21 posts tagged “friends”
Friday evening we were invited over to friend Rise's house to meet new grand daughter Allie Rose.
You can see from the photo everyone's very happy and excited about the new arrival. She's a precious little baby.
Saturday we headed for Madison WI and the farmer's market there.
The initial forecast was for dreadful heat, but surprise! It was a beautiful summer day. Warm and sunny with a light breeze.
Friends Mollie and Bill joined us and purchased jelly from the prized jelly man booth.
He's a great salesman, fun to talk to, and the products are great.
Just another reason the farmer's market is packed there.
We loaded up on all types of veggies. Cauliflower, carrots, beans, zucchini,mushrooms, leeks, and Tim snuck in a couple pies by the Amish bakery.
A trip to Madison's downtown means I have to stop at the popcorn shop Clary's. I may have broken most of my food addictions, but popcorn is still a weakness. I have it plain with light salt. That eases my guilty conscience.
Stopped on the way out to the winery to admire one of the lakes on such a beautiful day, and then a short car ride to the winery to enjoy some cheese, crackers and a bottle of wine in the open air. Ahhhh, how civilized.
(note in the photo on right-yes, it's the shirt! making a return appearance!)
Then home. The car full of weary middle aged midwesterners winds it's way across the prairie.
Today we ran a couple of errands, did laundry, some of the mundane, but important tasks that weekends usually bring.
I like my life, sort of average as it is. Work tomorrow, early as usual, but it beats being unemployed, and it pays for all these fun things we do.
Speaking of fun, we're getting cranked up about our next weekend folk fest. Stay tuned.
Last Thursday was Valentine's Day. You knew that. On Thursday, a woman with a wonderfully large, but very tired heart passed on the the next great adventure that we all take. Lois, the queen in the middle of these three women, passed away. Not that she didn't fight it to the very, very end, but, she finally had enough, and went home. . . Good for her. Sometimes, the batteries just don't hold a charge anymore, and that's not a bad thing, it just happens.
I've known Lois since 1973. That means she must have been only 20 when I met her. No, darn it. As long as I have known her, I was always surprised by how well balanced she was. Always a down to earth, self depreciating humorist, that was good to everyone around her. I'm sure she had 'her moments', but I never saw them. I never saw ' the eyes of disgust' ( see previous blog postings) from her. But don't think that she was a pushover, or from Mount Pilot, or a softie. Nope, she had a sharp grasp of what went on around her, and always chose the higher road to deal with something. What's the line from the movie "Harvey" with Jimmy Stewart. .
Years ago my mother used to say to me, she'd say, "In this world, Elwood, you must be" - she always called me Elwood - "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant." Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. You may quote me.
That was Lois.
Anyway, I just wanted to say goodbye again. We are all lucky to have known her. . . We'll see her again sometime.
Hi
Sorry about the short notice of this event, but, I forgot to post to the blog. The 'poster' says it all. 'Click' on the date and address below to link to Google maps, or see the map below all of this.
Sat. Feb. 16th 11052 Ventura Blvd Machesney Park Il 1 to 5 pm cst. If you get a chance, come on out. The rest of the lineup is great. We're pretty good. You'll have a good time.
HI
our friends Mollie and Bill are having an adventure out west. They are up through the badlands, and that 'a way.
Hi
here is the article from the Rockford Register Star, about our friend, John Dempsey, and the ride he made from Seattle Wa. to Rockford.
Bicyclist John Dempsey is sore in one place he’d rather not discuss, but he’s back in Rockford.
Dempsey, a Rockford firefighter, and longtime training partner Joe McDonough, who moved to Middleton, Wis., from Rockford four years ago, started out on the afternoon of Sept. 4 in Anacortes, Wash., with plans to ride their bicycles back to Rockford in about 19 days.
They decided to do it just because they thought they could.
After three weeks of spending six to nine hours a day riding, Dempsey pedaled through the rain and into the driveway of his eastside home shortly after 3 p.m. Tuesday. He was bearded and slightly sunburned with 2,430 additional miles on his bike.
“I can sit on anything other than a bicycle seat, and my hands are numb. The pinkie and ring fingers on both hands have been asleep for about 10 days,” Dempsey said Wednesday. “Other than that, I’m surprised at how good I feel. There’s no pain in my legs. I think I’m OK.”
Dempsey rode into Rockford alone because McDonough “declared victory in Fargo (N.D.) and retired undefeated.” He went home “because it was farther than either of us had ever ridden before.” Dempsey also said McDonough originally had planned only to ride to Minot, N.D., “but he told me he figured, if he got me to Fargo, I’d make the rest of it on my own.”
Dempsey said he hit no bad weather until after McDonough departed and said the hardest part of the trip was finding places to stay at the distances they wanted to ride.
“A lot of times, we’d have 110 miles in and we’d have another two hours of daylight to ride, but the next place that we could stay was 60 or 70 miles away, so we had to cut it short.”
The duo rode 28 miles on Sept. 4 so they could set themselves up for beginning to cross mountain passes the next day.
“Our first full day was absolutely brutal,” Dempsey said. “We climbed over two mountain passes, and that was 135 miles. The next day, we had two more passes to climb over, including Sherman Pass, which is the highest in Washington, and that was 112 miles.
“We wound up climbing six passes in the first five days of riding, and that took its toll.”
Temperatures on the ride ranged from the mid-20s to more than 90 degrees just a few days apart, riding up a mountain pass slowed them to about 8 mph, to be followed by descents of 40-plus mph for several miles, and they bucked 35-mph crosswinds.
“Every time a truck went by us, it was everything you could do just to hold your bike up straight,” he said.
Dempsey said the scenery also was a matter of extremes.
“Washington state is beautiful, and I would recommend to anyone that they go out there,” Dempsey said, “but, after Washington and West Glacier Park, there’s pretty much nothing to see. There’s nothing in Montana. There’s nothing in North Dakota. It’s days and days of nothing, no trees, no mountains, no cities.
“It’s desolate. Nothing really doesn’t describe it well enough.”
Despite his description, Dempsey said three towns stood out as nice places to visit — Stillwater, Minn.; Whitefish, Mont., and Sand Point, Idaho. “They’re fantastic river towns with a lot to do in shopping and restaurants and architecture.
“You get a feel within the first two blocks that you ride into a town for what it’s going to be like there,” he said. “I realize now that when people in Rockford complain about our city, they’ve never been anyplace else. This, by far, is the best place we have seen in almost 2,500 miles. I wouldn’t want to live anyplace else.”
Part of Dempsey’s motivation for taking the trip was to complete a ride across the country of sorts, because he had done a similar ride from the East Coast three years ago. He said this one ends the long-distance treks.
“I have nothing left to prove to myself,” he said. “I want to start having some fun and this, I can’t say, was very much fun.
“The one from the east was better because it’s so much more populated, so there are towns every 20 to 30 miles, so there are places to stop and see something. It was more interesting, because on this one, there were days of nothing out there and we tried to get from point to point.”
As if the long ride wasn’t enough, Dempsey had one final problem. He got his first flat tire of the ride about a half-mile outside of Rockton.
“I couldn’t believe it,” he said. “I got just eaten alive by mosquitoes trying to change a tire in the rain.”
An hour later, he wobbled off his bike, hugged Cristy, had a glass of champagne and accepted a yellow jersey his father, Pat, bought at local bike store.
He slept well Tuesday night.
They were excellent! Had to share!
Hi
we went for a bike ride today with Mollie & Bill. We rode from their house to Rock Cut park, where Bill and I did a lap around the park, and then, back to their house. Maggie did great! Best ever, I think. Tore it up, and didn't get fatigued. Good practice for our trip to Wisconsin later in the week.
Home for a shower and a nap and then out to dinner with Mollie and Bill. Mollie's company did the window blinds for a new chain restaurant in the area. Granite City Brewery. So, since the restaurant did a dry run for opening next week, they hand out dinner passes to test the cooks and staff. Mollie's company got some, so they took us to try it out. It's not bad. Not great, but not bad. Might go back, but it's pretty uninspired. Just like most chain places, but the waitress was pretty good, and it was free. . .
Had a coffee @ the closest Starbucks, and then home to watch West Wing, and relax, since we don't have to rise early on Monday.
Oh yeah, the pic is from Peggy's jam yesterday. She was nice enough to send a couple pics of us.
Time for bed. More tomorrow. . .
Here is a short video from Sunday afternoon from Mike's house. We had an invitation from Mike to come to a cookout/jam, so, we went. A good time, with food, music, and friends. Doesn't get any better than that.
Morning
just a quick update from me. Been busy, like
that's out of the ordinary. Work, yardwork ( kinda like I could copy
and paste this), and it's been hot. Maggie has been wading through
jell-o, so to speak, with one of her meds. Wears her out, but we're
taking care of that. Being seasonally bipolar, I'm loving this time of
year. It's light 'til after 9 cst, it's hot, and it's always time to
do something. Sleep in the winter. Right now-GO, DO !
Which brings us to the next portion of our blog program. A trip to the farmers market in the mad city on Saturday with Mollie, Bill (it's their car, so they get to go) and Kathy, Mollie's sister. Kathy is coming in from Colorado late Friday evening, just to go to the farmers market. Ok, maybe not. Maybe she is coming to go to the farmers market, and the next Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Ok, maybe some other stuff too, like seeing her family, which I grasp, but do selectively.
The rest of the weekend is kinda up in the air, so I hope it doesn't blow away. . . ha, sorry. . .
Jan and Mike are headed to Arkansas to see Mike's parents, so that's
out, so I think we'll try to get together with Doug and jam for
awhile. And then there is the ritual of planting the annuals and herbs
and peppers and all the other stuff that isn't perennial. A must do
in the midwest, after the threat of frost is past.
Oh yeah, there's always auto racing to fall asleep to. The Indy 500
and, my personal fav, the Coca Cola 600. No, I don't understand why I
watch either. . .
Time for the 10 minute commute to work. . .
Have a good holiday, and weekend. Oh, don't forget that it is Memorial day, and take a moment to remember why it's memorial day. . .
Bye
Hello there,
been
a busy weekend. We had a jam with our friends, Peggy and Al. We went to
a cookout @ our friends, Rise' and Pierce's house, which was fun and
interesting. Seems that Pierce's daughter Angie ,
while working in South Africa, met and married a very nice young man
named Joshua, who came back with her to the good old U.S of A. There
was a midwestern cookout where everyone could meet and greet. We had a
good time and hope everyone else did too. Food, conversation, sharing,
music, and hugs were the menu for the evening.
Today, we geeked, cleaned, shopped, cooked, mowed, ate, napped, more geeking/blogging, and now winding down the day.
We're
trying to get the Memorial day weekend set up now, so we can take the
most advantage of the time off. Mary may come. We definately will be
going to the third in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, arrrrr. I'm
not sure how we can top the last visit to the last one. Several of us
went as a group, or crew and had a great time. Professional people with
neck ties around their heads as pirate scarves. . . Yup. . .
So, we're making dinner now, and reviewing the weekend, with positive results.
Bye bye
