Happy Times

We just had an outstanding visit with daughter Rachael and I think she had an equally good time. Despite the weather not being the best, we did find pockets of sunshine and drier weather to get out and about locally. We started off last Friday night with one of Wisconsin’s favorite pub fish fries where the crowds were noisy but not raucous. A new found interest of hers is growing plants so we had great fun visiting some of the farm markets/gardens in the area, one of which has the most incredible gift shop and items of garden whimsy; it was great fun!

Of course we couldn’t miss the Stoneridge smokehouse and cheese store in Wautoma, a 22 mile jaunt through the pretty green countryside. We also managed to hit my favorite antique/consignment store in Stevens Point where Rachael was fascinated by the three floors of vintage items, especially clothing and jewelry which she was snapping up left and right. I take it that stuff is all terribly on trend right now in Portland and she indicated that things are extremely picked over and hard to find, whereas here not only are they plentiful but also “cheap” in comparison. We finished our shopping day with a picnic in the park along the WI River joined by the baby ducks.

We enjoyed some good food and drink, watched Marc install more siding and I drove her to the airport yesterday to return to her life and boyfriend in Portlandia. I sure miss her already! Marc is away as well for the next week but I have lots of stuff to get caught up on as well as Strawberry Fest on Saturday.

Small Accomplishments

The above shot is one of Spirit when she was little that we now have up on our smart thermostat. I’m loving this thing; one touch brings me to the weather forecast for the week or it will broadcast current conditions of temps and humidity and weather chances, like today’s 60% chance of thunderstorms. Since it digitally controls the gas heater, it is precise to the degree of heat we want and can be set from afar with a smart phone. It’s a pretty slick little gadget. 

Between his work schedule and the spring rains, which have been ample, Marc has not made a lot of progress on the siding so has turned his attention to some inside tasks. The laundry room is now completed, save for trim; after needing to make a detour to purchase a new gas dryer after the old Maytag bit the dust. I think storage in the Yuma heat for years was just too much and it simply got fried. Desperate for a way to dry clothes, I bought the only model Lowe’s had in stock that was natural gas, not wanting to wait for a special order to arrive. I was thrilled to get back the lovely coat rack Marc built me when we lived in Bend and it will come in very handy this winter!

He’s back to working on installing cabinet hardware, which is a welcomed convenience, but even better he completed the plug and mounted our neon sign! It’s as spectacular as I imagined it would be. He also got the dining table light completely mounted and we cleared out and cleaned the hobby room in anticipation of daughter Rachael’s first visit this Friday for five days. Rachael recently lost her real father so decided to take advantage of her employer’s bereavement leave by coming to visit. Since I haven’t seen her in two years I await her arrival with much anticipation. Since Marc will be leaving for another week out west just about the time she also leaves, he is trading some weekend days to try and get Monday and Tuesday off to better be able to spend more time with her. We plan to really enjoy some porch time and barbeques!

In amongst the rainy days, I worked hard to prep the soil and get more seeded lawn planted and watered. It’s quite an arduous process requiring hand raking the section three separate times. There is still a lot to go but we are doing it in phases. On dry days now it takes much of my time to keep up with the watering and I also have to mow about every six to seven days. I’ve got some functions coming up for the Humane Society this month and then will devote 11 days to their rummage sale coming in mid July so I’m having no problem filling my summer.