Archive
Friends, Music, and Memories
Two days in an empty cow pasture-almost empty, except for surprises left by the cows, and a chance to turn it into something special.
600 of our closest musical, quirky, entertaining, interesting friends joined us there, for a chance to leave a lifetime impression on us all.
Camping in little caravans, tents, airstreams, motor homes, and the back of a station wagon.
We wait anxiously until noon, on the dot, before we are allowed to enter. Then the ‘mad’ dash to stake your claim in your usual spot. We had 12 of us in our compound this year. Four tents, the aforementioned airstream, and motor home, along with 7-I think- easy ups for shade, too. We outdid ourselves this year. Almost 40 feet of camping and music paradise.
It’s like a Motel Six of jamming and conversations til past midnight. Quiet coffee and breakfast in the cool morning. Catching up on recent past, and planning the weekend, and the future.
Jam, listen to the excellent musicians around us, and plan our set on the stage. Our big moment!
More jamming back at Biltmore compound, and trying desperately to stay awake, so it won’t be Sunday when you get up, and have to disassemble the dream, and head back home, loaded with wonderful images locked away, and happily anticipating the reassembling of the gang again soon!
A Fourth to Remember
Ah,
After a wonderful Independence Day, we relaxed on the back porch, with bagels and coffee. It was 90* already, so thus the Las Vegas coffee mug.
We were resting from adventures of the 4th. Maggie baked cupcakes
To take down to our fireworks adventure. The company I work for opens up the property, right along the river, and provides bratwurst, sides, porta potties, a cooling center ( a sprinkler), and a secure spot, DIRECTLY across from the launching site of the largest fireworks display in the state.
We invited some friends, and, in our ‘designated’ spot, set up our party.
Food, friends, and fireworks- what more could one ask for, on a summer evening? Everyone had a great time, and, much oohing and ahing ensued.
When the finale finally faded away, we headed out into the fray of traffic, but we all made it home, to start thinking of next years colorful adventure…
Summertime, and the living’ is…
Summertime. My favorite season. I apologize to my friends for going on and on and on about what a great time of year this is, but… IT IS! Sure, we have paralyzingly hot days. More sunshine than some countries get in a year. Yard work and chores up the perverbial wazoo, but, it’s all worth it, to see that morning glow, or the red dusk. In between, we manage to slip in-besides work 
– cookouts, bike rides, visits to other cuties, and musical venues. We have trips to Wisconsin to see parks and lakes and guitars and friends. We cherish breakfast on the screened in back porch, listening to Pandora’s Bossa nova channel, listening to the multitude of birds, and planning what adventures that will consume our days.
Yea, I’ll take this season, and and use it up!
Spring Burrito…
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…
… And So It Goes…
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
Well, it is almost finished!
We finished the build part of our porch yesterday. A rousing success, after 4 days of working on it. As my friend Jeff said, ” no lost fingers, we are still friends, and, it looks pretty darn good, for two amateurs”. And, he’s right. Now, we have to sand, stain, and install the lights, and landscape, but the hard work is finished.
Thanks, Jeff. It wouldn’t have been done without you.
a blender of thoughts
Haven’t posted anything of note since the holidays. This is usually the doldrum time of year for us. Having survived the slippery slope from Halloween to New Years day, there is a bit of time to recover, and acclimate to the dreary part of winter. We veggitate, watch movies, sleep, and just seem to move a little more slowly than the rest of the year.
But that changes now. It’s February, and, for one thing, it’s going to be Valentines’ Day soon. Maggie’s work schedule will crank up to Warp 6 here in a few days. All the hubbub of men rushing in for flowers at the last minute, will take up a large portion of her week. That… is another story in itself… We have longer days starting now, so that helps the attitude. We have jams of various sorts, no, not fruit on toast, to look forward to. Starting to allow ourselves to think of adventures of summer.
We have hopes and wishes and desires, for the coming year. Don’t we all? We are hoping for a better year for all of us. We are wishing that things are less stressful, cuz we all have too much of it lately. We desire to have ‘better’ for all us… I think we’re all about ‘due’ for it…
So, here’s to longer days, brighter futures, and happier times…
Our Really Big Tent
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.
The adventures of vacation
Hi
We have been on vacation sine Friday afternoon. Sort of a forced vacation. Have to take a week off of work, unpaid, so it was around the fourth of July, so, I took vacation.
On Saturday, we went to a party with fireworks, music, food, and friends.
It was good to see everyone.
Sunday, we went on our annual black raspberry picking adventure with Mollie & Bill.
On Monday, we went on a bike ride out in the country. We rode the Jane Addams cycling trail in Northern Il
It’s been a great vacation so far. It’s always an adventure with Maggie.
Chocolate for Autism Support
Hello there,
if you know us, you know that our best friends have autistic twin boys, Ethan and Dylan. So, autism is a cause that is obviously close to our hearts. Well, it must be close to the Lindt Chocolate people too. They are donating a percentage of the price of a Lindt Gold bunny to Autism Speaks, a support/research group. Lindt is sponsoring the Walk for Autism too. Click the links to find out more….
So, if you have a few extra bucks, need chocolate, need candy for Easter, or, all of the previous, then, please, purchase a Gold bunny or two, or, three, or… It’s great chocolate, and, you’ll be helping in the battle against one of the most insidious diseases we are effected with…
Also, you can go to the Autism Society of America for more information from them too.
Thanks
Flickr Photos
|
