Omaha's summer

Omaha seems to be settling into a routine, he shows up nightly to eat and spend a little time in the shelter.  With the longer days, I'm seeing more photos of him in the daylight, 

but I never actually see him in person. 

 Looks like he hangs around in the shelter for 15-30 minutes, must take a cat nap after he eats.

The Knot

I have such a good view of the birds from my living room.  This time of year is especially wonderful with the Baltimore Orioles, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks and many others.

The woodpeckers have been here all winter, and they are repetitive in some of their work.  One of my maple trees has a knot hole that gets a lot of work.

For a couple of years now, I have watched the woodpeckers busy themselves at this knot.

Are they cracking a seed?  Retrieving a seed that was stashed there?  Drilling for sap? or maybe drilling for bugs?  I'm not sure, but daily, one or more of the woodpeckers, Downy or Hairy, will spend some time at The Knot.

Working at The Knot.

Maybe it is like a corner tavern, someplace familiar to the birds, and for whatever purpose it serves, it does a pretty good business.

 A couple of regulars, much to my delight, are a cardinal pair.

It's not usual for me to see them in the light of day, normally they feed at dusk and dawn, so I'm happy to snap their family photo for them.

And of course love is in the air.

The robins are doing the dance.

I normally like to give a romantic couple their privacy, but these two were really acting up.

I hope they have a nest built in the yard somewhere.

It looks to me like they have tied the knot.

Spring

Our weather is pretty typical Springtime.  Clouds, rain, cool temps, a little sun and all leading up to some great weather next week.  I continue to enjoy the birds.

The Rose Breasted Grosbeak arrived on schedule.  

The male gets all the attention, but the female is pretty in her own right.  

Female Rose Breasted Grosbeak

Male Rose Breasted Grosbeak, looking fancy

 Always the fan favorite, American Robin seems to find plenty of reasons to hunt in my yard.

The boys are back

I never thought much about migration when I was living in Colorado.  I didn't get many birds at my feeder, a few blue jays, a few sparrows and some doves.  Living here in Northern Wisconsin, seeing the birds return is always a thrill.  Almost daily in May, a few species is sighted in the area by my birding pals.

This week, I am happy to welcome back the Baltimore Orioles.  

I have my grape jelly feeder out and business is pretty good.

Male Baltimore Oriole

I also saw the Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, maybe the hummingbirds are next?

I love Spring.

Spring

I've had a bad head cold all week, so have not really enjoyed some of this unseasonable warm weather that has been hanging around.  

This warm weather has been good for the plants to get a kick start.  

On Saturday, I found that my lone Trillium is blooming again.  

I'm so thankful for this lone beauty, always wishing it would spread; for 8 years only one lone bloom each Spring, I'm probably wishing for something that isn't going to happen.

I assembled a new fountain for the front deck today.

I'm hoping that the birds will make use of this water feature.

It has a remote control with a timer, so I can run it for 1, 2 or 4 hour blocks at the same time each day, and it even has lights for nighttime viewing if I'm on the deck.  A nozzle is included for fancy water works out the top, but I rather like the bird finials instead.

Now to build a flower pot garden around the base.

My Forget Me Nots are blooming, I love these little flowers.

I love these little flowers, nice that they bloom for Mother's Day.

 The wild plums are in flower too.

Such a pretty blossom.

It's nice to see the yard coming back to life.

Life is good, and my cold is much better.

Consultant for a Day, well actually more like 1 hour

About a month ago I was contacted through a private message on Twitter by one of the leaders at the MillerCoors Company.  Mind you, I use Twitter keep up on sports news and to 'borderline stalk' a few famous folks.  I very rarely tweet, and only occasionally retweet someone else's tweet.  

I did not even know there was a private message option, 

but there it was one afternoon, a message from Colleen.  Lucky Twitter alerts you to a message or I would have never known to look.

I worked in Colleen's division before I retired and I believe she has moved up a rung on the corporate ladder since then and manages multiple brewery sites now.  She sent me a note asking about retirement and offering a consulting opportunity at the Chippewa Falls brewery.  She felt I could help them create a scheduling tool for their multiple brands.

My first reaction was...ah no, not interested.

But then I thought, what would it hurt to go meet with these folks, 

get to know them a bit and see what they are trying to accomplish.  It never hurts to know the local brewers after all.

So, I gave her all my contact information and said I would give it a look.  

Colleen was always fair with me, I am a compensated retiree, I mean, I could not really see any downside of giving a little time to this project.

A few weeks later, I got a call from the Assistant Brewmaster at the brewery and we arranged a meeting.  I probably overstated how limited my skills are now after 8 years out of the business but we agreed to meet none the less.

So, last Tuesday morning I headed for Chippewa Falls.  

For about an hour I was pretending to be a consultant.  

I met with the Assistant Brewmaster and also the Plant Manager.  

We discussed their project and what their goals were 

and I confirmed that it was out of my league.  

I did give them 3 names of folks in Golden who might understand their needs 

and might be able to locate a tool I had used in Golden that is similar to what they are trying to design for their/Wisconsin brewery.

Then kindly, the Assistant Bremaster gave me a tour of the plant.

He's a nice young man and really passionate about his brewery, I love that.

So many similarities to between Coors and Leinenkugel's.

Family owned for many years, both established in the 1880s, both make great products.

Now, both under the MillerCoors agreement.

This old archway into the brewery is so fine.  I love that they have saved much of their original facility.

The brewhouse has been updated but the copper kept for the visual appear.
These kettle tops are polished weekly, and what a pretty brewhouse because of those shiny copper domes.

So, now I am retired from the consulting business, 

I hope the Chippewa Falls folks find a solution for their inventory scheduling, 

and I'm looking forward to the next new Leinie's sesonal product to find its way to the my liquor store shelf.

Retirement is good.

Gage is confirmed, Jack is licensed

On Sunday, I went over to Luck to church as it was confirmation Sunday for great nephew Gage.  It was a nice day for a drive, life is returning to the North, lots of green and a few things blooming.

As I drove into the church parking, I saw Jack driving in, alone.  He just got his driver's license last week.  Having another person to pick up and deliver kids will be a big help at that busy house.

The church service was nice, and the confirmands all looked so nice.

I was asked to take a group photo after the service, 

(later I see that my camera was set weird, but sometimes I forget to check my equipment).

Great Nephew Gage on far left.

Gage's godparents / sponsors were there too.

I've known Bruce since he was a toddler, he and wife Sarah have a nice family.
Bruce continually beats me at Words with Friends.

Levi and Gage are good pals.

Kyle, Gage and Heather

It was a nice family event, and another milestone in the life of this young man.