A really fine day

January 9, 2007 (1:04pm)
19º F, Sun & partly cloudy, W wind 12 mph.

Good afternoon,

We had a very nice day yesterday. We met our friend, Bruce (the second best man in/at our wedding), in Two Rivers for lunch and some fat chewing! We "done good" at both. It really was nice to sit and catch up on all that has been going on in our lives. Bruce was the instigators of LSM and have known him since it started. A really good friend. Of course we did have a few lies to swap too.

Bruce drove up from Manitowoc to Two Rivers and we drove down from FISKLAND to meet in the "middle." The restaurant we ate at is on the shore of one of the Two Rivers in Two Rivers and we sat at a window booth. Since it was a very nice day, we really had a nice vies of the river and surrounding area. Surprisingly, it was very un-busy, so we sat a talked over coffee longer than normal. Very enjoyable. As we are, Bruce is slowing down the number of activities he continues to be involved in. Seems that grandkids attract more of his time than at first expected, much to his liking. Unfortunately they are spread away from home, so he makes a trip periodically to get his "Grandpa fix." But not as often as he would like.

After we solved all of the world’s problems, Margriet and I drove to Manitowoc to do our supply run. Actually it seems weird to meet Bruce in another town than Manitowoc, then driving there to shop. Maybe next time we will organized things better and meet in Manitowoc. There were not too many items that we needed right away. It was a good thing too, as the prices of food in that town (Even at Aldi’s) are much higher than we are used to in Green Bay. Passed on a number of things, waiting until we get to Green Bay. We did stop at one store in Two Rivers, which also used to be much more reasonable than now. We stopped in Kewaunee on the way through to pick up a couple of items that were cheaper here than there. That surprised us some. Still forgot to pick a couple of things up, so will have to go into town today anyway.

The price of gasoline has come down some. It was $ 2.289/gallon here and $2.299/gallon in Two Rivers and Manitowoc. That is until we drove back. The prices dropped, or were dropping as we drove by, to $2.229/gallon! At least it is headed in the right direction, but fear it will stop dropping soon. The price of crude is as low as it was on June 15, 2005. Just for the heck of it, I looked up what we paid then - $2.159/gallon. Really would like to see it drop below $2.00/gallon again so we could do some traveling again. Much to show my Woman of this country yet.

The New Year’s Frog has come and gone, and so has our Christmas tree. It went out a few days ago. Normally I will stick it in the snowbank along the driveway for Margriet to put bread and like that on it for the birds. Not possible this year - there is no snow or snowbank! Just brown grass. It looks very forlorn laying on the grass, waiting for some snow to come to stand tall again. Birds probably would like it too.

Just finished having a bowl of soup from the new batch I made Monday and today. Cooked down some beef bones on Monday and that almost was a disaster. I make the soup in one of the larger pressure cookers we have, but without the weight in place. It allows the cooking to be more contained, and when I put the pan outside instead of the refrigerator, keeps the critters out too. Anywho, it came to a boil so I wanted to slow it down some to simmer for a time. Guess I didn’t realize how hard it was boiling and when I unlocked the cover, about a quart of boiling liquid came our with some vigor. Fortunately, it didn’t get on me, but the stove, counter, and floor were a mess. My Woman insisted she should clean it up. Feel some guilty about that too. I let it simmer for some time, peeled the meat off of the bones, and put it out for the night. This morning I added a couple of handfuls of dehydrated vegetables, some noodles, and some sliced celery along with a can of diced tomatoes. The results were rather good - even if I do say so my self. Had to have two bowls of it!

In yesterday’s mail, we got a catalog from Elderhostels explaining their programs and trips for old folks. Some of them really looked interesting. Some are fairly reasonably priced too, at least for what you receive during them. One takes a train from Milwaukee to Saint Paul and back over 6 days. All of the meals, lodging, train, and activities are included. Others go to Alaska ( but the transportation there is more than going to the Netherlands ) and other places in and out of the U.S. We were very surprised at the number of programs/trips offered. Fun looking though the catalog. That part doesn’t cost anything.

Today is the coldest in the past 30 days and it still is above normal temperature outside. The wind is really ripping too, making it really feel cold for us folks spoiled by the hot weather of recent weeks. The high temperature records that have been broken are from the mid-40's and the 1880's. Seems like a cycle happening every 60 years or so I would guess. Reading our local newspaper, we see that there also have been some very large snowstorms too at this time of year during the past 125 years. Kind of fun reading the "latest news" from long ago.

Time to get a-going.

In Christ My Saviour,

Chris <><