Cold, Snow, Ice, Sweaters, and Spring Right Around the Corner

Oliver Sweater

Cold, snowy, and short days the past few weeks but days are getting longer. I did notice this past week when driving home from work that the sun was setting and it was almost 5:30. I had left work late and driving home noticing there was still light in the sky and pink in the western sky. It was beautiful! No, I did not get a picture taken, but I did enjoy the fact that it does mean the days are gradually getting longer.

A few times when letting Oliver out to do his business, he would stand to lift one paw and then the other. He immediately started shivering as it was sub-zero temperatures. Poor guy! Carrie would carry him out to the middle of the yard a few times just to help his little paws. He was a sweater puppy when it is cold and seems to like wearing the sweaters. We did have one day where it got up in the twenties or so and Oliver wanted to spend time outside enjoying the sun. Crazy guy!

It has been below zero multiple days and snow on the ground multiple days which is longer than I recall in the past few years. As a kid, I recall having snow on the ground for days, or weeks, but the past couple of years it seems like it will snow and be gone after a few days. Not with the latest snow falls we have had lately. The temperatures hovering around zero allow the grassy areas, and even some streets/pavement, to keep a covering of snow. 

Last weekend, the Kansas City Chiefs played in one of the coldest games in NFL history. I was glad to watch the game from the comfort of a home and my beer not freezing. It was not a game I wished I was at while watching on television. I spoke to friends who did attend and it sounded miserable although they did say how they can say they were there and stuck it out to the end... well, almost the end. They left partway through the fourth quarter. Stories to tell though of frozen beers, ice for feet, and noses freezing. Good times!

Rest assured that the days are getting longer and it will soon be spring here in Kansas. The warm weather will be here before we know it and Oliver cannot wait!

Stay warm and I will talk to you next week...

Mowing the lawn, looking at camp sites, a visit to site of parents cabin, and remembering past fun at Lone Star Lake cabin

Mowed Lawn and Fire Pit

First time to mow for the year and decided to do some limb cleanup too. Goal for the year is to stay ahead of limbs and not have a huge pile at the end of the season that needs to be hauled off. I have been burning for about four hours so far today as I started after I had finished the front and had just started mowing the back when I decided to start burning. Carrie was giving me grief saying that need to keep the limbs for camping, but where we camp, there are a lot of limbs or we can just buy firewood. Plus, we will have more limbs down that is a guarantee. 

Oliver stayed outside with me for most of the burning today although he just went inside as I think he is a sleep and needs an afternoon nap. Poor guy! He likes to help and watch what I am doing when I am outside. He also loves to watch for people walking along the street and run out to bark at them. So, we have a party while we are outside working in the back yard and Oliver is the leader of the other neighborhood dogs making sure to alert the others when there is something to bark at.

On Saturday, we decided to drive around and look at camp sites and we started at Clinton Lake which is just outside of Lawrence, KS. We found some good spots we are hoping to be able to do here soon. A lot more camp sites than I was thinking from when I would go out to Clinton Lake. However, way back when I was going there, it was not to camp, but to boat, so camp sites was not something I was paying attention to at the time. We found some good spots that Carrie wrote down in her notes.

Cabin at Lone Star 2014

After Clinton Lake, we drove out to Lone Star Lake where my parents had a cabin for many years. Again, I did not realize that Lone Star Lake had camp sites, but we found some good spots that we plan to check out this summer. The early months of May and June are already filling up with events for us, so hoping to be able to get at least one camping trip, maybe two, in there somewhere within May or June.

While we were at Lone Star Lake, we did stop by to look at the lot where my parents had their cabin. I spent many a day out at the cabin when I was little, growing up, and even after Carrie and I were married, we spent time out at the cabin. I had not been to look at the cabin, or land, since it was sold in 2015 or so. The people who bought it have done amazing things with the land. Still the same structure for the cabin, but modernized as far as I can tell from the outside. I could tell it was the same base with a rock structure, but they completely redid the outside siding, new deck, and made the drive much better. A new dock was nice too that was covered, had a lift to lift their boat out, and good swimming area. It looked really nice which was good to see. It did bring back a flood of memories of spending so much time out at Lone Star.

I did not take any pictures while we were at the old spot of my parents cabin, but there were a lot of memories of the good times had when we would go there. I also remember all the work that it took and I only did a small portion of the work with my Dad and Mom doing most of the work. Cleaning, getting ready for parties, mowing, and the list goes on and on. I appreciate all the work my parents did to keep the cabin so we could go to it for all of those years.

It has been a fun weekend and on that I will end this update. Have a great week!

Short Update for the Week Thinking About Weather, Sports, and Yes Camping

Enjoying the nice weather we are having this week compared to what we saw last week. In a weeks time we saw ice, snow, melting snow, and temps in the 80s. The nice weather is a good change and can see that spring is trying to make an appearance. Early this next week we are supposed to be we will dip down into the twenties again with snow, but should not do much of anything. The weather goes back up in the 50s for a few days and then back down into the 30s. We can hope this is the last cold weather we will see. I think we are all ready for spring to arrive and hopefully spring weather sticks around for a few weeks and we do not go to another extreme.

Spring weather makes think of baseball weather of course not sure when MLB will be starting for the season as it has been delayed because of negotiation talks not going well between owners and players. Still, the warmer weather makes it feel like it should be starting soon. I have been tuning into Washburn baseball which has been fun and we are going to get out to see some home games this spring at Washburn.

The spring-like weather makes me think about basketball as we are now into March and that means March Madness. Washburn played in their first tournament game last night and beat Emporia. KU still has one regular season game to be played Saturday although I write this Saturday morning, so not sure the outcome… we need to get the W so we can have a part in the Big 12 title. 

Of course the warmer weather also makes me start thinking again about where we are going to camp. We do not have any dates set yet and hoping to get some long weekends locked in so we can do our camping. It is bad when it is nice outside in the evenings and I am thinking about how we could be out camping somewhere… well, the temps still drop down into the 30s at night, so a bit early to be going out to camp. Still, we know the camping weather will be here before we know it and I cannot wait!

A short update for this weekend. I hope you are having a great weekend. Until next week, have a great week!

Mower Replacement for Haverty Never Ends

Trees are starting to bud, grass is starting to turn green, and I see my neighbors starting to work on their lawns. I guess it means it is almost spring time in Kansas! I am so excited for spring to arrive and looking forward to green trees, grass, and spending more time outside.

As the spring starts, I am once again reviewing lawn mowers to purchase. This will be my third lawn mower since 2006. The first mower I had was a Honda mower which I loved, but a problem with the handle a few years ago and I was told it was cheaper to replace rather than repair. Basically, the weld came undone on the left side of the handle causing the whole unit to be useless. So, I order a Troy-Bilt self-propelled mower. I had it for about four or five years. 

I sent in the Troy-Bilt mower over the winter months for routine maintenance. I soon received a call to tell me it was badly damaged and could not be repaired. Seriously? Turns out that last summer when I was mowing one evening I went over a metal leg on our hammock and the blade caught on the leg. It scared the crap out of me and of course the mower stopped immediately. It bent up the leg on the hammock pretty good but from what I could tell, the mower was not damaged. I continued mowing and mowed the rest of the summer/fall 2020 season with that mower. 

To help you with your lawn edgers information, please refer to the Happy DIY web site. There is a wealth information available they have provided on a variety of edgers.

When the company doing maintenance on the mower called me to report major damage to the engine, I knew immediately what had caused the issue. I was told that they could try and repair it but again, like the Honda, the repair would cost more than buying a new mower and it might not fix the issue. No-brainer, I decided to let them keep the mower, pay for the work already completed, and get a new mower as it got warmer and time for mowing again.

So, here we are making another purchase. I actually did like the Troy-Bilt mower I had before, so looking at getting the same brand again. This will hopefully be the last mower I buy for a long time. Stay away from metal and keep from having the handle break on me, should be able to keep over ten years with maintenance and upkeep.

Happy mowing and wish me luck on keeping this mower for a long time to come!

Grilling on a Tuesday Night

Last night we decided to grill mushrooms and asparagus on the grill. This was the second time we have done mushrooms on the grill and they turned out great! No pictures this time, but we did have more grill action. The mushrooms are large, so we eat them on hamburger buns. the asparagus also turned out great!

Tonight, no grilling, but it is once again raining. Hopefully more time for grilling this weekend. More later....

Grilling and Other Adventures

Time marches along... The semester comes to an end. Wow! I cannot believe that spring is already here and we are gearing up for everything that is going to take place this summer.

Although, I have grilled a few times, nothing too exciting until a few weeks ago over Mother's Day weekend. I finally had the chance to grill some interesting items on the grill. We grilled swordfish, tuna, and pineapple. Everything turned out great!

A picture of the feast is to the right. We were very pleased with how everything turned out. Oh, I forgot about the scallops that we did on the grill too. Everything was great if I do not say so myself.

I still have not grilled as much as I would like leading into the Spring, but we are starting to pick up the pace. Last Friday Carrie had something going on with her girlfriends, so I decided I was going to cook steak and watch movies. I had a great night! No pictures, but it was so good! A Omaha Steak wrapped in bacon on the grill along with grilled asparagus which turned out great! I promise to try and take more pictures of future dinners done on the grill.

My golf game has not been anything at all. I have only played once this year and that was for the faculty/staff golf tourney. We came in last and I played like crap! We had a good time, but I have not been out to play at Shawnee Golf Club at all this year. Tonight would actually have been a good night to go out, but no going for me. It is not that I do not want to get out and play, but it seems we have something going on every weekend and then when I would be able to play we are having bad weather.

Well, I will start making it a point to get out to play golf soon. If not, then there is not really any good reason for me to keep my membership to Shawnee Golf Club. I enjoy it out there and I want to start playing more. If nothing else, possibly twice a week nine holes each night. I enjoy those short games and playing right after work. The nine holes help to clear the mind and prepare for the next day of work.

Well, until I grill again, I will talk to you later. I will hopefully also post some golf updates before the end of June.