March Madness Stir Fry

Following breakfast with a buddy in Sturgeon Bay I ran into one of my neighbors at the big grocery. She was with her granddaughter (who I didn’t immediately recognize) but the opportunity for small talk ensued. 

Something about my cooking. Hmmm. I was unaware  people talked about my cooking.  Nevertheless, in the off season us few permanent peninsula denizens have to talk about something; and I suppose cooking is better than current affairs. Or gossip. 

Anyway, and more importantly, the conversation turned to my neighbor’s granddaughter and the impending great grandmotherness.  How cool is that?   That’s an achievement worthy of shouting from a rooftop.  I would be damn lucky to live long enough to become a great grandparent.

So for now I’ll stick to cooking. Namely, March Madness Stir Fry.  

If you have a Bluetooth device you can stream a game or two while chopping veggies, peeling shrimp, prepping stock and cooking rice.  Prep work is Zen-like. Sip a Guinness Harp before the new taxes set-in. 

And once you have sipped a martini and your mise en place is ready you can let the gas turn and burn and let’er rip. 

Figuratively-speaking. 

Everything comes together in a matter of moments.  Positively sublime. 

 

And pretty good chow if you can get it.

 

Happy New Year

The grand kids asked if they could write LET IT SNOW on the porch windows.

The bottom photo is the view from the street.

Happy New Year.....

 

Happy New Year

The grand kids asked if they could write LET IT SNOW on the porch windows.

The bottom photo is the view from the street.

Happy New Year.....

 

Progress Report

Talk about a busy day here at The Platz.      

From our walk this morning evidence conditions are slowing drying-up and greening-up.        

And if you look closely the wild strawberries are blooming in the turf.      

Labs and Hoomins 1.1 miles.    

Meanwhile - While we were on our walk we also live-streamed granddaughter’s high school graduation occurring in Hattiesburg, MS.   

And then there was garden work.  In keeping with my German influence I planted two rows (each) of German Butterball taters and Stuttgarter yellow onions.       

These are terrific root veggies with incredible staying power.   Kept in the crisper of the garage fridge just about the time we make use of the last of them from the 2019 garden the harvest will be nigh from this year’s garden.      

Finally I made a plan for where to locate and reestablish the spargel patch.  Next week I have to fetch composted manure and potting soil – followed by the excavation for the bed. Backbreaking labor but likely the last time I’ll have to do in my lifetime.

Nature is Your Friend

A few days ago I spoke of the early days here at The Platz and how Jill and I used to camp here.  Tent, rain fly, picnic table, fire ring, outdoor privy, solar shower - the whole shebang.  Those were good times. 

I recently gave the ancestral campsite a makeover - rebuilding the fire ring, brushing-out a clear spot for a tent and moving the outdoor privy and digging a new hole for it. 

Yesterday everyone came down to the site for a weenie roast including other campfire treats and grandson and I stayed overnight.

I have to say that this was fun.  I spun a few scary tales for the kid as we relaxed by the fire after everyone else returned to the house.  The stars were out in their fullest of glory and we both slept like logs.  Very early this morning we were greeted by the alarm call of a whitetail deer - Hey!  What are you doing here in my woods!





As the grandson would tell you - nature is your friend.

 

Casting Bread Upon the Waters

In the Old Testament the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us the following:  Cast thy bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days.   

The biblical metaphor is the reason for casting your bread on water is to let it go.  Just toss it out, give it away, and be generous without obsessing over where it is going.  When you give in the true spirit of giving it will come back to you.  If you are truly generous good deeds will ultimately be reciprocated.   

While visiting with family in Mississippi last week the grandson and I walked down to the pond with a loaf of stale bread and we cast it upon the water.  Literally.   

 click on images for a better view

The bream (called blue gill around these parts) came to feed on it and eventually a half-dozen turtles joined in the fray.   

No metaphor here.  Just good fun for Opa and the kid.

Grandkids

Grandkids are a blessing.

Truthfully there is no getting around that fact.  When there is sadness and melancholy in the air there is nothing like the kids to lift your spirits.

Heck.  They'll not only go to the indoor trampoline place and hotel swimming hole to cheer you-up ...

 click on images to enlarge

They'll even give you a new set of eyebrows if you ask... 

Raising a toast to the third generation...

Grandkids

While on a previous visit the daughter fashioned some nifty, crafty bookmarks using photos of the grand kids.  This way when you are curled-up with a favorite book both The Frau and I are never far from thinking about kin so far away.

Anyway, I was sitting in front of the warming glow of my laptop recently and noticed that the grandchildren were hanging with Smokey Bear....

click on image to enlarge

 

Cathouse

And you thought a cathouse was a house of ill-repute.

After the grand kids returned home Oma and Opa arranged to have a stash of cheese curds, cheese spread and Maplewood Meats summer sausage shipped to the deep south courtesy of Renard's Cheese.  

You cannot obtain cheese curds anywhere on the gulf coast.  Fresh oysters and shrimp yes.  Curds no.  Believe me.

So as to never underestimate the creativity of your better-than-average five-year-old here is how you repurpose the insulated shipping cooler.

Igloo cat house.

click on image to enlarge

You can learn more about Renard's Cheese and Maplewood Meats by clicking on the hot links.

Peninsula businesses rock! 

The Camping Experience

Over the many years The Frau and I have been acquainted (and married) we've done a great deal of camping.  We've camped across the breadth of Canada, south to the gulf shores, all of the southwestern US, most of Wisconsin and we even took a Jeep trip across the rocky mountains.  

In the past decade and a half we haven't done much camping at all - a result of two homes, a tree farm other recreational pursuits and a dearth of time.  Nevertheless, we've culled-thru and saved most of our camping equipment when we down-sized the past winter.  And it was fun to break-out the Eureka, heavy-duty Outfitter model A-frame tents to invite the grand kids to camp in the yard.  It was a first experience for the grandson and a positive event for him as well.  We discovered the Labs enjoyed the experience as well.

It also scratched an itch I've forgotten and perhaps when I retire some day there will be more time for camping pursuits.  

Raising a toast to fun times out of doors and around the campfire.

click image to enlarge

Order Out of Chaos

A week ago I posted  a picture and description of the ingenious and positively brilliant scheduling device that The Frau placed on the back hallway of the house.

It worked like a dream.  Who needs a smartphone when you have Post-it® Notes, paper, extra tape and a blank wall.

The grand kids did a fine job of rolling with the ebb and flow of our unstructured scheduling, last minute changes and the vagaries of the weather. And when we got down to the last day there were only two leftover yellow sticky notes remaining:  Making Bread and Running Thru the Sprinkler.

With the exception of a loaf of bread and the sprinkler we accomplished everything we planned to do plus some unplanned events that materialized out of nowhere.  Everything including the Roaster Chicken!

click image to enlarge

The ten activity-packed days literally flew by in a flash and daughter and the grand kids are gone now.  As a consequence things have grown quite a bit quieter and it's going to be a lonely adjustment without a five year-old waking me up for breakfast in the morning.

Truthfully, I'm plum, worn-out. 

Heavy Equipment Operator

From the opportunities list was tractor-riding today.  After five inches of rain there was not going to be any tractor driving on the trails or in the yard - too squishy!

Bucket operations instead.  

The grandson is a quick study.  Barely a moment or two of instruction and he got the up and down of the loader.  Saving the scoop, lift and dump for the next visit...

Campout

Hiked from the house, across the driveway to the council ring and pitched a couple of Eureka tents and filled them with sleeping bags.

Got a fire going, roasted wienies, made caramel s'mores, told scary stories and called-in the coyotes.

All-in-all it was a positive camping experience for the little guy...

 click on images to enlarge

A Three Hour Cruise

Getting the boat in the water was initially thwarted by a failure of the main battery to hold a charge.  New batter fixed that.  The following attempts were averted due to poor marine weather forecasts including wind and thunderstorms.

Broke the jinx today although high winds and big rollers made any extended foray into Green Bay or Lake Michigan an attempt at getting soaked navigating the big swells.

click on images to enlarge

Was all good and we topped it off with pizza and beers at Sonny's in Sturgeon Bay.

Compass Plant

Compass plant - Silphium laciniatum.

click on the grandchild to enlarge

The tallest of prairie flowers.  Related to sunflowers its leaves align themselves north to south to maximize exposure to sunlight.  Hence its name.

The finches love the seeds produced by the flowers and if you collect the sap you can make a suitable chewing gum from it.

Field Hands

Picked peas this morning.

How to put-up peas.

Pick and shuck.  

Blanch them in boiling water for one minute, drain and immediately plunge in cold tap water.  Drain and bag them in portioned amounts in Food Saver wrap.  Freeze.

 click on image to enlarge

Six+ cups of English peas.

Seeking Normalcy

I went to bed last night doing something I'm not supposed to do.  I checked my news feeds on the laptop before turning-in.  It is an angry, crazy world - and a restful sleep does not follow this sort of madness.

Nevertheless, with the arrival of a new day as long as there are pancakes and porkies for breakfast while the rest of the household sleeps-in there is at least one small corner of the universe that remains anchored...

 

Door County Ukulele Society

There is such an arts organization and I happen to think they are terrific.

Grand daughter brought her ukulele along on her visit here from Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  And she was welcomed with open arms at this afternoon's sing along at Whitefish Dunes State Park.

That would be her, left of middle, with the blue hair.

Raising a toast to peninsular hospitality.

And the ukulele...

 

Blue Hair

Traditionally a pejorative term for the hairdo of an older lady it has a completely different connotation in our household.

What are the odds that granddaughter and and amusement park ride operator have the same hairdresser?

click on image to enlarge

 

Muffin Man

By the time you read this it is entirely possible that we are out on the boat somewhere on Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay or Lake Michigan.

In the interests of creating order out of chaos - yesterday the grand kids asked for grandpa's famous blueberry muffins.  So we could have a quick breakfast and hit the water earlier rather than later.

Edit - Boating is postponed on account of a marine forecast for rain and thunderstorms.  Trolley ride tour instead.