• Curses! Where’s my audio?!

    You always hear Zoom horror stories, but never think you’re going to be starring in one. I used to believe the same thing. And then Friday happened. I was invited to a virtual meeting with colleagues from multi-state agencies. I assumed it was a Teams meeting, as 99% of mine are, until two minutes before…

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  • Nothing spoils when it’s three degrees out.

    Working in Madison two days a week has its perks. One of the biggest? Trader Joe’s. It’s close enough that I can zip over on my lunch hour and stock up on essentials. Otherwise, it would be a 90-minute roundtrip from MarTar Manor, plus however long we spent shopping. Granted, better than the 11-hour roundtrip…

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  • Dick was a stoner.

    Tara shared this funny quote with me a few days ago: Half of home ownership is fixing the previous owners’ mistakes. Bingo! I recently complained about a few of Dick’s questionable landscaping choices–namely the wild ginger, dead nettle, and lily of the valley, which have spread uncontrollably across large sections of our yard. Removing it…

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  • Weenie roast, anyone?

    I recently read a post from D.B. Stewart about fire hydrants. In it, he wrote, Unless there’s one in your front yard, I bet you (like me) may struggle to pinpoint where exactly they are in your neighbourhood.  He’s not wrong! (Except for adding a “u” to neighborhood, but the guy’s Canadian, so we’ll forgive…

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  • Maintain setting two five zero.

    I’m sitting outside on Memorial Day, tending to the smoker. “Tending to” pretty much means I’m parked in a chair, cocktail in hand, occasionally adjusting the vents to maintain a 250° target temperature. Low and slow, baby. It ain’t exactly rocket science. But, it is a little more hands-on than in the past. So…wanna hear…

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  • It’s a jungle out there.

    My town embraces Less Mow May (a compromise for those who don’t want to commit to NO mowing all month). I’m all for protecting the pollinators, but this is ridiculous. Letting our grass grow this tall wasn’t intentional. I’d planned on cutting it last weekend, but when I fired up the John Deere for his…

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