Tuesday, 15 August 2017: Brussels

Happy Birthday Paula! 

        And how old am I? 

               When did that happen?

Justin has been saying pretty often lately, "...it is your birthday month!"  Well, he totally surprised me today with an airplane ride over Door County.  I we went to Sturgeon Bay for breakfast at The Inn at Cedar Crossing where  I had a fabulous frittata.  Afterwards, I thought we were taking a leisurely drive along the bay when Justin turned into Cherryland Airport.  After takeoff, Buzz, our pilot, headed south so we could fly over our house before heading north toward Washington island.  The weather was great for flying -- clear and warm.  What an awesome birthday!

Eric and Holly and the kids came up to spend a few days so Jordan and his family joined us for dinner.  Tripp and burgers were a perfect birthday dinner capped off with s'mores at the bonfire after.  Maybe we can do this again next year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday celebration at Abravo's

earlier in the week

 

Saturday, 12 August 2017: Brussels and the Bay

I went into town to run errands.  On the way home I realized that this is the first time I have felt like I was gaining on errands.  So far, the list has just been endless.  I got at least a dozen things accomplished today and it does feel good.

I keep saying that I want to go to Sturgeon Bay to get more familiar with those environs but the draw to Green Bay to complete other tasks always wins out.  Maybe next week I can venture to points north.


Jordan and Kris are celebrating their tenth anniversary.  They hosted a party at their cottage for family and friends.  Justin made his famous potato salad.  Our gift was a picture I had taken of the two of them sitting on our beach at sunset.  Actually Willow is with them but you really can't tell.  Before sunset I decided it was time to go so Gemma and I walked the two miles down the beach back to our own slice of heaven. 

Thursday, 10 August 2017: Green Bay

Caleb gets in a quick nap prior to kick off

Packer preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles.  They say preseason isn't as important, but hey, it is The Packers.  Some of the plays were, well, rather loose -- but it was the first game.  Most of the starters don't get much or any playing time.  This is the time to see who will make the team.  We took Caleb.  Jonas declined but we took Caleb.  We went to the store before hand to get him a new shirt and cap as we all needed to be "Packered up" for the game. 

The field and the stadium in general certainily look different than they did just a few weeks ago when I was here with Alan and Lisa.




Taken during our tour on 26 July.



 

 

Justin and I are certainly
ready for the season!

 

 







Friday, 4 August 2017: 1429 N Bayshore Road

 

We had quite the storm last night.  Wisconsin has had more rainfall this season that any on record.  The fields are lush and the crops are loving it.  Of course this means Justin has to mow our yard every week for sure.  I had imagined that we'd be fighting the zebra muscles on our little slice of beach, but instead the waves are pounding into our break wall constantly. 

Farther down, in the preserve, we've had a good bit of erosion. 

Yesterday, we collected twenty-three pieces of other people's docks.  This morning we saw that these dock pieces were wedged in-between our trees on the shoreline.  About 8:30, one of the neighbors came knocking on the door..."Say, I think you have my dock."  And then another neighbor showed up with his golf cart to haul his pieces home.  It was clear they'd been down this road before and apparently, our property is the place all good docks go. 

Tuesday, 8 August 2017: Brussels, WI

Justin went into town this morning to meet with Steve from On-Site Marine.  He is rebuilding the carburetor for the Morgan.  I stayed at home and finished cleaning the windows along with a handful of other chores.  Both Justin and I continue to like best the days when we can stay home and putz around our home and in the yard.  

Justin saw a sign in town earlier today that said today was national soft-serve ice cream day.  We had leftover pork roast, fresh asparagus, fresh tomatoes and fresh green beans for dinner which meant that we could have ice cream for dessert.  Our day came to a close after a late night run to Frosty Tip 11 miles down the road in Dyckesville.  Justin had a chocolate cheesecake sundae and I had a double mint chocolate sundae... too decadent for words.  

Wednesday, 2 August 2017: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Gemma spent the night in the bathroom.  We couldn't stand to have her in the bedroom with us and couldn't run the risk of her funky skunk-smell on the couch, carpets, etc.  She cried all night.  

Justin and Gemma relaxing on our new
couch after a looooong grooming session

I did a bit of research and while the urban legend says to wash your dog in tomato juice after they've tangled with a skunk, the AKC website gives a few reasons not to do that.  One, your dog will smell like tomatoes; two, if your dog is light in color, they will turn pink; and three, perhaps the most compelling reason not to use tomato juice was the warning that, if Fido chose to shake during his bath, your bathroom would look like something out of a slasher horror film.  Instead, they recommended hydrogen peroxide (hurry so as not to allow time to bleach the fur), mixed with baking soda and Dawn dish washing liquid.  So, I was off to the store to get a new bottle of hydrogen peroxide. 

Meanwhile, as soon as Justin was up, out came the sheers.  Gemma' s been quite the ragamuffin lately; today was the day to get our poodle back.

Tuesday, 1 August 2017: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Jordan, Kris and the kids came over for breakfast this morning.  Justin made French toast for all of us. It was his first time to cook on our new stove.  He used the griddle it was über sexy.



Gemma got skunked.  I gave her a bath at well after midnight.  Oh my goodness.

Monday, 31 July 2107: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Garbage is sexy. Since everything is measured on the scale of "sexy?"  or "not sexy?"  Garbage is sexy.  You put it out on the street on Monday morning and it disappears.  Yesterday Justin got up early and broke down the old window and then went on to mow the grass.  Alan helped me bag up all the pieces and get them to the street.  Now, the old window is all gone!  How cool is that!  It would have taken an act of congress to get rid of carpet, vinyl and window in Germany and it simply wouldn't have been able to happen in Japan.  I would have had to find a way to get that stuff in a dumpster at school -- at nighttime.


For their last full day in Wisconsin, Justin and Alan went sailing with Dave Gay while Lisa and I ran errands and went to the National Railroad Museum. 



After a great visit, Lisa and Alan left this morning.  They headed to Renard's on their way out of town. Nothing like more cheese right before you leave.

Saturday, 29 July 2017: 1429 N Bayshore Road

Our new sink is in!!!

Oh, so sexy!

 

Friday, 28 July 2017: North East Wisconsin

Alan, Lisa, Justin and I headed to Oshkosh today to the Experimental Aircraft Association's (EAA) annual event.  Justin has been to EAA several times and now I'll be ready to go back next year.  Lloyd and Gloria Anderson are quite active with this group; they go up and help out at the sea plane base.  An estimated 600,000 aviation enthusiasts show up during the week-long event with over 10,000 aircraft.  Hundreds of planes fly in and the static displays are only shadowed by the aerobatic feats.  Today, the Blue Angels received top billing in a salute to veterans.  We thoroughly enjoyed the day after many, many sighs and gasps at the precision maneuvers as well as the stunt flights.

 

 

We wrapped up the day with a late dinner in Appleton on the way back to Green Bay.