Feeder needing two refills per diem. Definitely not tuppence a day. Busy place. Lots of squirrels, too, though this year none are trying to climb the pole.
And, speaking of food, last night’s dinner: jalapeno, cheddar, cornmeal, buttermilk waffles. Pretty tasty.
High of 10.
Above, the gas-fired peaker plant north east of Town. Lots of CO2 and lots of steam. On the upside, the plant practices cogeneration, and supplies heat to the university.
In other news, ice is thickening on all the local lakes, and sailing looks likely this weekend.
…chilly all day, with a dusting of snow, and down below zero tonight. Just what’s needed to make basement work enjoyable. Or would tolerable be a better word? Anyway, almost done, now that perfection has been deemed improbable. Below, shots from a winterized yard.
While paint was drying I signed up for a “Great Courses” course on Ancient Civilizations of North America, and sat through the first two lectures. While lectures are not the learning style I find most effective, I have acquired some knowledge, and will not walk out of the classroom.
Not an August Rodin or a Henry Moore, but, nonetheless, a piece of fine, if utilitarian, sculpture, fit for a throne room.
In that room, BTW, the repainted walls have been repainted and the replaced molding has been replaced, and things are starting to look good, even better than in their antediluvian state.
Sometimes when you want things done right you have to do them yourself.
Furthermore, TP rolls remind me of Jonathan Swift’s Big-Endians and Little-Endians (in Gulliver’s Travels). Are you an Over-Roller or and Under-Roller?
And…just an update…the red velvet cake came close to the Katy exemplar……………but not quite.
Too busy redoing the basement to work on the model boat. A hard day’s work down there, with countless trips up and down the stairs. (We are putting all that in the “exercise” column.) And, progress is being made.
The model boat, meanwhile, while being ignored today, is coming along, and so far has suffered no major failures. Getting close to the painting and rigging stages. Beginning to think that the project might actually make it all the way to completion.
For dinner tonight, Tourtiere, and afterward, red velvet cake—fingers crossed that it will be a good as the one Katy made up north.
Now that the basement remediation has wrapped up, the two of us are down there fixing everything that was done wrong, or at least not up to our standards. We hope to have all the repairs to the repairs done this week, before the new carpet arrives. There’s nothing like a good project.
In other news, a very large hawk needed shooing from the garage today, which for everyone was a bit scary. We think it swooped in in pursuit of a bird but then got disoriented. Fortunately for it and us, it was, unlike a cardinal several years ago, smart enough to finally swoop out. Many birds won’t go down in order to fly up, to freedom.
Onions, cabbage, hard bread…staple of the serfs during the middle ages. However, when a cabbage about to go bad is turned into braised cabbage with onion, apple, and honey, it’s not a bad dish. And when excess onions become French onion soup topped with baguette slices and a layer of Gruyère, it’s hard to complain. Then, when you add a Vienna beef hot dog slathered in gourmet mustard to the mix, you might almost think you were royalty.
The blower made quick work of the 3 to 4 inches of snow deposited last night. Tonight, clear and cold.
…and I’m not talking about the snow. We celebrated New Years this evening with a bottle of Prosecco and tuna melts from Natalie’s.
We may be a day behind, but I’m quite sure we will catch up.
Meanwhile, the snow has finally arrived, though I doubt it will amount to much now that the big blower has been fired up and is ready for service.
Back home, driving the last half hour in not-quite-freezing drizzle.
Significant snow forecast for tomorrow, so rather than fight it, we are back, and the big snowblower is out of Vi’s garage and crammed into ours. But, will the machine start tomorrow? That is the question (or at least a question). Perhaps we will find out next year.
Great time up north with Abby, Katy, and Will.
…with the proper gear, in the midst of winter, it’s hard to come inside, though when inside, by a crackling fire, it’s hard to think about going out.
Deep snow and very cold at Lac du Flambeau. Ice thick on the lakes.
Which makes a cup of tea and a fire on the grate especially nice. .
Not much more than two inches, but snow all day, and roads pretty bad.
…last night.
No warning of approaching storm. No diminishing of a storm moving away. Just five bright flashes spaced several minutes apart, each followed quickly by a loud detonation. At first I thought a transformer on a nearby pole had exploded. By morning about an inch of wet, heavy snow, mostly melted now.
…along the Lake Geneva shore. Strong east wind, but a good day to be outside.
…another big party, this time delicious ham dinner at the Nies estate in Merton. Lots of interesting presents.
…but the day got away.
What with post party action, a second batch of Dundee cakes (one of the previous batch was attacked by a dog), and getting gifts sorted and organized, the actual wrapping postponed until morning. That’s probably okay with Santo, too, considering the fog. Rudolph will be needed tonight.
More of Tony’s delicious kapusta tonight, although the after effects are distinctly distinguishable.
Twenty people: Sally, Glenn, Andy, Kristen, Louise, Sydney, Arthur, Abby, Tony, Katy, Will, Renee, Brian, Ellie, Maddie, Becca, Ben, James, Sue, and me; not to mention Buddy, Pip, and Lucy.
…a brown Christmas.
But preparations under way, nonetheless. Dundee cakes made and done. Basement mess left by workers picked up, house mostly spruced up, Covid tests passed. We will be ready for tomorrow’s party.
Not me—at least since high school. Never enough slack time, never enough patience.
But now, with my Santa workshopping completed and Sue still sewing, I brought out the old skipjack kit that has been lying in wait at least 20 years. (I think it might have been a present from brother John.) The glue was hard, but all the pieces seem to be present—so “heave ho, and up she rises.”
Actually, rather enjoying it. Model builders have a skillset I lack, such as pre-visualizing, applying the appropriate amount of glue, and clamping fragile little pieces—but I’m learning. Furthermore, the job requires micro-manipulation—holding and maneuvering itty bitty pieces in tight spaces, which has always given me the heebie jeebies.
But, so far, things seem to be working out, and there have been no deal breaking catastrophes; even when I glued the whole hull to the cardboard below it I was able to recover and reclaim.
Deep down I know I will hit a wall—some major component will break or be missing, or the whole thing will shatter into unrecoverable pieces, but nonetheless I will persevere, and I will exhibit the finished product—whatever it happens to be. The Chesapeake skipjack was a truly great boat, especially if you like oysters.
Down to nine hours of light, but tomorrow we turn. I’m always gladdened by the turn, and glad when the holidays are behind us, and I can look forward to spring. This year Heliotrope is going in the water!
At least, the ponds are iced
Close to 16 hours of daylight in Kagawong, in the summer.