A unified Korea?
A guilty Bill Cosby?
Justin read a bit of the news this morning and of course we had to read of the recap of the NFL draft that was completed last week. Lots has been happening during the last week since we we returned to Brussels both in our home and around the globe.
Working on the break wall was at the top of Justin’s list of chores for the summer. The window of opportunity was quite small — enough of the ice had to be melted to be able to work yet it still had to be cold enough that the water had not yet expanded. This called for my first trip to Menard’s to get 60 pound bags of cement, rebar and necessary supplies.
We also fit in our first trip to April’s. I had a mini hash browned sandwich and Justin had a chili skillet. Our visit with April was great, she was excited to see us and exclaimed that our return meant spring was on the way. Her eldest son, Justin, is expecting twins early in the summer. It will be fun to watch this roll out.
And of course, I had my first trip to Marchants to get a few basics. I waited for a better selection of goods and to go into Green Bay to really stock up the frig and pantry.
Got the phone and internet set up with Century Link. We liked this phone number — 920-825-1202. Justin hoped he could keep it as his cell number. We will see. We also want to investigate a mini cell apparatus. It is an extender with an antenna that would boost our cell signals. Steve and Lindi know all about it and we want to see if it is something we can use here and in Mexico. For now, we went old school with a land line.
On Tuesday we went to Chefusion for Small Plates. I’d wanted to go all last summer but since Tuesday night is race night at Windjammers, we were never able to make it. We went this week and it was great. A cross between appetizers and tapas, these small plates are a great way to try several things from the menu. We returned to Chefusion on Saturday night with Rich for music and wine. That was a treat.
We talked to Carl, the handyman from Chaudoir's Dock, who agreed to take on the job of building our shutters. He came over on Saturday morning to help Justin get down the huge temporary shutter that covered the large window in front. It was nice to have sunshine streaming into our home. I had forgotten just how much I miss that view.
Jason also came over on Saturday to hang our newly built cabinet over the stove (all tricked out with fancy spice racks) and install the microwave. Now I needed to varnish and paint ... guess it was time to get back into my DIY mode. First, however, I needed to get into cleaning mode. There were a few signs that there might have been some critters in our house and just general dusting and cleaning was called for. I had some serious cleaning to do. I ordered a steam mop since I haven’t found the right combination of mop and product to clean our floors and I also ordered a dust buster. These were to be delivered within a few days. Meanwhile, I tried to help Justin on his break wall project.
Oh my goodness.
Sunday breakfast with Jordan, Kris and the kids. Caleb wanted to go to the place with the colored. That meant a trip to Mackinaw's.
We thought about a new name for Casa Maria... what about The Courtyard? We’ve been thinking Villa Colibri for quite a while. Honoring the 50 different species of hummingbirds in Mexico, we thought the name was fitting. But we were still entertaining other options. When Justin suggested “courtyard” I Googled the translation and found “patio”. We didn’t really like that so then we considered The Courtyard” in English — maybe. We aren’t going to say anything for sure until we close.
We drove out to Corchoran’s boatyard to look at the new boat. It is a 21’Bayliner Trophy. We next needed to go to Chaudoir’s Dock to rent a slip for the season. I wanted to be able to go out on that boat almost anytime we can. We had spent way too much time talking about boats and not enough boating.
Jordan said he had “stuff”for us. He said it was “old, new, borrowed and blue.” We all knew that saying wasn’t for Mother’s Day but we went along with him. The “old” was paint we had given to them last year when we headed to Mexico. Knowing it would not keep here since it would freeze, they stored it in their garage and I needed it back to finish the kitchen cabinets, ceiling and do some touch up around the house. The “new”was a great flowering basket for me for Mother’s Day. What a nice surprise. Justin hung it in the gazebo where we can easily see it from several different angles. The “borrowed” was Justin’s Native American dancing horse stick and the “blue” was a Krueger pot Jordan found for his dad. Justin had had a red Krueger pot and it got lost somewhere in the shuffle of moving half way around the world. Justin knows Tom Krueger, the artist, and we have a couple of his paintings displayed throughout our home. This ceramic pot is a great addition.
