Norris Family Blog

Painting Trip

Stacey, Linda and I left for IN early Friday morning. Our first stop was at Fredrick's Construction in between Pendleton and Lapel. We signed a contract with them to tear off the old roof and replace the roof and decking on Mom's house. They will also install five inch guttering too. After that we went to Daleville and worked on the house. I emptied the front bedroom while Linda was cleaning in the kitchen. Then I ripped up the carpet, cut it into small sections and tied it into rolls that Linda carried out to the front porch. We also pulled up the old carpet pad and did the same with it. Linda swept the floor with the shop vacuum while I took the old carpet to the dumpster just around the corner from the house. Kim Bourke came over and helped Linda paint the trim with a color called Ultra White as I painted the ceiling. Kenny Bourke came and helped by brushing the edges of the ceiling that I couldn't get with the roller. Kim and Kenny asked us to spend the night at their house, so we cleaned up, put our brushes and rollers in plastic bags and laid them in the refrigerator. On the way to their house, I stopped at Pizza King and bought a pizza and bread sticks to take to the house.

The next morning, Linda and I drank coffee with Kim and then left for Daleville. Stacey, Linda and I went to the Daleville Lion's Club pancake breakfast. It was like a home coming for me as several of my old buddies were volunteering their time. We ate and talked for about an hour, then went to Mom's house to meet with Pauline and Brent. They had Julie and Kyle with them and we had a little bit of time to play with the kids while the dogs did their business outside. We caged the dogs and went to the nursing home in Muncie to visit with Mom. After about an hour and a half visiting with Mom we left because it was dinner time at the nursing home. We returned to the house and began by tearing out the carpet in the back bedroom and then we started painting. Pauline helped a bunch by taping the trim and ceiling so that Brent and I could roll and brush without getting paint on the opposite color. The Ultra White really stood out against the light green we used in the front bedroom.

We took a break for lunch at Bird's Smokehouse BBQ. My Mom and Dad were good friends with Bird Strange when I was a kid. Chuck, his son, and I had birthday parties together. After lunch, we returned to painting and cleaning at the house. I painted the back bedroom ceiling while Linda and Brent tore out the carpet in the bathroom and took down the old shower doors. We're still in the planing stage for the bathroom, but we knew that what was in there had to go. Kim came back with her grandson, Jordan. Kim's son, Jeremy came in with his daughter, Samantha. Sabra and Jim Lindzy arrived with their kids, Amber and Clayton. Linda K and Imon came over in their 1955 Ford two door station wagon. Alton Sneed and his wife stopped and talked a while too, and with our own families there, that little house was packed. Nearly everyone did something to help and when Brent heard the ice cream truck playing it's song, he went running out and bought everyone ice cream. Later, when things wound down and everyone had left, Linda, Stacey and I drove towards Pendleton, picked up 20 sandwiches at White Castle and took them to Linda's Mom's house. Jessica was there dropping off Trevon for an overnight stay. We ate the sandwiches and then watched a little of the NCAA Tournament before going to bed.

Sunday morning, we drank coffee with Reba and talked a little longer than we had planned. When we left, we went to Lowe's to see about buying carpet and found out we weren't smart enough to read a ruler according to them. They would not sell us carpet and install it unless they came to the house and measured. We didn't have time for that, so we left and went to the house to work. Pauline taped the trim areas in the back bedroom and then she and Brent took their kids back to the nursing home for another visit with Mom. Linda, Stacey and I remained in Daleville and continued to paint and work. We hauled out more trash and sorted out things. Pauline and Brent returned with the kids, picked up their dogs and headed on home to KY.

Linda and I continued working until about 4 PM, then closed up the house and started home. We returned an old washboard to Reba and then drove towards KY. We were anticipating some fish from King Fish as we neared the Ohio River, but an unexpected noise occured. At first I thought I had blown the muffler off, but then realized it was a tire problem. I pulled off the Interstate and onto a side road in Jeffersonville. I turned the corner into a filling station driveway and stopped the car. Linda and I jumped out and found part of a rubber bungee cord stuck in the tire. It had been beating against the inside of the wheel well. I asked the attendant if there were any tire repair places open on Sunday evening at 7:30 PM. He thought the Wal-Mart service area might be open, but that was the only possibility that he knew about. I pulled our stuff out of the back of the HHR and then the spare tire and jack. After a few minutes trying to figure out how the heck to open the jack handle (Linda reading the directions didn't help) I managed to get the handle undone. I jacked up the car and changed the flat, threw the things back inside and we drove to Wal-Mart. They were closed. It didn't matter because I really didn't think the tire could be fixed, so I decided to drive on home. Linda told me the owner's manual said the tire was good for fifty miles.

Well, we made it home, one hundred and twenty miles on that 50 mile tire. At least that worked out pretty well.

Posted by Dave at 10:45 PM
Categories: Current Events

Julie & Kyle Visit The Farm

We met Pauline and Brent and ate dinner at Colton's Restaurant in Glasgow Wednesday evening. After eating, we loaded Julie and Kyle into our HHR and took them back to the farm with us. They were ready to go to bed when we parked the car in the garage.
Thursday morning, Linda fixed everyone pancakes and the kids ate it up. We took them for a Mule ride with the dog running around the fields and ate pop sickles at the pole barn on the way back to the house. I had to attend an Events Committee meeting at noon while Linda and Stacey took Julie and Kyle to Pizza Hut. When I came home everyone was taking a nap. I mowed the grass until they woke, then we played until bedtime.

Friday morning, I went outside and began mowing. Around 10:30 I went back inside and Linda and I decided to go to Russell Springs to check out carpet. We went in the HHR and Julie's pick for lunch was McDonald's, so we stopped in Columbia and had cheeseburgers. We finished lunch and drove to Bennett's Carpet. We purchased enough carpet and pad for the two bedrooms at Mom's house in IN. After finishing that, we stopped at Wal-Mart and bought groceries, then returned home and put the things away. Pauline and Brent arrived about 5 PM and they wanted to go to Major's Pizza in Albany, so Brent took us over there in their Traverse. The day ended with the kids going to sleep early since they hadn't taken a nap during the day.

Posted by Dave at 10:00 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

Maiden Voyage

The weather was a little 'iffy' for a boat ride Saturday morning, but we had some things to do before we could try it. Brent and I had to find vinyl numbers for the side of the boat. We searched Burkesville and finally found a set of letters and numbers at Cumberland Sportsman Supply. We then hooked the truck to the boat and trailer and pulled it out of the pole barn. We measured and marked the spots for the numbers and KY stickers and applied them to both sides of the boat. Pauline, Stacey and Linda had the kids and a picnic setup just a few feet away near the fire pit. We stopped working and ate a frozen fruit over cake dessert, then returned to the boat work. We knotted rope for the boat bumpers and did a few other things, then pulled the truck and boat up the hill to the house. I opened the garage door and pulled the water hose to the back of the boat. We used the 'ear muffs' to start the boat and try out the controls. The new 350 cubic inch motor started the first try and everything worked perfectly. I also put the plug in the bottom of the boat. By that time, the weather had cleared and Pauline, Stacey and Linda had followed us to the house and were packing things for the trip to Dale Hollow. Linda and I took Julie with us in the truck and Pauline and Brent had Kyle and Stacey with them in their Traverse. We didn't get far down the road when Brent called on the FRS radio and said the cover was flapping on the back end of the boat. I pulled to the side and we used the straps that hold the boat on the trailer to secure the cover. The next stop was the gas station to fill the boat's tank, then to the dock. After Stacey and Linda climbed in the boat, Pauling took Kyle and Julie to the restroom while I backed the boat down and into the water. Brent started the boat and backed it off the trailer, then pulled it to the dock to pick up the rest of the crew.

Brent backed away from the dock, then idled out of the idle zone and moved the throttle forward. The bow raised as the motor revved and we were under way, cruising on Dale Hollow Lake. The wind was blowing briskly and the lake was in a chop as we passed Trooper Island and headed towards Sunset Dock. As we ran along a hillside where the lake was protected from the wind, Brent pushed the throttle down and the boat smoothed out and began showing it's speed. As we moved back into the windy part of the lake he eased the speed back down and went back to cruising. On a big stretch of wide water, he stopped the engine and we unfurled the Bimini top, then he restarted the engine and we went on.

I took the controls for a little bit and noticed how well the power steering worked. I moved out of the driver's seat and told Stacey to take over. She had been waiting patiently to take her turn because Brent and I had teased her about her not being able to drive the new boat. Stacey was excited that she was driving the boat and very happy we all were having fun on the lake again. I took the controls and pulled the boat into the dock at Sunset. Brent jumped out and tied the front end securely while I held the boat away from the tires lining the dock. We hung out a boat bumper and secured the rear with another rope, then everyone stepped out on the dock and went inside the restaurant. We ordered our food, then the girls went shopping in the 'ship's store' while I watched Kyle. Brent went back to the boat to get Kyle's sippy cup. Julie and Pauline fed the ducks until our waitress brought our dinners.

We returned to the boat after finishing dinner, untied from the dock and I headed the boat back to the State Park Dock. Stacey took over driving for a while, then Brent drove into the dock area. He pulled the nose of the boat to the edge of the dock, I stepped off the boat and onto the dock and walked up the ramp to the truck and trailer. I backed the trailer into the water and Brent drove the boat on the trailer. I hooked it and then winched it forward about a foot, hooked the safety chain and told everyone to set down while I pulled the boat to the top of the ramp with the truck. I parked and we began readying the boat for the short tow back to the farm. We used the bow and cockpit covers instead of the road cover for the trip back.

We saw a couple of deer as we were leaving the park, but by the time we were back at the farm, Julie was falling over in her seat asleep. After unloading a few items out of the pickup truck, Linda opened the pole barn door and I backed the boat into the barn, then closed the door. The "Maiden Voyage" was over. Brent and the rest of the family picked us up in the Mule for the ride to the house.

Posted by Dave at 8:30 PM
Categories: Boating, Current Events

Backyard Playground

We were a little tired this morning from the boat trip on Saturday. Even though we didn't get in the water, it still tired us out from the rocking of the boat and the sun. Even Julie and Kyle slept late. Pauline had Kyle outside and he had got into a little bit of mud. I guess boys do that sort of thing, don't they?

Linda had told Julie that they would set up the inflatible swimming pool in the backyard, so Brent inflated it and then they partially filled it with water from the hose. Pauline, Julie, Kyle and I went for a Mule ride with Daisy running while the pool was being filled. Linda carried hot water from inside the house to finish filling the pool and make it comfortable for the kids to play. As soon as we put Daisy back in the barn stall, Julie was ready to swim. Pauline removed her shorts and shoes and she jumped in. She took Kyle's clothes off next and then stood him up in the pool. Kyle immediately sat down and began playing like it was a bath tub.

The rest of us sat on the back porch and watched. Julie and Brent had fights with the squirt guns and each of us took a little bit of water before the playing was over. The temperatures were around 87 degrees and it didn't feel too bad when we were sprayed with a little water. Linda fixed dinner about 11:30 AM and they left for home around 3 PM.

Posted by Dave at 4:45 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

Flooding & Mowing

Sunday night and Monday during the day we had heavy rain. The creek was slightly out of the banks and into the hay fields. After the rain stopped and the creek went back down to normal, I crossed and drove around to see what the water had left in the fields. There was some debris in both fields, but not very much large stuff. I waited a couple of days, until the ground dried out enough that the tractor would not make ruts in the fields, then used the scoop on the front to push the debris back to the edge of the fields. I managed to clean out the fields across from the house in about three hours during the morning while the grass was still too damp to mow. There are still things that need picked up by hand and tossed to the edges. After lunch, I mowed everything on the house side of the highway, then went inside for a little while when Linda came home. Linda and I then mowed the grass on the creek side of the road. She used the John Deere mower and I used the tractor with the finish mower. Linda and I drove the Mule with Daisy riding in the back down to the other hay fields across the creek and found a little bit more that needs cleaned up. The weather forecast is for severe storms in our area Friday with possibly more flooding. Maybe I should have waited and just cleaned all the fields one time instead of maybe having to do it twice?

Posted by Dave at 5:45 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

Albany Relay For Life Car Show

About 11 AM, Linda, Stacey and I went to the pole barn, uncovered the 1965 Mustang and I backed it out. We rode to Albany with the top down. After driving through at Burger King, we went to the Clinton County High School parking lot and parked with the other cars at the car show. The rainy weather had caused the Relay For Life Car Show to not be held on Saturday and the turnout was lower because of the show being on Sunday. There were several late arrivals that came after they had attended church. The show organizers made the best of a bad situation and still had a fairly good show.





After the show was over and the trophies had been passed out, we drove back to the farm and put the Mustang back in the pole barn, then covered it with the car cover. It had been a great day for a car show and a ride though the country with the top down. As the daylight turned to dark, Linda fixed us a homemade pizza and we watched the NASCAR race that had been recorded earlier.

Posted by Dave at 8:00 AM
Categories: Cars, Current Events

NASCAR Collectibles

Friday the forecast was for rain most of the day, so Stacey and I went to Glasgow and picked up the glass I had ordered. Barren County Glass had cut 5 pieces of 1/4" thick glass and ground the edges smooth. The pieces for the display case shelves were 55" long and two were 14" wide, 2 were 10" wide and 1 piece was 8" wide. They wrapped the glass in paper and we laid them in the back of the HHR with one of the rear seats laid down. After eating lunch, we returned to the farm and I sat the pieces of glass against the wall in the pole barn.
Saturday while it was still raining, Linda and I went to the pole barn and she washed all the glass on the inside and outside of the display case. I placed the shelf holders in the right locations while Linda washed the glass for the shelves and then I placed them in the case one at a time. The earlier removal of the rear sliding doors made the job easier.
Today, Stacey and I went upstairs and carried the boxes of NASCAR collectibles that Chuck Anderson had gave Stacey downstairs and put them in the back of the Mule. We drove down to the pole barn and began placing the items in the display case. Stacey and I took turns opening the boxes and then placing the item on one of the shelves. We kept the boxes and stored them in the bottom of the display case where they could not be seen. We used the computer to look up a list of Brickyard 400 winners and placed the cars in the order that they had won.

We still have to replace the doors on the back of the case and slide it against the wall.

It's been about 10 months since Chuck gave Stacey the Brickyard 400 collectibles, but it took us a while to find a case to buy.

Posted by Dave at 8:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

Tumbling & Collectibles

Wednesday, Linda had taken a day off of working at the school and after the Event's Committee meeting that I attended, we went to Bowling Green. Nearly a month earlier, at Lumber Liquidators, we had picked up a couple samples of laminate flooring to see what colors we liked for Mom's house in IN. The salesman called us and left a message saying the type of flooring we had chose was on sale. We went inside at Lumber Liquidators and bought enough flooring to do the job along with a roll of underlayment and a piece of "T" molding for the doorways. They slid the 11 boxes of flooring off the skid and into the pickup bed, then we headed towards home. We stopped in Glasgow to look at some other items at Lowe's. I asked Linda to call Brent and see if Julie was going to her tumbling class that evening. They were, so we agreed to meet them and watch Julie during her class. A little before 6 PM, Julie, Kyle, Pauline and Brent drove up to the Barren County School and we all went inside. Kyle was feeling tough and they said he had been to the doctor. His chest was congested and he was weak. Kyle didn't run around much during the tumbling class, but Julie was full of energy. Kyle sat with Pauline or Brent almost the entire time.

After Julie's class was over, we said good bye, gave the kids hugs and drove home.
Friday, the mailman rang the doorbell and said he had a package that was too big for the mailbox. I took the package and thanked him, then turned to Stacey and told her I thought it was our order from NASCAR.com. We opened the box and found another box containing one of the NASCAR collector cars. It was the Bass Pro car like the one Jamie McMurray had drove when he won the 2010 Brickyard 400. The McMurray car was the one Stacey needed to have all of the Brickyard winners and is the first one we've added to the collection Chuck Anderson gave Stacey.

Linda called home and said she was working until 5 PM and we should go to the grocery before she got off work without her. Stacey and I went in the HHR and picked up all the groceries on the list and then returned to the farm and started putting the stuff away. Dave Neff called and said he had finished putting a new clutch in the 56 Chevy and we could pick it up. After finishing putting the groceries away, we went to D&C Auto Service and talked to Dave and Chris Miller for a while. Then I left the HHR there and drove the Chevy to the day care to see how Linda was getting along. She was ready to leave, so she followed me back to the farm. I put the Chevy in the pole barn and moved the pickup truck to the equipment shed. Stacey picked me up in the Mule for a ride to the house, then we drove the Mustang back to town to get the HHR. While we were gone, Gary Mader dropped off a complete set of racing flags that he was giving to Stacey. The Checkered Flag has been signed by several well known racers. Davy Allison and Richard Petty are two of the signatures on the white squares of the Checkered Flag.

The flags will make a nice addition to the NASCAR collection that Stacey has on display.

Gary, thanks for helping Stacey add to her collection!

Posted by Dave at 8:00 PM
Categories: Current Events

Dale Hollow Easter Egg Hunt

Pauline and Brent arrived early with Julie and Kyle. We talked a few minutes, then loaded into their Traverse and rode to Dale Hollow State Park. Brent parked in the lot at the lodge and we went inside towards the restaurant. The Easter Bunny was sitting in a chair for pictures, so Julie hopped on his lap and I took a picture. Kyle wasn't so happy about the picture taking opportunity.

We went on to our table and the Easter Bunny had fixed free pancakes for the kids. We set the kids down with their pancake breakfasts and ordered ours. After eating and paying for the adults' breakfasts, we walked outside the lodge and took a few pictures while overlooking Dale Hollow Lake.

We continued our walk over to the playground area and let the kids play on the equipment for about a half hour until it was time to drive to the campground for the Easter Egg Hunt.

Julie and Brent planned a strategy while Pauline and Kyle signed up for the event. As the start time drew near, everyone lined up in the area for their age bracket, then the horn sounded and it was a mad dash to see who could get the most eggs.


It was over as quickly as it had started. Then it was time to open the plastic eggs and eat some candy. A few minutes later, the crowd gathered closer as the special spotted eggs were turned in for prizes and several new bikes were given away by drawings from the registered names.

The entire event had been free to anyone that attended.

Posted by Dave at 5:04 PM
Categories: Current Events

Easter 2011 At The Farm

Thunderstorms woke me up around 4 AM. At first it was just a light rain, then about daylight the rain began coming down hard. We watched the radar to see when there would be a break in the rain and timed breakfast during a shower. After breakfast, Julie and Kyle opened their Easter Baskets and played with the toys. Then Pauline dressed Kyle and Julie while Stacey, Brent and I went across the road and hid the plastic eggs. I returned to the house and picked up Linda, Pauline, Julie and Kyle in the Mule and drove down to the pole barn. Julie started seeing eggs as soon as we crossed the highway. Kyle wasn't interested in hunting eggs and it took some coaching from several people to get him picking them up.


Julie was having a great time finding the eggs and putting them into the plastic tubs. When her basket was filled she transferred to another tub.

After all the eggs had been found, we moved to the patio at the pole barn to "crack open" the eggs and put the candy in one tub and the money in another tub. We all ate some of the candy. :-)

We went back to the house and fairly soon, Linda had lunch ready. She had been baking a ham and had fixed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn casserole, baked beans and rolls, which I enjoyed with a cold glass of iced tea. As we were eating, thunder and lightning accompanied another rain shower that rolled through the valley. Brent helped me put a storm window on the little house over one of the old windows. Stacey, Julie, Pauline, Brent and Linda made a trip to the storage barn for some Disney books. I remained at the house with Kyle while he was sleeping. Pauline and Brent packed up their stuff and took their kids home with them about 4 PM.

Posted by Dave at 4:30 PM
Categories: Current Events, Farm

CRC Car Show

The Cumberland River Cruisers Spring 2011 Car Show and Swap Meet went great. Linda and I had worked for several days to get things ready that we were assigned to do. I also hooked the black trailer to the pickup truck and chained the Mule to the trailer to take to town for the show. I drove it to town about 7 AM and Linda and Stacey came a few minutes later in the HHR with a load of stuff. We unloaded and then drove the HHR back to the farm and took the 65 Mustang and 56 Chevy to the car show. Carol, Stacey and Linda began registering cars and selling cold drinks so the car show was officially started. There was also a group selling food for breakfast and another group selling hot dogs, chips and drinks later in the day.

I didn't have time to take many pictures, but that job was passed on and I should have access to them in a day or two.

The number of cars was a nice surprise, 121 vehicles had registered with about another 25-30 that didn't want to be judged and never registered. We really hit it lucky, the weather was 'picture perfect', and it was the 5th Saturday of the month, so there were no other shows scheduled around the area. The Generations band played for about an hour and when they took a break at 4 PM, we used their system to announce the door prize winners and then the trophy winners. We gave trophies for the Top 20 cars, a Long Distance Trophy for a vehicle that was drove from Evansville, IN and a Best of Show Trophy.


After we finished with the trophies, we drew a number for the $155 that was half of the 50/50 Drawing. Generations resumed playing as the cars filed out and we packed up our stuff. I was amazed at how clean the park was left by the crowd. We hardly had to do any cleanup. We took the 65 Mustang and truck back to the farm, then returned in the HHR for the 56 Chevy. We spent another hour putting most of the stuff away back at the farm, then we loaded into the HHR and went to Sonic in Columbia for supper.