Winter Solstice 2024

The winter solstice arrived early this morning, hours before I got up.  For several years now I've been having a fire on this day, in cold temperatures and in a bit of snow, but we have both this year.

So, no winter solstice fire pit this year but at least the days will start getting longer.  Very soon here I will be making the drive to Mom's and will be spending the night.  My wife will be staying back and taking care of her dad, as usual.  This week will be especially hard for her with the holidays, as well.  My sister and her family were supposed to arrive there yesterday but they came down sick, and it sounds like my brother and his family will be there for a few hours this evening.   This is our Christmas gathering this year.  Happy solstice, everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend 2024

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everyone.  A much needed 4 days off from work here.

I wasn't feeling the best yesterday, but I traveled down to my Mom's house.  I wasn't sure if I was getting sick or not so I wore a mask the whole time and cut my visit short, leaving shortly after my sister and nephew got there early afternoon.  

My wife made a traditional Thanksgiving spread with a large turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls.  Kate then took some to her dad, but they wound up going to their family gathering.  She's been his caretaker for many years now, and he just gets more difficult as he gets older.  Anyway, there's plenty of leftovers for us to eat, plus she'll make up some freezer meals for her dad.

There's a dusting of snow on the ground and it will be cold, but there are some outside chores I could do.  And we'll see if I have a fire pit tonight or tomorrow, but otherwise the time will be spent inside.  There's a lot of football on the next few days, but otherwise I have some inside chores to do, maybe some baking, and lots of relaxing.  Cheers!

Happy Halloween 2024

The windows mummy is no more this year, but I did get a neat black skeleton with lit eyes to hang on the front door tonight.  I also got a cheap purple spider web that I was hoping to cover from awning to bottom rail but it was way too windy to try and set that up, so it'll be put away for next year.  A flickering flame porch light and a couple squat pumpkins would round out our Halloween look this year.

I had a good day with some Halloween celebrations at work, then getting ready for trick-or-treaters at home.  We'd had great weather the last few days.  I was even able to wear shorts and sandals out and about the last couple days, but today was to be different.

It had been windy recently with a couple nice warm days, but today was more windy, sustained winds 15-20 mph with gusts that can stop you in your tracks.  Thankfully that's easing off a bit tonight, but we've also gotten so much colder with this front coming in.  By morning we'll be near freezing with barely a breeze.  

Despite the weather, we had a few more trick-or-treaters than last year, but still only 14 by my count.  We shut it down before 8 tonight, more than a half hour since the last ones.  Gave out less than half of the candy we had, so now we have that problem, too.  Happy Halloween, everyone.

500,000 Hours Old

At some point today I will turn 500,000 hours old, per this website.  (Or 30,000,000 minutes old.  Or 1,800,000,000 seconds old.)  I'm guessing it will happen 3 hours and 40 minutes after the site says, since to go back to that date would be to go back to midnight and I was born at 8:20 pm, but splitting hairs here.  A couple years ago I turned 20,000 days old, and a few years before that I turned 50 years old, but I think this is about the last of the notable round numbers I will achieve in my lifetime.

57

Won't be official until about 8:20 tonight, but unless this bout of covid gets me very soon it looks like I might survive 56 after all.

July 4th, In Pictures

Happy Independence Day, everyone.  (Those in this country, anyway.)  I don't have a lot to say right now, I'm just enjoying a day off work so here's some recent pictures I found interesting.

We took a walk to the Atwood area for lunch last Sunday.

From the breakwater at Tenney Lock yesterday, the capitol building in the distance.

Interesting skies in the waning minutes of daylight last night.  Good to see bats and fireflies about.

I made each kind of cheese penny this morning.  On the left is parmesan on top and sharp cheddar with cayenne below. On the right is the last of the mild cheddar and bleu cheese below.

I think we may go out to lunch here in a bit, but I'm otherwise just relaxing after some baking and making pizza dough this morning.  Back to work tomorrow for a day and then the weekend.  Cheers, everyone.

Yard Updates

Happy belated summer solstice, everyone.  Hard to believe the days start getting shorter already.  I took some pictures out in the yard last night and everything looks exactly the same today, the weather as well.  We've been stuck under a stationary front for days now that's been giving us sporadic rains every day, sometimes very heavy.  Last spring was super dry and it's certainly opposite this year, but good for fungus and toads (and mosquitoes) as we've seen both in the yard.  The toads are harder to get a picture of as I'm busy doing the strimming before mowing when I see them.  Oh well, on with the updates.

I finally got the back steps sealed last weekend, before this front came over us.  The "transparent" sealer does look good when freshly done.  I hope the color sticks better the more I reseal every year.  Tiger lilies are blooming and the alium are going to seed.

The two sunflowers are still doing well.  They've almost outgrown the cage but I'm not going to remove it until I have to or they get much bigger.  I also added a stake in the ground to the left, in case support is needed later this summer.

And all sorts of things are growing in the tree stump area, some unknown wildflowers seem to be doing well but no blooms yet.  I moved the solar lights to this area from the back, but not sure it will make a difference.  I'm noticing these six turn on much earlier than sunset, so don't have much battery left after dark.  I believe they are on in this picture.  I don't think I can do anything to fix that.

It's a good time of year, just too wet recently for firepits.  Otherwise, life goes on as usual, so no news is good news, I guess.  Work is good, and there is so much less stress in this job.  I baked more baguette this morning and prepared two rolls of cheese pennies this afternoon, so I'm still baking but just the same things over and over for now.  And less than a month until street reconstruction starts.  Yay.

I do have to call and cancel cable internet sometime this week.  Wish me luck.

First Mow & Mother's Day

Today was a beautiful and sunny 69ºF and the lawn has had it's time to awaken and grow tall so after work today I mowed for the first time this year.  Unfortunately a bit too breezy and a chance of a passing shower later so no fire again tonight.

Madison is again promoting Low Mow May for the pollinators, but I still believe it's mostly the weeds in the lawns that are used for pollinating and not the grass, so really no matter for my lawn.  Although, I have been seeing a new weed in various areas of the lawn this year, and a ton of it everywhere else this year, too, actually.  I'm not sure what it is yet, but I've been fighting it as best I can in our yard.  It seems to crowd out the grass where it grows so it appears it will be an issue for some time with having to patch/reseed in areas eventually.

This weekend is Mother's Day for us, so I will again be going down to see her Sunday morning.  I'd not mentioned this here yet, but she has been recovering from a procedure so my sister stayed with her for a few weeks and I've been going down there on weekends since then.  But the good news is she's recovering well and will surely be fully independent again soon.  I've been taking her baguette and a sample of parmesan cheese pennies once and will again be baking in the morning to take her more baguette and cheddar cheese pennies for Mother's Day.  And my sister and her kids will be there so will be good to see them.

Other than that, I have lots on my list to get done this weekend but we'll just have to see.  I'd like to get the back steps power washed on Sunday afternoon and start on a fenced area where I will plant sunflowers soon, plus all the usual weekend chores will still need to be done.

So a busy weekend here, but welcomed after a long winter and a spring that has dragged on before really springing just recently.  Have a happy Mother's Day or otherwise have a great weekend!

Final Fence Prep

The last thing to do before having the fence installed was to move the firewood, and we dumped it to the ground this afternoon.

We put down a tarp with cardboard on top of it to try and prevent any of it tearing up the soft sod, and we just pushed it over.  It fell neater than I expected, so it was just a matter of moving the rack and bringing up the ends of the tarp where we could and covering the whole thing with other tarps, using some logs to hold it all in place.  Then just a quick rake of the lot line and we appear to be ready for the fence installation (tomorrow, as noted in the comments of the last post).  The rain should be mostly over for today, but we may get a little more overnight then a better day tomorrow for the installation, though I expect it to still be pretty muddy.

Now, my back has been an issue for the last few weeks, and this prep for the new fence hasn't helped any.  I don't have much time off at my new job but I'd like to be here when the fence is installed, so I think I will call in tomorrow for my back so I can be here to oversee and answer any questions they may have - and I do remember they had several questions when they did the back fence a few years ago.  It may be stretching the truth just a little bit to call in, but it's not a complete lie and I will feel much better being here to supervise everything.

Google calendar just now reminded me that tomorrow is my 15th blogday, too.  I'm hoping for a smooth fence installation and a better back for my blogday, please!

Leap Day & Mom

Happy Leap Day, everyone.  Not really a holiday, just novel in that it only comes about every 4 years, usually.  (Century years must be divisible by 400 to have this extra day.)

Today would have been a normal workday for me but I took it off as my Mom returned from Alabama yesterday afternoon.  After work I gathered my stuff, plus some snacks since she had no food in the house after being gone a couple months, and headed to the airport to pick her up.  Everything went smooth and quick and soon we were on our way to Dodgeville.  We got dinner and stayed up to watch ToYoube videos and talk.  The next morning I did a couple small things that needed to be done, but everything was pretty much in order since she hadn't been around.  She ordered groceries for delivery and we had a lazy morning before I left mid-day after they had been delivered.

It's been 10 years since my wife and I visited her down there.  She shares the rental with a sister now and many other family and friends have done the same visit.  And going back to the same place every year she's made friends with other snowbirds from various other places.  All in all, she enjoys her time down there and I'm glad she gets to do it.

Every time I go down to Dodgeville for a night I seem to forget one thing, this time it was the two baguettes I was going to take to her.  Bugger.  For some reason I still don't have bread flour again yet but I will soon so hopefully I'll have even better ones for her next time.

And, of course, the cats didn't seem to miss me one bit.

Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year!  I don't know if I'll be up for it so I'm writing this from the past and scheduling this for just after midnight.  By the way, Sunday's date was 123123, but mostly only in this country and not the rest of the world - 311223.

Last night my wife went out to a fancy dinner with her friend Terry and sister Becky.  I stayed in so I could catch the Packers/Vikings game.  Then later this new year's morning the Badgers play their bowl game against LSU.  I got my current list of chores done the last few days so aside from the game today it looks like it will be a good day of rest (with a little experimental making of pizza crust dough with 00 pizza flour) before returning to work tomorrow.

However you chose to ring in 2024, I hope you enjoy the holiday today and all my best wishes for a wonderful new year.

Merry Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas, everyone.  I hope you had a great weekend and are having a good day today doing what you wish with those you want to be with.  Or anything close to that is still pretty dang good.

We spent some time on Saturday with my wife's family and some time yesterday with mine.  Gifts were exchanged and holiday greetings and catching up were shared.  It's so much less about the giving and getting stuff than it is about the time spent, or should be.  It was nice to see everyone, including the nieces and nephews that we don't get to see too often.  And a shame we couldn't see the others, which seems to happen too often.

It's certainly not a white Christmas here this year with temperatures yesterday and today in the 50's with 100% humidity.  Outside has been overcast and very foggy for a few days now, but that's still lots better than if it was snow and frost.  We've had less than two inches of snow here this month when 12 inches is normal for December, and will get no more though we return to highs around the freezing mark over the next week.  But January is next, and January is, well, January.  Until it becomes February, normally another very cold and snowy month.

Warm bread helps.

Solstice Firepit

 Happy Winter Solstice, 2023.  Finally the days will begin to get longer, though winter has barely begun for us.  We've had a taste of snow and really cold, but mostly have been a bit warmer than normal (above freezing) and that is expected through the holidays.  There is plenty of rain in the forecast that would otherwise be snow, too.

I've not had that many fires this year, but I do like to have a fire on the winter solstice when I can.  This year, today was fully cloudy and damp but a few degrees above freezing so I made myself get out there for likely the last time until Spring.  We're in for a mild winter, they say, but we'll see.

Happy Solstice, everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

A welcome 4 day weekend and a happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  A quiet weekend around here, just rest and some chores.  The Packers were on early so sorry to get this posted a little later, but at least the Packers won.

There have been changes around here and I'm still not too sure exactly how I feel about it so I'm going to continue taking a break from blogging through the end of the year, I think.  Nothing for anyone to worry about, though.  I'll write more in due time.

Thank you.

Halloween 2023 and First Snow

Happy post-Halloween, everyone.  It was mostly a quiet night around here, so thankfully I got only about a third of the candy we had last year.  We got just 9 trick-or-treaters this year, but were only one of 3 houses on the block that I noticed had their lights on.  The last two kids were growing mustaches and it was pretty cold so I shut it down about 7:00.  It barely got above freezing yesterday with occasional light snow flurries off and on all day for our first snow of the year, though it didn't stick.  

I carved a pumpkin again to display on the front steps last night, and today it is on the stump in back waiting to be ravaged by the squirrels and rabbits.  I have the trail camera aimed in that direction but I got a pretty good video of it getting eaten bit by bit last year.  The mummy in the windows was showing wear on the fold seams, and I was getting tired of it so this was the last year for that.  I also pulled out the mask with the moving mouth LED lights to wear again but that wasn't working right so is also in the trash now.

We had a good run, but I'm not sure I'll do so much next year.  It doesn't seem worth it for just a handful of kids so maybe just candy next year, and maybe the flickering flame light bulb again, too, since I have it just for this holiday.  Hope you had fun if you chose to celebrate.

Exhausted Sunflower*

The sunflower looks exhausted.  This holiday weekend is the second heatwave since it was at peak bloom, here, and still not much for rain chances in the extended forecast.

I haven't mowed the front in a month, since August 4, but I have mowed the back since then, on the 17th.  There is still green in the lawn, though starting to tend brown in areas.

Otherwise, I worked a 12 hour day on Thursday to get some mandated overtime hours in so I didn't have to work on Saturday, only to have overtime canceled on Friday.  I still hate my job - my employer, to be accurate.  But, it is what it is for now.

I made baguette yesterday but inadvertently preheated the wrong oven, top instead of bottom, so it didn't turn out quite the same due to the missing steam.  Instead of 3 baguettes I made 6 demi baguettes to give some away, but we'll keep these.  They're still real good and I'll give it another go tomorrow morning.  It's hard to keep them short, and short enough for two per row on the tray, so the practice will be good for me.

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone.

Holiday Weekend Updates

Happy holiday weekend, everyone.  I know not everyone has today off, but I took it off to have a four day weekend with the Fourth of July tomorrow.  Anyway, so far I've had a one mow May and a 1/2 mow June; will I mow in July?  I only remember because I noted it here, but I first mowed this year on May 13, then mowed only the back yard on June 4, and it looks like it may be some time yet before I mow again.  The front yard is mostly brown while the back is mostly hanging on to green and all of it stopped growing long ago but for going to seed.

Raspberries are almost done and today I noticed the first several walnuts had fallen in the yard.  But where are the helicopters from the maple trees?  They normally fall like rain later in the spring, causing a cleaning of the gutters, but so far nothing.  I can't even be sure if I see them in the trees or not.  As dry as it's been it may be possible that there won't be any this year, or maybe a very few.  The humidity finally arrived last week, so temperatures that were more than bearable before now require the air conditioning on and outside chores planned around the weather.

All four sunflowers are still alive, two seem to be doing very well while the other two almost died but recovered though they seem stunted, so we'll see how they do.  But the other two are looking very promising.

The bird feeder now requires refilling once a day.  It's gone in less than a day but I will only refill it once a day.  I got the gardens cleaned up somewhat this morning, including digging up the monster oregano plant, leaving just a tiny sprig to live on.   We gave up on the strawberries, they exist only for the critters now.  And I have the new trail camera trained on the stump where I've been putting the extra peanuts from the bird food (since too many clog the feeder) so will have to bring that in soon and see what's been enjoying the feasts I put out.  And I've painted more doors.

Yes, after painting the front door there was still a lot of the quart of paint left over so we decided to paint the back porch door and the side garage door.  And there's still at least 1/3 of the quart left but I think that's enough painting for now.  Henceforth we may be known as the Purple Door House!

I'll put pictures of the doors after the break.

February This-And-Thats

We are in the throes of winter, stretches of sun and temperatures leading to thoughts of spring then snow, ice and cold again.  The local groundhog, Jimmy, predicted 6 more weeks of winter for us on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, and so far it has been proving accurate.  Snow will arrive here in probably a couple hours and for the next almost two days will be off and on with wintry mix and ice mixed in for good measure.  Well, at least the days are getting longer and, overall, the weather is getting better, right?

Still not a whole lot going on around here to write about except the weather, but I can think of a few different things to touch upon...

• During a recent nice stretch of weather my thoughts turned to walking outside, before the weather again said no.  I have been back in the habit of getting on the treadmill for a time almost every day, but outside would be better.  Yesterday I got in my first official outside walk of the year, going to the vet's office to pick up Basil's medicine.  Hopefully more outside walks soon, they are certainly preferable to the treadmill.
• Good motivation for keeping it up is to try to lose weight.  I lost 10 pounds from having Covid in December and so far have kept it off.  But I've only maintained that and I'd like to lose a stone or two this year.
• I've still been using the trail camera in various places, but nothing interesting to share.  It seems to get triggered easily for things up to about 8 feet away from it, but anything past that doesn't seem to trigger the camera.  I'm not too fond of that, at all, but I didn't spend a whole lot on it.
• 
  Not much breadmaking here recently, just pizza crust and pre-made white bread.  I tried a different pizza crust and it turned out well, nice and crispy enough.  This time I made the pre-made white bread in the slightly larger, metal loaf pan and it turned out very good.  Also, I think I decided to try a different baguette recipe the next time I make it, I'm just not sure which one yet.  Bread, buns and all but one baguette are gone now, so I'll surely be baking something soon.
• Neighbor Dave's kids have been cleaning out the house the last couple weeks, off and on.  Most of it seems to be going in the dumpster though I'm sure they're keeping what is important.  I haven't spoken to any of them since I talked to one of his sons before the funeral.  It will be interesting to see what happens with the house.  I know it's in pretty rough shape right now.
• I won $400 on a Super Bowl pool I forgot I was on at a bar and grill we frequent.  I was on a different pool there and took a picture so knew my numbers had lost on that one, but had forgotten about this bigger pool I got on a few weeks earlier.  I went into the bar for lunch on Saturday and had a very nice surprise waiting for me!

We get several three day weekends in the beginning of the year now, including President's Day, yesterday, but now we don't get another paid holiday until Memorial Day at the end of May.  But at least the days are getting longer.  Wait, I already mentioned that.

Bake & Kate

I want to thank everyone for their kind comments on my baguette, including my wife who has been very encouraging.  We had some more last night and yes, it is pretty good if I say so myself.  But there's always room for improvement.  I've made baguette once now so will know better how to do things the second time around.  And I've ordered an 8 inch cast iron pan for the purpose of adding boiling water when I cook baguette again or other breads that call for it.  Just the latest baking purchase, aside from more expensive flour, different yeast and other ingredients, I've gotten new liquid measuring cups, dough scrapers, a bun pan and now the cast iron pan.  I'll have to bake more just to get back what I've spent so far!  Not sure if I'll bake anything this weekend, but we are out of buns so that is planned to be next.

I have no plans for this to turn into a baking blog, but I write about what I enjoy so you can expect more.  At least until I get tired of it, but I don't see that happening soon.  Everything in moderation.

My lovely wife Kate is 29 again today, though she hates having a birthday in January.  I can see why, we got 1.7 inches of snow early today for our first snow in 27 days.  Just her luck, I guess.  We went out and celebrated with friends last weekend, and she opened her present a couple days ago, so just a quiet night in tonight with her birthday wine.  Happy birthday, Kate. 🧡

I guess I thought I had more to say, but we have no real limits around here.  Cheers!

January This-And-Thats

Okay, it's high time I finally break the 2023 seal here on the blog.  Busy, didn't feel like it, not much to say, pick what you want, all are true to some extent.  Winter hit us hard and early this season, so there is that, too.  What matters is I'm here, now, writing.  So let's see if I have anything to say, shall we?

• Covid sucked, and right before Christmas.  It was a really miserable time, but my wife reminded me of how bad it could be and actually was for me the first time around back in 2020.  I seemed to have forgotten, or blocked it out.  So while very bad this time, yes, that was very much worse and serious.  I could breathe this time whereas last time just breathing was laborious for quite some time.  Yes, don't wish that upon anyone.  (This one, however...  ;))
• 
  I had last tested positive the Wednesday before Christmas, and had already decided it was just too close in time to see my Mom on Saturday.  Instead, I went down to see her after work on the following Tuesday to watch the late-starting Badger bowl game.  We enjoyed some barbecue takeout and enjoyed watching the game and other videos while talking until almost 2 in the morning.  I got a little tipsy but had a great time, and I think she did, too.  Better than Christmas any day.
• New Years Eve, as I mentioned last post, was spent getting all cleaned and dressed up for a fancy dinner out with friends.  It was a good time, then a quiet night in after that.  My wife's birthday is coming up fast, so we'll be doing something for her soon.
• Since this last bout of Covid I've gotten out of the habit of jumping on the treadmill after work every day.  I was doing 15 minutes or more at 3 mph at the time, now I've been on it just a couple times in the last week for about 10 minutes each time, I think for two reasons.  One, my knees haven't been the best lately, been pretty sore, especially since I was on my feet much more than normal one day recently and I do need to upgrade my leg pillow for sleeping.  And two, I have to start over with the balance issues I've had with walking on the treadmill.  Even though it got better the more I used it, it's never gone away.  I think I've said before, like slipping on a rug on ice!
• 
  I have a bunch of albums that I haven't even looked at in a long time, let alone played.  I keep saving leads on where I could sell them but I never follow up on it.  Is it laziness or not wanting to let go?
• I've been interested in making homemade bread for a while now, and I've finally started.  First with simple, no-knead recipes and working on getting to make what I want confidently.  I thought I took pictures of the earlier ones, but I only have pictures of my last two breads here.  They both tasted good, but my technique still needs improvement.  We have a stand mixer to help with the recipes that are needing kneading (I couldn't resist!).  I've also ordered a bun pan so I will make buns for when we make my 'famous' homemade smashburgers, but this weekend I will attempt to make baguette.  

I hope the new year is treating everyone well.  Overall, it's just a continuation of the same thing, isn't it?  But that's not a good attitude, they tell me.  Have I become more cynical with age?  I guess it's almost impossible not to.  Oh well, have a great week, everyone.