Vacation, Plant Day, Jets, Ducks And An Ex-Stump

It's been a pretty good vacation, a nice time away from work.  I had all of last week off and tomorrow yet, before I have to return on Wednesday.  No big projects but some spring chores done and much needed relaxation.  I have one day left tomorrow, and I've been trying to keep it pretty clear so I can just relax most of the day and do whatever I feel like doing, so today I feel like writing.

Every spring I've had what I called Plant Day, the vacation day that I get a bunch of plants to pot or plant them around.  This year has been a little different; I got a couple hanging plants for out front plus the big pot out front and planted sunflower seeds for the first time, but so far haven't potted anything for the decaying stump area.  That option is still open, just not so urgent this year.  And out of 50 sunflower seeds I'm seeing 6-8 coming up so far.  I could see that critters were sniffing them out and eating them almost as quick as I could plant them, but thankfully it looks like a few survived.  More on this later, I'm sure.

I got a couple short videos the other day of some of our new F-35s coming in for a landing, they always seem to go in twos.  I don't see that they're louder when landing than the prior F-16s, maybe louder when taking off but they're up and out so quick it doesn't last long.  And from before the eggs were ransacked I got an interesting - and common - duck scene on video, too.  It was fun to follow Mother Duck as she tried to have her nest under our stairs, but it's just too exposed to end well.  While I have the destruction and heartbreak on video I won't be posting it and hope they don't try to nest here again.  Watch this instead.  :)

And while I wanted to sleep in later this morning, instead I was roused by the sound of large equipment running nearby.  Neighbor Jane's tree stump was getting removed.  Shortly after taking pictures of the bird feeder, seen here recently, there was fresh paint and flags for the utilities, plus someone came out last week and dug some test holes to verify just how deep those utilities were.  I watched through our front window as removing the stump was an interesting process to see up close, and just took a few hours.  I guess some other crew will be by to seed it and lay the hay mat over it, we'll see.

I'll put a few more pictures of the stump to terrace renovation after the break.

Cloudy But Happy

 It's not the warmest or brightest day today, but it feels good outside.  I made baguette this morning so the house smells like bread, and I just mowed for the first time so the outside smells like freshly cut grass.  Well, mostly mowed, as the duck is on her nest so there is a small patch in front and below in this picture that I'll need to get later this evening when she's off to feed.  The lawn looks sharp, freshly mowed, the hostas haven't fallen yet and the lilac is blooming nicely - and more purple than I remember seeing in recent years.

We found out that late neighbor Dave's daughter and her husband will be renovating the house next door and hope to move in come fall.  The house is in pretty rough shape and they outlined some big plans, admitting it is a daunting task, but they have a contractor friend that will be doing much of the work.  No small kids and no renters, so we're happy so far and hope all goes well for them.

There's a slight chance of rain and the wind is supposed to pick up this evening, so doesn't look like I'll be having a fire this weekend, but I'm on vacation this coming week plus a couple days after that.  I don't have a ton of plans, just a list of spring chores to do and I'll make a trip down to see my Mom sometime since Mother's Day is tomorrow.  Anyway, Kate is off caring for her Dad so despite the gloom of clouds I'm going to stay happy, get out of the house and go grab a bite to eat and see what's going on in the outside world.  Have a great weekend, everyone.

Oh, I also wanted to mention the cat's little present, a bird feeder just outside the front window for their entertainment.  I'll put couple pictures after the break.

Garden Trail Camera Video

I brought in the trail camera from the garden area to see what it may have captured, and it did capture a few interesting shots.  I changed the setting to just video hoping it would trigger better and it seemed to work.  So here's a few shots from the past week or so of critters small and big and other minor activity.

The squirrel at the beginning is just being very still, it seems the camera must make some small sound when activated as I've seen all animals notice before.  It didn't capture any of the snow the other day and the sun angle gives it a funky hue in the afternoons.  I didn't take any pictures of the firepit last Friday night, but the trail camera did.  The large flames are when I throw the black walnut leaf twigs on the fire, the same stuff I was raking up earlier in the video.  And it ends with an unknown cat on the prowl in the back yard early this morning.  I don't really like the background music, it seems to jump a bit for some reason between clips. But I'm no editor and don't want to spend any more time so it is what it is.

Now, where to place the trail camera next?

No Snow Lately, Anyway

It was another beautiful day yesterday, enough for us to do a few spring things outside.  First off, the gnome has been put out again on the decaying tree stump.  I'm not sure that will be his home for the summer yet, but he signifies the belief that winter will be gone and the hope that comes with spring.

I had a friend over on Friday night for the first fire pit of the year.  I didn't take any pictures, but fire is fire.  I did notice that I hadn't cleaned out the fire pit at the end of last year, I'm not even sure if I had another fire or not after getting another face cord of wood late last year, the way the weather went.  So no pictures of Friday night's fire but I cleaned it up nicely yesterday.  It still has some loose blocks that I haven't done anything about yet.  They haven't been a problem, but there seems to be more so I should probably try another adhesive and get it done this year.

I also took the cover off the garlic and got most of the straw out that covered them over winter.  We still have to do that to the strawberry bed, but there is time.  The raspberries are coming back well, and already escaping the garden so will have to keep them in check.  And Kate got the bed with the monster oregano plant cleaned up after this picture.  That oregano plant got moved when we remade the gardens and didn't even get replanted but just set down on the dirt in that garden.  It has gotten huge but Kate has talked about cutting it down to a reasonable size this year.  In the top middle of the picture you can see where the trail cam is set up currently, attached to the fence and overlooking the gardens.

Lastly, the skies were interesting on Friday night as the conditions must have been optimal for contrails, shown here across much of the sky.  At least two more were being created at the time of this picture, and a plane had just taken off, upper left, to join in, it would seem.

Today is much cooler and getting colder as the day goes on.  It's been raining off and on, but will turn to snow soon and continue through tomorrow morning so we'll see how much we have when we wake up.  And the foreseeable forecast after tomorrow is seasonable with high temperatures in the fifties.  So the last several days were real nice for us, but also unusual for this time of year.  Okay, time to turn the heat back on...

March In Pictures

The day before yesterday I noticed one of the first telltale signs of Spring - crocus coming up all over the back yard.

The Demise of Jack O. Lantern

What a difference a week or two can make.  Three weeks ago I got a load of wood and thought the outlook was good for several more fires before winter would not allow it, and I haven't had a fire since.  Due to weather; first wind, then wet, now snow and cold.  I still have hope as it's early yet in the season.

Today I brought in the trail camera to go through the pumpkin-eating footage, and there was lots to go through.  It was triggered enough that it ran out of space early on November 14th, so no footage of the snow we had for days afterward.  The camera is low on purpose and crooked not-on-purpose, and shakes in the wind or if the squirrels shake the chain link fence.  Still, I was happy with the footage it captured this time out.  I have video evidence of a neighbor's two cats that appear to hunt in our back yard at night, the likely backyard shitters.  Now I want to think of a new place to put the camera for a while.  It's interesting to see what goes on in your yard when you're not around.

I narrowed down the 10-second video clips to 103, out of 482, which would still be over 17 minutes long - and no one wants to watch that.  I also wasn't going to mess with the chronological order or edit any of the clips, just stitch them together.  But, of course, it was my first time using Clipchimp software, so it was interesting going, but manageable.

Anyway, the next pare-down was to 27 of the most interesting clips coming in at less than 5 minutes, a more reasonable length, I think.  Enjoy!

Happy Halloween 2022, and Wood

I'm not really a holiday person but for taking advantage of the occasional paid days off work, but of all the holidays I like Halloween the best.  It has the most fun imagery and characters, with the least apparent religious connections.

I wore the same mask as I did last year since these are still Covid times, and again it went over pretty well with the few trick or treaters that came by.  We had over 400 pieces of candy to hand out, after our own nibbling the last few days.  We waited to get candy so we wouldn't get into it, but we buy the candy we like so what else would happen?  We expected lots more kids to come by this year than last, but that was far from the case as we only got a dozen or so.  Leftover candy will go in the freezer.

I had bought a pumpkin for the first time in maybe 20 years, and carved it with the classic jack-o-lantern face.  And I used a sharp kitchen knife, just as I used when I was a kid, and I still have all my fingers.  Later, after I bought this one, I saw the lumpy gray ones for sale that you don't normally see.  I like the look of them, maybe a bit spookier, so next year I'm going to have to keep an eye out and get one of those if I can.

And for the 5th year in a row (skipping 2020) I put the mummy in the front corner windows.  I kind of like it, and it's a good decoration for a few hours while the kids come around.  At the same time I bought the mummy I bought a couple window cling film decorations but it's always been too cold to try to put them on the door windows in years past, but the weather was very good for Halloween this year so I finally got them out and put them on the front storm door.  It was only 2019 when we had several inches of snow for the holiday and the other years we've been colder than what we've seen this year so far.  And our immediate forecast is rather favorable, too.

Favorable enough weather for weekend fires for some time yet.  Fresh load of firewood after the break!

First Snow 2022, Ramp Talk

We got our first snow of the season this morning, and some more about mid-day, I think.  I snuck out and got this picture, but I was too busy with work to notice if it got whiter out.  It was all gone this afternoon, of course.  The next couple days are going to be cold with freezing possible, but the weekend is supposed to be really nice for October, so I will be busy working outside or down at my Mom's all weekend.

The ramp project is going well, pretty much according to plan but plans evolve.  Getting the angle at the bottom is tough, but I don't want it to be a trip hazard.  And the posts for the rail are higher up the ramp because they need something to bolt to so I'm thinking of looking for some kind of bracket for a third post.  You'll see what I mean soon.

Last Tiger Lily, Ramp Project

I did this last year, too, but I'd been watching the last tiger lily to see if it would open, and happily it did.  There are plenty of fall-blooming flowers but tiger lilies aren't really one of them.  Still, this last, little lily was able to complete its lifespan before the inevitable.  

Today is cool, windy and it rained a little this afternoon, thus all the leaves that have freshly fallen.  Cool and wet enough after work that I took my half-hour after-work walk on the treadmill for the first time.  I started at 1.6 mph, quickly going up to 1.8 and by the time I was done, 2 mph.  Still a little awkward, but I think that will get better the more I do it.

I talked to neighbor Jane, and she says she was told they probably won't remove the stump until this time next year, so she found it odd they marked the utilities already.  But it is municipal work, meaning they keep their crews busy.  Whether it's leaf pickup, yard waste pickup, tree trimming, plowing snow or whatever else they have to do, if there's not one task to keep them busy enough then they move on to the next, and weather decides a lot.  It doesn't really matter to me how long it takes, I'm just watching the process.

My Mom moved closer recently, back to the town we lived in for my formative years.  A smaller place, one level, and less than half the drive I had before to see her in Iowa.  It sounds like she's been reconnecting with many old friends, relatives and acquaintances, so she's had lots of company already and moving day was just last week.  I was down there to see the place and help her with a few things last weekend, and there is still more to do.

I mentioned her new place is one level, and is pretty much zero entry but for a step down into the garage.  She's 75 so doesn't move around quite as she used to and asked me if I could build her a ramp.  I agreed, of course, so took a few measurements and I've been planning the build.  This week I'll have to get a few pieces of wood and some hardware, otherwise I have most of the wood and tools ready to go.  A miserable afternoon and my counterpart has been out so far this week so work has me a bit frazzled and so I haven't gotten everything I need yet, but surely before Friday so I can get started building that day or Saturday.  Best case scenario, I get it fully built on Saturday and delivered Sunday morning, but we'll see how it goes.  It's only 6 1/2 inches, but a ramp - with handrails - will make it so much easier and safer for her.  She'd asked me to do projects for her when I was much younger and I'd normally avoid it if I didn't know how to do it.  Now, I'm older, wiser, have a bitchin' set of tools and the internet.  I'm looking forward to building this for her and, of course, I'm sure I'll share it here.

Early October This-And-Thats

It's jacket weather today, light jacket.  The air becomes crisp though the sun shines.  There's a bit of a breeze, but that's supposed to drop off in a couple hours.  I'm counting on it as I'm planning on a fire and having a friend over.

• Markings showed up around the tree stump in front of neighbor Jane's.  I'm not sure exactly what the colors mean, but interesting how they're so close to the stump.  I hope the stump-grinding crew is careful.
• The artificial intelligence that creates 'art' from your input had made the news a couple weeks ago.  I finally played around with it last night, and it's pretty neat but I want to play around with it more and get more creative with my input.  You have to create an account, but you can use your google account.  Check it out here.  If I get it to create something really cool or unusual I'll share it here sometime.
• I'd kept forgetting to mention it, but the blog emails finally stopped going out around the beginning of August.  I know many who read via the emails may not make the effort to come to the site to read, but I hope they do.  I never found a similar service for free, but TinyLetter is an interesting option.  It's more like a newsletter you sign up for, so I'd have to create that.  Maybe paste the blog into it or, more likely, send one out once a month or so with links to my posts.  Everything and nothing is on the table still, it depends on the effort I want to put forth.
• 
  I found poop in the back yard again today, and I don't have the trail cam back there.  I had it back there for a few weeks and all it caught was a whole lot of squirrel activity, no pooper.  Right now, it's on neighbor Jane's fence across from the back door, close to the ground.  My thought was to see what could be coming into the back yard down the driveway side, plus security for the garage and back door.  I've not checked those images and video yet.
• We had rain on 8 weekends in a row until last weekend.  Not washouts, but at some point every weekend.  And the porch roof started to leak a bit onto one of the new ceiling tiles.  I do have extra tiles but a little white spray paint will probably fix it fine, I did that to some of the old tiles more than once.  Several years ago I got up there and sprayed some of that flex seal stuff where the porch roof meets the house.  The porch is not the house, certainly not built to code, and will get replaced someday so we don't want to spend much, if any, money fixing it up.  So I crawled up the ladder a few days ago and gave it another good coat of flex seal.  Hopefully that will last a few more years now.
• The Green Bay Packers play in London on Sunday morning, 8:30 a.m. our time so I think 2:30 p.m. there?  The last NFL team to play a game internationally because they are one of the smallest markets so didn't give up a home game before and no other team would give up their home game against the Packers because their fans could fill any stadium ($).  Being one of the most popular teams, Packer fans travel well and are located all over the place, here and the world.  My wife is planning a fancy breakfast for us for the game and I'm really looking forward to it.  There's a lot I should get done later that Sunday, but I'm just going to enjoy the unusual morning game and we'll just have to see what happens.

I've been thinking lately that I want to post less more often.  Less words and topics in one post, maybe.  It's a thought, anyway.  Have a good weekend, everyone.

Hasn't that wind died down yet?

Rambling and New Stuff

Things have seemed a little busy around here recently.  A couple larger purchases and gearing up for the end of the fiscal year at work.  Football has begun so I have games I like to watch every weekend, and some weekdays.  Outside chores are beckoning as the weather continues to cool and this coming month will be time to get a good start, but really the weather will dictate and it's still too early for much yet.

Out in the back yard the woodpile is getting smaller, (not quickly but I hope to get another load delivered before the end of October), the walnuts are piling up in the corner and their litter is all over the yard thanks to the squirrels.  I don't have the count handy right now, but it's not turned out to be so many as I thought it would be.

There is nothing to report on the stump in front of neighbor Jane's, but I still think they may get it removed yet this year.  I actually used the city website to report a couple private property trees in the area that made the sidewalks impassable, and on our walk yesterday we noticed both trees had been trimmed.  I'm tall, so still have to watch out in some areas where we walk, but these two were pretty bad and worth reporting.

Four years already?  It seems that every 4 years I have to get a new computer, or at least since 2014 now.  Two or three months ago we had a very short power outage, just a few seconds, three separate times in about as many days.  Each time the computer was on and it took a lot of time for it to come back to life.  The last time it wouldn't even turn on for hours after.  This prompted me to finally buy an uninterrupted power supply, and one just a bit bigger than what I need.  Now if the power goes out the computer and monitors will run off the battery for 45 minutes to an hour, but I have it set to shut down 5 minutes after the power goes out and doesn't come back on.  Anyway, I sat down one day and hit the space bar to wake it up.  The screen came on for half a second then it was off.  The computer just shut off abruptly.  Again I went through the process of watching the computer piece itself together after not shutting down properly.  I believe I ordered another computer with a day or two of that incident.  I went through that tedious new computer setup process last weekend and am now humming along again.

Another big purchase was a treadmill so we can continue to walk when winter comes and it gets much easier to be sedentary.  My wife has used it a few times so far, even for jogging.  I've tried it a few times and I need to get used to it.  The first time I tried really threw my equilibrium off, but that did get better on the next short tries.  Still, I prefer to walk outdoors so will mostly continue those daily walks until weather forces me in.

So now we have two pieces of exercise equipment in the basement, side by side so we can both exercise at the same time.  For regular reader's perspective, from this angle the washer and dryer are behind and the cat drawer and stairs are on the left.  This quarter of the basement has, from left to right, the furnace, my basement workbench, the chest freezer and the kitchen gadget/cookware overflow shelf.  Also the brightest part of the basement, for sure on sunny days.  No, not a finished basement, but still good, useful space.

I wanted to get some of this written before the weekend gets here as I think we may be busy again.  Hopefully a few fires in the near future, I want to get the wood down to next to nothing before ordering more, and it usually gets here within days when ordered.  It hasn't been unusual in recent years to enjoy a fire right up to the winter solstice, and the autumnal equinox just happened recently so that helps my perspective - plenty of time for fires yet.

Cheers, everyone.  Have a great upcoming weekend and may all your sports teams win.  (Mine, too!)

Vacation Wrap-up

 I still have the weekend but my vacation is essentially over.  All my vacation projects have been completed and I find myself today a bit bored.  I went for a drive, grabbed some food at a drive-through and parked by a lake to eat.  Then I went to a small mom and pop style tavern only to find it strangely closed, so I just came back home.  It's a beautiful day out, but I'm a bit sore so will wait for my wife to finish her workday then we can take a nice walk.

I'm glad I did the power washing early due to the rains that came after and the drying time needed before sealing the back steps.  I was mostly idle on Sunday and Monday due to that rain, and we did get some water in the basement for the first time in a couple years.  We didn't pick up the rugs in time so some got a bit wet, but as of yesterday everything was dry again and back to normal.  I had put the trail camera down there to see if the cats use the walkway so they don't have to step on the floor but it failed to capture the cats over several days but for a couple times when they walked right up to the camera.  Not sure why, and I don't see anything in the settings to fix that.  I may have to try again later from a different angle, but now I have the trail camera back outside on the fence by the wood rack facing the gardens.  I found poop back there again and want to find out what is doing that.

On Tuesday I edged all our concrete.  It had been a few years since I did it last and it was due.  I think a combination of the concrete sinking over the years and the sod rising from mulched grass has caused the front grass to be quite higher than the walk.  And I don't believe I've ever edged the curb side of the terrace before but you can see how much it was covering the curb.  It took about 16 five gallon buckets over 3 trips to the dump as it was just too much sod to compost here.  It was a bit of work, but it is very satisfying to see it all cleaned up and several inches of space reclaimed.

Wednesday was spent sealing the driveway seams in front of the garage.  I think water gets under it and when it freezes in the winter it makes one corner of a slab rise in front of the garage so hopefully this will help.  More of these seams will need to be redone in the future but I'll be looking into a different method.  I just did this area again to use up the crack filler left over from several years ago.  Other than that, just a few errands, can't remember what else so probably nothing.

By Thursday the wooden steps were dry enough to get sealed.  It was supposed to be mostly or partly cloudy out, perfect for the job, but I wanted to get an early start but not too early for the morning dew to evaporate.  Well, I overslept a bit so got a late morning start, then the water sealer I had must have been old as it had a cottage cheese consistency.  So I ran out to get more and in my haste got a slightly different version than I've used before - and learned that 'clear' and 'transparent' are two very different things.  I accepted my mistake and forged ahead, and it turns out it made the steps look pretty good.  Before the wood was a light gray but now, well, what do you think?  I'm calling it a happy accident.

So, back to today.  I guess today is turning out to be a pretty lazy day for me, and that's okay.  Soon here my wife and I will go on probably a 30 minute walk.  Later we're having Italian beef sandwiches for dinner (that's been smelling really good in the slow cooker all day!) but just a quiet night in.  Tomorrow we have a few things lined up but other than that I think I'm done with my vacation chore list and will just relax and try not to think about the shitstorm that I know will be waiting for me on Monday morning.

Walnut count:  My yard ~460, Dave's yard ~1320.  I expected these numbers to be higher by now, but we're not done yet.

Vacation, Rain, Birthday, and More Rain

I got a start on my vacation list after work on Thursday, getting the back steps fully power-washed and some of the driveway.  I was going to finish the power washing after work on Friday but the end of the garden hose popped off, so I took that as a sign that I was meant to relax that evening.  In the morning I took a trip to the big box DIY store, fixed the hose and completed the power washing.  The steps needed a thorough wash this year and once the wood has dried this week I'll apply a water seal.  I've never really power washed the driveway before, but the low parts down by and around the garage were looking pretty filthy with just dirt from rain and standing water over the years, but looks a lot better now.

That was done on Saturday morning.  On Saturday afternoon the Badgers played, and lost, and the rain moved in later that night.  Sunday, the Packers played, and lost, while it rained continuously all day long.  We did make a trip out for lunch before the game, but it was a miserable day for a birthday (55 this year).  While today, Monday, the rain has let up some but still a very cool, damp, and dark gray day again.  Makes it hard to get much motivation to do anything with weather like this, but the forecast is looking better for the rest of the week so hopefully I can start my vacation week properly tomorrow.

Not sure what day yet, but I do want to have at least one evening this week for relaxing by the fire.  I last had one the prior weekend and made dinner out there with our, well, I've heard them called different things, but little pie irons for camping to cook on the coals.  I burned the crap out of the first one, of course, but then made a couple perfectly cooked ones.  Overall, more work, mess and bother to cook this way, but it had been a very long time so was fun just the same.  There is also a bigger view of the sky over the house now.  Not so long ago there were 3 trees there, now just one. 

I didn't know that praying mantis lived in Wisconsin, but per Google they can be found here in the summer months, growing up to two inches including wings.  We had this one on our front window screen all day Saturday, from early morning until we shut the windows at night.  Not sure if it was resting after a big meal or what, but the rains that came that night surely made it move on to a more secure location.  And this one was at least 4 inches long.  I don't remember ever seeing one here before, so was interesting to watch and check on that day.

Well, tomorrow is a new day and we should see the sun and the temperature should come back up to shorts and t-shirt weather.  Most of my vacation to-do list is outside chores, and I need a good day to lift my spirits after the last couple.

Lastly, my condolences to my UK friends on the passing of the Queen.  In a world where public scenes and boorish behavior has become normal, she was always the picture of quiet dignity.  We need more of that again.

Mini-Vacation This-And-Thats

A few weeks ago my counterpart at work took 3 of 4 weeks off, so I took Thursday and Friday off this week as a little reward for myself and to get me to my full week vacation coming up in September.  Only a couple days, but I've been able to get a few things done that I've been wanting to do and now I have several things I'd been wanting to share plus a few new things.  So it's time again to start typing and see if I remember it all.

• A couple years ago I shared this site as I found it interesting to compare the size of different parts of the world since maps can skew things quite a bit.  I've since found a similar site here that is a bit easier to use but includes water area in the outlines.  Still, I wanted to share as a follow up to this post.
• 
  I do remember reading something about those butterfly signs pictured last post but I haven't been able to find anything on them online.  I'm thinking they're a promotion for Olbrich Gardens' Blooming Butterflies event in the Bolz Conservatory this summer, just ended.  I've also seen them as photo-ops for kids spreading their arms while standing in front.  I like them, we should keep them around like some of the painted cows around Madison.
• A year or two ago we got a new grill, and while I have no complaints about the grill itself the wheels were a bother, too small and made it rather difficult and noisy to move the grill around.  I finally bought better wheels online and spent a some time getting it done.  Not a straightforward procedure as I had to use the existing screwholes to fasten a wood base.  I expected a bit more to work with when I turned it over, but where there's a will there's a way.  Once I got wood pieces fastened on I screwed on plywood that I could then screw the new wheels onto.  Not ideal, but more than sturdy, will last at least as long as the grill does, and moving the grill is so much easier and quieter now.  In the picture you can see the wheel size comparison.
• 
  I'm finally committed, for the first time since 2019, to go out and experience live music.  There was just Atwoodfest with several bands on our visit, but this is a live big rock band in a music venue that I paid (a lot of) money to go see.  Legacy band ZZ Top will be here in a week and a half and I got one of the few seats at the Sylvee to enjoy the experience.  It's been just a matter of time until I broke the seal; I considered The Melvins who were in town a bit ago and Anvil just a couple weeks ago.  I didn't pull the trigger for either of those, but like I felt when I bought Alice Cooper tickets, this may be my last chance to see ZZ Top.  Dusty passed recently and who's to say how long Billy and Frank can continue.  The inevitable happens to us all, rock stars included.  I'm planning on going alone, but it's a weeknight so will have to work in the morning, too.
• 
  The Packers played their first preseason game last night.  It was sloppy and they lost, but about par for the course for a first preseason game.  Good to watch and know that football is coming, but it also means summer is coming to a close.  It won't be long until autumnal signs will start appearing, and our recent cooler temperature trend is too soon but may also be a sign.  Like in the last bullet point, the passing of time is inevitable.
• I still have the weekend here then back to work for another month until my fall vacation.  I'm not sure what my main project will be for that time, but if nothing else I have some driveway cracks to seal, windows to wash, and may even do the edging along the walks.  For now, I'm about to go out to lunch with a friend, then hopefully get a good walk in with my wife and then just normal weekend chores left to do.  Should be a relaxing time, overall, hope yours will be, too.

I've been forgetting to put the walnut count at the end of my posts like I wanted.  I thought it might be fun this year as I believe it's going to be a lot.  For perspective, I'll have to get a picture soon of the tree overhang so you can see the section of walnut trees overhanging the back yard.  So far they're just starting to fall still, but as I sat by the fire Thursday night and looked up before the darkness came, I wondered if I should put on my old hard hat.

Walnut count: 205

Here, what appears to be an F-35 turns over the neighborhood to come in to land.  Pictures just don't do justice to how close they are in person.

*Edit later in the afternoon.  I went back and looked at the series of jet pictures, and you can see it get bigger as it got closer to overhead.  Posted after the break!

Pride

No, not that kind, that was June.  Pride, satisfaction, happiness, gratification, fulfillment, contentment; whatever you want to call it.  It's a good feeling, even if fleeting.  I've felt a bit of that lately, as I sat by the fire last night I looked around me and just appreciated it all.

My wife and I have a nice house, if small, that's in pretty good shape and we've made some good improvements, inside and out, so far.  We have an exceptional lawn for the area, as it was when we bought it so I've maintained that, which does take some doing.  The gardens and flowerbeds are looking good and the compost bin I built with just a vague plan to start is still holding up great and looking good.  The garage is stuffed full but well organized so even I can usually get 3/4 way around the car to get to anything anytime.  The firepit and wood rack have been a great addition to the yard and got me out of the house and outside much more during a pandemic, and still, obviously.  We live on a nice street and though the street itself is getting a little rough in spots the neighborhood is nice, calm and family-oriented.  And in a good part of town, on the bike path to easily get to other parts of town or as far as you're willing to walk or bike.  The city itself has many outstanding features that are unique, including the middle of the city is our state capitol building on an isthmus.

And, well, now Livability rated Madison as the best place to live in the US for a second year in a row.  The link is a quick read, points out some highlights and numbers.  Not that I take a whole lot of stock in the ranking, whatever number, but to consistently be on lists like these, it must be a pretty good place.  A related article here points out lots more of those lists, and more of the varied features of the city that are too numerous for me to try to list here.

It's easy to take for granted.  We live here every day, this is normal to us.  But realizing you have it pretty good in a pretty good place feels pretty damn good, sometimes.  I like to ignore the weight of the world in those moments, and just be proud of what we have.  And that's okay.

July This-And-Thats

Well, things happen and you get too busy or just too tired to write anything, then a day goes by, then a week.  Before I get any more backed up with thoughts let me try to get them in writing.

• The air conditioning was turned off yesterday, so back to windows open for what looks like a good stretch.  I took what was probably my longest single walk of the year so far, today.  I've been really good about walking this year more than ever, but my bike hasn't come down from the garage rafters yet.  I'll make that happen before summer is over, though.
• 
  Oh yes, I went to that creek thing a week ago Saturday morning and I had meant to write about that sooner.  Basically a volunteer couple comes out every month but winter and monitors the creek.  Other than them and me, two women showed up separately, so a small group.  They showed us how they check for volume, clarity, chlorides and oxygen.  The most interactive part was looking for different invertebrates he'd scoop up from the edges.  It was informative and kind of fun, but too much information about the creek's PFAS situation that I already knew, if not the exact numbers.  If you come and fish in a Madison lake, catch and release - do not eat.  Forty minutes after the posted 90 minute session and I thanked them and extracted myself to get on with my day.  Maybe that's why I put off writing about it.  
• Pics from that day aren't the best and it would take many to show full context, so here's some kayakers I caught on my walk today.  They're just about by the canoe slide on their left, but many trek upstream as far as navigable then turn around.  I think that's pretty much the road bridge at the top end of this stretch of the creek, but I've never specifically looked for that so will have to on my next walk.
• 
  Thursday was a bit stressful for us, though much more so for the cats.  It was time for the vet, and this time we tried taking them at the same time.  There was howling and hissing and the smell of pee, but the vet was very nice and very good with them.  Basil was a little bitch, but Hamish took it much better.  The rest of the afternoon and evening the cats didn't exactly get along.  No fights, but some hissing and growling if Hamish got too close to Basil.  Once they had cleaned themselves thoroughly things seemed to get better.  All in good health, Hamish at 7 pounds and Basil at 15!
• Friday was very stressful for me at work, having to perform a task for only the second time ever with no training just some written instructions that half didn't apply with other situations that arise and then an hour-long meeting about something else but same deadline.  In the end I got everything done on time with assistance from a coworker, and we pledged to overhaul the process.  That's been one of my roles at work, learn the task thoroughly and then improve it.
• 
  I was thinking that I may have started my walnut count a bit too early, but not after seeing neighbor Dave's yard.  He's still recovering from his torn achilles so can't pick them up, and son-in-law mowed over them so now you can see them all, just everywhere.  Dave told me he also complained about almost twisting his ankle at least 5 times as he mowed (Imagine that!).  I've been helping by getting Dave's sticks and bringing in his garbage cans, and I was hoping his kids would pick up the walnuts before they mowed.  They might not have a choice next time, though.  Dave agreed with me, it's going to be a banner season for walnuts this year.
• Not a walnut tree pictured here, but the base of the maple that will be coming down.  I realized that in front of neighbor Dave's house will be the last maple on the street, but my wife noticed a red maple toward the top.  How many years did it take to look like this, 50, 70, more?
  

Okay, that's enough typing.  It's Monday and I'm tired and want to move on to other things.  Have a great week, everyone.

Walnut count: 36

284-7624 and Nuts!

Cheers to everyone who can remember their childhood phone number!  I can remember this from very young when living in the 3rd house I remember growing up in, in Illinois.

There was a white house we lived in the upstairs, I believe - my first memory of a place I lived.  Then a pink house on a street called Steinman, small and one story with a separate garage and shared driveway.  Then a red house on the corner of Jefferson Avenue (1135 - still remember the street number, too) and another street, two stories with a big yard, huge willow tree, and a tire swing.  I think we moved there about 1973, so I was about 5 or 6 years old.  This is the house that I remember most and we had that phone number until we moved to Wisconsin. 

It was a party line when we first had the phone there, meaning the whole street shared the same phone line.  You could pick up the phone and hear a neighbor on a call so have to wait your turn.  I don't remember the party line lasting long, and then we had our own line and this was the number.  It was taught to me at that young age just in case I was abducted or, much more likely, gotten lost as an oblivious child sometimes will.  I've now remembered a phone number I've not had for about 44 years, yet I can forget why I entered a room a minute ago.

*          *          *

I found the above as an old draft from last year and figured why waste mediocre writing?  I just cleaned it up a bit and here it is.  I sat down this afternoon after work to write about the creek thing I did on Saturday morning and got distracted with finding that and another idea I had more recently, below, so I'll write about the creek monitoring later in the week.

*          *          *

The other day I cleaned up some downed live branches from one of neighbor Dave's three black walnut trees in his back yard.  At the time I noticed the walnuts were pretty much full size already, and I have a feeling this year is going to be a bumper crop, so I decided to keep a running total of the number of walnuts I pick up with my grabber and send to the corner behind the lilac.  I've done this before, informally, both daily and cumulatively one year but gave up at about a thousand.  This time I'll note the counts in my garage notebook and update the total here whenever I post.  As the count goes up, remember, these are just from my small yard, next to the yard with the walnut trees.  I'd imagine Dave gets at least 5 times as many as I'll get, and probably more.

And before you ask, no, I do not try to save them, shell them, dry them, crack and eat them.  I leave that for the squirrels, they don't seem to mind fattening up on them.

Walnut Count:  22

Two Mow May

No Mow May was a two mow May for me, plus some thatching and seeding and pulling weeds.  Many in this area subscribed to the aforementioned idea gladly, I think, whereas I guess I like it tidy.  I did notice most of the lawns that were left to grow were a high percentage of non-grass, and I'm sure dandelions and other flowering weeds are better for the pollinators than grass that's gone to seed.

I had the thought of taking a walk and collecting pictures of those tall lawns but, like Halloween, I decided not to photograph others' properties.  This was a few days into June so some had been cut already, anyway.  We did happen across this neighbor who appeared to be struggling to get the mower through the tall grass and weeds and I just couldn't resist trying to get a stealthy shot.  I know they succeeded eventually, but it really looks hacked up.

Did you let your lawn grow all May? 

Trail Cam and Updated Walk Pictures

Due to random piles of poop and unusual snow tracks we decided some time ago to buy an inexpensive trail camera to see what interesting creatures would inhabit our back yard when we weren't around.  I just have it strapped to the back stairs right now, you can catch a glimpse of where it is at the end of the Eeyore video I posted the other day.  It has captured trees waving in the breeze and my wife or I doing yardwork, grilling or just walking around back there.  But so far the most interesting thing it's captured is this gathering of local fauna performing a native fire ritual on Friday night.

It also took several before the night vision took over, but the black and white looks more dramatic here.  This is the only night vision pic (not video) that everyone was clearly present and could be seen.  I'm still figuring out what the best settings would be, and at the same time I'm hoping I do and don't capture something interesting or unusual in our yard.

*     *     *

Five weeks ago I posted pictures of a nearby greenway before the plants, grasses and trees began to grow and fill in.  At the time, it was noted how the views would not be visible when that happened and also that it would be interesting to compare.  Today we walked that way again so I actually remembered and got some similar pictures to show that difference.  All those are after the break!

Plant Day and Vacation

Slightly cooler weather has made us have the windows shut for several days now and maybe until the weekend, but that didn't stop us from the spring ritual of getting some decorative plants to put around the house yesterday.  We put two hanging plants out front to go along with the big pot, just a few for the stump area since the stump is rotting away, and a couple more plants for the garden.

We always used to put a hanging plant on a shepherd's hook by the back stairs, but that area is full sun all day and was pretty harsh on most things we put there.  We talked about putting it by the garage door, but at the bottom of the front steps seemed like a better idea and nice to add more color there.

Only 3 pots on the stump this year.  My wife also floated the idea of just sprinkling seeds on the decaying stump, and that might still happen.  I'm okay with less pots here this year, was less plants to have to pick out and hopefully less issues with squirrels digging them up.  I checked for that first thing this morning.

And my wife added basil and parsley to the garden, where she's already planted a tomato, pepper and a couple other plants and rows of seeds.  Only two garlic survived the winter, and we're pretty sure that's due to the the constant freezing and thawing last fall and early winter, so the rest just rot in the ground.  Meanwhile, we got a fence around the strawberry plants a bit late to keep many from getting eaten, and the raspberries are starting out well.

Saturday began a stretch of 10 days off work for me, and sorely needed.  I don't talk here about work much, and for a reason, but I can say that I've really not been happy for some time now.  Change may happen soon, by my choice or maybe even theirs the way things have been going.  But this is my vacation now, so I wish I could get it out of my head.

A week or so ago I was discussing painting the porch with my wife, and that project got lowered to the bottom of the list.  We decided to just replace the ceiling tiles for now, and I picked those up this morning.  Later in the week I'll do more with those as most will require cutting to size.  

So on Saturday morning we got started on the computer room.  We had a television that wasn't being used, so I got a wall mount and put it up above the computer desk.  This will be used for watching sports, concerts and other programs while I work or otherwise use the computer.  We then proceeded to move most everything out of the room, turned the rug, then cleaned and rearranged a bit as we put it all back.  The result is a bit more space in the room, and a computer desk that even more resembles a cockpit or some sort of command center with now three 32-inch screens.  I also have some decorative baskets ordered that will arrive today to make some areas look more organized.

So aside from ceiling tiles I have a few more small projects and chores to get done this week.  Should be just enough to keep me busy when I want to be with plenty of time to rest, relax and pursue whatever else I may fancy that day.

I do have one question to pose.  Our sliding glass door is very old and cleaning it with regular glass cleaner just doesn't get it very clear.  Does anyone have any hints on how to get old glass clear again?