Out Again for Another Season

Last year I got some cold weather gear so I could go out when it was colder.  So now I normally don't go out on my bike when it's below 40 degrees.  50 used to be my limit but now I could get out a little sooner in the year, on days a little colder. But then, last year, my season began in February and this year I thought, why not get out every month!  So as last winter turned out unseasonably warm, and the New Year holiday went by, I determined to make it out at least once every month in 2024. Alas, the weather did not cooperate.   

By January 29th I had not yet been out and the extended forecast didn't look like it was going to get above 40. So I decided to tough out the few degrees below 40 and get out anyway.  

We hadn't got much snow but there was still some left.  And the ponds around town were still frozen over.  But it was go or miss the goal.  So I went. I only got out once in January but I did get out.

February had a few more warmer days, I got out four times.  I even got Brombeere to go out with  me on one of those rides.  Still, there was plenty of snow and ice around.

When March rolled around it was still cold, plus we spent some time out of town visiting family, so I didn't get out a lot.  But I did get out some more.

When April got here we went on a big trip out to Oregon and had a great time. That was a longer trip so it took some time away from bike riding but it was well worth it. And, it was getting warmer at home.  I liked that!  I was even able to talk Brombeere into going out with me on another ride.  That was nice.

By the beginning of May the leaves were starting to get serious about coming on and the scenery was beginning to get nicer.

Once the leaves got started, they came on fast.  I liked that, riding gets really nice once the leaves are out.  In just a matter of a couple of weeks, the leaves were nearly fully out.

By the end of May, being out on the bike was very nice.

June was nice, mostly on the trails but sometimes out in the country, out of town.  Seeing more and more of the wildlife in the area.

During July I still got out a lot, even though it was getting hotter.  I also spent some time getting bikes for Schwarzbeere's kids working and going on several shorter rides with them. 

While they enjoyed riding their own bikes, they also liked playing on Brombeere's bike.  Mine was too big, they couldn't reach the pedals at all.  But it was fun going out with them when they were around and interested in going out.

We even got Schwarzbeere out with his kids a few times.  That was fun to see.  He fits Brombeere's bike much better than any of his kids. There was also one time when I was out with his oldest, racing to get back before it rained on us.  Yeah, One of us was more happy to have made it back than the other.

August was a nice month also.  Lots of pretty scenery, more wildlife.  Good times.

We also got in a fun ride with Blaubeere and her kids.  That was a challenge.  It began with scheduling difficulties, we had to reschedule a couple of times.  The ride itself also began with some mechanical troubles on one of the bikes.  But we got it taken care of pretty quick and got off to a very nice ride.

September was a busy month; Himbeere got married.  There was a lot of time spent getting ready for that and then enjoying the occasion, especially all the family that came for the wedding.  Every one of his siblings made it.  That was very nice.  But, despite all that was going on with the wedding, I still made it out several times.  Right at the end of September, Brombeere and I also took the time to go to a trail we'd been hearing a lot about. We made a little vacation out of it and enjoyed a real nice time.  

September also brought fall, the days were getting shorter, farmers were harvesting their crop. and the weather was getting cooler.  That was a nice thing.

October also brought the wonderful fall colors.  As fall was coming on we went back and forth about whether or not the colors would be good this year.  While they didn't make it to peak in time for the wedding, when they finally arrived they were spectacular this year.  Very nice to be out in.

The weather was also cooling down enough that I got my cold weather gear back out so I could keep riding.  Brisk but riding helps keep you warm.  

November arrived and I got out a few times but then winter arrived. It got cold and windy, more so than I liked to be out in.

We started getting frost in the morning ...

Then we started getting snow.  Not a lot, but it was definitely snow.  And wind.  Too cold to go out.  But the happy thing was, during November I reached 600 miles for the season.  A first! An all time best!

As December progressed and I kept watching the extended forecast, I began to wonder if I was going to evet get out; cold, wet, and windy day after day.  This December was looking like it was definitely going to be more like a normal December around here.  And I really didn't have the whole month to wait for a good day - we had plans that were going to make the last part of the month impossible to get out on the bike.

Finally a day came along that was warm enough but a bit more windy than I like.  It looked like I was going to have to "bend" the rules a little, just like I had last January.  So I planned a route that was long enough to qualify as a bike ride and minimized the time I'd be riding into the wind.

I wasn't the only crazy one out.  If you can see the water through the ice it's definitely not thick enough to be out fishing on it.  But there they were.

The route I had planned actually worked pretty good.  Only had to ride against the wind a little bit and for sure warmer than last January's ride.  There hadn't been any great accumulation of snow so that wasn't a problem.  It actually was a nice ride.  And it didn't need to be a long ride, either.  So I took an indirect route to the post office and back, and got my December ride in and some Christmas cards in the mail.  That meant I had been out every month all year.  Actually, I had been out every month since February 2023.  Not bad.  We'll have to see how January is to see if I am going to keep that streak going.  If this winter is going to be more normal than last winter was I may not get out in January next month.

It was a good season, got all my goals and enjoyed some very nice times out on my bike.  Not bad for an old guy.

The Pump Cover

When we bought our present house it had an underground sprinkling system already installed.  That was nice.  And it had its own outdoor pump so it didn't run on city water.  That was real nice as it kept the cost of watering the yard down.  The pump was out in the backyard, way in the back corner of the yard, under a little "dog house" cover.  We had no idea how old the system was, or the cover, but they were obviously not new when we moved in.

But it was out there, in the corner of the yard, out in the weather, rain or shine, winter, summer, fall, and spring, faithfully covering the pump, not getting much attention at all.

I don't know if the previous owners ever painted it, I know we never did.  It didn't get any attention at all except twice a year when it was time to either start up or shut down the system.  Then the lid would get moved off while the service people did what they needed to do to either prime the pump and get it started in the spring or shut it off and blow the lines for winter.  When they were done the lid went back on and it would sit again until next time.  

So it sat there, exposed to the elements year-round, aging and deteriorating, year after year.  It would occasionally get bumped while mowing the lawn, but otherwise it got left alone. 

Several years ago it began attracting attention because it was gradually rotting, moving closer and closer to just collapsing as it aged. A couple of years ago Himbeere offered to rebuild it but I didn't want to trouble him because I knew it would be at least a day's work, if not more.  There was also the expense of getting the material to rebuild it, which, even though it wouldn't be a lot, it would be time consuming to figure out what we needed and actually get the stuff.  

But then one day Himbeere went out and made a simple drawing of the cover and got some rough  measurements, the first step.  So, figuring we'd try to get all the materials before the next time Himbeere visited, Schwartzbeere and I finished out the drawing and measurements and went and got all the stuff.

By the time Himbeere came back, a couple of weeks later, we had everything ready to start construction.  Schwartzbeere was home that day so the two of them got started.  We had been figuring to build a cover that was a little more sturdy than the old one.  The two of them put in about three hours work and got as far as getting the bottom half pretty much done before Himbeere ran out of time and had to leave.  As he left he commented that he was surprised it was taking so long but I wasn't surprised.  I had done this kind of thing before and knew it was going to take a while.

But they had made good progress and got the bottom part pretty much done.  So during the following week I took the bottom out to to the pump and tried putting it in place, just to make sure it would fit.  The bad news was it was too small.  It wouldn't quite fit over the pump and all the pipes that go with the system.  Later, when Schwartzbeere was home, we went back out and did some more measuring.  Then we looked at the material we had and how we could enlarge it with the least amount of waste, using as much as possible of what we had already.  

On a Saturday when we had plenty of time, the two of us did the work of taking the bottom part apart and rebuilding it a little bigger. It was still a bit of work and took us all the time Schwartzbeere had that day before he had to go to work. But we got it far enough along that we were able to get to a good stopping place.  We had the bottom part all done again and the lid framed up. It was a good place to stop.

During the next week I went out one day and finished the lid, as far as getting it ready to put the shingles on.  Then the next Saturday Schwartzbeere and I put the shingles on and finished it all up.  

Then, a few days later, I took both parts out back and put them in place.  It fit this time, a very happy thing. Brombeere decided she wanted to paint it so it would last a little better so she went and got some nice, forest green paint and began painting.  She even put on primer, which was a good thing, the wood we had used was pretty thirsty. 

But two coats of primer and two coats of paint later, it was all done.  A much better looking little dog house now, ready to keep the pump out of the weather for years to come.  I suspect this cover will last much longer than the last one.

It took us quite a bit longer to do than Himbeere ever imagined it would take but we have a very nice little pump cover now.  The guy will be here in another week or so to shut the system down for the winter.  I wonder if he'll notice.  I suspect he will, if only because it's a bit heavier than the old cover. It will take a little bit more effort to get the lid off.

An Afternoon Drive

It had been a while so we decided the other day we wanted to go for a drive.  I keep a list of interesting places around the state that I would some day like to visit. It's the closest thing I have to a "bucket list", I suppose.  Anyway, Brombeere said she didn't have any place in particular in mind, she just wanted to go for an afternoon drive so I picked a place and that's where we went. Actually, where I began, when picking the place, was picking one of the many "rustic roads" our state has designated.  I wanted to go to a new one, one I hadn't been to before.  And I wanted it to be along one.  To earn the designation Rustic Road, a road has to be at least two miles long, among other things.  I wanted one longer than that so I looked at the map and picked one that was long.  It just happened to also be in a state park I have had on my list for a while; two birds with one stone!

The road began at the top of the Black River State Forest and is 12 miles long.

This winter in our state there's been a lot of snow.  Unfortunately, it's usually been followed each time by warmer weather.  So we'd get a really nice, heavy snow fall.  It would stay cold for a week or so and then it would get warm, which would cause a lot of the snow to melt.

As we drove along the road you could see the effects of the heavy snow.  Not only would there be a lot, but it would also be heavier than normal, a little wetter than normal.  That makes good packing snow,  good snowman snow, good snowball snow.  But it can also be hard on trees and shrubbery.

So we saw lots of bent-over trees, lots of broken limbs.  A hard winter, some might call it.

But it was still a pretty drive.  It was an overcast day, it might have been prettier if the sun had been out, shinning bright in the winter sky.  But it was still a very pretty drive.  This forest was in what is referred to as the "driftless area", the leading edge of the ancient glacier that used to cover most of the state.  So in front of the glacier a lot of dirt got pushed around, resulting in today's hills found all over in the southwest part of the state.  It's a very pretty area.

We did find one parking area that had been plowed out, the parking area for the trailhead of a number of trails through the forest, used for hiking and cross country skiing in the winter.  So we stopped to look around.

We might have tried a picnic, there were, after all, some picnic tables, and we found a nearby water pump.

But the snow was a bit deep and the pump turned off, if not frozen.  So we decided to pass on the picnic.

Some of the small stream and ponds were frozen over.  Others were not; very picturesque.

Eventually we came to the end of the officially designated rustic road so we turned around and drove back along the road and through the forest.  It was a very nice drive, a good time together. The whole time we had only seen four or five other cars, we'd nearly had the park to ourselves.  We enjoyed the time very much.  It also left us feeling like we needed to come back when it was warmer; have that picnic, or maybe even go camping for a day or two.  Maybe even bring the bikes back and try one or two of the trails that were all covered with snow this time.  That could be a fun time.  But today, it was a good drive, that was all we were looking for.  But it was everything we were looking for.

Comfortable Accessories

The youngest of my eight children is nearing thirty year old. Years ago, when most of my children were learning to drive, we lived in a rural community.  That meant driving a lot of country roads.  Where we worked, where we shopped, where we went to church, they were all 25-30 miles away.  Even where the kids went to school was seven miles away, all mostly on country roads.  And country roads mean more deer.  Yes, we were unable to avoid deer incidents, incidents which occasionally required the services of a collision repair shop. Between that and my children learning to drive, we had our cars in the shop to repair dents and crumpled fenders on several occasions.  We always went to the same shop and always, they would give us a complimentary key ring ornament, which, of course, had the logo of their national affiliation it.  Good advertising, I guess.  Anyway, I saved them and, as one would wear out and break, I would replace it with another. However, we eventually moved into a larger town so our shopping, working, and church going didn't involve so may miles of country roads.  The  kids all got better at driving and we didn't end up at the repair shop near as often; my supply of key tags began to dwindle. But for years I had one of those tags hanging on my key ring.  Well, these many years later, what I thought was the last one finally broke,

It made me sad. I had one of these tags hanging on my key ring for so long I wasn't sure I could recognize the keys as mine without the tag.  Yet there it was, broken.

I spent a few days doing without and then decided to look in my jewelry box, where I had kept all these tags for all these years, just in case there might be one more.

Guess what I found!  Callooh! Callay! One more tag!  Yes, there was another, one more!  Of course, I put it on right away and all was right with the world again.  My pocket felt normal again.  It was a good day.

Another Assembly Project

When we bought the home we currently live in we learned that the people we bought it from had used a service to keep the lawn healthy and green.  That explained why the lawn was so thick and full, especially the backyard.  But it was expensive and we choose not to continue to use the service.  The lawn continued to be healthy and thick but it gradually, over the years, declined and began to thin out and get weeds in it.  So last year we decided to start using the service again.  The lawn immediately responded by having the weeds go away and get thick again.  That plus we had a pretty wet spring this year, lots of rain means lots of growth. 

Alas, that meant when we mowed it there was a lot of clippings left laying all over the grass. 

That didn't look very good.

But it would be a lot of work to rake by hand, especially if it was going to be like this after every mowing.

We talked about what to do about it.  The best thing to do would have been to get a grass catcher but our backyard is fenced and the gate is not wide enough to allow the mower through if there was a grass catcher attached.  The grass catcher attaches on the side which makes it too wide to get through the gate.  We looked into widening the gate but that's pretty expensive.  We still want to do that but not right now.  Another option was to mow the backyard with the small mower, which has a grass catcher, but that would mean I could not do it, it's not a rider.  That left getting a lawn sweeper and going over the lawn after having mowed it.  So we got a lawn sweeper.

We shopped around for a lawn sweeper and the least expensive one we found, that looked like it would do the job well, was online so that's where we bought it.  It took a few days for it to arrive and when it got here it was quickly apparent that this was going to be another something that would require some assembly.  I was hoping that it would be not as difficult as the rototiller we put together last year, that was pretty challenging.  But after looking over the parts and instructions it didn't look like it was going to be quite that hard.

There weren't as many parts and the instructions weren't as long or as complicated.  The only down side appeared to be that it was all just pictures, no text or written instructions.  My experience has been that such instructions often leaves gaps.

But the first step appeared simple enough so I got started.  

The first step was easy, this was going to be great.  I was working by myself but if it didn't get any worse than this it wasn't going to be so bad.

The next step was as simple as the first, it went quick and easy.  But it soon became a little harder.  Several steps in, it became apparent that this was a two person job, not so much to understand what to do, but to manipulate the parts and get them in place.  Someone had to hold them in place while the other someone put the pins in place or tightened the bolts.

That's when I called Brombeere out to come help.  She was good enough to come, even though she was in the house and had planned on working on other stuff.

With the two of us it went better.  A little while later we had it all put together and ready to go.  

So I hooked it up to the mower and got started.

It took a little bit to lean how best to get it to work, remember there were no written instructions on how to assemble it or use it.  But a few times around the yard and I began to get the hang of it. And the other thing that helped was that I didn't need to cover the entire lawn, just where the clippings were, which tended to be a few feet from the outside edge of the lawn. 

 It takes two people to get it through the gate, it's too wide but by lifting it (it's not super heavy), it's possible to work it through the gate and into the backyard.

The lawn sweeper worked pretty good, the yard looked much better without all that "mown hay" laying around.

Of course, the swept up lawn clippings will have to be hauled off since Brombeere doesn't want them scattered in her garden.  But it's nice to be able to clean up the clippings when they get so long.  I try to mow once a week but sometimes our schedule or the weather make that difficult.  So it's nice to be able to have an option.