Happy Halloween 2025

We had a little different look for Halloween this year with some new decorations.  

Same skeleton as last year hanging on the door but some new little lights I got for free after last Halloween, ghosts in the kitchen window and 2 strings of pumpkins on the right railing.  The rest is from a dollar store; pumpkinhead on the left of the door and skully on the right, the sign at the bottom of the steps and the window covering.  I did forget to use the flickering flame light bulb, but no matter.  I also never got around to carving the pumpkin, but I have ideas for a trail cam video with the critters in back again.  We also moved the flowers to the porch for the little kids to make it up our stairs more easily.

Originally I ordered a different window covering online then found this one at a dollar store.  What I received from my order was not what I ordered so I was very glad to have this as a backup.  And I like it well enough, but even though I only used black masking (painter's) tape to hold it on, the plastic was so thin it ripped when taking it down so the search will continue next year.

There were very few houses in the neighborhood with any Halloween decorations other than pumpkins and mums, and fewer with lights on to welcome the kids.  We got about 25 trick-or-treaters this year so got rid of a lot of candy, but not all of it.  That sure seems like a lot of walking for only a few giving houses in an area.  I feel a bit sorry for kids these days.

The picture above makes it seem so much brighter than it actually was.  We do have street lights, including one directly across the street, and I can see shadows from a neighbor's front light, across the street and 3 houses down. After the break I altered a picture to more resemble what human eyes saw, and a wider view that also amplifies the light.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Fire And Ice - First Frost

When I left for work on Friday morning the frost was very apparent.

It won't be long now and I'll be strimming the melting plants into mulch for next year's spring revival.

One day earlier we had a company out to wash the house.  Temperatures were around 40ºF so I wondered if they would cancel, but they carried out the job.  Normally I get the power washer out every year and clean the house as good as I can, but things build up and don't come off with just the power washer.  It was expensive, but the house siding and gutters look immaculate now.  Blankets of white snow will not make the dirt on our white house stand out this year.  There was a faint smell of bleach outside, but already seems to be fading.

And last night was perfect conditions for a fire, very little breeze and not too cold.  I built up a big fire about a half hour before sunset then settled in to watch it burn for a few hours.  Had a good phone conversation with my Mom and watched the Bucks game on my phone while being warmed by the flames.

I should really do this more often.

Fall Updates & More

We've had a much milder fall than normal so far, but cooler days are coming.  This morning was our first frost warning though we had none here, but a few more chances are coming soon.  I'm writing this on Monday but I think I'll set this to post on Tuesday, just to put a day between this and the Ace stuff.

My wife cleaned up the stump area on Saturday leaving only the wildflowers that were still blooming, a couple red ones, one cone flower plant, and there are still small yellow ones that appear from time to time.  We also got the new bushes caged for winter so the rabbits don't eat them down to the nubs like they did last winter.  Hopefully by the end of next summer they'll be big and strong enough that we won't have to do this again.

I spent 4 hours on Saturday morning making baguette, and 4 hours on Saturday afternoon/evening making loaded baked potato dinner rolls to go with steak for dinner.  Another King Arthur recipe, which is my first stop when looking for something different to make.

My wife thought I was just making potato dinner rolls, so this was a tasty surprise seeing all that went into these.  They were a lot of effort for only a small pan of rolls, but they're so very good.  So good that these will definitely be made again in the future.

On a side note, I also made my first batch of homemade taco sauce.  It seems to have turned out well, and we'll have tacos later in the week to verify.  But another thing that we have everything in the cupboard to make, so why the heck not?

After all that on Saturday I took Sunday almost completely off, except for making the taco sauce mentioned above.  But today I looked at the forecast (cold and rainy tomorrow) and so I went out after work to do some of things I had planned on doing yesterday.  First off, I cut up all the sunflower stalks.  There is only the one sunflower left out front by the bird feeder and I may leave that for some time yet until it is completely dead.  

Once the stalks dry out completely there's not much to them, but they'll be easy to light and will make good kindling.  The root balls I separated into another bucket.  Those I may just run to the dump as yard waste to get rid of them.  I like to keep organic waste right here and compost it, but sometimes it's just got to go.  And as you can see the gardens have been cleaned up, mostly.  The two parsleys will be removed when it is time to plant garlic in that garden, yet this fall.

We've been pretty windy lately so I had to pick up some sticks today, which I would normally put in the fire pit but realized the pit needed cleaning out, so I got that done, too.  Ready for a fire now, whenever the wind dies down and I have that energy.

The calendar has me itching to clean up everything for winter, but the mild weather has stretched that timeline quite a bit this year.  I'm not going to complain, once winter gets here it will drag on seemingly forever, then we'll happily do it all over again come spring.

Farewell, Ace Frehley

I also found my first Ace autograph in a storage box.  I had it in an old, dirty frame with two Kiss trading cards, of which I have both sets still stored somewhere.  Anyway, I ditched the frame and scanned them all together. 

In the late 80's I met a friend who had run into all 4 members of Frehley's Comet outside their hotel, I forget which city.  He realized how big of an Ace fan I was and gifted me this autograph, though he wouldn't part with the other band members'.  A few years later he moved to Colorado and I haven't heard from him since, but I still have this.

This also seems an appropriate time to share the first Kiss poster again, original post here.  I also have the aforementioned trading cards, Kiss On Tour board game, all 4 puzzles, die cast toy cars, tons of magazines and posters, several of all of their albums including rare releases, plus some t-shirts, pins, patches, hats, bandanas and more.

Well, things go in threes, so thank you for attending my Ace Frehley tribute posts this weekend.  We did some more cleanup in the back yard so I'm delaying pictures of that until sometime this week.  For now, here is Ace's biggest hit performed during his last live concert.  

Farewell, Ace Frehley.

Ace And I, 1994

It was the summer of 1994 when I first saw Ace Frehley and his solo band live at a club in Chicago.  I was coming into town to visit a friend and heard an ad for the show on the radio.  When I got to my friend's house I let him know exactly what we were going to be doing the next night.  Thankfully, he agreed.

At that show I met a woman who knew Ace, and though I had been drinking quite a bit she seemed to like me a lot and took me backstage to meet him after the show.  It was brief, and I was drunk and starstruck.  We kept in touch and eventually she invited me down for a Kiss convention in November that year as Ace was the featured guest.  It was there I met Ace for the second time, an even more brief meeting as, because of my woman friend, I was allowed to cut the line to get a picture with him as he was about to greet everyone.

This is the only picture I have of Ace and me.  It was a Kodak 110 Instamatic camera with a flash bar, but even the archaic camera could not be blamed for the poor picture she took.

This picture was taken right after as attendees started moving through the line.  I have that same shirt he's wearing as I bought it at that earlier club show.  Very cool shirt and I still have it, but it's way too small for me now.

All just memories I've had for decades by now, but a youthful, fun experience that I will hold on to forever.  Thank you, Ace.

Schuster's Farm

I had the opportunity at work today to visit Schuster's Farm, a family-friendly local attraction.  I've driven by it many times but have never been, and today another staff and I took 6 clients for a several hour visit.  I tried to snap pictures when I could, and while they were quite busy today it is a large area so I managed to get some pictures mostly without people in them.  I can take pictures of our clients for work, but once I transfer them to work I'm supposed to delete them from my phone.  There's rules about pictures, and there were several other groups like ours there, as well, so just being mindful.

I'm finding it hard to describe the place as I'd never been anywhere quite like it.  They have fields of flowers and pumpkins, and corn for mazes.  Several different farm animals to pet and even a bunch of parakeets.  Wagon rides, a haunted forest, and several different areas for kids to play and climb.  I didn't get pics of the other areas as I had to stay back with a couple clients while the more mobile ones explored.  Overall, lots for kids here though they sometimes have bands at night and do have a bar for the adults.

The day was mostly overcast with just a peek of sun here and there, while temperatures called for a light jacket or sweatshirt.  I found the day interesting and I believe all had a lot of fun, especially since we got to take them out to eat afterwards.  After the break are more pictures, if you're interested, and you can find more information on their website here.

Vacation Recap

I was looking through the pictures I took last week and found there weren't many.  I truly did just try to take it easy, and apparently I managed that pretty well.  Yet, there were some highlights so let's see what I can remember.

First off, we'd had fall-like temperatures for a few weeks, but as if on cue the weather started turning nicer and warmer during my vacation.  This looks to last for at least another week, which is good.  It was way too early to have to switch from shorts to pants!

I didn't mention it last post, but there was a bit of a bigger project on my list - actually more of a PITA than "big" - that I chose to ignore all week.  There is a drawer in the kitchen I need to figure out how to fix.  The old, outdated hardware simply wore out and my first fix, didn't, so I do still have that to do but I have a new plan and will get that started this weekend.

I began the week by going to my Mom's on Saturday for the Badger game.  We hung out, I cooked dinner, and I spent the night.  It was nice, but I got some wires crossed in my head about the Packer game that Sunday so left for home earlier than I needed to.  Not a big deal, but another lunch out with Mom would have been nice.

On Monday we had a new rug delivered for the living room, which led to maybe the biggest chore of this vacation.  The new rug was for the living room, so that rug was to move to the bedroom, and that rug was to move to the porch.  So, basically, we had to work backwards; clean up the porch for the rug from the bedroom, clean up the bedroom for the rug from the living room, then clean up the living room for the new (bigger) rug to be placed.  It was certainly good to get the cleaning done, but we wound up moving around most all of our furniture that day.

Some shopping, mowing the lawn, and plenty of time spent with my feet up all week.  Oh, there were a few little jobs done here and there but hardly anything else worth mentioning.  Now that I said that, I did want to mention the dill pickle bread I made.  It was interesting and not bad, a good baking exercise, but I may look for a different recipe if I make similar again.  

Most importantly, my wife and I did get to spend some good time together and enjoyed several lunches or dinners out, and several drinks out during the week.  It was nice to spend the time together, but later in the week the less I seemed to do, and that was good, too.  Now, sigh, back to work.

58 & Vacation

I've been on vacation this week, and today I turn 58 years old.  Normally I have a certain main project to do on my vacation, plus a list of other chores to get done.  This vacation I still have that list but no real big project and I'm placing more of a priority on rest and relaxation than getting things done.

My wife got me some Belgian sour beers, Rodenbach and Duchess de Bourgogne, that I may begin to enjoy starting later tonight.  Today we strolled State Street as it had been some time since I'd been downtown, and enjoyed lunch at State Street Brats.  Tonight we plan to meet some friends at Come Back In for food and drinks, then get home in time for the Packers game.

Overall, a good week so far.  I may reflect on this week more at a later time, but for now, all is good.

Panorama Fire Pit

I had a relaxing fire last night, and a good conversation with Mom.  The mosquitoes were terrible so I had to spray myself head to toe with repellant, and resign myself to having to take a full shower again today to clean up before bed.

Recently I needed to upgrade my phone from a Pixel 7A to a Pixel 9A because my battery was going.  Last night I found out how much better the panorama feature is on the new phone, likely AI assisted.  I notice only one error stitching images together, the back steps and roofline of the house in the first picture.  But if you open the pictures full size you get a lot of detail of the back yard with no real distortion.

Just got home from a nice dinner on the bank of the Yahara river.  Dining, relaxing, and watching the boats go by on a beautiful Sunday evening...

Madison's Peregrine Falcons

Peregrine falcons are one of the most widely distributed birds in the world, but fascinating none the less.  There is a livestream of a nest on the MG&E building downtown Madison, overlooking Williamson (Willy) Street and Lake Monona.  (The same building with the three tall smokestacks seen in background of this recent post.)  The falcon home page with the livestream is here, if the embed doesn't work or last below.

It's hard to catch them at home sometimes, but you can back up the stream to see them.  I did a deep dive on them recently, pun intended, and they are a fascinating creature.  I'd love to witness the hunt in real life sometime.  A good four minute video is here if interested.  And a good story on the site linked in the previous paragraph of the origins of the nest and happenings since 2009.

*Edit: I just found this page that has livestream links to other peregrine falcon nests at other power plants in Wisconsin.

Labor Day is Monday, so we have a three day weekend.  Today, I made two batches of flatbread this morning, we went out for burgers for lunch and now I'm watching the Brewer game while typing this.  This evening we're going to grill out jerk chicken and I'm hoping to have a fire.  I also need to call my Mom and plan an overnight trip as I have a week off coming very soon.  My wife will have things to do for her dad the next two days for several hours each day, but we'll still have some time to rest and recreate together.

I know I've had some pretty shallow posts recently, but there really hasn't been much to say.  I'll post some pics if I have a fire tonight.  Or if I'm too tired then tomorrow looks like good fire weather, too.

Dog Days of Summer

We had planned to go to a Jamboree to sample different foods from black-owned restaurants last weekend, part of Black Restaurant Week here in Madison, but it was postponed due to rain until this Sunday.  Because of that, it will be in a different location farther from home and the weather is questionable so I'm not sure if we'll go tomorrow.  

We considered going to Schenk Corners Block Party last night, but instead went out for dinner then to a neighborhood bar for drinks.  Still, a good night out for us.

Mom came up to the house last week.  She had a gathering at her brother's just a bit south, so wanted to make the short extra trip up to see me and Kate.  We set up our screen gazebo tent in the driveway, grilled out dinner and enjoyed a nice visit.  I'm glad she made it up to the house as the big city traffic can get pretty nuts so she tends to stay away, and I don't blame her.  My next visit down to see her will be next month, sometime during my vacation.

Today was to be partly sunny with scattered strong storms, and indeed it has been all overcast and very wet so we will not be going to Eken Park Fest this afternoon after the Packer game, nor the previously mentioned block party tonight.  Instead we will be staying in and I'll be watching the Brewers go for a franchise-record 14 wins in a row.

Starkweather creek, from this morning's walk.

A bit disappointing after having bigger plans, but the rest is needed and even welcomed.  I even napped for the last half of the Packer game today, waking up to another storm approaching and scuttling any plans outside the rest of the afternoon.  I'm not sure what similar events are left yet this year, but that's okay.  It feels like we are entering the dog days of summer.

Sunflower and afternoon rain and wind today, dark enough at times for the garage lights to turn themselves on.

Not a lot new here, otherwise, at least nothing that I want to discuss here.  The sunflowers continue to grow and bloom, and ordinary life continues.  Mostly drama-free, which is good but doesn't provide much writing fodder.  Blissfully mundane, I guess you could say.  

The Brewer game is about to start, so that will be most of my evening.  Hope you are well.

Saturday Picture Post +

Plus commentary, that is.

My wife and I spent time on separate chores this morning, mine at home and hers more unexpected and difficult.  By early afternoon we were able to be done and go out for a nice, but very filling lunch together, then relaxed at a pub for a few drinks before coming home to watch the Brewers win their game and extend their lead in the division, league, and all of Major League Baseball.  

'Chuffed' isn't a word often used here in the US, but seems to aptly describe our pride as fans of our small-market team doing so well.  It's happened with our different Wisconsin teams at different times, but it's always really nice to look at the standings and see your team on top and enjoy it while it lasts.

AtwoodFest 2025

It rained off and on though mid-day Saturday, so it was very warm and humid when we ventured down to the eleventh AtwoodFest early that afternoon.  The skies remained cloudy after we arrived, and we did feel a raindrop here and there.  A shower would have felt good in that humidity, but Sunday was to be much hotter (and indeed it is sunny and feels like 96ºF outside right now) so we wanted to visit this day.

For the most part I tried to keep my phone in my pocket and not think about taking pictures, but I did take a few.  It looks similar to past years, but the food seemed to be all on one side this year and the main stage has been in a parking lot off the street about halfway down for the last couple years.

I was having a mild flare-up so I did not partake in any food cart goodies.  We spent a couple hours walking, looking, watching and listening before walking home as the sun came out.  We're thinking about an evening visit next year, just to see what that's like.  Today I'm just resting and fasting, watching the Brewers hopefully get a win.  Happy Sunday, everyone.

Saturday Picture Post

Fete De Marquette 2025

We've talked about coming to Fete de Marquette in years past, just have never made it until this year.  McPike park is relatively new to Madison, established about 10 years ago, and creates a nice open space near downtown Madison.  Initially, it was even called Central Park.  There is a skate park and some facilities, but mostly it is open lawn (a very well-kept lawn compared to other parks) with few trees mostly on the border.

We went about mid-day on Saturday, early enough that it wasn't too crowded.  The skies were mostly clouds and there was a good breeze.  We spent a couple hours, then left as the clouds started to break up and the sun made it very hot.  Atwoodfest is coming soon, and so is Eken Park Fest in August.  There are more but we'll just have to see.

A few more pictures after the break.

Cacio E Pepe Rolls

My wife's latest choice for me to make from King Arthur's Big Book Of Bread - Cacio E Pepe Rolls.

This appears to be a recipe reminiscent of a classic Roman pasta. It's a salty, peppery dough with pecorino Romano cheese.  Once baked, they are also tossed in a topping of salt, freshly cracked black pepper, pecorino Romano cheese and olive oil.  Big flavor in these rolls, half of which have been frozen for another day.  They took about 4 hours to make, start to finish, and was a good baking exercise even if I never make them again.  I can't wait to see what she chooses next.

Sunflower Update

I started with 24 seedlings, using seeds from my 10-foot sunflower of two years ago.  Of those, one didn't escape the shell so it's tiny leaves died within and another got pulled out of the ground by something several days after it was planted.  That leaves 22, two of which broke in heat and high winds yet they still thrive.  I noted earlier that we had a hot spell, well, that hot spell has mostly continued for us the last few weeks.

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon today so I decided to take some sunflower pictures to share an update, most of which will be after the break, if interested.

Starting in the corner by the house, porch and steps there are two clusters of three sunflowers.  In the one on the left is one of the broken stems.  It fell forward, but I leaned it back, and that is where it still is leaning on the cage but growing well nonetheless. 

My Basic Flat Bread Recipe

Basic flat bread has become a staple in our household, we always have some on hand in the freezer.  We use it for homemade gyros, sandwiches, personal pizza and I've even had it as the bun for sausage.  My flat bread recipe was taken from a ToYoube video, but I can't remember which otherwise I would link it here.

I did have to modify it a bit and convert volume to weight.  The smaller weights are trickier with scales, I've always read, so generally I do also use teaspoons and tablespoons but I can provide the weights here as well.  I remember it took a couple tries before I finalized it, but now I've been using this recipe for quite some time and we've been very happy with it.

240g hot water (115-118ºF or 46-48ºC)

370g all purpose flour

1 tsp instant yeast (~3g)

1 Tbsp olive oil (~13g)

1 tsp salt (~7g)

Combine and mix all the dry ingredients before adding to the wet in a mixing bowl, I normally use a spatula until no dry spots are left, then on a KitchenAid mixer using the dough hook, mix for about 5 minutes on medium-low setting 2.  If you don't have a mixer it would be kneading by hand for about the same amount of time, I presume.  Form into a ball and place into an oiled bowl, covered, for 1 hour or until the dough has doubled.

Empty the dough onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide into 8 equal pieces.  I try to keep the round shape from the bowl then using a bench knife or bowl scraper, divide it like a pie into 8 pieces, adjusting if necessary to make them all about the same size.  My note says about 80g each, but I normally just eye it up.  Form each piece into a ball by pulling the corners in, then turning it over and rolling it in a cupped hand.  Set them aside and cover with a greased plastic film for 10 minutes.  (Sometimes I skip the cover, doesn't make much of a difference since the outside should be a bit oiled, anyway.)

While waiting, preheat a dry, non-stick pan to very hot; your stove may vary so adjust as necessary.  Again, on a lightly greased surface and rolling pin, roll the dough into a round shape about 1/8 inch thick (3mm).  Carefully transfer the dough using the rolling pin to the pre-heated pan.  Right away while that first side is cooking, roll the second flat bread out and by the time you're done the one in the pan should be about ready to flip.  After a few minutes remove to a cooling rack and cover with a towel.  You're looking for good browning and 'leopard spotting,' but the pan is hot so be careful not to burn.  Repeat this process until complete.

They are delightful to enjoy right away or, once cooled completely, freeze them to preserve the freshness.  They thaw quickly, still fresh and pliable for whatever you may need.

Thank you, delcatto!  This was interesting, let me know if I left anything unclear.

Solstice Fire Pit & Fougasse

It wasn't much of a firepit, but last night I did have a small fire to commemorate the summer solstice.

When I started the wind was 9-10 miles per hour, normally the top of my limit for having a fire since usually the winds lessen steadily after sunset.  But last night the winds were to increase as night came, blowing in some very hot weather for the next few days for us.  Anyway, I got an early start and pretty much just burned the fallen branches and sticks that had accumulated, not even taking the cover off the firewood rack.  It didn't take long until the bigger stuff had burned down and began smoldering.  Smoke was starting to blow everywhere so I had to put the lid on it, which I rarely ever do but it works well to suffocate it at times like this.

Today I tried a new recipe picked by my wife from King Arthur's Big Book of Bread, an Olive-Rosemary Fougasse.

The dough felt good, but was a bit sticky so my first attempt at shaping leaves leaves a lot to be desired.  It came out very tasty, crusty outside with a light and airy crumb.  Not bad, and I may try this again with different flavors.  The recipe called for semolina as the bench flour, so I got some for the first time and I like it a lot.  I may try it for pizza and peel instead of parchment paper next time.

I have another recipe from the book that I may try tomorrow, an everyday wheat bread.  I still use the frozen, store-bought bread dough for my work sandwiches, and sometimes my own flatbread, but I need a good sandwich bread recipe in my repertoire.

Vacation & Aeration Narration

My vacation continued through Tuesday but I didn't get a whole lot done those last several days, and I didn't feel one bit guilty.  I did get the windows washed and some of the tree trimmed, and I'm sure other small things, but mostly I sat, put my feet up, and relaxed.  It was very nice.

Tuesday morning I had the lawn aerated for the first time since we got the house.  I probably should have done it sooner for the sake of the front lawn.  I discussed with the workers the new terrace and patched areas in front, and so those did not get plugged but did get overseeded and fertilized.  They were unable to get some of the side of the house and the little strip of grass between our front yard and neighbor Dave's, so I will have to do that manually, probably in the fall by this point.  Also, they advised against raking up the plugs and to just let them break down naturally.

Now I have to water the whole lawn lightly for 21 days for the seeds to germinate.  After that, water less frequently but for longer to soak in and get to the roots.  Ideally, I should have an awesome lawn by the end of summer, but realistically it's going to take a lot of work and multiple years, I think.

The back yard is still really nice and mostly lush but for an area or two that needed attention, but the front is sparse and filled with weeds.   The city seeded the terrace and patches in front, and their "grass" seed is at least 50% other-than-grass seed.  I've been trying to knock down the weeds with a spot treatment as it will be some time now until I can treat the whole lawn, when the new grass is more established.

Is that more than you wanted to know about our lawn?  Well, if you're up for more yard updates with big pictures I'll see you after the break.