Lebowski Fest

Our most significant news for the week was our celebration of our 31st anniversary.  Hard to believe how long we have been together and how much we have changed over the years.  In some ways it seems just like yesterday that we were walking down the aisle.  In other ways we have come through and done a lot.  Either way, I wouldn't trade it in for the world.  We decided to celebrate with the traditional 31st gift of fruit pastry.  We also decided to take the night off from exercising and treated each other to dinner at a local restaurant.

On the garden front, we did pick our first crop of peas - a whopping 12 pods. You can see them all there in the picture. With crops like that we are sure to be in peas forever. We are in major discussions about our 2013 garden now, and figure we might need to either plant more of our garden with peas or abandon peas entirely if we can't get more pods/plant.  I also continued my favorite activity of painting the house.  I'm now slowly working my way around all the exterior windows and doors.  As mentioned last week, at least half of the windows are on the second floor that involves climbing some 20 feet in the air.  Not my favorite thing to do especially when coupled with having to scrape off old paint.  So there are likely to be a fair number of whiny postings about the painting in the next months - you were warned.  Jo had a busy work week with lots of meetings and a few challenges to deal with.  Jo also had several evening events that she needed to attend including a retirement party to which I got to tag along - never pass up free food.

We are having a quiet weekend with our only planned activities attending the Lebowski Fest on Friday and making a grocery run to Woodman's.  We both needed a little down time - being completely honest, Jo needed down time as I get most of what I need during the week.  Anyway, Friday night we attended the Lebowski Fest, with Adam and Sarah, which was really just a reason for Milwaukeen's to gather in Cathedral Square downtown to eat and drink while listening to some music and then watching the movie "The Big Lebowski".  The movie has apparently become a cult classic for it's witty use of "Dude" and the main characters religious devotion to drinking White Russian cocktails.  It was fun watching it with people in the crowd (which numbered about 5,000 according to reports - you know Milwaukeen's never pass up a chance to eat and drink in public) shouting out the upcoming lines.  Readily apparent that some people have too much time on their hands that are using it to watch really quirky movies.

Today we just took it easy at home catching on our backlogged newspapers interspersed with appropriate rest with our eyes closed so as to not catch fatal eye strain.  We are about to head out for a walk so we can feel we did at least move some of our muscles today.  Tomorrow after our morning exercise routine, we will head to Woodman's to stock up our pantry supplies and piddle around in the garden as we have some lettuce and a few more peas that need picking.

Strawberries

We had quite the busy weekend and really needed the work week to start so we could relax a bit.  We had beautiful weather all weekend besides a few stray showers on Saturday that brought some much needed rain.  Friday night we pumped up the tires on the bikes and rode to a local pizza parlor to pick-up a pizza that we bungee corded to the back of one of our bikes.  We then rode down to the lake front to enjoy pizza and dessert while watching the sailboats float by and the people walk by.  Absolutely perfect weather and our pizza didn't get too crunched up during the ride.

Saturday after our aerobic exercising and a run to Target to resupply the laundry and cleaning basics we headed to Barthel's Fruit Farm to pick some strawberries.  Since our newly planted strawberries won't produce until next year (that is assuming the bunnies stop chewing them down to the ground) and we are woefully low on strawberry jam we decided we needed to find a strawberry source to harvest.  So off we went into the fields to gleefully pick strawberries (even though many farmers are struggling today to find laborers willing to hand pick crops, there were 50-100 people paying the farmer to pick crops).  We needed around 5-6 quarts (4 for jam and the rest for eating) and since the container the farm provided wasn't measured in quarts, I relied on my strawberry expert to determine the right amount to pick.  You would think that someone who spent their entire childhood, well into their teens, picking strawberries every summer would know what a quart of strawberries looked like.  Our best guess is that we picked somewhere around 12-14 quarts (we needed 5!).  When we got home and started making jam we suddenly realized we had way too many strawberries.  Which promptly started the "what can we make with strawberries that doesn't take a lot of freezer space" contest.  Fortunately, after making loads of extra jam, pureeing some (which really helps reduce the volume in the freezer), freezing a few as berries, saving some to eat, making strawberry ice cream, and a long discussion on how many strawberries you can cram into a rhubarb-strawberry cobbler we were able to get them all "used" up.  We spent most of Saturday afternoon in the kitchen, cleaning and jamming strawberries.

Saturday night we got all gussied up and went to the Urban Leagues Black and White ball.  We attended this last year and had a similar good time this year.  Although the cucumber martini as the signature drink for the evening was different - especially when you thought you were getting a glass of champagne.  But I got to wear my tux again so that is now four uses of it and counting (I need another few to get the price/wearing down to a reasonable amount).

Sunday, Jo headed out for a long bike ride after which we made our last batch of jam (we ran out of pectin the day before, seriously how many people, besides Smuckers, makes 28 jars of jam for two people) and then to the gym for a quick workout.  Next we hopped on our bikes to ride downtown and enjoy the Lake Front Festival of the Arts (really just an arts and crafts show, but everything in Milwaukee in the summer has to be a festival).  Saw some very interesting art, glass, and jewelry work along with some works by artists that I think might need prescription mind-calming medication.  After lunch at a sidewalk cafe it was home to chill out and catch up on our backlog of newspapers.  Dinner was hamburgers with sweet potato fries and the afore mentioned home-made strawberry ice cream (very yummy).

The work week highlights included Jo meeting Donald Driver (Packer wide receiver and 2012 Dancing with the Stars winner for those either not NFL fans, aren't from WI, or don't watch reality TV) as Northwestern Mutual had invited him in to speak about his career and recent dancing stardom.  My week included getting started on painting the exterior windows.  I must say, getting up 20-25 feet on a ladder is not my idea of a fun time.  Especially to get up that high just to scrape off paint - another one of my least favorite chores.

Warm Days on Lake Geneva

Our weather turned remarkably warmer at the end of last week and we took advantage of it by spending the weekend at Lake Geneva with our friend John (who was my college roommate).  We spent Friday on his boat drifting slowly with the wind across a large portion of the lake while catching up on family news and solving many of the world's problems - now if we could only get someone to listen and implement our solutions.  Saturday we were joined by two of his daughters and their friends which made for a much noisier time on the boat but also a lot more energy.  We did get out on John's wave runners for a little bit but soon discovered that while the air was warm, the water has a long way to go yet.

We came home Sunday after brunch, blueberry pancakes for me - yum, to catch up on a few chores around the house before heading to a high school graduation celebration for one of the people Jo works with.  We came home tired but relaxed as we had a great time with everyone.

My sister came up for a day visit on Thursday.  We spent the morning talking and doing a little baking at home before heading to the Art Museum so she could see the French poster exhibit.  The rest of the week was fairly quiet since Jo was in Lake Geneva for a business meeting that started on Wednesday.

One down note, we have finally discovered what is eating the leaves off the bean plants - bunnies.  They have managed to eat the leaves off of almost every plant in the beds.  We also have finches that are nipping at our pea plants.  So now we have to add more fencing to the garden to stop yet another animal from enjoying what is supposed to be our harvest.  Sure takes a lot of money to harvest fresh vegetables - talk about the $64 tomato.

Land of Lincoln



Our first crop in Milwaukee!!

The big news for the week is that we harvested our first crop from our vegetable beds.  The lettuce, spinach, and mescalin have grown enough to enjoy our first fresh salad.  Our beans are starting to pop up along with some squash, zucchini, and peas.  While we finally figured out how to keep the squirrels from digging through all the beds, something is now chewing on the leaves of the beans - not sure what yet so I'll have to keep an eye on them.  That aside, it is always gratifying to see something come out of the work involved in putting all the beds together, but I hope it is more than just some lettuce.

Friday night we took in a Brewer's baseball game with our friends, Greg and Rhonda (Jo works with Greg).  While we had a fun night enjoying dinner and taking in the game from the great seats that are available from Northwestern, our home town Brewer's didn't have their best game.  Between some pitching challenges and a mistake or two in fielding the Pirates won pretty easily.  But it was still fun to be out at the ball game although the weather was so cool that they had the dome closed.  In keeping with my tradition, I've included a picture of the famous racing sausages (the link will take you to the table of winning results for the year, yes they actually track that).  Because what would be a baseball game without running meats.

Saturday we packed up the car early in the morning and headed to Madison to pick up Kathy, Drew, and John to then drive onto Springfield, IL (since there is a Springfield in almost every state, I thought I should clarify).  Kathy and Jo's cousin and her husband were celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary and since they were both in the wedding party they wanted to go.  We decided to take an extra day and see some of the Lincoln sites in Springfield.  So after a 4 hour drive from Madison and a picnic lunch in front of the Springfield Union Station we toured the Lincoln museum, his house, and finally his tomb.  I would highly recommend the museum for anyone passing through Springfield.  They do a good job outlining not only Lincoln's life but also what the country was like at this time and some of the impact of the Civil War.  One really interesting exhibit was where they showed Lincoln's face at the start of his presidency and near the end.  Amazing what a toll it took on him - and of course, most of our presidents, they all seem to go gray dramatically during their time in office.  Also, very interesting how much more personal the president was back then.  A friend of Lincoln's requested a copy of his Gettysburg address and he wrote it out himself!  Also, you used to be able to walk on the lawn in front of the White House - imagine having a picnic there.  Sunday we attended a mass for Jo and Kathy's cousin where they renewed their vows and then had a nice reception lunch where we caught up with the many of their Quincy cousins and their families.  Mary and Mike (Jo's Nebraska based sister and hubbie) where also able to make it so the three girls got caught up on each other's lives.  All to soon it was time to be back on the road to Madison and then Milwaukee.  Where we arrived late Sunday night, exhausted from almost 7 hours of driving, but glad for the fun we had along the way.

 The key for the rest of last week was chilly.  The temperatures dropped into the 50's and 60's and since we don't have the heat on the house anymore, there where a couple of chilly nights.  I puttered around the house working on weeding, cleaning, and getting the supplies together for my next painting chore - I'm going to scrape and repaint the outside of the windows and the storm windows (at least until I get tired of doing them).  Jo had a short week at work without too much drama, which is always nice.