Attending EAA gathering with 642,000 other people

 Last week Gerry and I attended the EAA AirVenture which is the worl renown fly-in convention in  Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Years ago we rented a camper with A's parents an sis.  This time no such luxury.  Gerry and I slept in a small tent.  I can' complain too much becaude a blow up mattress fit in it.  But that was about all. 

Since I took very few pictures, I will share a link that shows it all. 

  https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-worlds-largest-airshow-as-seen-from-space

Weather was a challenge.  Highs in the 90s some days and heavy rain and winds at night.

But our tent stayed upright.

Holiday Party

 Our British car club always has its holiday party in January.  This year a prize was give to the woman with the most sequins and to the man who had the best tie.  Gerry received a calendar as a gift for winning the best tie contest.   

Being the creative person that he is, he found a way to wear three.  

 A picture of my prize!

Humor

G's sense of humor.  Could bet there is a lot of truth in it.

 

Traveling to be with family

 

Two days ago we packed up our rental Dodge Charger and started our two week trip to visit relatives.  After a two day drive we arrived in Hayward, Wisconsin to spend time with G's sister and her husband.  I brought my hiking shoes but it is raining most of the time we are here.  Wisconsin is a great place for outdoor activities.  But is seems not this time of the year.

It is always great to just hang out with them and get caught up with what is happening in their lives.

Update on our life

 My sister in law has shamed me into posting again.  Actually she told me that she could keep up with what was happening in our lives if I would just post something.  Thank you :Adventures..."

My car and a deer had a meeting on a dark road.  I am fine, but the car not so.  And we don't know about the deer.  G has spend the last few days working with the insurance company, finding a repair shop and getting a rental car .  A couple repair shops said they couldn't work on it  until December or January. We found one that can look at it sooner but who knows when they can get parts and they probably  are short on workers.

But we now have rented a car  and can to get on with our lives.  

If you were to ask G what he likes best about our property he would probably say the shop and space to make a runway so he can fly his ultralight. 

For me it is my woods. Twenty acres. We have made several paths where  I can walk or ride the four-wheeler. 

 It is so beautiful this time of the year. Today I was out there for two hours.  

Jab in the arm

 Gerry and I have been preparing for our Ecuador and Galapagos trip.  Besides the usual   choosing the tour we want, getting airline tickets, and the myriad of other things to be done, we needed to be vaccinated.  I should put it in Caps.  VACCINATED.  We had three appointments.  On the first one we each got two in each arm.  We should be protected from Yellow Fever, Typhoid, Tetanus, and Rabies.  Then they checked the status of  vaccinations for COVID, pneumonia, flu, shingles and asked about Chicken pox , Tdap. I may have missed some, but you get the idea.  For Malaria we just take pills, no poke in the arm.

We are now ready to travel the world. Actually I think there are other jabs if you travel in Asia.  

The Center Cafe

 Our local Career Center has a Chef and Restaurant Management program. Three days a week they offer a lunch.  Sometimes the menu mentions a student who has created the recipe.  Today G and I went there.  G had baked salmon in a broth with vegetables which actually were not cooked.  Mine was a pasta with chicken, mushrooms  in a white sauce which reminded me of French cooking. Lots of cream and cheese.

I am only including photos of food to keep up with another blogger I know.

My woods

I spend a lot of my time in our woods. In addition to being overwhelmed by the beauty, I am doing what I call "woods management".  That is marking trails, and cutting briar bushes so one can walk the trails without coming out all bloodied. 

When I walked out from the woods, this is what I saw.  From in the woods I had no idea but made it home before the storm.

 

Gerry makes the news - again

https://medina-gazette.com/news/286887/top-10-stories-of-2021/

The Medina Gazette is a local newspaper. In February they had this picture of him getting his vaccination.

  Now he made the TOP 10.  Along with Matt Amodio of Jeopardy fame!

Windy

Today we are having wind gusts up to 50 mph.  It sounds like the siding is being torn off our house.  Gerry went walked around the house and saw to serious damage.   I did not cut back my grasses on the side of the deck.  It usually is quite pretty covered with snow.  But the question is, will it still be upright.  

Quite a change from yesterday.  It was so calm I was able to take pictures of leaves as I sat in the woods. Gerry just rolls his eyes when he sees pictures like this, but I think it is beautiful.  I find it so peaceful to be out in my woods.

Weeding the garden

I always have dreams of having beautiful landscaping and flower beds.  Finally I have to be honest and face the fact that I cannot/do not keep them weeded.  We have heavy clay soil so digging the beds up with a shovel is impossible. G borrowed a back hoe from our neighbor. He used it to dig out perennials and weeds that had completely covered them.  Next year I hope to have the area covered with mulch with just a few colorful shrubs. 

 

Camping trip

 Gerry and I have started on a three week trip with our camper.  The camper is almost new.  But we are pulling it with a 98 van with about 220 thousand miles. It has been quite an adventure.  We were driving on the first leg of the trip and heard a noise of something rubbing or hitting something under the van.  We made it the 350 miles to Kankakee, Ill where we visited friends.  Gerry took the van to a mechanic.  His car lifts were being used but he crawled under the van and reported that a strap holding the fuel tank had broken and was rubbing on the drive shaft.  Gerry found material to replace it, and of course did the repair himself.

He drove it up on a curb so he could get under the car.   A friends was helpful in holding the light.

We are staying in an Iowa State Campground.  It has all the amenities we want except WiFi. But the local library came to the rescue. 

Mowing the Lawn

 

From here

For several years almost every time I would mow the lawn, Gerry would be on call to make repairs.  Usually not as extreme as repairing the engine.  

To here

I have a smile on my face but even after mowing  a couple times my jaw hurt from clenching it so hard.

Smiling under mask

 

Yesterday Gerry received his first COVID vaccine.  It was documented   by the Medina Gazette.  I don't know for sure if he was smiling or not.  But knowing him he was.    I received mine the day before.  Yesterday 85% of the teachers in the whole county received theirs.  Students were given the day off. They said that the next one will be on a Friday because you don't feel as well.  That way the teachers have the weekend to recover.  It is wonderful that the staff is so responsible.  

Getting what you wish for

 

Our family has a spreadsheet where we each give suggestions of what we would like for a Christmas gift.  Gerry asked for an XL tee shirt with quotes.  This is what he got.  Good job, granddaughter.

For our dinner, lasagna with home made noodles.We would expect nothing less from daughter.

The wind sock Gerry received was well packed. 

Getting ready to fly

G has search for a runway that has a hanger for his ultralight. As he could find none nearby he decided to make his own.  He marked out an area from the field and started working on it.  He disked over it for many hours to make it smooth.  I should say as smooth as possible.  He hopes grass will grow over it so he can land smoothly.  He is storing the ultralight in the shop so he can taxi to the runway.

When he left his dad's farm at 18 he vowed to never be a farmer.  Well, it looks a bit like he is again.  But it is for his pleasure.  As soon as his new prop arrives he will be ready to go.

Getting our exercise

 

We do not have a wood burning fireplace, but have a  stove with a glass front in the basement.  In the winter I enjoy sitting down there looking at the fire.

We have burnt all of the wood so needed to replenish it.  Several dead Ash trees had fallen across the paths so we, Gerry that is, cut them up.  My part is yet to come.  

These need to be split.  A neighbor has a wood splitter and will loan it to us.  The plan is for Gerry will put the large pieces in the splitter, the neighbor will  operate the splitter, and I will load the trailer.  Next all needs to be unloaded into the basement.

A Birthday gift

 As a birthday gift Gerry made a path in the woods.  I now can walk or ride the four wheeler.  Thanks, Hon

Before

After

 

Fun

Freezing corn

 Fortunately we have farms around here that grow the best sweet corn.  So I haven't put any in my garden.  We bought a bag of 48 ears.  G was happy to help since he could use his invention for cutting the kernels off the cob.  

We now have 24 pints of corn to enjoy this winter.

Walking in the woods again

When we first moved here, there were paths around the perimeter of our 20 acres of woods.  It is overgrown now from fallen trees.  The biggest culprit was the 

Emerald ash borer.  The larvae are under the bark and where they feed.  When the trees die, they fall quickly.  When I first saw the logs after the bark had come off I thought it was amazing.  That is before I realized what it was.

That brings me to the present.  

Gerry is clearing a path for me.  He had to cut fallen trees in pieces and move them with the tractor before the mower could even make a path.  

No, the extension cord did not stretch from the house to the woods.  He brought a gas generator out which he plugged into. I failed to get a picture of that.

I will show the finished project as I walk through it.