April 2019

Like most of the Midwest, Wisconsin was cold and dreary the majority of the time in April  Two lesser snows and one DUMP of heavy wet snow was nasty for everyone, especially for the many rural folks whose pole barns lost roofs last month and felt enough was enough.  

Hungry Muskrat

Finally at the end of April the forsythia and crocuses bloomed, but everything else is awaiting more sun and warmth.

Krispie Chicks

The first week of April the maple sap really ran!  Since the ground was bare that week (the snow was later) Mark and Hilde decided to play it safe and have the neighbor do the finally syrup cooking…no outside flames in wildfire season.  Mark did not take the tractor chains off until April 29^th, fearing yet another late storm, but the last blast went south and was mostly rain.

April marked a new venue and time for taekwondo testing, as it was held in the morning at Master Johnson’s studio.  It worked well and the many black belt helpers mean a very smooth and efficient process.  Right after Hilde printed all the certificates, the printer had a hissy fit which was FINALLY traced to a tiny fragment of paper which required inversion of printer, a high intensity flash light and tweezers to extricate.  The other small, but irritating breakdowns of the month included a coffee maker dying and the far corner of the garage door rusting off right at the cable attachment.  Mark’s metal stash and ingenuity allowed for that repair to work.

Easter Treats

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Hilde has been busy sewing, doing the finishing and quilting on both a baby quilt and a warm red-tones goose quilt.  She also made  new shower and window curtains as the start of spring cleaning and tackled another remnant baby quilt…still lots of fabric to use up in her and her mother’s stash.  She also enjoyed assembling and mailing a birthday gift for Caleb (he is 4 already!) and then Easter baskets and goodies for the four grandchildren.  Even when they are not able to be present, giving to the grandkids makes the grandparents happy.

Mark and Hilde used the few ‘good’ days productively and recreationally.  The apple and pears trees were thoroughly pruned, and they planted 50 balsam and 25 river birch.  The recreation was two trips to Horicon to spot the awaking and arriving creatures there, from muskrats to cranes, swans and ducks.  Spring time in that large refuge is surely enjoyable even in brisk winds and cool temps.

Easter was spent at John and Evie’s enjoying their company, Evie’s holiday feast and the delightful Hazel.  She is 18 months old and tries to copy her daddy’s sit ups and pushups, scoots all over and evens tries front kicks.  Hazel enjoyed two Easter egg hunts and Mark and Hilde enjoyed her!  It was warmer in Chicagoland with no snow, either.

The other inside tasks of spring have begun:  Mark has a fine crop of tiny tomato and pepper plants started and at the end of April, he started up the incubator for eggs.  The hatch should occur around the 18^th of May…always something to look forward too. 

 

March 2019 What a Month!

March was long, cold and stormy…a wingdinger of a month both in Wisconsin and the whole Midwest.  The month came in, not like a lion, but like a polar bear, a grouchy, pushy polar bear!  Storms and a stretch of bitter cold (including -17 degrees with strong winds) kept most people inside and wishing for spring in the first part of the month.  

Then midmonth it got worse with wet sticky snow and rain on top of that.  This led to disastrous roof collapses all over the area, including three neighbors who had shed roofs collapse.  Fortunately neither people nor miniature horse were hurt.  

Mark spent time helping by raking snow off the other section of one roof, and Hilde helped out by getting the right contacts for the neighbors who also had the road runoff detour into their yard as ravines opened across the road.  The Town folks had their work cut out to push back mountains of snow, regrade the road and then thaw and open reluctant culverts.

Even as the snow was reluctantly melting, the sap began, well, not running, but dripping in an intermittent way.  Mark and Hilde really had to struggle to get down into the lowland woods and get the taps in, and the first few days of gathering sap were equally arduous, since the ATV and cart could not get through the deep snow, and that meant longer trips carrying the pails of sap in very slippery conditions.  They managed to cook syrup three times, despite the challenges, and put up a generous supply of syrup for all the family pancakes.

During all the enforced inside time, both Henkels happily dived into hobbies.  Mark is constructing a digital decoder for his radio and Hilde has been crafting up a storm, including a total of nine fabric baskets, Easter table toppers, four chicken scratch projects and two quilts tops assembled.  Many more sewing projects are planned with the inherited stash from Hilde’s mother providing inspiration for many new ideas.

Hilde’s mother has been having some ups and downs, but is mostly doing well and seems to enjoy hearing about the way Hilde is using her fabric.  Arlene always says she wants to do her sewing, but never actually sews…she has a lot less energy this year.  Both Jim and John have had issues with raccoons this month.  John found one was LOUDLY gnawing on his siding and waking up Hazel in the middle of the night.  Jim had a sick coon show up and need removal before any kids interacted with it.  In Rudolph, the invasion has been smaller:  several wasps each day have been showing up, and the entry point cannot be found.  Since they are just waking up, they are slow moving and have been easy to remove.

Before the snow was gone, midmonth when roofs and runoff were vexing folks, the redwing blackbirds returned, trilling from trees and fence posts, and just as quickly, the sandhill cranes announced their return with clacking and prancing.  While the tulips are just venturing out of the ground, not even the Johnny jump ups or squills have actually flowered, but soon, soon, this tough Wisconsin winter will really be over.  On April 1, Mark and Hilde will start garden and herb seeds and prune the fruit trees. 

Furious, fast February 20109

Way too much time out moving snow!

Sand, sun and smiles

Furious, frosty, fabulous, fun and full- for a short month, February flew by with lots of ups and downs.  First off, and influencing everything, February in central Wisconsin SMASHED all records for snowiness, going into the record books as the snowiest month ever recorded here.  It snowed , it iced, it got bitterly cold and blew at ferocious speeds.  For the first time ever, the class (and testing) for Stevens Taekwondo Academy had to be canceled, which involved Hilde using every type of social media, email and phones to make sure no one tried to get to the YMCA.

The very next morning, Mark and Hilde headed south, driving away from -7 degrees and sun dogs and rejoicing in every increment of temperature improvement along the way to Orange Beach Alabama.  Along the way they stopped in Huntsville AL at the National Space Museum, which is an awesome spot and full of memorabilia.   While the gulf weather was said to be ‘lousy’ by one native, they Wisconsin couple found that 60s were lovely and the incidents of rain were minor.  Ft. Morgan was romantic and evocative in the rain, and the rain stopped just in time for a picnic before heading to a refuge for a long walk.  The Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola was another wonderful time…these places could be one or two days of looking if your feet can hold out!  Mark and Hilde clambered around on the USS Alabama battleship also…those ships are enormous and tall!  Lots of time on the trip, mornings, evenings and in between, was spent on beaches watching the gulf waters surge and  sparkle, watching the shore birds and fishermen and seeing NO SNOW. 

All good things must come to an end, so Mark and Hilde headed home knowing that more than18 inches of snow had fallen while they were gone.  Good neighbors are a real blessing!  Brandls had cleared the west driveway enough for the car to crawl up to the door and allow for reasonable unloading while the tractor was warming up.  In the last 12 days of the month, Mark spent over 9 hours out on the tractor plowing again and again.  They are both hoping no more record-setting concerning snow occurs!

The tough weather has allowed both Henkels to work on their respective hobbies.  Hilde has been stitching up a storm, using more of the fabric stash from her mother.  After completing a set of quilted place mats with chicken prints for herself, she has been finding other ways to use the fabric---and spends considerable time on pinterest getting new ideas.  Mark has been working on a couple of electronic projects and work on the case in Minnesota, preparing for mediation.

The February testing, though postponed, went well and the level of enthusiasm and energy was very notable.  Hilde spent more time on record keeping and updating some of the handouts for STA students and both spent a snow day gathering and getting all the papers for taxes together for the accountant.  It surely is a relief to get that done.

Family news went the spectrum.   Mark’s dear Aunt Veiga, a truly Christian woman, died at age 100 plus 4 months early in the month.  Later, Hilde’s nephew Curt was blessed with a second healthy son.  While the weather and trip kept Mark and Hilde from seeing any of their grandkids, they got to enjoy lunch with the musical duo of Kayme and Alana.  A YMCA luncheon also provided pleasant socializing. 

Although it looks like March will come in like a lion or a polar bear, eventually things will start thawing.  Mark has gotten his supply of sap bags and is ready for syrup cooking, when things finally de-ice around Rudolph.  Think spring!

 

January 2019

Hilde painting furnace room to start the year

What a wildly varying month January has been, starting off 2019 with odd weather, late holiday visits and then becoming extremely cold.  It was not boring, for sure.

Mark and Hilde started the year by painting the furnace room and then got to spend a long weekend with John, Evie and Hazel --- it was delightful.  Mark and John worked on drywalling the sunroom together, while Hilde enjoyed watching Hazel toddle along, and cuddling her.  She is growing fast and carefully examines things before accepting them.  What a sweetie.

The first weeks of January were BROWN with snow melted and lots of foggy, gloomy days, most unusual for Wisconsin winters, but then a minor snow and a horrible blast of several days of below zero weather, when the state and others around hunkered down and went nowhere.  Schools were closed because of very dangerous wind chills, birds disappeared and folks just stayed as warm as possible.  Mark worked on electronic projects and began clearing out some of the unnecessary stuff, while Hilde sewed and crafted up a storm, doing another 8 table runners, many hot pads, embroidery and chicken scratch projects.

 

Despite the horrid weather, all classes of taekwondo went on, although the numbers were sparse many nights.  That was about all that Hilde and Mark went out for during some weeks, and the exercise and cheerful faces sure helped with the gloom.  Hilde’s mother celebrated her 87^th birthday at her new apartment although Hilde didn’t get down for that, and both John’s family and Jim’s experienced infections and winter sicknesses.

It was a good time to have friends and family visit, though, and great to have Mark’s brother Phil, sister-in-law Connie and little great-nephew Phil visit while Alana and Kayme practiced in Point.  The neighbors came up for dinner and an evening of visiting also.  Hilde’s two zoning meetings were not exactly social events, but they were certainly interesting as the town has decisions to make going forward.

Mark “only” had to plow twice, late in the month, as the cold weather brought in snow and a change in the patterns of storms.  Before the return of snow and cold, Mark and Hilde managed to cut and split another dead elm, so the wood is well piled for future syrup cooking.  By the end of January it is so good to look forward to syrup making, starting seeds and planning gardens!  Those seed catalogs surely are great to dream over.

Sunrise at minus 28