The Bee

This is my 4th year of 'pronouncing' at the Regional Spelling Bee.

The kids are aged from 4th to 8th grade, and have won in their school district.

This year we had 17 contestants.

The set up is for me to pronounce the words and two judges determine if the speller is accurate or not.

Everyone is on pins and needles; students, judges and the pronouncer!

It was a good bee.  

17 rounds and the students were successful in spelling some very difficult words.

The pronouncer made one big mistake, saying the word Noisy instead of Nosey, 

but once I said the sentence, that made no sense, I heard the judges questioning me.

So, it was corrected and luckily the student was successful.

Whew.

After the bee, I met some friends for Luck for live music and Lehman's.

It was a fun evening with a few beers and live music in the lounge.

There is a woman who plays the bassoon and she does Summertime like no other.

I have heard her once before and will look for this group again.

My friends from Luck are music fans and knew the people in this group, so that made it double fun.

Plus, we are already planning to meet up for more music.

February

It's really been a snowy February in Wisconsin! I think we've broken records or even set new records in many areas. It's a lot of snow now after this past weekend. The kids have another day off of school today because of the wind and drifting that happened overnight many roads are impassable.

Starting to clear the front deck.

  I feel so lucky to be able to stay home in a snuggly warm house on such a day. 

Ansgar's Lille Barn

I started trying to shovel off the front deck and intend to continue to work on that in small bits today and then will start on the back deck. I'm not as worried about the weight of the snow as I am just having escape routes and access to bird feeders.

Back deck

Meanwhile, the cats enjoy their fireplace and cozy beds.

Hops has to move away from the fire occasionally. 

Life is snowy, but good.

Another cribbage player in the family

I spent Sunday & Monday nights in Alma with Anders. He needed someone to hang out with on President's Day. 

I don't always know how to fill the time with Anders, he's a quiet boy. I thought it might be time that he could learn cribbage. Dad Kris found us a cribbage board and I set about teaching Anders the game.   Anders is a very quick learner.  He listens well and remembers.  After a short explanation of the rules, I dealt the first hand.  We played that hand face up on the table to get the idea of discarding to the crib.  He seemed to be catching on. 

We played the first half of the game and then took a break for supper.  I wasn't sure if he would want to finish the game,  but as soon as supper was cleaned up,  he was ready. 

I pretty much played like I would have against a seasoned player,  and he held his own.  Learning the nuances about discarding and about taking a chance on a good cut. 

Anders is quite competitive,  and loves to win. Really,  he does NOT like to lose,  so he was motivated to learn.  

After a good night of sleep, first thing Monday morning, Anders was ready for game 2. Again,  it was close, with me sneaking in a win by only a few holes.  He was right away ready for game 3. We were neck-in-neck again. I was trying to help him a little but kept getting good cards.  So,  game 3 was another loss for the new kid.  

We took a break for a visit to the National Eagle Center,  but when we got home,  Anders wanted to play again.  This time,  Anders beat me fair and square. 

He caught on quickly and seems to enjoy the game.  It was fun to teach him a new game that he will be able to play all his life. 

Heart to heart

I was checking my Wyze cam footage today and after the mail mistress had been here,  I saw these hearts in the driveway. 💜💚

Laila has moved to the rehab phase of her recovery now at an Acute Rehab facility.  We are hoping she'll be back into her routines within a week or two. 

Okay, that's enough

I used to hear that from Mom and Dad when my mouth was getting ahead of me.

  "Okay, that's enough!"  

Well, Mother Nature, listen up.  "Okay! That is enough!"

In the past 5 days, 20 inches of snow has fallen.  

Mixed in with some sleet for fun.  

We went from having almost bare lawns to

 not knowing where to pile the snow to clear walks and driveway. 

Crazy.

2019.02.03

2019.02.07

2019.02.12

2019.02.12 

2019.02.12

 Today, Wednesday, was better.

Bright sunshine did a fair amount of melting of roadways and my driveway.

I have spent many days at home during these big snows.  I finally got out today for tutoring, a haircut and lunch at Tokyo.

It was nice to be out and about again.

Laila is doing better, hoping to get transferred to an acute rehab location in the next day or two.

All in all, she is expected to make a full recovery.

Round 2

We are having a heavy snow, started this morning supposed to go all day.  We already have about 8 inches of snow. 

No travel for me today. Schools and many businesses are closed. Sure is pretty thought.

Snow Day

We had a nice snow overnight, about 6 inches.  Further south, in Eau Claire, more than 8 inches fell real fast, which made for a horrendous end to many motorists work day.  Lots of accidents and stranded folks.  I was glad to home safe and warm.

Laila is having surgery this morning, more on that later once we have a good result.

The critters really have a hard time after a big snow.  I caught this red squirrel burrowing through the snow this morning looking for sunflower seeds.  I have since been out and pushed snow off the seeds to make life a little easier for my wildlife pals.

No plans to leave the house for me today, another 8 inches of snow is on its way.

Water is running

 I'm happy to say the water lines thawed and, for this moment, 

all water 🚿is running and it is inside the pipes where it belongs.   

 Now to keep it that way. 🤞4 days, 65° swing 😎  

Ye Old Gammel Dansk

In 1990, Dad and Ev went to on a trip of a lifetime to Denmark 

and when they came back,

Dad raved to me about a liqueur that they had tried in Denmark called Gammel Dansk.

  He said it was such a treat after a meal and it even tasted good if you poured it into a beer.

So, I searched around Denver 

and finally found a bottle at Applejacks Liquor store 

not far from the Coors Brewery where I worked.  

I bought it as a special treat.

On Lille Jule Aften (Little Christmas Eve) of 1990, 

I had friends Mark and Karen and Roche & LeAnna over for 

Æbleskiver, sausages and rød grød med fløde for dessert.

  

As a finish to my Danish meal, I had the Gammel Dansk ready to serve.

After much fun trying to teach my non Danish friends 

how to say what we had just eaten for our meal, 

we settled in for a little after-dinner sip of this danish delight.

I served a cordial glass of Gammel Dansk to each of my guests, 

we raised our glasses, toasted the holiday, and took a sip.

Except it wasn't delightful, not in the least, well....at least not to us.

Each one of us nearly gagged and immediately we agreed that this was much too bitter to drink.

I thought maybe I had misunderstood Dad, so I poured mine into a beer and then took a drink of my beer.  Big mistake....huge.  I had to pour out the beer.

All of the Gammel Dansk that I served that night went right down the drain.

It was kind of a cross between lighter fluid and the most bitter thing you have ever tasted.

I will say that it made for a memorable ending to our evening 

and forever after I called Alka-Seltzer-Plus 

Gammeldansk because it tasted about as bad.

Now, according to The World of Fine Spirits web page: Gammel Dansk is a relatively modern liqueur bitters, having been invented in Denmark in 1964. Gammel Dansk contains 29 natural ingredients and is the second best-selling spirit in its native country, producing over 4 million litres per year.

Who is buying this liqueur?

Where are their taste buds?

One reviewer on the site says:  I first drank this in 1982 in a boardroom in Copenhagen. I was re-seaching equipment for the Sultanate of Oman. In the middle of the meeting I was invited to have a shot of this delicious aperitif ( with a size-able kick) and I was hooked from square 1. Some will find it to be an acquired taste but it is an excellent start to the day/before breakfast tipple. it is also my favourite drink to go with double espresso ( without sugar) after dinner I also put it on a par with a "port & brandy" as the best way to cure eating upsets and the "trots". And is one of those curatives that sets the world to rights on those days when all is not well with the world. But above all it is just very nice and is just a tad different

Are you kidding me?

To start the day?

Jeezuz!

Anyway, 18 years later, as I was packing to move to Wisconsin, 

I came across that bottle of Gammel Dansk in a kitchen cupboard.  

I decided to keep it and packed it for the trip.

Once I unpacked here in Wisconsin, the Gammel Dansk bottle was put in the back of the liquor cabinet and there it stayed, out of sight and out of mind, but still 3/4 full, for 11 years.

Recently I saw an ad on Facebook that made me think of that bottle and so yesterday,

the Gammel Dansk met it's demise.

Into the garbage the liquid went.

Then the bottle got a good rinse and clean up.

And now has been restored to glory.

I ordered the little set of lights with 'cork' for the bottle Amazon, 

(but I think they came from China).

No matter, they worked perfectly.

Now the Gammel Dansk is a little shrine to Dad and 

still reminds of a very fun Lille Jule Aften with friends in Colorado.

Carry on Gammel Dansk!

Cheers!