Face Painting

Face painting is a popular pastime, sometimes for Halloween.  When it's for Halloween, even adults will join in the fun.

Other times just for fun.

It's the kids that tend to participate when it's available at festivals, carnivals, and other festive gatherings.  Sometimes the paintings are quite beautiful.  Other times they are simple,  In either case, though, the result is always fun.

Not all our grandkids do face painting, and some of them, if they have, have never shared it with us.  But it's always fun when they do. and when they share.  I personally think it's a fun thing to do, for them, at least.  I have never indulged.  The only times I have ever worn "makeup", if you can call it that, is when I was in roadshows as a teenager.  But it's always fun when the grandkids do it and share it.  One of the fun things about having grandkids.

A Learning Experience

Recently Erdbeere and her boys came for a visit. And, while they were here, they wanted to learn a little about the fine art of fishing.  So we had arranged for two of their uncles (Schwarzbeere & Himbeere), who are both accomplished fishermen, to come teach them the finer points of fishing.  Or at least give them an introduction to the sport. Schwarzbeere's kids were also with us at the time so we all went to a good spot for kids to fish and got to it.

Because none of the kids had any fishing gear, Schwarzbeere had gotten up early on the appointed day and run to the store to get some.  Then, once we got to the fishing spot, they had to spend some time getting the poles and stuff all ready.  

That was a hard part, some of the kids were impatient. And it does take a few minutes to get five poles set up with bobbers, sinkers, and hooks.

But finally it was done and we all walked the short distance to the water, which we all hoped held lots of little fishies for the kids to catch.

Most of the kids lined themselves up along the bank, spaced far enough apart that we hope they wouldn't snag each other as they learned how to cast their lines.

Some wanted to try fishing from the little pier out over the water.

During the time we were there, they all got pretty good at casting their lines.  Some actually got good at it. As they fished there were a couple of times, actually quite a few times, that lines got tangled around the ends of the pole.  It took them a while to learn how to keep their line from getting wrapped around the end of their own pole.  

We had a couple of chairs along which some took advantage of.

Even though there weren't a lot of weeds, there were several times that lines got tangled in the weeds and had to be untangled and then straightened back out.

In the process, there were a couple of times that bobbers got snapped off the ends of the line.  Sometimes they flipped away and landed on the ground.  Once one landed in the water and took a little teamwork to be retrieved.

And once there was a monster tangle.  In the end, that line got cut and restrung with bobber and sinker before they were back in business.

The kids lasted not quite two hours before they'd had enough.  And unfortunately, nobody caught any fish.  Schwarzbeere was the only one that even got a nibble, although Himbeere expressed some doubt about whether or not that had actually happened.  Both the uncles have seen people pull respectable fish out of this pond so we knew it could be done. But there was a culvert that connects this little pond with a nearby river so the fish can come and go as they please.  Apparently today they were out and about, and not in the pond. It turned out okay, though, because that saved us having to figure out what to do if anyone had wanted to keep what they caught; both the uncles are "catch and release" fishermen. The kids all said they had a good time, despite not catching anything. Yet, despite saying they all had fun, nobody expressed any interest in hurrying back for another round. Fancy that.

Before the Storm

The other day Schwarzbeere's kids were over and the morning had been a bit rough.  So Brombeere took two of them shopping and I took the oldest one for a  bike ride.  

I wanted to "stretch" him (read: wear him out a little) by taking him on one of the longer rides he'd ever gone on while with us.  But there was a rain storm coming.  

So I planned a ride that would be longer, but that would get us back before the rain got here.

As we were out and about, you could see the big thunder clouds building out to the west, growing bigger and darker as we rode along.  There were times when I thought we might get caught, especially since he specifically requested some places he wanted to go, because he thought they were fun places to ride.

As we were riding the last half mile we felt the rain drops begin to fall, big drops hitting us as we rode along.  But we got home and into the garage before the heavy stuff hit.  Of course, in his case it didn't do much good.  As I put my bike away he ran in and out of the garage, gradually getting wetter and wetter until he was wet enough that he had to change clothes when we went inside.  But he was tired and happy.  Mission accomplished.  The rest of the afternoon was better.

An Agricultural Hazard

One thing I like to do is ride on state recreational trails.  These are sometimes called "rails-to-trails" paths; they are old, abandoned railroad beds that have been converted into recreational trails and are usually maintained by local enthusiast, usually a snowmobile club, since they are used by walkers, hikers, joggers, bikers, and folks on ATVs and snowmobiles.  It sometimes strikes me as odd to be riding along on my bike and pass a speed limit sign that says "55 mph".  Yeah, that's not me on my bike. Anyway, often these trails have old train tunnels on them, really cool. Tunnels are fun whenever you find them, which is pretty common on state recreational trails. But I digress. Because they are converted train tacks these trails typically are long and run through the countryside, between towns. That means through agricultural land: farmland. And farmland means it needs water.

Where I live it rains a lot but sometimes farmland still needs more water than what naturally falls from the sky.  That means the farmers have to irrigate.  Now days, big fields are watered with pivot irrigation systems.  

The "pivot" part comes from the fact that one end is stationary, usually connected to a well from which the system pumps water.  Then it is pumped out the length of the pipe, which is several feet in the air (so it will always be above whatever might be growing in the field), and out onto the crop. So the whole system is on wheels and rotates round the field, watering a big circle.

If you're flying somewhere and look down and see a patchwork of green circles, those are fields being watered by pivot irrigation systems.

Along the length of the pipes are sprinkler heads that spray water out onto the crop.

At the end opposite of the stationary end is a big rain-bird type sprinkler head that sprays water way out beyond the end of the pipe.  A way to extend the area that is being watered.  Then, as the sprinkler works through its cycle, it rotates around the field, watering whatever is planted.

Most of the time, when I have been riding these state trails, the sprinkler system, if it's on and working at all, is in some distant part of the field, well away from the trail. Sometimes it's not.  That's when you have to be careful. That rain-bird on the end sometimes will spray out onto the trial and you have to time your passing so it doesn't get you wet. Yeah, a rain-bird sprinkler covers a circle out on the end of the pipe so even if the length of pipe is near the trial the rain-bird will be doing a circle and only once in the circle will spray onto the trial.  That's when you have to hurry by.  You may have to stop and wait a minute as the rain-bird does its circle and moves off the trail but that doesn't usually take very long.

Then there was the day the sprinkler system was just through the trees from the trail and the rain-bird at the end was pumping out tons of water, directly onto the trial.

Because the rain-bird was just off the trail, almost half the circle it made was hitting the trail.  I had to stop and wait.  For almost half the circle.  That took a little longer.

It was pumping so much water it was like a heavy rain.  And because it was just through the trees and hidden by the trees, it was hard to tell exactly where the rain-bird itself was or where on the trail it was reaching, how long a stretch of the trail it was covering.  It was actually reaching clear across the trail, well into the field on the other side. That made it hard to know where to stop so I could stay dry while I waited.  And, yes, I miscalculated and stopped to wait too close.  Pretty soon water was pouring through the trees and getting me thoroughly soaked. Before I could get backed up I was totally soaked and wet. Not entirely a pleasant experience.  But before I realized I had miscalculated it was too late.  It got me.  Yeah, that happened.  But, otherwise it was a very fine ride along a beautiful trial on a wonderful day.

Decorating Help

We recently replaced our TV stand.

We'd gotten our old one not quite 14 years ago, and it was used when we got it.  It had done a good job but it was designed to be placed in a corner and that just didn't fit how we had our room arranged.

To find a new one we checked out new furniture but that turned out to be quite expensive.  That prompted us look to see what was available on the used market.  It actually didn't take very long and the used one we found matched the desk we've had in the same room as our TV for a long time.  It was a perfect match, an unexpected surprise.  Getting it home was interesting, it just barely fit in our car.  Any bigger at all and we would have had to use the trailer.  I was glad it fit, digging out our trailer is a lot of work.

But we got it in the car, got it home, and got it into the house.  Quite the accomplishment because it's big and heavy.  Schwartzbeere was a lot of help. But as we maneuvered it up the stairs and around all the corners, we kept reminding ourselves that it matched the desk perfectly.

Once it was in place we realized it was a little taller than we thought.  We knew it was taller than the old stand, but hadn't realized it was quite as tall as it was.  We needed to rearrange our wall hangings a little; the TV, on the stand, covers the picture we've had hanging on our wall right there.  Ah, well.  But it holds all our movies, which is pretty much the only thing we keep in the stand.  It holds them with room for plenty more movies, should we choose to get any more.

Brombeere wanted some time to decide how to decorate the shelves.  We knew we weren't putting any movies there so, other than the DVD player, there was nothing on them for a while.  So, after we got all the movies in and everything arranged, she decided she wanted to just leave the shelves empty for a while as she decided on what to put there.  The grandkids offered some decorating ideas of their own.  But I don't think she was too excited about any of their suggestions.  She kept having them find other places for their stuff.

In the end, she decided to decorate that space herself.  I think she did a better job.  Not that I don't like the grandkids' ideas. I just think their grandmother does it better.

But even Brombeere didn't leave it alone at first, not until she'd tweaked the arrangement just a little bit.  Had to have it just right.  But then it was just right.

The Tree

We've had this tree in our backyard that has been declining in health for the  past few years.  Bugs got it and it was gradually dying.  So we have a friend who is also a tree professional come look at it the other day.  

It was an ash tree and the dreaded emerald ash borer had gotten it.  It was not going to recover, his recommendation was that it come down.  So we asked if he could do it.  He could and today was the day.

The two man crew got here about 10:00 am and got their equipment out and began planning their approach.

It wasn't long before they got started.  Cutting this way and that way, then around to the other side for a bit more.

And then the tree started down, even though nobody yelled, "timber!"

In short order the tree was on the ground.  He had had me mark where the sprinkler heads were so he could make sure to miss them.  I had done that, figuring he would drop the tree in that general direction.  He had told me where he was going to put the tree and that's exactly where it landed.  I was impressed.

Then they got to work cutting all the limbs off, the "brush".  

As they cut the brush off they dragged it around to the front yard and then came back for more.

This was the most time consuming part of the operation.  Pretty soon they were down to the big limbs and trunk.  The tree was disappearing.

The stuff they took around front they ran through a chipper, grinding it into wood chips.  The kind that ends up in gardens and on nature trails.

On they worked, getting more and more cut down and gone. Pretty soon they had cut everything down to just a bunch of logs.

We had also talked them into removing a few limbs from a pine tree just outside the fence.  These few limbs were growing out over the fence and over garden space, causing shade where Brombeere didn't want shade. It was interfering with her gardening.  So down they came, down and into the chipper.

In about two hours the tree was gone, the brush was gone, and what logs we didn't want were hauled off.  The county keeps a place a few miles away where these kinds of logs, too big to grind, end up going.  I would guess the logs get split and sold off as fire wood for the various county parks around.  

We did keep a bunch of the mid-sized logs that we'll use for firewood once they dry and age a year or so.  They were good enough to cut them down to the right size and stack them for us. So, while I'm a little sad to see one less tree in our yard, it is nice to have that poor, ailing tree taken care of.  And Brombeere is delighted to have that much more sunshine reaching her garden.  And the logs will contribute to some nice evening fires over which we can roast hot dogs and marshmallows.  Good times!

Grandkids and the Wind

We keep a large ball for the grandkids to play with out in the yard.  The one we have now is not the first one, the first one met an unfortunate and unanticipated demise.  Anyway, the ball is for the grandkids but they are not the only ones to play with it.  There is also the wind.  When I mow the yard, I usually have to gather the ball in and put it away, which is just out of the way while I mow.  Then, the next time the grandkids are here, the ball ends up out in the yard again.  And between times, when the grandkids are not here, the wind plays with it, blowing it around the yard here and there.  Yeah, come to think of it, sometimes there's not much difference between the kids and the wind, as far as the ball is concerned.  And in more ways than that, as far as that goes. So, the last few weeks, while I haven't started mowing the lawn yet, the wind has been at liberty to blow the ball around as much as desired.

We've had a pretty windy spring (pretty typical), each time I'd look out in the yard the ball would be some place different.

It has traveled far and wide, all over the yard, from one side to the other and back again, up by the house and back by the back fence. All over the place. It would get stuck in a corner for a day or two but then the grandkids would come by and rescue it again, setting it free to roam wherever the wind would take it.  Kind of amazing how well traveled that old ball is.

Not Sure What Happened

I've had and successfully used a bread making machine for years.  I like home made bread.  So the other day I decided to make a loaf of bread.

So I got out all the ingredients and got started.  

I dumped all the right amounts of the right stuff into the pan.  Then I did all the settings, same as usual, and turned it on.

Three hours later I took the loaf out of the pan.  I'm not sure what happened.  Instead of the usual nicely shaped, golden brown loaf of bread, I got a deformed, misshapen little creature.  Fortunately, it still tasted normal, really yummy.  I dunno - maybe my yeast was old.  Anyway, I'll hope it goes better next time.  But I'll still enjoy the taste of this loaf.  I'll just eat it with my eyes closed.