Easily Tangented

My lovely wife baked cupcakes for her coworkers & brought them in this morning.
Good for THEM…

Well, we've spent the day doing more fun stuff than chores. Oh sure, we did the usual- laundry, dishes, etc, AND a bike ride, but, we also took time to stop & smell the burritos/roses. We went to lunch with our friends, the Legos' at Chipotles. We WERE going to eat at Paneras, BUT they did not have the outdoor seating set up, though we have had temps in the 80's for two weeks… You lost a sale there, Paneras… Anyway, since we wanted to be out in the sun, and air, Mollie suggested Chipotle. Never a bad call. We met there, ordered, and sat out til conscience forced us to head home for a few more chores/projects… Sigh… But while we were there, it was the best of times. Good food. Good food. A good life. As Maggie just said AGAiN a few minutes ago,
" socializing is as important to life as food, or anything else"… And, it is… To sit on a lovely day, with friends that have been a part of ones life for twenty plus years, is one of the things that keeps the heart going…
And a good burrito on a sunny day…

Sunday evening, March 11th, we went on a ghost hunt at the Briggs mansion. It was built in 1862. The docent mentioned that, when the 3″ thick front doors were hung, Abraham Lincoln had been president a year. Wow…

We listened to history for 15 minutes, then wandered and explored for an hour.

Then we met back in the parlor and dining rooms, to listen to two mediums of good report, tell us their impressions.
Quite the evening, if nothing else, from a historical pov. A lovely old house, with more to it than meets the eye…

Well,

The wreath that Maggie made

Here it is, the 28th already. The rush of the Yule/Christmas holidays starts with Thanksgiving, and, we slide down the hill of celebration til now. We’ve almost reached the bottom of the hill, when January takes over, and we really appreciate the carol, ” In the Bleak Midwinter”, but, for now, we are still basking in the glow of the holiday.

Bill & Mollie, our gracious and good friends

We had, and are still enjoying the holiday. The only downside is that Maggie works most of the two weeks before Christmas, so, she’s pretty worn to a frazzle by Christmas day. Unfortunately, a cold managed to hold her in it’s grasp, but not too tightly to enjoy the day.  We do celebrate in our low key way. Christmas eve, our friends Mollie and Bill are gracious enough to host a small get together at their lovely home. Set against a backdrop of thick woods, and quiet, we had dinner, and an evening of sharing with great friends. Good friends are the most special gift one can have.

Surrounded by Spirits...

We opened our 'poppers'

Christmas day, we rose a little later, than usual, had breakfast, and, with global warming giving us the gift of a warmer day, we went for a walk around the neighborhood. Nice, for the Wisconsin/Illinois area. Opened presents, made a lovely dinner, napped, and, Maggie managed to get one last bike ride, short it may be, in for the day. She’s never rode on Christmas before. One more thing to scratch off the list…

The glow of the Season

Back to work, the next day, to receive all the people with returns, is not the best way to spend Boxing day, but, whatcha gonna do?  Part of the job… She has worked this week, but we will hopefully have the rest of the week off. Ikea, Algonquin, and other adventures await… Part of the decompression/recharging of the week.  We will ring in the new calendar, in a very low key way, and wake to the new year…

They were hung by the fire, with care...

Then, next week, the glow of the Season dims, with the boxing up of the decorations, ornaments, lights, trees, and sentiment of this holiday. Packed away but not forgotten. It is our 19th Christmas together, and, they are all boxed up, for remembering, whenever we desire to …

Winterberry

I know, I know… I said I was going to post more, then disappeared… We have been mondo busy getting ready for projects and trips and holiday things and…

Will continue this later…

After a week’s worth of hard work, it’s time for some fun… We’re going to Memorial Hall on Friday evening, to see Red Molly…

If you are in our area, come join us. Should be a fun time!!!

A quote from the Charlotte’s Web site…

“Friday November 4 fulfills a 5 year path of mine. Red Molly captivated my attention like the whippoorwill’s song, dancing on the laughter out of a hotel room hosting a guerrilla showcase at the N.E.R.F.A. (North East Region Folk Alliance), conference in the Berkshires in New York in November 2006. Red Molly is three strikingly beautiful women, each a master of her instrument and whose harmonies carry me away to a parlor decorated in lace at an estate in Boston and then away south to a back porch in the mountains in Appalachian country.”

Advance tickets now available at Rockford Area Arts Council, 713 E. State 815 963-6765; both Postal Shoppe locations:Edgebrook Center, 815 397-7301 and 2205 S. Perryville, 815 484-0940 and JustGoods, 201 7th St, 815 965-8903; and in Beloit: Nikki’s Cafe, 604 Pleasant, 608 207-3101; or by mail: send a check and S.A.S.E. to Charlotte’s Web P.O. Box 765 Rockford, IL 61105-0765. Please indicate artist or performance date on check.

Stone Bridge trail, a photo by magtimmag on Flickr.

HI.
After a busy weekend of chores, errands, humdrum, we decided to go for a bike ride this afternoon, to a lovely route. The Stone Bridge Trail is in northern Illinois, and gets it’s name from a massive limestone block bridge, assembled in the late 1800′s… You don’t realize that you are even riding over it, but, there are observation points-not that a bridge needs observing,but- to see the stream going through the area…
A perfect summer day to feel the sun on your back, the smells of dust, foliage, crops, and the wind carrying the sounds of several species of birds… Life is good…..

Well,
We are finished with the first day of constructing the new porch/deck. A long day of forming the foundation. You have to have a strong foundation or it’s not going to hold. Tomorrow, we will finish the steps and put the deck boards on. We are using a composite material for the surface. The rest of the construction is wood. The railings will have to wait until next week.
More tomorrow…

Well, we have started the project.  We bought all the materials last night, and, started cutting down the tree.  Today, after work, I will start moving the wires for the low voltage lights. Tomorrow, Jeff and I will start building. Glad he knows what we are doing.
More to come…

Sometimes, people with education, or degrees, do not have the social skills squirrels were born with. I’m not really sure why having the stamp of approval from a collegiate institution makes one authorized to be too self aware of themselves. “Get a self absorbed person to talk about themselves, and you have something”… If one decides to have ‘an art group’, and, ask someone who has a day job if they can come, don’t be so judgmental, if they have to work… It makes you look small and petty…

I’m sorry, I’m tired, and, do not like seeing good people made to feel small and not as worthy as other people…