…that were boxed and moved by the remediation crew after the flood. Books are heavy and the job was tedious, but what else would be more fun on a chilly, gray day? And, the activity proved to be a good opportunity to weed the collection and to rearrange it into some semblance of order.
…greatly improved by home-grown squash soup with smashburgers, plus a little time spent getting reacquainted with the Aerophone (been a long time since I last practiced, and the fingers forget).
In preparation for a Tamia and Tig presentation Monday at the Senior Center and Tuesday at the Library I’ve been going through some old files. Here’s one I might use as a handout: Refuge and Outlook
…which found us at a park, making krispie treats, and having a pizza party.
…and also do some house touchup painting, and some swapping of storms for screens (Just the 3 easy ones around the breezeway; all the others have been replaced with modern fenestration.). Nice bike ride, too.
…probably an all time record, and done in spite of meetings and doctor appointments.
Huge crop, lots of work, and we are only half way done. Endless boiling, skinning, slicing. We are beet, but looking forward to the finished product.
Beet, beetroot, Beta vulgaris.
Big Beta
… high speed ride on ATVs (one piloted by Bri, the other by Renee) on a narrow, steep, twisty, puddle-pocked and boulder strewn trail in the Harrison Hills of northern Wisconsin, surrounding the Nies cottage. It was cold, but the kids—even the little ones, and the dog—seemed to love it… and everyone survived. Tel père (et mère) tel fils (et filles).
…after last night’s rain. Chilly and breezy, but perfect for late October.
Boat out and on the trailer with little effort—thanks to experience. Mostly packed and ready for tomorrow’s road.
…until the fun was done.
To Boulder Junction for lunch, where, alas, we found the recommended place would not be opening until 3. Not to be distracted, we chose the Boulder Beer Bar—and the choice was fortuitous…great Bloody Mary and excellent pulled pork, along with the full “up-north” Wisconsin ambiance.
On the way back, on County M, we diverted to a Northern Highland State Forest campground, and then drove a few miles on a tunnel of trees—along the east side of Trout Lake.
…and Home Made Pizza in front of a fire on the hearth.
Lunch at Dixie’s.
Up North at the Janowiec cabin, with neighbors Jane and Phil. Beautiful weather, beautiful place.
…catching worms, hiking, fowl watching, bike riding, and a delicious lunch, among other things. (Thanks to Abby for photos.)
The Whitewater Chamber of Commerce and its Economic Development Authority came up with the idea of a “Story Telling” weekend to promote the town. Various activities, such as open mic at the bandshell for people who like to talk. And things like that.
One component was intended to feature local authors—so, in a closed-off alley downtown, local authors were invited set up tables featuring their wares, and, at scheduled times, to read selections of their work. Being what some might loosely consider an “author” I agreed to participate (although pretty sure I should have been far, far away, perhaps picking up hickory nuts.)
Here’s my table. (Thanks to Sue for helping me set it up.)
Needless to say, on this chilly and very windy day, the narrow alley became a wind tunnel, and good parts of the 5 other “author’s” tables shredded and blew “from far and eve and morning, and yon twelve winded sky.”
For the three hours I was in attendance, the entire venue had a total of 3 bonafide customers, all of whom bought my books. No one else made a sale. Nonetheless, 3 of the other “authors” went up to the mic and read, although their words blew beyond comprehension before anyone in the non-existent crowd heard even a smattering of them. I caught snatches…of a monster rising out a a bay in Japan, of something intended to be poetry about something I couldn’t decipher, and then a list of a watercolor painter’s favorite colors—pretty sure red was at the top of the list.
Ah, well. Good practice, eh?
I had despaired of finding hickory nuts this fall since we got back from Manitoulin long after the squirrels got into the trees. But, today, on our walk in the prairie, we passed under the majestic hickory I have probably showed off here before, only to hear thwaps and whallops of something falling from the sky whenever wind shook the tree limbs.
Although the squirrels (and weevils) had been busy, as evidenced by all the shrapnel and drilled nuts lying on the sidewalk, when we went off the path and into the goldenrod we were able to collect a good number of what might be viable seeds, especially since some of them fell as we were gathering.
The experience of standing under hickory rain made me remember the hickory tree at the lake end of the sidewalk, by Wolf’s, in Crystal Lake. I’m almost certain I remember listening to nut drop under that tree, and I am certain we harvested the nuts and ate them.
Image uploaded using Actual Size. Image is distorted, stretched horizontally.
Using Large, below. Image is rotated.
Using Small, below. Image is rotated and blurry.
The image below was uploaded using the web portal, after I reduced the resolution using Photoshop.
Tomatoes still ripening—and terrifically tasty. Will be hard to go back to store-bought.
A walk in the park today with Sherry (chair of the WW Urban Forestry Commission) and Ginny (long time Whitewater resident and donor of $10,000 to the Arboretum At Starin Park [AASP]). I’m trying to convince Ginny to head up a small adult AASP Stewardship Team.
White ash, not as susceptible to EAB
And, closer to home, Vi’s magnificent crab. These little apples will be gone by February, of not sooner—robins, cedar wax wings, starlings, etc, and eventually squirrels.
Dim, rainy, windy, and cooler today.
Two frustrating hours in a chat room (typing back and forth) with a Squarespace tech trying to get this image problem fixed, but to no avail. After all that time the tech decided the only option was to kick the case up to the next level (programmers I assume), and that they would get back to me. Aaaarrrghh.
Kentucky coffeetree, started from seed and in need of a new home
So, for now, if I want an image to be undistorted, I have to take it into Photoshop, resize it, and then upload it to the blog via computer. Could this be the end of my blog?
