Yeah, yeah, I missed a few weeks. I’ve got a genuine techno-barrier going on with this. I no longer have use of the laptop I use to make updates to my website. I am currently sitting in a public library renting time on one of their PC’s to get this done. OK, that is a lie, but it’s a nuisance all the same. I haven’t quite figured this dilemma out yet, nor have I put any effort what so ever in doing so. Maybe the laptop fairy will rain a new one down on my house soon, never know.

The only thing that has been happening out here anyway is taking care of a sick puppy. Poor Quinn has been out of sorts. Like way out of sorts. Things were touch and go for a week or so, but he seems to be back to his normal, if annoying, personality. A few more weekly checkups before they clear him, but so far things are looking up. Best guess, he ate some kind of poisonous plant out in the yard. But, we have no idea what or where, which kind of leads to a bit of uncertainty about the whole situation. He can’t very well just stay in the house for the rest of his days. I am just not sure we are cut out for this country life…

Sigh, Monday again. We had a decent weekend though, so there’s that. We started off on Friday evening over at friend’s house. It was sort of a semi-birthday for several people in the group. Had a great tri tip for dinner. I’ve been wanting that for a while, so that worked out well.

Saturday, we made the somewhat long drive to Lodi to check out a BBQ competition. Donette happened across it online, and we thought what the heck. It was a genuine KCBS sanctioned event, don’t see that much around here! It was small, I am guessing about 20 teams. Few nice setups, but for the most part there were some good ol’ back yard barbecuers in the entered. It was definitely fun, although we didn’t stick around to see the results. We had to take off for dinner reservations, which were at The Oxford in their little downtown area. Great dinner! Hour and a half drive aside, Lodi was a good time, might make it back there sometime.

Sunday was a “recovery day” from our big Saturday. Got some stuff done around the house and that’s about it. Mowed some of the yard, split a little wood for the firepit, and did a good amount of sitting around. All in all, a good weekend.

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Well, my big vacation for the year is done. I’m going to label it a success, if not 100%. I had some sort of crud the majority of the time, which did cut into my enjoyment a bit. I tried to power through, which of course likely just made it worse. We definitely managed our share of fun though, sick or not. We spent a full week in Ireland, made a brief two-night stay in London, then on to Scotland for the remainder. The travel was a bit on the brutal side, but I guess that comes with trying to see a few thousand years of history in two weeks. The flight home was a rough one too, it took a full 24 hours door to door. I’m too old for that! Here is a photo dump of some of the things we saw during our time there.

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We had a great week touring Ireland. Spent a quick two nights in London, now it’s off to Scotland today.

Having a great time celebrating Alaina’s birthday