Winter Scenes
Sunny, but not warm enough to melt.
Silent Snow, Secret Snow
Piling up and piling up. Never heavy, but never stopping.
Boatwise, all the heavy sanding is done(!), so now on to the fun parts—trim, reinforcements, rub-strake, seats, breasthooks, decoration. At this point I am certain that the boat will float and not leak. What I don’t know is if it will float level and row straight.
Carnivore
Tour of a few of the new luxurious apartments in Tony’s redeveloping Grand Avenue Mall.
This is one of the common rooms.
Then Abby and Tony, and Katy and Will took us out to dinner at Carnivore, perhaps the best restaurant in Milwaukee. That was delicious.
Big news coming out of KWiL Publishing, too. Looks like a bestseller is in the making. Front page article in the Journal-Sentinel today. Article is HERE.
February 15
Forty degree drop over just a few hours last night. So, what was yesterday’s runoff is today’s ice floe. Creepers again required.
Slow and methodical on little boat production. This is the tedious time—endless sanding, and then 12 to 24 hour waits between applications, for epoxy to set up. Theoretically, once the boat is finished and painted, there should be no sign of the fiberglass tape at the edges and corners.
Valentine #43
That’s a lot of Valentines, but overall worth the postage. To celebrate we went out to lunch at Natalie’s Parkview cafe in Milton—deluxe bbq sandwich and deluxe tuna melt. And, this evening, looking forward to watching a bit of the news, then our current series on faming in the 17th century, and then an hour or two of reading. Hard to beat that for romantic, IMHO.
Walking today was a remembered pleasure. Some sun, little wind, temperatures above freezing, and NO creepers. Tripping the light fantastic.
Chicken Soup For The...
...neighbors. The neighbors across the street are home after months at the hospital. And what, for anyone, is better than chicken soup on a winter’s day?
Bright sun, however, and slowly rising temperatures…almost reaching the melting point of water, so survival appears likely.
Going Nowhere
Since we didn’t need to go out, we stayed in—except for shoveling and several heavy trudges through a winter wonderland. Most schools closed. Snow all day.
The dinghy has been rolled over, and now the exterior is getting the treatment.
New Piece of Fitness Equipment...
...the snow shovel. A little snow last night, and a forecast of more to come. Many places still not down through the ice to bare pavement.
Report out from ACE predicting record high water in Lakes Superior and Lake Erie. Michigan/Huron could be pretty high, too.
Photo by Joe (this weekend)
And conditions are worse on Manitoulin. Operation “Deer Save” is in effect—deep, hard-crusted snow.
What a Weekend
Reading, waffles, ice, and ice boating.
Thanks to Sue and Renee for photos.
Grandkids
Ellie, Maddie, Becca, Ben, and James in the morning; Kate and Will in the afternoon.
Next To Impossible
Not only a slashing cold wind but difficult footing. In areas where the snow is still deep it is crusted so hard that even Pax slips right off. Creepers necessary but not sufficient.
Hard crusted grass
Did manage to get in a little grocery shopping, and then a very little dinghy sanding.
Day Pretty Much Cancelled
Too much freezing precipitation.
At least half an inch of ice on everything that hasn’t been scraped, chipped, salted, and shoveled. We were planning on attending a science fair, but that got iced out along with almost everything else.
Glass and epoxy done on the interior. Next comes sanding and perhaps a little fairing. Then, over she goes, and the exterior gets the treatment.
Creepers Required
Ice over everything. Almost as bad as Saint Paul (where walking was impossible). With the meter never above 32, melting has been limited, and chipping difficult.
Pax has built-in creepers—as well as as inquisitive nose.
Taping the seams with glass and epoxy.
Nothing Could Be Finer...
...than brunch at Mickey’s Diner.
Ice-Coated Saint Paul
Visiting Nik and exploring the town.
Walking is hazardous: ice covering everything.
Foggy Day In W. Town
But Pax was in his element. When things are melting, more smells are wafting, and Pax got a lot of exercise bounding into, through, and, to some degree, under, diminishing drifts. He was in hunting mode.
Meanwhile, the rest of us worked on projects.
The spot-welds have been smoothed, the dust vacuumed, everything wiped down with vinegar, and strips of glass tape have been cut to appropriate lengths—all in prep for glassing all the many seams.
Above Freezing...
...and melting a little, too.
Raked a lot of heavy snow off the roof.
Low light—sorry about the blur
Then down to Erik and Robin’s lovely home in Algonquin for Chris’s retirement party. Fun conversation and great Erik-cooked food. And I came home with a bag of Trina’s home-made baguettes.
A Breath From The South
Above zero at eight, twenty-five by late afternoon.
We stopped a Cafe Carp for a cup of chili and a toasted ham and cheese on the way to the grocery store. Everyone, of course, talking about the weather, cheery to be released from Vortex’s iron grip.
Dog walking, too, once again possible, even enjoyable.
Vortexed
Step outside without hat, coat, mittens…and almost instant pain. How is the wildlife surviving? How is the semi-wildlife (aka kids) surviving indoors? And what about people who have to work outdoors?
Minus 27 this morning, but rising—all the way up to negative 6 by sunset. Enough of this.
Spot welding now on the dinghy, using epoxy paste. Once this sets up, the zip ties can be removed and then all the seams done right with fiberglass tape.
Well, That’s a Cold One
Painfully cold.
We did get in a fast afternoon walk, but after some running, some paw lifting, and some taking care of business, Pax bee-lined for the barn.
Would be rather leaky, but at least it looks like a boat.
And here is the face in the plywood (not visible in the above shot). Could this be the ancient mariner?