prairieman

Winter is here in full force. We had 8 days in a row, where the overnight temperature was below zero. As of today (31st) we are at 14 days and counting, where the daytime high temperature was less than 32 degrees. On the evening of Friday the 21st, a very large winter storm arrived and stuck around until lunchtime on Monday the 23rd. The storm left us with 14 inches of powdery snow. Our BMW car collection is no stranger to snow; the cars were designed and built in Germany after all. But… they need a plowed road, because none of them have more than 5 inches of clearance. No problem. The storm was predicted more than a week in advance. A shopping list was made before heading into town. The pantry, refrigerator and liquor cabinet were fully restocked. Figured we could go 2 weeks without having to leave the house. On the funny side of pre-storm shopping: I witnessed a woman in Krogers with a full shopping cart of groceries, and…. two large 24 roll packages of toilet paper. lol

In other news, I began a long overdue inside project to fully build-in the kitchen refrigerator. The fridge is located exactly where it needs to be, with a loose wall cabinet perched on top and nothing on either side of the fridge. I need to fit and install a narrow filler panel between the double wall oven cabinet on the left side of the fridge. The right side will be more difficult. I have purchaed an 18″ wide 90″ tall kitchen cabinet matching the rest of the kitchen. The fridge is angled into the corner of the south and west wall of the kitchen. The plan is to cut up and remake the square shaped cabinet into a triangle shape. The long side of the triangle will butt up to the west wall. The short side of the triangle will be 18″ wide cabinet doors facing the great room. The hypotenuse of the triangle will be parallel to the right side of the fridge with enough clearance to allow pulling the fridge out for maintenance.

The picture for this post shows the driveway and parking area after the 14″ of snow was plowed on Friday the 30th. I held off calling anyone, knowing they would truly be crazy busy with higher priority businesses, parking lots, etc. A friend recommended a guy who lives nearby.

I did follow through and purchased new tires for the truck as promised in the December summary. I got that done a couple days before the winter storm arrived. The truck has not been outside yet.

Finally, the project to make friends with local crows is proceeding slowly. Everything I have learned says: LOTS of patience is required to eventually earn their trust. Crows are extremely intelligent and also wary/cautious. I can confirm that. They frequently fly off when they see me bringing out food for them. Carole gave me a couple books about crows as a birthday gift. Their extremely cautious behavior is expected from what I have learned. Slow and easy as they say. I’m in no hurry. Visit youtube and search: crows being smart.

Happy New Year !

The plan (in my head) was to post this yesterday. During the last week of 2025, I waged an internal struggle; whether to post the December summary on the last day of 2025, or…. wait until New Year’s Day to celebrate the dawn of 2026. Yep – that’s me. Trying to solve real problems. Of course; then I follow up by not posting until January 2nd. lol

December continued my lapse into laziness. Winter has always hindered personal productivity, so not accomplishing much this month is not a surprise. December was loaded with very cold – and snowy – weather, which caused us to stay inside unless we were supervising the dogs while they went about their business. When it wasn’t horribly cold, I managed to stack some firewood, made a modest amount of progress on the shed, and accomplished some organizing in the shop. I shopped for truck tires (I successfully milked ALL the tread off the tires that came with it’s purchase 4 years ago. Logic (or lack of) applied: Tires are expensive. Bald tires are a horribly flawed winter strategy. I’m not using the truck since I’m winter-lazy. Refer to the first paragraph of this post. lol Expect to see content about new tires on the truck in January’s summary.

Alex made the trip from OKC to visit for a couple days over Christmas. Lacey was unable to travel due to school assignments as she works to complete her degree in May. We enjoyed near record warmth on Christmas Day with temps in the 60’s. Obligatory Christmas Card worthy picture posted above.

I’ll close this post with a new activity I’m trying out. After watching a PBS show about Crows and Ravens, have wandered the internet to learn more about these intelligent animals. I have noticed since moving here in 2023, we have 3 crows that stop by nearly everyday, walking around the yard for a few minutes, then fly off. I have begun the arduous process to try and gain their trust. They really like unsalted peanuts in the shell. When I see them in the yard, I cautiously and slowly leave the house with a handful of peanuts. But Crows are are very cautious and wary animals. At this point, the moment they see me will cause them to immediately fly up into the trees. Two of the birds fly off, the third Crow will stick around and watch me for a minute or two before flying off. If I’m successful, they will eventually recognize me and not see me as a threat. That will allow me to step away from the house and leave peanuts in the same spot. It’s going to be a challenge because we have squirrels who I’m certain would prefer peanuts to the thousands of Oak acorns currently littering the yard. I will be thrilled if I have a Crow-up-close picture to share next month.

Check the calendar – it’s Dec 1st ! I’ve got a positive trend going for timely blog posts.

November weather was a roller coaster. We started out with average temps (40’s/50’s) then a cold blast with snow on the 10th. A week later, we got back to average temps until Thanksgiving with a return of cold & windy stuff – with more snow tonite !

I spent a number of days raking leaves this month and I’m not done. I have not completed moving a mountain of leaves from our property. Estimating I am 70% done. Any good news ? I started out and focused on dad’s yard and managed to complete leaf removal from his yard/home. The volume/amount of leaves in his small yard was… impressive. We enjoy State and National forests in South-central Indiana. The bill is due in the Fall. lol I also agreed to remove leaves from the yard of dad’s neighbor. The couple is in their 80’s and I mowed their lawn this year. Probably 40% of their leaves are waiting for me. The city used to haul off leaves if homeowners piled them along the curb. They elected to cease providing that service last year (no one’s property taxes went down). That means loading the leaves by hand onto a very large tarp laid out on my car hauling trailer. I have temporary sides installed, so I can pile the leaves 3-4 feet tall. Pull in the sides and tie it together, cover with a smaller tarp, then drive that rig to a farmer located near Bloomington who makes rich topsoil. It took 8 loads/trips for dad’s yard. It’s much easier at our place. All I have to do, is blow them from the mowed yard to the forest on our property to the west.

Meanwhile… back at the house. We knew Travis and his family would be visiting for Thanksgiving. Having family house guests, meant completing a few tasks, I had safely procrastinated since their last visit a year ago. I am pleased to report, the toilet in the shop’s 1/2 bath is fully operational. Our living room coffee table was disintegrating and in danger of collapsing. Took that furniture out to the shop, and returned it to the living room later the same day, looking just like new (if you squint your eyes).

When I wasn’t raking leaves or fixing toilets, I got underway on the storage shed. The building inspector approved the location (verifying setbacks, etc) and I assembled the perimeter framework (see attached picture). Really hoping the really cold and snowy weather gives up in early December, so I can complete leaf pickup – and – make real progress on the shed between now and Christmas.

send me an email if you have comments (positive OR negative)

I don’t have much to report for October. Partly because I got lazy. lol. Doing whatever I want (or nothing at all) when I want, is one of the best aspects of retirement. I’m guilty of having spent several days in October, where coffee and reading the internet lasted all morning, and most of the afternoon. No regrets. Life is good, and I am having the time of my life.

So… did I accomplish ANYTHING in October ? That’s a valid question with my confession above. Yes. I rented a stand-on small excavator/loader. I’ve never operated a machine like it. It made sense for several reasons. I didn’t have a lot of crushed stone to move for the shed foundation, it only weighs 3000 pounds, so I could use the smaller tilt bed trailer to haul it, and it’s very maneuverable. That quality came in handy because I corrected some grade work under the deck, and that’s where this little machine shined, and… the daily rate was much less than a typical loader/backhoe or skid steer loader. I will definitely rent that machine again.

As promised, I have attached a picture of the slab from a very large sycamore tree intended to be a future coffee table and end tables. Now that I have coffee & end table raw material… I will easily ignore that project until winter is raging outside (or longer… lol). I accomplished some scheduled maintenance on a couple of the BMW’s. While I am still behind on the maintenance of my small collection, it is in the best condition since we relolocated from Wichita in 2000.

I got started with winter preparations, by properly stacking the leftover firewood purchased last January when the radiant heat went tits-up. Also cut up several trees I felled during the summer. That wood is piled up and waiting for me to split into suitable firewood.

Finally… I got a building permit for the lawn equipment shed I’ve been trying to get built for over a year. We will get underway in November, weather permitting.

Oh my…. I’m timely with this month’s summary. For the second month in a row !

We really need rain. A total of one inch accumulated over 3 days in mid-September, and less than that for the entire month of August. I’m watering all of the shrubs planted earlier this summer to keep them alive.

It’s easy to forget about the lack of rain because… the GOOD news: temperatures (50’s/80’s) and low humidity have continued since the third week of August, when we turned off the air conditioning and opened all the windows. Our weather has been nothing short of wonderful, with the house & shop performing (w/o air con) as well as I hoped.

I spent September making progress on projects around the house and shop. Some projects got my attention, others were willfully ignored. lol It’s easy to make go no/go decisions: when one person is making the call. lmao. The daily routine continues: sleep in, getting out of bed around 8:30-9. Drink coffee and read the internet until noon. Have lunch and venture out to the shop and outside in the yard, to decide what I’m going to work on for the afternoon.

This month; cut down several more trees to accommodate fencing for the dogs. Purchased a long and wide Sycamore slab to eventually become our live-edge living room coffee and end tables. The wood slab is still rough cut from the sawmill. I have begun seeking a local wood shop to plane and sand the slab surfaces to be smooth enough for a tung oil finish. Also spent time in the shop performing overdue maintenance on my collection of vehicles. Then… there is always visiting really old friends and lending a hand with THEIR projects. Joe needed help moving furniture as a precursor to removing carpet and installing LVP flooring. Then… Kent and Rita’s daughter put her car in a ditch, ripping off the passenger side trim and puncturing the radiator on a 2021 Nissan SUV. I had them bring the vehicle to my shop for radiator R&R. This was an interesting challenge, as I have never worked on a vehicle so new. Was pleased I was able to successfully repair the car and didn’t have any leftover parts when I was done…

Finally…. I had to deal with a healthcare issue in September. My primary care physician referred me to a dermatologist 4 years ago. I see her on a semi-annual basis. She tracks various moles on my body for changes during her complete examination. My most recent appointment was in September, and she didn’t like the looks of a spot on my left ear lobe, so she cut a small sample of tissue for analysis. It came back as malignant Melanoma. She quickly scheduled surgery, and the entire malignant area was removed from my ear lobe: less than a week from discovery. It was no bigger than a 1/4″ by 1/2″ and a slightly darker color than the rest of the ear lobe. Now we hope it hasn’t already spread….

Which leaves us for this months summary picture; I had to choose between an ear lobe with stitches, or an impressive 38″ wide and 11′ long Sycamore slab. The PSA skin care picture prevailed I will try to post the slab picture for October’s summary.

Holy shit. It’s Monday evening and I am sitting in front of the computer to compose a monthly summary post for this blog. It’s Labor Day…. September FIRST ! !

Yeah, I know I’m still a day late (and a dollar short – do people still say that ?) August was interesting. It started with me working fairly hard on landscaping improvements and other outdoor projects. I purchased a pallet of used railroad ties to build a short retaining wall for the shed project. Then got started on auto maintenance and repair. Not sure of the exact date it commenced; but we had to endure blistering heat for a couple weeks. AC in the house: ON. Typical forecast: Mid 70’s overnight and mid-90’s in the afternoon. It was a reminder of the scorching hot summers we survived in Kansas and Oklahoma. I reluctantly retreated to the house. Nothing inside (the shop) or outside had to be done ASAP. I’m a retired wuss, I so elected to waste my time on the internet, in air-conditioned comfort. Zero regrets. lol

Then a miracle occurred (not miracles of biblical levels- just meteorological favorable outcomes). The local weather has been similar to typical San Diego weather for the past three weeks. Fucking unbelievable. 50’s overnight, 70’s in the afternoon. Zero rain chances. It’s nothing short of amazing. and wonderful. I built the Railroad tie retaining wall. Planted several shrubs, weeding, tree trimming. Received a truckload of crushed stone for the shed foundation. As we transition to September, the wonderful weather juggernaut continues.

This month’s image shows the building site for the storage shed and the railroad tie retaining wall. There will 12 feet of space between the east wall of the shed and the retaining wall. The plan is to have a raised bed vegetable & herb garden fill that space.

One data point is not a trend. Will see if I can be timely for September’s summary.

Oh my. yikes. ugh. sheee-ite. lol Shoulda seen the look on my face yesterday when I opened the site to post a July summary – on August 3rd. and… here we are. Let’s start this post with the May summary. “I’m late. Again. Sorry about that. Gonna try to surprise everyone with a June summary”. Prophetic ? uhhhh… no. Not even remotely the surprise I was thinking of, at the end of May/early June. I feel like Lewis Hamilton right now – useless.

I think the old saying “You get what you pay for” applies here. It’s entirely possible… if I was collecting $$$ from people subscribing to this nonsense, I would be a whole bunch better with deadlines. Not a half bunch. A WHOLE bunch. lol. here is the good (or bad) news: this blog will be free until I quit doing it. and I like doing it, it’s just a simple priority problem. I can (and will) do better.

Headline news: I got something done ! Our audio system is completely wired up and functional. Running a vintage Realistic STA 2100D receiver through Bose series III speakers while spinning a Project One belt drive turntable. The sound (vinyl) produced by this system is magical. We have run a variety of equipment for the past 44 years with some success. This arrangement is simply unbelievable. All of this pre-owned equipment was purchased, one at a time since 2020 w/the exception of the 25 disc Pioneer CD player, a 1998 purchase. Other speakers are installed and wired up in the great room, breezeway, deck and front porch. Our setup also includes a 5.1 surround sound system. It’s great when watching movies or anything on TV.

Even more good news. I am finally back to 2022/2023 levels of motivation and (age corrected) energy to complete/achieve by Fall; 1. the backyard fenced (to contain the dogs w/o our direct supervision). 2. construct a storage shed for lawn equipment, generator, mowers, rakes & shovels, chainsaws etc etc. (purify the sanctity of my shop) 3. Landscaping the front porch entry to the house. 2 years moved in, and the entry looks like a construction site w/weeds and subsoil. (embarrassing)

If this sounds stupid – you’re probably right. I typically have 5-6 projects going at a time. Car repairs (delayed completion – no problem – plenty of spare cars in the driveway), home completion details, landscaping, shed and/or fence building, etc. if I get stopped for materials, it goes on a list. If I’m not interested working on a specific project on a particular day – I don’t. Once I have several projects stalled for materials; I make a trip to town. I always pre-plan my visit to town so I can have White Castle for lunch. deee-licious ! lol

Retirement is under-rated. I am having the time of my life. The picture/image for this month’s summary is the location for the future storage shed. Send me an email if you have something to share.

I’m looking at the calendar, and realize: I’m a loser when it comes to posting a timely monthly summary – which should happen when the date rolls to the start of the new month ! No lame excuses…. I’m late. Again. Sorry about that. Gonna try to surpise everyone with a June summary –

May will be remembered as the month when I “woke up” and decided the effort to complete this construction project is overdue (kind of like my ability to post a timely monthly update…) I’ve been spending a lot more time in the shop, getting moved in and sorting through all of the treasure removed from the storage unit. Definite progress made. As for the storage unit inventory, nothing will be completed in the shop until I have a lawn equipment shed built. Deliberate time was spent in May to create blueprints, and a specific location for the proposed shed. I had my favorite excavator here for a visit a couple weeks ago, to see if my plan has merit. Kenny liked the plan and I am on his schedule for some simple leveling of the shed site. Back at the shop, I completed a custom installation for my radial arm saw. Turned out as well as I hoped, and will serve me well as I begin to construct a proper workbench. We also need to address landscaping at the house entry/front porch. Progress made on that effort as well. Should have more to report at the end of the month. Finally, I had to rent a large drain auger in May. We were experiencing a downpour of unrelenting rain. I went outside (with an umbrella, duh…) to see how the property drains rain away from the house. To my surprise – one of the downspouts was spewing water up and out from the buried drain tile. Next day – pulled the downspout away from the drain tile to find it was hopelessly clogged with tree debris ! After an exhaustive effort with the industrial drain auger, got it freed up. Installed gutter guards over the next couple weeks, to prevent that from happening again ! Email any questions or comments – good or bad.

April was good to us. Weather was typical (rainy) with an extra helping mid-month, when we received 8″ of rain over 3 days. Widespread flooding in low areas all over the Midwest, the Ohio river swelled to a level not observed in many years. Living on Howard Ridge, we were unaffected by the severe drenching. In fact, I think the epic quantity of rain, was the reason for the “explosion” of trees leafing out at the end of the month. Looking west, we can only see traffic on highway 45 during the winter. From April 22nd to the 25th, the highway disappeared due to the super quick greening of the forest around us.

The bookshelf project is – nearly – 100% completed. If you look closely, the 3/4″ cabinet edge plywood is exposed. The plan calls for trimming out the shelves with a solid birchwood frame. Material is in the shop and ready to be ripped and cut to length. I also need to connect the audio gear that is currently a static display. We are currently using the black face Denon receiver gifted by Mike & Cindy. Thanks again! The Bose 301 series 4 speakers are placed high, at the upper left and right corners of the bookcase. The Bose reflective sound design demands that the speakers be placed away from the wall, and near a corner. They are providing high-quality audio to the room, superior to any other setup we have had. The speakers were sourced locally while the home was still under construction. The plan as we advance, is to put the vintage silver face Realistic STA 2100-D receiver in service. It was purchased earlier this year from a Facebook Marketplace ad. That is when I will wire up the Realistic graphics equalizer, Akai reel-to-reel tape deck, CD player and recent turntable acquisition. The Denon receiver will go to Carole’s shop, and the vacated space in the lower cabinet will be filled with a Yamaha AV receiver we have owned for many years. The Yamaha will run a 5.1 surround system designed when the house was still being planned. Notice the speakers on the lowest shelves, left and right sides of the TV. The central speaker is located above the TV. There are already speakers installed and wired up in the ceiling near the peak. Finally, I have an in-wall subwoofer close to the floor near the dining table. Movie watching should be amazing. For those paying close attention and wondering, the speaker immediately under the TV is a soundbar for normal TV watching.

Warm weather and longer daylight hours, has improved my attitude and level of motivation to get going on too many projects I have ignored and allowed to pile up. Next up; I have drawn up a plan and estimated materials for a lawn equipment & storage shed. Getting the shed built, will then allow me to restore the shop to a level of organization that has been lacking since vacating the rental storage unit last August.

Soooo… I hope to build a shed, fence the backyard for the dogs, landscape around the front porch & breezeway, and get the E30 and E31 BMW’s running again. We will see how it goes and how much gets done…

April was interesting from a weather viewpoint. The extremes: we had a few very warm days: 81 (tied the record) and several cold overnight temps below freezing: 18 (also a record). The slab heat has been working perfectly for over a month now. We have the house adjusted so it is 69-70 in the living areas, 64 in the spare bedrooms, and 67 in our bedroom. Carole prefers her shop at 69 and I’m happy to have the shop at 65. I wear a sweatshirt if necessary to save on propane instead of keeping the shop temps appropriate for a t-shirt and shorts. The boiler only comes on briefly at any given time during the day/night.

The armoire/liquor cabinet project is complete and delivered to Mary Beth, Susan’s bff. Getting that project done, has allowed me to begin focusing on a large wall of bookshelves for the living room This project should have been completed as a winter task, but I’m being a lazy bitch. I won’t bore this audience with lame excuses. I will declare it now: I will complete this significant project by the end of April. It’s not just bookshelves surrounding the flat screen TV, the project also includes constructing an audio rack for upgraded equipment I’ve been acquiring to enjoy our significant collection of vinyl albums.

I’m eager to get going on outdoor projects this year. We still have a lot to do…

The picture for this month’s summary is the current condition of the living room’s north wall. The April summary will be the same picture AFTER installing the shelves and audio rack.