Aunt Judy’s – Page 5 – Puckaway Motor Club

Tag: Aunt Judy’s (page 5 of 6)

Log: May 21 and 22, 2016

Saturday

Lyssa, the boys, and I pulled in around 2:30 pm with a truck bed full of tools and burnables. Beautiful day; sunny and upper 70s. I backed the truck up to the pole barn to offload my tools and the boys were off on their Power Wheels. Lyssa made herself comfy with a book while I stacked cardboard and the remains of our old coffee table in the burn pit. There’s a lot to do up here, as always, but I don’t really have a set agenda. The only real goal of this weekend is to have our first overnight stay as a family. As I was looking around and sizing things up, inspiration struck. The tree at the base of the driveway would have to go.

A little bigger than I had expected. Good thing there was nothing in its way.

Over half of the upper branches were dead and bare, so I figured if the tree was going down, it’d be better if it was on my terms. I fired up the chainsaw, made sure the kiddos were well clear, and the tree was on the ground in short order. Jake was really interested in how I cut it, and went to show off the “felling wedge” to Lyssa and Josh. He thought it was really cool that I could get the tree to fall just the way I wanted it to. Hell, so did I. I’m still kinda new at this.

As long as the chainsaw was out, I also trimmed some dead limbs from the small tree next to the pump. I had a helluva time carving everything up, though. I must have really dulled the chain when I was clearing brush and stumps last trip. The boys gave me a hand hauling limbs and branches over to the pit. Poor Josh was getting frustrated; he couldn’t understand why he wasn’t able to lift the big pieces like his daddy. He’ll get there soon enough.

Log: May 15, 2016

May 17, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Looks better and deters squirrels. What’s not to like?

Lyssa, the boys, and I pulled in around 11:30 after the requisite Aunt Judy’s breakfast. It’s a little cool today, highs in the lower 60s, but it sure feels nice when the sun peeks out of the clouds. I opened the pole barn right away so Jake and Josh could get their Power Wheels out and they were patrolling the yard in short order. Lyssa went off in search of a nice, quiet place to read. I wasn’t much help in that regard; the first thing I went for was the chainsaw.

In reviewing the timelapse footage from the camera I installed last week, I noticed the squirrels still had no problem getting to the feeders. They weren’t getting around the baffle, though. This was an aerial assault. I always thought the dead lower branches by the feeders and garden shed were an eyesore anyway; now I had even more reason to get rid of them.

One of several rose-breasted grosbeaks we’ve seen at the feeders this spring.

I spent the next few hours clearing limbs and unwanted scrub growth from around the feeders. I’m getting pretty good at felling trees. I had to thread the needle a few times between the feeders and deck and thankfully there were no casualties. As long as I was clearing, I maneuvered my way through the overgrown area behind the outhouse and mostly reclaimed the little wildlife garden my grandpa planned many years back. The whole area looks a lot nicer now and it’s easier to spot the birds as they fly to and from the feeders.

Log: May 7, 2016

May 9, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Happy, hungry boys.

The boys and I rolled in around 11:00 after getting some good Aunt Judy’s breakfast. I’ve been anxious to see how things looked now that the stain has dried, and Jake and Josh just needed to get out and play. Gorgeous day: sunny and temps in the low 70s. I opened the pole barn, hooked up the batteries in their Power Wheels ATV and tractor, and they were off exploring the yard. While the boys were bombing around, I went to check out the deck. Pretty satisfied with the results! There’s only one spot where I notice drip marks and it looks like it generally took the stain pretty evenly throughout. Last night’s rain caused a bunch of pollen to drop off the maple trees, though, so I think I’ll hold off on touching up the cracks between the planks until I can feel confident in hosing it down first.

If the feeders still get knocked down after this, I give up.

My main goal today was to build a squirrel/raccoon baffle for the feeder pole. I bought a 5′ section of 12″ round heating duct and a 12″ tee cap. I cut the cap in half and notched out two triangles on each piece. These halves were joined together again around the post using the two cut-off pieces and this assembly was supported by an 11″ piece of rebar that was slid through a hole drilled in the post. The “pipe” section was snapped together around the base of the post, cut down to about 48″, and screwed to the cap. It sounds relatively simple when written out, but this stupid thing fought me every step of the way. The cap kept coming apart once it was cut, the pipe did NOT want to snap together, I had to use ratchet straps to lift the pipe into position to mate it with the cap, and I burned through the last cutting wheel for my Dremel saw and had to finish trimming the pipe with a sawzall. This caused the cap to blow apart one last time so now, after a bunch of swearing and grumbling, the whole thing is held together with fencing wire. I’ll eventually replace the junk cap with one I don’t cut in half and only slide down the pole, but this will work for now.

Log: April 30 and May 1, 2016

May 2, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Saturday

Pulled in at 10 pm and backed the truck up inside the pole barn to get out of the rain. Unloaded my tools, the patched-up mower blower components, and a few sheets of OSB. We had used them as makeshift tables for our garage sale in Oshkosh, but I plan on building a leaf-collection trailer box out of them. While I was still in the pole barn, I used my phone as a hotspot to download the latest Kodi update and sync the OneDrive account on the jukebox PC. I also copied the most recent music collection update off of my USB drive.

The rain let up, so I drove over to the keep to unload more goodies and settle in for the night. Since the pressure washer pump setup worked so well, I bought a second pump, reservoir, and strainer to use in the keep. This way, I can pursue the indoor plumbing project without sacrificing the ability to keep things clean outside. I grabbed a beer from the fridge and watched some Netflix for a bit before heading to bed around 11:30.

Sunday

I love seeing these guys at the feeders. At one point there were seven of them at the same time.

Up around 7:30 and on my way to Aunt Judy’s soon after. Several of the staff including Judy herself made a point to ask where my little buddy was. My waffle-eater is a local celebrity. After enjoying a ham and cheese omelet and several cups of coffee, I headed back to Puckaway to get a day’s worth of projects underway. I started by filling the feeders. The squirrels have no problem getting up and down the pole now that they’re used to it being there, so I need to hurry up and build a baffle if I want the seed to last between trips. The new setup definitely draws more birds; we had chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, house finches, juncos, downy woodpeckers, and even a red-bellied woodpecker. I’ll need to clear some of the gnarly low branches in this part of the yard to open things up a little better for them all.

Log: April 22 – 24, 2016

April 25, 2016 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Friday

Jake and I rode in around 7:00 pm after a stop at Piggly Wiggly to stock the fridge and cabinets. Got all kinds of goodies: brats and italian sausage, canned veggies, chips and salsa, juice boxes and snacks for the boys (Jake picked out some Little Debbie brownies), essentials like ketchup, mustard, horseradish, and butter, and two six-packs of different Wisconsin craft beers. There’s now a whole aisle devoted to smaller Wisconsin breweries at the Princeton Pig—a welcome surprise. I brought in the groceries and goods from Oshkosh while Jake got his trucks set up by the pole barn.

With the fire danger holding at Moderate, it was safe enough to burn in the pit. I started the pump and began to fill a 55-gallon drum as a precaution, pulled the truck around to the pole barn, poured some old boat gas around the base of the pile, and tossed a match. Wasn’t long before we had a roaring fire. I kept an eye on it while unloading tools from the back of my truck. Once the pine boughs and smaller branches all burned off, we were left with a sizeable pile of thick logs and a warm, low flame. Jake and I cozied up on the bench in front of the pole barn and watched it burn down until he decided he was tired enough to turn in for the night.

Log: April 16, 2016

April 18, 2016 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Lyssa, the boys, and I arrived in the truck around 10:30 am after a family breakfast at Aunt Judy’s. We also got two flats of bottled water, which I was grateful for later—it was unseasonably warm and beautiful out; it stayed sunny and in the mid-70s all day. I quickly unpacked the boys’ Power Wheels ATV and Tractor from the truck bed and they were off exploring. I stacked the snow tires for Lyssa’s car in the pole barn and headed over to the keep to get things ready to unload the rest of the truck. I got out the leaf blower and cleared around the garden shed, bird feeders, deck, and the front of the keep. Once everything was ready, I pulled the truck around and set up the patio table and four chairs on the deck. We got a new set for the house so brought up our old set. It’s a perfect fit. Between the new furniture and the chairs we already had up here, we now have deck seating for ten. I’d still like to get some little side tables, though.

With everything unloaded, I went to tidy up in the keep. I ran the vacuum cleaner through to take care of the few dead flies that had accumulated, sprayed down and wiped out the shelves in the fridge, and cleaned the table and counters with bleach cleaner. Couldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes to get things ready for the year. What a difference over last spring. Turned on the A/C so the boys would have somewhere to get relief from the sun. On my way out, I primed the pump and let it run for the rest of the day to clear out the accumulated gunk and sediment.

Log: January 30, 2016

January 1, 2016 / Jeff / 2 Comments

Pulled in the driveway with Lyssa and the boys around 1:45 pm after lunch at Aunt Judy’s. Once again, the boys behaved really well.

Clear skies and no wind with temperatures in the upper 30s. Great day for a visit! We’ve all been cooped up in the house too long and could use the fresh air. Jake found all of his trucks and construction equipment in the pole barn and the boys got to work making roads in the snow.

I shovelled out the deck and checked in on the keep. Absolutely zero sign of critter activity. You’d think if they were going to find their way in out of the cold, it would have happened by now, so this is excellent news. Everything looked and smelled clean. The keep has really transformed over the last year into quite the nice place to stay.

Log: December 6, 2015

December 7, 2015 / Jeff / 0 Comments

Lyssa, the boys, and I drove up in the truck and enjoyed a late Aunt Judy’s breakfast around 11:00. Josh’s first trip to Aunt Judy’s, as well as the first time the four of us have gone out to eat together, period. The boys did a great job, even prompting a compliment on their behavior from an older couple at the next table. Jake and I each had our respective “usual” breakfasts, Lyssa ordered an omelette, and Josh shared off of all of our plates. Bellies full, we headed to Puckaway.

Work gloves are a must for helping out at Puckaway.

Temperatures hovered right above freezing all day, but the boys kept busy and warm in their coats, hats, and gloves. Jake got out all of his trucks and construction toys and tried getting Josh interested in a leaf-pickup operation. Josh would have none of it; he just wanted to explore. More than once, Lyssa had to retrieve him from the outer bounds of the yard. I can’t wait until he gets a little older and can come up for overnight trips with me and Jake.

The main purpose of this daytrip was to make a seasonal storage swap. We brought up the push lawnmower from Oshkosh to keep in the pole barn for the winter and traded it for Lyssa’s snow tires, the sleds, and our Christmas lawn decorations. After loading up the truck, I made my way over to the keep to check on things. Farmer Joe must follow the old camping rule, “always leave things cleaner than you found them” because the place was immaculate. No smell to the place at all except for the faint “new construction” aroma around the door frame. I made sure all the totes were secured and as critter-proof as possible and locked up. Probably won’t be back in there until spring.

Log: December 4 and 5, 2015

December 6, 2015 / Farmer Joe / 0 Comments

Friday

Janine and I embarked on our trip to Puckaway shortly after 7pm, excited to be leaving the farm for awhile. We decided to eat at Center House before setting up at the keep to ensure we wouldn’t miss the fish fry. Arriving, we both ordered the all-you-can-eat fish with salad bar with brandy old-fashioned sweets. The bar was rather quiet with only about 6 others there. Our food was quickly served and delicious it was! We made it to Puckaway around 9:40. I had difficulty finding the keys for the pole shed and the keep. Luckily, my better half helped locate them. Upon walking into the keep, we realized we forgot to bring bedding along and Jeff had taken most with him for winter storage. I remembered Jeff had a few storage totes in the closet. Sure enough, the keep provided just what we needed!

We fired up the portable quartz heater and settled in to watch movies. The temp inside was a brisk 45° and we laughed that we could see our breath. Cedar Rapids was our first movie choice followed by Date Night, which we fell asleep watching. Temp was around 52° when we crashed.

Log: Puckaweekend 2015 (October 21 – 25)

October 26, 2015 / Jeff / 1 Comment

Wednesday

October 21, 2015: Welcome to the future, everyone.

The new mower does excellent work. I was able to reconquer the marsh trails in record time.

Had an unusual detour on the way here. All traffic on Hwy 23 around the golf course was being routed onto some narrow country roads for what I later found out was an accident involving a semi trailer full of carrots. Took about 15 minutes longer than I would have liked, but I arrived at 4:30 pm in a relatively empty truck. Beautiful day: sunny, breezy, and in the upper 60s. Everything I need for the long weekend is already here, hauled up last trip, so I was able to get right to work. Opened up the keep and the pole barn and set out to finish mowing the overgrown marsh trails. I debated using the older Craftsman mower for this to save wear and tear on the new one, but this part of the marsh is much flatter than it used to be and the new mower cuts wider swaths and bogs down less. The trails were tamed in short order—by the time I lost daylight, all the areas I had cleared last fall were cut again, now several feet wider in most places. I parked the mower and headed inside for the night.

« Previous 1 … 4 5 6 Next »

Tag: Aunt Judy’s (page 5 of 6)

Log: May 21 and 22, 2016

Saturday

Log: May 15, 2016

Log: May 7, 2016

Log: April 30 and May 1, 2016

Saturday

Sunday

Log: April 22 – 24, 2016

Friday

Log: April 16, 2016

Log: January 30, 2016

Log: December 6, 2015

Log: December 4 and 5, 2015

Friday

Log: Puckaweekend 2015 (October 21 – 25)

Wednesday

Recent Posts

Older Posts

Site Tools

Subscribe

Tag: Aunt Judy’s (page 5 of 6)

Saturday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Friday

Wednesday

Recent Posts

Older Posts

Site Tools

Subscribe

Jump Around