Vacation Projects, Baking, Street Reconstruction #19 and More

I've been busy this past week, resting and recreating takes a lot of time and effort.  I'm on my first real vacation in a year since being new at a job and other than having Covid when I was on vacation last September.  As usual, a staycation to take care of little projects and other things without the interruptions of work.  So far I've gotten a few things done and we've had nice weather, for the most part.  There's a lot to say so I may jump around a bit, and I'll likely add a break due to the length once I add pictures.

Vacation Start

I started this vacation by going to my Mom's on Saturday.  We got a few little things done for her, but it was more about spending the time, I think.  I was just there a few weeks ago, but an overnight visit allows for more time and relaxation while catching up on what's going on in her life.  I got back to town mid-day Sunday and I don't think I did much the rest of the day.

Lots more after the break!

New Computer, Sunflowers & More

I made the transition to the new desktop computer yesterday.  Much more simple than it used to be, for sure.  All my files are on external hard drives and most of what I use the computer for is saved in Google so there when I signed in.  Some settings to change, a few things to download and install - and I'll find more yet, I'm sure, but I foresee no problems.  I say that now, but I still haven't been able to get the printer connected yet, and its directions stop at Windows 10 and I have 11 Pro, so we'll see.

I planted 24 sunflower seeds on Saturday, using the same mammoth sunflower seeds I got from the first successful sunflower I grew two years ago.  We saved up toilet paper tubes which I lined up in a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag.  I filled everything with dirt from a bag of garden soil, planted and watered.  The bag has no holes in it for drainage, but can be added if needed and the whole thing is in the porch on a tray, just in case of leaks.  Hopefully I will get lots of viable seedlings that will be easily replanted in the degrading cardboard tubes though I'm still not sure where they all would go, and I will still have to have them caged so they don't get randomly bitten off for no apparent reason.  I wish I could go all Mr BW (see Easter post) on the damn critters, rabbits and squirrels, but my wife wouldn't allow that and neither would local law.

Another thought to mention before I forget, every two years recently they do a controlled burn along the creek and sometimes then we get a duck nest under our back steps.  Thankfully that didn't happen this year because it has never turned out well for the eggs, but the banks of the creek are starting to recover.  Two months from now there may be wildflowers taller than me again.

And the stump area is beginning to turn green with the usual plants and some leftover wildflowers.  We have a bag of dirt ready to put over the stump and add another batch of wildflower seeds this year, and pretty soon so hopefully that area will be even prettier this year.  And hard to believe, but all 3 bushes we planted last spring that got eaten almost to the nubs by the bunnies are showing signs of life.  I'll have to keep them protected and make bigger cages for them to have a chance in the long term, though.

Still no leaves on the trees here, well, maybe tiny ones but certainly not near full yet.  I did finally put away the snow blower and made sure the lawn mower would start.  Today is beautiful; warm, windy and windows-open weather.  Then looks like maybe light jacket weather with scattered rain chances throughout until this time next week when hopefully more of this nice weather sticks around.  I have not worn shorts or sandals out and about yet, but if I was to go out this afternoon I would have.  It's time.

Thai Pavilion at Olbrich

I had the occasion for work to be at Olbrich Gardens recently.  Our group was among a couple dozen people waiting for the doors to open promptly at 10:00 a.m.  The morning was overcast and windy, but warming so a light jacket was good for walking the garden's paths.  

It's early yet so only the early spring flowers were blooming, and still no leaves on the trees, but soon.  When it came in sight, shining through the trees, I steered our group over the bridge to see it.  Somehow, and taking random paths to find ourselves there, we were the first to cross the bridge over Starkweather Creek and approach the Thai Pavilion so, with no people in the way for the moment, I made time to take some pictures.

The pavilion is an impressive sight in person, very detailed and shiny.  The stone has a glare, but reads:  "This extraordinary Thai Sala, the only one of its kind in North America, was gifted to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and City of Madison by the Thai Chapter of the Wisconsin Alumni Association in 2001."

When I consider it more deeply I see the glaring affluence much more than the practicality, but it's one of only four outside of Thailand so another shiny object for Madison and the university to boast about.  Still, it is pretty spectacular and would look even better in the summer sunlight.  You can learn more about it here.

I was here last year but the pavilion was covered, closed and enclosed for renovations all season.  I thought I posted some pictures from that visit but I can't find that I did.  But you can see the the Bolz Conservatory at Olbrich in this post from 2018.

I'll put a few more pictures after the break, including a picture of the map for the curious.  I'm not sure I ever followed the map there, just wandered through, normally.

Street Reconstruction Part 18, Burn Day & Blogday

Yesterday morning, shortly before I had to leave for work, we had to scramble to get my car out of the garage and her van into the driveway.  We knew there was no parking on much of the street starting this morning, but they had gotten to work earlier than we expected.  It was time to plant the trees on our street and the next street over.

I grabbed a quick picture after our little fire drill, and after the holes were drilled on the terraces for planting the new trees.  The workman walking by the hole where my wife was parked was a coincidence.  I had no time to try for a better picture as I had to then leave for work.

When I got home, several new trees had been planted.  There's been lots of trees cut down since we moved in, now each had finally been replaced.  And in almost the exact same spots, too.  Not surprising, actually, when you think of the underground utilities going to each house.  My wife said they were easily done by noon, which didn't surprise me with such an early start.

The second picture shows the new tree in front of neighbor Jane's, and not many more.  A similar shot on the other side of the street facing the opposite direction would have shown several more, but neighbors might wonder what I'm doing over there taking pictures, and they all look pretty much the same right now anyway.

Another thought about the street:  If it had to be parking on one side only then I'm very glad its the other side.  Especially on garbage day when the bins are all out.  No parking within 4 feet of a driveway or within 2 feet of the next car, per city rules.  We've not had a big issue yet, Kate and I, but I know others have had to adjust, especially when someone else has guests over.  And I know one neighbor has to park at least one and sometimes two cars all the way up at the top of the street on the next block.  Older and adult kids living with parents clog up much of the parking, at least on this end of the street.

Separate from the street reconstruction, we had another *biennial (*corrected) rite of spring happen.  While I was at work today the city did a controlled burn along the creek.  I'll add those pictures after the break, if anyone would like to take a look.  The banks of the creek won't be this clear for another two years.

And, finally, today is my 16th Blogday.  Still chugging along, after all...

Most Snow So Far

Wednesday it snowed all day, and we wound up clearing the snow from that storm twice, my wife with the shovel and me with the snowblower, after I got home from work that day and again early the next morning.  

Thursday was sunny though still below freezing, but we got some good melting on the streets, and especially on the busy, brined-in-advance, major roads while the original 5 or so inches of light, fluffy snow on the ground slightly compacted.  

Friday evening the snow started again, but it was late enough and still coming down hard enough to just wait to go out until morning.

Saturday it continued snowing more than not all day.  We cleared snow early that morning, then again early afternoon, but this time we both shoveled without using the snowblower as it wasn't as deep as earlier.  Still, with my back, that 1-2 inches was almost enough for me to use the snowblower anyway.  Later that afternoon we had to clear the end of the driveway a couple times due to the snow plows coming by.   

Sunday, today:  I salted a bit last night, but I still had to clean up from a good dusting of snow overnight.  This picture was taken after I shoveled this morning, but even though it only got up to around 20ºF the sun came out and again we got good melting on the streets and walks.  What I mean by that is shoveled and plowed areas melted off nicely.  This is important now because though we won't be getting more snow we're going to be very frigid these next few days so all the wet snow will freeze hard in place, wherever it is.

I'm not sure of the exact number, but all in all it would seem to be about 8-10 inches of snow since Wednesday, to me.  Right now we have more snow on the ground now than we've had all season long.  I'm going to have to look again for a website that I can get good, detailed, recent and local weather data.  Any suggestions?

January This-And-Thats

Well, time to break the seal with the first new post of 2025.  The holidays have come and gone, and we've settled back into daily life here.  I don't have any big news or anything like that, and I haven't done one of these posts in a while, so time to start typing and see what spills out onto the page.

• 
  I've been baking quite a bit again recently, though still only on the weekends.  Most recently I made cinnamon rolls again, though this recipe is a bit of a cheat as I used the frozen bread dough.  Still, they turned out very well and were a nice, sweet treat with whipped cream cheese frosting.  I also made another batch of flatbread yesterday, and for the first time in a while I made the classic baguette recipe that I used to make all the time.  Also yesterday, I tried a new whole wheat baguette recipe that I modified a bit from a ToYoube video.  While it tastes good, I did not get the rise from them that I should have so wound up with skinny baguettes.  I believe the water was too warm, though I waited for it to cool some it evidently was not long enough and likely killed some of the yeast.  I should know better by now, but I'll make a few tweaks and try this recipe again soon.
• 
  We had Kate's van in for new tires last week, so another hefty bill.  Thankfully the brakes are still good for some time so we didn't have those done.  Now, my light just came on in my car so I'll have to get it in for an oil change soon.  Always something...
• Sometime during the last week the last of the pumpkins on the stump were fully consumed.  Though we've had cold, we've not had a whole lot of snow here yet (*knock wood) so they haven't been buried much.  I'm fine with not much snow, but come spring we'll miss the water if we continue like this.  I sometimes feel bad for putting our veg compost in the bin rather than leaving it out for the critters, but we do not need to attract more animals to our yard.
• 
  The latest project update for our street reconstruction just tells us that trees will be planted in spring, and they still plan on going ahead with the bike/pedestrian bridge over the creek, scheduled for summer this year.  I still believe it is a waste of our taxpayer dollars as there is a bridge 2 blocks north and 2 blocks south of the site.  This current city administration has plowed ahead with unpopular projects and I highly doubt will win re-election.  But I still can't fathom how our voters approved the city to raise our property taxes above state-mandated limits - and with no end date!
• Last month we replaced the suet feeder with a double suet feeder for winter, though we seem to get less birds now.  Perhaps they migrated or just have different habits for winter.  But we have been getting more woodpeckers visiting, which is kind of neat.  I'd also consider a hummingbird feeder next spring as I know they're around and nice to watch.
• 
  I bought my wife a birthday present recently, for a week from today.  I couldn't get it through Amazin' because she would see the notifications, so I went through another popular online retailer.  It was pretty expensive and the box is oddly shaped, so I never figured it would be delivered in its original box, but it was.  And my wife retrieved it, when delivered, so she knows what it is now.  But she said she didn't look closely and does not want it early.  She expects it on her birthday, and wrapped, so that's what she'll get.  I was kind of proud of the gift and I hope she truly likes it.  Maybe I'll share what it is after next week.
• Playoff football is upon us.  Ohio State and Notre Dame will battle next week for the college championship, and the NFL playoffs began this week.  My beloved Packers will be playing the Eagles this afternoon and I'll be watching the game closely and cheering on my team.  Go Packers!
• The day after my wife's birthday is inauguration day.  He's already distracting from false promises he made while campaigning ($2 gas, cheaper groceries, no taxes on overtime, etc.), the things that made many people vote for him.  Why they think these rich, white men care about them is beyond me.  Oh, well, what's done is done.  The circus is about to begin.

I started typing this morning and my wife and I went out for a bit this afternoon.  A rare weekend day that she didn't have to go over to her dad's.  She had the kitchen this morning for cooking otherwise I would probably be trying that whole wheat baguette again.  But I baked pretty much all day yesterday (though a lot was rise time), and was pretty tired last night so good to take today off.

Have a great week, everyone.

Street Reconstruction Part 17 & More

Yesterday they installed two No Parking signs near the top of our street and the next one over.  Today they installed more down both streets, but spaced further apart.  There is a sign two houses up and two houses down from us, which makes me happy we don't have one on our terrace to mow around.  So rather than take a picture of one of the signs in front of a neighbor's house, here is a stock photo of what they look like.

I'm thinking all that is left is for the extra poles to be removed and trees planted in spring, but they may surprise me with something I didn't think of again.  Happily, it appears people are heeding the signs and only parking on the other side since I'm not sure how many neighbors looked into the work to be done as I did and knew about this change.  And while I'm happy parking is on the other side, that means I'll have to back out a bit more carefully on this narrower street since we're pretty much guaranteed to have a car across the street now, and it may be my wife's at times.

When I got home from my Mom's on Thanksgiving Day I caught this fat squirrel eating from the frozen pumpkins on the stoop, picture taken from the car.  Well, they lasted out front for about a month and a half, through Halloween and Thanksgiving, so it was time to put them in back and let them decompose or be eaten.  

I've had trouble with my display driver on this computer so haven't used the trail cams lately as reviewing all that video does bad things, but you can still see the squirrels eat up our pumpkin from a couple years ago here.  Question:  Does anyone know if you can download a new display driver?  I haven't found anything when I looked, so I fear I may need to get a new computer to fix the issue.  And yes, the driver is fully updated.

I placed the pumpkins on the rotting stump in back, near the frozen bird bath.  (We've been below the freezing point for several days now, though we might manage to get just above tomorrow so we can get some rain that can then freeze for us.  Wonderful.)  Whatever the squirrels leave of the pumpkins can help nourish the wildflower seeds we plan to spread on the stump again next year.

After the break is just some recent baking, if interested.

Street Reconstruction Part 16 & Miscellaneous

 It's late, but I wanted to share the latest update, however small.  Yesterday, temporary no parking signs showed up all along our side of the street.  Apparently to give the regular street sign installers more time?  Who knows.

First Snow & Street Reconstruction Part 15

Our autumn has been mild, overall, and I think I heard the mildest on record.  We started yesterday with a wintry mix (slush) that turned to light, wet snow, then more overnight to officially get our first snowfall of the season.  Below is what we had before I left for work this morning.

It continued with sideways, wet snow all morning with temperatures just above freezing and sustained winds 20 or more miles per hour, but by this afternoon it warmed up a few degrees and turned to a light rain.  Temperatures are expected to remain several degrees above freezing while the wind dies down overnight, so I don't expect to see much snow, if any, left tomorrow.  The foreseeable forecast has temperatures just above and below freezing, day and night, but I do see one day where we are not expected to get above freezing all day.

I'm not ready for this, but I never am.

I believe the same day of my last Street Reconstruction post we received a letter from the city that the contractor had completed their work.  Yesterday morning as I left, though, there were two of them out front; they had come back to try and connect my cable back to the top of the pole so they could get their pole holding the wire over the street, back.  From what I saw this afternoon, the newly-kinked coaxial cable is now pretty useless and would need to be replaced anyway, if we have a need for that again.  I should have just cut it off the house when they knocked it loose.

We got another letter today with a bit of information on caring for the grass or native plants, depending what the homeowner chose, and saying any trees would not be planted until spring.  Still no word on the unnecessary footbridge over the creek yet.  A waste of money, and this last election day a city referendum to raise our property taxes over state limits passed, inexplicably (who are these people voting for this crap?!).  We'll now have to pay a few hundred dollars more per year - with no end date - to see our money wasted on projects like that.  Ugh.

Moving on, there's now a new sign at the top of the street showing a 20 mph speed limit, but not any no parking signs on our side of the street yet, so everyone is parking as they had before but now on a narrower street.  I'd think with winter coming the signs would be a priority, and I expect to see them soon.

I'll continue with updates as they happen, but surely fewer and farther between now.  All in all, this went smoother than expected and we're glad the worst is over.

Street Reconstruction Part 14, And A Surprise Text

Since late last week they started filling the terraces and other areas with dirt, and when I got home today we had all the dirt, seeded and covered with a straw mat.  I do have grass growing in a spot I seeded in the back just a couple weeks ago, so maybe there is time yet for a little growing before winter.

As far as I can tell, signs need to be installed and the cable company must move wires so some poles can be removed.  Not sure if anything else is left.

As I sat to write this my phone made a noise... after the break!

One Way To Look At It...

 

via

Street Reconstruction Part 13 1/2: A Different View

I noticed today the gap between the base of the tree and where it was growing over the old curb and now with the new curb and thought to provide a different view here.  The street is one foot narrower on each side now.

Street Reconstruction Part 13

There hasn't been any big updates lately, they've just been cleaning up the terraces and where they had to dig out for new sidewalk to a depth of so many inches, presumably for fresh soil to plant grass and trees.  They've also been raising/replacing the water valves (blue marker) to be at the height of where the ground will be.  I don't believe they had to do ours as it is close enough, I guess.

I'm afraid this series will last until spring for the planting of the terraces, but we'll see what happens.

Car Is Fixed & Mom Worries

There hasn't been much visible work done on the streets since last post.  It appears they have prepared some of the terraces for adding dirt, grass and trees, but no update until ours is done.  They've also not started on the foot bridge that is part of this project, and I hope they came to their senses and save that money but probably not.

I got the car back on Tuesday last week.  All they found was a wheel bearing that needed replacing on the right front.  Thankfully it wasn't more serious, that bearing made a hell of a scraping sound.  So about 100 bucks to tow it to the shop then about 900 dollars to fix.  Could've been worse and I consider myself lucky.

Also Tuesday after work I returned the rental car, so I had the rental for 8 days.  It was all rather confusing when I rented it, but it appears the rental car cost me about 50 dollars a day.  All in all, not as bad as I feared, yet the total cost of my car breaking down approached $1500.00.

Also on Tuesday evening, after returning the rental and fetching my car from the shop, I got a call from my sister.  Seems my Mom was having a health emergency.  I talked to her but she didn't want me to come down because they were hoping to get her into a Madison hospital the next day, which they did.  So I met her at one of the hospitals here in town the next morning.  Later that Wednesday she had a procedure done, and the next day she was discharged in the early afternoon.  I took her home and spent the night, but wound up leaving around midday on Friday and my sister and her kids got there later in the afternoon and spent the weekend with her.

Mom will be okay and has a chance to recover completely, but will need to exercise, take her medicine, listen to her doctors and go to therapy.  So it will be work, but I know she can do it.

Pretty good view from Mom's hospital room of downtown, lakes and the capitol building, but distant and always a better view in person.  The closest car here on the 4th floor of the parking garage is mine, fresh from the shop, and coincidentally across from her room (valet parking).

Street Reconstruction Part 12, & Car

The work this week consisted of wetting, grading and compressing the gravel, and raising the manholes to the new street level (the orange barrels in the middle of the road).

 Then on Friday they laid down two layers of asphalt.

So by the time I got home from work we had a completed street!

There are still wires to move, poles to remove, terraces to finish, trees to plant (next spring?) and signs to put up, but the worst appears to be behind us and the end in sight.  We've been parking a block and a half away for quite some time now so it will be nice to park at home again - though we may not be able to some days due to the continuing work.  And I'll have to have the local second hand shop pick up a dresser in the garage so I can park in it again.

As for my car, I talked to the shop first thing Monday and they were booked for the week.  I've been taking my car there for 15 years and trust them, so do I wait or try to get it into an unfamiliar shop earlier?  I chose to wait, but did have it towed to the shop that day as they said if they had a cancellation or extra time they may be able to look at it earlier, otherwise it's scheduled for Monday.  Well, I heard nothing from them all week so I assume they never had a chance to check it out.  I have the rental car through Friday though I hope to be able to return it sooner.

Street Reconstruction Part 11, More

It appears we're ready to have a new street installed very soon.  There's not been a whole lot of activity lately other than grading and compacting the gravel.  They didn't work at all over the weekend, so maybe Monday.

I've not had many fires this year, and I've kept short the few I've had.  It was either too hot, too windy, or I was just too tired on weekend evenings.  Now, with cooler weather and an earlier sunset I may get out there more.  I did get out there for a bit on Friday evening.  It was nice, but I did build it up and let it burn down in just a few hours rather than spend all night.

And Basil got a visit from a neighbor cat.  People aren't supposed to let their cats out here in the city but many do, even despite the construction and large machinery going back and forth all day.

On my way to pick up groceries this morning I noticed an odd sound as I arrived.  I didn't see anything outside the car so kept the radio off and paid close attention on the drive home and I heard horrendous noises coming from the car.  I'm not sure what's going on, but first thing in the morning I'll have to try and get it into the shop.  I can use my wife's van sometimes, but I need my car.

Street Reconstruction Part 10

First order of business on Friday morning was pouring our driveway apron.  I hadn't left for work yet and they got started.

When I got home on Friday they had the steel plate over the new apron.  I thank them for the trouble but we never used the steel to enter the driveway.

No work happened over the weekend, but today (Monday) we got our terrace walk poured.  They've been working on all the concrete work and might be finished with it today or else very soon.  I did park in the driveway this afternoon.

The pole you see in the pictures is propping up our cable from the pole across the street.  It had been attached at the top of the pole but was knocked off early on, so is attached much lower and would hang too low over the street.  Apparently the cable will be moved to the new pole toward the end of construction.  We don't use the cable at all anymore, but the wire is still there and I don't want it to be hit and pull siding off the house or anything like that.

Aside from the construction it's really been life as normal, though it is starting to feel like the dog days of summer.  I started to do some fall yard cleanup last weekend and my to-do list has grown, but all in due time.

Street Reconstruction Part 9

Curbs and gutters were installed yesterday, an interesting process.

Yesterday I had off, so I was able to watch the progress made in front of our house.  They spent the morning on the other street, likely doing curbs and gutters, before moving to our street.

They gave our house driveway access at the end of the day, but we won't be using it.  Not all houses were given this treatment, curiously.

Today they appear to be working on finishing the sidewalks on both streets.  I'm not sure they'll finish, but probably tomorrow.  They're also framing up the driveway aprons, though ours still has the steel plate over the new gutter for access.  It may take a few more days to finish up all the concrete work, but we're still pleased with the progress so far.

My wife just popped in, we just had a knock on the door and she was told we would have our driveway apron installed tomorrow and we should be able to drive on it by Saturday.  Good news!  We think they may be prioritizing some over others as a few older and disabled people seem to be getting the same treatment.  And they may have noticed the wheelchair lift in my wife's van, so...

Street Reconstruction Part 8

As work on the roadway continues, we still had a driveway apron for the weekend, though we began parking elsewhere.

The driveway apron was already removed by the time I left for work this morning, just broken slabs to be hauled away now.

But they built us ramps to our driveways, so technically we still have access.  Overall, we're pleased with the progress so far.

Street Reconstruction Part 7