Paw Paws Place

Yea, it was a great week end for Pat and I as the kids were out of school on Friday. As you can see we were able to get the boat in the water and have some fun. The weather man had said that the seas would be flat and very little wind blowing, yea right! You would think that by now I would know better than to believe those jokers. They have all these fancy machines that are perfect, right? For all the old Bradenton folks who remember Charlie Stump we know better. He could look out the window and predict the weather better than that. When we got out in the bay it was blowing 15 mph with small with caps. I put two anchors out so I could catch bait and they did not hold. So no Shiner’s were caught at all, that was ok because I would be unable to go where we normally go because of the weather. We ended up at Rattlesnake and the kids fished for BIG Pinfish. Tyler also caught a fair size Trout on a Mirror Lure. I think we caught about 17 really big Pinfish and the kids had fun. We saw a 5 ...

My Mom, My Dad Family, Brother Bob & Me I have decided to scan and put some old family pictures on a CD, they will be in a Jpeg format. I have started with my side, mom, pop, grandparents and great grandparents and cousins. I hope that Pat will get me some of here family as I think our kids would enjoy them later in life. I also want to do some of our life with our kids. I am sharing a few on this Blog I hope they don't bore you too much. "Wild Bill" and his beautiful Wife Laura! It has been a sad week for me personally as I lost a classmate. Bill Aldredge passed away this week after a long battle with lung cancer. I am glad he came to our last class reunion so we could all see him and talk with him. He is a Born again Christian and had a great out look on going home to Heaven. See ya "Wild Bill" we will all meet again someday and have another reunion. Another friend of mine Terry Christie is in the hospital in Dalton Georgia and having a rough time. He is...

This was the preparation for the big Florida, Alabama football game. This was Luke's first time at the swamp and he enjoyed the victory. This is where we tail gate each Saturday and Luke and Darenda were welcome by all our Gator fans. We ate pulled pork, Ribs,beans, Mac & Cheese and desert. As you can see Luke found some Bama fans and played catch football before the game. As you can see there was a lot of joy for the Bama fans as they really manhandled the out matched Gators 38-10. There was a little joy for Gator fans but it only lasted for the first quarter. Then the lights went out and it was all over, out played, out coached you name it. By the picture below I can tell you that there was not enough of tackling this guy. We got back to the hotel at about 1 AM, the photo below is about 9 AM Sunday morning. Worth a 1000 words, this is what a happy Bama fan looks like!!!! I wish all of you a very Special Blessing and be a Blessing to some one else. And Terry, to you I say ...

With soccer season in full swing Pat and I are enjoying watching the kids play. Luke just finished up playing indoor soccer and now is outside. What he has found out is that running up and down a regulation field is tough. The indoor soccer field is about half the length of a regular field. He has different team mates then he had in the indoor season so it is quite different. Tyler has surprise all of us with his ability to come back and play. Tyler has not played soccer for at least nine years or so. He is play a defensive back and also goalie and really playing well. I know that Doug is really enjoying seeing him play, what father wouldn’t? What Tyler found out quickly was that he was not in shape. He has gotten better with each game, doesn’t seem to be sucking as much wind. Football is also a big part of our life this time of the year. Friday night it is Manatee HS and Saturday is college football. There are two really big games this weekend. Manatee plays Southeast and Florida pla...

I have been on this reading craze for a while now. I love my books and hate to get rid of them because I may want to read them again. So, what has happened is my old small book case has become too small to hold my books. This week I set out to build a new bookcase and it was completed as of Friday. The books on the bottom two shelves have been read. The next two and a half selves have not. When I was a young firefighter I used to read Mike Hammer and Shell Scott. I really enjoy murder mysteries as I try to guess "who done i't" before I am through reading it. I mostly read James Patterson (my favorite), John Grisham, Harlan Cobin and Linwood Barclay. My daughter Sandy has loaned me many books to read also. Patricia Cornwell and Eric Lustbader seems to be her favorites at one time. I am reading a Tom Clancy book right now and I have not gotten in to it yet. I also like Stuart Woods and T. Jefferson Parker. Oh well as you can see I have plenty to read, but I have to stop bu...

26th Street and Manatee Ave West Coming to Manatee Ave and 26th Street West Coming into Downtown Bradenton At 15th st and Manatee Ave West Standing on 59th Street over looking GT Bray Part, Standing in my front yard looking east. As you can see we do have some beautiful Sun Rises in our small area of the world. I know that the Beach is known for Sunsets which are nice but we "Arise" to this. Well it was another sports weekend for the Gallo's as we went to the Manatee game on Friday night. Manatee lost to the number one team in the nation 22 to 16. They made two bad mistakes that cost them their game. But the have nothing to hang their heads for as they played a great game. Saturday morning Pat and I headed to Gainesville to see the Gator's play Tenn. Florida won their game 33 to 23 but did not play all that well. They better put it together as the month of October will be rough. We missed our grandsons first soccer games this Saturday. Tyler's team lost 2 - 0 but...

Friday afternoon I attended a luncheon honors our Public Service hero's, Fireman, Military and EMS workers. We watched videos of past 911 events and some videos of the event itself. I will never forget that day when our country was attacked. The lives of everyone US citizens was changed in some way. I hope that we have also proved that if you mess with us we will stand tall and react. "God Bless America" ! As you can see my book case runnith over, I will be building a new and bigger one to replace it with. I really enjoy my reading, I am a big fan of James Patterson, John Grisham, Harlan Cobin and Linwood Barclay. They are my favorite authors that I read, About the only things that are going on are Manatee and Florida football. The kids will be starting soccer soon and that will be great. I hope it cools off a little before it starts. As you also can see I like to watch...