Happy Seven, Katy
Fun times in Fox Point.
Birthday girl.
Holy guacamole.
Bike ride with Will before Katy home from school. Over the bridge.
View from the bridge down the ravine to Lake Michigan.
Shadbush Time
Also known as serviceberry, saskatoon, and Amelanchier.
Another in our series of dinner with the neighbors, followed by Sequence.
Tulip Time
And beet planting.
Twelve rows of beets, each about 10 feet long, so maybe a good crop come fall. But there are many variables. Did I plant too early? Will the galinsoga come back and choke the beets? Will an untended garden get enought rain?
The fabric-covered areas are for tomatoes and winter squash, to be planted later.
In the photo above I am using my recently invented, ancient European peasant seed planter. The earth is too wet to crawl on, and continuous bending is not part of the program, hence this device.
Magnolia Magnificence...
...and perfect weather, too.
A significant portion of the prarie is now pond.
Out and About...
...to points south.
To Crystal Lake for a visit with 'Trina, and to drop off a few things sent from Aunt Janet.
Lucky for us, Trina gave us a brand new, still-in-the-box rodent trap, with a mesh fine enough to hold gophers, or chipmunks, or whatever the heck has honeycombed our little patio garden.
Perhaps this trap will contribute to the reduction of our wildlife woes: last year raccoons, last month the groundhog, now chipmunks or gophers. (Of course, always the squirrels, thought lately they have been leaving the house alone and not overly destroying other things.)
But then what about rabbits? Well, yes, we have rabbits, and this year in spades. But we also have Pax. Tonight, after he finished his chewy treat, he obligingly dispatched at least one member of this spring's latest litter.
Happy Easter
Egg hunt, walk, fabulous brunch. On the down side, Will was a bit sick so he and Katy and Abby and Tony could not be here.
First Day of Summer...
...at least it feels that way. High near 80. Grass growing, buds popping. And our daffodils, under the redbud tree, (not the photo below) wimping out. We have deduced the reason—gopher. Lots of gopher holes all around the patio garden, and a gopher actually sighted several times. Quite sure the gopher is gnawing the bulbs and sapping their strength.
The groundhog trap, previously used, has a wire mesh far too coarse for gophers, so we have ordered a finer trap.
Poison has been ruled out, although a "host of golden daffodils" badly damaged makes one think revenge would be sweet.
Manitowoc and Fox Point
Visit with Aunt Janet and then rollerblading with Katy and Will. also great dinner prepared by Tony and a stirring rendition by Katy of How Far I'll Go, from Moana.
Gasbag
Pontificating blow-hard. Pompous ass. You name it. That's my U.S. House of Representatives rep. Jim Senselessbrenner, who today held a "town hall" at the fire hall in the little, run-down, fly-blown, poverty- stricken, has-been of a town called Helenville, about 15 minutes north of Whitewater.
Less than a dozen "constituents" in attendance. All but one, including my neighbor Phil and me, in opposition. I guess it was a "listening session" if you figure those of us in the peanut gallery were the listeners. Our representative preferred to talk, using threadbare talking points, at high speed in a flat monotone, making sure he was never interrupted.
As he frequently said, "Who's next?"
Buttermilk Grill-Fried Chicken
A first.
Marinated in buttermilk. Then dredged in seasoned flour and fried in a cast iron pan on the Big Green Egg. Rather high up on the goodness scale.
NB: Buttermilk is becoming my secret ingredient—it's a key component of my World Famous Waffles, and now of fried chicken. However, I will never, under any circumstances, eat a waffle-clad chicken sandwich.
Lovely day. Pax and I did the big loop in bright sun, and I was carrying my hat and vest on the homeward leg. The two of us also got in a good bike ride to the prairie, and after that I got in a good solo bike ride, hither and yon, at high speed.
By the time the grill was fired up. clouds had moved in, a wind had come up, and the temperature had dropped. Rain in the forecast again.
Put The Storms Back On
Not really, but it does seem silly to be running the furnace with screens on some of the windows.
Cloudy and chilly. Pax and I took our loop walk in a steady light rain. Damp it all.
On the upside, lots of moisture has descended on the Michigan/Huron basin, and reports are coming in of flooding at various places. Great Lakes water levels must be on the upswing.
Spring Springs Eternal
Warm and summery morning, with conditions actually, and surprisingly, seeming a bit dry. But then, by late afternoon, Pax got antsy, eventually heading to the basement. And then the clouds burst (un-forecast and unexpected). Classic cold front. On the upside, rain following warmth means everything is greening greatly.
The summery forenoon inspired us to swap some storms for screens and to turn off the pilot light on the breezeway stove. Got it all done just in time. And, we are now open to new ideas.
And here is a photo of Abby's front yard. Apparently Fox Point was hit even harder than Whitewater.
Three Dog Nite...
...or rather Three Nite Wackos. In other words, a third Nite has been added to the stable. Now we will have two competitive boats and a tender, all part of a go-fast team.
Afternoon picnic at Victoria Lane, making the most of non-iceboat weather.
Yard Work and Kid Sitting
In Fox Point. Mimi and Katy did lots of sewing.
Compost bins and brush cleaning.
Who is this masked man?
Squill and Scroll
... no that's supposed to be "Quill and Scroll", the high school journalism society, which I used to interact with. But that was then and squill is now, and squill proves that spring has officially arrived.
Today was an outside day, with yard work, walks, and bike rides. Pax got in a great workout, including a dip in the prairie pond, which is now quite an immense body of water.
Lots of Wind
But also some sun. Gale warning and flood warning on Lake Michigan, with 15 to 20 foot seas rolling in to southern shores. Bike ride to the prairie a challenge—uphill and into the blast (but no need to pedal on the way home).
Manitoulin style, but actually in Wisconsin.
Crappy Diem
All day rain. Again.
Steady, sometimes light, sometimes moderate, but adding up. Ground saturated.
Fields—fallow or flooded?
Mimi is making significant progress on her monumental, two-sided tapestry which is to be hung between posts in Kagawong cottage to attenuate the amplitude of SIPs sounds. Not much time left. And it is going to be marvelous.
Early Morning Rain...
... and late morning rain as well. Quite a lot of it, but clearing by afternoon. To Fox Point to see Will and Kate on their return from Texas, and then a brief ride to Manitowoc to check in on Aunt Janet.
Here Will and I are working on a game of Rush Hour (should be called Traffic Jam) in which you have to shuffle vehicles to find a way clear for the ice cream truck.
Clogged Drains and More Rain
Katy called on on April 1 from Rockport to tell me that Uncle John's toilet was backed up, and I believed her. In my defense, I had been pre-conditioned to clogs because of the one occurring in the basement here—utility tubs filling almost to overflowing when the clothes-washer finished its drain cycle. Today, our sprightly, voluble, little, local plumber stopped by with his rodder—and we are once again unplugged. (Always useful info here on this blog.)
Cloudy day in the low 50s, with rain, actually, quite a bit of it right now, causing the dusty sump pump down in the bowels to rewake from time to time. The previous pump wore out from lack of use.
That's it for plumbing, today.
Bob Fest
Ancient, no, longtime, friend, fellow teacher, sailing companion, and all around good guy (also Cub fan and Chief Lemming) turned 70. We were glad to attend the festival.
