Mary Jane’s mother in law passed away this morning.  Our prayers especially for John and his family.   She had gone in the hospital last Wednesday not feeling well.   They were not sure if it was the flu at first but it turned out she had some sort of blood infection.   It first settled in her head, her lymph nodes in her neck swelled and were cutting off her breathing, and on Saturday they sedated her and put in a breathing tube.   Apparently last night the infection attacked her heart.

She was a wonderful, kind person and will be missed by all.

We are home from camping!   We went to High Cliff State Park on Sept 17 and came home on Saturday.   We were with Noel and Jo Ann, and had some time with Tiff and Steve and Al Miller.  It was a very enjoyable time,  even though we had the first rains in a month!   But we managed to have fun.  We had some rain over night, and Friday night  when it rained Chris and I went out to eat!  Of course we did a lot of that.  Either Jo Ann or Tiff were making great food or we were going out to some great local place to eat.  There are a number of them in the small towns near the park, and now we look forward to going back to them each year.  Of course they serve too much food,   we need to purge this week and get some exercise!

And we left just as fall was coming in full steam!   High winds in Wisconsin today, a high of 54, and some rain.  We had a good week!  So now is time to start preparing for winter!  First on the list will be winterizing the trailer.   Have a good week!

Ok,  I think I figured this out!   The web page editing has changed a lot from what it used to be,  and my nephew hosts the site but doesn’t give me instructions!    If you go to the album page I have added photos from our trip.    I have a number of photos of landscapes and some houses,   just to give everyone a feel for what it looks like there.   They are in Rio Rancho, a suburb of Albuquerue, although I think it is now bigger than Abq!   And close by to open land, even though the subdivisions keep going up.  The desert actually has a lot of things growing in it.  And I enjoy seeing the different landscaping in the yards.  Water is at a premium so they use colored stones and plants in a variety of ways.  See if you can pick out John and Maries house.

We arrived home this afternoon from Albuquerque.   We had a very nice trip and the chance to spend time together for Marie and John’s 40th anniversary and John’s birthday.  The weather was wonderful!   Back to what summer should be like (unlike Wisconsin) and yet the desert nights cool down.    We were on the go a lot,  Marie had our social calendar full!   We had some quality time with good friends, although it seemed to always be associated with food.  Don’t get me wrong,  the food was excellent.  If you have not heard New Mexico cuisine is right up our alley!   Chris and I enjoyed every bit of it,  and the meal Marie had put on for their anniversary was outstanding.  And we had a restaurant set aside all to ourselves.

And we had a night at Tom and Barbara’s which is always a night to remember.  And Barbara made her signature enchilada’s,  which I had waited years to have again!   Tom and Barb are probably packed up and ready for a trip to Oregon to see Sandy and family.  The world traveler’s are back from a stint in Isreal where Max was asked to work on a project by Intel, his employer.   Now is asked to help out in Oregon for a short stint.

So now back to work tomorrow for both of us.   And it looks like it has been dry here and the gardens need some work.   The good news is the tomato’s look like there is a lot to pick.   And of course the grass needs to be cut!  So the rest of the week will be busy, and an executive homebrew board meeting here tomorrow night.  And Noel and JoAnn’s Octoberfest coming up on Saturday.

So we hope all had a great Labor Day weekend.  I could not upload pictures tonight but I will try and get that fixed and put some up with the next post.  Take care,

Working our way towards Labor Day Weekend.  It sure feels like October!   But it is supposed to be a nice weekend here for everyone.  We are getting packed and ready for New Mexico.    I have a stock club meeting before we leave, so tomorrow night in Mlwaukee.  And will pick up a few groceries for Mom.   Then on Thursday we leave mid afternoon.   We took a close look at our e-mails and found that in all the changes Northwest had made since we booked they had put us on different planes!   but Chris got that straightened out and we are good.    Looking forward to getting down there and relaxing.

Chris and I got a pontoon ride in tonight to see the sun go down.   Even though it has been a little cool the last couple of nights have been very calm,  a rarity this last month.  So we took advantage of it before leaving.   And I have a substantial start on stacking our wood pile.  A little delay in that I found a bees nest in one of the lean to’s.   So we put a call in to the pest man to help us out.    There will be more exercise when we get back next week!    And we heard news that it will probably be another 3 weeks before they work on our road.   As long as we get asphalt before winter!

So we hope everyone has a safe and fun weekend,  Enjoy life!

It feels like fall anyway!    Strong north winds and temperatures in the 50’s.   It still feels good to get to the weekend.   We had our neighborhood picnic today, well we ended up inside.  But it was still nice to get a chance to sit down with friends and catch up,  and eat too much!

It was a good week otherwise,  busy at work.  We had the nights free.   Monday night was a nice night and we took a long boat ride into Winneconne and had supper.   And I accomplished some work on the homebrew club newsletter and have that almost set to send out.   Next week we head to Albuquerque for Labor Day weekend, so when we get home it will be time to get it sent out.    We are looking forward to the trip to see John and Marie, Tom and Barb, and friends.   And back to warm weather!

I do have a project,  we had our winter wood delivered, so now it needs to be moved and stacked.   I had a good start today,  the cool weather is good for that.  But I have quite a ways to go, but 9 face cords gets us about through the winter.   I sometimes wonder why I built the lean to’s to store the wood near the lake rather than near the driveway!  But I guess I wanted to keep bugs and ants away from the house.  Tomorrow the sun is supposed to come out, so it might be a good day to clean the chimney.   That is always a fun project to kill a few hours.

So enjoy everyday, life is short!

A good weekend coming to an end.   Last week Wednesday we had the homebrew club picnic here.  Had a little rain but just light,  still got some boat rides in courtesy of Noel, and everyone seemed to have a good time.    Thursday Night Noel and I attended a TimberRattler baseball game in Appleton and had a nice night, and got to see a win!

Last night had a great meal with Father Bob at St Pius in Wauwatosa.  It is always a nice night with friends and Father Bob does an awsome job on the Bar B Q, and this year was no exception.   He may have over served me with his wine tasting,  but that was great also. Luckily Chris stands in as my designated driver!

Today a nice brunch with Mom, and headed home late afternoon.  Just a gorgeous day,   not too hot or too cool.  Very little wind so had a chance to burn up a lot of brush I had cut.  And Chris and I had a nice sunset cruise on the pontoon boat.     Now to get ready for the work week again.   The good news is we have been busy at work again.  July was the best month of the year and August is doing well.  Unfortunately there were some more job cuts, due to the weak first 6 months of the year.  And we don’t have any solid booking to say it will finish the year better, but there is always hope.

So we should get a couple of warm days this week  and then cool down again later in the week.  I am hoping for more summer yet!  It is August!  The tomato’s are just starting to ripen, so will make some more salsa this week.  Nothing better than fresh vegies!   And we need to eat light after gorging all weekend!    But football season soon,  I have not seen a Packer preseason game yet but it sounds like their new defense is coming together.   Kind of like spring training,  hope springs eternal.
So here is hoping you have a great week!

Almost through the week.   Weather staying nice, maybe it is summer.  But with that I have been seeing the geese flocking up a lot the last week or so.  There were a couple of hundred out front this morning.  And the Sand Hill Cranes are always just 2 or 3 together, and saw about 15 together this morning.  The mums are blooming and the sun is setting earlier.  What does all that mean?

Had some freinds from the homebrew club over this week and we had a nice pontoon ride and a few good beers.  OK,  maybe more than a few.  Next week we have the club picnic here, so have been cleaning up the boat house and preparing.  The food line gets set up in the boat house, and weather is looking like it may hold for next week, slightly cooler but good.

MJ traveled to Florida with her time off.   In time to find out our air conditioner was out,  so that has been taken care of.  Tme for Chris and I to start thinking ahead to when we get to go down!   But for the next 2 months we have our weekends pretty well booked.  Irish Fest this weekend,  Father Bob’s bar b que in Wauwatosa next week, neighborhood picnic the following week, then off to New Mexico for a long Labor Day.   Then Enders October fest time, and then some camping at High Cliff State Park.  Just not enough time to have fun!

So we will be listening to a lot of music this weekend, love those fiddles and pipes.  We hope you have some fun this weekend!

little river band

Friday,  actually made it through a full week of work.    Door County was better!   It was a busy week, but we are home this weekend and can caught up on a few things yet to do.  But that always seems to be true.   We did get a number of things done.   On Wednesday I was down to Milwaukee after work (actually made a work stop on the way in West Bend).  Did some shopping for Mom and made my stock club meeting.  A smaller group is continuing our stock club.  We lost a couple of members who passed and had a few who dropped out.  And a smaller group of us will keep going, although without monthly meetings and a little more social activity.

And Thursday night Chris and I made it down to Waterfest in Oshkosh,  our weekly music festival.   A friend plays in a great local band, called Tin Sandwich, and they were on first. They play some blues and rock.  Do some great Santana cuts which I love.  Then another local band Copper Box who plays what they call swamp rock.  Some Cajun, some polka some cover.  Then Little River Band,  which plays a bunch of their hits from the 70’s and 80’s.  See if the link works, although they look a little different now!  It was a beautiful night for a concert.

Coming up next weekend is our annual trek to Irish Fest in Milwaukee, the largest Irish festival outside of Ireland (maybe including).   And we always find lot’s of music there we enjoy!     Rain and cool today, but warm weather coming in over night.   Chance of rain all weekend but sounds like there will be chances to do plenty outside in between chances of storms.   I hope you get out and enjoy it!

August has arrived,  which means our Door County vacation is over.   It was a wonderful time as usual, and way too short.   There were a number of friends I did not get to sit down and talk with, or golf with.   Of course I worked part of each week which did not help!  But I did get some golf in and golfed with Mj and John more than once.     The time went by quickly,  I wanted to golf more, get to some of favorite restaurants that we did not.   But it must be because it is so enjoyable just being there.

There was spaghetti night on the 25th with our usual large crowd.   And fish fry on the 29th thanks to Eric’s fishing.  And time just sitting in a lawn chair!     So we hope you all are getting to enjoy some of the summer.   It was Green Bay’s coldest July on record,  but looks like August may start warming up.  The last month of summer.    We have Irish Fest this month, and Father Bob’s Bar B Q another weekend in Wauwatosa.   And a homebrew club meeting here at our house.  So the month will pass quickly also.   We will try to get enough ‘boat time’ worked in also.

In the mean time there is yard work to do and still clean up around the boat house.  And some more gravel to landscape, and weeding the garden!  Tomato’s, beans and peas are just starting to come.   And peppers!   It doesn’t look like there will be many carrots this year,  I may have to change garden plans next year.  But Chris’s raspberries were a bumper crop, and the second set of stalks seem to be filling in well, so I expect a good second harvest also.

Enjoy!