Bird "cage" in action

Mark built this bird cage/trap for the back yard. It's on the ground near the bird feeders. Birds can wander in to feed or hang out. When we see something interesting we go out. The birds get a little nervous and forget how to get out (swinging gate) and Mark catches them. We've been able to see lots of neat birds. The best so far is the Coopers/Sharp shin Hawk. We look at them, sometimes take pictures and release them.

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Olive season 2015

We have been busy picking olives to make olive oil. A group of us got together and picked 267 kilograms of olive. This year the olives trees had lots of olives compared to last year. Hugh, a friend from the thrift store raking olives off the branches. He was the ring leader in this operation. Everyday we walked by these trees, he would say " we better get these before the Italians get them" J.P. working his height and extra long olive rake. Laurel taking the glamour shot while working. Net below the tree, this really helps. Every olive that you knock off lands here and then you can just gather them up in the net into a bin or bucket. Working on getting any large branches or leaves out before going in the bin. Kestrel heading up the ladder. These girls when motivated can really work. More olives. Jan's car loaded and heading to the olive mill to make oil. That's our olives from two...

Ski trip to Austria

The Carpenter family took a ski trip over Christmas vacation. Deanna and Mark had taken this same ski trip 15 years ago when we were stationed in Naples. The same tour group was still hosting guest to stay and ski in Austria. The girls on the train from Munich to Salzburg eating the last of their Italian pizza. Kestrel exited about getting a german pretzel in Munich. This is the Hotel that Siegi tours put our group of friends from both Sigonella and Naples in. It is located in the town of Schwarzach im Pongau which is about a hour train ride from Salzburg. Austrian deer taken about 30 km from Schwarzach im Pongau. The hotel manager was a avid hunter who enjoyed talking about outdoor adventures. Some of our group sitting down to dinner at the hotel. Deanna was given a flask for being a "trip captain" by Siegi tour for bringing a group of 18 people. This ski area in Austria is the third largest in the world. ...

Labor day weekend getaway

We had a long weekend to explore the beaches of Sicily over the Labor day holiday. We took the girls out of school after lunch on Friday and drove about 2 hours to Milazzo We had found this beach hotel on booking.com and thought it looked nice from the description and photos. We checked in at reception and the front desk lady and that guy (who is the jack of all trades at Italian hotels) start talking about how to get our luggage down to our apartment. We find out that its a steep walk down to the private cove and beach. He loads our stuff up in a tiny Fiat car and tells us to start heading down and he races away. A beautiful walk down a small road. On one side on the road is this view of another hotel. The doorway and stairs to the beach. We found this great private beach waiting for us. It was amazing, one of those times where it is much better than you thought it could be. ...

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