We are loving the summer!   This last Saturday was the first farmers market of the season in downtown Oshkosh .  Chris, Marie and I got our walking in and enjoyed a beautiful morning.  We were surprised at how much the vendors had for so early in the season.   We brought home some cheese, lettuce and fresh bread!   A great bakery in Princeton,  Oshkosh has always been lacking a good bakery!   And we had our mandatory bloody mary before we left downtown.   We had an appointment at noon, someone from Illinois was driving up to look at our boat.  And the good news is that is sold and one less thing to deal with.   I am sure there will be days we will miss it, but it found a good home with a young family.   My last boat is a row boat!  It was a good week,  we also sold our truck this week.   Just in time to put money in the bank for taxes and a new roof!   The roof will come early August.

And the house is back up on MLS listing, so we move through this next phase of brokers.  The agency brokers will tour this week and an open house is on the horizon.   So we keep cleaning, and with some help from Janet and Steve have a few boxes less of ‘stuff’ to deal with.   But need to keep addressing ‘stuff’ as we run across it.   Speaking of which I think I have to go see if I can work on cleaning out the refrigerator.

Get out and enjoy, oh and Oshkosh Brews and Blues coming up June 21.  Support the community by sharing in some music and beer!

Green grass and blue water!

Well Summer did come to Wisconsin!   And we have welcomed it.   Of course with it has come mosquito’s and currently sitting through a thunderstorm with lot’s of rain and hail!   But we still welcome it.  The breezes have been warm and wonderful.    Yesterday was a number of hours in the gardens, and now hoping the new plants survive hail and downpours.   I will check on that later when the rumbling stops!    The farmers have been busy the last week trying to get fields furrowed and seeds in the ground.   And this was not the rain they wanted either.  But the rain will bring life, even if some seeds are washed away.

So tomato’s and peppers are planted, and the flowers for the most part. Our lawn is looking good and freshly cut.     My grass trimmer reached the end of it’s life, but friends stepped up with a replacement for the summer!  I hate to buy a new one when I am confident our house will sell before another summer comes!   We just signed up with a new realtor and feel good about her interest and attitude.  Of course it all boils down to finding the right person at the right time. So when it is meant to be it will be.   In the mean time I took a good look at our roof and did not like what I saw.   The winter was not kind,  and roofing material 12 years ago was notoriously bad.   So before we sell, we will need to replace the roof.   So that is our next step, hopefully quickly!

We had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.  As we have for some years now we made our way to Hayward Wisconsin to visit Dick and Carol.   Since we sold our 5th wheel last fall we had to make other arrangements.    So we rented a motor home this year, which was the plan if we wanted to camp again.  Marie arrived the week before, and we all made our trip north.   The weather was fantastic.   Dick and I spent a lot of hours on the water and we caught a lot of large crappie.   And we had lot’s of good food and relaxing time.   We even made it to the Angry Minnow,  a microbrewery in Hayward.  And the Angry Minnow had excellent libations and food!

So we hope you all get out and enjoy the summer.  June, July, August are not to be missed!

Angry Minnow – Hayward

rented motor home

life on Sand Lake

This feels like a good Sunday.  Slept in,   there is a bright sun shining and it should be close to normal temperatures.  Not quite normal but at least closer.    Made some bloody mary’s and chorizo for breakfast.  Here is hoping we have not missed summer already!     I finally bought a bike helmet and put on a few miles yesterday, and I can still walk today! So I will keep working on getting in shape.   Some yard work and weeding took more of a toll on my back than the biking on my legs.  But I think I will let a day go by before pushing the legs some more.   Problem with that is it looks like after a sunny day we will be dealing with chances of rain the rest of the week!

Did some cleaning yesterday also.  Chris on the inside, the windows sparkle.   I’m confident our house will sell eventually, and need to get serious of getting rid of more ‘things’.   Still have old tools and memento’s of my grandfather, but they have to go somewhere.   Still too cluttered,  so more decisions ahead.     Once I can drive across the lawn to move the boat that goes back up for sale, spring should be better to sell than fall was!  Truck still for sale, but the owner of the lot I have it on says we just have not had good weather for people to think about boating and camping and I should be patient.   Well, patient a little longer.  I have been trying to get the gardens cleaned and ready and good to see some things growing.   Not so good to come out in the morning and see that the herd of deer came through and chomped on everything green.  But I guess time to go out and enjoy this lovely day, hope you all can also.

We have had some nice days.   Easter was special to spend with Mom.   She gets more tired but is doing well.   Mellow and very happy when we can spend time with her.   It won’t be long until Marie is here in Oshkosh, she is coming in for our Memorial Day trip north.    And the major plans now are for our July trip.  Yes the girls invited me this time.   We will spend some time in Rothenburg, Munich and Strassburg and then a week in Switzerland.   I am looking forward to getting to spend some time with the girls relatives!   And maybe have a beer along the way.  So enjoy life, Spring brings hope of summer.

dinner with a guest

Since we have been back from our Florida trips we have managed to stay busy.  Work has been busy for both of us but we have been trying to take plenty of time to relax as well!   Our Wisconsin weather this April is unpredictable.   We have had a first full week of good weather with temperatures above average.   That has been the Only week like that.  Chris and I have volunteered the last couple of Fridays at the church fish fry.  The first Friday was during a winter storm warning, and when Chris and I left church it was howling winds and snow.   But we did get back to some nice weather and I have had a chance to do some yard clean up and clean up in the boat house.  But the warm weather is only flirting with us.   This weekend Oshkosh had 6 inches of rain, which finished with about 3 inches of snow this morning.   Snow covered roads and jack knifed semi’s this morning.  This week will stay well below the average temp of 53 for this time of year.    We had someone who wanted to tour the house last week, but still not the right person,  no offers yet.

A few weeks back we went to the Heidel House in Green Lake Wisconsin for a brew fest!  The Heidel House has been a resort for many years and a group of us took advantage of reduced room rates to make a weekend of it.  We had a great time.  The resort is wonderful and the company was great!  And I think we had a few good beers!    This last weekend we took a northern Wisconsin tour, heading up to Marinette county.  We got away with friends Steve and Janet.  Unfortunately the weather did not co operate, with cold and rain.   But we still got a quick look at their cabin and driving through the country side.   We had a nice lunch at the 4 Seasons Island resort on the Michigan border.  The drive in on a single train bridge is a nice welcome to a nicely maintained resort with lot’s of character.   We headed from there to Marinette to spend the night at a bed and breakfast.  A completely redone early 1900’s house, full of character with stained glass windows and beautiful wood work.   It was a lot of fun and certainly interesting.   And in the house also resides a “70’s Martinni Bar”.   Interesting to have a beautiful Victorian house that includes a full bar and living areas with zebra furniture.  Oh and the bar is always open to guests, on the honor system!  Our room certificates from the MPTV auction included some drinks, which we took full advantage of!   Before the weekend was over we also managed to fit in a winery and a couple of brew pubs.  It certainly was relaxing and we probably ate more than we needed.   But I did get on the treadmill tonight, probably another week of that and I will wear off half the calories I put in this weekend.

Easter weekend coming up, and we hope for good weather.   We hope everyone’s basement is dry, and you have a nice Easter weekend, what ever that may be for you.

Heidel House crew

after brewfest party

Our room at the Victorian Inn

Victorian Inn living area

Bar room

Back in Wisconsin tonight.  Hated to leave Florida, it has been such a great winter in south Florida.   And we had another great 10 days.   We have good friends we enjoy spending time with and the time was special.   Noel and JoAnn spent a weekend with us and we had a very relaxing weekend including a picnic at the pool.  And ended with a St Patrick’s day dinner.

And actually coming back to 38 degrees was not bad.  Certainly better than every other time this winter!  And I am very surprised at how much snow has melted in the last 10 days.  Although we saw cars driving on the lake when we got home, the water under the ice is probably 34 degrees, so that will be with us for awhile.  Although it looks like we could use some melting of culverts and ditches so some water can continue to run off.  And it looks like my neighbors may have been working on getting the ice off our road, which is in better shape than I thought it could be at this point.  So if Spring is really coming that will be welcome by all of us.

So now getting back to our regular life, what ever that is!  I will check out the house and yard tomorrow. And I have some issues at work to dive into.   But hopefully it won’t take much to get back into the groove.  And we have a weekend beer festival at the Heidel House to look forward to.  So life continues to be good, even if not as warm.

picnic on the water

Our daughter painted us a picture for the condo

Life is good!   Had a great Friday night catching up with cousins and brother and sister in law,   had some good food and beer at St Francis Brewery.    Then on Saturday made our way back to Florida.   This is just a different world than home.  7:30 pm and just came in from sitting outside with neighbors, having a few drinks and catching up as the sun went down.   Took a walk to the beach this morning, a nice breeze coming in from the Bahama’s.    Did a little work on a bathroom today, a project I started in January.   But it just feels so good to be warm!   You have to try it!      Hoping my driveway does not get snow while we are gone.  There should be some better weather in Wisconsin while we are gone,  glad to hear that for everyone.  But for me I will take 80 degrees and sunshine!

Boating was busy today on the intercoastal

Things are flowering here!

At the ocean this morning.

I know as we grow older the age affects how we think. I think at times the car I would like now probably costs upwards of $50,000, heck pick up trucks can cost upwards of $50,000, and you know in 1980 we bought a brand new Dodge pick up for $5000??

When my mind goes down that road I remind myself of my Uncle Augie. I always remember Uncle Augie as being pretty negative. And the many weekends in our neighborhood back yard I always remember at some point Uncle Augie saying the world was going to hell, how could a loaf of bread cost $.25?   Clyde would tell me a story of his father-in-law Augie coming over to the tavern when he saw Clyde go in, and Clyde would always buy him a brandy. And Augie would rage on that Clyde also paid $.15 for a snit of beer on the side, and the snit of beer should not have to be paid for. And then Augie would excuse himself with a promise to buy one next time.
OK I digress. But I heard when you let your mind go negative like dwelling on criticism, those parts of the brain just take over and those parts of the brain are so strong the rest of the brain cannot do anything.    Even with the evil people in the world I have to believe we are inherently good. In all of us is the desire to be happy   and to make those around us happy. We let our environment pull us down, but we just need to give our selves the chance to be positive. Thinking of Clyde and Uncle Augie brings a smile to my face.

And the point of this is really to have you watch something that touched me this morning. Watch this and feel good about the world, maybe with a tear in your eye, but still feeling good about the good things we are all capable of.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ohio-8-year-old-turns-20-into-priceless-gift/

Wisconsin winter keeps going on!  I am back in Wisconsin and Chris came home now!  Not sure she is glad she did come back.  We have had a few decent days, lot’s of snow, and now going back to the deep freeze!  We will break the record for a winter with the most days below zero farenheit.  That will be this week.  Going into March!
But we have been blessed with enjoying the  above average south Florida winter.  So that makes this more tolerable.   I have made some progress on the ice and snow in the driveway.  And the sun is warmer than it was a few weeks ago, and is doing some melting even in the cold winds.   So there are things to look forward to (our next trip to Florida).

We celebrated Mom’s 93rd birthday last weekend.  And she had a good time, so it was a great day.  She continues to do well.  Chris and I made it to see the Monuments Men, which we recommend.  We made the Oshkosh winters Farmers market last week and will hopefully make the one next Saturday.  And we made it to the SOB   beer dinner and a beer and cheese tasting last week.  So we are not letting the cold weather keep us inside!  Marie is back in New Mexico and the weather there has gotten nice.  So she has enjoyed the winter!  We hope you all are making it through this winter, Enjoy life!

A quick update.  Life is good!   We were able to come to Florida after a very nice Christmas.   We spent some time with Mom who unfortunately had the flu.  It went through her complex.  But she came through well, which I find hard to believe because when we left her and Milwaukee I came down with it.   And I did not know if I would survive!  And Mom says she had it twice.   But MJ Chris and I made it to Florida which felt great even with the flu.   I was able to work from here until the first week of January and had to head back to work.  When I left Marie came down to warm up and keep Chris company.  And they have been enjoying themselves, while I was home in the cold Wisconsin weather!  This is a long and very cold winter, showing no signs of getting better.  I was very happy to make it back down last Wednesday.  Although my 3 hour flight took 8 hours, long story,  but I made it!   And it has been beautiful here while schools we hear are closed in Wisconsin because of the cold weather.  Friends Dick and Carol have come to Florida this winter and are spending a week near us, so the last few days we have been tourists.  The pictures show a theme of eating and drinking!  And today we took a ride to Key Largo for lunch, and had a great day.   Now relaxing and thinking of plans for Tuesday.

Hope all are doing well, and for those of you back north I wish you could all be here in the wonderful weather.  Unfortunatately I will join you soon.

Key Largo lunch

at the pool for lunch from the grill

Having a great time in South Florida.  There is no better place to be right now. Has been in the 80’s but today only upper 70’s.  After the very cold weather at home this is paradise.   And winter starts next week?

This was our chance to open the condo for the season.  Everything came through the summer just fine, except our Florida car.   I took it in to get oil changed and some of the noises checked out.   And now have new drums/wheels/complete braking system except master cylinder.   The salt air and 176,000 miles took its toll on the metal.  But now the system is safe and will outlast the rest of the car.  And the air conditioner is working, at least for now!  And installed the late arriving slides for our kitchen pots and pans drawer and restrictor clips on the doors, so kitchen is good.  We had forgotten what the new kitchen looked like, but are very happy with it.

Noel and JoAnn came to visit, we saw the Boynton / Del Ray boat parade go by on the intercoastal on Friday night.   It had more boats and bigger decorations that past years so very enjoyable.  We had grilled out before hand and ate down in the clubhouse.   A good crowd from our association gathered at our pool to watch the parade, and desserts and coffee were served afterwards.  Noel and I skipped the coffee.  We had a great time with Enders, ate and drank almost too much (can you eat and drink TOO much?).   And topped it off by watching the Packer win at a local outside restaurant.   What a game!!

So back to the cold and work soon.  But with a rejuvinated attitude!  Jackie we will be back after Christmas!