Small Bridge

Today I am posting a couple of pictures of a small bridge built using the Anker Kleine Genegross Set. This is a small mini-set with 30 small stones. As with all small toys, this set is not designed to be used by children under three years of age. The set was designed for young children to play with and to introduce them to the art of building with stone blocks and to up-grade to the larger sets.

The picture at the top is the Mini-set. The box measures approximately 4 x 5 inches so you have and idea of how small these stones are.

It's been a while

Wow! How time passes when your having fun. This is my first post in several months. I have been busy building Plastic kits mainly Tamiya 1/48 armor kits. We have a new puppy her name is Schula and she is now 19 months old and a holy terror. Schula came from Mexico and loves heat, although related to the Pit Bull family Schula is a Stratfordshire Terrier who would rather play with people over other dogs. Her color is Brindle meaning she is brown with black strips all over her body. She loves to go the dog park and has a few friends she plays with. Rocket, Champ, LuShun, Bella, Shadow and Carli our her favorites. We take her to a local Dog Park in Mt. Clemens, Michigan.

Other then that, I have always loved building things with the Anker Stone Blocks. These blocks date back to the 18th Century and were manufactured in Germany. After many many years, the company was re-opened and the blocks once again are being manufactured. I had several sets in the pass but was forced to sell almost all my sets when we went through some hard times. Now I have slowly started to re-supply myself with stones and sets.

This about brings things current or at least close to current for now.

What's been Happening

Well it has been quite a year. We have a new member of our family in the form of a new puppy. She is now almost 18 months having rescused her from the Animal Shelter. She is a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Her name is Schula and her color is Brindle. Every night were take her to our local Dog Park where is runs and plays with other dogs in the park. Schula certainly has a few dogs she favors to play with. We never realized Schula would be such a hand full at our age. She has really given us a way to go.

On the modelling front, I have been doing more plastic modeling of late in the form of Tamiya 1/48 scale Military Armor Models. So far I have built 10 models, with the latest model completed being the German Flakpanzer IV Wirbelwind. You can see pictures of my models below.

We.ve Moved!

It's been a while and we have been very busy moving to a new location. It's not a move we wanted to make, but it was necessary. In the long run, I know I will enjoy it much more as now we are over the flight path of Selfridge ANG Base-N/S runway. Whenever there is air traffic, the planes pass right over our apartment. Sometimes as low as a few hundred feet overhead. Two armed F-16's passed the other day and I could see the missiles still under the wings.
I will be publishing more pictures from my collection soon, so stay tuned.

I know it's the time of the year to be happy, but on 7 December, 2006 we lost our beloved dog Mokie. She was sixteen and although she was sick a lot, she never let it get her down and she was always ready to go bye-bye in the car whenever we went out. Her favorite stop was the drive-in teller window at the bank. she made it well known that she wanted her withdrawal in the form of chew bones. We have cried till there are almost no tear left.

On Saturday 9 December, the hurt was so strong both my wife Joan, and myself could not stand the emptyness in the house. Our first stop after leaving our now empty abode was to the animal shelter. Here we found a stray puppy that said "I was sent by Mokie to fill the void in your heart" So home she came with us and the days have once again become full of laughs and smiles. Mokie will never be forgotten, as was our first dog Charkie.

Today we can talk about Charkie and remember the funny things that have happened like crossing the Canadian Border back into the U.S. Charkie always sat between us in the center section of the front seat. On this day, the Customs Agent gave us a quick glance and asked if "All three of us were American Citizens?" I think even today he must recall this as one of his most embarrassing moments.

It's still very hard to talk about Mokie without shedding tears, but I know the day will come when we can do so and smile at all the funny things she did. So for now, its good bye our baby and May God be holding you in his hands, and hello to Kokie! our newest member of our family!

Correction to previous posting it is a Skyraider not an S2E as listed.

Photos taken Grosse Isle NAS, Mich 1960's

Here are some early photographs of S2E and Neptunes taken at Groose Isle NAS, Michigan. The base at the time was located almost at the mouth of Lake Erie. It was closed in the 1970's as I recall and operations moved to Selfridge Base near Mt. Clemens, Michigan on Lake St. Clair.