Look Who's Back!

Beau made it back just in time for homecoming week at school.  

Kathy and I dressed for an iconic duo.

after school we met on little mill to reconnect and wet a line.

Beau worked hard, restocking the wood pile with the great oak that went down at the top of the lane.

Saturday morning we were up before dawn and on the road to the backbone to meet up with uncle Steve. for a float.

Most of the creek chubs that Beau caught were bigger than anything that Steve and I caught.

Goose gear.

Barb,Kimber and the kids rolled in and we cellebrated Susie's birthday!

We had a blast with the kids.

And these Kids.

After goat treking we hit Jimmy's pond. Look at that hog.

Hay, hay! we all had a great time.

Kind a corny! 

Off To Chitown

We were up before dawn on Saturday

A few hours later, let the let the fun begin!

First on the agenda.  An architectural tour of Chicago by boat. 

Then John, Cynthia, Susie and I followed our ears to some lakefront musical entertainment.

Friday evening we checked out the Van Gogh installation  

and we were totally immersed. 

Susie and I both got some great ideas.

Cicadids and a hat with candles on it . 

Finishing up our first day just down the street from Bo's sisters place at the Old Town Pub.

Holy cow we're at Wrigley 

Bo and Cynthia in front of Bo's old Right Field apartment in Wrigleyville.

It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball.

My first game in Wrigley

A wise man once told me: you'll never forget your first.

Bee Safe!

 

A MID WEEK STORM

It's the end of August and a mid-week storm shook things up

Ace inspects the storm damage at the East gate

Susie got home from dog watching just minutes before the storm.

I wasn't so lucky.  By the time I got to the lane in the bus a box elder had fallen across the lane.

While another larger box elder snapped making a widow maker that I had to run under in the storm.

After the storm passed it was time to get to work and open up the lane.

All in all it took six truck loads to get it cleaned up.

A big wind gust caught the back corner of the bus so I've got another repair project too.

The pup from over the hill came up to visit.

and I think Josh's kitten wanted to come home with me.

oh, I also rescued this guy form the gravel. 

 

3rd Annual Dimensional VW Gathering.

Joe Bombers blue 75 and my 76 Riviera 

I was happy to get Tsunami up and running again with just a $6 belt.

 

33 years

This weekend we celebrated our 33rd year of marriage and once again we find ourselves in Madison.  

another year of back to school shopping 

I can't say that we've ever been the kind of couple that wares matching outfits but last night by chance we realized we were both wearing I Get Down shirts.  

We looked pretty good.

 

Post OP: Back to the BEES

The Bees love the Calamint.

Before I can pull any honey off any of m hives I have to clean up old frames 

My smoker is fueled by lavender cuttings from Susie's garden

I only pull the frames that are capped and then replace them with the cleaned frames.

This way the bees don't get too worked up.

Then it's time to uncap both sides of each frame and the electric hot knife that I got from my buddy Chris makes quick work of this chore.

The next step in the process is to extract the honey with Jimmy's hand crank, three frame extractor.  

Any wax it filtered out by two fine mesh screens

And the final product is so sweet!

 

Post OP Projects: Construction

About a year ago when Beau and I dismantled the chicken shack.  So, when I've had a minute I've started to rebuild.

We got the large double paned window out with out breaking it.  But a  

spring storm broke one of the two panes.  The first part of the rebuild was to replace the window with an old side panel from hockey arena.

Next, was to start on the west wall.  Last spring I salvaged some nice stone.  I'm going to go with a dry stack stone wall.

Another course and frame out the window with a cedar log.

Finally, I covered the opening with 1/2 in. hardware cloth. 

 Ventilation.