Another weekend comes to an end.   The weather has been very nice, and tonight is a great evening to watch the water and relax.   I am behind on an update,  so a little information!

Last weekend the 19th we were down in Milwaukee for Irish Fest.  Chris and I enjoy the music, the food, and just relaxing.  We have made most of the 20 some years.  We saw lot’s of friends, as always it was great to spend time with you.  We spent Friday night, most of the day Saturday, and mass then part of Sunday.  We were not disappointed.  Friday night time with friends to kick off the weekend.  lot’s more good music all day Saturday, finished off by seeing long time favorite Finbar McCarthy.   The quintessential Irish pub singer!  And Sunday started with Mass led by the Archbishop of Milwaukee followed by time with friends and music. And we headed for Oshkosh around 3pm.  Hated to leave but needed to get home to prepare for Monday!

Mom is home at her apartment.  We had both worked in Milwaukee that Friday and brought her home from rehab.  So she has a full week in at home.  It has been busy with her therapists coming, both Physical and Occupational, and Skip took her to see her doctor.   So she is settling back in.  She seems weaker than a couple of months ago, and a little confused.  So the time away took its toll on her.  But we are hoping as she settles into a routine she will continue to improve.   We stocked her refrigerator on Saturday and she seemed to be doing well.  We will just have to wait and see, and hope she eats well and gains strength.

Chris and I had gone down this Friday night and spent some time with her,  and then we went out to meet some friends at Kegels.  Thanks to the Reilly’s and Enders for spending the rest of the night with us.  Kegels is a long time German restaurant in Milwaukee, and some of us love it for the boneless duck.  And it did not disappoint!  It was fantastic.  Of course Chris won’t eat the duck but enjoyed the beef rouladen.  Of course the Spaten Optimator complimented the taste of the duck for me.   And we got back to the bar to see the Brewers win and the Packers kick a game winning field goal to win.  A perfect night.

After spending the first part of Saturday with Mom, Chris and I had planned another relaxing weekend.  We took a slow ride to Cleveland Wisconsin to stay at a bed and breakfast.   We had a wonderful time and highly recommend it.  http://www.wbba.org/inns/KesslerOldWorldGuesthouse_Cleveland_WI.html

They are hospitable hosts.  At one time they thought of moving to Germany to run a guest house,  But the addition of Grandchildren in Wisconsin made them decide to build a bed and breakfast back home in Cleveland.  Frank is full of information about German, Austrian and Swiss history and the extensive research he has done on his family.  And Saturday night Chris and I went to a local restaurant that turned out to be a treasure.   And we topped it off with some time with Frank for some conversation, and a taste of his German cousin’s homemade Cherry Kirsch.  And Sunday morning a German style breakfast and more conversation.   We hope to go back.

We were in no great hurry to get home today, so took a trip to the Trout Springs Winery on the way home.  We saw lot’s of country side and spent some enjoyable time tasting at the winery.  And of course brought some bottles home!  When we arrived home it was time to do a little work.  So I made some headway cleaning up our gravel driveway and doing some weeding and trimming around the yard.  And the tomato’s decided to ripen in bunches this weekend.   So we picked a lot, washed and cored and have them freezing on cookie  sheets in the freezer.  I need to remember to put them in bags before I head to bed.  It was a nice night to relax as the sun went down.   The sun is setting earlier though, and the nights are cooler.  The flock of geese going by as I watched the sunset reminds me summer is almost over,  I don’t like that at all.  While our Wisconsin falls can be beautiful, they are often short and always followed by snow and cold!

So get out and enjoy the days before they get shorter.   Life is short!

Another week flew by.  There are times I worry about life being to short.   I worry about it being too short after I retire.   We had our usual busy week,  but enjoyable.    Mom is doing well.  The therapy seems to have helped her get stronger and walk better.   I encourage her to keep using the walker when she gets home,  but of course she only listens to some of what I say.   there is a meeting at the home this week,  not sure if I can make it but Skip will be there.  He and I are thinking she may be ready to come home this weekend and then take some therapy at home.   That would work out well as we would stay with her this weekend and go to Irish fest, as is our custom.  She is in a good frame of mind and trying hard.   But seems ready to go home, although I think she will miss the activity.  She could have more of it at her apartment complex,  but there she has a choice.

So the weather here has cooled down some.  And the days are getting shorter.   A sign that I do not want to see.  Summers are beautiful here,  but way too short.  We did some work to catch up on yard work this week,  still catching up from our time away in Door County.  And this coming Wednesday I have my Society of Oshkosh Brewers (SOB)  picnic at our house.   So we are working on preparing.  Of course it is the only day this week they are predicting rain.   But things always work out.

We had a nice night Friday with Skip and Claire.   Claire had bought tickets for the Brewers / Pirates game.   Traffic was hell getting from Appleton to Milwaukee.  But the stadium is always a fun place to be.  The game was a good one, and the Brewers won.   And we spent some time back and Skip and Claire’s enjoying the evening.  A nice way to end the week.

So back to Sunday.  After fixing the fitting on the kitchen faucet that broke last night and flooded the kitchen and basement, did some more yard work.  And after making some steaks on the grill the lake had calmed down and we took a long boat ride into Oshkosh.  Stopped at the BrewPub an picked up a growler, and took an easy ride home.   So now have to prepare for Monday morning,  my favorite day of the week (not).   Sounds like a good week ahead.  MJ is in Florida and the weather there sounds good also.  So get out and enjoy it.  Life is good.

Another week went by quickly.  I am worried summer will end soon!  This last week was warm enough to keep those worries in the background for now.  I do enjoy summer.   I made it to my Taurus investment club meeting on Wednesday in Milwaukee.  Good to see a few friends.   The aging process is taking it’s toll on the club though.  Our meetings continue to get smaller in attendance.  We are planning an October dinner party, to continue to take opportunities to see the members and spouses when possible.

Tuesday was my homebrew club’s Timberrattler outing.  the local A ball baseball team, and Brewers affiliate.  It was a great time as in past years.  Too much food that I ate at our tailgate.   And I think it was the best game we have seen, and they won!

Chris and I planned to take the boat out to eat on Thursday, the lake was very calm.  But when I got home from work Oshkosh had clouded up and there was rain on the radar.  So we grilled out.  It turned out not much of the rain reached the ground.   So after it passed we still took a long boat ride on the lake.

Friday was down to Milwaukee to see Mom.  We have moved her to Golden Living Heritage Square,  very close to her apartment on Loomis Road.  She did not feel confident in her walking after laying in bed at the hospital, and this is a nursing home with a rehab wing.   So she is working with the therapists, not all fun for her.   But Skip and I think she is doing well and she won’t be there long.  Unfortunately the arthritis in her knee won’t get better.  They will teach her how to cope as best she can.  And the therapy can only do so much for her.   With her leaky heart valve she could not do strenuous exercise or long periods, and she has no desire to.   But she will keep it exercised and as mobile as she can.  She asks that I not pray for her to live longer, just pain free while she is here.  So we will get her back to the apartment and see what comes next in her life.   The good news is she complains about the help and the food, so she is feeling pretty good overall.    Skip has been great in taking care of her needs and I get there when I can.  We will see what the therapists have to say this week and plan from there.

Saturday we came home in the afternoon for our annual neighborhood fish fry.  One of the neighbors has done well in catching walleye, northern, and perch and donated the fish.  And another did an excellent job of frying.  And everyone brought a dish.  So another day I ate too much.  But is was worth it.   We left just in time to walk home before the rain started.  We had a little storm roll through last night,  and it dropped a lot of rain.  Thanks Jeske’s for hosting us all, and we will pray for Nick’s surgery on Monday.

Today we made 9:30 church and then Chris and I went golfing.  I needed my exercise to get rid of some of the pounds added on by all the eating.  So the heck with the yard work and off to our local 9 hole golf course.  We had an enjoyable round topped off by bloody mary’s and lunch (did I really need to eat?).   I think Chris is hitting the ball better than ever this year.  After brunch we came home and I battled the mosquito’s and tried to bring the garden back to being presentable,  after not being in there the last 3 weeks.  So progress was made and we have some tomato’s and jalapenos for salsa this week.

So hope this finds you well.  Get out and enjoy life!