Two tasty little green beans from the garden. One of the 30 shagbark hickory nuts gathered last fall finally sprouted and now in a protective environment (or what I hope is a protective environment). Big rhubarb (still plenty) cake baking merrily in the oven. And the bottom of the pulling boat wet sanded and waxed to remove the little paint blisters recently discovered. (Should move even better as a result.)
…from Flambeau.
After a laid-back day of finishing projects and slowly packing up.
And one last row. Had to seriously bail the boat once back to the garage. How nice to have rain issues.
…in memory of Niki. A great many stories and memories, all coming together to paint a rich portrait of an amazing person.
And very nice to catch up with cousins Sherm, Art, and Mary Jane.
…after a little kayaking and swimming. Katy and Will found a tame fish in knee deep water which they named “Fishy Mac Fish Face” and Katy discovered a school of toe-nibbling minnows.
And even a few drops of rain.
…plus tie-dying.
Perfect weather. Chilly nights, swimmable days.
…among other things.
And, rock stacking. This one by Will.
…after a swim, a walk, and a row.
And after dinner, Katy demonstrated her new percussion rhythm.
…nary a gnat. Haven’t been bit yet. There are upsides to a drought.
I’ve been studying up on the historic Wisconsin Idea, as part of my Real Wisconsin effort. Here are a few excerpts from the book Renewing the Wisconsin Idea.
…if you water it.
Tomato plants are getting big, and flowering—thanks to irrigation. And watering has now become a regular routine—garden, bushes, even trees, all around the house.
Otherwise, mostly indoor projects today, hiding from the sun and heat. Thinking we need to install solar panels to run the air conditioning.
We saw clouds, we heard thunder. And then, actually, we got a little rain. Not enough to do any good, but proof that it can happen.
Having blown out a rear bike tire yesterday, today a drive to the special bike shop Pewaukee for repair. After dropping the bike off we headed out of town to a little sandwich shop where we bought a big sub (cut in half) and a couple of bags of chips. Well supplied, we found a picnic table in a park along a stream and had a picnic. The bike was ready when lunch was finished.
Not a bad way to handle a blowout.
Independent soul, loving heart, dear little sister.
Thunderstorm weather, thunderstorm forecast, but, when the time comes, the clouds go. SE Wisconsin now in extreme drought. Plenty of heat and humidity in the atmosphere, but for some reason, the pattern refuses to produce precipitation.
A few drops on sedum the last time it rained several weeks ago.
Nice upgrade, and much less stuff. And, there will be no more salty drip down to the garage basement.
Below, the remains of my recently planted, deer and rabbit resistant shrubby St. John’s Wort. Someting not only chewed it off, but actually dug it out. Meanwhile I have to continually battle with volunteer mulberry and buckthorn.
New sandbox, some play time, a few shade, breaks while Renee got the butterfly garden installed, all wrapped up with Bri’s Green Egg ribs and Mimi’s potato salad.
Awful weather but garage floor finished.
And quite beautiful it is, too. Two youngish guys worked steadily and methodically from 8 am to 6 pm, in what I learned is a much more complex process than I imagined. Fill and grind, then fill and grind again, vacuum thoroughly, apply a first coat of polyaspartic and let set, apply a second colored coat, shake out vinyl flakes, sweep up vinyl flakes, scrape, sweep, vacuum, and apply a final clear coat.
I felt guilty watching these guys work so long and hard in such heat.
Cloudless sky, much warmth, desiccating wind, and not a trace of humidity.
Massive old oak
Phase one of the new garage floor. Supposed to be done in a day, but at least the contractor showed up (which was in doubt)
…working breakfast, with the four other guys who are trying to establish a non-partisan organization dedicated to getting Walworth County voters to think. Tom Gilbert (Human Competence) is providing posthumous guidance.
…if you like perfect weather. However, if you like rain, you are SOL. I would not have the stoicism, fatalism, sangfroid, or whatever, to be a commercial farmer. The new corn in the fields, a few inches high, looks bad.
Meanwhile, the compromised fence has been reinforced and is now impermeable. It doesn’t make sense to bother with the time and expense of building a fence if it only serves as a holding pen for marauding rabbits.
…in spite of the new fence.
I had fun chasing the beast until he finally revealed the entry point by exiting. That will be fixed tomorrow.
And, riding around town, signs are that there is no longer an excuse to have Covid. Too bad conditions are not the same in Ontario.
