Brilliant Blueberries

November 2016 is in the books as one of the warmest in records here in central Wisconsin, and it was delightful.  Mark was able to find fresh raspberries until the middle of the month….all-time longest season for the fall berries.  Hilde was out digging around and clean-up weeding until mid-month also.  Together, they dug the carrots, harvested swiss chard of gigantic size and finished cutting and taking the final four loads of prickly ash, sumac and honey suckle out of the east fence.  Spock enjoyed chasing leaves and climbing each and every tree on the place.

Swiss Chard

It was such a relief to have the election over and the barrage of ads, calls and mailings stop.  Other countries manage with a much shorter election cycle…this one felt like the old saw about banging your head on the wall because it feels so good when it is over.  Only time will tell how much of the campaign rhetoric will actually materialize.

Hilde was down for half the month with a nasty virus turned to lung infection so vicious that when Mark dragged to the urgent care they tested for whooping cough and put her on home quarantine her until testing proved that not to be the case.  She was determined to attend the November County Board for the budget vote (absence is effectively a no vote) but it was a near thing as to endurance.  Thank goodness for modern antibiotics which meant that the plans for Thanksgiving did not need to be canceled.

Form work

Mark and Hilde went to Jim and Kayme’s for Thanksgiving and were delighted to do child care for the preceding day.  Even low on energy, Hilde enjoyed time with the grand kids, dipping pretzels, rocking Caleb to sleep and hearing Rhiannon play piano.  Those kids are just a big bundle of fun.  Jim and Kayme have completed the downstairs room for visitors, and it is very nice indeed.  John and Evie came up on Thanksgiving so the Henkels were all together.  The three males did some preliminary work on the 7^th dan form….good to see them practicing together again.

Dr Rhi and Princess Ro with Aunt Evie and Caleb

Hutkowski moving marvels with Jenifer, Mark, Gail, Sandy

November was not only transitional month for seasons, but a professional one for Mark.  After just over 20 years, the First Law Group got an offer they couldn’t refuse for their building, and when discussing going forward elsewhere, it became apparent that it was the ideal time to go separate ways.  Mark elected to set up a small office within the new Jenifer Binder Law office, but with every intention of only part-time and working from home mostly.  The details of incorporation, insurance, websites, signs, etc seemed endless, while sorting through twenty years of dead and open files led to mountains of shredded paper.  The huge numbers of document boxes carried up and out provided quite a workout for Mark.  Around 40 of those ended up stored in the home basement, many more at the new office, which is Henkel Legal Services LLC, 3313 Church Street, Stevens Point.  Sandra’s family came with trucks, trailers and manpower to move the files, furniture and everything in just over 2 hours.

With all this going on in the last half of the month, Mark only managed a couple times to hunt, and did not get a deer this year.  That is probably for the best, since the above took LOTS of time, and butchering does take a bit.

Now, the brilliant final leaves of early November are gone, the trees are bare, and ground saturated from late heavy rains, so Mark and Hilde are turning their attention to  Advent and Christmas.  The lights are up outside, the snow fence put up, and the holiday baking begun.

Jim with his cuddlers:  Rhi, Caleb, Rowan

Awesome October 2016

What an awesome October everyone in Wisconsin has enjoyed!  The fall colors were fabulous, the weather warm (for October) and just all-over fine.  Mark and Hilde enjoyed frequent trips to various lovely spots, like Lake Emily, Lake Sherwood, Horicon Wildlife Refuge, Hartman Creek, and a conservancy area by West Bend.  Wisconsin put on quite a show this year, not the most brilliant colors, but a slow segue from one highlight to another.

The garden is finally finished in Rudolph, with squashes and pumpkins gathered in and the last of the peppers and eggplants enjoyed.  All the fencing has been pulled out (this is major exercise), rolled up and the posts extracted from the heavy clay.  It has been fun sharing the squash and pumpkins with family and friends, plus baking up some of the special pumpkin recipes.  Harvest time is a wonderful time.  The only thing NOT so enjoyable is butchering chickens, but Mark and Hilde managed that on a chilly morning and now the freezers are packed with goodness.  The fall raspberries continued to yield sweetness through October, with no hard freeze!

With the fine weather, traveling was a pleasure and having people come to Rudolph was great.  Alana and Justin brought little Thomas to meet us, John and Evie came for a weekend and Mark and Hilde stuffed in a short visit to Sussex to see Jim, Kayme and their lively brood.  Rhiannon played Jesus Loves Me…she is doing so well at music and reading.  John and Evie’s visit surrounded the celebration of life for Evie’s grandfather, John Webb, who truly had a life to celebrate.  The memorial services were filled with musical talent from his descendants.

 

While Hilde was canning, jamming and baking up all the goodies, Mark was dealing with a different sort of harvest.  The First Law Group building was sold as of the end of October and the six partners met, discussed and finally decided their practices would work best in a new set-up.  The exact format, location and other details are still being worked on.   All Hilde asks is that last year’s lawsuit, which has gone up on appeal, does NOT result in another December in rural Iowa!

There was another happy addition to the clan as Hilde’s niece Rachel had a sweet little daughter named Elliana Rae.  Jim and Kayme’s Rowan turned FOUR in October---she is the most cuddly sweetheart, with a big smile.  Hope that your fall has been this much fun!

 

Super Stuffed September 2016

Giant rutabaga

September was seriously over-stuffed with both Mark and Hilde running at high speed.  It was a fine month for the bounty of garden (and rain) which kept the Henkels busy.  Having harvest coincide with all the budget meetings for Wood County is often a challenge, but this year more meetings (due to a serious budget shortfall) were wedged into Hilde’s schedule and a tasty avalanche of tomatoes meant many batches of tomato soup were cooked up and tucked into the freezer.  Friends and family benefited from the surplus---some 24 boxes of tomatoes were shared with neighbors, black belts, friends and First Law Group folks.  A dozen giant rutabaga were dug, with the surplus going to St. Paul’s fall bizarre, and for the first time the grape vine on the chimney produced enough for Hilde to made wild grape jelly---nummy!  Many batches of zucchini muffins and bread were frozen, corn relish made and even basil dried with only a tiny fire in the microwave.

Gordons Resort Door County

All month, Mark was in lots of meetings, as the law firm contemplated an offer for their building on Hoover.  Late in the month, with closing date set for late October, the hunt for new quarters began, entailing more meetings.  This will be a challenge, but surely is an interesting one.  In between meetings, Mark finally achieved an end to leaks from the main shed roof AND the roofers discovered the short length where the ice and water shield had failed to  adhere, solving the  5 months of leaks into Jim’s closet area.  This made everyone very happy!  Mark spent lots of time clearing and hauling brush from the fencerows…lots more to do on that before winter.

Mark checks new location for law firm?

It wasn’t all work:  Mark and Hilde took a short break in Door County enjoying the views and  hikes, enhanced by no cell coverage so no one could call them!  Hilde had a great day of face-to-face scrabble with Irene and the 50^th reunion of Mark’s class from Winnebago Lutheran Academy was very pleasant.  Hilde ‘s extra meetings included a preparedness demo from a pipeline company and a day tour of Wood County projects, getting out on cranberry marshes, farm, airport and tour of waste treatment (more interesting than you would guess).  Getting outside for meetings is much better than sitting in the courthouse.

WLA reunion

Hilde’s mother scared them a little as she was admitted to hospital and had heart catherization, but now seems to be doing fine.  Hilde’s niece Leslie got engage, so next year will bring a wedding.  And Mark and Hilde acquired a sleek little black cat named Spock, who is a real cuddler and lively, too.  He is being kept mostly on the porch until the other, uninvited, visitors are eliminated.  Skunks have been rooting up the Henkel lawn and two neighbors.  Soon they will get taken care of.

Really tall sunflower

Combining business with pleasure, Mark and Hilde stopped en route to the counties convention to take Hilde’s mother to dinner.  Unfortunately a total downpour occurred as they arrived at a closed restaurant, but only Terri and Hilde got really wet.  Jim and Kayme brought the kids over for a fun family meal at Culvers.  Watching grandkids enjoy ice cream is a grand way to end the summer months!

In between all these activities, the Henkels took time to walk, take pictures, and just give thanks for the beauty of late summer and fall.  Everywhere they looked, there was color and abundance and lushness.   “Every prospect pleases” surely applies to fall in Wisconsin.

Awesome August 2016

What an awesome August!  From the first to the 31^st there were visitors, trips to meet with family, and lots and lots of great food.  In Rudolph, like most of Wisconsin, there were many very warm, humid days, abundant rain and continuing greenness, providing a fantastic finale to summer.

As always, Mark and Hilde enjoyed most of all the family moments.  John and Evie stopped in overnight en route to the UP for Evie to be recognized for her work with the dwarf ferns, then both sons and daughters-in-laws came for another overnighter, as John and Evie headed to her parents’ 40^th anniversary gathering, and Jim and Kayme went to Rice Lake for the baptism of Thomas Laufman.  The delightful overlap allowed for a casual family photo used above and a good dose of cuddling of grandchildren. 

Hilde enjoyed a ladies luncheon with gold friends and at the end of the month, Mark had his trial team of Eric Johnson and Sandy Hutkowski out for corn roast on a perfect evening.

Mark again spent considerable time on roof work as he continues to tighten and waterproof the big shed.  After about 30 years, these metal roofs do need adjusting, especially since the large doors allow for considerable updraft pressure to loosen things. It  was challenging to find times which were good for the work, with intense heat (he didn’t want to be cooked), frequent storms (also wanted to avoid lightning and being blown off) and heavy dews (slippery!).  The devout hope is that things are now shipshape up there.

Hilde’s list of meetings included the first ethics committee meeting in 6 years (no scandals, just new members and update), one meeting held in an event barn (hot, noisy with fans so they had to use microphones, and shortened by a sudden storm during the field tour), and a joint meeting which brought two dozen folks together and seemed to have no purpose.  Her time was mostly devoted to canning and freezing with a great pile of golden corn put away, crabapple jelly, stewed tomatoes, tomato juice and tomato sauce all made and stored up and dozens of zucchini goodies baked and frozen.  What a bounty!

Mark and Hilde continued the tradition of a day at Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac with Jim and family.  This year Caleb could participate on the rides and enjoy the animals, and despite 92 humid degrees, it was a wonderful day with the loved ones.  The grandkids grow up so fast:  at the end of the month, Rhiannon started kindergarten and Rowan 3 day a week preschool!

 

For the trip to visit John and Evie, lots of tomatoes and other foods were in brought along and AGAIN Mark was up on a roof---this time working with John to replace the rotted cedar siding on the south side.  Despite two rains and oppressive conditions, Mark and John completed the job in good order, with Evie and Hilde working as the ground crew.

A few oddities occurred during August.  Hilde managed a long slide on hot bacon grease without burning self but she did have a lot of bacon grease to wash up from cupboards, counters, floor and even on muffins.  A couple days after that, the Henkels were awakened at 4 am by the sound of clothes pole and long shelf coming down in their walk-in closet.  That was a day of fix up and pick up which had not been on any agenda!

The entire month was lush and  busy, but there were two other special moments.  Mark ended up baling straw on the neighbor’s farm one  day with perfect conditions, shining golden straw and a cloudless sky.  It was the first time he had been out baling in about 25 years, and he enjoyed it very much.  And one Sunday evening, Hilde and Mark went in to stroll on the Green Circle in Stevens Point with time to sit and ‘be still’ while the sunset gilded the trees along the Wisconsin.  Times like that are to be treasured.