August This-And-Thats

I know I've lamented my waning use of the firepit each of the last few years, but it continues as I've only had the two so far this year.  The mosquitoes haven't seemed as bad this year, but that may be because I've spent less time outside with less fire pits.  Allergies have been present, but have been less severe as last year.  Again, less outside time, maybe?  We've had some good stretches of windows-open weather, but more stretches of heat and/or humidity keeping the air conditioning on.

Summer was at its peak when I mentioned it here, and a week after that it showed.  That's not saying there's not some good summer left, just that I recognized the peak.  Atwoodfest has normally been when I've accepted the season is waning.  It certainly doesn't mean that summer is over, but it's time to just appreciate the warmer weather while we still have it.

We attended Eken Park Fest yesterday for an hour or two.  A nice, nearby neighborhood festival, but small, and it actually snuck up on us.  When we realized it was this weekend we chose in the spur of the moment to go there to find lunch.  We chose a local Mexican restauranteur, and it was very good.  That morning we had gone to a pottery place where you can choose from premade pottery to paint/glaze yourself.  You pay, they fire it, then call you in about a week to pick it up.  It can get expensive so we started small to try it out.  Kate wanted to get a bear as a gift for a friend and they only had a small teddy bear one that will have a magnet on the back.  I did a small gnome in some common colors.  I had visited once before with a group of clients for work, and it was interesting enough I told my wife about it, and so we wanted to try it ourselves.  I hope they turn out well and we like it enough to get more adventurous the next time.

Roofing supplies were delivered on Monday, off to the side of the driveway in back.  The roof was done eventually on Tuesday, due to morning rain.  They got started about 11:30 in the morning and wound up leaving at 7:00 that evening with all roofing and cleanup finished.  Gutters were completed two and three days later.  Currently they still need to pick up the pallet with leftover supplies, add a water deflector above the walk-in garage door, and clean up the line of caulk above the porch where it meets the house.  More later as there is more to come.

The sunflowers took some damage from the roof and gutter replacement, but came out of it pretty good overall.  Some leaves snapped at most, from what I've seen.  The tall sunflower on the left has about 10 flowers currently, though tough to see in this picture, and more buds coming.  These multiple flowers generally get smaller and smaller as they bloom.  And the one in the corner has several blooms as well, but also has reached 10 feet and 2 inches as of today.

I like the idea of pure mammoth seeds that grow tall and have a large flower, but only the one.  But the unknown cross-pollination with the multiple flowers is more enjoyable, and for a longer time.  I must get the seeds of the first flower of at least one of the two I mentioned last paragraph, preferably the taller one but I'll try for both.

I've been making a different recipe of baguette recently, and I'm really liking the crumb.  I think I left this last batch in the oven a bit long, but the quest for the perfect baguette is a never-ending process, after all.  I made pizza dough this morning.  I'd been wanting larger portions so today I made the same amount of dough that I used to make for four crusts into just three.  Thicker than thin crust with 50/50 00/AP flour should be a good combination, I think.  Anyway this baguette made as crostini was absolutely fabulous.

I had some vague ideas when I started to write this, but it was mostly stream of consciousness.  Basically one of my this-and-thats posts, unformatted as such.  Oh well, good enough for me.  Go Brewers!

Rain 1, Sunflower 0

My heart skipped a beat this morning as I checked if anything happened overnight on the security camera.

The large sunflower (pictured last post) had fallen during the night, a little after 1 a.m.  It rained more often than not for the last day, and we needed it terribly, but the conditions just put it down.  It was only about seven in the morning but I immediately went out and wound up putting in three stakes to stabilize it.  The little one next to it came up with it but the cage that is still around it was enough support for that.

And after raining all day we just got a bit of sun so here it is now.  I think it's going to make it.  

That flower I was planning on bagging so I can collect the seeds, and it has at least 10 more buds on it to come yet.  The one on the right also has multiple buds coming.  I'm thankful for the sunflowers I have, but it has been a brutal year for them, overall.

Scorched Sunflowers & Follow-Ups

From what I noticed this afternoon we got up to 98ºF (37ºC), with a feels-like temperature of 114ºF (46ºC).  Definitely the hottest day of the year so far, but thankfully we should just be regular-hot the rest of the week.

The sunflower on the outside of the back steps was the first to bloom, but the petals are rather deformed.  This is the second one to bloom, and is a bit more picturesque.  That first one has no other blooms starting off the stem, while this one has them coming in all the way down.  I'm not sure why some of my mammoth sunflowers have multiple blooms and others don't.  Perhaps one is male and the other is female, I'm not sure.  The first batch planted are definitely the strongest, though, while the second plantings are much smaller plants yet still growing buds.

Our air quality is back to normal levels, though there is still smoke out there so if the winds shift the right way we may get smoky again.  I think I heard something like the smoke would affect us about one day a year until 2020, and has averaged about 8 days a year since.  That would explain why it seems like more now - because it is.

The protests continue with base camp at the intersection where it happened and nearby streets shut down.  The city has been working with them, providing port-o-potties and trash collection while working with the protesters to keep up services and driveway access for the unfortunate residents in the area.  One of which is a friend, who is not enjoying the extra traffic and hassle.  I'm not sure how long it will continue but would surely calm down if they announced criminal charges against the police officer.  Seems to be the right thing to do, but no rant on this today.

The neighbors have added some interesting lights to their house.  It was red, white and blue earlier this month for the holiday, and was like this the other night.  Thankfully we only have two windows on that side so it doesn't really affect us at all. I find it to be an interesting choice, what do you think?

And, finally, I'm feeling much better and practically back to normal after my fall a couple weeks ago.  When you're young you can bounce, and I haven't been young in a long time.  It would behoove me to avoid any more falls in the future, I think. 

Oh, and the new roof should be happening very soon, but I don't have a date yet.  Have a great week, everyone!

AtwoodFest 2026 - Canceled

Yesterday the decision was made to cancel this year's AtwoodFest, scheduled for today and tomorrow.  Since Wednesday, Madison has been in the national news for another cop killing a bad guy with excessive force, an incident that happened here on the near east side of town.  The ensuing outrage and protests have led to many event delays and cancellations over the last couple of days.

It just never stops.  Why can't we all just get along and do what's right in this world?

A Hot, Smoky Mess

I don't remember getting smoked out when I was younger, but we've had our moments over the last several years of smoke from wildfires moving in and depleting our air quality.  That's what's happening again now.

I took this picture while driving on my way to work this morning.  Looks like just a haze or a fog, but actually there's not a cloud in the sky, it's all smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota.  And it got worse as the day went on, getting officially to 'hazardous' levels.  But should clear up to 'unhealthy' or 'very unhealthy' tomorrow, though I expect it to fluctuate a lot until we get a system to move this out.  This story has been national news the last couple days as it stretches from here in the Midwest all the way to the more important populated northeast states.

Not much else has happened since I last posted.  I took a stupid fall in the basement on Saturday afternoon, bruising my whole left side.  I took Monday and Tuesday off work, and when I went into work on Wednesday I used my cane, which just freaked out management.  I wound up being sent home and forced to see a doctor to fill out their paperwork before I could go back.  I knew a doctor wouldn't be able to do anything for me, but I saw one anyway and got their paperwork filled out.  I have some minor restrictions until Monday, and I'm sure I'll be good to go by then.

Meanwhile, our temperatures have been hotter this week than when I complained a couple posts ago, but should break soon.  The lawn needs mowing, weeds need spraying, and paint needs to be looked at and used/saved.  But it's very likely nothing will be done until the weekend.

Hope all is well where you are.  Cheers.

Project Updates & Sunflowers

I started this morning with grand plans of repainting all of the garage trim, then I remembered how much I hate painting.  I wound up just painting the lower parts of the trim and doing touch-up where needed.  If it doesn't blend well then I'll repaint all the rest tomorrow as the paint is still good but the rim has rusted out so this will be the last use of this quart, this weekend.  I know I get no style points for my paint job, but function over form for this project.

Meanwhile, I chose a contractor for roofing the house, porch and garage.  We will keep the gutters we have on the house as there's only one small dent on one side, but will replace the downspout that got all beat up.  Last time we did the roof we did not do the porch as we thought we'd be replacing it.  Well, that hasn't happened so we will have a new roof put on that and have the gutters replaced, and all gutters will get a gutter guard so I will no longer have to climb a ladder around the house twice a year to clean them out.  We considered putting gutters on the garage and getting a rain barrel by the garden.  It's still something I dream of doing, but not at this time to keep costs down.  The process of choosing a contractor was harder than it should have been, but that was mostly on the contractors I talked to (or got ghosted by).  The work is planned for sometime in a two week window starting later this month, I should know more soon.

If you remember, as part of our 2024 street reconstruction project included a footbridge across the creek.  That part of the project was stalled due to permitting issues, we were told, but construction is expected to begin this fall and be completed in 2027.  This unnecessary expenditure comes as the city is asking all departments to slash their budgets, still broke though we residents inexplicably voted to let them raise our property taxes to above state-mandated levels a couple years ago.  Egad, what a waste.  We can't wait for these city elections to oust everyone in office right now.

Still peak summer here, with the yard and gardens so alive.  The cone flowers have gotten really tall in the stump area, so no pots on the stump were actually needed this year.  Day lilies that Kate planted a few years ago are bursting with blooms, and other flowers come and go.

If you peek over the fence on the left you'll see the neighbor is getting a new fence to match ours installed today.

The sunflowers have had a hard go of it this year.  Out of 54 planted we have 15 left, so almost 3/4 of them have been lost.  I'll post the rundown after the break, otherwise have a great weekend!

Happy 4th of July - 250th

Happy holiday everyone, or happy Saturday if more appropriate.  Kate's working today so I had a lazy start to the morning before tackling a project outside.  It was muggy, buggy, and the threat of rain was everywhere though it held off until we got a shower this afternoon.

Over the years the lower part of the garage walk-in door frame has rotted, leaving gaps.  I made a temporary fix a year or two ago, but it was bad enough now to need something more permanent.  I'd considered just getting a new pre-hung door, but came up with a plan that should last for longer and save that few hundred bucks.

Previously I had chipped out all the rotten wood that I could, but then leaned a wood panel over it for the last week or so, waiting for the heat to break.  My first thought was to fill it in with chunks of wood using screws and construction adhesive, but my eventual plan of boxing it all in was much easier.  

I started with a thin strip to fill in the trim and make a 90 degree angle, then covered the inside frame and outside with two more pieces of plywood, using the construction adhesive to seal all around.  A few years ago I replaced the rotten wood in the threshold, so that got another layer slathered on as well.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get some paint on it and it will be hardly noticeable.

After that, lunch and a nap.  The Brewers play late tonight so if I want to stay up the nap was needed.  I think we'll be staying in tonight so I was hoping for a fire, but the mugginess, mossies and threat of a scattered shower or storm will likely keep me in.  So no big holiday plans here, I'm just enjoying a three day weekend while also feeling for my wife who has to work every day of it.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  Cheers!

Heat Wave Ramblings

This past week has been HOT, very hot and humid.  Temperatures have been in the low to mid 90's ºF all week, lowering just a couple degrees today but still very oppressive.  Not terribly unusual as we've gotten over 100ºF in recent memory, except for it now coming as early as the last week in June.  We had thunderstorms miss us or just nick us mostly north in the last day, but the next couple days will see more scattered storms.  Just perfect for a 3-day holiday weekend.  Oh well, Kate has to work the next four days so I'll be mostly on my own anyway.

Even as I write this, it is before 6 p.m. so would normally be full daylight but rather is very dark as a storm is approaching and a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued.  I just stepped out to take this picture below, and the pic seems lighter outside than actual.  I'm making dinner tonight, homemade pizza, so will continue writing after.

Dinner was very good, thank you.  I'd post a pic but you've likely seen enough of my pizzas.  The rain was heavy and began almost immediately after finishing the above, but short-lived.  Looks like more of the same off and on for the weekend.

So now, after dinner and a call with Mom, where was I?

Heat, storms, oh yeah, it's a three day weekend now with tomorrow off for Saturday's 4th of July holiday.  I have more contractor stuff to share but I think I'll wait on that.  I think maybe it's time to wrap this up for now.  I'll likely post something on Saturday for the holiday, so until then - Cheers!

Summer Solstice 2026

Flowers, Weeds & Contractors

First I planted 30 sunflowers around the yard.  Critters destroyed many so I started a box of 24 more, two of which didn't grow.  I planted 10 more around the yard and reseeded the two that did not grow.  Then, rather than take the rest to work (see earlier post) I hurriedly planted all of them around the yard and in the garden.  That's 54 seedlings planted around the yard this spring.

Of those 54 I currently have only 20 still alive, 12 of which appear straight and strong for their size while another 8 are broken, twisted and smaller.  Only one remains in front by the bird feeder with most of the rest around the back door.

It's been a brutal spring for my sunflowers.

And our lawn.  I mowed this morning right before taking these pictures, and was reminded that we have one kind of weed in the front yard that my weedkiller does not affect, and another kind of weed in the back lawn that is also unaffected.  I'm going to have to do some research on what exactly they are and how to get rid of them.

Elsewhere in the yard things are looking real good, good enough for me to want to share pictures, I guess.  Alium are going to seed as tiger lilies bloom, the hostas are huge and full along the back fence, and the stump area is thriving with wildflowers planted each of the last two years, now coming back on their own.

As for a hail/contractor update, I'm going to start again by researching three more companies to call on Monday to get quotes.  We've discussed it, and we will only get the roof and gutters done.  Residing the house I feel will open up an expensive can of worms.  We can live with a few dents on mostly the west side of the house.  The window and maybe some screens I should be able to get fixed rather cheaply.

Well, it's been a relatively productive day here so far.  Kate has to work tomorrow so what she says goes today, but will likely be lunch out followed with me watching the Brewer game this afternoon.  For dinner we plan on grilling out brats.  Another new-to-us brand as we continue our search for a new brand of bratwurst that we like.  Then later tonight I'm hoping I still have the energy to have a fire.  I'll feel guilty if I don't, as tomorrow is the solstice but expected to be rather damp out.  Wish me luck.