Vacation Recap and NRII Part 11

Well, before it gets too far away from me I should recap my vacation last week.  I didn't have many exact plans for the time off this vacation, and that was on purpose.  It started with a simple birthday, going out for a few drinks after work then coming home and ordering out pizza.  Good times, but nothing unusual.

The next day I made a batch of baguette in the morning, for the second weekend in a row.  The prior weekend I must have just gone through the motions as they didn't turn out as well as I would have liked.  Neither did this batch, but it was okay.  The afternoon was spent watching the Badgers play football and relaxing.

Sunday morning I made a trip down to Mom's.  When I was a kid I would always ask for Mom's butterfinger dessert for my birthday, and she would make it for me.  We went out to lunch, then afterwards I made that same butterfinger dessert for her from her old recipe.  Her birthday is not long after mine, so it felt good to make it for her, for a change.  And it was yummy.  Very rich, but yummy.  We then spent the afternoon and evening watching the Packers game and relaxing.  The next day I got to work on her list of things that needed to be done, had lunch, and I left for home early afternoon.  It was a nice visit, and overdue as I hadn't been down to see her since my vacation in May.  I hate to admit it, but we haven't even talked on the phone as much.  I used to give her a call when I would be out by the fire, but I've not done that so much this summer.

The next couple days were spent being lazy relaxing, with a few chores here and there and lunches out.  And on Thursday I had a wonderful massage.  Only 60 minutes as that seems to be about right, but I added on a scalp massage at the end, and it was so relaxing.  I feel like I drifted in and out during the scalp massage, but kept trying to stay awake to enjoy it fully.  I think I'll be adding this on to all future massages.

By Friday the weather was very cool and damp, and I don't think I left the house the whole day.  Didn't accomplish anything with my time, just took it easy and told myself that was okay.  More of the same on Saturday, though we did have a late lunch out and watched the Badgers play again that evening.

            *            *            *            *

Sunday, 9/20,  got a little busy at an inopportune time.  I spent the morning making another round of baguette that turned out the best of those last three weekends.  But about 11:30 I ran out to get gas in the car and pick up lunch, getting home in time to put the bread in the oven.  At 12 o'clock noon the bread was in the oven, lunch was getting cold, and the Packers were seconds away from kickoff when the doorbell rang.  It was someone from the roofing company here to trim the excessively overhanging shingles on the porch.  They wanted me to show them but I said it was the whole porch and I was busy.  After thinking for a second I went back to tell them to come some other time, but they were already up there so I let it proceed.  Thankfully they didn't bother me again.

I haven't been up to check their work yet so I will have to do that soon, but that brought the roof back to front of mind.  Yesterday, 9/22, three weeks after meeting with Matt and him telling me to watch my email, I emailed him.  I wanted to call, but I want the paper trail.  I told him rather than cutting into the siding to do that seam up right, I just wanted a wider board to cover the old caulk line.  Truthfully, I don't trust them.  I also inquired about my supplemental insurance claim.  When they were removing the old roof they were supposed to take pictures of the whole process - standard operating procedure, I was told.  This was important because I needed proof that the roof had the ice barrier at least 3 feet above the bottom edge under the shingles.  This was worth at least another $2000 from the insurance company, per their salesman.  When Matt was here I saw him go through the pictures and there were none of this.  Without pictures as proof, I'm out that money from the insurance company.

I've not heard anything back yet, but I'll get that money even if I have to withhold it when the bill comes due.  And that won't be the only discount or credit that I'll demand.

Fall Equinox 2026

Tonight at 7:05 is the Autumn Equinox here, 11 minutes after sunset.  Fall has already made itself known around these parts.  Last week was cool and damp, this week is even more cool though it is supposed to warm up a little toward the end of the week.  Plant life is showing the ravages of summer and my mind drifts to all the cleanup to be done though it is not time for any of it yet.  This summer seems to have gone faster than usual and some things seem to have just gotten away from me this year, but I'm not going to spend my time worrying about weeds and such until spring comes and with it hopefully a fresh start and more effective weed killer.

I bought two pumpkins today, small ones.  Halloween decorations and candy have been in the stores for a month and now Christmas stuff is coming out everywhere.  Still September, right?  I swear it gets earlier every year.

Anyway, I normally like to have a fire pit on this type of occasion, but I'm going to have to pass tonight and hope the spirits forgive me.  Fire pit count is still at 2 for the year, and I'm not proud of that.  But instead tonight I'll be staying inside and watching the Brewer game while trying to get started writing a recap of last week's vacation and a roof update.  Happy Autumn, everyone.

Buds to Blooms

Patriot Day, Sunflowers & More

Today is the country's 25th anniversary of 9/11, and my 59th anniversary of 9/11.  Patriot Day is a national holiday of observance, but not a federal public holiday.  I like to get this date off, but I'm not so lucky this year; I'll be at work.  (This post has been scheduled.)

The original sunflower blooms are long gone but the secondary blooms are popping up all over the place.  I've not even tried to count them, but the quality of bloom will be less and some may not get to be much more than they are now.  The tallest sunflower, in the corner of house and porch, reached 10' 7" this year.  I like trying to grow them tall, and I will save the seeds from the head I have bagged, but more and more I'm thinking I might try a different variety next year.

There is also one sunflower plant that the secondary blooms have a bit of different color to them, with the yellow.  They appear to be a different hybrid, but could be some kind of soil deficiency or who-knows-what.  I could look it up, but you know, I'm just not going to worry about that.

I have some plans coming up and some rest and relaxation scheduled.  No big project on my list, just maybe little ones and the PITA ones that I never seem to get around to doing.  I don't want to be too busy right now, anyway.

Starting today I have to relax and just enjoy my time.  I may pop in and out, here, or I may just recap at a later time.  No matter what, I hope it's an enjoyable week for all.  Cheers!

NRII Part 10 & Weekend Musings

8/31 Monday    I expected supervisor Matt around 3:30.  At 3:45 I texted him to see if he was still coming, he replied that he had me on his calendar tomorrow.  Looking back I believe he was correct and I was jumping the gun.  I had not written it down.

9/1 Tuesday    Had a good meeting with Matt.  He saw my issues and said they would be corrected.

Prior to meeting Matt I got out the ladder and did some more checking.  The rain deflector over the walk-in garage door was short and had no angle.  And, an even bigger issue, the bottom row of shingles hung over the roof edge 1 to 2.5 inches, covering much of the gutters.  Ideally this should be 3/8 to 1/2 inch, tops.

Now I wait again.  It will be some time before they can get a crew out, but I'm okay with that as long as it all gets fixed before winter.

I cleaned up the back yard yesterday morning, before the heat and humidity moved in.  Temperatures actually aren't so bad this holiday weekend.  This past week was very hot and humid, with rain here and there.  Our drought status has improved to 'abnormally dry.'

I'm not sure if I will keep seeds from these sunflowers or not.  I've had thoughts of trying a different kind of sunflower than the mammoth, something that is supposed to have multiple blooms as the hybrid mammoths I have do continue to flower but the quality of the later blooms isn't that good.  We'll see what I decide, probably in spring.

Kate and I took a walk this afternoon.  Recently there had been some sort of burn in places along the creek.  Unannounced and the wrong time of year, so I'm not sure if was on purpose or arson.  Anyway, we found some ducks today.

Today I've made baguettes and taco sauce, already enjoyed the Brewer game and later the Wisconsin Badgers open their football season at Lambeau Field against Notre Dame, and I'll be right here watching.  Tomorrow is Labor Day, so a three day weekend and short work week, and I finally have a vacation coming.  Cheers, everyone.