Saturday, 8 May 2021: Northeast Wisconsin

The last month or so has been filled with hints of springtime.  Daffodils and tulips frame the view from our bedroom window looking out to the river.  Gemma has been known to terrorize the goslings when she’s given half a chance.  We ventured to Brussels a couple of times during over the past few weeks and I’ve started a thorough deep-clean so we can get our cottage up and running.  We reconnected the water, got the shutters open and we are getting there.  Justin needs to concentrate on the gardens.  So many things he needs to do now and then it will will pay off throughout the summer.  

We woke up to snow on 21 April -- that is so, so wrong!  Of course, it was melted as soon as the sun came up but it is still not right.

We finally go the granite finished and it looks fabulous!  I didn't really want to be "that customer" but I did want it done right.  

Tom and Joan came for a visit.  Tom was on his way to the doc for new hearing aids.  Our nice but short visit was highlighted by Tom’s home brew of cranberry-apple sparkling wine.  It was perfect for mimosas.  He warned us that it could be quite the show when opening so I sent the boys outside for the un-corking.  Joan brought us some tomato plants and some pepper plants that she had started from seed.  Tomatoes are already ripe in Texas but not so much here.  

Justin found a boat, or three, and finally settled on a 20’ 1979 Cruiser Holiday Beachcomber.  We met with the previous owner a couple of times and then he pulled the trigger to buy.  When we went to pick it up, I was distracted by the Japanese lantern in the front yard and after a bit of chatting, scratching and shifting from foot to foot, three pieces came home with us.  One spectacular tall lantern, one delicate Buddha and one stone feature who needs a bit of hospital time to reattach her head before she can reside in the gardens.  What a find!  Don’t tell Justin, but I was as excited about the Japanese lantern as I was about the new boat. 

Step one:  removal

Step two: reassembly

Step three:  on display with Japanese balls and tulips

Eric and the kids came for a visit.  He took them back to Milwaukee for Mother’s Day and then he came back for the weekend with us.  He sure can't come in his new Miata with all three kids!   He starts his new job on Monday so he was ready to max out his break.  We all took advantage of Cinco de Mayo week with dinner at El Sarape.  I am rather selective on where all eleven of us go together.  We make for quite a crowd; thankfully, the wait staff at El Sarape have known our kids as they’ve grown up so it seems to go ok.  I was all about all Mexican-all week so Justin and I also went to the Old Mexico Cantina in Sturgeon Bay ... it has been forever since I had a margarita out.  Yummy!

Yes, we are eating out a bit more.  Things are beginning to return to normal...sort of.  This is still such a strange time.  Thankfully.

The NFL draft came and went.  Justin, along with most of the sports pundits, seemed to be pleased with the Packer selections.  The draft was definitely overshadowed by Aaron Rodgers’ craftily timed announcement that he did not want to return to the Packers.  With that announcement, his stint on Jeopardy, and his engagement to Shalene Woodley, he has dominated the news cycles for several weeks.  And he did only one thing.  Trump could have taken some hints but thankfully, those days are over and things are a bit more quiet from the White House.  

I am trying to quilt a bit.  So many projects and so little time.  I finally got the presser feet that I need and I’ve set up a sewing spot upstairs that is serving quite nicely.  Maybe on the next rainy day I’ll get to spend more time upstairs.  

Monday, 12 April 2021: home from Dayton and Cleveland

Steph's mom died.  What a sad day.  Justin, Gemma and I loaded up in the car for a road trip to Franklin, Ohio, just outside of Dayton to see Steph.   Pauline had been living with Steph's brother Tim and his wife Kim for the last several months.  Thankfully it was an manageable drive for us. 

 

I screwed up with GPS and the last ten miles took almost an extra hour -- that was not too much fun.  We met Tim and Steph for dinner. on Thursday evening and then on Friday we all went to the Air Force Museum.  That was an unexpected treat.  It was great to see Stephanie even though the circumstances were less than ideal.  We hadn't seen Stephanie since our reception in 2014!  

We had decided to make lemonade from out lemons so next we drove to Euclid to Lorayne’s.  It had been a while since we'd seen Lorayne too -- right before I retired in 2016 I think.  Friday night mean fish fry so we headed to her dad’s favorite restaurant. She’s enjoying her walks down memory lane. She grew up in Cleveland and now that she is retired, she's settling there at least part time.  Thankfully Zeke and Gemma get along and the cats tolerate her too.  It was a lazy Saturday morning for Lorayne and me while Justin groomed Gemma before we visited the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame.  Yes, Cleveland Rocks! 

The restaurant Lorayne had chosen for dinner was closed so we went to plan B. It doesn't matter where we are, we will always have a good time.

We kept with the tradition of Sunday morning mimosas and Eggs Benedict.   Lorayne and I have done that in quite a few different locales.  

On the road back it seemed as if all of Indiana was under construction.  Next stop -- Chicago.  We tried a new hotel -- the Staypineapple.  That was a successful experience.  I'd highly recommend them.  Good location, pet friendly and reasonable -- that's three pluses.  

We made our pilgrimage to Greek town for dinner on Sunday. 

 

Monday, we stopped at a Japanese restaurant for lunch -- what a treat before the Art institute for the Monet exhibit.  As anticipated, it was spectacular.  Justin and I were pleasantly reminded of our trip to Giverny and Monet's Gardens there.  

Even the tulips in Chicago were happy to see us!

Wednesday, 7 April 2021: Bill Dean's house

Dinner out -- again!  This time at Bill's house.  Justin has been friends with Bill Dean for years.  Bill grew up rather comfortably and has been quite successful in the real estate business.  His niche is million dollar waterfront properties.  He's been out to weigh in on our Brussels property a few times and while it certainly isn't in that price range, he will list it for us when we are ready to sell.  He also spends winters in Mexico; his favorite spot is San Miguell de Allende.  He didn't get to go this year either so he and Justin have commensurate a bit.  He did however, perfect his Enchiladas Suiza.  Justin and I were invited to his home for dinner.  It was nice to meet Mary Jo and the enchiladas were great!!

Sunday, 4 April 2021: kitchen at Hartung

Happy Easter.. Happy Springtime!

Since we are observing No-Cook Sundays, even on Easter, we had our Easter dinner on Friday.  The left-overs were just as good.

Pork loin with small onions an grapes and and fennel with sage and fontina.  Two recipes from my new best friend Lydia.  Both of these were real keepers!  

I also tried my hand at Panne de Pasqua.  

What a great way to start Easter morning!

The daffodils are in bloom.  Lloyd came over to visit with Justin -- quite the view of two old guys solving the problems of the world.  

And, Kim is back in Florida.  After spending the entire pandemic in California with her parents, she is home.  Now, where is Brian?  He continues to wait to hear about his marriage visa.  He waits.  

Thursday, 1 April 2021: Suamico

 Another red letter day for us ...we picked up Justin’s truck from his new best friend who lives in Suamico.  He's been working to get all the kinks out.  He can't paint it though so I am still pushing for that.   Then dinner at Chives!  

We ate dinner at Erich's when we were in Milwaukee for Lilly's birthday and we ate cake at Jordan's for Willow's birthday.  Other than those two times, we haven't eaten off anyone else's dishes for over a year.   I think it was a spontaneous suggestion to go to Chives so when Justin uttered the words, I was all in.  We'd been to Chives only once before for my birthday.  This was an even bigger celebration. 

We started working our way through the small plates.  First -- fried calamari that was served with a chili ginger dipping sauce.  (We ate it so fast I didn't have time to take a picture!)

This was a Trio -- one crab cake, two wontons and a Shitake Mushroom Bruschetta

The French Onion Soup was delicious!

 

There are others to try so we will be sure to go back! 

Tuesday, 30 March 2021: Green Bay

Today was a red letter day for Justin and me with so much going on.  At 7:30 am the guys arrived to install a new ac unit.  We certainly don't need it yet and they can't even check it out, but we are ready.   I headed to De Pere to exchange presser feet since the ones I bought didn’t fit.  The plumber came about 1pm.  

Julie, a friend Justin used to work with, came over to visit about 4pm and we joined Jordan and his family for Willow’s 4th birthday celebration at 6:30pm.  This was the biggest gathering we’ve been to in a year.  And we hadn’t seen Randy and Marsha since maybe September of 2019.  And I got to play with their new family member, Buddy.

  

We are in the middle of a granite snafu.  I will own our part - yes, Justin and I changed our mind half way through the project in that we added more granite to the window sill by moving the entire surface up to counter height seating.  And yes, we needed to get different brackets for the bar area, but we didn’t agree on an entire new design for the bar.  I thought we’d get the design that was templates.  As it turned out, the needed to re-fabricate several pieces and the project stretched out over three weeks.  What a mess!!! 

Saturday, 27 March 2021: Hartung

 We've been back from Mexico and essentially inside our house for almost a year. Yes, we changed houses since we started out in Brussels and we are now at Hartung.

A year later -- we both have vaccines... thankfully!

Erich’s divorce was finalized yesterday and he bought a new car.  Yes, it was a red letter day for him.  He and Justin talk regularly.  Erich is looking for a new job; he's just not happy at Froedtert Hospital.  In the ICU of the kidney transplant unit, he is not finding job satisfaction.  It is just too much for him right now with the divorce, the kids and not much in the personal life department.  He's joined the on-line dating world and there is one lady whos caught his eye.  We will see.

We read that a Dollar General coming to Brussels.  That is so, so wrong!  They were rejected in Sister Bay and in Egg Harbor, villages farther north.  Brussels is 26 miles north of Green Bay and we do not need a Dollar Store.  There is a cute little, non-chain store called The Pioneer Pantry that has many similar items.  This is just not right.  Where are the zoning laws?

Justin is back playing in the stock market.  That info and following our investments has been added to our morning reading.  I do enjoy those slow mornings, but I sure do like it more when I hear of positive numbers. 

A ship has been stranded in the Suez canal for the past week or so.  It got stuck during a sand storm I think.  Well, I will be part of the cause for the next toilet paper frenzy because I bought TP at Costco and we are set for  good while.

 

Sunday, 20 March 2021: kitchen at Hartung

Daylight savings time kicked in on Sunday morning and we didn’t even know it until Monday morning.  Are we retired or what!

I got my second shot on Monday this week and while that was a HUGE accomplishment and cause for celebration, we also had templating for granite!  Now that is huge!  The kitchen was down until Friday when they installed -- or at least they installed part of the stone.  We weren't confident in the brackets to hold the slab so we are waiting for that.  They will come back later to template the window sill too.  Justin needed to buy a longer level and a "stud finder."  I told him I hadn't ever needed a stud finder at all.  

 St Patrick’s day fell in the middle of the week but no bar hopping for us.  We stayed at home where I tried my hand at Corned beef and cabbage.  I was a success and the Rueben sandwiches we had the next day were even better!  

Justin and I have been vacillating on whether one or both of us should go to Celestun once we have our vaccinations.  He needs to stay here and work on boats and gardens and I think he's the one that needs to go.  If the purpose is to check on the property and check in with the peeps in town, he can do that better than me.  It is starting to get hot there.  It would be a short trip... ok, I'll go.  I called the consulate to check on my temporary residency to learn that it was too late anyway.  Once the paperwork is started, one has only six months to get to country to continue the process.  I did the first part in Milwaukee in October when we were planning to travel in November or December.  They aren't making any concession for a pandemic!  So two years ago I did all the paperwork for permanent residency.  Then we decided I should abandon that since permanent residents can't have a car with foreign plates and we still needed to drive.  Now, this year I did all the paperwork to be a temporary resident but travel was not possible due to Covid 19.  Maybe I'll just stay as a tourist!

We woke to snow on Tuesday morning.  I shoveled even though Justin thought it wasn’t necessary. Is it really spring time in Wisconsin?   It got up to 60’ today!  Justin is looking at seed catalogues and making plans.

We found a new show on Netflix "Midnight Diner."  It is a Japanese noodle shop that's open from midnight until 6 or 7 am.  We've only watched three or four episodes; its all with subtitles.  Its funny the words I can pick up here and there.   We need to go back to Japan.

Sunday, 14 March 2021: Upstairs in my new sewing room

We've had incredibly mid weather lately... one might think it is almost spring.  Ok, it's in the high 30s.  But for us, that's almost balmy.  The river is open and we've seen a few ducks and geese.  

We've seen some incredible ice shoves along the bay in Brussels.  They really are magnificent and they are not threatening to damage as the ones last year were.  Thankfully!!!

We installed a new toilet last week ... now that is very, very sexy! 

I've started quilting!  I've rather taken over upstairs and turned it into a sewing room.  I've never really quilted before that's all new.  Sure, I've made dozens of Christmas ornaments and potholders and other weird things, but not really "quilting."  I visited two quilt shops in town and just entering a fabric store, I could feel a sense of "home" wash over me.  I selected three projects to start and none of them are the traditional piece work.  Instead, two are landscape quilts and one is in the bargello design.  Yes, I'm rather absorbed.  

This landscape quilt was inspired by a photo of the beach in Celestun.  I started with fabric pieces  and where I end up is yet to be determined.  

For this piece I started with pre-cut strips of batiks.  I re-made into a larger piece of fabric on which I will applique the Mayan glyph for "Colibri".  I'm super excited about hanging this at Casa Colibri.  My third first project will be cherry blossoms to hang in our bedroom in Brussels.  Now I need to buy a walking foot for my Bernina!  Back to the fabric store!