Everyone has a 4th of July, but it's Independence Day here in America. A day for grill fires, explosions and missing digits. We don't plan on going out for fireworks tonight, but we do plan on grilling out later today. Mostly a day for chores and errands, though. I hope to get a bit further with the cat box project, make a run to the hardware store, and get the chain saw out and cut the wood I've had by the garage since last year. It's supposed to be very warm and very humid with scattered afternoon thunderstorms today so hopefully all will get done and we'll still have time for relaxing. Tomorrow night we're going to have a couple people over for a fire in the evening, otherwise no specific plans made for the rest of the weekend yet - but I always have a list that I can work on.
Be happy, be safe, and enjoy the holiday, everyone!
I was looking at old posts a while ago and came across this video I posted 10 years ago, and I still enjoy it. I didn't know who it was then, but it's At The Bottom Of Everything, by Bright Eyes.
I actually had this as a draft and scheduled to post on June 8, exactly 10 years after I originally posted it, then must have forgot to hit 'publish.' Somewhat relevant as I just posted about airplanes, and I came across it today so here it is.
I also had this cartoon that I saved some time ago, I forget from where, because I liked it. I don't mean to offend anyone who believes in religion, but I don't, obviously.
I did some more work on the long-fabled cat box area project today, still a long way from being done but it'll get there. I have everything I need now but the good back for it. After a couple weeks without one, I may have another fire tonight. Gif below is from last night. Have a great weekend, everyone!
We live on the near east side of Madison, Wisconsin, just a couple miles south of Dane County Regional Airport and Truax Field, home of the 115th Fighter Wing of the Wisconsin Air National Guard. The main runway is in line with a few blocks to our west, so we get a really good view of the air traffic. The amount of traffic can vary at times, actually rather busy as I type this, and consists of very small to medium/large passenger planes. Depending on the day and weather we either get take-offs or landings. I like the landings as we get a better view of the planes, while the take-offs can be louder because planes are accelerating but they are also getting higher and can veer off to either side.
We knew about this aspect when we bought the house ten years ago, and it wasn't a concern then and it still isn't now as we really love our house, our location, and our proximity to work and local businesses (and the bike path though we need to take more advantage of it). I've even grown to really like watching them - in fact, I think I always have liked it. Sometimes the jets can get real loud, but they are somewhat fascinating as well - and nice to know we are so protected here in the upper Midwest. And they almost always go in twos, so if you hear one, get ready for another one coming. They also usually advertise when they will be doing extensive training, but that doesn't seem to stop some idiots in the neighborhood from complaining on the neighborhood farcebook page (I'm told). Once, we even saw a military transport plane taking off over us - it was so big and so low it felt like I could throw a rock and hit it!
Pursuant to a conversation with blogger friend Blue Witch in the comments a few posts ago, I thought I would try to get some video to share to show what we see daily. Now, I may hear scores of them go by on a single day, but I'm not usually in a good position to capture it on video. In fact, the first one I took after that conversation may be the best of them all. It's the first one in the video compilation below, in the evening with the plane's lights on. Over the last week or two I've tried to get video and found it's not as easy as I thought. First, I've not had a fire the last couple weekends so I've not spent that much time out in the yard and ready to record. I've tried running out when I hear one coming, but to very mixed results, as you will see. And I always seemed to miss the bigger ones, and the Frontier ones where I can try and make out the animal on the tail. I've no video of the jets yet though I'll keep that in the back of my mind for future, but they're not just loud - they're freaking fast!
Total, I got over a dozen videos, 11 of which are compiled below, one of which I would take out if I wanted to spend more time on it. Only the last video is of a take-off, this afternoon and right overhead. I used Windows video editor for the first time to make one video out of all the clips and spent very little time on it. Sorry, but it's good enough for this purpose. It is posted to my YouTube account, but it is not listed for the moment, it's only posted here.
Yes, we have noise in the background here on the near east side; airplanes, street traffic, even and railroad tracks a few blocks away. I've noticed this more than ever during this recent time of trying to get video of airplanes. I do remember once several weeks ago, later at night out by the fire, hearing a plane, a train, and the traffic all at once and thinking that would be an interesting thing to capture. Planes, Trains, and Automobiles! We'll see, maybe that opportunity will arise this summer.
Basil has not had a good year so far. He's had crystals in his bladder and urine, blockages, several trips to the veterinarian, and eventual surgery in late March. Since that surgery and spending a month in a cone things have been going relatively well until recently we noticed him leaving little pink dots on the carpets. He had a urinary tract infection, which he is more prone to now since the surgery.
Today I took Basil to the vet. For as many trips out of the house this year as he's had, he still gets seriously stressed. We prepared by not letting the cats see the carrier and then separating them with Hamish in the front of the house and Basil in the back, like we had to do for several weeks after the surgery. He did not want to get in the carrier, but we got him in and he only howled a bit as I drove the few blocks to the vet's office. My wife, meanwhile, had a family event to attend at that same time. Once Basil and I got to the vet he was quiet and eerily calm, even letting me pet him in the carrier - until they tried to take him out of the carrier. He didn't overtly attack as they had a good hold of his scruff, but he hissed and screamed bloody murder a lot. He peed himself in the carrier, pooped on the table, briefly had is teeth looked at though he showed them to us lots, got a rabies vaccine and generally did not have a good time. But they got enough pee out of the carrier to test and confirm the UTI. We left with antibiotics, Gabapentin for his hyperesthesia (twitchy butt) and pill pockets.
He was quiet on the way home, and I could see the hope in his eyes when I got the carrier out of the car. Once inside, he exited the carrier immediately (more poop in the carrier) and ran for a quiet corner and started cleaning himself. I got out treats right away and he was right there eating them up, which was a good sign, so I gave him the first antibiotic in the pill pocket. I let Hamish out of the front of the house and the cats greeted each other, but Basil did get hissy. Since then, Basil has cleaned himself more and they hung out on the porch for some time and I only heard a few hisses since. I think we'll be okay now.
Some time ago I mentioned that I wanted to write about Basil and how he'd been doing. At that time I thought we were done with this kind of thing, but he got hissy with Hamish that very night. Over the last several weeks things have actually been pretty good, the only issue is mornings and evenings when we give them wet food. When they are about to get fed, Basil gets jumpy, defensive and is easily startled - leading to more hisses and running away. For a week or two now he just stays out of the kitchen and we bring his bowl outside the kitchen door and put it on the inside front door mat and he seems happy with that. Hamish, meanwhile, has shown more patience with his brother than I originally would have thought. It can't be easy having your brother act weird and hiss at you a lot, but I think he could tell his brother was not well.
So, Basil's saga continues, poor thing. At least we're back on track and hopefully he'll feel much better again soon.
I don't think I ever saw an ice cream truck when I was a kid, but I knew them from books and TV. Now I see them every summer - well, we mostly hear them. I don't normally see them go down our street, but it kept getting louder as I sat by the fire last night. I should have had my money ready!
Happy Memorial Day, everyone. Though today is rainy, the last two days have been wonderful. I did as I said and sat by the fire last night. I also took lots of pictures because I just enjoy taking pictures and I'm still loving the fire pit. Sit a spell, enjoy the view. Wish you were here!
Yesterday was our annual 'Plant Day,' the day we get plants and fill pots. Normally I do this on my own, but my wife helped this year so we got it done faster than usual. And more hands was certainly a big help when potting. We filled the stump with pots, planted several different ones in the big planter out front, and got the usual two hanging pots, one for by the front door and one for the back. We only planted one perennial, out front by the stairs, coral bells or something, and the hanging plant for out front is a smaller one this year. I liked the clean look of the smaller white pot and simple yellow flowers. On the other side of the stairs out front we decided to, sometime this summer, dig up the bulbs that are there and return the area to lawn. The soil and lack of sun just aren't ideal for flowers and we find it rather unnecessary at this time.
We've had two beautiful days in a row (for a change), but tomorrow will bring scattered showers and storms again so the time was now. I wanted to get this done when I was on vacation but that never happened, mostly due to the cool, wet weather at the time. I think we got a good selection and we look forward to watching them grow. Oh, my wife also got a couple pepper plants and some herbs for the garden. We may not be the best gardeners, but we haven't given up! The garden blog is a different story. I just don't have the time or energy to keep up a separate blog for the garden stuff, so if I post anything about the garden from now on, it will be here.
Soon I'll post a full yard tour because I want to show more than just the potted plants, I just don't want to take the time tonight, honestly. And I have work to do on those plants yet. The arborvitae out front really took a hit over winter and are looking pretty shabby, and the burning bush out back did not come back this year. It was very old and very overgrown, and only has a smattering of leaves this spring. I'll have to take the chainsaw to it eventually, and it will seem very bare there until we replace it with something. My wife has suggested a lilac as our other lilac is also a very old bush and this could happen to it any year now and we wouldn't be surprised. There's only a couple blooms on it this spring, I think.
Not sure what else to say but I wanted to get this posted sooner than later. Right after I post this I'll be going outside and sitting by the fire pit and watch the day fade into night. Maybe I'll try posting a fire pit picture from my phone, or maybe not. I also want to post about the cats soon, just to explain further how they have been getting along and how we've been trying to get things back to normal after Basil's surgery and all that comes with that. Plus, cat pictures are cute!
A few more interesting pics from yesterday after the break.
It was nice while it lasted. Tomorrow morning I will be getting up at stupid o'clock and going back to work. But I still have today.
Since my last post I've gotten a few things done, but not much as my back required me to take it easy for a few days. And the weather this second half of the week has been much cooler and wetter than I had hoped for. I never did get out on the bike, which disappoints me, but we've had a rather cool and wet spring overall with just a few very nice days here and there. Even today they're calling for rain most of the day so I'll be mostly staying in and catching up on videos and articles that I never seem to be current with.
Friday afternoon I tested my back and knees by walking to our local bar to have a few drinks, and my wife would show up after work and pick me up. On the way I got a picture of Starkweather Creek at the end of the block, picture taken from the Milwaukee Street bridge. The water is a bit high as you can only see the top layer of rocks along the side (at the end of our street, further up from this bridge view), and a check on the lake levels shows all 4 lakes at (what is currently set as) the summer maximum. I've not heard anything about the lake levels lately, but they need to be lowered to prevent flooding issues like we had last year. Unfortunately, it seems we may not have learned a thing from it.
Also during the walk I passed more community gardens along the railroad tracks. There doesn't seem to be much activity yet, I'm sure due to the cool, wet spring so far. We are behind compared to last year. I hope we still have some time with moderate weather, rather than go straight from heating to air conditioning. Open window weather is very nice, and we've only had a few opportunities so far this year. After the walk we grilled out brats and I must have been in a picture taking mood as I took pictures of flowers and some of the trees over us. I'll include some after the break, along with another picture of the cats, this time they're getting tall on the back of the computer chair.
Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. I had also planned on getting plants, but sleeping in late and a dreary day and forecast postponed those plans. Also, recently it occurred to me that I have an acquaintance of over 30 years that owns a jewelry store, so I got my wife a rather nice anniversary gift and we went out for a nice dinner at a more upscale restaurant in town. I know being married to me can't be easy, but I do try and I love my wife very much. Cheers to you, Kate!
So far it's been a good vacation, mainly because I've not had to go to work, but also because I've been getting lots of things done. And that's despite coming down with a pretty nasty cold on Friday. I didn't do much Saturday or Sunday other than lay around and be sick, but I steeled myself and powered through it on Monday and Tuesday, and finally started feeling like myself again yesterday.
First project was getting the basement steps painted, and it took two days because I did it in halves. If anyone knows a better way I'm willing to listen for next time, but no, I did not feel every other step made sense as I know I would step on one I shouldn't while it was drying. They had to be painted last at least several years before we bought the house, and we've been here 10 years now (yesterday). I knew I wanted to paint them but didn't know how badly it was needed until I saw the side by side. Drying time was mostly while the cats napped so there were no issues with them wanting downstairs. I had a baby gate to keep them out and a temporary litter box upstairs if needed.
Aside from the stairs, I power washed and water sealed the back steps, washed and waxed the car, got lumber and hardware for the cat box area and did a plethora of smaller projects and tasks around the house that either needed to be done or I wanted done. It feels good to mark things off my list, but unfortunately there's still just as much on the list as I've crossed off of it. Mostly things that are not urgent and will not get done this week but I do want to keep them on my radar.
Yesterday evening my Mom and her husband Dan came up to see us. It was a beautiful day yesterday, maybe the warmest day of the year so far as it made it up to the low 70's F. We spent the hours around the fire pit talking and ordered out pizza and ice cream for dinner. It was very nice to see them - and finally exchange Christmas gifts! Yes, it had been too long as we didn't make it down there on Easter. Thankfully, both seem very well and happy and it was a very nice visit.
Today is a different story. I got a few things done early, then the rain moved in. It should be gone by midday easily though there is a chance for more later in the afternoon. In between the rains it's supposed to get even warmer today, into the upper 70's F, and my guess is it will also be very humid. That leaves me to do a few inside chores today, but also a lot of resting as all the early week projects have left my back needing a break. I've had some issues with my back recently, but thankfully not near as as bad as this time last year when I thought I'd be getting another surgery.
Tomorrow and the weekend looks like a few more showers expected, but hopefully I can get some more things done. I don't plan on any projects over the weekend other than my wife and I want to get plants and fill pots on Saturday. I've always enjoyed my spring 'plant day,' but it does get to be a little much so it will be nice having her help. There are a couple other things planned, as well, but that's for a different post.
There's some more pictures after the break - with a little bit of captioning. ;)
I'm over 50, married and child-free. My wife and I have a home not far from downtown Madison, Wisconsin, since 2009. I like music, taking pictures and good humor - plus writing about it all here. I am still not on farcebook or other social media, only Blogger and YouTube. Email me at scoakatsblog@gmail.com. I check it every so often.
Happy 
