The Joy Of Making Bubbles.

Large, elastic, and colorful!  

 Ever wonder why kids get all the cool things to play with?  Me too!  And ever since I entered the world of Adults, I have been trying to figure out how a kid thinks by researching toys and playing with them.   Yes, yes... A truly adult thing to do.  Researching toys so we can discover why they are so fun.

Durable Bubbles.   

Visible Glycerin Plumes...

And for that reason,  I have been researching bubbles.    Why bubbles?   I don't know... because I just happened to watch a Ted Talk.   And ever since the last time,  I have been mixing up various concoctions to see which ones are best.   Oh, sure,   you could just watch a YouTube video and follow their recipe.  But how do you know if it is the right one you are looking for?   Maybe you don't want huge bubbles... or colorful bubbles.

Well,   A few things I have discovered.  Glycerin, sugar or corn syrup, and methyl-cellulose along with Dawn dish soap will work wonders.   Oh! it works best after 24 hours and on a calm, overcast day.

But who can wait 24 hours to blow bubbles in their yard.   I want all of the neighbors to look out and see a grown man blowing bubbles  and wonder, "What is he doing?"  "Why is he doing that?"  and "That looks like fun!"   Because... It IS!

Yes, blowing bubbles... or waiting for the wind to blow the bubbles, is a very calming, zen-like experience that I think every adult needs in their life.   I have been doing it for 10-20 minutes every day and I have seen a noticeable improvement.   Both in my stamina, depression, anxiety, and Handsome Features!   I'd also note that, although there may not be any scientific proof,  I do believe the act of blowing bubbles elevates my status to "That Weird Guy over there" in the neighborhood conversations.  It is good to earn a nickname for social gatherings.

Free Mulch for the Tomatoes! 

And then the tree guys came...

But my bubble therapy was cut short today when the tree guys came to remove the downed trees.  I hear they are going to take the last tree in our yard down today, after that huge branch fell down.   I managed to secure a bunch of wood chips for the garden in the process!  Free Mulch is the best! 

Mushroom Totems... Ready for
Mushroom Inoculation. 

Heirloom Tomato!  Our first one. 

I also set up a number of Totems for Future Mushroom Growing experiments.  ( Because being the "Weird Guy" in the neighborhood does not stop with simply blowing bubbles.   It is a Huge Undertaking to  maintain that stigma!)

Eh... Close enough. 

The small purple one... is it ready? 

Speaking of growing and mulching,  we harvested out first tomatoes yesterday.   Being all "heirloom" and various other odd strains,  we are unsure exactly when they are harvestable.   Take the purple ones.   Ready or no?  We also have green ones that will stay green even when ripe.   We learned that the hard way a few years back when we waited too long to pick them. ( They were green the entire time!)

Cheryl with her new Soap Cutter.

Cheryl continues with soap making and experimentation.


 She

Stacking up waiting for
the soap to cure. 

purchased a new Soap cutter to help get even cuts and uniform bars.  She is thrilled with the results!

Plum Fermentation. 

Culturing wild yeast! How exciting. 

And lastly,   the plums are beginning to ferment!  This is very exciting as the sugar water clouds up and the bubbles begin forming on top.   From what we have learned,  the fruit should stay inside the bottle until they float to the top.   At that time, the sugars should all be exhausted?  (I think...)   So we will need to remove them.   After that, I think we can freeze the yeast culture and prepare for WILD BEER!  Or maybe some other fermented concoction. ( Apparently, I like that word, as I have used it twice in this post for two different liquid formulas.)  And how often do you get to use a word like that in every day conversation?

So now we wait for the tree guys to cut down our last remaining tree.   A very large Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis)  .  A fascinating tree I only recently discovered when I decided to look it up yesterday.  I always thought it was a Choke Cherry tree. It is a hearty tree that can withstand the winds and dryness of the Great Plains!  But it looks like this one did not get that "wind" part.

Not really a defect.  Caused by mites or fungus stress. 

An example of a Witch's Broom. 

I shall see if I can cultivate a few of its seedlings to perhaps grow in its place.   The Sun beating down  where the missing branch used to be is now overwhelming!   We certainly will miss its shade.  It also had these little "Witch's Brooms" in the upper canopy. ( Witch= Hag...  Hag Berry,  eventually Hack berry... See the progression?)  Isn't nature fun?  Sorry about the long post yesterday...  looks like this one is equally as long.  But thanks for stopping in anyway.

The Silver Lining Of The Pandemic...

Silver Lining. 

I have been wanting to post something like this for a while, but Cheryl made the observation a couple of days ago that matched my own;  giving me the motivation to finally tackle it.

What if the Pandemic was actually a "good" thing?   Hear me out for a sec, because there are lots of "New Normal-ers" and "New World Order" activist out there wanting to fabricate the world in their own image.. and, from the mask, to the forced vaccinations,  it does not look like  something  anyone will enjoy.

But if you look and listen to people...  really listen to them.  You may hear a hint of good thing.  I personally have already had this "Eureka!" moment  20 years ago:  Work is hard!  And often keeps you from the things you love.  Why do we work so hard these days?   Competition?   Greed?  wanting more and more and more all the time.  Maybe fear!   Fear of losing your job,  being cast out,  a dead beat, broke, in debt, hunted by creditors, hunted by the IRS, anxiety, depression when you can't find a job that was equivalent, hungry, unemployable, lonely,   shamed, and forgotten by society once you no longer contribute.    Maybe all of the above!

But what makes you happy?   Is it really money?  Well, I will be the first to say that money certainly helps. (Especially since we often have limited funds...)   It can  help provide food and shelter, and gifts, and clothes, and gas for the Subie...But just how much do all of those things cost?   Isn't' time WITH you kids just as important as feeding them?   Time with your wife, your cats, your dogs, your friends....   Time.  Time with you.  Time with them.   Time is something a job will not allow you much of.   Spending 1/3rd of your life working... for an idea that is supposed to make you happy. But time is limited for everyone... no mater how rich or poor you happen to be at any moment.   I wonder if people actually wonder why they are not happy working all of the time. 

And then... everything stopped.

And that is where the Pandemic comes in.   It forced all of America and most of the world to stop.  STOP!   Stop and think.  People  were forced to spend time with those annoying brats they call children.   That horrible wife/husband.   Those loud and slobbery dogs that eat everything and are overweight, out of shape, and undisciplined.  And two things happened. 

One,  The family unit was seen as a thing to be avoided.   They want to go back to work to get back into their world of bliss.   Perhaps it forces them to come to the hard truth that their work and their world are  not what they really wanted.   This happened to the People above us.   Cheryl predicted that the Pandemic would destroy their marriage/ living together arrangement.  (Given the arguing that we could clearly hear through the floor.. and walls,, and ceiling.)  My thoughts are that anxiety and fear won the day and broke them up. 

Exactly!  

But there is another side.   I think a better side.  People are working from home!  Who would have ever thought that possible?   Back in 1918, many people were farmers.   You live and worked with your family.  Today,  they say  things are different.   Global economies require people to travel, work long hours, and sell their soul to the company if they want to have "nice things".   But being forced to work from home has revealed that that was all an untruth.  In actuality,  people can work from home and be with their family once again.   More time to spend with the kids, the wife,  eating a home cooked meal. More personal time doing the things that make you happy...

Corruption from the people who
are supposed to help us. 

There are other things.  The pandemic revealed the incompetence of Government.   The reason for the Founding Fathers to put the 1st and second amendment in the  constitution. How quickly those in charge will seize  control and take those rights away.  How the Media misinforms you to keep you anxious and scared all the time.  How the Teacher's unions have failed our children and created citizens who hate America, its rights, privileges, and its history.   How all those global agreements with China were NOT favoring America in the long run. How essential those "non-essential jobs" actually were.   And just how valuable the police actually are during a riot. 

So what do I hope for?   Well.... I want people to breathe.  Take a deep breath and hold it for a second before letting it out and realizing that they should be grateful for it.   As long as you can still breathe and think, and make decisions,  life is not that bad.   And then I want them to focus on how the Pandemic has forced many of them to take a break from the Rat Race.   

You are your own boss...

Are you enjoying your home time with the kids, the dogs, the cats, the spouse?  Are the finally able to fix that thing around the house that they never had the time to be bothered with?  Will they have to teach their kids math or reading or history?   I believe parents will be better teachers in EVERYTHING!  Better than the Government funded strangers who do not care.  ( Some teachers do care....  they do not last long in the current system.)   Basically, I want a new American Citizen that is smart, proud, and competent.   I would like more entrepreneurs and small, local businesses.  I want handshakes and smiles to return.  I want the freedom to move or stay put; to follow, or go your own way; to work full time, or work part time.  I want kids to be able to explore the America I grew up in, instead of being force taught to hate it and everything about it. 

I guess what I want is what I'm afraid we were losing in that Global Economy.  Unskilled labor, a disengagement from one's work and family,  and a lack of purpose or being that we all must find for ourselves, was being pushed upon us from all sides.  I think Americans have been shown a side of the world that was not good.  A corrupt ruling class, an unfair trade agreement, and a lost generation of citizens.   Like we had gone to war, only the generation is still here:  Burning, looting, hating the US for issues that happened 100 years ago.   ( And we ended those issues. after a bloody Civil War!)

They actually made a poster from this quote!  How cool
is that? 

And all of this was revealed....by a terrible Pandemic that effected the world.   As Mr Rodgers used to say,"Search for the 'Helpers.'  You will always find people who are  helping."  ( Hey!  I found the quote!  Who would have thought someone would made that an "Inspirational quote."  I remember it from his book.)  Look at the people cleaning the Graffiti, cleaning the streets, helping strangers who have been hurt.   I hope people do end up seeing the things I see.  And make this world a better place for everyone,  Starting with their own family, their own town, their own state, and their own country. 

This ended up bring way too long.   And it is all over the place. Sorry....Thanks for reading this far, if you managed to endure my dissertation.

Surviving the Storm!

Yesterday,  around noon,  the power went out.   We thought it was because they are working on power lines near Riverside, Iowa...but we were soon informed that was not the reason for the outage.   Around 12:30, the sky got very very dark!  I thought it was my imagination..because you could clearly see the sun on the neighbors garage.   But alas!  A storm was brewin'.

So, naturally I grabbed my cup of coffee and headed outside...  to watch the incoming doom!  I was just in time with the camera to capture sever of the neighbors trees coming down.    Shortly after that,  one of our own trees lost a huge branch..  captured on film!   I should probably join those National Geographic Storm Chasers!  ( Not really...  that sounds like a really bad job.)

The storm only lasted about 20 minutes tops!   Very little rain... which is what I was hoping for.  Just a bunch of wind damage to the trees of Wellman.  Some were actually pretty big!    After it was over, I inspected Don's house ( the neighbor with the huge limb on his roof)   looks like he will need to get that patched up. 

I was impressed how quickly the Kalona Tree Removal service snapped into action.  Turns out, they were working in Iowa City but the wind was too strong for the job, so they came back to our area... just in time for clean up!   The entire town was out picking up sticks, branches, leaves, and removing the trees that fell over.   Not having a chainsaw,  I was unable to help.  ( Unlike that time in Spring Lake. )





I look at the giant Choke Cherry Log that is currently in our front yard and I think,"  There was a time when I would have wanted that entire thing for wood working!"   But I have no carving tools anymore, and no saws or routers to do even the most basic projects.  Now,  I would only think of using those logs for growing Mushrooms!

Speaking of Wild Harvesting!   With the Power out and nothing to do,  Cheryl suggested we head out for those wild plums we found the other day.   There were a few on the tree still,  even after that huge wind.   We did have to climb over several fallen trees though to get there.  What a joy!
Many of the Plums that had fallen to the ground had been already eaten by some animal.   Probably a raccoon,  given that the pits and rind were still on the fruit, but the insides had been "mushed" out.   Very clever animal.

 Cheryl mostly wanted to harvest them for their wild yeast for some fermentation projects she has planned.   I'm eager to see if they will produce a tasty beer for the future!  I have my hops located, and if I can get the yeast, all I will need is some grain and sugar... and a whole lot of You Tube videos.

The storm and high winds returned while we were out on the trail.  We cut the ride short and headed home.   They restored power around 8 pm...  in the mean time, I made BLT's outside over an Open fire in our small "Hibatchi" grill.   It worked surprisingly well, but I would not look forward to cooking like that again.. in the dark!  ( It is very difficult to see how the bacon is cooking in the dark.)

Much of the town is still without internet access.  Ours is wireless from out hotspot  and even that is spotty at the moment.  At least I was able to post some pics on  Facebook before my battery died on my computer.  Even now I'm typing this post on notepad and will have to transfer it to the blog later.  WIsh me luck!

Welcome! To The Middle Of The Movie!

I started out so happy. 

Somewhere along the way, I lost
that red hair. 

A milestone has been reached!  One Half of a century of life has been mostly experienced.... by me.  And since I plan on living to be one hundred years old,  this is the official half way point.   (I don't think 100 years is a difficult goal  to reach and plan for...  Lots of people live to be 100 years old!)   And I plan on being one of them! 

Cheryl Baked a Cake! 

With Mushrooms! 

I was thinking.... Instead of posting another "Birthday Post" where I lament on what I have lost while getting old....  I thought it would be a good idea to reflect on what I currently have!  For instance:  The Silver Bullet Subaru!

My Fortune in Silver!

Subie Beats them ALL!

Yes,  most men of my age would take this moment and purchase an expensive new car.. to celebrate surviving this long.  They call it a "Mid-Life Crisis" purchase.  ( It happens at 30 as well... for those people who only plan to live to 60 or something...) But I have a 2003 Subaru LEGACY!  Next to the WRX or maybe an STI,  The Legacy is the perfect vehicle for me.  It has 325,000 miles and continues to truck along like a champ.  Still looks great!  And has working Air conditioning.   Reliable, dependable, and Loyal, it has every quality I desire in a car or a dog!  I could not possibly love this car more if it had a floppy ears, a furry hood, or a wagging tail. 

Cheryl...  She married me. 

And she runs...  in case I never
mentioned it before. 

Next:  Cheryl!   I know I don't mention her much on the blog, but I married the most perfect wife ever!  ( Well,  for me anyway...)   She is not too "Girly" and not to "Man-ish".  She is just right... Like Goldie Locks... without the gold hair.   She likes adventure, the great outdoors, and soap.  Sometimes she bakes things.   Oh!    She can sew stuff too.   Who wouldn't want a wife like that?  She is hard working, short,  and she runs... a lot!   She is like living with a dog, only way better!   ( She doesn't bark!)   In fact,  I could not possibly love her more even if she had  muddy paws, I wet nose,  or a slobbery tongue.   ( Cheryl added other things about dogs that are not very nice...   She doesn't bite)

Hiro and Leo. 

Neighbor's cats.  Rocket and Oreo.

And last..  the cat(s)!   We currently have 4 that think they own us... but in reality,  two are from the neighbors and one is the "Part-Timer"   Only showing up at night to sleep inside.  Our only true cat is Hiro.... and He is great.  All of the cats are great!  They like to play, cuddle, get pets and eat food.  Sometimes they sleep on our face, eat our food, and bother us to be let outside in the early morning hours.  Hiro will actually roll over for treats!  ( Sometimes... not much anymore though..) It is like having a dog... only way better!  In fact... actually,  they are furry,  sometimes flip their tails, and will bother you for pets and cuddles.  So they are actually a lot a dog too!

Gift? 

Hiro Helps. 

So,  I already have everything I need to be happy in my life!  I'm doing far better than I thought I would by this age.  I'm not living in my parent's basement ( .....Anymore.),  and I'm not living in a van down by the river.  (Subaru does not make a van...) We do live in a very small 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of now where, Iowa...  But things could be and have been worse!

Cake!  Birthday Essential. 

It's carrot cake with
Mushrooms on top. 

To celebrate this fine day,  Cheryl bought me gifts several weeks ago... and baked me a cake.  I did not know this because Cheryl is in control of the money and she receives stuff from Amazon and Fed Ex all the time.  I lost my good sunglasses several weeks ago,  and she got them replaces.

Cheryl approves my
pixelation. 

Colorful Jersey!  Biking essential. 

She also bought me a new jersey for cycling. ( Loud colors are a requirement while biking!)  and some Dr. Squash soap.  ( Because soap is also a requirement.. after biking!)

Soap!   Biking essential. 

Boletes!  For those "Hard to ID"
edibles...

And lastly,  another Mushroom book.   She said she had it in the closet for a month.  It would have been handy in Identifying those odd Boletes we found in the nature area several weeks ago.   I will be very excited to key out new found species in the future. 

So, I was not expecting a party, or gifts... but it appears it happened that way.   No people over, which is good.  ( I don't like people very much...Oh!  And that Virus thing... )   But cake, Muscatine, Tee's visit, and presents... are pretty much a nice cherry on top.   Most of the best things in life are free... Or found in the forest.   Or cost less than $10!  ( I have no proof on that last one, but if you think hard, I'm sure you will find an example somewhere.)  I pretty much have everything a person who does not have a dog needs... Except a dog, I guess.   (And those things bark and bite.. according to Cheryl.)   Thanks for stopping in.