Hades Holiday Handbasket Rides

Things seemed to go to hell in a handbasket this week.  When it rains, it pours. Or if it weren't for bad luck, I'd have no luck at all (- gloom, despair and agony on me).  Take your pick or use your own to describe bad news and hemorrhaging money.  Hang on, it's gonna be another long one.

On Wednesday afternoon I got vaccinated; the flu, covid and pneumonia shots.  Flu and covid in the left shoulder and pneumonia in the right.  As expected the next day, I had T. Rex arms due to my shoulders hurting so much and I generally felt like hell with joint pain, a cloudy head and a general feeling of sick and tired.  This happens every year now with the covid shot, but I've had covid like 4 times now and it's worth one day of sickness to possibly not get or get shut down by covid again.

So Thursday was spent at home on a sick day, putting off things that needed to be done.  One of those things was scheduling my car to get into the shop for an oil change, replace the shocks, and most likely new brakes.  An expensive list this time, but it needs to be done.  Then my wife got home Thursday afternoon and told me that on the way home her check engine light went on.  She had parked in the driveway and it had been raining all day, so when she left her van she noticed quite the rainbow underneath, indicating a leak of some sort, so she got back in and pulled it onto the street.  I was still feeling too sick to go out and look things over so I just called the service center right away and got it booked in for Monday morning, but we still had to get to then.

Early Friday morning I got up extra early to take her to work, but we had to have her car off the street for street cleaning that day.  I pulled my car out then watched as she pulled her van in.  There was a large spot of leakage on the road where she was parked and a robust trail left as she pulled in to the driveway.  This really can't be good, and meant we should have it towed to the shop rather than try to drive it.

I still had time after dropping her off before I had to go to work, so I went back home to do a few things.  It was then I hear a weird hum for a bit when I was in the kitchen.  I thought it was maybe the refrigerator, but when I smelled something I had to check the furnace.  I checked the thermostat and the furnace should have been running, but wasn't.  So I reset everything and made it so the furnace should kick in again, then went downstairs to observe.  The furnace started, I heard the gas ignite, then everything shut down.  I did that twice with the same result, so I cut power to it all and went to work.  Coincidentally, the coming night was to be our first below freezing.

When I got to work I texted my wife about it, discussed with some friends there, and decided it was in my best interest to have it looked at as soon as possible rather than wait to look at it again when I got home.  I called a local company that I had known of and had a good feeling about but had not researched because had no time, and thankfully they could be out after I got home that afternoon.

Our furnace is from 1985, and our air conditioner is of similar age.  The service man was an older gentleman who had been doing this for 45 years, he said.  He knew exactly what he was looking at and did not like it.  First, the blower fan was going out, which explains the squeaks we've heard from it off and on recently and why it wouldn't run when it got too warm, which apparently happened that morning.  He also pointed out where exhaust had been leaking into the house and why.  And why our nearby CO detectors did not go off - apparently they don't go off until it's almost too late and these smaller amounts of exhaust weren't enough set it off.  We always knew we would need a new furnace at some point, and it seems we had now reached that point.  When we bought the house in 2009 it had a 1 year warranty so we were hoping both the furnace and central air would die within that time, but they lasted 17 more years, until now.  No, nothing really seems wrong with the central air except it's age, but it behooves us to replace it at the same time as the furnace.

The service man left us with two portable heaters that have actually come in handy, and we had one already so despite it getting below freezing overnight we've warmed the house with them and the sun today, though the outside temperature only got into the 50's ºF.  On Monday there will be someone out from that service company to discuss our options, and prices, to replace both the furnace and central air.  Hopefully we can get a reasonable price and have them both replaced very quickly.

At least we found out now, before it got really cold in proper Wisconsin winter.

Still, some major financial hits for us in a short period of time.  We will still owe a significant amount for the roof, more later.  We'll have to pay for towing and an unknown amount to repair my wife's van.  A new furnace, installed and with new A/C is going to be huge.  And known to be significant, expensive repairs still needed to my car.  

On Sunday, my wife will use my car to get to work and back so I will be stuck at home unless I walk somewhere for lunch, which is still possible.  Then I have a scheduled day off on Monday that I took off originally because I had the time off to take and the Packers play on Sunday night.  Since then, coincidentally, my wife also has her first back shot scheduled on Monday morning, so I'll be taking her like she's taken me for the same thing about a half a dozen times or so.  She's hoping we can go out to lunch after, but she hasn't had one of these before so we'll see how she feels at that time.  Later Monday afternoon the guy will be coming to discuss our furnace options, too.

Right now, I'm waiting for a call from the towing company saying their on their way to come get the van to the shop.  I told them it just has to be by Monday morning, but they will likely come get it yet tonight.  Probably during an important part of the Badger game this evening, with my luck.  After the van is finished I will set a date with them for my car to go in for its needed repairs, and I'll need a loaner for the 2-3 days they have my car then.

Edit: They called a few minutes after posting this.  You can see the trail of what he confirmed to be transmission fluid, leaking significantly.  Really nice guy, though.  A fellow Badger fan, and that game kicked off only a few minutes later.

At least we had a very productive day so far.  We spent a few hours this morning doing needed yard work and fall cleanup outside.  I spent all that time, among other things, picking up nuts, breaking up sticks for the firepit and mowing the leaves into the lawn.  The gardens got some cleanup, as did the sunflowers, and the gnomes and garden decorations were cleaned up and put away.  I thought I'd write about this more since we did it all this morning, but these recent events were obviously more worthy of writing about, since this is where I ended up.

Well, that was a lot.  I had a New Roof II update to share as well, and I could but I will now wait a few days on that.  Perhaps I'll have a meaningful response from them by then that I can share, as well.  And the Brewers swept the Dodgers and are going to the World Series!  I'm sure I'll have something to say about that later, too.

But for now, some tough, expensive weeks to come.  No doubt I'll have more to say about it all later.

Hope your weekend and week is better and cheaper than ours, all.  Cheers!

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.

Dreary Day & NRII Part 12

Today is absolutely dreary out again, overcast and rainy all day.  My wife woke up sick yesterday morning and wound up coming home early from work.  I've been super fatigued all week and wound up calling in sick today.  My wife has more symptoms and I only have that feeling of malaise, though I've been doing all the supplements this week to ward off any sickness.  Normally, when I have a virus I can 'taste' it.  Most don't quite understand that, I don't think, but apart from the feeling I have I do not have that.  Hopefully it doesn't get to that and I can get back to normal sooner than later.

Like the picture a few posts ago, you can see all the plants have gone past their summer prime.  The lawn needs mowing but it's too wet and I'm too tired anyway, so it will likely get done this weekend.  The weather, wet or not, has been in the 60's ºF and that looks to continue, but the nights look to get colder, into the low 40's ºF, but thankfully not lower yet.

A couple updates on the new roof saga to share:

On Thursday, 9/24, I received text from someone at the roofing company saying that Isaac told them it was ready for a final walkthrough and asked to set up a time.  I replied that Isaac was mistaken.  I was dealing with Matt now and am still not satisfied.  I also said the communication with and apparently within their company was lacking.  The next day I received an apology, and Matt was out of office until the next Tuesday but they would check with him.  Speaking of Matt, I've still not heard from him since I emailed him on 9/22.  I've still not been up to see the overhanging shingle trimming, but will have to do that this weekend.

On a better note; yesterday, 9/30, salesman Tony copied me on an email to my insurance company with pictures they found of the old roof being removed with the ice/water barrier that was present.  I still have to reply to add the broken window that was missed on the initial claim, but that will be done soon.  Still no word from Matt since I met him on 9/1.  "Watch your email," he told me as we parted that day.  It is now a month later and I've heard nothing back.  I have no idea when or how they intend to complete the issues.  If we get to completion I will be asking for a considerable consideration on the bill, which may determine if I am satisfied or if I will be leaving an honest review on every platform possible.

Every day, still, you can hear the sound of nail guns in the background anywhere outside on this side of town.  If I had to do it all over I would have waited until spring to hire someone.  Right now, they're all looking to get in, get out, get on to the next and hope no one looks too close.  I mean, really, how could even a day laborer start the first row of shingles halfway covering the gutter?  

Stay tuned, or not, but this may continue for some time yet.  The timeline doesn't bother me so much as the shoddy workmanship, horrendous communication, and broken promises.  I was promised premium work and didn't get it.  I refuse to be taken for a sucker.

Fall Equinox 2026

Tonight at 7:05 is the Autumn Equinox here, 11 minutes after sunset.  Fall has already made itself known around these parts.  Last week was cool and damp, this week is even more cool though it is supposed to warm up a little toward the end of the week.  Plant life is showing the ravages of summer and my mind drifts to all the cleanup to be done though it is not time for any of it yet.  This summer seems to have gone faster than usual and some things seem to have just gotten away from me this year, but I'm not going to spend my time worrying about weeds and such until spring comes and with it hopefully a fresh start and more effective weed killer.

I bought two pumpkins today, small ones.  Halloween decorations and candy have been in the stores for a month and now Christmas stuff is coming out everywhere.  Still September, right?  I swear it gets earlier every year.

Anyway, I normally like to have a fire pit on this type of occasion, but I'm going to have to pass tonight and hope the spirits forgive me.  Fire pit count is still at 2 for the year, and I'm not proud of that.  But instead tonight I'll be staying inside and watching the Brewer game while trying to get started writing a recap of last week's vacation and a roof update.  Happy Autumn, everyone.

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.

Rain 1, Sunflower 0

My heart skipped a beat this morning as I checked if anything happened overnight on the security camera.

The large sunflower (pictured last post) had fallen during the night, a little after 1 a.m.  It rained more often than not for the last day, and we needed it terribly, but the conditions just put it down.  It was only about seven in the morning but I immediately went out and wound up putting in three stakes to stabilize it.  The little one next to it came up with it but the cage that is still around it was enough support for that.

And after raining all day we just got a bit of sun so here it is now.  I think it's going to make it.  

That flower I was planning on bagging so I can collect the seeds, and it has at least 10 more buds on it to come yet.  The one on the right also has multiple buds coming.  I'm thankful for the sunflowers I have, but it has been a brutal year for them, overall.

Scorched Sunflowers & Follow-Ups

From what I noticed this afternoon we got up to 98ºF (37ºC), with a feels-like temperature of 114ºF (46ºC).  Definitely the hottest day of the year so far, but thankfully we should just be regular-hot the rest of the week.

The sunflower on the outside of the back steps was the first to bloom, but the petals are rather deformed.  This is the second one to bloom, and is a bit more picturesque.  That first one has no other blooms starting off the stem, while this one has them coming in all the way down.  I'm not sure why some of my mammoth sunflowers have multiple blooms and others don't.  Perhaps one is male and the other is female, I'm not sure.  The first batch planted are definitely the strongest, though, while the second plantings are much smaller plants yet still growing buds.

Our air quality is back to normal levels, though there is still smoke out there so if the winds shift the right way we may get smoky again.  I think I heard something like the smoke would affect us about one day a year until 2020, and has averaged about 8 days a year since.  That would explain why it seems like more now - because it is.

The protests continue with base camp at the intersection where it happened and nearby streets shut down.  The city has been working with them, providing port-o-potties and trash collection while working with the protesters to keep up services and driveway access for the unfortunate residents in the area.  One of which is a friend, who is not enjoying the extra traffic and hassle.  I'm not sure how long it will continue but would surely calm down if they announced criminal charges against the police officer.  Seems to be the right thing to do, but no rant on this today.

The neighbors have added some interesting lights to their house.  It was red, white and blue earlier this month for the holiday, and was like this the other night.  Thankfully we only have two windows on that side so it doesn't really affect us at all. I find it to be an interesting choice, what do you think?

And, finally, I'm feeling much better and practically back to normal after my fall a couple weeks ago.  When you're young you can bounce, and I haven't been young in a long time.  It would behoove me to avoid any more falls in the future, I think. 

Oh, and the new roof should be happening very soon, but I don't have a date yet.  Have a great week, everyone!

A Hot, Smoky Mess

I don't remember getting smoked out when I was younger, but we've had our moments over the last several years of smoke from wildfires moving in and depleting our air quality.  That's what's happening again now.

I took this picture while driving on my way to work this morning.  Looks like just a haze or a fog, but actually there's not a cloud in the sky, it's all smoke from wildfires in Canada and Minnesota.  And it got worse as the day went on, getting officially to 'hazardous' levels.  But should clear up to 'unhealthy' or 'very unhealthy' tomorrow, though I expect it to fluctuate a lot until we get a system to move this out.  This story has been national news the last couple days as it stretches from here in the Midwest all the way to the more important populated northeast states.

Not much else has happened since I last posted.  I took a stupid fall in the basement on Saturday afternoon, bruising my whole left side.  I took Monday and Tuesday off work, and when I went into work on Wednesday I used my cane, which just freaked out management.  I wound up being sent home and forced to see a doctor to fill out their paperwork before I could go back.  I knew a doctor wouldn't be able to do anything for me, but I saw one anyway and got their paperwork filled out.  I have some minor restrictions until Monday, and I'm sure I'll be good to go by then.

Meanwhile, our temperatures have been hotter this week than when I complained a couple posts ago, but should break soon.  The lawn needs mowing, weeds need spraying, and paint needs to be looked at and used/saved.  But it's very likely nothing will be done until the weekend.

Hope all is well where you are.  Cheers.

Heat Wave Ramblings

This past week has been HOT, very hot and humid.  Temperatures have been in the low to mid 90's ºF all week, lowering just a couple degrees today but still very oppressive.  Not terribly unusual as we've gotten over 100ºF in recent memory, except for it now coming as early as the last week in June.  We had thunderstorms miss us or just nick us mostly north in the last day, but the next couple days will see more scattered storms.  Just perfect for a 3-day holiday weekend.  Oh well, Kate has to work the next four days so I'll be mostly on my own anyway.

Even as I write this, it is before 6 p.m. so would normally be full daylight but rather is very dark as a storm is approaching and a severe thunderstorm warning has been issued.  I just stepped out to take this picture below, and the pic seems lighter outside than actual.  I'm making dinner tonight, homemade pizza, so will continue writing after.

Dinner was very good, thank you.  I'd post a pic but you've likely seen enough of my pizzas.  The rain was heavy and began almost immediately after finishing the above, but short-lived.  Looks like more of the same off and on for the weekend.

So now, after dinner and a call with Mom, where was I?

Heat, storms, oh yeah, it's a three day weekend now with tomorrow off for Saturday's 4th of July holiday.  I have more contractor stuff to share but I think I'll wait on that.  I think maybe it's time to wrap this up for now.  I'll likely post something on Saturday for the holiday, so until then - Cheers!

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.

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.

Hail, No!

Yesterday's hail, probably the biggest I've seen, and some of the damage it caused us. Still, there were tornadoes around so we may have gotten off easy.

Green & Rain

The lawn has turned green, the lilac and trees have buds, and the flowerbed areas have come alive.  Spring is here, helped by good amounts of rain and thunderstorms.  Today will be our warmest day yet, getting to about 78ºF.  We had sun earlier today, but I didn't get a picture in time and now the clouds have moved back in and will be staying awhile.

Somehow it seems fitting that I have a terrible cold, just my luck.  I felt it coming on Friday and Saturday, but still felt good enough to stay active and get some things done.  I've been down for the count ever since.  I'm trying to feel better today, my wife even got me out of the house for a short walk.  I should be able to work tomorrow, but it may be a very long day.  I mentioned recently that I wanted to take a day or two off before my May vacation.  Well, this is it, I guess.

Last night's storm was pretty bad in areas, with downed trees and power outages across southern Wisconsin.  The warm temperatures will fuel more storms this evening, continuing overnight, and looks like plenty of rain yet tomorrow.  We'll have to keep an eye on the basement, but there's not as much to get up off the floor as there used to be.  Just two rugs, I think.

We saw the creek was pretty full on our walk, and flowing pretty well.  You know it's full when you can't see the rocks on the sides anymore.  Might be worth checking tomorrow evening after several more inches of rain.  I don't think we'll have any flooding issues like we had several years ago, 2018, but this is a lot of water in a short time.  Only two ducks spotted on the creek today.  And no spring burn this year, but not unusual because they did it last year and I believe they only do it every other year.

Not much else to say.  I'm feeling a bit better though still pretty tired.  I have until tomorrow morning then back to work, better or not.

Sexy And Seventeen - Blogday!

This blog is seventeen years old today, a rare beautiful and sunny day at almost 70ºF (21ºC) outside.  Super windy, but I'll take it.

And congratulations to Delcatto on his recent 20th Blogday!

We likely got a bit of snow here overnight, wiped out by rain very early this morning.  I'm so ready for spring, and some time off work.  My next vacation is in May but I may look at taking a day or two soon.

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.

...And Back Again

Back And Forth, But Crocus!

It's official, spring is imminent in Wisconsin.  Today was beautiful, sunny and getting into the mid-50's this afternoon, so I took a walk around the back yard today after arriving home.  I was hoping for, yet still surprised to see, the purple crocus coming up in the back yard.  Only three small clumps like this one, but surely many more to come.

Our weather has been back and forth recently, occasional bits of snow and/or cold mixed with sun and above freezing to very pleasant days like today.  As it usually is for us in spring, more so than fall, it seems.  Tomorrow is colder with rain expected, but the forecast is very encouraging, though still with some of that back and forth.  

I know the crocus are probably the first really encouraging sign of spring for me, as snowdrops are for others.  Aside from the better temperatures, there is spring training baseball, March Madness basketball, maybe seeing buds on the trees or the first robin, or in my case, Mom coming back home. What other occurrences help you change your mindset from winter to spring?

Valentines Day Weekend

Yesterday was Valentines Day, so a card, some candy and a nice lunch out.  We again went out to lunch today, followed by a walk around the neighborhood.  Most of the snow has melted, but that leaves the grime from winter and the drab, brown flora everywhere.  It will be nice when things start to green up again but that will take some time yet.  Our stretch of beautiful weather for this time of year continues, and should until Friday when we go back to more seasonable temperatures.  

Still not a lot happening that's been worth writing about other than the weather, but let's see what I can think of - a mini This-and-Thats:

I finally created an account on the King Arthur website and tried to put in an order, but I got an error every time I tried to submit this weekend so I went back to order from Amazon.  Not sure why the error, but I may try again sometime in the future.  Oh well, it's disappointing even though I'd have to pay for shipping there.  Most available KA flours I will continue to buy locally, but my thought was some of their seasonings and other ingredients might be fresher directly from them.  Maybe I'll find out for sure sometime in the future.

I bought a new dash camera for my car, one that also has a camera pointing back into the inside of the car.  I'd like to get one that has a rear-facing camera, but I don't want to have to run that wire back there somehow.  The interior view will show some out the windows and I thought might be a good idea as I have to transport clients often.  The dash camera that I had, forward view only, I moved to my wife's van but ran into an issue.  There are two plug-ins for it in front, one that is always on and one that is only on when the car is.  I can't use the one that is always on or it may run down the battery and the other is inoperable for some reason.  My wife said there is another one in the back that is within reach that I will have to try, but another day.  The rest of the weekend is now for rest.

It is now light out when I go to work and stays light later in the afternoon/evening.  I entertained the thought of a fire last night but the ground is very wet so I decided against it.  We have a little more than a month until the spring equinox, March 20, which is a Friday so maybe I can have an fire pit then, if not sooner.  

We don't have snowdrops around here that I'm aware of, but we do get crocus early spring in the back yard.  Still too early, I guess.  At least it feels like we can make it to there, now.

Watching The Snow

... Before it all melts.  Up to 50ºF this weekend?  But beware - it's still mid-February, after all.