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

Let's keep this one very short.

Current temperature, 59/61° under clear skies. Today's high 79° under sunny skies with windy conditions and a 5% chance or rain.

Cubs lost to the Rockies 3 - 5, fell to 30 - 30 and 2nd place in the NL Central, Next game @ 2:20 p.m. today.

The Tigers and Red Sox played last night. The Tigers fell to the Sox 3 - 5 while the Sox beat the Tigers 5 - 3. The Tigers are now in 3rd place with an AL Central record of 29 - 31. The Sox are in 2nd place in the AL East with a record of 33 - 27. Both teams play again tonight @ 7:15 p.m.

The Caps fell to the Dragons in an MWL East matchup by a score of 3 - 4. The Caps still have a 2 game lead over the Dragons with a record of 39 - 21. Next game tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

We got up late yesterday and then walked with the fur-children after lunch. Mary and I ran some errands and then ate a light snack at Double Deuce. Home to be greeted effusively by Ginger and then Mary sat down to knit while I went upstairs to read and watch car shows. I finished my latest book, Say Nothing by Brad Parks a short time ago. I liked it. The book was technically due Friday, so I'll have to pay a small fine, but it was worth it.

Today we may go to Harbor Island and see the reenactors at the Feast of the Strawberry Moon. We have had the opportunity for several years, but somehow we have never made it. Right now, we still don't know. Otherwise, nothing is on tap after the morning safari. I might do some baking after I water the vast lawns of the PE, but that's about it.

The sun will rise @ 6:05 a.m. and set @ 9:24 p.m. Ciao.

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

It is only fair outside with a current temperature of 55° to 59° under partly cloudy skies. Later today after the sun rises @ 6:05 a.m. and well before it sets @ 9:22 p.m., the NWS has forecast a high temperature of 72° under sunny skies. There is no rain in the forecast, so I'll be watering the new grass seeds that I sowed yesterday in what may be a futile attempt to reverse the damage to the lawns of the vast PE caused by the fur-children.

GTTSD and I only observed the southbound passage of the train on the RSTL. Locomotive 2019 was soloing @ 11:45 a.m. and towing 16 CHCs and three DBTCs. We were out in the afternoon and I do not know if there was a northbound run.

We traveled to Muskegon to view that exhibit of photographs at the Muskegon Museum of Art. We learned that the museum is actually the owner of an extensive collection of these photographs by Edward Curtis, dating back to the early 1900s when the head librarian of the Hackley Library in Muskegon made the decision to purchase one of Curtis' 20 volume encyclopedic picture and information collection. The pictures were and are truly amazing. In addition, we made a quick stop at the Hackley Public Library next door to the museum. The library has tours of what is an amazing library/facility which we will try to attend at a later date.

Sports news yesterday was once again 50/50.

The Cubs fell to the Marlins 5 - 6, dropping to 2nd place in the NL Central with a record of 30 - 28. The Cubs meet the Colorado Rockies tonight  8:05 p.m.

The Tigers topped the Dodges 4 - 0 to move back to .500 and 3rd place in the AL Central with a record of 29 - 29. The Tigers and the Dodgers play this afternoon @ 1:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox were crushed by the Yankees 0 - 8 to fall to a 2nd place record of 32 - 26 in the AL East. The Sox play the Yankees again tonight @ 7:05 p.m.

The Caps fared much better as they crushed the Great Lakes Loons 9 - 2 to stay atop the MWL East with a record of 39 - 19 The Caps meet the Loons again tonight @ 7:00 p.m. before welcoming the 2nd place Dayton Dragons on Friday.

Mary made a terrific vegan lasagna for dinner last night while I was on the front porch of the manse. She found a recipe for vegan ricotta cheese on the internet that was perfect as an accompaniment to her own vegan pepperoni. This one is a keeper.

After dinner, I was tired, so I walked the fur-children and then moved up to the bedroom to listen to the Cubs fall to the Marlins. I made it through the 1st inning and then I was gone. I awoke to the post-game interviews regarding the reasons for the Cubs' loss.

Today we hope to stay in. I'll be reading and Mary will do some batch cooking. I have several books to read that are due on Friday, so I'll be reading the most important one that I can't renew due to a hold and trying to renew the others at the library on Friday if there are no holds on those.

We will be walking with the fur-children and then Mary plans to watch the Senate hearings starting @ 10:00 a.m. I'll try to ignore those.

Ciao.

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

This one will be short because I want it to be.

As of now, a current temperature of 52° under clear skies, will lead to a sunny 72° later today. There is no rain in the forecast from the NWS for the foreseeable future. That means that yours truly will be watering again today. Accompanying that lack of rain is the sad status of the grass of the PE. Ginger has had a negative effect, to say the least. Astroturf anyone?

Sports news yesterday was a 50/50 proposition.

The Cubs behind Jake Arrieta cruised to a 10 - 2 win over the Florida Marlins. Solid hitting by Anthony Rizzo and Jason Heyward allowed the Cubs to win their fifth straight and remain in a tie for 1st place in the NL Central with the Brewers. The Cubs have a record of 30 - 27 and they play the Marlins again tonight @ 8:05 p.m.

The Tigers once again fell below .500 @ 28 - 29 in the AL Central, with a 3 - 5 loss to the Dodgers @ Comerica Park. As I've noted before, the Tigers are not a good team. They are at best a mid-pack team destined for a spot on the couch @ home for the 2017 playoffs and World Series. Is the rotund lady singing Brad Ausmus' tune again? The Tigers and the Dodgers play again tonight @ 7:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox nipped the Yankees 5 - 4 in an AL East matchup to pull within one game of the front-running Yankees. The Sox have a record of 32 - 25. The Sox and the Yankees play again tonight @ 7:10 p.m. A win by the Sox gives them a virtual tie for 1st place with the Yankees.

The Caps fell to the Great Lakes Loons yesterday afternoon by a 1 - 3 margin. The Caps still have a two game lead over the Dayton Dragons in the MWL East with a record of 38 - 19 The Dragons come to town for a four-game series starting Friday. The Caps and the Loons play tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

Not much else happened yesterday. We walked the fur-children and I made some baked tofu nuggets. Mary watched her computer reboot itself from yet another software update and sent out an invoice for a recently completed index. I went to my drawing class too. We did not get into the car yesterday, but we will today as we travel to Muskegon and the Muskegon Museum of Art to join our book club for an exhibition of Edward Curtis' photos.

The sun will rise today @ 6:05 a.m. and set @ 9:22 p.m. Ciao.

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

Let's start with several pieces of good news.

John is done with the downstairs floors. Now we await the arrival of the carpet and its installation followed by the arrival of the new furniture for both up and downstairs.

Mary crafted her latest version of veg-a-roni and vegan Italian-style faux sausage. The latter she incorporated into a delicious pizza with vegan mozzarella cheese substitute Sunday night. This pizza, made in a cast-iron skillet and baked in the oven, is a keeper. Here are some pictures of the preparations and the finished product.

The freshly risen dough in the cast-iron skillet.

Sauce and pepperoni in place.

Cheese on!

Just out of the oven.

Sports news over the last couple of days was was generally good.

The Cubs swept the Cardinals over the weekend and then took game one from the Marlins last night by a score of 3 - 1 behind some excellent pitching by newly promoted pitcher Eddie Butler and his reliever, Mike Montgomery. The Cubs took over a share of 1st place with an overall record in the NL Central of 29 - 27, good for a tie with the 30 - 28 Brewers. The Cubs face the Marlins again tonight @ 8:05 p.m @ "The Friendly Confines." Looks like the dreaded "June Swoon" may not happen.

The Tigers were off yesterday and they travel to meet the Rockies in Colorado tonight @ 7:05 p.m. The Tigers are in 3rd place in the AL Central with a record of 28 - 28.

My beloved Red Sox were also off yesterday. They travel to NYC to meet the 32 - 22 AL East-leading Yankees tonight @ 7:05 p.m. The Sox are in 2nd place with an overall record in the AL East of 31 - 25.

The Caps likewise were off yesterday. They still hold a two-game lead in the MWL East with an overall record of 38 - 18. over the Dayton Dragons. The Caps are home today @ 11:00 a.m. to face the Great Lakes Loons.

We accomplished several tasks in Holland yesterday afternoon after dropping GTTSD at daycare. We made stops at The Seasoned Home for some spices, the KIA dealer for some touch-up paint, Bed, Bath and Beyond for a replacement canister of CO2 for my "Soda Stream™ and tried to buy a mirror frame. That last effort failed. We finished our day @ our favorite watering hole, picked up Ginger with minutes to spare and then home to collapse. I took the fur-children out and then I moved upstairs to watch some TV before heading off to bed.

Speaking of Trainspotting, I saw locomotive 2057 heading south @ 12:25 p.m. towing 11 DBTCs, and eight CHCs, Later on, our way home from Holland, I saw the same locomotive heading north @ about 4:40 p.m., but the number of cars is in question.

We have a current temperature of 54° under mostly clear skies. Sorry, Steph I didn't go outside, so I didn't get any pictures of the constellations. Maybe tomorrow.  The sun is expected to rise in a little over one hour @ 6:06 a.m. and set later tonight @ 9:21 p.m.

Otherwise, I have another drawing class tonight @ 6:00 p.m. I am looking forward to improving my skills, but I haven't had a chance to practice this week due to the upheaval at the manse. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 ayem in "The City."

I was outside with GTTSD @ 2:20 ayem and the T-storms that were in the forecast from the NWS for later today were not in evidence. In spite of that forecast, the skies were more clear than partly cloudy. I guess that the only hope I have is that the current forecast for T-storms between now and 6:00 ayem comes to fruition. I just heard the first rumblings of thunder @ 3:30 ayem, so maybe. The current temperature is a very comfortable 68° and the roads are quiet here in GH. That is always true at this hour of the morning. The only cars on the road are from late-night revelers or workers heading home. So, I may or may not be watering in the vast gardens of the PE.

Yesterday was a four-win day for my teams.

The Cubs defeated their NL Central rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, by a final score of 5 - 3. All of those runs came courtesy of home runs by Javier Baez, a solo shot, and Kyle Schwarber, a Grand Slam. Those homers put the Cubs over the top en route to their victory and a 27 - 27 record.  One day earlier, a pundit had suggested that Schwarber should be sent down to the minors for some additional coaching. That may still be true, but perhaps being moved to the 9th spot in the batting order by manager Joe Maddon helped. It will be day to day.  The Cubs and the Cardinals play again tonight @ 7:55 p.m.

The Tigers once again stuffed that other team from Chicago by a final score of 10 - 1. The Tigers are almost even up in the AL Central division with a 27 - 28 record, good enough for 3rd place. The Tigers and that other team play again today @ Comerica Park @ 1:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox once again defeated the Orioles @ Fenway Park, this time by a score of 5 - 2 in their AL Central matchup. The Sox have a record of 30 - 25, good enough for 2nd place. They play the Orioles again today @ 1:35 p.m.

The Caps had a nice game in the MWL East with a win over the Lansing Lug Nuts by a score of 7 - 3. The Caps now have an overall record of 38 - 17 and a three-game lead over the 2nd place Dayton Dragons. The Caps and the Lug Nuts play this afternoon @ 1:00 p.m.

Elsewhere, we walked the fur-children and then worked in the vast gardens of the PE. Mary directed and I planted her climbing vine, which I have subsequently learned is named Major Wheeler. The people at The City Farmer tell us that Major Wheeler should do well with minimal care and full sun.

I spent some time in the man-cave yesterday preparing the new shelves for the pantry and then installing them. I think that they turned out great, but Mary needs to study them for a day or so to decide on the best way to organize the pantry with appliances and foodstuffs. I also cleaned up in the man-cave and tossed out some things that I would have saved in days gone by. This is another attempt @ the minimalist approach that Adam will appreciate. My part is done.

Mary prepared an extraordinary beest and then a batch of barbecue sauce that she used as part of the marinade for her latest batch of vegan jerky made from that beest. I like the taste, but she thinks she used too much cayenne pepper. I think Adam would like this batch too.

John is having trouble with the fuel pump in his truck, so he never made it back yesterday to finish his floor work. I know that the pump is in the fuel tank and requires dropping an empty tank to replace that pump. I also know it is a difficult job from experience in another life. I don't often miss that part of my life. However, there is a 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlo near here that is in apparently mint condition, which would make a great project car if I had the stamina of that other life too. Sigh.

Today, we have no plans to speak of and that is fine by me. A short walk with the fur-children, some playing with the girls, and some time in the kitchen.

I am hearing rain drops outside the WW and feeling the wind blowing through the WW too, so there is a front coming through. One can only hope. I haven't checked, but I'm betting that STWD is cowering in her upstairs hide-e-hole as she senses that change in the force.

The sun will rise in a few hours @ 6:06 ayem and set @ 9:20 p.m. Ciao.

Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:30 a.m. in "The City."

It's a done deal. The carpet has been ordered and the house is slowly settling back into a non-regular regular rhythm. Mary and I concurred on the need to carpet the entire manse and so we stopped in at the carpet store yesterday, put down our money, and then moved on to the furniture store.

I should note, that it will take seven to ten business days for the carpet to arrive and then about two and one-half days for the carpet to be installed. Meanwhile, the state of confusion will continue to baffle Sugar and us. Sigh.

At the furniture store, we chose a replacement for the bistro table in the media room and a pair of La-Z-Boys to replace the existing seating. It will take about six to eight weeks for all of the items we ordered to be ready, but at least we are done with that part of our adventure.

We have a current temperature of 56° under mostly cloudy skies. Today's high temperature is forecast by the NWS to reach 79 sultry degrees under partly cloudy skies. Sunday the temperature is forecast to reach only 69° with an 80% chance of T-storms in the ayem. If there are any weddings scheduled for Saturday in Central Park, they should go off without a hitch, no pun intended.

Sports news was mostly good yesterday. The Cubs picked a good time to right the ship versus their NL Central foes, the St. Louis Cardinals, by a slim margin of 3 - 2. John Lackey gave up two runs early and it took some astute base-running by Anthony Rizzo to set up a sacrifice RBI fly by Jason Heyward, but the Cubs pulled it off. Unfortunately, they are still in 3rd place with a record of 26 - 27. The Cubs and the Cardinals play again this afternoon @ 2:20 p.m.

The Tigers romped over that other team from Chicago by a final score of 15 - 5. The Tigers are now in 3rd place with an AL Central record of 26 - 28. The Tigers and that other team play again this afternoon @ 4:10 p.m.

My beloved Red Sox fell to their AL East rivals, the Baltimore Orioles, 2 - 3. That gives the Sox a record of 29 - 25, good enough for 3rd place in their division. The Sox and the Orioles play again tonight @ 7:15 p.m.

The Caps eked out a win over the Lansing Lug Nuts, 1 - 0.  The Caps 37 - 17 record in the MWL East gives them a solid three-game lead over the Dayton Dragons. The Caps and the Lug Nuts play again tonight @ 7:00 p.m.

Once we returned from our errands yesterday, I spent a couple of hours on the front porch with Abaegael playing and singing. Ginger would have been there too, but she was tired after a bath and grooming following daycare.

Mary finally got her climbing plant for the gardens from The City Farmer. She had tried to pick it up the day before, but it was apparently on an unexpected road trip with the greenhouse manager. I don't think that Mary has named her plant yet, but if she does, I'll post the name here.

Otherwise, we plan to do very little today as John completes the removal of the nails and detritus from the old carpeting in the downstairs. We are going to walk with the fur-children later this ayem, but not too far, as STWD is unable to walk very far these days when it gets warm. Like most of us here at the PE, Sugar is getting up in years. Ginger being younger, slows some, but she is mostly ready to go.

The sun will rise @ 6:07 ayem and set @ 9:19 p.m. Ciao.

Good evening or good morning, wherever you may be. It is just past 9:00 p.m. in "The City."

We have a current temperature of 65 - 68 degrees, depending on the source you consult. In either case, that's under fair skies. Tomorrow, the skies are forecast to be sunny with a high temperature of 74°. Saturday, the high is forecast to be 78° with partly cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain.

The sun will set this evening @ 9:18 p.m. and rise tomorrow @ 6:07 a.m.

As of now, the downstairs area of the manse is a mess, nee a disaster. The carpeting has been ripped out and carted away in preparation for the refinishing of the hard pine floors that have been in the manse since it was built in 1903 or 1904. The floors need some serious work that will take several days and may necessitate our vacating the building to allow for the various finishes to dry. I'm having serious doubts about the wisdom of this endeavor. I spoke with Mary and we agreed to talk about it more in the ayem. In short, I am in favor of our original plan "A", which called for carpeting the entire upstairs and downstairs. We'll see how I feel in the ayem.

I have to water again tomorrow to ensure the continued survival of the flowers and vegetables in the vast gardens of the PE. I did get the lawn mowed today, so at least that's off my list.

I also got in some time with my Irish drum today and I think I have a good start on a cohesive rhythm pattern. I also played with Ivy, my 12 string and we sounded good too.

Unfortunately, the Cubs are now into June and the danger of a 2017 "June Swoon" is upon us. Was last year's World Series win a fluke? I dunno, but right now, I am worried. The Cubs are playing like a bad baseball team The Cubs are off today after losing @ San Diego yesterday 1 - 2. They return to the "Friendly Confines" tomorrow to face the Cardinals, the 2nd place team in the NL Central, @ 2:20 p.m.

Speaking of bad baseball teams, the Tigers did manage to beat the very weak Royals yesterday, 6 - 5. That win still leaves the Tigers with an AL Central record of 25 - 28, also good for 3rd place. The Tigers are off today before meeting that other team from Chicago @ Comerica Park @ 7:10 p.m.

There is some joy in "Beantown as my beloved Red Sox defeated that other team from Chicago yesterday, by a score of 4 - 1. That gave them an AL East record of 27 - 24, good for 2nd place. Unfortunately, the Sox are not off today and they are currently losing to the Orioles, 1 - 7 in the 7th inning. The Sox and the Orioles play again tomorrow @ 7:05 p.m.

The Caps are playing the Great Lakes Loons tonight and the Caps are down 1 -2 in the 7th inning. They have an MWL East record of 35 - 17, good for 1st place and a one-game lead over the Dayton Dragons. The Caps and the Lansing Lug Nuts play tomorrow @ 7:00 p.m.

Trainspotting was odd this week. On Tuesday, I heard the train heading south @ 12:25 p.m. I did not see the passage. Oddly, yesterday morning, the train passed by the manse on the RSTL heading north. Locomotives 2057 and 2019 were towing 15 CHCs, 11 DWTCs, and 19 DBTCs.

Today, Ginger and I spotted the same tandem of locomotives heading south @ 10:00 a.m. In tow were four CHCs, five DBTCs, one DWTC, and two GTCs. Later in the afternoon, we spotted the same locomotives @ 4:34 p.m. towing 13 CHCs, 13 DBTCs, and one DWTC.

So, in the ayem, we'll make a final decision and then work from there. Ciao.