Tradesman Thursday - Jeff of all traits and a master of some

On Monday afternoon on my way home from golf I noticed a weird sound each time I stepped on the breaks.  I was a bit worried so I stopped at a gas station just to do a cursory check just in case there was something stuck on the wheels or tires.  When I did not see anything, I thought it must be the break pads.  As soon as I got home, I explained that sound to Jeff as two metals grinding together.  He knew exactly what I was talking about.  That same night we went to O'Reily auto supplies for some break pads.  Although it was already late, Jeff decided to work on my car to ensure that it will be available for me for the next day.  Before moving here, I would spend quite a bit of money each time I take my car to a mechanic.  Now a days, Jeff is my mechanic.  He would rotate my tires, change oil, change break pads, maintain the air pressure, as well as washing and detailing my car.  Am I lucky or what!  So you might be wondering what other tradesman can he be.  Here's a few of them.

Carpenter or construction worker - he learned a lot from his dad who was a Carpenter

Plumber - it's not one of his favorite but he can do from the simplest repair to some complicated problem.

 

Electrician - now his son has become one and soon to be a journeyman.

Tiler - Jeff has done some beautiful tile work in our home.

Mechanic- with Jeff there is no waiting time and no added cost.

Gardener/landscaper/tree trimmer - he is learning a lot about planting different vegetables and fruits.

And for his day job, he designs something like this - PC Board.

 

Slow Saturday - Something Soothing

In this fast paced world we live in, sometimes doing things slow is not a bad thing.  As the expression says "take time to stop and smell the roses".  So what slow things do you do?

•  Tea Time - there is something special about sipping a very hot cup of tea slowly.  The other night I tried for the first time the Timothy's K cup Peppermint Tea that my daughter gave us on her last visit.  It was so minty it tingles in my tongue and lingers for a few seconds.  I really enjoyed sipping it so slowly while watching Private Practice.
• 17 Mile Drive - Monterey/Carmel area - I cannot forget the first time Jeff showed me this very scenic drive.  At the time he had is blue convertible Miata and we picked the perfect three days to do this trip.  We started in Monterey and came out of Carmel.  The most memorable part is when we saw two fawns crossing the street. The mother was waiting on the other side. The baby deer actually look both ways before crossing the road.  Unfortunately Jeff's camera was in the trunk. This past April we took my daughter and her husband to this area.  It was memorable this time because we stopped at some of the popular golf course and had lunch at Pebble Beach looking over the 18th hole.  Driving slow was recommended for this 17 mile drive.
• Slow Dance - It has been a while since Jeff and I went dancing.  I believe that last time we went out was when my BFF visited us in October 2011 which is one year ago.  So Jeff does not really like dancing but does not mind going out to bars that has live music specially when it's a band that plays his type of music.  If and when we do go out, he does not mind slow dancing (two is his max).  
• Slow Jams - When I first got my MP3 (a birthday gift from Jeff), the playlist I have is mostly slow jams.  I copied most of the music and while going through some of the files, I found one play list that my son made for me.  It's a little tough now a days to listen to it because it reminds me of him and I can't help and be sad.  Some of the songs I've never heard and so I thought of featuring this one from his play list.

Truthful Thursday - Talents between two sisters

One of my other posts, I was talking about the dilemma I have regarding my garden.  If only my sister is here, she would have planted flowers, vegetables, etc.  She has the greenest thumb I have ever known.  A long time ago when she was moving from one place to another, she rescued a plant from the garbage that someone has thrown. I think it was sort of a palm tree and it grew so tall and very healthy.  I remember her telling me some years ago - she said "you know you can't have all the talents.  So here's the different between my sister and I and some photos to prove it. These first two photos are one of her many talents.  

Hand embroidered which takes hours and hours to complete.  Very detailed and requires a lot of patient.

This was one of earlier work.  My sister hand embroidered this as her house warming gift for our first house in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.

Baby blanket for Greenly (my step grand daughter). My sister can crochet and knit also.

When it comes to music, my sister loves music but don't ever ask her to sing even if her life depended on it. I recall when we were in grade school, we decided to take guitar lessons.  One of the first lessons was learning the simple chords.  The teacher ask her to play the chord C, F, and G.  I can really remember the next chord that she was asked to play, but her answer was

H.  For those of you who have musical talent, we all know there is no H chord.  This is when I think she decided that playing an instrument was not her talent.

In Yellowknife she made a lot of wedding cakes.  She was very good at it and someday I will have to try and scan some of the photos and feature them.  In fact she made my wedding cake.  It was called Sans Rival, very similar to the photo below.  Her wedding cake became so popular, she had so many of our friends and family who got married, or for birthday cakes, or any other occasion ordered from her.  The one down fall is that the majority of the wedding cake that she had made, all these marriages ended up in divorce.

You can check her blog to see some of talents that I have mentioned above. 

http://pinkstarposts.blogspot.com/.