RnRnRnRnRnR

For those who know me well, all know I work very hard. Why do I work so hard? It is not for the money, it is so I can play even harder. This weekend was a National Holiday, so as a family, we used the occasion to play really hard. Want to here about it?

We towed our sweet Anna down to the Eastern Shore of Maryland. I can proudly say, that nothing broke and every system worked perfectly. The AC got a big work out since it was well past 90 everyday. The funny thing is that even on the lowest setting, the AC makes her into a meat locker.

Usually every New Years Eve we rent this house right on the bank of the Chester River. We go hunting, blow off hundreds of dollars in fireworks and indulge in good food and fine spirits. This Memorial Day we did it again. Anna allowed for an extra family to come.

Because hunting season is not the season of the summer, we went fishing instead. Sorry, we really did not go fishing, we went catching. Captain Hamm has become our "go to" charter Captain. Every time we go out with him he puts nice fish in the cooler for us. His boat is super nice and his mate is probably the best of any boat I have been on. If you want an excellent day of fishing, look up Captain Hamm.

This time of year the rock are not schooled up yet. They tend to hunt solitary, or in very small pacts. The only effective method to catch then is to troll for them.

It was a beautiful day on the water. There were lots of bulk carriers anchored up in the lower anchorage waiting on space in the Harbor. I might not know jack about abstract assets like stocks and bonds, but I know when the boats stack up in the anchorage, the Harbor is busy. A busy Harbor= a good economy. Yes, you heard it from Frank the economic forecaster, the economy is on a come back.

Captain Bo Hamm had us cruising South toward Bloody Point in no time. From left to right that Brian, Dr Lou, my Brother in Law Chris, his son Kyle, Murray the first class mate, and Clair, Chris's lady friend that is one of the coolest chicks I have ever known.

Bloody Point is where the largest Rock in Maryland was caught six years ago. 67 pounds 8 ounces is a hard one to break for sure. Dinner would be fine with me.

Clair was first up and as usual she reeled it right in like a pro. Women are so much better then me at fishing.

A very respectable 20 inch Rock.

Kyle put us a real nice 20" in the box.

I was next up to bat.

24 inches... not to brag, but I caught the biggest one. Nice thick female.

Doctor Lou was up next.

If you ever go to Iraq or Afghanistan and part of your brain is converted to jelly by an IED, you will be visiting Doctor Lou to be put back together. He takes fishing as serious as his job. Hell of a nice guy.

Brian made it look real easy too. That is Captain Bo Hamm on the right.

My Brother in Law got his turn also. Go Chris....

Murray was so good about making sure we all had a good time. Without a word, he launched into cleaning out fish as soon as we were back at the dock. I have fished on a lot of boats and never has a mate impressed me like Murray did. He got a real fat tip out of us.

That night we had steamed crabs. These were local meaty crabs. They were not huge, but man, were they good.

Most of the rest of the time I just R E L A X E D. Bourbon in hand, feet up in the air, reading my book.

Enjoying the sunset and taking it easy. Now that I am back home, I am thinking about how hard I plan to hit it tomorrow.

House Clearing

After many years of working in old houses, living in an old house, finding value in what people throw away, and a strong desire to get rid of some stuff from the house, I loaded up the truck with as much antique furniture as it would hold. This is actually all the stuff left over from the past weekends yard sale. People jumped all over the little crap we were selling , but no one bought a single item of furniture. Instead of taking it to Goodwill and taking the tax deduction, we took it to an auction.

After dinner last night I drove down to the Eastern Shore and got into the que for the twenty dollar field at Crumpton. The auction is actually called Dixon's Auctions, but it is called the Crumpton Auction by everyone that goes there. You line the stuff up and the opening for an item is $20. If no one bids, they slide an item over, and another, and another until they get a $20 bid.

This is my lot. It starts at the milk crock and ends at the Duncan Phife sofa.

The auctioneer goes down the rows and it all sells. Often for less than you expect, but sometimes for more than you would have ever thought.

There is many acres of items. This is the ten dollar field. Minimum bid taking the item, items, or lot offered will pay at least ten dollars.

At this auction you never know what you might find. I kept hoping to find something I wanted to buy, but nothing showed up. Instead, I just walked around and took hundreds of photos. Here are a few of my more favorite ones from the crop...

About midday I headed for home. A nice, but not huge roll of bills in my pocket. The Chesapeake Bay was looking so beautiful from the bridge. This weekend I will be doing a charter fishing trip on the Bay. Hopefully we catch a cooler full of Rock (stripped bass to all you outside of Maryland).

We took Anna out this past weekend. I think she had a real good time, I know we did. Since nothing broke this trip I am fairly sure she had a great time.

We went out to Lake Quemahonan in South Central Pennsylvania. The Scotty Camper Enthusiast were having a little gathering and my good friend Ace invited us to join. Even though three members of the Airstreamer's Club were there, I was the only person camping in one. Scottys are some cute little trailers and are very picturesque.

Just like Airstreamers, Scotty people are real relaxed. They pretty much spend the day visiting with each other and enjoying happy hour followed by potluck supper.

Anna was a very comfortable home for the weekend. We baked in the oven and cooked on the stove. The fridge kept the drinks cold and we slept in every morning.

Quemahonen Lake is a very nice setting. Lots of fisherman working the lake all weekend long. It was too cold for the weekend but the beach looked very inviting.

Halle needed to get her feet wet.

She needed to blow some bubbles too. Where's Ava you ask? She is a tween now, she is gone most of the day doing tween stuff.

The second sweetest trailer there was Tom Bernot's little silver side Scotty.

He was taking it out for the first time since totally revamping it.

Very nice little trailer.