Sunday, 19 August 2018: Brussels

We watched the kids for a while today.  Willow is such a doll.  She definitely has her grandpa wrapped around her finger.

Wednesday, 15 August 2018: Brussels

Best Birthday ever!  Our new granite countertops were installed.  My, oh my!

Two installation guys came; one was big and brawny and one was skinny and scrawny.  I really felt bad for them as they’d wrangled with the huge slabs to get them in the door. Several hours and several thousand dollars later, we had the best looking granite countertops on the planet.  Well, almost... we weren’t 100% satisfied with the entire project, but …

AnneMarie and Louie stopped by for a visit.  Justin has been friends with AnneMarie and her family for years.  Louie is her two year old Labrador / golden mix.  We sat outside by the bay for a great visit.  He was quite pleased to be able to chase his balls into the water again and again.

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Gemma found a fish carcass to chew on while we were out by the water.  I enjoyed watching several butterflies.  Monarchs are here in Wisconsin during the summer and we follow a bit of the Monarch Trail as we travel to Celestun.  Today's butterflies weren't Monarchs but they were pretty.  

Justin took me to dinner at The English Inn.  Justin had a lobster thermidor while I had white fish with Oscar sauce.  Our dinner was so-so; thankfully, the atmosphere was perfect for a birthday celebration.  And what better than Door County Cherry Pie for dessert?

Sunday, 12 August 2018: NEWisconsin

I finally finished gathering the papers for 2017 taxes.

We’ve asked several local people for their advice on an accountant/tax person and we called a few to see if we could get a feel.  We went to H&R Block last year, but I want to have our person.  We will need an accountant in Mexico and we already have our lawyer there.  How much overlaps remains to be determined at this point.

The biggest thing going on lately hasn’t been concrete. Instead, it has been the countertop.  Jason came over a few days ago to cut off all the edges of the existing countertop.  Since that will remain and the granite will be placed on top, it needs to be a bit smaller so it will not be visible.  We put up plastic all over everything so as to keep the dust to a minimum.  Justin said the house looked like a “kill room”from Dexter (the popular crime drama that I can’t even watch because it is too creepy).

That left me to paint under and all around before the next steps.

Paul, from Bay Area Granite and Marble, came over on Wednesday to complete the task of templating.  He had his magical  gizmos that helped him do his exact measuring.  It was rewarding to see the actual application of all the CAD programs we taught in schools.  Paul left with a sketch of exactly what we wanted but when we received the actual design from the shop technicians, it wasn’t even close. 

 

  

We called and there was a major breakdown in communication so we headed to Bay Area Granite to resolve our concerns.  Anthony was wonderful.  He was knowledgeable and very professional as he tweeked the design to meet our specifications.  What a mess!

 

 

On Friday, Jason (and Parker) came back over to install the support brackets.  Unfortunately this time, we didn’t put up the plastic and oh ... my ... goodness  — What a mess!

There was saw dust everywhere!  And even with me holding the shop vac right under the router saw.  Good thing

Space behind the sink is finally filled in.  We are getting close?

Thursday, 2 August 2018: Brussels and Door County

Tom and Joan came to visit for a couple of days.  Tom and Justin have been friends since college days.  Most recently he has moved back to Wisconsin after living in Alaska for many years; Joan is his new friend. 

Justin was pleased to talk to Tom about the breakwall and they set out a new plan of attack. 

Our exploring led us into Door County and into Peninsula State Park.  I bought more cherries as well as apricots for out next claufoutis.  Back at home, I served Shrimp tourkilimano in the gazebo.  We haven't used the gazebo nearly enough this summer but for this evening, it was perfect!

Tom on dish duty

Monday, 30 July 2018: Brussels

We’ve spent a lot of time lately reading and getting ready to jump into the stock market.  We've been reading all kinds of information and doing our research.  Both Justin and I feel that the bottom could drop out any day, but, ... here we go.

We poured concrete today... ten bags... goodness!

Lyneea came today. She is the co-owner of "Keep Door County Clean".  At first it was hard for me to think about spending $75 for her to clean this small house, BUT I got over it pretty quickly.  

Best cleaner ever! 
This is the stock we need to buy!

Ian rode his bike from New York.  His 26 day trip was over 1300 miles.  Holy moly Batman.  Justin was Ian’s third grade teacher and Ian and Erich have been best of friends since that time.  We met Ian and Adriana last year in Celestun.  They just happened to be in the same sleepy little fishing village.  We spent a great day with them and now we get to see Ian again.  Erich and Holly and the kids were here too; they were on their way to Minnesota.  After a bonfire where Jordan and Kris and their kids were able to join too, Ian and Erich set up two tents in the front yard.  Lily and Brody were happy to sleep out there with their dad while Holly and Finn opted for the front bedroom.

 



Lily and Brody face the new day

Friday, 27 July 2018: Brussels

Jason came over today.  He had his two youngest kids with him

We’ve finally made a decision about our countertops.  We are going with granite.


He marked where he'll cut off the laminate soon as we will install on top of the existing countertops.  His will help with weight distribution.  We also made plans to change out the funky support rails and have the new one match the post at the end of the bar!

In the early afternoon, we followed Jason to his land where he is building his new shop.   They have the site for the house marked and while Amy wants him to get the house up this season, Jason thinks he'll only be able to finish the shop.

Justin was pretty excited to see the big equipment and took the guys name down as maybe he can help us with our breakwall -- our never ending saga.



Wednesday, 25 July 2018: Green Bay

Green Bay hosts Farmers Markets on Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons throughout the summer.  We go periodically.  Lots of locals go to see and be seen; beverages of the adult variety abound (basically beer) as well as local produce and "fair food."   This trip we bought corn, cantaloupe, onions, squash and cherries.  Door County is known for their cherries and man, they are good!  They have sweet, Bing, and sour cherries -- each has it's own distinct end game.  This year, I've been perfecting my Clafoutis, a very basic French (peasant) dessert.  So far our favorite has both apricots and cherries.  I've tried a few different recipes; Justin is content being the guinea pig.  I bought a pitter contraption that is making easy work of removing the pits.  I tried a straw and even a chopstick as suggested on the internet;  the $10 was money well spent!

As far as tomatoes are concerned, we are growing a few of our own.  Justin seems to have found success as the few we've harvested are simply delish!

After our walk-about at farmer's market, we settled at Keggers to listen to some music.  Justin was invited to participate in a blind beer tasting.  Had he known they were both lite beers before he started he might have passed, but as suspected, he chose Miller Lite over Bud Lite in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday, 17 July 2018: Wisconsin

We left two boats in the water overnight and it was a mistake.  Justin finally had two skiffs ready to launch and we'd gone out for sunset twice.  We’d checked the weather and thought we’d be ok overnight.  He had both boats secure with anchor lines.  Unfortunately, the weather became violent enough to bang a hole in the bottom of the Shell Lake.  We got the MercerCraft out but not before Justin had to own up to Don, our next door neighbor.  He lost some face there. We filled the Shell Lake with stones, left it overnight and hoped to be able to get it up and going again soon.  So, all to early this morning, Justin and I were out in the water salvaging the sad little boat.  Thankfully Justin knows how to rig a block and tackle and we were able to get the simple machine to assist.  We were still fighting the tides, but we overcame.  Both boats out of the water and now it was time to go buy a sewing machine!

Both boats safely back on shore!

I want to make some new covers for the cushions on the Bayliner and perhaps for the Merlin too.  I'd looked at new machines and after I picked my jaw up, I turned to Craigslist.  I'd been scouring Craigslist GreenBay and broadened my search to include surrounding areas.  I hit the jackpot and found a Bernina in Silver Lake. about an hour south of Milwaukee.  And since we were headed there for Brody's 4th birthday party, the timing was perfect.  I knew Justin had been paying attention when I heard him referring to the Bernina as the "Rolls Royce of sewing machines" when he was talking to Erich.  After a pleasant drive, and the new treasure tucked safely in the trunk, it was time for a birthday party! 

The Trump balloon flew over London mocking our leader.  Next he meets with Putin.  I can only shake my head ... and pray he will keep his mouth shut.