Category Archives: BAF-SJL-MEF3-SRF

20240823-25_BdW_AAF_BAF-et-al

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NOTE:  This post has two (2) photos, with captions, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

FRIDAY 23 thru SUNDAY 25 August 2024 — BdW; AAF/AG(AA); A visit with Family

 

Friday 23 … A BdW guest leaves, and another one arrives; my sister has a birthday; and our painter stops by to chat.

Today was my (Bruce’s) sisters 69th birthday.  Happy birthday, sis!

BdW guest Shannen J. left early this morning, headed for points east, specifically Cuyahoga Valley National Park near Cleveland, Oho.

Our painter, Jim Pipoly, stopped by for pre-arranged chat concerning mobile communications options.  Jim knew we were “hams” (amateur radio operators) and figured I might know something about this.  Well, yes and no.  I know a few things, but there are a lot of things with which I am not very familiar.  Our discussion ranged from walkie-talkies and Citizens-Band (CB) radios to Family Mobile Radio Service (FMRS, which requires registration), General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS, which requires an easily obtained license), and amateur (ham) radio (which has several levels of licensing, each requiring a passing score on a written test).  We also talked about short-wave radio, as a way to receive information from all over the globe.

While Jim was here, we also discussed possible painting projects, both inside and outside.  The inside project would involve patching and touching up paint that has been, or will be, damaged as we prepare the oak floor for refinishing, and that work gets accomplished.  The major outside project is cleaning and re-staining the decks on the back of the house.

We were still chatting with Jim when BdW guests Bonnie &  Jimmy D. called to say they were 30 minutes out.  They arrived on time and called from the end of our street.  I met them by our first driveway entrance and guided them into our guest RV site.  They are scheduled to be here for five (5) nights.

 

Saturday 24 … A BdW guest leaves and another one arrives.  We visit Ann Arbor to look at DR furniture, and swing by our son’s house to visit with his family

We had our usual morning coffee and a light breakfast and then conferred with our son about his family’s plans for the day.  We drove to Ann Arbor (AA) to visit the AllAboutFurniture Amish Gallery (AAF/AG) store and see if they had the dining room table we thought we might be interested in, as seen on their website.  It was also a chance to ask questions about wood, color, and finish choices, customization options, prices, and delivery times.

The table that interested us was the Seymour, a 54” diameter round, extendable, dining table that would become a 78” x 54” “racetrack” shape table with the addition of two (2) 12” rectangular leaves.  A single leaf would make it a 66” x 54” racetrack shape.  Our interest was finding a table that was just big enough for the two us (98% of the time) while not crowding our dining room and providing for unrestricted flow between the kitchen, dining table, rear doorwall, buffet, entry foyer, and hallway.  But, we also needed it to expand to seat eight (8) people comfortably while still not restricting movement through the space.  A round extension table seemed like just the thing to meet our requirements.

They did not have the Seymour in the showroom, but had one that was very similar, the Julia.  It was also nice, and the salesman (Mark) thought it was a slightly better made product, but it differed in some minor aesthetic details that were important to us.  AAF/AG has relationships with many Amish furniture/cabinet makers in Indiana and elsewhere, and most of their products have to be ordered.  Delivery time for either table would be 12 – 14 weeks from when the order was placed, with something like 50% down.

The table was paired with a chair (Mariana) that we really liked.  The back was low, it mirrored the shape of the table legs, and had a comfortable (padded/fabric) seat in a fabric that we liked, and did not have a fabric back (Linda does NOT want a fabric-backed chair).  We made note of the name and clarified available woods and finishes.  The one on the floor was Brown Maple with a Tavern 10 Sheen finish and C2-39 Birch fabric for the seat.  We also looked at a buffet/sideboard that might work well with either table, and made note of that as well.  Mark wrote up a quote for us to take home and ponder.

When we were done at the furniture store, we went to our son’s house to visit.  The grand-daughters start school on Monday, and we will not really be able to host visitors at our house until the floor refinishing project is done, which includes removing the railing for the basement stairs for the duration of the project, repairing drywall (patched and painted), and then installing a new (Cable Bullet) stair railing as well as putting furniture and appliances back in place and re-connecting the later.

The front portion of the wine refrigerator as seen from above with one of the racks pulled all the way out so I can photograph the bottles on that rack before removing them for transport to the basement.

Back home, we moved the wine refrigerator to the basement.  This was one of the three appliances sitting on the oak floor that had to be put somewhere else while the refinishing work was being done.  We don’t access it every day and decided it could just live in the basement going forward.  It was fairly full, so I unplugged it and unloaded all the bottles.  The bottle racks in this wine refrigerator have extension slides, the bottles can be completely revealed.  I removed the bottles one rack at a time and photographed each rack before removing them.

We moved all of the wine bottles to the basement, keeping them organized by rack as best we could.  We then moved the wine refrigerator down the basement stairs using a dolly.  As seen in the following photograph, the wine refrigerator is short, just under waist high on me, and was not too heavy.  We positioned it at one end of our “L-shaped” bar because it fit there nicely, and there was already a 120VAC/15A receptacle at that location.

 

Sunday 25 … Need to figure out what we did today

The wine refrigerator in its new location in the basement at one end of our L-shaped bar, with all of the bottles put back on the same racks, and in the same locations, where they were previously stored.  You know … because.  (Paintings behind the bar is part of our “dead relatives gallery,” all from my side of the family.)

 

 

 

Since I have no notes from today, and there is nothing on our calendar, I presume we took the day off and relaxed a bit.  We had been working hard in recent days, and we deserved a break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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20240812_BdW_Firepit

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NOTE:  This post has one (1) photo with caption.  Photo taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

MONDAY 12 August 2024 — More BdW guests, burning yard debris, and international/overseas travel (not us)

Linda and Diane met at the park to walk this morning, the first time since the funeral for Diane’s mother on July 23rd.  We had Boondockers Welcome guests arriving today, so I had a few chores to take are of ahead of time.

First, I pruned some of the weeds and saplings along the edge of the wooded area that parallels the south edge of our visitor RV site.  These grow out to the north (towards the site) looking for light, and eventually become an impediment to working on the south side of rig, or mowing along the edge of the forest.  I got out the lawn tractor and trailer and moved all of the pruned material to our fire pit.  I then drove around the rest of the property collecting downed branches and transporting them to the fire pit.  I removed all of the material that had accumulated in the fire pit and sorted it by size and type before piling it around the outside, about 8 feet away.  This left only the central stack of organized twigs and larger pieces of branches I had built a couple of weeks ago to serve as the core of the bonfire I was about to light.

While deep-cleaning the kitchen, Linda found a package of fire-starters.  They were wax impregnated corrugated cardboard.  We typically use shredded paper to start our bonfires (we usually have a lot of it), but it doesn’t always light well if it has absorbed moisture.  The fire-starters did the trick, and fairly quickly I had a nice, but not overly large, fire.  I added some of the stacked material to the fire and then mowed the areas on either side of the driveway by our guest RV site.  The weather has been dry, so Keith will be here tomorrow to mow the whole property, but this way he won’t have to mow right next to someone’s RV.

The bonfire has been lit (right side of wood stack in the fire pit).  Various sizes of branches, and a pile of weeds, waiting o be added to the burn pile.

Our BdW guests, Mike & Sheila M., arrived around 2 PM.  They were aiming for 1 PM, but got caught in really bad traffic on westbound I-96 between Novi and Brighton.  The improvements to the highway system in our area will be amazing when they are finished and operational but until then, getting anywhere during the daytime can be difficult.  (You need patience to make sure you don’t become a patient.)  I met them in the street, per usual, and directed them into our guest RV site.  Linda came out to meet them as well.  We chatted briefly, invited them to get-together on the deck later if so inclined, and then left them to make camp.

Our guests came over around 5:45 PM and we had along, spirited conversation.  Mike is native Hawaiian.  Sheila was from the Carolinas, but moved to Hawaii many years ago and stayed.  They moved to the mainland a few years ago, bought a Coach House Platinum Class B+ MH, and started full-time RVing.  They flat tow a Toyota CJ Cruiser.  The Toyota required a driveshaft disconnect modification.  The MH is able to handle the weight of this vehicle, but struggles on steep upgrades, so they got a custom/tuned ECM program installed.  Apparently it makes quite a difference in the vehicle’s performance.

Around 8:30 PM, our son and his family took off from DTW enroute to Sweden via Reykjavik, Iceland.  Their destination was Stockholm (Shawna had a conference in Uppsala, so it was a work-related trip).  There were, however, several reasons for the intermediate waypoint in Iceland.  He and Shawna had been to both countries before, but this would be the first time for the girls to visit either one.  At 11-1/2 years old, Mads sees herself as a sophisticated world traveler, and at 5-3/4 years, Sadie is up for almost any adventure.  The stopover in Iceland would also break up the flight into two legs of more reasonable length and time, which would be much easier on everyone.  But what really made this interesting, to us as well as them, was that Iceland Air allows passengers to book this as a single, continuing (round-trip) flight, rather than two separate flights, AND allows the layover to be up to seven (7) days!  Obviously Iceland Air has a very good and cooperative relationship with whomever is in charge of tourism for the country.  Icelandair will come up again in a future post.

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20240801-04_A busy-start-to-August

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NOTE:  This is a moderate length post (for me).  It has two (2) photos with captions, both taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

THURSDAY 01 thru SUNDAY 04 August 2024 — Heat, rain, mosquitoes, and a busy week (BdW guests, laundry appliances, dogs, glasses, finances, and more) but no more yard work

 

Thursday 01 August … New glasses, a dead battery, more work tables, and Wild Turkeys in a tree

I got a text message yesterday that my new/remade tri-focal glasses were ready, so we made a trip to the Brighton SVS Vision Center to pick them up.  But not in the F-150.  When I tried to start it, the battery was completely dead.  It turned out that the headlight switch had been moved from the AUTO position to the Running Lights position, and left that way overnight.  Mea culpa, and I should have known, but I ignored the chime that continued when I turned off the engine last night and removed the key.  Dumb.  We took Linda’s car instead.

My new tri-focal glasses were correct this time, improving my distance vision just enough to make road signs at various distances sharper.  The reading and middle portions of the lenses were the same as before.  The optician made adjustments to the ear hooks and the nose pads until they sat correctly on my face with its slightly askew nose, which was broken many, many years ago.  I also had her look at my reading glasses.  I got the lenses there a month or so ago, but had them use an existing frame that I liked.  One of the ear covers had cracked and separated into two pieces.  She was able to heat them both up (left and right, one at a time) to remove them and replace them with new ones.  She also noticed that the nose pads were cracked and needed to be replaced, so she did that as well.  She then adjusted the ear hooks and nose pads so they sat correctly on my slightly crooked face.  No charge for the extra services.

Back home, we stopped at the barn and I retrieved a battery charger and a set of jumper cables.  The truck was in the garage.  The engine compartment is “tall”, so I placed the battery charger on the fold out platform of a 6 ft stepladder.  This allowed the battery cables to reach the battery in the engine compartment and the power cord to reach a nearby ceiling outlet.  I connected the cables, plugged in the power cord, and set the operating parameters:  AGM, 25 Amps.  The display quickly ramped up to 25.8 Amps and stayed there.  That was good news; some battery chargers will not work unless they detect at least some minimum voltage level from the battery.  I am hopeful that the battery will recover; it’s only a few years old had never been abused prior to this accidental discharge.

The bottom end of one of the Rockler Rock-Steady 32” legs with the adjustable foot installed, but not adjusted or tightened.

The Rock-Steady leg is a simple, but cleaver, design.  A flat sheet of steel is machined with various openings, both round and square, to allow other components to be attached, either with machine screws/bolts, or with carriage bolts.  The bottom end is partially slit at the mid-point to form two tabs, one slightly longer than the other.  The tabs are then bent 90 degrees, shorter one first and then the longer one.  The entire sheet is then folded along its midline, forming an angle iron, with the tabs overlapping.  The overlapping tabs are drilled to accept the adjustable feet, and the whole piece is then power-coated.

I changed into my work clothes and headed to the barn to assemble the last (for now) Rockler Rock-Steady Work Table.  I attached this one to the table along the south wall of the shop that was already attached to the Corner Table in the SE corner of the shop.  In this configuration, I will have a work surface along the south wall of the shop that is at least 20” deep and 144” (12’) long.  It will end just shy of the “protected” (no storage allowed) area in front of the shop/storeroom electrical sub-panel.  A picture will make this much clearer.

The workshop (in the barn) as seen from the entry door looking east.  The Corner Stand to the left (NE corner of the shop) has two Rock-Steady Work Stands attached.  The Corner Stand to the right (SE corner of the shop) also has two Rock-Steady Work Stands attached, plus a third Rock-Steady Work Stand along the wall on the right, which is attached to the one from the Corner Stand.

It was warm in the shop, even with a box fan running, so I got a bit sweaty and took a shower before dinner.  Having only had a muffin for breakfast, and skipping lunch, Linda made a large salad and we had an early dinner around 4 PM.

As we were eating, Linda noticed a lone Wild Turkey resting at the base on one of our large White Pine trees to the east of the valley for our walk-out basement door.  We thought that was odd, but it seemed to be okay.  As we were clearing the table, I saw a small turkey (jake) drop out of the tree, and then another one.  I called Linda over, and we watched the entire flock, including the other adult, drift down out of the tree.  So, it wasn’t a lone turkey after all; it was our usual flock of 10.  It was the second time this week that I had seen them in a tree, and the first for Linda.

 

Friday 02 August … Boondockers, bus chat, and financial chat

Rick (BdW PeachyTravel) was out this morning with their dog, Barkley, and we had a nice chat.  They pulled out before I left to meet Chuck S. at 11:30 AM for lunch at Leo’s Coney Island in S. Lyon.

Chuck and I had a lot to catch up on, and occupied a booth for three (3) hours!  The restaurant was busiest from noon to 1 PM, but had open seats the whole time there, and no one suggested we should move on.  It rained off and on while driving there, while we visited, and on the drive home.  By 5 PM we had a lot of standing water in the usual low spots around our property.

During the afternoon, I got a call from Kishen, one of our financial advisors at Stifel-Nicolaus.  We had a nice chat and made an investment decision.  We have been 100% satisfied with this company and the specific team of people we work with directly.  Sometime during the day, Linda also talked to Nan (of Paul & Nancy) regarding the cruise we are all taking in early December.

BdW guest Marcia B was supposed to arrive today for a 2-night stay, but cancelled last night.  It happens, and cancelations are never a problem for us as long as we know.  We are also RVers, and we understand that things can happen, even at the last minute, that change travel plans.

 

Saturday 03 August … A birthday and party planning

Today was our son’s 46th birthday (1978).  Linda wanted to have the family over to celebrate, but today was not convenient, so it was set up for tomorrow.   I do not recall what I did today, but it probably included a trip to Recycle Livingston to get rid of our household recyclables, doing laundry, and working at my desk.  The mosquitos have been very bad, so we have temporarily eschewed working on the property.  Linda spent a good part of the day preparing for the family get-together.  That included cleaning the house, a trip to the grocery store, and preparing food.  At some point, I brought chairs up from the basement and we put the expansion leaf in the dining room table.

 

Sunday 04 August …  A family gathering and a birthday celebration

Linda arranged a family gathering for today at our house to celebrate our son’s birthday.  Brendan was there (of course) with his daughters (Sadie and Madeline) and our daughter, Meghan, was there with her husband, Chris.  Brendan’s wife, Shawna, whose birthday was in 11 more days, had previously made plans to go out of town for a weekend with her girlfriends.  She was missed, but everyone still enjoyed themselves.  Our daughter made a vegan peanut-butter chocolate cake for dessert; vegan for us and peanut-butter/chocolate for her brother.  It was amazing.

When everyone had left, we just relaxed.  In the evening, we continued watching the NBC recap of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

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20240713-14_HWD_BdW_SRF-HNC-RRR

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NOTE:  This is a long post, with four (4) captioned photos, all taken by me (Bruce) with Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

SATURDAY 13 and SUNDAY 14 July 2024 — hazardous guests and grand-children, oh my

 

Saturday 13 … Hazardous waste disposal, BdW guests, and SRF at HNC and RRR

Today was one of the Hazardous Waste Collection (drop-off) days for our county and we had a 10 AM appointment time.  We had not done anything to get ready before this morning, so we made a quick survey of the garage, under-sink cabinets, and the laundry room.  All we had were four (4) T8 fluorescent tubes.  The light fixture in our bedroom walk-in closet was flickering, so I removed the white translucent plastic cover and “discovered” four T8 fluorescent tubes in use there.  One of them was burned out, one was dim, one was flickering, and one was still okay.  I still had 10 tubes left from a contractor’s pack I bought some years ago, so we replaced all four of the closet tubes and added the old ones to the four we already had waiting to be recycled.  We taped the 8 tubes in a bundle for safer transport and put them in Linda’s car.  BTW:  The new tubes were still 32W but they were 4100K, a “whiter” color temperature than the 3000K tubes they replaced.  With the whiter color temperature, and all four tubes operating a full strength, the closet was now much brighter that in had been for some time.

We planned to pick grand-daughter Sadie up from her house today around 11 AM and take her to the Howell Nature Center and then to dinner, before spending the night at our house.  We had BdW guests (Martha & Dave T.) arriving today, however, so I messaged them to get an ETA.  They were planning to arrive between 12:00 and 12:30 (PM), so I remained at home while Linda took the fluorescent tubes to the Hazardous Waste Collection drop-off site.  She then went on to Ann Arbor to retrieve Sadie, but brought her back to our house where we moved her stuff into the house.

Our guests arrived around 12:30, having encountered the traffic slowdown on northbound US-23 between Ann Arbor and Brighton.  Sadie came out to help me get them settled in their site, and Linda joined us for some initial conversation.  Sadie got to go inside their motorhome, and we all go to meet one of their two cats, Noodles.  Noodles was similar in appearance to our Cabela, but larger, being male.  By this point it was 13:00, so we had a light lunch (PB&J with strawberry jam/preserves that we were gifted by a recent BdW guest).  We filled a couple of water bottles, and headed for the Howell Nature Center (HNC).

Sadie posses by The Wishing Tree by the welcome and clinic buildings of the Howell Nature Center.

The HNC is a rescue facility, not a zoo, and primarily cares for animals that are native to Michigan.  Most of the residents were injured and cannot be released back into the wild.  Occasionally, they have an animal that was someone’s “pet” when it should not have been.  The Nature Center has a clinic, and any animals they take in are guaranteed a home for the rest of their lives.  It’s possible that they might sometimes transfer animals to other facilities, but always to someplace that can/will care for them.

Sadie and Ama (Linda) with a broader view of The Wishing Tree and surrounding planted beds at the Howell Nature Center.

There is a paved Wildlife Trail that winds through pens and shelters where the animals live.  We had not been to the HNC since the start of the CoVID-19 pandemic, and were pleased to see that quite a few new shelters/pens had been built or were currently under construction.  At least one was a BSA Eagle Scout project and another was an effort by an entire Boy Scout troop.  Local business support for the Center is strong, which is essential and appreciated.

Sadie and Ama go hand-in-hand into the start of the Wildlife Trail at the Howell Nature Center.  The Center charges a modest entrance fee, but is primarily funder by sponsorships, gifts, and donations.  It’s a wonderful resource for area.

It was a warm summer day, and we were at the Nature Center in the afternoon, so many of the animals were tucked away trying to stay cool, or just resting because then tend to be diurnal (dawn and dusk) or nocturnal (night) creatures.  Some of the animals were species we regularly see in our own backyard (Sandhill Crane, Wild Turkey, groundhog/woodchuck, Opossum) or overhead (Turkey Vulture, Red-tailed Hawk) but we saw a few that were more “exotic,” including:  a Bald Eagle, other Hawks (several kinds), Owls (Snowy, Barn, Screech), a Beaver, Ferrets, and a Bobcat (it had been someone’s “pet”).  The other part of the HNC is a children’s play area, with a giant “tree house” as it’s focal point.  Here’s a photo:

The sign for Camp Imagination at the Howell Nature Center.  Behind the sign is the massive “tree house.”  The central/enclosed area is a library and craft space, surrounded by a large deck.  There are several staircases, suspension bridges, and swings underneath, as well as other activities.

We got back to our house around 15:30 where Sadie played while I took a nap.  She let Linda know that she did not want to spend the night, so Linda checked with our son to make sure it was okay to bring her back later.  It was, of course, and he and Shawna had been able to put on their swim suits and take their inflatable boat to a nearby lake and enjoy some adult-only recreation while Sadie was with us.  Sadie gathered up all of her things and we headed to the local Red Robin Restaurant (RRR) in Brighton around 5:30 PM for dinner.  Sadie had a grilled cheese sandwich and potato chips, Linda had a lettuce-wrapped quinoa “burger” with broccoli, and I had a lettuce-wrapped “Impossible burger” with French fries.  It was an acceptable meal, with no preparation or cleanup required on our part.

From dinner, we headed to Ann Arbor.  We had Sadie home sometime before 7 PM, and visited for a short while before leaving.  I was obvious that the main reason she did not want to spend the night with us was that she had her mom and dad all to herself while her sister was away at camp.  We stopped at the Whole Foods Market near their house before returning home.  Even at this hour on a Saturday evening with relatively light traffic, the restriction of US-23 northbound to just one lane from Exit 53 on, caused traffic to slow down and bunch up.  We were back home in time to watch Midsummer Murders, one of our regular Saturday evening TV shows on our local PBS (WTVS) station.

 

Sunday 14 … Wild Turkeys, Sandhill Cranes, laundry, QCAD, travel documents, Masterpiece Mystery (PBS)

I was feeling much better by this morning.  Not 100%, but much better.  I was awake by 06:00, and got up around 06:20.  The Wild Turkeys (2 adults and 8 young) were already foraging around the base of the poles for the bird feeders, and a white-tailed deer was licking up corn nearby.  Ten (10) Canada Geese eventually showed up, as did our pair of Sandhill Cranes.

I quietly gathered up the laundry so as not to wake Linda and started a load of darks.  I then made my first cup of coffee, finished a multi-Sudoku game I started last night, and watched a few Youtube videos (vlogs).  Cabela was in and out frequently.  My morning exercise routine is repeatedly sitting down and getting up from the living room sofa to deal with the cat.

We had bagels for breakfast and then got dressed for the day.  I folded laundry before heading to my desk for the afternoon to copy and process photos from yesterday, and then work on blog posts.  But first I downloaded and installed the latest update (3.30.1) for the QCAD software.  Linda went for a walk around noon.  Upon her return, she spent some time organizing a travel binder.  With us booking cruises and tours up to 18 months in advance, and planning some RV adventures even farther out than that, it’s become essential that we (she) have (has) an organized way to keep track of the details and status information.

After dinner, we settled in to watch our Sunday evening Masterpiece Mystery shows on PBS.  The current lineup is:  Professor T, Grantchester, and DI Ray.  They are all British productions that are well done, and we enjoy them.

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20240704-07_Happy-BDay-USA_Aphelion_&_Mead

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NOTE:  This post contains one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

THURSDAY 04 thru SUNDAY 07 July 2024 — The USA has another birthday, celestial motion, & mead

 

Thursday 04 … Independence Day

We do not have a family tradition of getting together on the 4th of July for a meal or other activities, and we have never been inclined to buy and use fireworks on this, or any other occasion.  When we were younger we would, however, often attend large public fireworks displays.  But many people do gather on this holiday, and we have plenty of neighbors who indulge in fireworks, so we were not without a sense of festivity today.

If I understand dates correctly, the Declaration of Independence was unveiled publicly on this date in 1776.  Thus, the first anniversary of “Independence Day” was July 4th, 1777 and today was the 248th anniversary of this world-changing event.  I hadn’t really thought much about it, but July 4th, 2026 will be the 250th anniversary of the birth of the nation.  I presume there will be lavish celebrations that year.

As for what we did today?  I have no idea or, rather, I don’t have any helpful notes.  If I have to guess, I suspect we worked in the yard, but it’s also entirely possible that we just took the day off and relaxed.  It’s been known to happen.

 

Friday 05 …  Aphelion & Mead

Our new wine refrigerator with the racks pulled part way out.  The wall hanging is a hooked rug that I (Bruce) made sometime in the 1976-77 timeframe.  It was my own design, based on a pseudo-colored x-ray radio photograph of the Milky Way galaxy.  The photo was just of the central portion of what is portrayed in the rug.

Aphelion and mead don’t really have much to do with one another, other than the fact that they both happened today.  Aphelion is the point (in space and time) when the earth is the farthest away from the sun during its annual revolution.  This is a distance of 1.01 AU (astronomical units), approximately 93 million miles or 150 million kilometers.  (I think 1 AU is the average/mean distance of the earth from the sun.

Since the earth’s orbit is elliptical, rather than circular, there are only two points in the orbit where it  is1 AU from the sun.  The rest of the year it is slightly farther away or slightly closer.)   Most sources I checked seemed to indicate this occurred today, but some indicated that it actually occurred tomorrow.  It’s not so much important as it is interesting, at least to astronomy geeks.  Indeed, it’s the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere.  That’s because the distance from the sun has very little effect on our climate.  It’s the 23.5-degree axial-tilt of the earth relative to the plane of its orbit, and how that tilt is oriented to the sun throughout the year, that determines our seasons.

Today was the mead tasting at Schramm’s Mead in Ferndale.  We left early enough to have lunch before going to Meadery just ahead of our 1 PM tasting appointment.  The tasting was in a small room that could comfortably accommodate 6 – 8 tasters.  For our session, there were only three tasters, us and another woman.  We had asked for a guided tasting, so our host (Charles, I believe), told us a bit about each mead before and as we tasted it, with some discussion following each one, and comparisons to those previously sampled or tasted elsewhere sometime/someplace in the past.

All meads are made with honey as the main source of fermentable sugar, and Schramm’s has a wide range of products based on a careful and skillful selection and blending of both honeys and fruits.  The six we tasted today were, in order, Marionberry, Pacific Bramble +, Patty Fay, Apple Crisp, Leatherwood, and Sunflowers.  The first three are fruit meads, Patty Fay is made with ginger, while the last two are classic meads.  That is to say, they contain nothing but water and honey.  These are the meads in which the essential character of the honey is the sole determinant of the taste.

We had a bottle of Patty Fay at home, that I purchased when I visited the meadery some weeks ago to have lunch with Ken (the owner and namesake of the business), but we had not opened it yet, so all six of these meads were knew to us.  They were each different from one another, all interesting, and all very much to our taste; really fine examples of the art of mead-making.  We bought three (3) bottles, 1 each of Leatherwood, Sunflowers, and Heather.  Heather was not part of the tasting but was also a classic mead and was strongly suggested by our fellow taster, who was clearly a regular, and more experienced mead drinker (and customer) than us.  As best I recall, we were told it has a strong ginger presence that we would like, given how much we liked the Patty Fay.

 

Saturday 06 … Why we have desks

Linda had work she needed to do for the bakery, and spent the day at her desk, so I did the same (at my desk).  There’s always stuff to do at our desks, especially things that involve our computers rather than our tablets.  Besides, we both needed a break from yard work.

 

Sunday 07 … Off to camp (again), more yard work, and another BdW guest

Madeline took the bus back to Camp Algonquin today, this time for two back-to-back 1-week sessions.  I think that one of these sessions included some equestrian experiences.  She had already been to “horse camp” (locally) a summer or two ago, and was looking forward to getting back in the saddle.

I resumed my tree pruning work, but wasn’t feeling well.  I had a sore throat but no fever.  Still, after a few hours I was tired, not feeling the joy of the work, and called it quits for the day.

BdW guest Mark and Kathy L. arrived in the early evening for a 1-night stay.  It had been a long day for them, so Linda and I chatted with them briefly and let them settle in.  I mentioned that I wasn’t feeling well and kept my distance.

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NOTE:  This post contains two (2) photos with captions, both taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

MONDAY 01 thru WEDNESDAY 03 July 2024 — Summer ramps up and a hornet’s nest

 

Monday 01 … A sad note, and some unfortunate timing

We noticed a pair of adult Sandhill Cranes in the backyard today, without a colt.  While we couldn’t say for sure it was the same adults as before, it almost certain was, and they had lost their colt.  Very sad.  Of all the creatures that visit our property, we have a particular fascination with the Sandhill Cranes, and especially enjoy watching them raise a colt.

Linda met Diane in Ann Arbor for their annual birthday lunch and some light shopping.  I put on my work clothes and did some pruning of the pine and fir trees just west of the shed.

While eating dinner I got a “crunch” while eating something that wasn’t supposed to be crunchy.  It wasn’t Linda’s cooking; a partial crown (cap) had come loose from my right lower rear tooth.  I managed to retrieve it, along with a couple of small pieces, and put them in a plastic snack bag.  The cap had a hole in the center, but I could tell if the smaller pieces came from there.  I did not have any sensitivity, so I thought that the too might have had a root canal after the cap was installed, but that would be for our dentist to determine.  I call our dentist’s office, got their voice-mail, and left a message about my situation.

 

Tuesday 02 … Dental appointments and stinging insects

Our dentist’s office opens at 8 AM, so I waited until around 8:15 before calling.  The doctor was on vacation until Monday, and the first available appointment was Tuesday 9 July at 14:00.  I was advised to “chew carefully on the other side” until then, and avoid hard/crunchy foods.

The portion of the hornet nest that remained attached to the soffit of the garden shed.  A few hornets are still visible on and around the next.

After breakfast we got dressed to work in the yard, me pruning and Linda pulling weeds.  Before getting started on the actual work had to open up the shed and get the equipment and tools out.  I had opened the side doors, opened the overhead door (from inside), and was getting ready to put out the two ramps for the lawn tractor and trailer, when I heard the unmistakable buzzing sound.  I discovered a very large nest on the under side of the roof overhang at the end of our shed with the overhead door.  It was the sort of nest I associate with paper wasps.  (A later search of Google photos seemed to confirm this.)  Whatever they were, they noticed me too, and they did NOT like me being there.   They started to swam and one of them managed to sting me my right (face) cheek.  Ouch.

 

Part of the outer shell of the nest along with some of the inner honeycomb structure.  It appeared that the nest started with a smaller honeycomb structure, and additional/larger ones were added as the nest was enlarged.  Very impressive, but the hornets were very aggressive when disturbed, and we needed to be able to use our shed.

Clearly we were going to have to get rid of this nest.  Indeed, I eventually noticed several other small ones starting to form  in the same location.  We looked to see if we had any wasp / stinging insect spray, and found a can of Spectracide.

There was no hope of getting the lawn tractor and trailer out of the shed, but I was at least able get some of the tools out the side doors so we could work well away from this location.  With the tools out, I sprayed the next form about 15 feet away, and then quickly moved out of the area.  Not that I enjoyed killing these creatures, they just doing what paper wasps do, but they simply do NOT coexist with people.

We concentrated on the fir tree to the east of our fire pit.  I cut out enough of the lower branches that Linda could start weeding while I continued to work my way around and up the tree.  I cut quite a lot of material out of this tree, so Linda helped by using our pruners to trim off smaller branches and cut the larger ones into more manageable lengths.

 

Wednesday 03 … Happy Anniversary!

The most important thing about today is that it was the 13th (2011) wedding anniversary for our son and daughter-on-law.  I’m sure we called to congratulate them.  I don’t recall when we did that, but it was likely after dinner.

Most of our day consisted of continuing yard work.  But first, I sprayed the paper hornet nest for a 2nd time.  I then used one of our pole saws, almost fully extended, to try and knock the remaining part down from the soffit of the shed.  For being made of a  paper-like material, they are quite strong, especially in their attachment to a tree or building.  But I did manage to cut most of it off and have it fall to the ground and come apart.  Some of the wasps were still alive, so I used up the remaining spray on the pieces on the ground.  It made me sad to have to do this; these creatures are just doing what they evolved to do, and their nests are beautiful, fascinating creations.  But they are aggressive when disturbed and potentially dangerous, and we need access to our garden shed.

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NOTE:  This is a short post that includes one (1) photo with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

MONDAY 24 thru SUNDAY 30 June 2024 — Summer is here, BW guests, and a birthday brunch

 

Monday 24 …  Property maintenance

Nothing noted on our calendar.  Linda was still in Dexter cat-sitting.  I’m not sure what I did, but I might have spent part of the day pruning trees.  I microwaved something for dinner.

 

Tuesday 25 … Wet weather, inside work

We had heavy rain this morning, so I had Keith skip the mowing today.  It was unlikely that I worked outside, so it must have been an inside day.  That usually means I worked at my desk, either cleaning up e-mails, backing up files, working on blog posts.  I microwaved something for dinner, again.

 

Wednesday 26 … Another BdW guest arrives

Boondockers Welcome (BdW) guests Elizabeth G. and spouse arrived around 1 PM for a 1-night stay.  As usual, I met them in the street and got them situated in our guest site.  We visited briefly, and then I left them alone to set up their rig and do whatever else then needed to do.  Linda was still in Dexter cat-sitting, and I have no idea what I did the rest of the day other than microwave something for dinner.  I know it sounds like “Groundhog Day” all over again, but it really wasn’t that repetitious.  I had a nice selection of vegan microwaveable meals to choose from.

 

Thursday 27 … Medical follow-up, and a return home

Our BdW guests pulled out sometime before noon.  Meghan and Chris returned home from the trip to Las Vegas and were very happy to see their kitty cats. Linda had a 4 PM phone follow-up with UofMH KEC Ophthalmology, which she might have done from her car while driving home.

 

Friday 28 … Another BdW guest arrives

ABIR, we had an easy day of it today.  Linda had been away from the house for a week, and was ready to just settle back in to our normal routine.  BdW members Wjrdmr945 arrived mid-afternoon for a 2-night stay.

 

Saturday 29 … A Mead tasting opportunity

We received an e-mail from Schramm’s Mead announcing tasting opportunities at their meadery in Ferndale, Michigan.  Various dates were available with specific time slots for each.  A reservation and pre-payment were required.  I signed us up for Friday, July 5 at 1 PM.  The tasting included six (6) different meads for $25 per person.  Tasting of their very best (and rare) meads was available for considerable added cost, but we have had those meads, and were more interested in developing a broader understanding and appreciation of their range of products.

 

Sunday 30 … Happy Birthday Linda!!!

Our daughter invited everyone (us and her brother’s family) to The Lake House for brunch to celebrate Linda’s birthday.  She’s not bashful about her age, but I will leave the specifics for those who have a need to know.

Meghan made two different kinds of really excellent vegan French Toast, one using cinnamon raisin bread.  She also cooked up a batch of vegan sausage patties along with actual bacon.  There was (real) maple syrup (of course), plant-based as well as dairy butter, and a mixed fruit salad with CocoWhip (a vegan replacement for whipped cream).  Oh, my goodness, what a nice meal.

Brendan & Shawna gave Linda a bottle of white port.  They did not bring it home from Portugal (too difficult to transport) but they tasted quite a bit of port while they were there, and discovered white port as a result.

Sadie ended up at the beach playing in the water (just her lower legs, it was a cool day) and “digging a tunnel to China” in the beach sand.  Uncle Chris helped her with the tunnel.  All-in-all, we had a nice long visit with family.

We had not planned anything else for Linda’s birthday, but it didn’t seem right for her to have to fix dinner.  I had planned on cooking, so we decided to go to the local Olive Garden restaurant for dinner.  It was just okay, but we didn’t expect it to be outstanding, so we were not disappointed.

Back home, we had some of the white port.  It was very sweet, but quite good, and we both enjoyed it.

A view of the outside of the new garage doors.  It’s placed here because this is the date when I took the photograph.

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NOTE:  This is post includes three (3) photos with caption, taken by me (Bruce) with a Google Pixel 6 Pro.

 

SATURDAY 22 and SUNDAY 23 June 2024 — A state finals, a trip (not us), cat sitting, and shop work stand assembly

 

Saturday 22 …  A state championship, a trip to Las Vegas (not us), cat sitting, shop cleaning, work stands

The NE corner of the shop room in the barn cleared out to make room for one of the two Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stands.  I ordered two of these, along with five (5) Work Stands, each 56” L x 20” D x 32” H.  The 20” depth matches the depth of the two “ends” of the Corner Stand so they can be connected together using special double-ended bolts with a space section in the middle.  I bought enough of these connectors to connect a table to each side of both corner units, plus a 5th table to end of one of the work tables.

Our daughter, Meghan, had been providing child-supervision and entertainment for her niece (Sadie) since Tuesday, but needed to hand those duties back to Linda as she had a state championship Quiz Bowl tournament this evening in the state capital city of Lansing.  Also, she and Chris were leaving tomorrow for a week in Las Vegas.  Linda would be away from our house for five (5) nights and a good portion of six (6) days, so she packed accordingly.  She left for Ann Arbor before mid-morning.

I was waiting for cooler weather to start working on the workshop in earnest, but this morning I at least began.  First up was cleaning up the shop, which had (not unexpectedly) become a disorganized storeroom as we continued to move things from the garage to the barn.  I had dug through tool boxes and storage boxes looking for things I needed for this or that task, with most of them not getting put back where they came from, so step one was to put tools back where they belong.  My toolboxes can be stacked, so once they were properly loaded, I could store them against a wall in the footprint of one case if needed; a very efficient use of space, but not so great if/when I next need a tool.  I already had a folding table (approx. 30” x 72”) set up in the center of the room.  I had a second folding table available, so I set it up next to the first one, long edges together, to provide a work surface for the tools and components I needed to assemble the Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stands, which were the only two pieces for which I had all of the necessary components.

The first Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stand assembled and placed in the NE corner of the shop room of the barn.  The legs have height adjustable feet, so the height of the assembled stand ended up being approximately 34 inches.  That will likely change slightly once all of the pieces are assembled and I square them up and level them to accept a work surface.

With the shop cleaned up (more or less) I moved all of the Rockler Rock-Steady work table components into the shop and began assembling one of the two corner stands.  These were the only two pieces for which I had all of the parts, at least I thought I did.  It came with good instructions, and was easy enough to assemble, until I realized they had shorted me 8 of the 5/16-18 3/4” bolts and matching 5/16 washers.  After a bite of dinner, I went to Rural King but the best I could do was 5/16-18 1” bolts and similar washers.  I had a feeling the 1” long bolts might be a problem, but hoped they would at least provide temporary securement until I could resolve the issue properly.

Madeline was due back from Camp Algonquin (YMCA) sometime tomorrow.  The current Camp session ended today, but Mads was spending the evening with her friend (and former neighbor), Marian, and Marian’s dad (Kip) at their family place in Cheboygan.   Mads mom and dad were also due back tomorrow from their 1-week trip to Portugal.  That was good timing, as Linda needed to be at Meghan and Chris’ house to take care of the cats while they were gone to Las Vegas.  Both of the cats (Min and Inches) have health issues, so Linda was there until Meghan and Chris returned later in the week.

 

Sunday 23 … Work shop stands and dinner together

The second Rockler Rock-Steady Corner Stand assembled and placed in the SE corner of the shop room in the barn.  I had a lot of tools and materials “stored” along all of these walls, so it was a bit of job to move all of that to other places.  Where possible, I moved things to the storeroom (above the shop) and tried to place it on shelves in some logical manner, at the very least grouping it with “like items” that were already there.  But some of it ended up along the walls of the RV bas, and some of it just ended up in the west and northwest part of the shop, or under the two folding work tables I set up in the middle of the room.

I continued working on the second Rockler Rock-Steady corner stand using the 5/16-18 1” bolts I bought last night, but I ended up not leaving them in the assembled product.  While assembling this stand I “remembered” (realized) that I had purchased the spacer kits that are used to connect the various Rock-Steady products together in larger configurations.  These spacers are cylinders, ~5/8” diameter by 5/8” long, with 5/16-18 3/4″ threaded studs on each end.  Each spacer replaces a corresponding bolt that came with each product, so two bolts in total.  That made original bolts available for me to use instead of the 1” long ones I had purchased.

Brendan and Shawna got home sometime in the early afternoon.  After a little time to visit and exchange information, Linda headed to Meghan and Chris’ house.  Mads was not home yet, so hearing about her week at camp would have to wait for another time.  I drove to Meghan’s house to meet Linda at 16:00 to have dinner.  We had salad and vegan pizza from Pizza House, courtesy of Chris.  The pizza was excellent, with light tomato-based pizza sauce and just the right amount (not too much) of non-dairy “cheese.”  (We later learned that Chris assembled this pizza himself, as the last time he also asked for “light” cheese but the cooks loaded it up, as they do for the regular pizzas on the menu.)  We hope he decides to add this offering to the menu, as it will open up another place for us to go for dinner and drinks with or friend, Kate.  There should be a market for this in Ann Arbor, but it has to have a net positive contribution to the bottom line.

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