June 2014: Joys and Germs

Jim dancing with Rhiannon

June has been full of ups and downs for the Henkels.  It was a beautiful month from the early garden sprouts to the lovely catalpa blossoms, but the many storms with downpours, winds and even outages made for some difficulties.

Since Mark had to go to Mason City Iowa early in the month, Hilde got to try out video conferencing through the county iPads---worked very well except for the confusion of trying to watch, listen and then take notes on the laptop.   Hilde kept trying to control the laptop through the touchscreen of the iPad.  Then home for three other meetings, before heading south.

June is the month for weddings and on the 7th, the family gathered for the wedding of Hilde’s niece Heidi and her new spouse Erich.  What a lovely wedding, held on the Orchard farm with everything carefully set up and every country touch.  Rhiannon and Rowan were the flower girls although Rowan beelined for Mom as soon as she saw her.  The girls were adorable in little dresses made by Grandma Fritz.  Rhiannon declared herself a princess and danced with both her Daddy and the bride and groom at the ‘ball’.  Having all the Bormanns together for the wedding was special.  Hilde’s mother Arlene retired early, not before she had some special words with the bridal couple, and blew bubbles with Rhi and Ro.

Mark managed to get some work done with Jim before the wedding, helping insulate and drywall.  During that time, Hilde had a great time playing with the girls and kept them swinging for a couple hours.  They love the playset the neighbor gave them!  Kayme has been making good progress with the greening of the kitchen cupboards despite the strenuous schedule, which is really changing the look of the kitchen.  Right after the wedding, Jim took two  three week courses on his ministry certification….lots of reading and writing, but he got both done.

Sounds like great times, but right after the wedding, Hilde got very sick, and after it got way beyond a cold, Mark ended up hauling her to urgent care on Father’s Day.  An assortment of medication helped get the green goo out of her lungs and eventually the appetite and energy came back…not before she managed to infect Mark, however.  So basically for three weeks things were in icky-sicky mode in Rudolph.  Hilde was improved enough to drive Mark to the doctor when he was at his worst.  There are some nasty bugs out there---avoid them if possible.

Rhi and Ro, to and fro--happy!

 

June always means a lot of lawn mowing, weeding and more weeding.  In addition, Mark re-laid the retaining wall and has been making progress on some of his radio projects, and Hilde has been sewing more, after struggling mightily with some Tshirt dresses for the girls.  Having the sewing machine eat the fabric makes for a slow go on those things.  Now she wants to work on some of her fabric stash!

Mark has finally gotten some of his schedule set for all the trials.  He will have four 2 or 3 week trials in the next 10 months, plus they will try to fit in the re-trial of one the appeals court returned for fix-up.   He will be a busy man---one is in Minnesota, one in Iowa and one in North Carolina.  Hilde is planning full-time support, so things will be hectic.  Most people slow down in their sixties, but Mark seems to favor a grand finale to finish with.

                          

Mark re doing the retaining wall

Jim, David and Heidi, the lovely bride

Kayme with Rowan and Rhiannon

May 2014--A Delightful Month!

Wow!  May was quite a month, and so full of fresh air and exercise that Mark and Hilde feel like they have been in training.  Being home and having good weather has led to lots of things getting done and a wonderful  month of flowers and  greening.  The extra long winter meant that spring was compressed into a ‘fast-forward’ mode, with each day bringing new flowers and bird visitors, so the air was sweet with fragrance and alive with birdsong.  Can’t ask for much more than that!

Rowan and Rhiannon like their shades!

Mark and Hilde enjoyed tripping into the woods for the wild flower succession, from the first bloodroot and plum brush to the lush hepaticas, trilliums and marsh marigolds.  But they also spent many happy hours weeding the three berry batches, cutting up, splitting and stacking the  dead wood, mowing, planting and pruning and just working outside.  Since there was plenty of rain, the lawn and gardening is off to a very good start! The major push was over Memorial Day weekend, when both of the very large gardens were planted, just before an inch of rain to settle things in.  Mark also yanked out the defunct cherry bush hedge, after many years of lovely flowers.  The only down side of the outdoor work was the ticks and, in the end of the month, jumbo mosquitoes.  The mosquitoes , as often seems to happen with a short  spring, were voracious even in high sun when Hilde painted picnic tables and benches.  While the ‘senior’ Henkels were aching after some of the heaviest exertions, as Mark pointed out, ”we did it and kept doing.”

Mark yanking out bushes

May was a great month for socializing and getting together with friends.  Hilde enjoyed lunches with Alana, Donna, Claudette, the crafts gals, Dr. Stevens and meeting Mark at the river for lunch.  There were many things to celebrate in May, with graduations, birthdays and anniversaries.  Having such abundant and wonderfully scented flowers on the fruit trees and exuberant blossom on the lilacs and bushes made the Henkel hilltop just delightful.  It was a great month to give thanks and rejoice.

plum brush

Coffee supervises the labor force

Apple trees, cherry trees and crabapples on right--delicious promise!

April 2014

Ray Bormann, 1929 - 2014

The month of April brought change, sorrow, gatherings, good-byes, all set in weather that refused to really warm up.  Early in the month, Hilde’s father, Ray, was moved to hospice as his condition worsened steeply.  The folks at AngelsGrace kept him free from pain and ministered too to the family members as they came to say good-bye, to spend time just sitting quietly, and praying with him.  He died April 18, very quietly slipping away.  Almost all of his large family was able to gather for the funeral April 25.  The services and visitation brought in people from all over and the family really appreciated the sympathy and respect paid to their loved one.

In the shadow of this big change, daily activities somehow continued for Mark and Hilde as they finished a very productive maple syrup season despite snow and cold, dealt with technology challenges and got seedlings started for the eventual garden.  They upgraded their home computer (good-bye XP, you were great!), learned some of the tricks of Windows 8 and Hilde was issued an iPad from the county.

Mark and Hilde shared Easter with John and Evie, enjoying their company, their newly floored home, a delicious meal and worshiping together.  Before and after the observances for Hilde’s father, they were also cheered and comforted by time in Sussex with Rhiannon and Rowan.  Those girls are growing fast and Rowan’s vocabulary growing by leaps and bounds as she tries to catch up with big sister.  Mark got to do some work with Jim in the garden and yard, so both enjoyed that.

 

The taekwondo front was active also.  Mark and Hilde assisted Dr. Stevens with the April testing, then Hilde and Karen Johnson taught an introduction to self-defense on UW-Stevens Point for the Women’s Resource Center which was lively and very well attended.  Mark and Dr. Stevens traveled up to Wausau to teach a seminar on board-breaking.

As April ends with lots of cold rain, the pure white of bloodroot is still pursing and waiting for warmth and sunshine, the fields are soaked and farmers fretting about delays, and folks are hoping that May will bring more seasonal weather and spring flowers.

Evie and John Easter

April 4 weather delayed cooking

March 2014

Mark and John lay floor

March was a whirlwind month---much happening in the Henkel and Bormann families and Wisconsin did not make anything easy with the third coldest March on record.  In fact, March did not come in like a lion, nor a lamb, it was more like a polar bear!   Several days started at minus 11 and 12 before Mother Nature relented and things thawed a couple of days.  Then more snow and cold---winter just didn’t want to end.

Mostly, March was full of family for Mark and Hilde, with the big item being helping John and Evie move into their new house in Palatine.  It is a lovely split level (houses in that area do not have real basements) and a fenced yard with a glassed in shed for plants—perfect!  John and Evie decided to redo the floor throughout the house, so first order of business was picking up the rental truck and 3,000 pounds of wood flooring.  It was loaded with a forklift, but the senior Henkels kept up with the other three in unloading it carton by 45-pound carton.  By noon, with two loads of larger items removed from the condo, the moving part was over and the flooring was well begun.  Mark and John worked at laying the floor in the master bedroom, and then everyone helped remove carpet, padding and the amazing number of staples in the great room floor.  By the time Mark and Hilde headed home on, John and Evie had moved into the master bedroom, Genghis  was settling in and the first rows of the great room floor were fitted.

Mark and Hilde also got to visit with Jim, Kayme and the girls in March, with Mark and Jim working together on constructing a workbench and Hilde delighting in Rhiannon and Rowan.  They are both growing and getting much better at communicating what they want.  Going to church with the family always makes a visit special.  Mark, Hilde and Jim were able to go to Waukesha and visit both Arlene, Hilde’s mom, and Ray, Hilde’s dad  Arlene has settled in to Linden Heights and is sharing her sewing and tailoring skills with some of the other folks.  Ray was happy to see family, but tired very quickly.

The only non-family travel was Mark’s quick flight to Michigan for depositions.  Due to weather other conferences and depos were done over the phone or by skype.  Technology really helps reduce hours on the road for him.  Mark also got one huge white pine and a dead maple safely cut down and most of the mess from that cleaned up.  

Despite the cold weather, Mark and Hilde finally tapped some 50 trees down in their swamp on the 28^th.  That was the first time the snow was so deep that not only could they not reach the trees on the ATV—they ended up using snowshoes and a sled.  The last days of the month were the first of the very late sap run, with very challenging and aerobic conditions for hauling the pails of sap out of the woods.  But it did finally start warming and the snow finally began to recede so it could be called semit-lamblike!

Rowan and Rhiannon with pink treasure box

Dad and Hilde March 9

Mark on snowshoes tapping first tree March 28

Frigid, frosty February 2014

Short month, many snows

Chocolate Valentines for the sweet R-s

 Snow and cold, cold and snow---February 2014 was challenging for everyone.  Mark was out plowing and shoveling almost every day---especially when the snow piled up on both sides of the back cellar door and refilled with snow over and over.  He got lots of fresh (frigid) air and exercise this month!  This winter is one for the record books, unfortunately, both for sub-zero days and for precipitation.  However, the entertainment of the Winter Olympics made the month go by quickly.

The most exciting news of the month was John and Evie buying a house in Palatine.  Mark and Hilde were able to go down and see the place before the deal became final—it is open and airy with a deck which will emerge from heaps of snow and be a great place to sit out, with a fenced  yard for Genghis. They will be moving next month.  The parental visit included John and Evie taking Mark and Hilde out for dinner on their 42nd wedding anniversary (first one celebrated in Illinois) and very special to be together.

During the month, three friends lost their brothers, and along with sympathy, Mark and Hilde were able to help one of them by covering the UWSP taekwondo classes for her (Hilde five days and Mark one when the roads were exceptionally bad!).  Teaching taekwondo to college students is a lot of fun, and much different from working with 8 and 9 year olds!

Hilde’s father went a little downhill during the month.  He fell from his wheelchair and broke his hip, needing surgery to place a rod in the femur.  His patience and sweet temper are both still there, but his memory is clouding further.  It is a blessing that five of Hilde’s siblings are fairly close by, with Terri and Laure visiting very often.  Jim and Kayme’s Toyota had the transmission die, so they got a Nissan Rogue, between bouts of snow and bugs.  Their girls’ will surely be healthy in the future, after this winter of bugs for them.  They got chocolate valentines from their grandparents, who hope to see them soon.

Even with another 4 inches of snow to end February, Mark and Hilde are looking forward to thawing and the reappearance of the driveway, to sap cooking and tree cutting, to playing with Rhiannon and Rowan and helping John and Evie move---looking forward most of all to spring.

Shadows and snow drifts

Deck of John n Evie's new place