bigger kitchen and dining room ...
being 1st time home buyers they are having trouble understanding why all the permits are required... glad i have some patient people working for me...

thanks for taking the time to read my blog...

down in baltimore... my neighbor took my grandson and i out on his boat to do some stripper fishing... better known in these parts as rock fish...and do a little drop net crabbing... then we all went to dinner at G&M... you have not had a maryland crabcake until you have had one there!!! once finished we went to the ravens game and it was great!!!! they looked strong and rejuvenated and won!!!! although it does not count as a fan any win is a good win!!!!

yesterday morning and this morning my grandson and i went to my office down here and all seems fine... i have a great man and woman running the show... very dedicated... they are in their 40's but started with me 10-12 years ago and helped us get through the really tough times taking on anything that needed to be done including cleaning the office and restrooms!!!

today my grandson and i are going to buy his work boots that he did not get in his back to school clothing and although i'm sure i'll get in some hot water...on many mornings i'm the designated morning school driver so he will be able to wear them as i kinda get him ready and drive him to school after his mother leaves for work...

my grandson loves spending time with the 2 model makers i employ... one in each office... and they take a little time to show him prints and how they become models but then the magic happens when he sees them being built..."WOW gramps that was just a piece of paper!!!" when i built his tree house he was too young to understand the drawings....

we are flying back to connecticut today but will be back soon for more crab!!


thanks for reading!!!

with my grandson... his mother and grandmother got home from new mexico friday and today they and his aunts are going school shopping for him.... HMMM???? it takes four women to do school shopping for one little boy???? what the little guy wants most they won't buy... a pair of work boots like mine... but ole gramps will get him those...

it's raining today so we will keep on making the buildings for his model train village actually the hardest are the 2 church steeples... i'm not sure he can grasp the drawings yet... he's a little young yet so i'm having out model maker at the office do the painting of the buildings... she is great...

later when the "shop til ya drop queens" get back he and i will make a salad... grill up hamburgers and corn on the cob...

i'll be checking in with my brother later to see hows they are doing in the great north west and his new position... although a VP he's not used to answering to someone having owned his own company... the repairs need at the farms are minor so i have some prices and options for him... i'm sure i'll get "just do it"... so i'll send the same 2 guys up there that i did to my dads place

it should be a good boating week weather and tide wise so i'll get my budettes and my fishing buddy out there and my grandson a morning or 2 as long as the waters not rough... my fishing buddy is not a kid person but he tolerates them in small doses...

have a great day and thanks for reading!!

from vermont... we have a cooler with brookies in it...my grandson the budettes and i will fly back later toady... the places need some minor repairs and one of the barns needs a new compressor so that will be done...

he's riding a pony on his own now so we rode fences and marked trees to come down for firewood in the woods...went for a swim in the swimming hole my uncle dug in a brook for us when we were kids... did some fishing and visited my brothers favorite local spots to tell them what's going on... it was all bittersweet to say the least...

my brother is out there looking for homes... he has 8 weeks to find one as the company is putting them up in a condo and paying for some meals... he is ten years this month from retirement if he wants although the sale of his company affords him that option now but he wants to keep active...

thanks for reading and have a great day!!!

so i'm up here with my young grandson... we flew up early this morning... the house is quiet... just him and i... my brother who is not a farmer owns 2 dairy farms here he bought... one when our uncle retired in the 70's i think and the other when our cousin died last march just to keep them as a family retreat... he rents out the barns, pastures and fields with a very liberal rental agreement... pay what you can afford and if it's nothing... forghedaboudit

he is moving to fuckin portland oregon after selling his business and taking a position with a company out there and asked me to watch the farms ... so here i am... gonna give the houses... barns and out building a good once over for any needed repairs... line up a few guys to cut and stack firewood for the winter and spring sugaring and take the grandson horseback riding and fishing for brookies and i will do some reflecting on times past when my brother and i raised a little here as children...

my brother has often said these farms will all be my children's and grandchildren's someday as he has no children... that will be 4th generation for one and 2nd for the other...

he will be back for a week of hunting in november and for christmas and new year in vermont then sugaring in the spring...

well brother today the grandson and i will hit our favorite watering hole and tell the locals whats going on... i'm sure they will all raise a glass in your honor... hell i'll even buy a round...