October This-And-Thats

I know this is a busy few days of posting for me, so scroll down and see if you missed anything after this post.  There was a night out posted on Saturday and a new Latest Listening Pleasure posted yesterday.  This post will be on Monday and a New Roof II post is imminent, probably later this week.  I guess I felt like writing and just had a few things I wanted to get out.

Anyway, I've had a few other random thoughts and pictures that I've wanted to share and document here, so once again it's time to start typing and see where we end up:

Heat - We had the heat on for the first time this season Friday night.  Just for a few hours as the upcoming weekend temperatures were to be warm and wonderful.  It's been a balancing act with not having the heat on.  The house gets cooler at nights but rebounds with the sun during the day and by opening the porch, which collects heat in the sun to share with the house. 

Cats - With last week getting as cool as it was, the cats warming pad was brought out.  They certainly know exactly what it is and absolutely love laying on it.  Thankfully, it has a timer so we don't cook them, but they lay on it even when it's not on.  Gosh help us if they ever learn how to turn it on themselves.

Nuts - It has been a banner year for the neighbor's walnut trees.  One of the heaviest years I've seen for nuts falling into the yard.  I usually go out with the grabber to pick them up and toss them into the corner behind the lilac, and I don't remember ever having to use the rake before but I have twice now so far this year.  Pull them into piles then scoop them into a bucket and dump in the corner.  They will break down and the critters will be in there all fall and winter for the nuts, so the bulk will go down but I may still have to get rid of some material in the spring.  By that I mean shovel that stuff into buckets to take to the dump, at least to get down to the bottom of the fence again.

Sunflower Seeds - The seeds I harvested recently are completely different than the seeds that were planted.  This just confirms the hybrid theory.  Mammoth Grey Stripe seeds are bigger, white and with a few black/grey stripes.  These, as you can see, are smaller and pretty black though you can see some of the stripes in places.  Next year I think I'll go 50/50, seeds from that first sunflower (that are getting older yet) and these black seeds from the multi-bud hybrid that I got this year.  I will have to pay attention to the one-bud sunflowers next year to harvest the Mammoth or at least Mammoth-dominant seeds.

Sunflower Buds - The sunflower plants are way past their prime, yet they continue to pump the last of their energy into lots of buds.  These late buds are very dark green and may not even fully open, but the plants will continue to try until the weather ends their efforts and the cleanup commences.

Halloween - The Halloween decorations have come out.  We've had some pumpkins and mums on the front stoop for a couple weeks now.  The day we put the mums out we saw on doorbell camera what appeared to be a homeless person steal one.  My wife replaced it the next day and we've had no other issues except for nibbling from squirrels.  I was reminded of something I bought for the front corner windows on sale after last Halloween, so there will be something new there this year.  I've still been searching for window coverings similar to that old mummy, but I never imagined it would be so hard to replace.

Sports - The small-market Brewers had the best record in baseball again this year, won their divisional round and are now facing the big-money Dodgers again in the National League Championship Series for the right to go to the World Series.  It's been a fun summer to watch the Brewers again, though my wife has seen me less.  Yesterday the underdog Packers pounded the Bears 31-7.  The Bears won the last two matchups last year and were obnoxious about it, so that felt good.  The Packers have now beaten the Bears 110 times in this oldest rivalry in the NFL.  The Badgers football team had a bye week, but have been winning since the season-opening loss to Notre Dame at Lambeau Field.  Bucks preseason basketball has started, though it's a rebuilding year after trading Giannis.  And Badger Hockey is starting and basketball will be soon, men's and women's for both.  Even the Badger volleyball team has been hot this year.  It's all fun but I'm really, really hoping the Brewers win their first World Series this year.  Go Brewers!

Weather - After a week that culminated in us turning on the heat for a bit on Friday evening, it has been a beautiful, summer-like weekend.  We went out for dinner on Saturday night (out in public two nights out in a row!) and Sunday was beautiful though I spent it indoors but with windows open all day.  A double batch of flatbread made, the Packers game, a nap, then the Brewers game last night.  Today may be our last summer-like day with temperatures up to the mid-80s ºF, with the high 30 degrees lower by the end of the week.  I have nagging thoughts of fall cleanup that needs to be done, but it's still a little early for most things.  At least no gutter cleaning this year.

That seems to be what I can think of for now.  The seasons go faster every year, except for winter.  Winter drags on every year, whether it's a harsh one or not.  I hear a lot of talk about El Nino this year, but no matter.  Cold or mild, snowy or not, we just have to deal with it.

Have a good week, everyone.  Thank you for reading my ramblings.

Latest Listening Pleasure 41 - Electric Callboy

It's been a few years since I did one of these, I think from laziness as there have been favorites that I've thought about writing up here.  Måneskin was a big one that I can think of now but, of course, they've since disappeared.  Rob Zombie is more than deserving of one; I really like his returning guitarist, Riggs, whose own band Scum Of The Earth was LLP 32.  Wet Leg is very intriguing but we'll see when they come out with a second album.  Falling In Reverse, Skynd, Wednesday 13 and Scene Queen might get here eventually.  I'm older now and don't as actively seek out a 'latest and greatest' anymore, but they still find me.  And I still very much enjoy all the artists that have already been in this series, varied as they may be.

Eskimo Callboy found me in 2020 when they released the song Hypa Hypa and, in fact, I did write a LLP Bonus post about them and Skynd back then.  Since then, this German band has just gotten bigger and better, and have just been a joy to listen to and watch their concerts and videos.  Even the behind the scenes stuff just makes me like this band and these people even more.

Here's that first one that got me - hook, line and sinker.  Hypa Hypa:

Eskimo Callboy became Electric Callboy shortly after that time, and everything was updated to the new name.  The band was unaware that their name was considered a slur by some, and they're just so damn wholesome that they couldn't have that so changed their name.  I don't disagree, but I did recently find a Hypa Hypa tee shirt online with the old name so I bought it for posterity.  It arrived this morning, actually, so I haven't even worn it yet.

I could post any of their videos here and love it similarly.  We Got The Moves:

The band changed one of their singers shortly before Hypa Hypa came out, for the better in my opinion, and I've consumed everything of theirs that I could ever since.  Their concerts are non-stop energy with great effects to keep everyone fully engaged and moving.  I've watched so many of their shows online and watched them grow bigger as a band ever since.  Last year there was even a change of drummers that was an amazing story, but would take to long to convey in this space.

There is a youtuber, Tank the Tech, that I watched now and again, and he, an American, now works for the German band full time as their tour manager, even uprooting his family to Germany.  But he's related so many good stories about how they're just such good people.  Truly heartwarming in this day and age, and thankfully they are so un-American it gives me hope for the world.

A much more recent favorite, though I like them all.  Elevator Operator:

First and foremost, I enjoy this band's techno-metal sound and energy.  Their shows are very theatrical with several costume changes with good humor sprinkled throughout everything they do, and they've had a lot of fun collaborations with other bands.  But the behind the scenes personalities and stories make it just so much more enjoyable.  The songs, sound, energy and positivity have easily made them one of my favorites these last six years.  And likely many more to come.

Previous LLP Posts:

LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird LIVE
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O. LIVE
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield
LLP 13 - Hyrax
LLP 14 - In This Moment
LLP 15 - Faster Pussycat LIVE
LLP 16 - Sebastian Bach
LLP 17 - Cradle Of Thorns
LLP 18 - Amaranthe
LLP 19 - Lindemann
LLP 20 - Halestorm
LLP 21 - Garbage LIVE
LLP 22 - Arcade
LLP 23 - Nightwish LIVE
LLP 24 - Ace Frehley
LLP 25 - Darkc3ll
LLP 26 - Dementia
LLP 27 - Rammstein
LLP 28 - Marilyn Manson LIVE
LLP 29 - The Harp Twins LIVE
LLP 30 - Diamante
LLP 31 - Steel Panther LIVE
LLP 32 - Scum Of The Earth

LLP 33 - Marty Friedman LIVE
LLP 34 - Buckethead LIVE
LLP 35 - Alice Cooper LIVE
LLP 36 - Poppy

LLP 37 - Code Orange

LLP 38 - Wargasm UK

LLP 39 - The Warning

LLP 40 - ZZ Top - LIVE

LLP 41 - Electric Callboy

An Inconceivable Evening

My wife and I don't go out at night very often anymore, but last night we went downtown for a show - An Inconceivable Evening with Cary Elwes.  My wife's favorite movie is The Princess Bride, so I got tickets when they went on sale last spring at the historic Orpheum Theater.  Even getting tickets early the lower floor was practically sold out, but I got two tickets in the second row of the balcony near center.  Second row was fine with me; I'm tall and the railing is low and there's no safety net.

The movie began promptly at seven, followed by the actor and an interviewer seated center stage.  He regaled us with amusing stories of filming the movie with director Rob Reiner, co-star Andre the Giant and the others.  It's a fun movie and good to see it on the big screen.  Overall, an enjoyable - if not inconceivable - evening.

Vacation Recap and NRII Part 11

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

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

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

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

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

            *            *            *            *

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

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

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

NRII Part 10 & Weekend Musings

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Our Pottery Pieces

As I noted before, we tried something small, but we think they turned out well and may try again with something more adventurous.  Fired Up Pottery; their website isn't much, but is here.

August This-And-Thats

I know I've lamented my waning use of the firepit each of the last few years, but it continues as I've only had the two so far this year.  The mosquitoes haven't seemed as bad this year, but that may be because I've spent less time outside with less fire pits.  Allergies have been present, but have been less severe as last year.  Again, less outside time, maybe?  We've had some good stretches of windows-open weather, but more stretches of heat and/or humidity keeping the air conditioning on.

Summer was at its peak when I mentioned it here, and a week after that it showed.  That's not saying there's not some good summer left, just that I recognized the peak.  Atwoodfest has normally been when I've accepted the season is waning.  It certainly doesn't mean that summer is over, but it's time to just appreciate the warmer weather while we still have it.

We attended Eken Park Fest yesterday for an hour or two.  A nice, nearby neighborhood festival, but small, and it actually snuck up on us.  When we realized it was this weekend we chose in the spur of the moment to go there to find lunch.  We chose a local Mexican restauranteur, and it was very good.  That morning we had gone to a pottery place where you can choose from premade pottery to paint/glaze yourself.  You pay, they fire it, then call you in about a week to pick it up.  It can get expensive so we started small to try it out.  Kate wanted to get a bear as a gift for a friend and they only had a small teddy bear one that will have a magnet on the back.  I did a small gnome in some common colors.  I had visited once before with a group of clients for work, and it was interesting enough I told my wife about it, and so we wanted to try it ourselves.  I hope they turn out well and we like it enough to get more adventurous the next time.

Roofing supplies were delivered on Monday, off to the side of the driveway in back.  The roof was done eventually on Tuesday, due to morning rain.  They got started about 11:30 in the morning and wound up leaving at 7:00 that evening with all roofing and cleanup finished.  Gutters were completed two and three days later.  Currently they still need to pick up the pallet with leftover supplies, add a water deflector above the walk-in garage door, and clean up the line of caulk above the porch where it meets the house.  More later as there is more to come.

The sunflowers took some damage from the roof and gutter replacement, but came out of it pretty good overall.  Some leaves snapped at most, from what I've seen.  The tall sunflower on the left has about 10 flowers currently, though tough to see in this picture, and more buds coming.  These multiple flowers generally get smaller and smaller as they bloom.  And the one in the corner has several blooms as well, but also has reached 10 feet and 2 inches as of today.

I like the idea of pure mammoth seeds that grow tall and have a large flower, but only the one.  But the unknown cross-pollination with the multiple flowers is more enjoyable, and for a longer time.  I must get the seeds of the first flower of at least one of the two I mentioned last paragraph, preferably the taller one but I'll try for both.

I've been making a different recipe of baguette recently, and I'm really liking the crumb.  I think I left this last batch in the oven a bit long, but the quest for the perfect baguette is a never-ending process, after all.  I made pizza dough this morning.  I'd been wanting larger portions so today I made the same amount of dough that I used to make for four crusts into just three.  Thicker than thin crust with 50/50 00/AP flour should be a good combination, I think.  Anyway this baguette made as crostini was absolutely fabulous.

I had some vague ideas when I started to write this, but it was mostly stream of consciousness.  Basically one of my this-and-thats posts, unformatted as such.  Oh well, good enough for me.  Go Brewers!

Summer Solstice 2026

Flowers, Weeds & Contractors

First I planted 30 sunflowers around the yard.  Critters destroyed many so I started a box of 24 more, two of which didn't grow.  I planted 10 more around the yard and reseeded the two that did not grow.  Then, rather than take the rest to work (see earlier post) I hurriedly planted all of them around the yard and in the garden.  That's 54 seedlings planted around the yard this spring.

Of those 54 I currently have only 20 still alive, 12 of which appear straight and strong for their size while another 8 are broken, twisted and smaller.  Only one remains in front by the bird feeder with most of the rest around the back door.

It's been a brutal spring for my sunflowers.

And our lawn.  I mowed this morning right before taking these pictures, and was reminded that we have one kind of weed in the front yard that my weedkiller does not affect, and another kind of weed in the back lawn that is also unaffected.  I'm going to have to do some research on what exactly they are and how to get rid of them.

Elsewhere in the yard things are looking real good, good enough for me to want to share pictures, I guess.  Alium are going to seed as tiger lilies bloom, the hostas are huge and full along the back fence, and the stump area is thriving with wildflowers planted each of the last two years, now coming back on their own.

As for a hail/contractor update, I'm going to start again by researching three more companies to call on Monday to get quotes.  We've discussed it, and we will only get the roof and gutters done.  Residing the house I feel will open up an expensive can of worms.  We can live with a few dents on mostly the west side of the house.  The window and maybe some screens I should be able to get fixed rather cheaply.

Well, it's been a relatively productive day here so far.  Kate has to work tomorrow so what she says goes today, but will likely be lunch out followed with me watching the Brewer game this afternoon.  For dinner we plan on grilling out brats.  Another new-to-us brand as we continue our search for a new brand of bratwurst that we like.  Then later tonight I'm hoping I still have the energy to have a fire.  I'll feel guilty if I don't, as tomorrow is the solstice but expected to be rather damp out.  Wish me luck.

Faux Fire Pit

It's very nice to live in a neighborhood with full grown trees.  We don't have as many nearby as we did years ago, but there are still enough large trees and many new ones planted.

With trees comes stick shedding, further encouraged by our tumultuous weather this spring.  Since we got settled into this house I've welcomed all sticks, branches, and - sometimes reluctantly - many large to very large limbs as free firewood.  If it fell on my property then I take it as my responsibility to take care of it.  And when neighbor Dave was still around I gladly helped him and took care of the big things so he didn't have to.  Leaving them on the curb for the city to pick up wasn't acceptable to me, and disposing of sticks has never been an issue.  (I feel the same about fall leaves.)

So far this year I've only had the one fire pit, on the spring equinox.  I've had chances since, weekend nights where I've been too tired or else weather conditions weren't right.  But that's it, just the one, short fire so far this year.

Anyway, more sticks have accumulated this spring (since the spring equinox fire).  I already have two five-gallon buckets full of kindling and another of quick-burning sunflower stalks from last year.  I don't need any more fire starter material.   I just kept tossing sticks into the firepit, even stomping them down to fit more, but it was time to make room.

I made a drink, got out the lawn chair, and prepared with the fire screen and poker.  (There is at least one fire extinguisher inside the garage door.)  I used the garden torch to set it alight in a few places.  I thought I might have to keep using it, but once it got started it went up pretty quickly, as you can see here.

I did clean out the fire pit after that last fire, so I'm not worried about too many ashes or anything.  But I'm glad I had that fire screen handy once it got going.  When I first put it on it was sitting just above the fire pit on the pile of sticks, settling down quickly as they burned.  It didn't take long for it to burn down, and about 20 or 30 minutes later I started putting things away and came in to continue watching the Brewer game.  Not a true fire pit night, but now it's ready for the next time.

Next weekend Sunday is the summer solstice, so I intend to have a fire to commemorate the occasion, as I do.  Sunday evening is not ideal fire pit time for me, so maybe Friday or Saturday to compensate, but weather will likely be a deciding factor.

Sunflower Cat Contractors

I've not done an official count or inventory of sunflowers yet.  I feel it's still too early to tell what may come of these.  There are two different plantings, about 17 days apart.  Many of the first were destroyed early, thus the second planting.  While almost all are still around since the time of the second planting, they are still small and there are a few broken and many twisted yet.  Sunflowers are pretty hardy, when allowed to grow, so even broken or twisted may mature to the best of their ability.  I'll take stock of all soon enough.  This post is mainly to get the bad taste of the last post out of my mouth. 

A productive weekend here, mostly.  I still have some relatively bigger projects on my list that I want to get done soon, but all in due time.  This week, I was impressed by the first contractor's pitch, but it was also a bit over the top so I'm a little hesitant.  The second I sent on his way as this kid did not project the confidence or knowledge that I wanted to hear, so I was nice but didn't want to waste his time or mine.  The third seemed confident and level-headed.  I really hope I like what he comes back with.  I expect to make a decision by the end of the week, and it may also include new siding everywhere.

The cats are enjoying the windows and porch being open today, and I'm going to go enjoy the Brewer game now.

Happy Sunday and have a great week, everyone!

Spring Vacation Part II, Ring Cameras & Hail Update

Tuesday and Wednesday, days 7 and 8, I had dental appointments in the mornings.  See day 1 notes last post for all the dental details.  After the root canal on Tuesday I went home, and as I was driving down the street the neighbor's cat wandered out right in front of me, oblivious, as was her owner just on the sidewalk.  I stopped right behind the cat, waited a moment, then gave the horn a quick beep.  The cat scattered out of the roadway and I pulled into the driveway.  Next thing I know, this neighbor was coming down my driveway, flipping me off and swearing up a storm.  I started yelling back that her cat was in the damn road, but my mouth was still numb so didn't say a whole lot more other than to get the hell off my property.  This is the same neighbor that slashed my tire right after we first moved in, in 2009.  She's trash that's come into money and acts like she's the baddest bitch on the block.  We've never been friendly and we never will be.

We have dashcams in both cars now, more security for us.

I told the story to my wife and showed her the dashcam video.  My wife said that's it, we need a doorbell camera.  I spent that day and Wednesday researching and we bought a Ring doorbell and I got a Ring spotlight camera with solar panel for the back.  The doorbell camera I installed last weekend, and the later-arriving solar panel and spotlight camera were installed on the house this morning.  I must say, having the extra security feels pretty good.  Otherwise, I didn't do a whole lot on these dental days.

Thursday was day 9.  I know I took too long to write about all this; I haven't the foggiest idea what I did on Thursday.  There were many little jobs and projects that I did along the way, so I imagine a few of those and probably lunch out.

Friday, day 10, I had to go into work.  Ahead of time I had requested a certain client for a community outing, and we spent all day out and about, only going back in time for him to catch his bus.  I did not want to lose my vacation vibe yet, especially with a three day weekend after.

Kate had to work the weekend due to the holiday, so we missed my niece's high school graduation on Saturday, day 11.  Also on Saturday I planted 24 more sunflower seeds.  I'll plant 12 to fill in around the yard here and the other 12 I'm going to make some cages for and take them to work, we'll see how they fare there.  I originally planned on all 24 going to work but that seemed a bit ambitious and would take more of my own resources.  Twelve is much better than the two (of 3) I grew at work last year.  We'll have to find out if the critters out there will behave.  This new batch of seeds just popped out of the soil on Wednesday so should be ready to plant very soon.

Sunday and Monday, days 12 and 13, were mostly rest and relaxation as far as I can remember.  

A great view of the back.  The actual view extends about 25% further up and down, this pic is the size of my phone screen.

No fire pits on this vacation.  I had a couple opportunities but mostly it was too windy or I was too tired.  Last night would have been perfect too, but I was beat, and tonight is too windy again.  So far this year I've only had the one fire on the Spring equinox.  Let's hope I have another before the Summer solstice and before the mosquitoes emerge.

*          *     Hail     *         *

Also happening during this time, our auto claim for hail damage got settled.  The insurance company totaled my wife's van as the repairs would cost more than it was worth.  The settlement was for blue book value if we signed the van over to them, or the lesser trade-in value if we wanted to keep it.  Well, even used cars are much more expensive these days, so my wife opted to keep the van rather than hurriedly shop for cars and invest thousands more dollars, possibly tens of thousands.  We'll have to get the windshield replaced, but the dents will stay.  Final payment should be in our account by early next week.

The house claim has also mostly been settled.  Now I will have to fix the basement window, find someone to replace the roof and gutters, and we have to decide if we will have the window flashing replaced.  I am not planning on replacing the siding as those dents are not as noticeable and when we do replace some siding we'll do the whole house and maybe something a little different.  There also may be a few window screens to replace, and I think that's about it.  Once all is done and receipt copies uploaded, this will be done, too.  Repairs are happening rapidly all over this side of town, but I've been more patient.  All will be done long before winter.

And within the last two weeks we had our insurance premiums due for house and cars.  They did go up, but I'm not sure if the claims had anything to do with that or not.  What do you think?

Spring Vacation Part I

I took my spring vacation recently, 12 of 13 days in a row off from work.  I was unable to get last Friday off due to seniority and poor scheduling practices (in my opinion).  I had several possible projects planned for this vacation, but only got to some.  Others will still get done, hopefully before my fall vacation.

As I noted here, day 1 of my vacation, two weeks ago today, I had made a dental appointment with my dentist due to a crowned tooth starting to give me discomfort.  That resulted in a referral appointment the following Tuesday for a possible root canal.  Of course, I needed one, and they expected that so it was done that day.  Once home, and no longer numb, I called my dentist again to schedule having this old crown replaced.  They had an opening the next morning, so I took it.  I now have a temporary crown on the root-canalled tooth, due for replacing with the permanent crown a week from today.  This was probably better to do on my time off so using up less time off from work for three appointments, and I'm actually happy it went so quickly.  One more appointment to go, and for that I will only miss an hour of work at the end of the day.  Anyway, dental appointments were the main event for a couple of days the next week.

Day 1, after the dentist and before leaving for Mom's.  In the bucket is cat grass starting, then lettuce seeds my wife is starting in tubes, and 30 sunflower seedlings ready to plant.

Also on day 1, after the appointment, I took a trip down to see Mom.  We got a few spring things done for her and her household, but mostly relaxed and caught up.  She seems to keep busy with appointments, graduations and her social life.  And she seems happy, which is as much as I could ask for.  I returned to Madison about midday the following day, day 2.  

Later on day 2 my wife and I planted 30 sunflower seedlings around the yard in groups of two and mostly three, you can read and see more about that here.  It didn't take long for them to get noticed.  Just days later about half had been destroyed by critters despite being caged.  Whether it was a baby rabbit, ground squirrel or something else digging in to get them, they sure did a number on my seedlings this spring.  More on this later.

Friday, day 3, I had a 90 minute massage booked.  This is the third time I've gotten a professional massage on my vacation in the last couple years.  It was very nice, but I think 60 minutes is better.  All that time on my stomach getting massaged caused my sinuses to fill up and made breathing difficult.  An unwelcome distraction.  Of course, 5 minutes after getting up I was clear as a bell.  I don't remember what else happened on that day, but I likely went out to lunch and relaxed with a Brewers game that evening.

Saturday, day 4, was Plant Day around here.  My wife and I went out and got some plants for the flowerbeds and gardens.  You can read and see more about that here, if you wish.  I believe it was this weekend, with Sunday, day 5, that I paid more attention to the lawn, too.  Last year I had the lawn aerated, basically a last ditch effort to get better grass in front - it didn't help.  I pretty much gave up on the front lawn now.  Oh, I've made broad chemical efforts to maintain some decency, but I will no longer worry about fighting back the neighborhood's weeds too much.  The back yard, however, is more protected and will continue to get more care.  The latest problem is one of the groundcover wildflowers wanting to spread from the stump area.  I will need to spend some time on it again soon.  And yes, spray weeds individually.

Then on Monday, day 6, my wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner out and some ice cream at home.  It was only a Monday and she had to work that day, so that was about all we were up for.  I do believe it was also this day I spent the morning making a double batch of yummy flatbread.

The weather was pretty wonderful for this vacation.  I did get plenty of rest, relaxation, and went out for food and drink often, but that's pretty normal for us.  I do have more to say about the week that followed, but at a later time.  Cheers for now.

Plant Day 2026

Plant day isn't as big here as it used to be, but it is still an annual occasion.  We were thinking of planting some of these red plants directly into the stump, but the stump is infested with ants so just a couple pots.  That's about all we're going to do in that area except wait and see what wildflowers return.  Already we can see we'll have cone flowers all around the stump.

We got another attractive hanging plant for the front.  This one seemed small and healthy, and will hopefully last all summer again.

More of that red plant made it into a pot out front, along with a couple other flowers picked out by my wife.  In the big pot we got a similar plant as we had there the last few years.

In the gardens, two pepper plants join the few garlic that survived the mild fall; the others rotted in the ground.  Also two tomato plants in the top right.  Same as last year, I believe, so may become monsters requiring the old ladder and bird netting later in the season.  Lettuce will eventually fill the bottom left garden, while we wait and see what we'll get for raspberries this year.

Aside from all the planting, the grill got cleaned, windows washed and back steps are now power-washed for sealing soon.  A productive day for us, overall.  Tonight we'll grill out some wieners for dinner and I'll be watching the Brewer game.  Kate has to work tomorrow, so I'll be picking more projects from my list to keep me busy.  I'll also need to make more baguette, tortillas, flatbread and taco sauce very soon.

Sunflowers Planted & Starting Vacation

We planted 30 sunflower seedlings today, 6 more than last year.  The seeds were planted 12 days ago and were already as tall as the tubes they were planted in.  In fact, they could have gone in the ground yesterday or the day before, but for time and our schedules.  Kate did the hard, low work of planting while I prepared areas and cages.  The dead sunflower from last year that was out front by the bird feeder is now gone, much to the birds' dismay.  We planted 3 new ones there, 15 in the area behind the steps by the air conditioner, 2 on the outside side of the steps, 2 in a pot by the garage, 3 by the wood rack, 2 on the back corner of the garage, and 3 by the compost bin.  All pictured after the break.

You will see two small gnomes in these pics.  One that was supposed to be by the compost sunflowers broke, and two others are not pictured in the stump area.

Yesterday was my first day of vacation this year.  I had a dentist appointment in the morning, which resulted in a referral for a possible root canal on Tuesday.  After that I trekked to Dodgeville to see Mom for a nice visit and to get a few spring chores done.  I came back about midday today and Kate and I planted sunflowers, and now I'm writing this and watching the Brewers game, a bit tape delayed for my enjoyment.  There is a night market downtown tonight that we were planning on going to, but are now having second thoughts.

Tomorrow morning I have a relaxing 90 minute massage booked.  I'll have to mow the lawn, power wash the steps to get ready to stain/seal, and take my wife's van in for a hail inspection at the body shop.  Depending on the information I get, we will decide how much work to get done.  Saturday we plan on plant shopping, so some more planting to be done yet.  Then on Sunday I may get to rest fully before considering my lengthy to-do list for the week ahead.

It's good to be busy when you have the time for it, but I'm looking forward to plenty of time with my feet up, too.

Sunflower seedlings after the break:

Spring Happenings, Gnomes, and Hail Insurance

Seemingly overnight, the yard and gardens look to be gearing up for summer mode.  The last throes of winter seem to linger a long time many years, and snow this late is not unheard of.  But by now the grass is green, the trees are getting their leaves and flower garden plants are reappearing.  Lilacs are blooming and the purple puff balls have been opening.  The stump area is showing wildflower plants that have self-seeded, after us sowing the last two years.  Lots of weeding everywhere, but that's what's required if you want a nice lawn and gardens with as few chemicals as possible.  Still an endless battle all year, but easier if you get on top of it early.  I mowed the front yard on Tuesday and the back yard yesterday for the first mows of the season.   It's low mow May, remember, if that matters for a yard with no flowering weeds for the pollinators...

We grilled out brats for the first time this season on Friday, and replenished the mulch between the gardens on Saturday.  Only a few of the garlics planted last fall survived due to the mild temperatures late last year, but plans have been made for planting the rest of the gardens soon.  Kate is planting lettuce a bit at a time indoors to hopefully keep waves of lettuce ready for us in the garden at any time for the foreseeable future.  I planted sunflower seeds for home yesterday, and in another week will start more sunflower seeds to take to work and plant with our clients.  I got plant stakes that they can decorate sometime while I'm on vacation that we will then use to mark where we plant them in the back yard perimeter.  (There is a landscaping crew that comes weekly to mow and clean up, thus the need for markers.)  I have a vacation starting in about a week and a half, so more plantings and pots and ornamental hangings will come then.

Summer has always been my favorite season, but right about this time of spring is feeling mighty nice right now.  The old gnome, now 14 years old, is looking rather battered where he lives under the lilac, from the years and now what may be a squirrel gnawing at him.  There are gnomes to come yet.  I have several smaller that I want to place around the yard that will make me smile when I see them.

On a different note, the major hail storm we had a couple weeks ago caused enough damage that I just had to call the insurance company and file a couple of claims.  One for my wife's car which sustained many good dents and the broken windshield, current repair estimated to be over 1300 dollars.  She has to decide now if it is worth it to fix or just eventually sell the wheelchair van, at a loss anyway, as is and just keep the check now or get the repairs.  Neighbor Jane said they totaled her car, though she intends to keep it.

The other claim is for the house damage, mainly consisting of the broken basement storm window, numerous dents in the siding, window flashing, gutters, and damaged window screens, mostly all on the west and south sides of the house and garage.  Then there's both roofs, new in 2016.  Late Neighbor Dave's house's roof is two years old and they said to me they were told it needed to be replaced.  We had an inspector for the insurance company out yesterday morning to inspect and document everything, and it appears to be much more than I initially considered.  It's possible we get a brand new roof and siding out of this.

The roof would be relatively easy, the siding a different story.  Any settlement I would not expect to include the entire house for siding replacement, so we would surely be upgrading out of our own funds, as well.  Plus, I suspect there may be a lot of rotted wooden siding underneath the aluminum siding we have now, so would expect extra expense for repairs.  Also, we have a bodged three season porch attached at the back of the house.  A very nice space that we greatly appreciate having, but is nowhere near built to code, and interestingly attached to the house but falling away slowly.  Another expense to work around it, and even more, much more, to replace the porch entirely.

Decisions will need to be made.

Pleasant Compost

Most of what you see on the left is pulled weeds.  I've been busy with the weed puller.

Normally I remove the fresh soil from one side of the compost bin in fall, while the other side gets used all year then filled up with fall cleanup.  Then when winter begins we switch to using that empty side and let the full one sit.  Recently my wife added scraps to the full side, which brought about thought and discussion.  Moving forward we'll change that time to spring, the dirt will be removed for the gardens then we'll start using that side and let the other sit.  This way, we will add the wetness of kitchen scraps on top of fall's dry yard plants all winter.

That's the thought, anyway.  Either way it will compost itself.  Any opinions?

I have not mowed the lawn yet.  In fact, I haven't even switched its place with the snow blower yet, but this weekend will be that time.  In the back right now you can really see where the crocus are in the lawn.  Hard to see back by the gardens here, but that view was on the recent crocus post.  They get bushy after they flower.

Sure didn't take long for the fire pit to fill with sticks again.

No more storms recently, we've had some nice, calm weather this week.  Next week will cool to more seasonable, in the 60'sºF.  I made my fifth batch of tortillas after work today so we could have fresh tortillas for a taco dinner tonight.  Turned out well, and gives me ideas for more improvement.  The cats turned 13 on the 20th, I forgot to post anything for them.  I even forgot that day, remembering the next.  I think I may plant sunflower seeds inside in another week or so, while my wife wants to start other plants inside, too.  (We've been saving toilet paper tubes since fall!)

This is a pleasant time of year.

Easter And Tortillas

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Easter.  It was a three day weekend for me starting with Friday off.  My wife has a part time job now and had to work Friday and Sunday, so I had plenty of time to myself.  My next vacation is in May and I can hardly wait.  Anyway, I went out for lunch yesterday then came home and watched the Brewers in the afternoon.  So, a good day, but didn't really feel like a holiday.

I normally make myself a list of things to get done over the weekends.  It had been a while since I posted, so I had 'write' on my list, but other than more about the weather I had nothing to write about all weekend.  Then yesterday I made tortillas again, the fourth attempt.  Now, every recipe gives you a choice of fat; vegetable oil, butter, shortening or lard.  First attempt was with vegetable oil, rolled and fried.  Then I got a cast iron tortilla press.  The second attempt was a different recipe and I tried butter as the fat, and used the heated press to try and press and cook at the same time.  My results were very poor.  On the third attempt I went back to the first recipe and used oil again.  I also used the cool press to form them but fried them in a pan.  Not bad, but I still didn't like the greasy look and they had to get bigger.

For this fourth attempt I used that same recipe, doubled, and with shortening.  I also increased the dough balls from 50 grams to 80 grams, and added just a touch of baking powder.  Again, I used the press to form them then fried in a pan.  So far I got my best results yet, though I may increase the weight to 90 or 100 grams next time.  

I'm not sure why, but I didn't try one at the time.  They looked and felt really good so I just trusted that, I suppose.  Well, tonight we're going to have tacos for dinner so we'll know for sure if I'm on the right track.  I'll wait to post this until after dinner, then leave a few more thoughts after this pic of my assembly line.

Well, not too shabby for just the fourth attempt.  Pretty good, even.  Leftovers from attempts two and three have been tossed out now as these are easily better.  The next try will be larger tortillas and I may omit the baking powder to see the difference.  All in all, a good batch.  Practice makes perfect, right?

Happy Spring 2026

 At 9:46 a.m. local time yesterday the sun shone directly over the equator and winter officially became spring.  Finally.

After posting about the crocus a couple posts ago, just days later they were coming up all over the back of the back yard, tulips and other plants started to show and buds became visible on the trees.  Then, as if on cue, last Monday's winter storm dumped over 8 inches of snow on us, and could have been much worse if all the rain we got the day before was also snow.

Since then, temperatures have risen as the week went on, and will culminate today with temperatures reaching the 70's (~23ºC).  I've put on shorts for the first time this year though I may still wear a sweatshirt when we go out to lunch later.  It will moderate and get colder again starting tomorrow which will be about 30ºF cooler than today, yet overall we are headed in the right direction.

That's enough of a weather report.  A pretty typical spring in Wisconsin.

Anyway, as I like to do, I had a fire last night to commemorate the spring equinox, my first fire since the winter solstice.  Despite the steady melting all week, that was a lot of snow so the back yard was still completely covered when I went to work yesterday morning, and almost completely clear when I got home in the afternoon.  The ground was very wet, as was the fire pit, but I forged ahead with just a small fire to burn up the accumulated sticks and have a fireside phone chat with Mom.  The dampness made for a smoky fire much of the time, but I wanted to keep it small and short and was able to keep it going and burn for over an hour.  My apologies to the few crocus that I may have trampled, but I tried to be careful.

As I mentioned, I think we're going to go out to lunch here in a bit, and then probably take a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon to enjoy the warmth and sun.  I have a list of chores I want to get done this weekend and have already made a good start.  Tomorrow I want to spend some time in the kitchen.  We're out of baguette and I want to try making tortillas again, a fourth attempt but I think I'm getting better.  I'm not sure if I'll do both or not, but I do want to get some baking done so something is going to get made tomorrow.

I hope everyone is off to a good start to the new season.  We're off now to enjoy the day.

Baking And Making Homemade

I may not write about it all the time, but I'm still enjoying baking as much as ever.  I'm looking at being able to make more things here at home rather than buying at a bakery or grocery store.  And I'm finding how simple much of it is.

I now have three very good pizza dough recipes that I make every so often, which has very much lessened ordering out and I can't remember the last time we even thought about buying a frozen pizza.  A thin crust recipe that uses fine 00 pizza flour to make four dough balls that I make ahead and freeze.  A pan pizza dough that is similar to a focaccia that I make ahead and can wait in the refrigerator for 12-72 hours before baking.  And the newest is similar to a hand-tossed crust, uses course-ground semolina flour and sits in the refrigerator for a day before baking.  

Any of the pizza doughs I can add King Arthur's Pizza Dough Flavor, which is basically cheddar cheese powder with salt, onion and garlic powder and a few other things.  I did get some plain cheddar cheese powder, which is much cheaper, so I can make my own soon if I wish.  KA also sells a Pizza seasoning that can be sprinkled on pizza, but also makes a very good pizza sauce, that I've made many times, with crushed tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.

I bake them (not pan) on a pizza stone and peel that we've had for a long time and stopped using for some reason, but now it gets a whole lot of use.  We've definitely stepped up our home made pizza game in a huge way.  I could put a pizza picture here, but I have a feeling that will be its own post someday with more detail on all three crusts.

I had also been thinking about making my own tortillas as we do often enjoy Mexican food at home.  I've already made my own homemade taco sauce a few times now.  Just tomato sauce and spices we already had in the cupboard.  On a recent day off I decided to give tortillas a try.  It was unbelievably simple.  For the fat you can use oil, lard, shortening or butter.  We normally have oil and butter in the house, so I tried with oil but will try butter next time.  I rolled them out, a bit too thin, and dry fried them on the stove.  They turned out pretty good for a first try, enough for me to buy a tortilla press for my next batch.  I can see these becoming a staple in this household soon.

I still make baguette often enough to keep some available in the freezer, but I've been making baguette the longest and have written about it often here.  My go-to recipe has changed a bit, as has my technique.  I no longer care about making 16 inch versions of a French baguette and am more concerned about taste and form for our uses.

And it had been a while, but I made a couple batches of cheese pennies yesterday.  Cheese pennies are a fun snack, so I made a roll of parmesan and a roll of sharp cheddar - with added cheese powder.  So tasty.  This pan pictured was pretty much dinner last night, along with a loaf of what I'll write about next.  These could have used another minute or two in the oven, but still good.

I made glass bread (Pan de Cristal) yesterday.  I had made it once before, but I was a less experienced baker then.  This was before I got a baking stone so they were baked on the round pizza stone and also I overcooked them.  I know I wrote about it here, I'm just too lazy to look it up to link.  Glass bread is a 100% hydration bread, so the dough starts out like pancake batter and is very delicate.  Big bubbles form in the crumb making the bread so light and airy.  I wish I could get more of that in my baguette - maybe someday.

The glass bread dough gets stronger through coil folds and time, with the last resting period about 2 hours before going in the oven.  This made 4 loaves, three of which went into the freezer.  Mine may be slightly less done than usual, but that was on purpose so we can throw one in the oven for 5-10 minutes sometime and have it taste like fresh.  I suppose you could make a sandwich out  of it if you cut it the long way like a bun, but as far as I'm concerned it's a wonderful snacking bread.

I skipped over a lot of details here for brevity, but the details do change as I go.  Many are a combination of flours, like the 00 recipe I use half AP flour, etc., and the ratio may change on my whim.  As may the hydration percent I use in some doughs.  My tools, techniques and dough handling have also improved a lot since I started baking a few years ago.

I get great satisfaction from making these thing at home rather than buying them, though my wife would tell you I'm never satisfied.  I'm getting there, I just like trying to improve whatever I'm making every time I make it.  We all need something, right?