Phil laying pavers

Brother Phil was worried about my pulling and pushing of the tall connected chairs I'd put on the north side of Mjolnir.  Whenever I mowed I would move the chairs almost wracking them out of shape.   He thought  making a small patio, just large enough for them to set on, was the answer.  First though, the telephone company had laid cable around the back of  that building and then swung down the north side until it could continue on down the  driveway.  I didn't remember exactly where the line went so I called Digger's Hotline.  They said it would take four days for all of the utilities to check my place.  Last Friday came and went but no telephone company.  I did get an e-mail from Digger's Hotline stating the telephone company was a 'non-participating' agency.  I called them Monday morning.  The receptionist said of course they would send someone that day to mark the cable.  When we all got back from our tour of the university, orange marks in the grass showed the route of the line.  It didn't cross the proposed patio site.    The brothers dug down around 6" in a 6x6 foot square.  The excess sod was loaded in the back of Jormungandr and dumped on some field ruts nearby.  Then they took Jormungandr down to Neighbor Blake's gravel pit and loaded about 1/3 of a square yard of gravel in the back.  They dumped that as a base in the hole they made.  The sand we'd picked up earlier was dumped, tamped solid, and leveled.  The pavers were carefully set on this base w/ edging along the side to keep everything tight.  The tete-a-tete was placed back in place and it's all set to once again be a spot to sit and contemplate the meadow, the fields, the hills, the clouds, and the sunset. Both brothers have been going to bed early and telling me they are sleeping well.  Not a surprise.

Picture taken by Brent Mayer.

Neighbor Blake

 

Neighbor Blake brought his skid steer out to my property, Phil put the drain tiles into the back of Jormungandr, and they met at the mucky draw this afternoon.  This is the same spot I got stuck with the lawn mower last month.  Blake hollowed out the area a bit lower and Phil laid the three drain tiles into the draw.  Blake went up to higher ground and dug out sod to place over the tiles.  It will protect them from crushing, hold them in place, and make the draw a bit higher.  Phil ran over it a few times w/ Jormungandr to tamp down the dirt and ... we will see.    With any luck they will stay free enough of muck to allow the runoff from the woods go through on it's way down to the creek.  (Only caveat is it may not be strong enough to handle anything heavier than Jormungandr driving over it.)   If this plan doesn't work,  I haven't invested much.  The whole thing was paid for w/ Menards rebate checks I've been collecting for years.   About time I used them.

Arrowwood Berries

Supper was out at Lehman's Supper Club in Churchtown.  It was excellent - and not only because Brother Phil paid.  This morning Phil worked on putting in a small patio by Mjolnir and Brother Brent pulled woodbine from the lilacs, mowed the lawn, and started some trimming around the house.  Really, I should have paid after all of that work.   Phil, however, said he wanted to treat Brent and I since our birthdays are both in August.  I could live w/ that.   We had a pleasant server and and the food was great. As a finale, she brought out little scoops of ice ream w/ a fudge drizzle, whipped cream, and a lit candle stuck in each for Brent and I.  I thought back and remembered early on she'd either asked if we were celebrating something -or- I volunteered that Phil was treating us because of our birthdays.    A sweet ending to a wonderful meal.  Even though we were all stuffed (I couldn't believe the size of Brent's pork loin) we motored over to Menards to pick up some final things we needed for the patio Phil & Brent are working on.  We managed to put 10 more concrete pavers and two 50 lb bags of sand in the back of Phil's car.  Took the state road back to my place instead of tackling the back way w/ it's hills and curves.  Easier on the weighted down car (and my stomach).

Lower Campus

 

Arranged a walking tour of the college campus that Brother's Phil, Brent, and I attended.   This morning we drove to Collegetown and parked in the visitor's lot (a free parking spot on campus!)   Assistant Emily greeted us at the new Alumni Welcome Center and we took off.  Phil graduated in 1967.  I graduated in 1974.  Brent graduated in  1983.  We all had different visions of the campus based on when we attended.  Emily had obviously done this before.  Her route took us past all of the major buildings.   We ducked inside to see the student lounge/cafeteria/meeting rooms and whenever we were outside there were beautiful native flower and grass plantings.   The campus, though altered, still held a charm.  It was the perfect time to visit in order to appreciate the setting w/o the bustle of students.  My old haunt at the Phillips Science Center (a new building when Phil attended) is due to be razed in two years when the Science/Medical Center is finished.  The Zorn Auditorium (where graduation ceremonies were held up until this year) is now a hole belching trucks loaded w/ debris.  (Later, we did drive down the road to see it's replacement, the new Sonnentag Auditorium.)   After an hour of showing us around, Emily said goodbye.  Before leaving the city though, Phil, Brent, and I drove to the houses where we had lived during our college years.  Brent's white house still stands by the river.  The place Phil rented is now a lawn.  While there is a house on the corner where I lived, it's not the same house.  (I hope they saved the bird's-eye maple flooring.)   The biggest shocker though was not on the university grounds.  It was driving down Water Street (located adjacent to campus).  Fifty years ago it had been a hodgepodge of grimy bars.   The buildings are now uniformly red brick and the whole place reeks of gentrification.   I suppose that's progress.

Nope, I didn't take this picture - got it off the Internet.

Chokecherries

 

Cousins Rick and Dawn came over for the day.  They had installed solar panels on their house awhile ago and were curious about the installation here.  We had lunch (Dawn brought a scrumptious almond cake for dessert), caught up on family doings, played with some games.   Brother Brent went w/ them to do a round of disc golf in a nearby park.   Then Rick and Phil took Jormungandr to check how much water was in the draw at the back of the property (that's where we plan to put the tubing).    Before long it was time for Rick & Dawn to take off again for home.  My voice still sounds raspy but doesn't hurt as much as it has for the last couple of days.  Think everyone will feel like they had a good day - provided they don't catch this cold.

Brown-eyed Susan

 Think the thunder woke me around 3 or 4 a.m. and then I heard a whimper at my bedroom door.  Whip wanted in.  She's not exactly afraid of thunder - maybe she just thinks we should be together if there is any danger.  Anyway she jumped on the bed and instantly curled up to sleep.  When the sun came up (well, it got lighter out) I checked the new diverter into the rain barrel.  The barrel was practically full.  I checked the rain gauge and it read a 1/2 inch of rain.   (It rained the rest of the morning.  When I checked in the afternoon we'd had an inch of rain.)  I shut the diverter off.  It had worked just as I'd hoped.  

Brothers Phil & Brent were watching a pre-season game of the Packers in the living room.  I made sure they had access to chips before going into my bedroom to watch Svengoolie and text w/ Friend Kathy.  He showed the original 'Werewolf of London'.  A lot more werewolf lore than I thought - nice touch that it was aired during the full moon.   Anyway, after the movie was over I came back out to the living room and it was dark - Brent was in his bedroom and Phil had gone over to Mjolnir.   Seems the game was going so bad, they couldn't watch past the third quarter.  (And people say the movies Sven airs are bad.)

Oriental Lily

 I've had a bit of a cold for a couple of days.  This morning my voice was horse and my head congested.  Also the humidity was in the 'sticky' range.  A good day to take it easy and drink plenty of fluids.

Brother Brent cut up a dead tree that had fallen during the winter over one of the paths.  After that the humidity started to build and he reverted to working in the shop.  Brother Phil took off for a reunion w/ some of his classmates from high school.  

So I have a lot to do tomorrow.  I'll be royally miffed if I'm not feeling any better.

Birthday cake

Another year older.  I made an angel food cake and decorated it w/ raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries.   Brother's Brent and Phil installed  a water diverter in the downspout of a rain gutter.  I don't have a formal rain barrel but I do have a large plastic garbage bin which works well for storing water for my plants. We had pizza for lunch (frozen ones from Grandpa's Pizza so no prep) and after I got home from my volunteer stint at the library, I made root beer floats for us all.  I plan on continuing my birthday celebration by going to bed early.  If I'm ever asked what my 'superpower' is, it's being able to fall asleep anytime and anywhere.

Summer

Last night Bros. Phil, Brent, and I sat on the couch and were mesmerized by Public Broadcasting (PBS) airing of American Experience: Victory in the Pacific.  Tonight, Brent and I watched the PBS show The Bomb about the Manhattan Project.  I assume these were airing because it's the 80th anniversary of the U.S. dropping a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima.   By the time that show had ended Brent and I both said we wanted to watch something a bit lighter in tone. We turned to the PBS show Pompeii: The New Dig.  I'm not sure  a documentary on a city that was totally destroyed by a volcano is any less serious than one about a world war but it didn't really matter I guess.  Brent was soon asleep on the couch and I had a birthday cake to bake.

Oriental Lily

One of the projects I listed for Brothers Phil & Brent to do (if they felt so desired) was to figure out what Roku stick I should buy for Mjolnir.  Phil brought up his to use in the TV out there but it would be best to just get another one to leave in the TV permanently.   Phil decided on what he thought would work best, saw that the nearest Walmart had it, and we bopped over to pick it up.  The unit was there in the store but instead of the $30 listed price on the store's website, it was $40.   He asked an employee if there was some sort of sale about to start.  She said no and explained that the in-store price was higher but if he wanted it shipped to my address or have it sent for pick-up at this store, it would be at the lower price on the website - in either case, it wouldn't be ready for another three days.  We left the store and I ordered it off Amazon at the lower price (I already had other items in my cart so had enough to qualify for free shipping.)  Amazon says it will arrive in five days.  Tacking on 1/3 of the cost for the convenience of getting an item immediately seemed excessive to me but I checked on-line and there were multiple websites talking about just that thing.  One website was explaining the multiple factors going into pricing. (Interesting though not particularly helpful.)    Another website went into various ways to cheat the system.  (That one left a bad taste in my mouth.)   Yet another website reminded it's readers to always check prices from multiple places. (Yikes, now I'll be worried if I'm getting the best deal I can on everything I buy?)  Decided it's too nice a day to fret about it.  Went out on the deck and threw treats into the grass for the dog to find.

Wild Cucumber

As Phil put it, I can knock  'driving into Menard's back lot' off my bucket list.  (Even though it was never on my bucket list.)    After getting Svaldilfari stuck in the mud and needing to call Brother Russell to pull me out, something had to be done about the access to the back 80.  The topography of the land means there is no good way to get across if we've had rain.  Brother Phil talked w/ Neighbor Blake about it and Blake suggested drainage tiles.  This morning Phil and I drove over to Churchville to do some errands and to just see what the drainage tiles would look like.  We found them plus we found seven bags of sand for another project.  Instead of dragging all of that through the store, I got a slip, paid for it at the checkout, and drove around the back of the building.  First you needed to scan your receipt to get into the backyard.  Probably to keep people from driving back there to 'look around'.  Picking up the tiles were no problem.  We only needed three 10 footer's and they were very flexible.  Easy to bend them into a 'U" shape in the back of the car.  For the sand bags, we drove down the paving material alley in the back lot.   Allowing cars into these relatively narrow alleyways seemed to me insanity.  Items were stacked higher than the car. Some item stacks intruded into the alleyway here and there. There were semi's, trucks, and cars all on their own mission w/ no set routes.  Phil kept assuring me this is the way it's done.  (Personally, I would have pulled the 'old lady card' and asked if I could just drive to the pickup doors and have employees bring everything to me.)  Fortunately, my car has an excellent backup camera, I drove slowly, and always gave the semi's plenty of space.  On the way out, there was a guard to check that we'd only taken what was on our receipt.  I'm guessing if I really want a thrill I should go back there next spring when everyone is getting materials for their DIY projects.   

Red Sunset

The last day of the Library's Summer Reading Program.  After sitting quietly while a book was read to them, the children and parents all went outside for a free picnic along w/ balloon animals, giant bubbles, a bouncy something or other, etc.   All of the children's list of books that they read should have been turned in by Wednesday night but the librarian warned me there would probably be some last minute additions and how to handle them.   I only had one last minute addition - a little girl w/ a list of 80 books.  I let the program coordinator know about it so she could adjust her list of winners.  At 6:00 the kids and their parents filed back inside the library and the coordinator started going down the list of winners starting w/ the biggest winners first.  Every participant came away w/ some kind of prize.  The last group she announced were the adults.  Not many adults participated.   I'd managed to read 5 books in the two months the program ran.  Good for me but I wasn't the big winner for my category.  I did get a prize of two tickets to the local theater - still a very nice gift.  After all the prizes were given out and the parents and children started to disperse, the coordinator came over w/ a metal tumbler for me as a thank-you for being a volunteer during the Summer Reading Program.  I didn't look inside the cup until I got home.  Stuck in there were small gift certificates to Gateway Gourmet, McD's, and Kwik Trip.  Competition is the spice of life but, in the Summer Reading Program, I think it's OK that everyone left feeling like a winner.

Turkey Vultures

I stopped at the store for a couple of things.  As I put my items down for the checkout person, she turned off her OPEN light.  "Oh, I can go to another checker."  I said and reached to gather my items again.  "No, no,  I will check you out." she replies and starts to ring me up.   I was in a pretty good mood - my checkout person not so much.  She was almost done when another employee appeared at her elbow.  My checker explained to her that she had rung up two blackberry cartons instead of one and the bag of oranges had rung up as onions.  I figured my checker must have hit a button to let her supervisor (?) know about the problem.  "We all make mistakes." said the pleasant super and hit a few buttons on the keyboard.  My checker turned to me.  "You are my last customer - ever."  she said in a deadpan voice.  I figured she was retiring.  "Congratulations!"  I brightly replied.  The checker remained glum.  "Maybe?" I added.  "I'm moving to Birchwood and don't want to make the commute." she said by way of explanation.  Not sure where to go from there so  I gathered up my sack of oranges/onions and said "Best of Luck!"  The checker though had turned and was already walking off.  Well ... Birchwood is a nice place.

There are always some denizens of the field that get caught by the scythe blades when hay is cut.   Whip quickly found something dead on our first walk of the hayfield by the house.  It was probably a vole, shrew, or rat cause she only picked it up to ensure it was dead but wouldn't eat it.  The scavengers of the area have learned that when a field is mowed it means food opportunities and they aren't picky eaters.  It still surprised me to watch four turkey vultures circling my field and one by one coming down to roost on the furthest bale out in the field.  I could hear the tractor.  Neighbor Blake was cutting the next hayfield over and they were all watching him.  When he finished it would be AYCE.

Baling Hay

I can't get too excited about the Epstein Files.  The nasty old man is a convicted felon because he concealed hush money payments to an adult-film star and was found liable in a different suit for sexual assault.  It shouldn't surprise anyone if he's listed in the files as a john.  The majority of the voters knew all this but voted for him so it's fairly obvious it can't be that important to them either.   As for other names of elected officials in the files, I would assume they would have been leaked by now unless he could use it as 'bargaining' in getting that person's support.    It was the nasty old man himself that started all of the ruckus when he said Epstein's death was suspicious - maybe Bill Clinton killed hm - all of the information on Epstein needed to be released.  It isn't the only conspiracy theory he's put forward:   He still swears he won the 2020 election (he didn't);  He was adamant that President Obama wasn't born in the U.S. (the birth certificate shows Hawaii);  He said Ted Cruz's father had ties to Lee Harvey Oswald (later he admitted that he said it but didn't really believe it);  Asserted that President Biden was controlled by "People that you've never heard of, people that are in dark shadows" (Biden's aides and cabinet members have all been working in politics for a long time);  Said that Justin Trudeau was really the son of Fidel Castro (what?);  Claimed a plane full of  "thugs in dark uniforms" had recently flown from one unidentified city to another in order to start riots (well, isn't that definitive); During a presidential debate was outraged that immigrants in Springfield, Ohio are eating people's pets  (the Springfield police department said they had nothing substantiating this statement and Ohio's governor called the claim "garbage");   Blamed Speaker of the House Pelosi for the Jan. 6th "heinous attacks" (he quickly changed his tune and pardoned all of the people who smashed into and wrecked havoc on the capital building calling them "patriots").   I could go on.  (Remember all of the crazy stuff he said at briefings during the Covid pandemic?)  I don't even care that he cheats when golfing in his own tournaments.  What does bother me is why people continue to take the crazy stuff he says as fact.