Enough already!

5/31/06 6:57 am.
58 º F, Wet, NNW wind 4 mph.

Good morning,

Boy are we having rain. Another day of over an inch of rain falling from the sky. It still is raining lightly. I really didn’t know we purchased a piece of the rain forest when FISKLAND was established. Seems it is though. At least for this spring. Yesterday was supposed to be only light showers to end reasonably early in the day. Not so. We really got a couple of real dumps, one just as we were ready to leave for Bible study. We waited until it let up before going, but just as we walked out of the door, down it came again. Pretty much off and on for the rest of the day and night.

Guess it was raining in the Netherlands yesterday too. Chatted with Brenda for a bit and she too was complaining about the rain. She sent us a website ( http://www.buienradar.nl/ ) with the radar from Europe. Their site is some different than our radar sites, in that the time is shown in a 24 hour clock and you have to add 7 hours (for Central time) to click on the correct time on the left side of the window. The site really gives a pretty good view of the entire area of Europe. It is interesting to have some insight into what is happening over there. The radar combined with the webcam from Enschede ( http://www.enschede.nl/SPY/CamPage.htm ) gives us a real window on things there. It isn’t raining in Enschede now - the sun is out. But Brenda was right, it was raining there too!

Yesterday’s news brought something very disturbing. Over the weekend, there were 59 shootings in Milwaukee, with 27 wounded and four killed! I wonder what happened to the city I remember living in as a kid. One of the shootings was just a few blocks from where we grew up. I sure am glad I didn’t follow my Mom’s wish for me to live there. I certainly am happy I was a kid when I was and not there now. Much rather worry about too much water in the driveway. Seems a pretty small problem.

We are in the process of making "plans" for our ride to Chetek next week. Margriet is finding a lot of interesting things, especially on the web, we "have" to see. One thing we really want to see will not be open. For some reason the place is only open Thursday through Sunday. Of course we will not get there until late Sunday and leave Tuesday morning - at present plans. We are looking forward to connecting again, even for such a short time, with my little brother and other family in the area.

Bible study was very light yesterday. Some of the folks have friends/relatives who are have some serious medical problems and are visiting them out of the area. Some are just bumming around on vacation. Of course the rain I think really had a big effect on it too. We did have some good discussions, but somehow it got onto a track of various wars. Not too sure how. My hunting experiences at deer camp and my early years in Chetek also got into the mix. Oh well.

Today we are heading to Green Bay. Nothing really urgent to get, other than a new pair of shoes for me. Considering the weather, it is a good day to do it I think. The shoe prices are out of this world, so will probably be looking a lot before finding a pair to buy. Can’t believe the prices of most things. Not all can be blamed on the high price of gasoline I think.

I did finish getting my desk lamp rewired last night - finally. I didn't have any insulating tubing so had to wait until I got some and I just didn't get at it. Now at least I can find the keypads! I still have to get some small cable ties to complete the project, but at least it is working now.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Forgetful

5/29/06 8:23 am.
63 º F, Sun and humid, S wind 4 mph.

Good morning,

Ooooooooooooo .... it will be a hot and humid day today. Hope the wind kicks up some before too long. This is more like July/August weather rather than May. Yesterday was some warm, but the lake kept us in the 70's for high temperature. Very tolerable. FISKLAND will remain rather quiet today without much activity. Something like yesterday.

Margriet was under the weather yesterday, after spending a night with a lot of interruptions resulting with short walks to the bathroom several times. She felt very puny all day and took several naps. Didn’t feel much like eating either, until supper came. I made chicken with Yorkshire pudding for supper. Also cooked down the chicken parts not used for soup stock to put into the freezer for future use. Should have used a smaller pan as the pudding was too thin. Oh well - it is gone.

I spent the day very nicely getting a fill of auto racing. Not only was the Indy 500 run, but a rebroadcast of F1 from Monaco (actually run during the night our time, so was rebroadcast when we were awake) and that was followed by the Charlotte 600 NASCAR race. Almost non-stop racing from 11:00 A.M. until 9:30 P.M.! Didn’t feel too guilty about watching so much either, since my Woman was not feeling well wanting to hang close to her and it was (is) way too wet to get much done outside. The Monaco race was something of a non-excitement race. Seems they are pretty much determined by events before the race more than during the race. Don’t think I will get a chance to see that much at one time again for a long time. For me it was fun. For my Woman - not so much.

We didn’t even go to church yesterday. I have a real problem leaving her home alone when she is not well. If she had to feel under the weather, yesterday was a good day for it, since we couldn’t get out and do much. There also are too many city-dudes around on the highways to go far either. We just stayed home all day and really did very little.


5/30/06 8:14 am.
63º F, Cloudy, S wind 4 mph.

Good morning - again,

I see that I didn’t finish this yesterday. Must have gotten detoured on something else, but don’t remember what!

Yesterday was a very hot and humid day. Checking the thermometer, I found that ours here recorded near 90º F, while the temperature in Algoma was barely able to get up to 60º F! Guess the closeness to the lake really does make a difference. Normally the temperature at the beginning of this is from Algoma. I find that normally, it is very close to what it is here, but - there are times when it is far different. Depends a lot on the wind direction.

The weather station in Algoma is set up at the high school. Would be nice if they had a webcam too, but don’t yet. They are part of a chain of schools and other sites around the state providing local weather conditions. Some have webcams which is neat to see what is going on in other parts of our state. If I was still driving a lot, I sure would be checking it often. Wished I had it when I was chasing around the state with insurance!

It was so hot yesterday that to be able to start sweating, all I had to do was just sit still in a chair. The humidity was really oppressive. Was very surprised that we didn’t get any rain from the deal. The northwest corner of the state got it and it headed to the north of us over night. At the moment we have thunder from some "isolated" cells passing through the area. There is a break in the line of showers over us, but to the north and to the south, they are getting dumped on at the rate of 2"-3"/hour. Fortunately they are moving fast enough to only last for a few minutes in any one spot.

I got most of "little" garden planted yesterday. About all that’s left are the flowers and I will let those to Margriet. Not much of any one thing planted, but some of this and that. There are only two of us to eat it, no freezer to put the produce in for the winter, and we don’t eat that much anymore. Still working on the rabbit fence in-between the drops of sweat.

Margriet must have really gotten mad at the hot weather yesterday - she attacked the refrigerator and cleaned it. There was a lot of stuff in it, some went to the compost pile and most went back in, but in order for a change. Looks if we will have some (more) pretty good meals coming. She found some goodies in the freezer that were out of mind for a bit. Didn’t find any thousand dollar bills in it though. Guess that only happens to Congressmen in Washington D.C.!

I finally was able to download and install ICQ yesterday also. I lost track of how many times I tried over the past few days and could not get it to work. Tried one more time yesterday and it went in like Flynn. If you want to use it, my screen name is Fisk and number is 242771357. Give me a shout if you want. The old screen name and number no longer work. Been chewing the fat with Brenda this morning. At least until she had to pick up Bram from school - I think. They are having some rain there too. Just checked the website and it shows it too. Surprise.

Today is Bible study. Seems weird not preparing for leading it and being a participant. With the sound and threat of rain, not sure what the rest of the day will bring for activities. We will go to Algoma to was my winter coat and the dekbed. Time for the summer stuff. Actually turned off the furnaces yesterday too.

Time to get the day a-going

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Spring Shower

5/28/06 6:23 am.
56 º F, Wet, S wind 14 mph.

Good morning,

A spring shower we had - really a spring dump. I think we got something between 1½” and 2" of rain over night. We started to get some spritz about 4:20 pm., causing me to close everything up and Margriet to bring in the laundry from the line. Last night though we really got the dump! About 10:30 pm., the skies really opened up. I was really in a sound sleep when it started to pour and woke me up - closing the windows. There was a rather long lightning and thunder show with the rain. The driveway is filled with water, as is all of the areas that had pretty much dried out over the past days. Back to high water again, at least for a while. This should really encourage the mosquitoes too. They have not been too bad up to this point in the year. This rain was supposed to go to the south of us and just a few light showers for a couple hours.

Today is my traditional day for planting the garden. With last night’s rain, that will be a challenge. Probably will put it off a bit until the soil dries a bit. Maybe not. Will see what the day brings. Used to plant it while listening to the Indy 500 on the radio I took out to the garden. Now the race is on TV ( I don’t have a portable) and I don’t think the race is broadcast on radio anymore, at least in this area. For some reason listening to the race was more exciting than watching it. Guess the pictures of the mind are really better than the actual thing.

Actually we have the garden pretty well in hand. Friday we picked up a half dozen tomato plants, along with some broccoli and kohlrabi plants. One of the folks at Bible study brought his leftover onion plants, so we planted those too. I had planted some radishes and peas earlier and they are up an in good shape. We do have some other things yet to plant, like lettuce, beans, beets, carrots, and like that. Oh yes, some flowers too. There will not be much of each, since the garden is very small at the moment. I also picked the first handful of rhubarb yesterday. That is in the freezer, waiting for some good thing to be made from it. I also harvested and froze the first crop of chives yesterday too.

When I paid for the storage unit the other day, I arrived just as the owner was getting off a huge tractor (one of those huge 4-wheel drive tractors, but the wheels are actually tracks). I asked him how bad the fuel prices affect them. He indicated that every time he filled the tractor with diesel, it cost him $500.00! He fills it everyday with that amount! I suggested that maybe horses were not too bad of an alternative. We both agreed that it would not work any more, but the lifestyle of those days had a lot to offer. He is still planting, soybeans, and is finally almost finished. The other farmers are still planting, but at the same time are cutting their first crop of hay - a good one too. Strange year.

Believe it or not, I actually bought a fishing license on Friday. Also picked up a few new lures too. Have to do that. After this weekend I will see if I can get a line wet. Should dig out my old fly rod and see if it works too. Really like to use flies. Margriet promised to clean and cook my catch, so I think we have the “labor” divided equally on this enterprise! Hope the results will be tasty. Now I have to teach Margriet how to put the worm on the hook too. Always something for her to learn.

This is the first Sunday of the summer, as far a church is concerned too. We go from two services on Sunday to one and another on Monday night. Our attendance will drop off some too, as it normally does every year. Guess it is about time I get the hammer out to pound in my whiskers, so I can chew them off on the inside. Time to get the day a-going

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Tomorrow's a sad day.

5/24/06 12:06 pm.
49 º F, Light rain, S wind 7 mph.

Good afternoon,

Tomorrow will be a very sad day - I ate the last stroopwafel this morning. I probably will not have any more until it get over to the Netherlands again. :-( :-( That’s not nice. I have rationing them out since I received them - one a day - except for one package I shared with the Bible study bunch. They liked them too, but only took one package for them.

Margriet called Astrid earlier. She had been chatting with her for a short time, and Astrid mentioned they were living through a couple of the adventures of life. One of which is a medical problem for Astrid. That was enough for me to tell her to call her, which she did. Seems in a couple of weeks Astrid needs a minor medical surgery. From the sound of it, Margriet had the same reaction Astrid did when she first heard about it - some minor panic. While we normally keep the phone line free from noon to 1:00 P.M. so the kids can call if they wish (early evening there and their calling costs are much less than here), this was important enough for us to call her. After a lot of talk, about a lot of subjects, the calm returned. The instant messaging portion of their conversation I ran though the translator and got an interesting English version. Always good for a chuckle.

The rains have returned about eight hours early. Not only that, I looked at the radar as I was about ready to go outside - no rain on it, except to the south. That is what the weatherman predicted too. But about 5 minutes later, the rain came. Time not to work outside! We are supposed to have some rain overnight and most of the day tomorrow. We really don’t need it. The yard is finally getting a bit dry again. I am sure we will have a really good crop of mosquitos this year too. The kids should be here to "enjoy" them!

I am really having some fun going through all of the pictures and trying to get them in one "place." For some reason, my head keeps thinking we were married in 2004, instead of 2003, so I keep putting pictures in the wrong year folder! Hope eventually I will get them all in the right places. Reliving the various experiences is a lot of fun too. There are a lot of, "Remember this? Where was that? ......." Not only am I trying to get those we have taken, but also the others that have come our way, one way or another.

Our ride to Green Bay was a success yesterday. When we got back, we discovered the price of gasoline had dropped here to 3¢/gallon less than we had paid in Green Bay. Really didn’t expect that at all! Most often the price here is the same or a penny higher, but with the discount, we normally come out ahead buying in Green Bay. I did get the van washed, so guess that is a plus.

One "non-food" item we picked up was a cheap, small hand vacuum cleaner. The idea is to keep it in the van for use when we travel. I like the recharging feature of it. I had received one many years ago from Dori for my birthday. It has long since died and been disposed of. One thing I really didn’t like about it was the need to put in new batteries in it practically after each use. This will eliminate that problem. Of course I have to talk to it in Chinese! It seems to work very well cleaning off my keyboard, but has to sit on the charger for a day before real use.

Food prices that are economical are hard to fine, as a result our shopping cart was rather light this time around. We did stop at the Goodwill and drop off several bags of clothing. We can walk on the sunporch again too! Now the closet has a bit of room in it. Do need to get a few things of clothing though.

The rain has stopped and the sun is out again. Maybe it is time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Nice day a-coming

5/23/06 5:16 am.
44 º F, Clean air and sky, S wind 3 mph.

Good morning,

it looks like a stretch of nice weather coming. The weatherman has raised the temperature predictions to about 90º F for Monday and Tuesday. That is a bit warm for us, but not a bunch we can do about it. I suspect those are the highs farther inland, as the lake should keep us some cooler, I hope. We really had a nice day yesterday.

I did get a bit of the lawn cut yesterday. Really more of a hay field than lawn at this point though. There is so much water in the soil for most of it though. Still very squishy to walk on in many places. The frogs are sure having a good time - singing all of the time. I can see my kids, when they were younger, having a ball here trying to catch them. Thor was most intrigued with frogs and worms. He was forever turning boards and wood over to catch the worms.

The area really has turned green! The wild strawberries are blooming everywhere. Unfortunately, a great number of them are being cut off by the lawnmower. There are many wild flowers also in bloom and more to come. The pine trees are also in bloom, the wind causing their pollen to blow around like yellow clouds every once in a while. The van has a coating of yellow dust on it, as does everything else. The pines are finally showing signs of new growth, but much less than other years. Guess the weather conditions were not that good for them.

We are heading to Green Bay for a supply run today. We didn’t pick up everything on our shopping list I guess. Well actually we are finding we have more needs than we had put on the list. Don’t think we will need to pick up any cream of tartar. With the season changing, our food use changes too. Not so much “heavy” cooking until the cold weather really returns again. Still ... a good homemade soup or stew is hard to beat is a good meal.

Found out why we were having such a hard time with the net on Saturday. It happened again yesterday afternoon. This time ITOL’s office was open for business. Apparently they were having an electrical power problem with the Kewaunee office, which more or less shut everything down. At least as far as this part of their system was concerned. About half an hour after talking to the tech, the system came back up, just as he said it probably would. Glad it wasn’t this machine causing the problem.

Late Sunday afternoon, the printer decided it didn’t want to work. Being that new, I was some grumpy. Don’t know what the problem was yet, but after plugging it in and disconnecting it several times without result, I got out the volt meter and checked the connections. The power was getting to the printer, so plugged it in one more time - it worked. Must have had my tongue in the right cheek or some such, which I didn’t do before. I have no idea what the problem was.

It is interesting to watch the webcam from Enschede and compare the weather with here. Seems when we have rain, most often it is sunny there and vice versa. The green of their trees is ahead of the green here too. There were a few umbrellas in view today and it looks to be a sunny day here. Folks there are also wearing light jackets there and here it will be a shirt sleeve day for sure. Warming up enough here for us to put all of the winter clothing away and the summer clothing out again. Also put some into the “Goodwill bag” and will drop it off today along the way.

Time to get the day a-going


In Christ My Saviour,



Chris <><

Cool!

5/22/06 5:11 am.
33 º F, Cool , NNW wind 1 mph.

Good morning,

A bit cool this morning. Expect we will have frost on the pumpkin before too long. Hope the pea, which are up close to the house, will not be harmed too much. The weatherman is talking of 80's before the end of the week, but I will not hold my breath for that to happen. The past couple of days were really nice, but with a few showers on Saturday - about the time I wanted to fire up the lawnmower.

Saturday was a bit frustrating for me. For some reason this machine didn’t want to stay on line and would drop off every 10 minutes during the early morning. As the morning went on, the time on became shorter and shorter, until I could not get on line at all at noon. Of course I thought it was this machine’s fault somehow, yet there was the little voice in my head telling me it was not. Should have listened to the little voice! After checking and re-checking everything I knew of several time, finding nothing, I finally gave up. When I woke up yesterday morning, everything worked like normal again. I thing either the phone company (probably) or itol had some problems. Tried to call itol, but being Saturday they, were not open for business.

During the evening yesterday, I tried to organize some of the multitude of pictures we have. I think I have all of them on one flash drive, collecting them from several different places we had them. Even found some on Margriet’s camera that were a couple years old. At present I want to get the bunched in folders according to year. While I am moving them around, I have made some sub-folders containing particular events which have a lot of picture of. Eventually I will organize them a bit better, edit them, and hopefully put them into some form of slide show format. Kind of like making a scrap book without the lick ‘em and stick ‘em corners to hold the pictures. Tongue is in much better shape this way! As I was going through them, we have acquired a lot of memories in the past couple of years! It is kind of fun. Good thing Margriet is here so I can have my memory refreshed as to what and where though. What is really neat, is being able to get pictures from other parts of the world, very fast and very useable. This Oma and Opa really appreciate the pictures of the "little" squirts in the Netherlands.

I had a chance to chat with one of our church members, who is an engineer at our local nuclear plant in Two Rivers. The plant has been bought from our power company, Wisconsin Public Service, and there have been some operational problems since. Nothing dangerous has occurred, but the events should not have occurred. Apparently there has been a new management team brought in and either they are not that familiar with the plant (hard to believe, given the government oversight) or they are taking shortcuts. Rick apparently looked at the computer readouts and said this problem was evident a couple of days before the event happened - "Even I could see it." was his remark. He also said the vice-president in charge is no longer with the company. From the sound of it, a couple other events were also during his watch.

Rick and his wife, Rose, are also Nelson’s. They were the only other folks sitting with us in one pew row during the church service yesterday. We decided that we should name the row only for Nelson’s, as folks used to in the "good-old-days." The are an interesting couple. They met in high school, dating for a time. After high school the each went to different colleges. Rose married and her husband died of cancer after they had two boys. Somehow, Rick and she reconnected and the spark came back again, leading this time to marriage. As big as Rick is, Rose is small. A neat couple. Rose works in the local school system and both of the boys are now in college.

We are thinking of heading to Chetek during the first week of June. My little brother and his wife are making their annual trip to Wisconsin during that time. They plan to be in Chetek at the same time. It will be a good chance to catch up with that part of my family a bit at the same time. We have not been there since my cousin Orville died. Also plan to have some good food at a couple of restaurants in the area - one Norwegian. At present it looks like we will leave here on Sunday morning, returning probably Tuesday evening. That could change as the mood strikes us though. Might also be forced to stop at the Amish store in Shawano while traveling in one direction or the other.

Time to get the day a-going

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Finally - - a nice spring day!

5/20/06 7:49 am.
47º F, Sunshine, NW wind 4 mph.

Good morning,

Looks to be a pretty nice day a-coming. Weatherman says we may have some showers this evening, then a few days of nice weather with the temperature rising to at or near 80º F by the end of the week. Hope so, the lawn really needs a trimming and we really need the water to disappear. While Lake Michigan is very low, most of the streams and rivers are at or above flood stage. Nothing serious, more like a normal spring, only it should have been a month ago.

My diagnosis of the brake problems on the van were correct. The left rear brake had the brake pads separate from the backing. It sure chewed them up! Other than being a dirty process, brake dust ain’t clean, the repair was pretty straight forward. I am glad it was not as serious as I pictured it could be. As it turned out, I still had three of the four brakes working properly, explaining why the idiot light on the dash didn’t illuminate.

Actually, after I started reading the repair manual, I could disable the rear brakes and use only the front, as the brake system is a split system. Maybe next time. The hardest part of the whole procedure was folding and unfolding my legs. Seems my knee caps don’t fit into my armpits very well anymore. My hips also took a beating. I really feel like a very old man trying to stand up after being down for a while.

There is some other maintenance I could/should do on the van. Not the least of which is to clean out the interior. It has been a long, wet winter the past month or so. Maybe I can do the maintenance while the lawn drains so I can cut it. There is no want for things to do around here! Biggest problem is trying to figure out what to do first!

This has been a tough week for folks in the Kewaunee area. Friday afternoon last week a sophomore boy, 16 years old, went missing. About suppertime authorities found his car in the river. Apparently he drove down the hill to the river, lost control, and it sounds like he rolled the car and it went into the river at the crossing. He had just received his driver’s license a short time ago. Since the river is at flood stage, they think they have located his body, but have not been able to recover it yet. Several cadaver dogs have marked the same location and underwater cameras have "seen" what the officials believe is a body, but the divers have been unable to locate it and bring it up. I can’t imagine what his parents and family are going through. I still don’t understand why a 16 year old kid has his own car either. Guess I just am old-fashioned.

Thursday this week, some graffiti was discovered in one of the girl’s bathrooms, indicating that yesterday "4 will die" on one of the walls. The school was looked down and a sweep was made through the building.

Yesterday, all of the students were searched as they came in. Later yesterday, they identified a girl student that had done the deed along with apparently a second student involved in the "prank." The authorities take a very dime view of these kinds of pranks since they consider them felonies. The two girls involved are in the expulsion process by the school system and one has been arrested, facing some jail time, and the other is being detained as I understand it. What ever happened to real pranks that were just mischief? You know .... like turning over outhouses.

Yesterday was my little boy’s, Thor, birthday. Sure do miss him along his brother and sister. Wonder what they are doing. Where they are. And all of the things parents worry about when their children are involved. It is especially hard when I don’t know why the chose to estrange themselves from their Dad. Makes no sense to me.

Time to get the day a-going. I smell the muffins a-baking.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Brake time

5/19/06, 12:22 pm.
58 º F, Sunshine and a nice breeze, NNW wind 11 mph.

Good afternoon,

We are recovering from our trip today. I got caught up on our "travelogue" and we have most things put away again where they belong. We found that our "ready-box" is pretty close to filled. Didn’t find too much missing from it. It will remain in the car and "ready" if we decided to go somewhere on the spur of the moment. It has all the accessories to make our life easier. Chuck stuff in ice chest (also kept in the van) and off we go - but not too far.

We did have a good time, but not the same kind we expected. The logging museum was the initial center of our travel. We really were surprised to see it was not ready for visitors at all. The grass was a foot tall, but that didn’t surprise me with all of the rain we have had recently. But what really shocked me was the deplorable condition of the outdoor exhibits. They just are not being taken care of at all. What a waste of history. They have a small mule steam engine used for hauling the logs out of the woods that is just turning to a pile of rust. Even the boiler is rusted through and that is pretty heavy material to withstand the pressures and heat. Not any more. The cab on the engine is made from 10 gauge "sheet metal," also rusted through. Even if it just had a roof over it, it would be in much better shape. I wonder what the displays inside of the buildings are like. The buildings also are showing signs of long neglect on the exterior. Maybe later this summer we will find out who things are on the inside.

I/we were pleasantly surprised by the Amish community in the area. I had read about it, but really didn’t make the connection at all, that it was that close or that large. Their store is rather large and well stocked. There must be over 100 different kinds of jams and jelly, mostly made by the Amish from all over the U.S. We usually pick up a jar of a "special" kind of jam in our rides around, but I completely forgot about it this time. Margriet had a ball in the store. She bought all kinds of things for her cupboards. A huge bag of very inexpensive hominy, made to old fashioned way - not in a can. We also got a container of honey, about a quart for less than $5.00 - that’s for me on the muffins for breakfast. Normally we have been paying about $3.50 for 8 oz. at the grocery store. She also picked up some dried vegetables for soups and stews and like that. She needed some cream of tartar and found a 12 oz. bag for $1.27! Normally she would pay about twice that for ½ oz. Don’t think we will need to buy that for a couple of weeks. I also found ground red pepper at 69¢ for nearly 8 times we buy in the store for $3.00! We haven’t been able to find ground red pepper in the stores for a couple of years now. I use it in the coating I put on chicken or prok.
The store also had some clothing and home supplies. Hand made quilts, which were beautiful, were over $450.00 for a full sized bed. While it is expensive, I know the work and hours that going into making one. They also had some baby or lap quilts for a bit over $40.00 too, but we didn’t bring any home. As long as you liked clothing that is black, white, or blue you also could get some bargains on fabric yard goods. No synthetics of course! Not much clothing actually for sale, other than shoes, hats, and gloves, as I expect most of the clothing is made at home. They did have a pretty good supply of hooks and eyes, no buttons, and like that too. Haven’t seen them in that quantity for years - all in bulk.

The building was lit with gas lamps, like we use at deer camp, and nothing else other than sunshine. I was some surprised that they were allowed in a retail establishment. I also was surprised to see how they were mounted. The simply had a ½" black pipe drop through the ceiling about 18", then had a piece about 4' long, horizontal, with the fixture attached - no support. That looked like trouble to me in the future. While the gas lights were not on, there was plenty of light from the windows, but not what we have gotten used to with electricity. I know it would be much brighter with the gas lamps lit. probably brighter than electrical lighting.

The motel we stayed in was very nice. One of the nicest we have stated in over the time we have been traveling. It also was one of the least expensive. Not all of the bells and whistles, but extremely clean and more than adequate for these two old folks. Would like to find more like it in future travels. It is a little early to break out the tent yet and with the cold rain we had, it would not have been that comfortable. That time will come.

Time to get a-going on the brakes again.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

A couple of days

So this is what we have been up to for the past couple of days from our travel log:

Travelogue of
an
Old
Norsk
and
his
Woman

Into Wisconsin Indian Country

The plan of the next couple of days is to visit some areas of Wisconsin, close at hand, mostly concerning the Native American people. Shawano area will be the center of our trip.

05/17/06
8:30 A.M., FISKLAND, Very cloudy, feels like rain.
Left Fiskland a bit later than planned, but better than normal. We both were extremely tired last night, so went to bed without all of the packing/planning completed.

9:30 A.M., Green Bay, Rain, 35.8 miles/hour
Stopped at Woodman’s to pick up some goodies to chew on for breakfast (muffin cookies and milk) and some gas. Price of gas up to $2.959 again! Should have picked up more when it was $2.889 last week. Hoped the rain would hold off until we finished our stop, but no such luck. It did let up while we were coming out and filling with gasoline however.

10:30 A.M.., Shawano, Light rain and much cooler, 34.0 miles/hour
Drove to Shawano, but arrived too soon to book the motel. Drove by it - looks OK. Shawano has changed considerably since I have been here last. I think mostly thanx to the casino and the influx of people it brings. The city covers a lot more area than it used to. It also looks a lot cleaner now.

11:30 A.M., Gresham, Light mist, still rather cool, 22.4 miles/hour.
Drove to the Menominee Logging Museum north of Shawano. The place looked like it was deserted and it was, almost. There was one gal there trying to get a lawn tractor going to cut the grass, but that was all. Everything locked up, even though the sign at the road said it was open. She said we should return after lunch and would open things up. Walked around the grounds looking at the outdoor displays. Every thing needing much attention and repair. Would love to spend some time there doing the needed work. Really very disappointed. Many displays are not under cover, so are literally rotting to nothing and have for many years. One item is a locomotive used on narrow gauge logging railroad in the woods. It was built in 1911 and it is a shame to see turning to a pile of ferric oxide. There are a lot of log buildings, which were closed, but not really taken care of properly or built with proper overhang of the roof. The logs are rotting. We would like to come back again another time - when it is open to the public.

12:30 P.M., Tilleda, Still light rain, 19.7 miles/hour.
Headed to Bowler to another museum, but could not find it. The name of the street it is on was not even on the city map! So far we are striking out. Stopped to take a picture of some trillium, our state flower, and one that Margriet had never seen up close and personal. Headed to Tilleda to turn east toward Shawano and check into the motel. Margriet decided she needed to use a restroom in a hurry! Stopped at "The Wright Place," a small bar and grill for lunch and the necessary stop. Not at all planned. Turned out the place was immaculate and the bowl of chicken noodle soup and the bowl of chili were excellent.

2:00 P.M. Shawano, Rain stopped, 17.3 miles/1½ hours.
Checked into the motel. Excellent motel. Very clean and friendly. Unloaded van and set things in place. Took a nap. Then drove "downtown" to walk the business district. Old fashioned kind, not a mall. Stopped at a bookstore and picked up a book of Robert Service’s poems for Margriet and she also picked up a book. Took some pictures of a couple of statues. One of loggers and the other of a farmer. They are constructed of ¼" steel plate, formed and welded together. Excellent!

3:00 P.M. Shawano, Cloudy with a cold wind, 1.1 mile/ hour.
Headed to find "Lark Country Store" southwest of Shawano. Margriet’s favorite place! Everything bulk and reasonably priced - bought a bunch of stuff. The store is run by the Amish community in the area. Very interesting as there is no electricity in the building. The building is a pole building with windows at the ceiling line, basement style, letting in the only light. In case they do need artificial light, there are gas lamps from the ceiling. There are two LP gas refrigerators to hold foods that need to be kept cold. Most everything in the food department are apparently bought or made bulk and repackaged in smaller amounts. All are very reasonably priced. The products through out the entire store look like they are made by Amish from across the country. Would be nice to have a store like it closer. We did buy too much and a cookbook too.

4:00 P.M. Shawano, Still cloudy and cold windy, 17 miles/hour.
Back to motel. Then to "Ponderosa Steak House" for dinner. Had a discount thanx to the motel and ate grilled salmon - good. It was the first time Margriet had been to one and it also has been many years for me. The system had changed some to order in that time, but we survived. Seemed strange to go to a steak house to eat fish though. Even had a dessert!

7:00 P.M. Shawano, Cloudy, 1.7 miles/hour.
On the return from the restaurant we stopped at Wal*Mart to pick up something to drink in the car. We forgot to bring something along. That will change in the future. On the way to the motel. The rear brakes started to make some weird noises and act a little weird. Sounded like the bonded brake pad became un-bonded from it’s backing. Not a really serious thing, but could be. Time to exert some caution while driving. Went to bed early. Very tiring day!

05/18/06,
9:00 A.M., Shawano, Still cloudy.
Early awake, 5:00 AM, the old head clock still works - set on early. Finally up about 7:30 A.M. after trying to really sleep longer but without much success. Margriet left her coffee cup in the van, so had to wait until after I had a shower for me to get her a cup at the front desk (in a cup), also some OJ and a donut. We called that breakfast today. Did a bit of writing and watching of TV news. It will be a slower ride home on the county roads today. Not much sight seeing.

11:00 A.M., Green Bay, Cloudy with spritz of light rain now and then, 47.1 miles/two hours..
Followed old highway #29 and county roads most of the way. Eventually had to go on new highway #29 for the last few miles to Woodman’s to do our supply shopping for home. The ride on the "back roads" was well worth the time. What a beautiful part of the state we live in. Coming over a rise to a sea of green fields, cut by the road which continues on to the next ridge and through a wooded section. Everything is busting out in spring colors. Beautiful! Small farms as they should be, rather than cow factories. We noticed the same in the Amish country too.

12:00 P.M., Krok, cloudy, but getting brighter, 19.9 miles/hour.
Stopped at Fleet Farm to pick up some supplies for the pending brake work on the van - just incase. Uneventful ride.

12:30 P.M., FISKLAND, Brighter, 18 miles/½ hour.
Thought we would stop at "Grandma’s Café" for lunch, but there was no place to parkl, so went to the post office and headed home.

While a lot of folks would probably think the past couple of days were a bust, we did have a good time and see some of our area. It was an interesting, even if it was some frustrating. We decided there is enough to see which we didn’t, to possibly go another time. Maybe on our way to somewhere else. It is good to be home and we both are extremely tired. To bed and sound sleep.

Chris and Margriet <><

The sun was out yesterday - really it was!

5/15/06 6:52 am.
47º F, Rain, NW wind 7 mph.

Good morning,

The sun was out for a while yesterday. It really was - for a few minutes at suppertime. The story is back to the same again this morning though - more rain. The weatherman is saying that we might see the sun again this afternoon though - but not for long. We have had well over 4" of rain in the last days. That is a bunch! We are getting very tired of the wet. Enough already! The low causing this has finally left the southern end of Lake Michigan and is finally heading east at a very slow rate. Seems we will be affected by it for the rest of the week though, more or less. When I got up this morning, it looked like a non-rain day, at least part of it. When the sun came up though, the rain came down. So much for getting outside early this morning.

While eating breakfast Saturday morning, I decided we had a case of "cabin fever" and needed to do something about it. Since we had received our new Wisconsin Maritime Museum Membership card, I figured it was time to go to the museum in Manitowoc. Since we are members, the admission price is paid for. Actually the cost of two admissions is about the same as the membership cost. It also provides a 15% discount at their gift shop, so Margriet had to put that to use also.

We had a good day and enjoyed ourselves. The last time we were there, a couple of years ago, they were in the process of remodeling the building and putting up an addition to house an old steam engine from one of the ships. The project is now complete and impressive, especially the steam engine. The engine is a triple pass, three cylinder monster something over two stories high. It is well displayed with it moving and several interactive features, allowing folks to start/stop it, blow a steam whistle, and several other parts of the engine operation. I think the engine came from a ferry, but not sure. It was built in Manitowoc by a company which is still building marine engines. It made it’s mark mostly in the fishing industry with small (actually rather large in physical size, not horsepower) one and two cylinder steam, gasoline, and diesel engines. The company story is rather impressive. They sure changed the fishing industries method of doing things, changing the industry from sail to power boats.

The rest of the museum has also been some rearranged. The displays are awesome. As is the craftsmanship displayed - impeccable! It is really interesting. There is a huge display of outboard motors of many different kinds. Some I had not heard of or seen before. They also have many wooden boats on display - really cool. One of the displays is of the old wooden strip duck hunting skiffs. It really brought back memories of our "adopted" Grandfather who built them by hand. I was some disappointed with a working display of hobby built small wooden boats. In the past when I have been there, they had an actual small rowing/sailing skiff under construction for folks to watch being built. I really liked that display. Similar to what the EAA used to do, only they were building or restoring an airplane.

After leaving the museum, we headed for lunch at a restaurant we found on our way back from the south a couple of years ago. It was next-door to the motel we stayed in. The food is still just as good and plenty of it. Margriet had a chicken pot pie which was too large for her and I had enough so could not help her eat it. I had barbequed beef short ribs with broasted potato wedges. Very good and a great plenty. I had not had short ribs for a long time and these were tender and excellent. We don’t get to Manitowoc very often, but try to stop at there when we can.

Since there as a Wal*Mart close by, we stopped and picked up an ink tank for the printer. I also found a small case to hold the flash drives we have been accumulating for this machine. One of Wartburg instructors had one a couple of months ago and I have been looking for them ever since. The flash drives are rather small and easy to lose. Until I saw the small case, I have been trying to figure out a what to keep track of them. Margriet thought it would make a good birthday present for me and I agreed. It really works well.

Since it was Mother’s Day yesterday, we spent a very lazy day. I didn’t feel up to snuff, so we played hooky from church. That is a first in a long time! I did recover enough to make a beef tenderloin for supper with mashed potatoes. I have done better on other roasts, but the potatoes turned out better. I had planned on enough leftover for breakfast this morning, but they were too good and there are no leftovers! Margriet spent most of the day reading a couple of books she got from the library the other day.

I didn’t do all that much, but did manage to see a pretty good Formula 1 race from Spain. I also printed (since I got an ink tank) out the second writing of the first draft of the book. Not too sure why, but I really was surprised at the size of the printing. It uses about one-fourth of a ream of paper, but I didn’t expect it to be that big, even though I knew it. A stack of pages over ½" thick just didn’t register in my head, until I saw it! Oh well, still a lot more re-writing to do yet.

We are thinking about heading to the Shawano area for a couple of days this week. Intend to leave Wednesday and return on Thursday again. We have to try out our Wisconsin Historical Society membership card on discounts there too. There is some history there to see. Not that long of a drive, maybe a couple of hours each way, but definitely less than a tank of gas away. Think we will be taking several short trips this summer if we can.

Time to get the day a-going

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Rain and more of it!

5/12/06 7:07 am.
39º F, Rain, ENE wind 11 mph

Good morning,

Rain and more of it. Since it started to rain, we have gotten about 4 drops less than 3"! We are expecting about another inch today. The wind has calmed down pretty much. There have been many folks with out electricity and some will not have power back until late this afternoon. Kewaunee County also had many electrical customers without power, mostly in the northwest corner of the county. One of the main lines in Door County was knocked out, leaving most of the county without power for several hours. The main line is not the real problem, it is all of the neighborhood lines that have been cut by trees falling. Some of the power line poles have also been blown down/broken by the winds. The top winds recorded were about 70 mph and most of the day the sustained wind was in excess of 35 mph. Don’t think you could even fly a kite in these winds.

Snow was also reported between here and Green Bay this morning. The northern part of the state and Upper Michigan also got about 3" of snow! The low pressure system causing all of this has been located over southwestern lower Michigan and the southern third of Lake Michigan for the past couple of days. It move northwest into it’s present location and has been wobbling in the same general area since Wednesday. It is expected to head southwest very slowly in the next few days, leaving us with more rain for that time. Think I will go uptown this morning and pick up some oarlocks to mount on the window sills. I think I have enough wood around to carve some oars from. Do I need to get some life preservers too?

The ferry to Washington Island didn’t run yesterday either. One of the TV stations interviewed the grocery store owner, via telephone, and he said the folks there don’t make a big deal of it. Just another day on the island. He did say that he was unable to get his grocery order, especially some of the weekend specials he had advertised, so just would add one more day to the length of the sale period. Guess it has happened before. Suspect the island was pretty breezy, being rather small and sitting with a lot of water around it.

This weather sure does put the kibosh on anything outside. Expect the lawn will really have a good crop to clog the lawnmower. Other than a very small patch, I have not been able to cut any of it. It also will take a couple of days for things to dry some too. All of the things growing should appreciate the water and really get to growing now.

We saw a martin run across the yard the other day (before the deluge). I have never seen one here before and it is some unusual. They are a very private animal, liking wilderness without any folks around. It is a very good looking and healthy one too. It’s fur had a high sheen to it. Wonder what brought it into this neighborhood.
I did finish the first pass at the book yesterday. I hope I can print it out today, but an running low on black in the printer, so may postpone that until after I have a new tank on hand. I don’t have any deadline to meet. 135 pages of single spaced manuscript. Normally manuscripts are written double spaced between lines, but don’t wan to use that much paper. Cheap is what I am. Does make it more difficult to correct and change with single spacing though.

We are thinking of running over to Shawano area next week and spending a couple of day looking around. There is some interesting Native American and logging sites in the area. We have driven by the area, but never really stopped to look around. Also had a couple of room mates from college days from that area. Suspect I will not look them up though.

Time to get the day a-going

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Wx2 - Wet/Windy

5/11/06 12:20 pm.
38º F, Wind/rain, N wind 21 mph.

Good afternoon,

So we are getting wet again. According to the weatherman we are short on rain, but it sure don’t look like it outside here. Water, water, everywhere. The level of Lake Michigan is also a near low point at the moment. Lowest it has been since 1964. Should be easier to catch fish since there is less water for them to hide in! Probably not. We are getting some real serious rain in the next 24 hours. We have already received over 2", equal to about 14-16" of snow, and very high winds from the northeast. Not a really good mix. I think we are expecting another inch of rain to fall yet today. The storm is really weird too as it is moving from the SSE, very slowly, through this area. The center of the low has not passed here yet!

The wind is really a problem today. I expect there will be a number of trees down in the area. I have a couple of dead treas near the driveway which are somewhat exposed to a northerly wind. It would not surprise me to see one or both down and across the driveway. Along the highway, there is a huge poplar tree dead. Some of the top branches, about 18" in diameter and 20+’ long, have broken off about 40' off of the ground. They are hanging on other branches the last time by there. Wonder if they will be on the ground the next time we go by. Real "widow makers" for sure! The power was off momentarily (just long enough to shut off all of the electronic stuff in the house.) this morning, I suspect from a tree falling somewhere. Happy I don’t work for the power company in this kind of situation.

The van has new shoes now. Got a new set of tires put on yesterday morning. Margriet decided it would be nice to have the white sidewalls showing, so that is the way they are. I don’t think any vehicle I have owned has had the whitewalls showing since the wide whitewalls disappeared! I think that was in the mid-60's or so. I was teasing the guys at the station where I got them, these probably would last for the rest of my lifetime, considering the high price of gasoline! They kind of agreed. I really am surprised how small the tires are on this van. Happy though since they also cost less. Do hope they last a long time.

While the van was up on the hoist, I looked over the under side fairly closely. About the only new thing I found was the left tie-rod end starting to show some wear. Had planned to replace all soon. Close to 140,000 miles on them should be enough! After replacing them and re-packing the front wheel bearings, I will probably have an alignment done to it. There is only one place in town which does them, so will probably schedule the job there. Wish I was still teaching in Waupaca, I could have done it myself! I really was surprised to see how good of shape the van is in. Very little to pay attention to. I like that. Hope dry warm weather comes soon - the inside really needs a good cleaning!

One of the nicest things to happen on Monday was getting a phone call and some pictures from Astrid and Onno. Of course the little squirts are the cutest and the handsomest around. Either side of the puddle! It really was good to hear Astrid’s voice. It has been a pretty long time. Sounds like everything is under control there and the kids are growing pretty fast. Judging by the pictures, M&M is really a cute little jigger. Sure do wish they all lived a bunch closer.

With the weather as it is, it is a good day to be working on the book. I have something over 125 pages together and gone though - surface-ly. I want to get through the whole thing once, getting the margins and spacing more or less in some common order. I will go through it again to get everything in correct sequence - questions and information - before really going through the entire manuscript with a fine tooth comb. Then I will probably do the same thing over again - a few more times. This phase is not all that intense, but sure does take close attention to detail rather than content. I do have some more information to include, as well as some questions for some parts. I expect the total finished book in the smaller content will be something around 200 pages - I think.

Margriet decided to tackle the closet in the bedroom today. Out goes the winter and in goes the summer! The closet is bulging too much. Some has to move into the other closet for the summer. Also I want to wash all of our winter coats, but that will happen at the laundromat another day. We might need them once or twice yet. There is a winter weather advisory up for northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan this afternoon and night. Sounds like snow is a coming there after we get wet enough.

Time to get the rest of day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Very busy weekend!

5/9/06 6:16 am.
44º F, Overcast, S wind 11 mph.

Good morning,

Well my Woman is officially graduated and a Lay Minister along with her 21 other classmates on Saturday. Of course there was a proud Old Norwegian hanging around too. She has worked very hard for the past two years and the end of this set of study has arrived. Now the real journey begins. Margriet has so many gifts, most of which she doesn’t want to acknowledge I am sure. Hope she has an opportunity to use them. If every student at the school has the same experience, I know I did, the Las School is well worth all of the work and prayer that goes into it.

It really seemed weird to go though the food line and sit down with Margriet to eat lunch after the graduation service. I think it is the first time I have gone through the line. Guess I took the graduation service as the end for my being on staff too. Now it is up to the other folks to pick up my "duties," though it will seem strange.
Margriet and I do intend to continue with Lay School, but as students in the alumni class on Friday night. It will be the first time I have had an opportunity to do that since graduating. The class is taught by Roger, retired President of Wartburg Seminary, and will consist of discussions on several books, generally a different one every month on different subjects. We got a list of the books and they total about $100.00 new. I have been looking on the web for them, but only found one so far. That book is available for down loading at no cost (like that), but have not found a source for the others - yet.

The website I found the book on ( http://www.gutenberg.org/ ) is an interesting one. It is based in Mississippi, listing something over 18,000 books which can be downloaded. Most of the "old classics" long out of print and inaccessible now. It does also have more modern volumes too. I have not had all that much time to look around the site and the books they have yet, but it something I go to every once in awhile when I am searching for something in particular.
After the graduation, we rushed right home. I had been asked to provide prayer at the celebration of our church secretary and her husband’s 50th wedding anniversary. I knew I would need take a fiver before. That sure turned out to be true. I took a fiver for over an hour and really needed to do that. I slept very soundly! Margriet had to wake me, something which almost never happens.

The anniversary celebration was a lot of fun. We didn’t stay for the dance afterwards, but certainly enjoyed our time there. There were very few folks that we knew as most were family and friends of Darlene and Kurt’s, mostly from the Chicago area. Kurt had a heart attack a week and a half before and also in the middle of cataract treatment (surgeries) so was not totally up to par, but still full of vinegar! We totally enjoyed ourselves chewing the fat with the folks. Of course the food was also very good. Darlene also remembered that Margriet had graduated on the same day and presented her with a card. Cool!

Yesterday was the day to get the lawnmower cutting the lawn. It has been a bit slower in growing than I had expected, given the warm weather of the past couple of weeks. Much to my surprise, after changing oil and getting the mower ready, it started on the first pull! I let it warm up a bit and make sure everything was operating correctly before putting on the grass catcher and start cutting. The engine had to shut off to do that of course, so started it again. Again it started on the first pull, but I had the started rope in my hand and no longer attached to the mower starter! At least the mower started and I was able to fill the catcher bag once. I started to take the starter apart for repair, but it was too close to dinner, so stopped for the day. It used to be fairly easy to remove the rewind started on this style of small engine, but this one has extra covers on it to make it look pretty and parts that used to be just held together with screws, are now riveted together, requiring more to be disassembled for repair. Progress?

Another year passed for me yesterday too. Only 100 more to go. Margriet done good by preparing an excellent pork roast with all of the trimmings for dinner. I teased her that if she had put all the candles on it, she would not need to put it in the oven - there was enough heat to cook it! It was a big roast, for us, so we will have several more celebrating meals to chew on yet. Bruce (the second best man attending our wedding) has his birthday today. Often the graduation has fallen on one or the other. Bruce and I were serenaded by the second year students in one of Bruce’s classes. The staff got together and arranged the dastardly deed! Nice.
Today Bible study is eating breakfast in Luxemburg. Don’t think we will make a trip to Green Bay, even though we will be about half way there. I have to go to Algoma and take some money from the bank. I ordered some new tires for the van yesterday and they will be installed tomorrow morning. I have been able to push off the deal until now, thanx to the high price of gasoline and therefore not traveling very much. The set I am getting are of the "all-weather" variety. Should provide a bit better traction in the winter, but I really don’t have any complaints about the present set. I have been pretty careful with the present set for the past couple of months. Hope I can get an alignment before too long too.

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

It is over!

5/5/06 6:49 am.
45º F, Cloudy, N wind 1 mph.

Good morning,

The last LSM weekend begins. My Woman graduates and I retire from the staff. Margriet has grown so much in the two years she has been a student. I don’t think there has been a student who has grown more in the decade I have been associated with LSM. I don’t think there is any bias in that statement either. Since this is spring, the analogy of a seed is very appropriate. The seed was planted a few years ago and during the past two years it grew and bloomed. One of those blooms that will not fade. It has been a real exhilaration for me to watch and be a part of.

Spring is really popping all over this area. I noticed yesterday the birch trees are in bloom, as is the rest of the plants and trees. The seed pods of various trees and plants cover the driveway. They fall other places too, but are really noticeable there. There is a lot of new growth everywhere. The rhubarb and currents are coming too. Both should be transplanted to different places. It was a good idea when I planted them, but really wasn’t. Don’t know what I was thinking, other than to get them in the ground as soon as possible. The lawn is also growing. Worked on getting the mower ready yesterday. The blade is now sharper and the oil is renewed. The actual first cutting will occur after church on Sunday at the earliest, if the weather permits.

We did get Margriet’s rose planted yesterday. No flowers yet though! I hope it takes hold and blooms for many years to come. Margriet even got a chance to use the new trowel I bought her last year. Guess she had to age it before the first use. ;-) Hopefully we can get the other flower seeds she bought in soil this weekend too. I did notice the radishes were breaking through the soil. A few peas that were too close to the surface had been exposed by the rains and they were starting to send out shoots. I covered them and hope they will come up normally.

While getting the mower ready for maintenance yesterday, I spotted a baby rabbit sitting next to the outhouse. A cute little bugger that Margriet enjoyed watching for a little bit. Watching the little bugger, it reminded me I have to get some fencing up around the "flower bed" on the south side of the house before the plants come up. I am sure the rabbits would enjoy a salad from the new shoots. I did pick up a roll of chicken wire the last time I was at Fleet Farm. For some reason they were closing it out, so the price was considerably reduced. Now I have to cut some cedar stakes to hold it in place.

I put all of the files I have on disk for the book into one large file. It should make it a bit easier to edit and get into better shape. It appears the book will be about 200 pages in length - about double what I thought it would be. I printed out what I have been working on and the rest of the pages too, in two printings. As I finish editing a page of the "new" material, I can remove it from the pile and keep track of my progress until it is complete. This is only the first draft of the rough draft, so there is a lot of work to be done yet. Since if forget so much, it really is interesting to see what has been done over the past two years that I have forgotten about. We really did get into a very deep study!

While printing out the pages of the book, I discovered something new about the new printer. It automatically prints the pages in reverse so when you remove them from the printer, the are in the correct order. Thinking I was setting the printer to do that, as on the others I have had, I set it up to print in reverse order, only to find that is what happened - the were in reverse order! Oh well, always trying to learn something. Sometimes it happens unexpectedly.

The weatherman is talking of frost tonight. Other than the cool nights, it looks to be a very nice few days ahead. This is the opening weekend of fishing season in the state too. Should be nice weather for that too. Not many boats in the harbors yet. Fewer than normal it appears. I have not heard if they are catching anything of note either. There have been a few fishermen in the Kewaunee River where we cross it on the way to Green Bay, but have not seen any fish. Next week I can buy a fishing license for cheap!

Time to get the day a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

Brood is coming! Mmmmmmmmmm!

5/4/06 12:15 pm.
58º F, Warm sun, W wind 6 mph.

Good afternoon,

What a nice day! The sun is really bright! Nice breeze. The humidity has really dropped!!! There is no predictions of rain until about Tuesday next week. Hooray! There is, however, a real possibility of frost overnight on Friday or Saturday nights. Hope we can enjoy less water around here.

Margriet is in the mood to build bread today. I don’t think I will mess with that thought either! At the moment two loaves are rising and soon the wonderful aroma of baking bread will be filling the house. Almost the best room freshener there is - after Lutefisk! We have a large pan of cookies ready to take to church on Sunday too. She forced me to eat those which weren’t that "pretty" to take. Since all of the baking going on, she hasn’t planted her rose yet either. Maybe there will be some time an energy left in her to do it this afternoon. I ain’t gonna’ argue with her when she has it in her hands for sure. The main stem is about as big as my thumb - with very long sharp thorns on it.

It was really interesting watching the webcam from Enschede ( http://www.enschede.nl/SPY/CamPage.htm ) Saturday. It was their national "Queen’s Day" being celebrated instead of the real day on Sunday. The square was filled with people and there were small stands down the connecting streets selling things to anyone who would buy. Not a vehicle in sight! Really was cool to watch. Curiosity really got to me, wondering what was being sold in the stands. Probably would have not bought much if I had been there, but sure would have had fun looking. Kind of window shopping without windows! Friday there was a wedding and I was up early enough to watch the bride walk across the square in her long white gown into the city building to be married.
Today is the Dutch Memorial Day and tomorrow is their Liberation Day. The schools are out for "May Vacation" so imagine there are a lot of folks doing/going somewhere. While there was some extra activity in the square, it was not as much as on Saturday. Some of the first pictures Margriet sent to me were of Queen’s Day before we met, nose to nose.

Tuesday when we were in Fleet Farm (www.millsfleetfarm.com ), they had candy circus peanuts and saltwater taffy on sale. We had been talking about the taffy a couple of days before. Margriet knew nothing of it, so when I saw them HAD to pick up a bag. I also asked her if she had seen the circus peanuts before. She hadn’t, so bought a bag of those also. The taffy is actually a fake, but tastes fairly good. We will have to look for some real saltwater taffy, so she can taste the real thing. The peanuts I have not had for years, so I guess I have enjoyed them more than she has as I have eaten most of them.

I continue to work on the book and Margriet continues to proofread the pages. I still am having some problems with the layout that the printer likes (or I figure it out someday), so am having to redo some pages. Not too sure of all of the in’s and out’s of the machine yet. Emptied my first ink tank this morning. Sure doesn’t go as far as the only printer. When I opened the package, I was surprised to find a postage paid envelop inside to return the empty tank to the company for recycling. Cool idea! I see some of the stores are offering a discount on a new tank if you bring in the old one. Unfortunately, not the kind we use. Seems the landfills are having a problem with old ink tanks and old computer equipment. Sounds like there are some nasty chemicals in them which don’t dispose of well.

We shared making supper last night. I made the meat and Margriet made the cabbage. Decided to use the deep fryer again, this time with some pieces of pork roast. I cut a small roast into three smaller pieces, then dipped them in an egg mixture before rolling them in seasoned bread crumbs. The end result was rather good, but think I will make the pieces smaller next time and cook them for a shorter time. The pork was really good with the cabbage and applesauce as a side-dish. A do-again for sure.

Time to get a-going - waiting for the smell of fresh bread to fill the house any moment now.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

A really good day.

5/3/06 12:13 pm.
48º F. Sunny/humid, SSW wind 18 mph.

Good afternoon,

At the moment it is a nice day, but humid. It feels something like walking in a cloud. Yesterday was also nice, but it did rain last night. We went to Green Bay on a supply trip, discovering it was about 20º F warmer there than here. Sure glad I had a flannel shirt on in the 75º F temperature! It really turned out to be a nice day for most of the day.

The real highlight of the day was Bible study. Since it was the last for me leading, at least for a while, the folks got together and presented me with a card and a plaque to hang on the wall. The plaque is in the form of a cross with John 3:16 in raised letters on it. We will need to find an empty space on a wall to hang it. I really appreciate the good wishes and the support the folks have given me. It has been so neat to be an instrument of God to help folks stretch and expand. It has been a real eye-opener to watch the folks grow. Now I can do a little sitting back and participating more than trying to provoke discussion.

The Bible study itself was less intense than normal. Kind of a summary. The point of this last study was to get folks to want to attend our Monday night prayer services. After two years of talking about it and prayer, it still came as a shock to a couple of folks. I invited them to join me in attending this coming Monday night. We will see what happens. But I did have some commitments. I also had some private discussions with others who are still questioning.

Of course another topic of discussion was to "elect" someone to take over and what path to follow next. My good friend Helen said she would. But would use a published study on some subject, which she didn’t know. We are to come up with ideas for her to consider. Since we are having breakfast next week, it will give her some time to get her "act" together. She will do well. We also had to decide where we would be having breakfast. Guess we will be heading to Luxemburg to eat at a restaurant we stop in often on our way to Green Bay. Good food and reasonable prices. Never have had breakfast there though.

On one of our previous supply trips, I picked up a jar of "bumbleberry" jam. Never heard of that before! Looking at the ingredients, it looks like they swept up the floor and put it into a jar. There are several kinds of berries in the mix. Doesn’t really taste too bad either! I took it to Bible study yesterday, along with the fixings to make biscuit. The biscuits didn’t turn out as good as normal, a lot heavier than usual. I think the oven was not hot enough when I put the dough into the oven causing the problem. The jam on them went over pretty well though.

Since my Woman is graduating from LSM this weekend, we decided to buy a rose plant to honor the occasion. It is a big stemmed honker with some very large thorns on it too! Will have to be careful planting it. Supposedly it smells more than other roses, so was an attraction to Margriet. Time will tell when it blooms next year. Margriet has said she will plant it today, but is making cookies at the moment. Seems I have to bring snacks to church after the second service on Sunday. It will be a busy weekend for us.
I do have to get tires for the van rather soon. I have been putting it off for some time, thanx to not driving much on high priced gasoline. I am not looking forward to the expenditure at all. One advantage to the high gas prices is the postponement of the purchase and few normal maintenance tasks on the vehicles. It really is shocking how high the price has risen, though I see the price in Kewaunee has dropped a couple of cents in the last few days.

The countryside is really greening up. Of course the rains have helped that a lot. The marsh marigolds are now in full bloom and buds/ leaves are popping out on every other plant. Soon we will not be able to see the road from this chair. While picking up the rose plant, we also picked up a few packages of seeds too. Not too much, just a couple of herbs and flowers, along with some vegetables. Would be nice to have some fresh vegetables again. They seem to taste so much better when it is no more than five minutes from plant to belly!

It appears we have some weather moving in at the moment. Severe weather warnings have just gone up to the southeast of us. Heading in our direction. Should be over by 2:00 pm. says the weatherman.

Time to get a-going and close thing up some.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><

More drip-ity drip!

5/1/06 12:08 pm.
44º F, Rainy, SSE wind 15 mph.

Good afternoon,

Drip-ity drip! So goes the last couple of days. Not what you would call nice working days outside. One consolation is that the NASCAR rained out yesterday, is on TV now. Temperatures have been in the mid-40's for highs and some nasty winds off of the lake, at least yesterday. Really drove the moisture though one’s clothing. Bet there were not too many fishermen out on the lake either. Not only cold, but rather windy! The fish were safe I think.

Yesterday was a very busy day at church - baptism and a renewal of wedding vows. Grandchild of one family in our congregation who had a rough life so far. She was born a bit premature and suffered from some medical problems. She sure is a strong little gal now though. Her Dad had a lung collapse last Tuesday for some reason, but was at the service.

The wedding vow renewal happened to be on the fortieth wedding anniversary of the parents of one of our members. It was kind of cool as they were married a couple of years after I was for the first time. It was fun to talk with Warren about the "good-old-days" and to look at the "old" pictures of the time. A time when the women had "big" hair and us guys just had hair! I got to know Warren a bit while working at Dale’s. He and his ex-son-in-law would come in often to pick things to use at the campground they operated. The ex-son-in-law, as far as I was concerned, I always thought as a arrogant jerk and proved it a couple of years ago when he filed for divorce. I think Warren was his commanding officer when they both were in the Air Force in Alaska. Nanette is a sweet gal who didn’t earn this deal. She still runs the campground and her parents still come during the summer to help run it.

After church we went on our normal trek after church to Algoma to check out the town. Nothing at the grocery store on anything like a real special, so left empty handed. After stopping there, we stopped for a bowl of soup and a sandwich at Penguin City. Was some busier as we were there later, thanx to a long service at church. The special of the day, and our fare, was cream of broccoli soup with a ham-salad sandwich. It has been a long time since I have had ham-salad and could have eaten a lot more of them. I did get full though, as Margriet was filled up too much with the soup. I had to keep her from the embarrassment of leaving food on her plate, by eating half of her sandwich!

I have been working on the prayer book a lot yesterday. Managed to scan a couple of units into it and am not integrating with what Bruce has gone over. There are still several units to integrate, and one or two to scan, into it. It is working a lot better now that I have gone to the large page size. Looks weird though after seeing it on the smaller page so long. I also have made a couple more layout changes to make the pages work better and stay within the printer needs too. Much happier now doing the work.

Margriet made a loaf of frozen bread dough Saturday that we bought a bit ago. It turned out very well. Even met Margriet’s approval! I sure like it. Guess the consciences Margriet came to is that it is a do again. Would not be surprised to see some frozen dough in the freezer once in a while. I know it is good as toast with cinnamon and sugar on! Margriet thought so too.

This weekend is the last of LSM for us, more or less. Margriet graduates! I still am amazed at the growth she has made these last couple of years. Much more than I thought possible. Really cool.

Looking for something "Norwegian" on the web, I ran across a couple of neat websites: www.globetrotters.ch and http://www.wanderlust.net . They are about some folks who built, or had built, a couple of motorhomes for some serious off-road traveling! The websites also show some of where they have been and how they got there. While it is fascinating to look at and read, but way too expensive for our petty cash account! Sure would like to ride along and/or help build the machines though.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,


Chris <><