Easily Tangented

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…

Hi
last night, (Saturday) we took my sister in law, who is in town from the big city, to a hip local restaurant. Called Brio, it’s one of the best places we have to show off, food wise… It’s a ‘small plate/tapas’ style establishment, with a great staff.

We each ordered something different from each other… We started with hen of the woods mushrooms on pasta, olive oil, and garlic. A lot of garlic. I had never had that species of mushroom before, but, I will have them again! Mary had in chili sauce. She loved them. Maggie and I don’t like scallops. Yuck… Maggie had a asparagus tempura. The girls loved it. I don’t like asparagus either… Yeah, I know, what a picky eater…
Next, we had spicy asian noodles, but not too spicy. Fresh beans, mushrooms and onions chopped into it. Mmmm mm. Maggie had chicken lemon crepes with a nice reduction on it…. Mary skipped this round… We did share with her… A little.

The last course was a great mini ribs on a chipotle corn cake for me. The girls decided to skip this round, I should have, ‘cuz I was already stuffed, but, they are sooooo good! By the way, these are not ‘full’ plate meals, sort of half size…

For dessert, Mary a blueberry bread pudding. Talk about tasty/sweet. I had the ever popular, traditional creme brulee’. We did share with Maggie, but she was the sensible one, and decided not to order any more…. I did push the sweet meter over the top by ordering a ginger ale. Huh, what you say? A Canada Dry to go with this? Nope… Brio makes their own ginger ale. Not too sweet, but what a bite. Mmm mm.
We stayed for over 2 and a half hours, sipping wine, coffee, and talking about everything under the moon, since it was dark out. Our waiter, Dan, has served us before, and is a great guy, along with being a wonderful waiter. He and his partner had gone to France since the last time we were in, so there were stories to tell and hear.
Mary had a great time! Said it was every bit as good as anything in NYC that she has visited. Cool! Next time, we’ll try somewhere she hasn’t been to.
If you are close to Rockford, and want a really nice dining experience, try Brio. I know, sounds like a Yelp review, but it is a nice place!
Thanks for reading my rambling….

Our journey to the annual Willow Folk Festival begins tomorrow, and in preparation we decided it would be a good idea last Sunday to set up our tent in the back yard.
The tent we’d been using the past couple of years was not our favorite, and when I found a tent on clearance last November we were more than happy to dispose of the old one at our spring yard sale.
Since this one was new we figured we better make sure it’s okay before we go.

I’m sure the reason this one was left over was because it was initially expensive and big. Did I mention big?
Tents can be like purses or shoes, it’s hard to find the exact right fit for the occasion.

Yes, you mostly just sleep in them, so what’s the big deal? Well if it rains you spend more time in them then you’d like, and this is a music festival, so we have our guitars to keep in there too, and you have to move around in them with all the stuff you bring.

Well this one is plenty big, really big. Like I never have seen a tent this big. It even has a door frame. And a porch/awning thing. It took us 15 minutes just to figure out how to put the rain flap on.
Like the Taj Mahal in nylon.

The guaranteed waterproof part will come in handy though. The forecast is not too good. Rain Friday, really hot on Saturday followed by really really hot on Sunday. Oh well, the past couple of years have been cold, so it all balances out.

Well, that’s what makes for an adventure, so stay tuned for photos and stories next week.

HI
Our friend Mike, got a gig at a local farmers market, Friday afternoons. He was nice enough to offer us the chance to be the ‘break band’ while he rests. We get to play a half an hour at a stretch. It’s fun, and a nice way to get some microphone/audience practice. Maggie gets better and better, though she was good before, with the mic. I am getting used to playing acoustic with a pickup, or, plugged in. Not the same as playing on the deck or in the house with friends. It’s also good practice for the Willow folk festival, which is Aug 8th & 9th. Our annual camping trip, with music…
It’s a nice little market, where, things have to be local, as in grown/made within like 30-50 miles, I believe. Our friends, the Lombardos, are involved, along with several really nice people. It’s been fun, the 3 Fridays we have played.