Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City."

I was outside with Ginger around 1:10 a.m. and the current temperature of 36° under cloudy skies felt cool but comfortable. Later this morning, there is a 50% chance of showers before they give way to a cloudy afternoon and a high temperature of 43°. The NWS is forecasting a cool weekend. However, by Monday, they are also forecasting a 90% chance of showers once again. I'm glad that I won't have to drive on Monday.

Speaking of driving, we, and I use the all encompassing we, had to go out and put gasoline in the car for Mary's trip to Yarn Con in Chicago. We, in this case, means me, when it comes to putting gas in the car. I am still trying to figure out how Mary will get home from Yarn Con without pumping gas for herself.

We made a short stop at our favorite watering home and then home to try a recipe for the "Best vegan baked beans" that Mary found on the internet. Let's just say that while they were probably suitable for a child's palette, they were not spicy enough for anyone past the age of 10. Mary believes that she can augment the beans for further consumption. As of now, I'd give them a seven out of ten. Worthy of note is that Mary had to go to Frank's Market for some chili powder that was part of that aforementioned recipe. The fur-children and I stayed behind. Mary also had to go to the local yarn store, Needlesmith, for some Noro Yarn that is part and parcel to her trip to Yarn Con. Ginger was upset that Mary had gone out without her.

I heard the train pass by @ 9:40 a.m., but I did not make an actual sighting. Later in the afternoon, I was working on my jigsaw puzzle when Mary heard the horn of the train. I sprang to the window to see locomotives 2019 and 2057 motoring north at the front of 15 CHCs, seven DBTCs, and three DWTCs.

Otherwise, I read some, placed pieces in my jigsaw puzzle, and did the crossword in the Grand Haven Tribune, which is a duplicate of the puzzle in the L. A.Times. Mary surfed the net and made those aforementioned baked beans. I also took both of the fur-children for separate walks which happened when there was a lull in the rain yesterday.

Today, additional reading, walks with the fur-children, and more retirement. Mary will be packing and planning for her trip to Yarn Con. I'll be planning my weekend with the fur-children and staying out of the way. I'm hoping that Mary will make something more mouth-watering than those beans for lunch and dinner.

The sun will rise @ 7:28 a.m. and set @ 8:10 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:00 a.m. in "The City."

I finished watching our new favorite show, Designated Survivor, starring Kiefer Sutherland @ 11:00 p.m. last night. We are totally enthralled by both the premise and the entirely plausible scenarios being played out in this show. We only have one other show, NCIS, that we religiously watch.

The current temperature is a brisk 39° according to the NWS, while my DTWS is also reporting a 39° with rain falling. 41° will be today's high with a 100% chance of rain throughout the day. Suffice it to say that the fur-children will not be going for an extended walk later this morning. We may see the 50s by Saturday.

We enjoyed the chance to get outside and do some yard work on the vast grounds of the PE with the warm afternoon temperatures yesterday. Raking, pruning, leaf blowing, and bagging were all part of the afternoon's activities. Once again, the tornadic leaf blower that we inherited from Adam and Steph came into play. The only fly in the ointment is that the first pickup for yard waste won't occur until two weeks from now in GH. Oh well, that's why I placed them on the porch for safe keeping.

We took a trip to Harbor Freight for a random orbital sander that I will use to assist on the refinishing those bathroom cabinets. With the discount coupons that come in the mail all the time, it was a small amount to pay.

Otherwise, not much was happening yesterday. We took the fur-children for their morning safari and that was the end of them. Sugar just doesn't have the stamina that she used to have. Ginger could go all day.

With the yard work converted to steps and coupled with that safari, we logged over 15,000 steps, equivalent to seven and one-half miles of walking. That indeed was enough for one day.

It appears that I was in error on my baseball schedules. It looks as though the first "Real" games won't take place until Sunday afternoon when the Yankees play the Rays @ 1:10 p.m. EDT. The 2016 World Champion Chicago Cubs play in St. Louis later that night @ 8:35 p.m. EDT with Jon Lester taking the mound. I'll have to wait until Monday for my beloved Red Sox when they play the Pirates @ home @ 2 :05 p.m. EDT with the 2016 Cy Young winner, Rick Porcello, on the bump. Not to worry, I'll be reporting regularly, unless something unexpected gets in the way. That other team from Chicago will be playing the Tigers @ the Sox' home field @4:10 p.m. The Tigers behind Justin Verlander should win.

Today, a few indoor chores, and some other activities of Mary's choosing. Mary was batch cooking last night in her kitchen, so I 'll be curious what she comes up with. Yesterday she made another of her extraordinary beests.

The sun will rise today @ 7:30 a.m. and set @ 8:09 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be, It is just past 12:00 a.m. in "The City."

The NWS is reporting a current temperature of 42° under clear skies. However, the current temperature according to the DTWS is 37.6° and the view out the WW is far from clear. Either the clouds are hanging low, or there is fog in GH. This is one of the problems having the NWS using data and observations from GR when we are on the shores of the "Big Lake."

The NWS is forecasting a high for today of 56° under mostly cloudy skies. I am not sure what to believe anymore. Thursday, the NWS is forecasting a 100% chance of rain, so I'll have to play it by ear. At any rate, the sun will rise into clear, foggy, or mostly cloudy skies with the sun rising @ 7:31 a.m. and setting later @ 8:07 p.m.

I did get to see both runs of the train yesterday on the RSTL. At 11:08 a.m., locomotives 2057 and 2019 passed through our fair city heading south towing 18 CHCs, one extra long, 15 DBTCs, and one GTC.

At 3:08 p.m., those same locomotives passed by heading north, towing 10 CHCs, 11 DWTCs, and one GTC. I guess that the Mid-Michigan Railroad has switched to Tuesdays and Thursdays versus the Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Or, it was just an anomaly.

I walked to the hospital to get my regular checkup yesterday afternoon. All is well and so I walked home to find that Mary had been to JWs and picked up one of their vegetarian burritos for our dinner. She was feeling particularly non-ambitious yesterday. I know how she was feeling as I was feeling that way the day before. We ate and then I watched the evening news and Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy while Mary went upstairs before we watched NCIS downstairs. Once again, NCIS brought tears to her eyes. I took the fur-children out for their final visit and then I came up here to watch NCIS New Orleans.

Otherwise, not much was happening yesterday. I placed more pieces in my jigsaw puzzle and did some reading in the book for our book club meeting next week. I am liking the way the book is flowing, so it should be an easy read.

We need to go out today to get some things that we need, well mostly I need, and that's about it. Mary has to decide how much energy she has today. If she decides that the answer is not much, that's fine with me. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:30 a.m. in "The City."

It can safely be argued that I am blogging either later or earlier than usual, depending on your perspective. I prefer to think of it as my prerogative.

The temperature/weather conditions show that the current temperature is 39° under cloudy skies. Once the sun rises @ 7:33 a.m. and long before it sets @ 8:06 p.m., the NWS is forecasting today's high to reach a blistering 53° under partly cloudy skies. The long-range forecast from the NWS indicates that we have at least two more weeks before the highs get regularly into the 60s.

At any rate, yesterday we got up in time to take the fur-children for a walk to the Bookman where STWD got her expected morning treat. As previously noted, she isn't much into long walks any longer. I miss the walks that she and I used to take as we explored the various streets and avenues in GH. Oh well, we're all getting older.

That being said, Mary suggested that since it was a nice day, we should get started on our build-up for the Step-it-Up Walking Challenge once again sponsored by the Ottawa, County Health Department and carried out under the auspices of the Ottawa, County Parks Department. So Mary and I took Ginger along and traveled to Hemlock Crossing County Park to explore the trails. Ginger was in doggy heaven as she experienced new sights, smells, and sounds.

We covered about one and one-half miles in our quest to be able to walk five or more miles each day for the next several weeks. Five miles equals 10,000 steps on a pedometer. One good thing, a participant can use other activities. such as housework, gardening, or bike riding converted to steps to reach their goal.

But I digress, we walked the trails and I took several pictures of both us and of Ginger as she explored her newfound surroundings.

Like all terriers, Ginger explores with her nose.

The forest and the trails were mostly quiet as we walked.

The forest and the trails were also mostly devoid of other people on a Monday afternoon.

As a retired teacher, I appreciate that there are two outdoor classrooms@ Hemlock Crossing. This is # 1.

And this is # 2.

A great group picture of our hiking party on a bench overlooking the Grand River.

Today, Mary has to chat and get a hair cut while I have to read after our morning safari with the fur-children. Sugar will likely want to travel no farther than the Bookman to get her treat and allow me to get the Grand Haven Tribune. If all goes well, we'll take some later walks with just Ginger. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

It seems as though the winter into spring weather in West Michigan is an ever changing phenomenon, as the days unfold. Warm, cool, wet, dry, cloudy, sunny. calm, windy take your pick. It used to be said that in Chicago if you didn't like the weather, all you had to do was wait 15 minutes. I think that's true here too.

We have a current temperature of 41° under cloudy skies. According to the NWS, the clouds are low hanging and there is some fog about. I don't see either of those out the WW, but who am I to argue? Later today, the temperature is expected to rise to 46° with a 20% chance of rain with continued fog in the morning and clouds in the afternoon. Bill Steffens, Chief Meteorologist @ WOOD TV/Radio has forecast warmer temps and more sun for GR today. Our next chance of significant rainfall is Thursday, which that could be as high as 90%!

However, let's talk about yesterday. We got up early and spent the morning doing some laundry and cooking the potatoes that were going to seed. Some of the potatoes got added to my sack for planting later this spring. We added some cauliflower to the pot and the result was a huge supply of mashed potatoes and cauliflower. Since we had those, Mary decided it was time to make some gravy and use that over the top of them and her extraordinary beest. We still have a huge supply of potatoes for other activities/meals.

After lunch, we took the opportunity to walk the fur-children, but my "Little Big Dog", AKA, STWD, wanted no part and she wanted to get home as soon as possible. We were going to walk to the Baker's Wife for some bread, but since I had to get home with Sugar, I ended up driving there while Mary and Ginger continued their walk. I guess when you get to be a septuagenarian, like Sugar, you can be as eccentric as you want.

I got the bread and when I returned, I was able to hang our newly acquired wall decoration on the back of the manse. I think it looks great in its new home.

Old meets new.

We needed to go to the grocery store yesterday, but first, we traveled to the big-box store in Muskegon that sells all things for the bed, bath and beyond to use a 20% off coupon that expired today. We had thoughts of buying a new shower curtain but instead used that 20% off coupon to purchase a new pizza pan. This pan is made in the USA and it is a non-stick variety like my bread pans.

Since we now had that pan and since we now had the proper vegetables from our trip to the grocery store, when we got home from a quick stop at Sporty's, we decided it was a good chance to make our first homemade pizza in many years. We had been inspired by the efforts of Steph and Adam the day before.

I started with making the dough in my stand mixer and then I chopped the veggies while Mary made a terrific tasting sauce as the dough rose for about one hour in a nearby bowl.

Looking good, smelling better.

The results of my chopping.

Once the dough had risen, Mary assembled everything into our dinner. It tasted better than it looks.

Pre-baking.

Post-baking.

Post dinner. Leftovers for lunch today?

But enough about our dinner. I got tired, and so I headed upstairs to watch some TV. That didn't last long and I fell into bed for the night. The fur-children were there with me before Mary took them out for their final trip to the back-forty. Mary watched what must have been several movies while I slept blissfully.

Today, I have no plans, but Mary has something to do, I think. We'll be walking the fur-children towards the Bookman and then I'll be reading more of our book club selection, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis, by Timothy Egan. This book is a winner of the National Book Award. It should be a good read with lots of photos.

I nearly forgot. I am an avid Scrabble™ player on my tablet and I got curious while playing last night about which letters in the English language are used the least to start words. My curiosity is an offshoot from a conversation that Mary and I recently had about why some people are curious while others are not. At any rate, I learned that the least commonly used letters in the English language are: Z X Q J and K, in increasing order with Z being the least commonly used.

The sun will rise @ 7:35 a.m. and set @ 8:05 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

I've just finished reading my latest pulp-fiction novel, Heartbreak Hotel, by Jonathan Kellerman. Overall, I liked the book/storyline, but by the end, it seemed as though Kellerman was rushing to wrap it up. If I had to rate this book on a scale of 1 - 10, I'd give it a 7.5. Good, but not great. Now I can get on to reading the book for our book club. I should have enough time for that as I don't have anything on this week's agenda that can't wait.

We finally got out with the fur-children yesterday in spite of the drastic change in the weather conditions from the day before. It was colder and rainier.

Today, as forecast by the NWS, it will be warmer, but the rain is expected to continue with an 80% chance and the possibility of T-storms. STWD will not be happy. I guess that it was a good thing that I took both of the girls out just before midnight last night. As the week progresses, the temperatures should stay in the mid-50s, with rain a relatively slight possibility.

We have a current temperature of 41° with rain occurring off and on. Today's high is expected to reach 57° so it will be more pleasant to walk with the fur-children. The sun will rise @ 7:37 a.m. and set @ 8:04 p.m.

Speaking of getting out, we also traveled to a craft fair at the City Farmer. Due to the inclement weather, the majority of the vendors had moved indoors. There were many nice things on display, but we ended up with a piece of sculpture made of old wood and steel for the side of the house, or garage, or the fence at the rear of the back-forty. It is up to Mary to decide. At any rate, Mary, in her usual hard bargaining style managed to bring the price down by $20.00 from the asking price. All good as far as I'm concerned. However, now I have to hang the piece. We stopped in @ Sporty's since it was a short distance away and then headed home to feed our fur-children. We watched some TV as we ate our dinner of extraordinary beest with broccoli slaw salad that Mary had prepared earlier

Earlier in the afternoon, I took some time to bake my easy peasy oatmeal raisin cookies and they turned out great, as usual. You can't go wrong with the simplicity of the recipe that is included in every box of Quaker™ oatmeal. Sadly, the sous-dogs were unable to sample any of the cookies due to the toxicity to dogs of the raisins.

After dinner, I headed up to the media room for more TV and reading where I fell asleep. I soon went to bed after I awoke and that was that until I got up to read and write this blog.

We don't have any plans for today other than the morning safari with the fur-children, so that should make the day easier. Ciao

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

I was going to add a picture of Mary and the fur-children, but as is all too often the case, I can't make it come into this blog. Oh well, maybe I'll figure it out someday.

The current temperature is a comfortable 48° with mostly cloudy skies. We are anticipating the rain to begin sometime after 3:00 a.m., and so that is one reason why I took the fur-children out for the last time late last night. They mostly don't mind the rain, but I have/had no desire to stand out in the back forty and get wet.

This is forecast to be a wet weekend, both Saturday and Sunday, with around a 70% chance. One good thing, we will have a 60° high on Sunday. We're almost there. Spring will be in full bloom very soon as it is almost April. The sun will rise today @ 7:39 a.m. and set later @ 8:03 p.m.

Yesterday was a mostly pedestrian kind of day. After our brunch of chili-non-carne, we independently walked the fur-children and then I worked a lot on my jigsaw puzzle and placed many pieces. Mary made another of her perfectly extraordinary beests and part of that became our dinner when we came back from the chiropractor. Then it was time for the evening news and an early bedtime.

Today, I get to use the kitchen to bake some oatmeal raisin cookies, do more reading and place more pieces in my jigsaw puzzle. Mary will be doing some crafty thing and the fur-children will be doing what dogs do best, sleeping. That old saw about a dog's life is so true.

Otherwise, not much is happening. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 1:30 a.m. in "The City."

The thunder has ended and STWD has left her hide-e-hole. She suffers an anxiety attack whenever she hears loud noises, like thunder or fireworks. I feel sorry for her because she can't understand it and can't overcome her fears.

At any rate, the current temperature is 40° and of course, the skies are cloudy. A quick look out the WW shows that the rain has stopped along with the cessation of the thunder. As the day progresses the precipitation will be gone until later tonight when it will return for both Saturday and Sunday. There is a saving grace in the fact that today we'll see a high of 57° before we drop into the low 40s for Saturday and then back up to the mid-50s again on Sunday. This is spring and this is Michigan, so this isn't really news.

Mary used a new recipe to prepare breakfast yesterday. We both agree that it should not be repeated. After that, we walked the fur-children and then Ginger went to her crate so that we could go to my podiatrist. Apparently, my new hiking shoes are being very kind to my feet and so my appointment didn't take long. I learned that I am on an every-three-month schedule, not semi-annual as I'd thought.

I watched the passage of locomotives 2019 and 2057 heading south @ 10:30 a. m. yesterday before we left. I did not witness the northbound run. However, the number of cars in tow was very limited, consisting of three CHCs, six DBTCs, and three DWTCs.

After my abbreviated appointment, we had a great lunch at the hospital salad bar before we set out on our second round of errands.

We traveled to two big-box home centers in search of tile for the bathroom. We found what we wanted at a Lowes™ store in Muskegon, but they had to order additional tiles from another store. They should be available late next week. Overall, the experience was not too bad. Is that a backhanded way of saying it could have been worse?

On the way home, we stopped at a store in Coopersville that sells discount groceries before a stop in Springlake at a full-service grocery store followed by a stop at our favorite watering hole for dinner. Then home to feed the fur-children before I fell asleep in my chair. I took the fur-children out for their final business and headed upstairs. Mary got bored watching the same old same old news and headed up to bed, I stayed up to read and watch TV in the media room and now I'm here.

The Wolverines of Michigan fell to the Ducks of Oregon in their bid to move on to the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament. Sigh. There is good news in sports, though, as the Tigers open their 2017 season in Miami on April 1. Right now, the status of slugging first baseman Miguel Cabrera is day to day as he has a back injury incurred during the World Baseball Classic as he played for the Venezuelan team. With the cold weather that is always part of the early season, a few days off are probably a good idea. My beloved Red Sox also open April, 1 against the Nationals. The Cubs open on Sunday, April, 2 in St. Louis. That means that I'll have a good weekend by staying home.

Today, not much on tap. Vacuuming and a trip this afternoon to the chiropractor followed by veg time in front of the TV after another dinner for the fur-children. I'll finish my book and then get started on the book we are reading for our book club.

We had plans to go to Chicago to see our children and allow Mary to attend Yarn-Con 2017, but when Mary phoned the boarding kennel, she was informed that there were no rooms at the inn due to it being spring break week. So, Mary will be seeing the kids by herself and I'll be staying home with the fur-children. Oh well, more no bull beefaroni and more time to read and play with the girls and watch baseball.

The sun will rise today @ 7:40 a.m. and set @ 8:02 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City."

Let me be uncharacteristically political by saying that we do have a problem with terrorism in this country, but it is a problem of our own creation. We have too many guns and a 2nd Amendment that purports to protect the rights of nearly anyone to own them. Estimates place the number of guns in the United Sates @ anywhere between 283,000,000 to more than 300,000,000! Fewer households own guns, but there are more guns sold each year. There aren't enough walls nor travel bans to protect us from ourselves.

33,000 people are reportedly slain by guns each year in this country. Homicides, that is people killing other people each year, are more than 10,000 in the U.S., while in Japan, that number is 50, in Germany, Italy, France. and other similarly developed nations, the number is less than 150, and in our neighbor to the north, Canada, that number is less than 200! In the U.S., police officers, average citizens, young people, people of color, and children are all too often slain by guns.

Nearly 22,000 Americans die each year from self-inflicted gunshots, many of them children and young adults! Too often the deaths are children playing with a gun that was carelessly left where they could find it. I know some people might say that I'm like Don Quixote, who according to Cervantes, was attempting to slay imaginary giants. However, when I see young people senselessly lose their lives, I feel as though I too am tilting at windmills and my giants are not imaginary!

Yesterday, several people, including a police officer, were killed by a person with a gun in what has been labeled a domestic dispute in Wisconsin. The silence in the halls of Congress and from the West Wing is deafening! We are debating immigration bans and the building of walls while every day people die at the end of a gun! It will be a long road to a solution if one is ever reached. That assumes that earthquakes due to fracking or air, water and land pollution due to the rolling back of regulations, don't get us first. As George Takei once famously intoned, "Oh My!"

But I'll apologize for my digression now. We have a current temperature of 24° under clear skies. Later today, the NWS has forecast the high to reach 48° under a mix of sun and clouds. After midnight, there is a 50% chance of rain or t-storms. The weekend forecast calls for additional rain. Alas, that's spring in the Midwest.

I thought I had missed the northbound run of the train on Tuesday, but it didn't happen until 9:07 a.m. yesterday morning when locomotives 2019 and 2057 passed by the manse on the RSTL towing 17 CHCs, and 17 DBTCs, one very long.

We didn't do much yesterday other than a walk with the fur-children. some reading and some jigsaw puzzle solving. We did get out later to go to see Young Frankenstein, which I had forgotten was filmed in black and white. I had my huge tub of popcorn and my ginormous cherry-cola, while Mary, did in fact, have just water and that mini popcorn. We had a great time.

Afterward, we stopped @ Sporty's and Papa Murphys™ before heading home to free Ginger and give each of the fur-children their pre-dinner outdoor visits. Later we collectively watched the news, while I watched car shows and Mary surfed the web before we watched my new favorite TV show, Designated Survivor. Then it was time for bed.

Today, I have an appointment for my semi-annual visit to the podiatrist and then we'll enjoy salads in the hospital cafeteria. We are still trying to decide on the bathroom remodeling so we may have to make some additional stops at more big-box home centers in a search for floor tile and fixtures. We had to tell our handyman, John, that we weren't ready to start yet.

That looks like enough ranting and thinking for one blog. The sun will rise today @ 7:42 a.m. and set @ 8;01 p[.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

How else can I say this? Not much is happening. The skies are clear and the current temperature is a brisk 28° according to the DTWS and 27° per the NWS in GR. Today's high is forecast to reach all the way to 36° under sunny skies according to their forecast. The sun will rise this morning @ 7:44 a.m. and set @ 7:59 p.m.

I accomplished most of my indoor chores yesterday and Mary once again sent the indexing job on its way, she and I both hope, for the last time. This has been a tough one, to say the least.

I only observed one train passage @ 2:10 p.m. Locomotives #2019 and #2057 were quickly moving through our fair city towing four DBTCs, two with those corrosion resistant stripes, six DWTCs, some also sporting those anti-corrosive paint stripes, five GTCs, and 11 CHCS. The passage came late in the day, on a Tuesday, which is unusual in itself, so I don't know if I missed the return passage as it headed north.

We were out after 4:00 p.m. as we took a trip to the local big-box home center to look at some possible replacements for our upstairs bathroom cabinets, vanity, and fixtures. We also looked at some tile for the floor. We didn't really see any that we liked, so at this point, I'm not sure I won't go back to plan "A" and have the fixtures replaced and refinish the cabinets myself. As always, this project seemed like a good idea when we contemplated it, but now I'm not so sure. It isn't about the money, but rather about the hassle factor as this project would consume nearly one week and put the upstairs bathroom out of commission for that time.

Since I was awake, I went downstairs and put some tofu into the oven for baking. This is a quick snack that we vegans love to eat. I don't think we have any chickpeas, so I can't make a spicy "grab and go" snack from those.

Otherwise, not much was nor is happening. The fur-children were there to await any possible extra tofu down in the kitchen as they too love to snack on the cubes, either cooked or uncooked.

We still plan to go to see Young Frankenstein later today. Of course, that involves another oversized tub of popcorn and another ginormous cherry-cola for yours truly. Mary shows far more restraint than me, sticking to a bottle of water and what the theater calls a "mini" sized popcorn. We both think that this amount of popcorn used to be the only size available at the concession stand when we were kids.

Ginger's crate has been moved from Mary's office and our bedroom to the media room because that is a better utilization of space here in the manse of the PE. I don't know how Ginger feels about the move, but she didn't get a vote.

That's enough for one day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be it is just past 2:00 a.m. in "The City."

Let's start with a thing of beauty as one of Mary's favorite poets, John Keats, entitled one of his poems, A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever. In this case, the thing of beauty is a vase of cut flowers that Mary bought for her vase in the foyer. The lady at Grand Haven Garden House, where we purchased the flowers, stated that Mary had great taste in flowers. I have to agree and I hope you will too when you see this picture. The final arrangement in the vase is all Mary, the flowers are from Mother Nature, or as she was called in Greek mythology, Chloris, whereas in Roman mythology, her name was Flora, hence the scientific word for plants, flora.

No caption is really necessary.

The current temperature is 42° under clear skies according to the DTWS and 39° per the NWS. Either way, it is pleasant. Today's high is forecast to be 44° under partly cloudy skies, also according to the NWS. Wednesday they are forecasting the high to reach only 35° albeit with sunny skies. For the next eight to ten days, we'll be bouncing around the uppers 40s and lower 50s. It looks like another set of cold baseball opening days throughout the midwest.

Yesterday we took the fur-children for two walks and also made that short trip to Grand Haven Garden house as previously mentioned. A stop @ our favorite watering hole and then home for the evening. Mary walked over to Arturo's for our dinner, but I stayed in to allow Ginger to be free rather than making a third trip to her crate.

I placed a few more pieces in my jigsaw puzzle, but I am concerned that I may have a piece missing as I cannot locate one that is in a field of mostly green. I'll have to wait and see.

I have some indoor chores to complete, while Mary has to once again tackle the latest revision of a problematical index. I'll take my time and spread those chores out over several days. Mary hasn't that luxury.

More reading for me and more walks for the fur-children after the sun rises @ 7:46 a.m. and well before it sets @ 7:58 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:00 .m. in "The City."

Once again, this seems like a good time to start with the weather conditions here in the Tri-Cities area. I awoke to the sound of thunder a short time ago. Naturally, STWD was last seen scurrying to her hide-e-hole to ride out the storm, so to speak. The NWS had issued a Severe Weather Warning for Ottawa, County, including our fair city, that was in effect until approximately 2:00 a.m.

A current temperature of 41° accompanied those T-storms and there was a possibility of winds gusting to 50 mph and hail the size of quarters. As I gazed out the WW (Weather Window), the rain had yet to fall in any significant amount, but the lightning was flashing and the thunder was rumbling. Whether we'd actually see any significant rain was always in question. I did hear a tapping, a tap, tap tapping, at my window pane, so I guess the rain began to fall. Oops, I was channeling Edgar Allen Poe from his poem The Raven there for a second.

Yesterday, we had a unique lunch before we went to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for what was billed as an Equinox Expedition. That name was derived from the fact that @ 6:29 a.m. this morning, the end of winter will occur and it will be the start of spring and of the longest days of the year. That basil we went in search of on Saturday was placed on those tomato halves that I mentioned in my previous blog. Along with some garlic and nutritional yeast and I forget what else, the result was a delicious repast. Here are two pictures of lunch, taken by our staff photographer.

It tasted as good as it looks.

In addition, Mary added some leftover pasta and Coleslaw from the day before to round out the meal.

The Coleslaw is in a nearby bowl.

But once again, I digress. As I mentioned earlier, we traveled to Hemlock Crossing Nature Center for that Equinox Expedition and while there, I took many pictures of this beautiful member of our Ottawa, County Park System and also of the things we saw while there.

Winter is a beautiful time @ Hemlock.

People of all ages were along for the expedition. 

We first went to the meadow in the park where we saw the emergence of Woodland Frogs from their long winter's nap. It seems that these amphibians actually can become what one of the naturalists called "Frogsicles". actually able to survive up to nine months hibernating in freezing temperatures. They emerge each year in mid-March to begin their mating rituals that are accompanied by the sound of the male frogs calling out to potential mates, who are larger and of a slightly different coloration. Oddly, the frogs seemed to have emerged earlier this year due to the warm winter temperatures that predominated here in West Michigan. 

This group of three male frogs was in the waters next to the foot bridge. While we were in the meadow, Curtis released a woodland frog that they had found on the previous day's frog viewing expedition. This frog was given the name of Lazarus as he was seemingly dead when Curtis found him on Saturday, but he slowly came back to life overnight as he thawed out. 

The meadow is wet right now but will be mostly dry later in the spring and summer.

This is Curtis, one of the naturalists who led the expedition.

We continued our expedition into the trails of the park and learned about the Beech trees there and also some interesting facts about the other flora and fauna to be found in the park. I asked how Beech trees propagate and I learned that they reproduce by dropping Beech nuts that are produced by the mature trees, but not necessarily every year. In addition, young Beech trees hold their leaves through the winter, like Oak trees. We also learned that White Pine trees can be identified by their needles which come in groups of five.

As we walked, we also saw the emergence of Skunk Cabbage in the springs and wetlands of the park. Given the sand that is part and parcel of the terrain in Michigan, the springs pop up anywhere the rains fall and the conditions are right. Worthy of note is that the water temperatures stay warm and so they may continue to flow during the winter. The Skunk Cabbages can be 10 to 12 degrees warmer than the cold water which allows them to get an early start to their growing season in the spring, actually poking through the snow and ice.

Skunk Cabbages in the stream.

This log which fell across one of the streams formed by the springs was covered by what I believe Curtis called Shelf  Fungus.

Thes plants are called Skunk Cabbage because of their pungent odor when the leaves are broken.  The leaves are toxic to people, but some animals can eat them.

In addition, we saw a tree that had been felled by a beaver. Beavers don't climb, so they fell the entire tree to be able to gather the upper branches for food. 

Fortunately, this tree which was toppled by the wind fell into the forest but not across the nearby river nor the walking path, which would have necessitated it being cut to allow for kayaks and people to pass.

We had a great time, and the expedition took longer than the one hour that was scheduled for the tour. As we were leaving, we spotted a Bluejay in a nearby tree. We had learned earlier that Bluejays and Swallows compete for the available nesting areas so the nature center is trying placing two houses next to each other to eliminate the need to compete for a single nesting spot.

That's one of a pair that calls the park home. Interestingly, Bluejays do not necessarily pair for life.

That is a lot of blogging for one day. The rains and T-storms did indeed come and have since moved along as forecast. All is once again quiet.

I nearly forgot to mention that the Wolverines of Michigan defeated the Cardinals of Louisville in the NCAA tournament by a score of 73 - 69. Unfortunately, the Spartans of Michigan State fell to the far stronger Jayhawks of Kansas 70 - 90.  

Today, we have no specific plans and that's fine with me. The sun will rise @ 7:47 a.m. and set @ 7:57 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City."

Since I was just outside with Ginger around 3:15 a.m., it seems like a logical idea to begin with the weather. It is 35° under mostly clear skies. The DTWS display shows 36°, but that is based on the local reading from the FPMS. I like the early morning hours here in GH as the traffic sounds are mostly gone on the highway and the local streets are deserted once the bars and restaurants ae closed. That will all change after Memorial Day once the "Tourist Season" begins in earnest and there is very little downtime. 

But I digress. We are anticipating a high temperature of 41° later today under partly sunny skies. Monday's high is forecast by the NWS to be a more spring-like 51° albeit with showers in the morning. Our temperatures will bounce in and out of the 40s over the next 10 - 12 days. 

The NWS is using their computer models to predict an early start to summer across the south and east, while here in the midwest the summer temperatures will be less predictable but are expected to be above average. The overall prediction is that this will be another anomalous weather pattern like the one that produced the recently departed La Nina. This may be a precursor to cooler than average temperatures in the north and northwest. What does it all mean? No one seems to be certain except that it is likely a result of Global Climate Change.

It could be worse, as these people waiting for an Amtrak train in New York can attest. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJTCqxoQvmI

My Irish Soda Bread was a hit @ the Irish Jam session yesterday. Our turnout was light due to the numerous Irish-themed activities throughout the West Michigan area. Still, a good time was had by all who came, audience included. 

Speaking of kitchen activities, while I was jamming, Mary went to the grocery store and then crafted some of her vegan themed chili-non-carne. She makes it so that anyone can season it to their personal taste. I like mine with jalapeno slices and a bit of extra heat. We also went out again to get some basil for another recipe she wants to try for baked tomatoes. That stop was @ a grocery store on the other side of the bridge, so that necessitated a stop at Stans in Spring Lake.

I nearly forgot to mention the passing of rock and roll legend Chuck Berry @ age 90. His unique style of playing along with his stage presence influenced many other musicians who came after. Here is a video from YouTube that showcases his famous song, Johnny B. Good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVT65M4mRnM

Today is another in the long journey for the Wolverines of Michigan as they attempt to make it to the NCAA Final-Four this game is against the Cardinals of Louisville. Michigan has a winning record @ home, but on the road, they don't fare so well. The game begins @ 12:10 p.m. EDT. Expect the bars throughout Michigan to have larger than usual crowds.

Today is a chance to do as little as possible before the grind of the work week begins anew. Oh wait, I'm retired, so my week is mostly open. I have no appointments and only some small indoor chores to do. I can stretch those out over a week. 

Mary will have some crafting and chatting to do this week. We both have some reading to do for our book club, and on Wednesday afternoon, we'll be off to see Young Frankenstein at the local movie theater. 

The sun will rise today @ 7:49 a.m. and set @ 7:56 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 10:00 p.m. in "The City."

The snowstorm that was supposed to make driving hazardous earlier today was indeed hazardous for many trucks and cars here in West Michigan. Fortunately for Mary and I, the only time we left the PE was to walk with the fur-children and then to the chiropractor. Mary worked on some crafts while I was baking in the kitchen. I created my first ever loaf of Irish Soda Bread, a vegan Shamrock Shake, and a loaf of English Muffin bread.

While we have not tried the Irish Soda Bread, it looks delicious. I can attest to the quality of the vegan Shamsork Shake, it was delicious. The English Muffin bread should be quite tasty, as I've made one before and it was delicious. I plan to take the Irish Soda Bread to my Irish Jam session tomorrow and share it with the audience and the other players, so here's hoping that it tastes as good as it looks. Here are two pictures depicting my efforts.

Raisins and bread flour yielded this tasty looking loaf. 

This loaf required more ingredients and my trusty Kitchenaid™ stand mixer to reach fruition. 

Otherwise, the day passed uneventfully. Being retired can sometimes be a stressful way of life, but when you can be productive in the kitchen and also accomplish some indoor chores and get in some time with music, then it is a great way of life.

The Michigan Wolverines men's basketball team won their game in the NCAA tournament by one point. Will they continue to the final four? I don't know.

The opening day of the World Champion Chicago Cubs 2017 MLB season is just 15 days away on April 2, 2017, @ St. Louis. My beloved Red Sox open their season on April 1, 2017, @ the Washington Nationals. Likewise, the Tigers open on April 1, 2017, @ the Florida Marlins.

The West Michigan Whitecaps, hereafter known as The Caps, open on April 6, 2017, with a nighttime home game against the Southbend Cubs. I think we'll wait until May to attend our first game @ the Fifth Third Ballpark to see an afternoon game in the sunshine. However, there is an afternoon game on a Sunday afternoon in late April, so we'll play it by ear.

We have a current temperature of 35° under cloudy skies with some fog. Tomorrow, the high should reach 41° with a 60% chance of snow showers in the morning. Those should clear out by early afternoon, just in time for me to head to my jam session. I really like my jam sessions as they allow me to play with others and also to learn some new songs and techniques.

Otherwise, tomorrow has no surprises in store. Mary will try to have some fun while I am gone. The sun will rise @ 7:51 a.m. and set @ 7:55 p.m.. That means that the day will exceed 12 hours of daylight. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:30 a.m. in "The City."

This should turn out to be a relatively short blog, especially when compared to yesterday's missive. I have no pictures to share and not much was happening yesterday.

We did make it to Dirty Dancing yesterday @ the Goodrich Theater near here. The movie was better than I remembered and the really big bucket of popcorn that I washed down with the ginormous cherry-cola was all I'd hoped for and more.

Mary and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and then we went to the grocery store to pick up just a few things so that some recipes we want to try can be brought to fruition. A stop at Sporty's and then home to free and feed the fur-children before we sat down to eat the last of the leftover vegan No Bull Beefaroni that I had made for lunch on Tuesday.

We have a current temperature of 28° under clear skies. Today's high is expected to reach 36° with only a 10% chance of precipitation. If the long-term forecast from the NWS can be relied upon, we'll put the 30s in the rear-view mirror for good next Thursday. I suppose since the first official day of spring begins Monday the 20th @ 6:29 p.m. it is a safe bet that winter will be behind us for this year.

I witnessed the southbound passage of the train on the RSTL @ 9:55 a.m. yesterday. Only locomotive #2019 was plying the rails and in tow were 11 CHCs, one BC, one DWTC and two DBTCs. We were @ the library picking up some books when we heard the passage of the train heading north. I didn't see it.

Today, we have an appointment @ the dentist that was supposed to have been in January. However, we canceled that appointment and moved it to what should have been a better day for driving. As of now, that appears to be the case.

Otherwise, no new adventures in the kitchen until Friday. I want to try my hand @ baking some Irish Soda Bread. It should be a nice treat for the people who come to the jam session on Saturday if the bread turns out as planned. If not, I won't even mention it.

The sun will rise today @ 7:54 a.m. and set @ 7:52 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 12:00 a.m. in "The City."

I did it! I made a pie for Pi(e) Day. I believe that this is my best pie to date. I owe it all to Mary for giving me my Kitchenaid™ stand mixer and her attendance at her weaving session yesterday leaving the kitchen all to me. In addition, I also baked Rye Bread loaf 4.0 and made another batch of my vegan No-Bull Beefaroni. All of that in between walks with the fur-children. Where shall I begin to tell the story of how great a day can be?

I'll start with Rye Bread loaf 4.0 since that is where my day in the kitchen began. This time I got it right if appearances mean anything.  I'll let my readers be the judge of that from the picture below.

I don't know about the taste yet, but I really like how this loaf turned out.

I had to mix the yeast with warm water, add the rye and bread flours with some molasses and then pour them into the bowl of the stand mixer and let the machine do the work of mixing and later kneading. I started with Rye Bread 4.0 because, with rise times, it takes about three hours from start to finish. 

I followed that initial mixing and kneading with preparing the flaky crust for my Pi(e) Day apple pie. Once again, it was a labor of love as the dough came together nicely before I placed it into the freezer for about 30 minutes. While I was waiting, I peeled the Granny Smith apples and sliced them thinly in preparation for placing them into the pie dish. I rolled out the dough and then placed one-half of it into the dish and then added the apples. 

Granny Smith's are my apples of choice for my pies.

Yes, the crust was completely made with my own hands. No store bought crust for me!

Some brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg flour, salt, and pats of vegan margarine completed my filling.

Of course, since it was Pi(e) Day, I had to include a Pi symbol on top of my creation. I printed one out, then used a sharp knife to cut it out of the dough scraps. 

A little sugar for crispiness helped top complete the Pi(e) Day apple pie, and then into the oven.

The finished pie looks awesome! I hope you agree. We'll taste test it later this morning. 

While the pie baked, Rye Bread loaf 4.0 was rising and it was ready when the pie came out. A slight reduction in oven temperature and in it went.

While I was having fun in our kitchen, Mary was having fun at her weaving session. This time, she made it to Wyoming without a mishap.

Her nearly finished result looks awesome too! I say nearly finished because she still has to tie the ends off. However, I took this picture to memorialize her excellent results.

Worthy of note is that this is a rare picture of  Mary wearing her scarf or is it a shawl? In addition, she is also wearing the hat that she knitted several years ago.  

I never got around to the weather earlier in this blog because the storm of the decade that is hitting the East Coast never really hit here. Our local West Michigan meteorologists are like sports announcers trying to keep the viewers watching when their team is being blown out. The meteorologists are talking about how much we got or could have gotten or whatever. It didn't happen here!

We have a current temperature of 19° under fair skies. Fair skies? Is that a forecast or a bit of wishful thinking? Later today after the sun rises @ 7:56 a.m. and long before it sets @ 7:51 p.m. the high temperature is forecast by the NWS to be 30° with a 20% chance of snow showers in the evening.

The rain is still in the forecast for Friday @ 70%, but Sunday's high is forecast to be 42° under sunny skies. 

We have no special plans for today. A few indoor chores, a possible visit to the movie theater to see the big-screen showing of Dirty Dancing and a chance to eat more popcorn and drink a ginormous cherry-cola. What's not to like about that? That's all I have to say about that. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 2:30 a.m. in "The City."

This blog will of necessity be short and sweet.

I reported on the Trains from yesterday, so that's out of the way. The weather has few changes since yesterday afternoon. The current temperature is 18° under cloudy skies. No snow is falling and that's good since I was just outside with the fur-children. Later today, once the sun rises @ 7:58 a.m., the day will warm to the high of 27° under partly cloudy skies. The sun will set nearly 12 hours later @ 7:50 p.m.

Since the weather looks to be cooperating, Mary plans to head to Wyoming for her weaving session. That will leave me with the fur-children, their walks, and another chance to use Mary's kitchen. I'll be sure to put Ginger in her crate when I am out with Sugar, as Ginger is working on being the good dog that we know she can be, but she isn't there yet.

I am still planning on baking that pie that was in my plans. I was going to do a blueberry pie, but I think that as of now I'll be baking an apple pie for Pi Day, 3/14/17.

Otherwise, I finished my latest book and I'll return that to the library later today. It turned out different than I expected, the sign of good writing. By this time in his career, James Patterson has the formula down pat.

I'm still waiting for a change in the weather towards consistent warmer days, and that should begin with Friday's high of 40° with an 80% chance of rain. We'll be consistently in the 40s after that, with the exception of Saturday's 38°. This being Michigan, and the season being winter for another week, this is normal. The East Coast of the country is experiencing a winter storm that could wreak havoc on the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C. Hopefully this is the last one for them.

To quote Porky Pig, That's all folks! Ciao.

Good afternoon or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:30 p.m. in "The City."

This may seem an odd time, but it is the time I have chosen to report the events from yesterday and today.

I'd like to start with a description of yesterday's activities for yours truly. I did some reading and some indoor chores and then I was off to the library to listen to GOTAK, the Irish Music Club from Grand Haven High School. As expected, they were excellent as they added new tunes to old favorites. I've included a few pictures to show the group.

Behind the scenes, so to speak

A view from the side

A shot over the huge crowd.

I love playing Irish music, but I also love listening to it played by others. 

The much-ballyhooed snowstorm that was forecast by the NWS amounted to "Much ado about nothing", as "The Bard" might have said. I took a picture out the WW to show how little snow actually fell in GH just outside the manse. We have a current temperature of 29° under cloudy skies. Friday the high is forecast to reach 40°, albeit with another chance for flurries or snow showers. This is one of those times I can definitely say I'm glad I live in Michigan and not New York or other parts of New England where the snow is expected to be quite heavy. 

As you can see, the road is clear as are the sidewalks.

We got up late today, but not so late that I didn't get a chance to see EMD GP38-2 locomotives 2057 and 2019 pass by as they headed south on the RSTL @ 10:56 a.m. In tow, they had four CHCs, 15 DBTCs, and one DWTC

At 3:05 p.m., I witnessed the passage of those same locomotives as they rapidly passed by the PE heading north. In tow, they had six CHCs, 15 DBTCs, one GTC, and three DWTCs.

Prior to that, I had been reading following a stint in Mary's kitchen creating one of my favorite dishes, a tofu laden stir-fry with portabello mushrooms, green peppers, onions, julienned carrots, garlic, water chestnuts, and bean sprouts all in a sauce that featured some tamari and molasses. I served it over rice that Mary had made for various reasons, with some chow mein noodles for me. Mary complimented my efforts and I thought it tasted extra good too. Dinner today is up to Mary, but I believe that her plans include veganized German potato salad. I am certain that that will be equally delicious.

As you can probably surmise, we stayed in all day and that was fine by me. No visits to the Bookman for STWD and no extended walks for either of the fur-children. Mary wisely opted to not go to her weaving class due to the weather. She may go tomorrow or Wednesday

Either way, tomorrow, I plan to bake a pie for Pi day. When I do, I'll take some pictures to memorialize my efforts. I anticipate it being another of my best efforts.

Ths sun will set @ 7:49 p.m. tonight. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 5:00 a.m. in "The City." That's of course if you reset your clocks for Daylight Savings Time. If you didn't, then it's just past 4:00 a.m.

Worthy of note is the semi-annual setting of my watch for the change in time. It only took me 10 minutes this time. I've set the clocks upstairs, but I won't set the ones downstairs until later this morning.

At any rate, we are still early on Sunday morning and our current temperature is 20°, but it feels like 13°. Once the sun rises @ 8:01 a.m., the high is forecast to reach a zenith of 30° with only a 20% chance of precipitation.

The NWS has issued a Winger Weather Advisory that will be in effect from midnight Monday until 8:00 a.m. Tuesday. The NWS is forecasting a total accumulation of 3" to 5" inches of snow and the corresponding hazardous driving conditions. MDOT the (Michigan Department of Transportation) is urging drivers to allow extra time and adjust speeds accordingly. Gee, there's a surprise.

Yesterday we traveled to Holland to allow Mary to purchase a new pair of indoor shoes for her indoor walking pleasure. Her new shoes are made my a company in Germany and they were highly recommended by our chiropractor for terrific support and long life, i.e. forever.

We had planned this trip following our visit to the chiropractor Thursday afternoon, but as it turns out, Mary wasn't paying attention to Ginger's whereabouts and activities when Mary was indexing Friday while I was out. So, Ginger was downstairs in the dining room using Mary's old slippers as a chew toy/rawhide chew. Mary found Ginger there and Ginger sheepishly fled to her hide-e-hole under the bed upstairs and wouldn't come out when called. We believe that Ginger was upset by my absence. That or she just felt like chewing.

Once we were done in Holland, we headed back north to the Hemlock Crossing Nature Center, a part of the Ottawa, County Park System, to listen and view a presentation about the sinking in the late 1800s of the SS Michigan by Valerie van Heest, the director of the Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates. The story of the sinking and the discovery of the wreck is chronicled in her book Icebound! The adventures of Young George Sheldon and the SS Michigan published in 2008. A fascinating multi-media presentation that is one of the many activities that are available at Hemlock Crossing and many of the parks in the system.

In addition, we took advantage of our being of a certain age and purchased a 2017 pass to any of the parks for the paltry sum of $7.00! Yes, Adam, we can be frugal, but we're not cheap. Why pay the fee of $15.00 for a younger resident of Ottawa, County when you can pay less than one-half as a senior?

We ended our outing with a stop at our favorite watering hole for dinner and then headed home for the daily ritual of freeing Ginger and then outages for both of the fur-children before dinner. Ginger is still in her crate when we are out due to her proclivity for exploratory activities that involve chewing and other potentially dangerous activities.

Today, I'd like to go to the library for another in their Sunday afternoon winter concert series, this one featuring GOTAK, a group of Grand Haven High School orchestra students. This group of students from the freshman to senior level was first organized in 1995 by the school's orchestra director. Here is a link to a video of one of their performances, this one from February of this year @ the Irish Fest in West Michigan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93yz-MgVDwY They are good!

Mary plans to stay behind and get her kitchen organized and perhaps begin "Baby-Proofing" the manse for Ginger. It may never happen that Ginger can be out of her crate while we are out, but we plan to try. As I've mentioned, Ginger is a terrier, and according to the veterinarians on the Pet Files program on WOOD Radio, Ginger may never be able to overcome what are her natural tendencies. One can only hope.

Mary was once again planning to go to Wyoming, MI on Monday for a session of weaving at the yarn shop there, but the Winter Weather Advisory and the snow in the forecast will likely force her to postpone once again, much like the flat tire from one-week ago. Sigh.

That's enough for one day. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening. wherever you may be. It is just past 11:30 p.m. in the "The City."

It was an interesting day today. I spent a goodly portion of my day in the kitchen. I made more baked tofu cubes, an attempt at Mary's extraordinary beest, and baked rye bread 3.0. The tofu and the bread turned out fine. My solo on the beest, not so much. Apparently, I didn't add enough vegetable broth to the pot and so the beest came out less than the expected size. Good taste, but insufficient expansion. I'll do better next time.

As I said, the rye bread turned out great! Taste and texture are excellent. You can't tell from the picture below, but I can assure you that this was my best effort to date.

Once again, the Kitchenaid™ stand mixer that Mary procured for me did its job. In addition, it was Mary's idea that rather than baking the bread on a flat cookie sheet, I should place it in one of my bread pans that produced this result. Much better!

I also got good news yesterday regarding the MRI that I had on Wednesday afternoon. According to the doctor, the scan showed normal post-operative results. In other words, after six years, I am fine and I can get on with my life. What is it that they say, "Nothing to see here!"

The weather today gave us significantly cooler temperatures. However, the wind was not blowing and so the temperature felt fine when we went on safari with the fur-children to the Bookman for the Thursday edition of the Grand Haven Tribune where. Sugar got her biscuit and we headed home.

Speaking of the weather, the current temperature is 31° under mostly cloudy skies. Friday's high temperature will be 22° under partly cloudy skies. The sun will rise @ 7:05 a.m. and set @ 6:45 p.m.

I spent some time with the girls. My playing was fine, but my singing was at best not very good. I spent more time reading after the hours in the kitchen. Then it was off to the chiropractor. We stopped at JWs on the way home and then it was time to feed the fur-children and let them out.

Mary had been hard at work on the indexing project and I'll be wearing my editor's hat Friday afternoon as my final contribution to this index. I understand that this index is now in excess of 40 pages.

Ciao.