June 2019: Thirty Busy Days

It didn’t snow in June, but the weather hit about every other extreme with cold, windy, hot, rainy, storms and hail.  While planning outside activities was tricky, somehow things got done in Rudolph and elsewhere.  Even on cloudy days, the energy of longer daylight made everything possible somehow.  

 The early days of the month included getting in the large Henkel garden and then fencing it all, since one local doe seems to think she and fawn own the yard.

The highlight of the month for Mark and Hilde was visits from the grandkids!  Rhiannon, Rowan and Caleb came for an entire week and great fun was had by all.  Although it was cold and rainy for three days of the time, no one was bored or even sat still for long.  One sunny day they all played and picnicked in Point, with soccer and Frisbee to play with Grandpa.  On the coldest and wettest day, they all went to a movie, despite having an obstacle course of construction.  There was lots of puzzle-making and lego fun.  Rhi and Ro worked on a plastic canvas project, making a mobile for a gift, with a little help from Grandma.  All three patted out and personalized their own pizzas, too.

But the special time involved taekwondo.  All three kids participated both night of class, with Master Grandpa teaching, and practiced blocks and kicking with Grandma at home so that Rhi and Ro could test for their high white belt with Grandpa judging and Grandma holding boards for their breaks.  All the Henkels had 100-watt smiles then!  Caleb kept up and was very attentive, although he is only four, and his kicks and focus were impressive.  It was a memorable time!

Adding to the joy and fun, John and Evie came for Father’s day weekend with little Hazel !  the four cousins played sweetly, all four were up for the children’s lesson at church and the Henkels finally filled a pew.  The only hiccup for the visit came after church at the cheese factory, when Caleb ran his face into a counter.  Jim took him to ER for 7 stitches under his eyebrow---he was very brave and good.  When all the loved ones departed, the house was very quiet and empty.

The wet trend in weather kept grass and weeds growing at tremendous rates.  Every time it dried enough, Hilde was mowing lawn, mowing and weeding blueberries, raspberries or flower beds.  Mark and Hilde picked strawberries and enjoyed them with every meal toward the end of the month, and Hilde made strawberry jam, plus froze a year’s worth of peas.

The month included some very happy social activities for Hilde:  a breakfast with the black belt ladies (they miss Doc’s presence!) and a lunch with Hilde’s friends from Point.  Those two groups are Hilde’s “gold friends”.  Mark was increasingly busy in trial prep in June, with depositions and meetings and conferences on phone, in Madison and in the office.  This should be his last long trial, but nothing about legal stuff is very predictable.

In between all the interesting stuff, Mark and Hilde did a private black belt testing for a man leaving the area, and mundane things like getting eye exams, septic dug and pumped, photos for the church directory, defrosting one freezer and a day in Lomira clearing the farm lane of prickly ash again.  Before the kids’ visit, Hilde sewed three little dresses for the girls and a shirt for Caleb, from the fabric stash from her mother. 

Finally at the end of the month, Mark and Hilde were able to properly mount and fill the special belt rack which Jim designed and made.  Having all seven of their black belts displayed with the certificates of the last testing is very satisfying.

 

Finally all the rain didn’t just help along the grass and weeds---the succession of bloom in wild and planted flowers has been wonderful this month.  The shrub roses and miniature roses were spectacular, the iris intense and in general everything which could, flowered profusely.  June was busy, beautiful and joyous.

White Buck in Dusk

May 2019

The entire month of May was below average in temps and above average in precipitation---with a few nice days as teasers then more gloom.  Deciding to make lemonade out of lemons, Mark and Hilde got some inside tasks done and felt virtuous about it.

Mark tackled the wood shop, which, while fairly small in size, had been stuffed with STUFF, and so cluttered it was hard to reach or use the saw.  He really labored long and hard and ended up with a pickup truck of junk to take to the dump.  He devised better storage systems for the lumber remnants and extended the shelving and organized that.  Some of the STUFF had moved here from Point 30 years ago and never been touched since.  It will be much easier for him to work out there now and all the wood is elevated off the floor in case there is another record-setting spring runoff to flow through over the floor.  That, by the way, with sawdust and debris on the floor, was really a mess before he tackled his very own Augean stables.

Hilde continued the 'use all the fabric' challenge and finished a baby quilt (lots of little pieces of fabric got used!), found another interesting project to use the nylon plaid stuff and then put together another quilt top.  Now the focus is using the few pieces suitable for clothing and coming up with things for the grandchildren!

All month long, despite the wretched weather extremes, the summer birds arrived, although they were plainly disgruntled with the weather.  Many colorful bird come to the three types of feeders, including hummingbirds, Baltimore orioles, rose-breasted grosbeaks, indigo buntings, cardinals, house finches, woodpeckers (three kinds) and of course the regular visitors, like blue jays, chickadees and cow birds.  Having those flashes of color, birdsong and interesting interactions right outside the kitchen is a joy.

Down in the furnace room, the Henkels had eggs incubating this year, with Mark carefully monitoring the temps and humidity and turning the eggs regularly.  By May20th, 36 healthy, very active chicks had hatched from the cross of a silver-laced Wyandotte rooster and hens which were barred rock x rhode island red.  In a few weeks, it will be possible to see what the plumage will look like, but the chicks are very lively and adjusted to the move to the brooder house very well.  Mark did a fine job as a cluck!

With all the rain, the asparagus crop was very good and tasty.  For the first time, morels popped up in the far west of the Henkel yard which Mark and Hilde enjoyed very much, and hope they return, since a couple were left to reseed/spore.  The spring flowers were irregular this years, some just blooming for a day and others hanging on for long-term enjoyment.  The fruit trees were especially lovely, although this is the ‘off’ year for the main crop apples and pears, and the cherry trees were breath-taking.  The lilacs were really lush and fragrant.

Cool, rainy weather brings on the grass like a magical beanstalk.  Hilde was bundled up for the first cut and under the leaf litter, did not see the stump from last year’s thinning of the edge of the yard.  The result was a complete destruction of the mower deck, accomplished with horrid screeching and Hilde all but leaping off the mower.  The John Deere had only 12 years on it, but a replacement was necessary, at a rather hefty price.  The new mower works very nicely, and there was a nice dump cart thrown into the deal.  Hilde is watching very vigilantly for any mower-destructive items now!

Finally, at the end of the month, Hilde successfully provided the necessary documents and got her REALID driver’s license.  The challenge was getting a copy of the marriage license, which the couple had never received, but Waukesha County was organized and prompt.  The fact is they had never needed to prove the marriage in more than 47 years, and since Mark was in the military at the time of the marriage, mail went to the farm house and sometimes never caught up with us.

It was a chock full month with several trips to Horicon Marsh and the Lomira woods, and lots of pre-trial preparations for Mark.  Hilde is hoping the lawsuit set for July trial will settle, since three weeks away in summer is tough on gardens and taekwondo classes.  Those things often settle at the last minute, but most of the stray voltage cases do NOT settle.  This run-up to a trial date is always difficult, as preparations go into high speed, and many phone calls and final preparations. 

 

Turtles at Horicon Marsh

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.