HALF OVER

THE SUMMER IS HALF OVER AND WE’VE GOTTEN OVER THE NEWNESS OF NOT WORKING. I’VE BACKED OFF ON ALL THE WEEKLY ACTIVITIES, AND HAVE SETTLED INTO A LAZY WAY OF LIFE.

I STILL GO TO THE TUESDAY COFFEE TO KEEP UP ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD GOSSIP, AND I STILL PLAY POKER ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, BUT I HAVEN’T BEEN BACK TO BINGO IN A MONTH.

IT’S THE MONSOON SEASON NOW, AND WE GET OUR DAILY AFTERNOON RAIN SHOWER WHICH IS A GOOD EXCUSE TO TAKE A NAP. WE’RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS WEEK-END WHEN HEATHER AND FAMILY FROM LA CROSSE SHOW UP FOR AN ARIZONA VACATION, AND DENVER DAVE WILL ALSO BE HERE.

WITH FIVE KIDS RUNNING AROUND, NEXT WEEK SHOULD KEEP US BUSY, AND WE WILL GET SOME PICTURES FOR THE BLOG.

ARE YOU READY?

 ANYBODY ELSE OUT THERE READY FOR SOME PACKER FOOTBALL?

PACKER TRAINING CAMP OPENS TODAY!!!

GO PACK GO !!!

GO PACK GO !!!

GO PACK GO !!!

Here’s Charley

By Uncle Hans

For the last year, I have been doing a Locum Tenens job, or filling in for a surgeon in another place.  5 days a month.  The town is not far from Neil and Kathy.  We stay at a Super 8, because it is the only hotel in town that allows pets.  Weird that it is next to the County Fairgrounds, which has a lot of open green areas where Charley and I can walk without a leash......

 

.....the fairgrounds are also home to the stock car track, one of the best in the region.  We are just outside the back-stretch, looking across the infield at the grandstand.......

  ......this is the second turn, looking away from the track.  To the right is their "hockey facility" and just to the left of that, way back, white  with Swiss-style chalet design, is the Super 8.  There is a ton of grass where they park cars for events, but where Charley and I can run and play.......right in the downtown......

........behind the grandstand is more parking. 

The rest of the fairgrounds is used for a Sunday Flea-market.  Charley and I have to stay home on Sunday morning.  He gets crazy with too many people at 10 months old.  (and besides, Why would you take a dog to a flea market?  Duh?!?) 

 
     Neil has suggested that we all do the races some Saturday night yet this summer.....

Sounds like a blog!.......

By Uncle Hans

MAVERICK WIRELESS BBQ THERMOMETER

THIS IS THE MAVERICK WIRELESS BBQ THERMOMETER. IT HAS TWO PROBES, ONE FOR THE TEMPERATURE OF THE GRILL AND ONE FOR THE TEMPERATURE OF THE MEAT.

THE PROBE FOR THE GRILL TEMP GOES ON THE GRATE.

 

AND THE PROBE FOR THE MEAT IS INSERTED.

 

HERE YOU CAN SEE THE GRILL IS 270 DEGREES AND THE CHICKEN IS 43 DEGREES.

 

THIS IS THE SENDING UNIT AND STAYS BY THE GRILL. IT FLASHES THE TWO DIFFERENT TEMPERATURES.

YOU CAN CLIP THE OTHER UNIT ON YOUR SHORTS AND WALK AWAY.

 

OR IN THIS CASE SET IT BY THE COMPUTER INSIDE ON THE PORCH AND KNOW EXACTLY WHAT’S HAPPENING INSIDE THE DEVIL’S EGG.

 

THIS IS GREAT, TO RAISE OR LOWER THE TEMPERATURE YOU NEED ONLY TO OPEN OR CLOSE THE VENTS ON THE TOP OR BOTTOM OF THE DEVIL’S EGG. YOU CAN RUN THE EGG AT ANYWHERE FROM 200 DEGREES TO 700 DEGREES. I LOVE IT.

THE BEER CAN ROASTED CHICKEN CAME OUT PERFECT. OF COURSE I FORGOT TO GET A PICTURE OF THE FINISHED BIRD BEFORE WE ATE IT.

Spooner Rodeo

By Uncle Hans

Early July brings the famous rodeo to Spooner, this is the 61st year.  Hannah played a role this year, appearing in the opening ceremony on horseback and riding in the parade with our rancher buddy, Richard.

She slipped me her fancy SLR digital camera to take pictures of the parade.  Here are some results.  You can see, I got distracted by the local group's collection of WWII equipment, which is always a hit in the parade.

 

This is about 10% of the collection, they also have a Duck, a half-track with 4 fifty-caliber anti-aircraft guns mounted, and several rare "tank-recovery" pieces.  This Sherman Tank is also a rare piece, I was lucky enough to get a ride in it a few years ago.

  I should look up those pictures and make a blog.  They also have several flying airplanes.....

By Uncle Hans

BEEF SHORT RIBS

THE WALMART USED MEAT SPECIAL OF THE HOUR WAS BONELESS BEEF SHORT RIBS. FIRST I HIT THEM WITH A RUB.

THEN I LOADED THEM INTO THE DEVIL’S EGG TO BE SMOKED.

 

THIS IS A METAL TACO HOLDER, DESIGNED SO THAT YOU ASSEMBLE FOUR TACOS AT A TIME AND THEN PUT THEM INTO YOUR OVEN OR GRILL TO HEAT THE TACOS. BESIDES TACOS I FIGURED IT WOULD HOLD THE SHORT RIBS, AND EVEN TROUT IF I DECIDE TO SMOKE SOME TROUT SOMETIME.

 

AFTER 3 HOURS ON THE GRILL AT A LOW TEMPERATURE WITH SOME HICKORY WOOD SMOKE, EACH RIB IS INDIVIDUALLY WRAPPED IN FOIL WITH A SHOT OF BEER AND RETURNED TO THE GRILL TO STEAM.

THE LAST STEP IS BRUSH THE RIBS WITH BBQ SAUCE AND FINISH THE COOKING.

 

NOW I KNOW WHY BEEF SHORT RIBS ARE OFTEN ON THE USED MEAT LIST AT WALMART. THEY WERE TUFF EVEN AFTER FOUR AND A HALF HOURS IN THE DEVIL’S EGG. WE WILL TRY PORK RIBS THE NEXT TIME.

Hay Hannah

By Uncle Hans

I felt bad that we could not show Hannah in the last "Hay Blog" driving the tractor to rake hay to earn hay for her horse.  We heard she was raking, so we went to watch.......

  ........ so we caught up to her and asked her if Renee could ride along.  "Sure!", she said, "hop on!"  Well, this old John Deere has no cab or even fenders.  So Hannah made the snap decision that the safest place for Renee was in the seat.  Yup, the DRIVER'S seat.....

......We safely on the ground held our breath, while Renee let out the ancient hand clutch and they were off, hair flying, in 5th gear!  Unsafe, but one of those bucket list things that Renee had to do.....

By Uncle Hans

NEIGHBORHOOD JENGA

BAR JENGA HAS BEEN PLAYED ONCE A WEEK IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD SINCE THE 2X4’S WERE CUT. THERE ARE USUALLY 7 OR 8 OF US THAT GET TOGETHER. I’D ESTIMATE IT TAKES ABOUT 10 LBS OF ICE FOR THE DRINKS AND A COUPLE OF HOURS FOR THE GAMES.

EVERYBODY LOVES THE GAME BECAUSE THERE ARE NO TEAMS, NO SCORE KEEPING, AND LOT’S OF FRIENDLY ADVICE FOR WHOEVER IS UP.

I WISH THERE WAS A VIDEO OF GRANDMA JACK’S MOVE LAST WEEK, BUT SORRY TO SAY THERE IS ONLY A PICTURE. IT WAS MARY’S TURN FOR WHAT LOOKED LIKE SURE DEFEAT. MARY DECIDED TO TRY WHAT I WOULD CALL A TABLE CLOTH MOVE WHERE SHE REMOVED A SINGLE 2X4 FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE PILE VERY SWIFTLY, HOPING THE LAYERS ABOVE WOULD FALL STRAIGHT DOWN AND REMAIN STANDING.

OUR JAWS WERE ALL OPEN WHEN THE TRICK WORKED!!!

THIS WHAT THE PILE LOOKED LIKE AFTER MARY MADE HER MOVE.  IT’S A MOVE THAT WILL BE TALKED ABOUT FOR YEARS TO COME WHENEVER WE PLAY BAR JENGA.

Make Hay When The Sun Shines

By Uncle Hans

So our city girl, Renee, has always had on her bucket list to learn to bale hay.  Recently, we caught our rancher buddy in the act.......

....with a little arm-twisting, he invited her into the cab for a few minutes of instruction....

The hay is cut and crushed or "conditioned" so it dries quicker by a machine not pictured.  After drying some, it is raked into windrows or long linear piles to dry some more and then be picked up by the baler and compressed tightly into huge round bales.  Hannah relies on our buddy for hay during the winter for her horse.  She pays for the hay by driving this old John Deere to do the raking after work in the summer.  Crazy?.....

.....the baler is a complicated techno-wonder that senses all sorts of thing and reads out on a dash-mounted screen and warns of problems.  Bucket-list girl seems very intent on learning this stuff.  Maybe she has a career change in the back of her mind?.....

.......When the bale is built, the dash-screen twinkles a message to stop.  The result looks a little like child-birth......

....but eventually, she is convinced to get out and climb down.  Just as well. She didn't like his taste in cab music anyway.....

By Uncle Hans

A REAL COLD RAIN

ON THE WAY BACK FROM THE PETRIFIED FOREST WE DROVE THROUGH NAVAJO COUNTY WHERE THE WESTERN TOWNS WERE SETTLED BY THE INDIANS AND THE MORMONS. HOLBROOK IS THE COUNTY SEAT AND HOME TO THE FAMOUS WIG-WAM MOTEL.

THE PROBLEM WITH MORMONS AND INDIANS IS THAT THEY AREN’T REAL BIG ON TAVERNS, SO HOLBROOK, SNOWFLAKE, AND TAYLOR ARE MIGHTY DRY. WE FINALLY FOUND A BAR IN THE BACK OF A MEXICAN JOINT IN SNOWFLAKE.

WHILE DRIVING HOME TO THE MOUNTAIN WE WERE WATCHING THE STORM CLOUDS AHEAD OF US.

WHEN WE GOT BACK TO OUR PARK, WE WERE WONDERING WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THE LEAVES ON THE TREES.

 

IT WAS A HAIL STORM.

 

GOOD THING I TOOK THE PHOTOS OF MARY’S FLOWERS LAST WEEK, CAUSE NOW THEY DON’T LOOK SO GOOD. THE NEIGHBORS GARDEN WAS JUST STRIPPED AND POUNDED. GLAD WE WEREN’T HOME AND MISSED THE STORM ALTHOUGH EVERYONE SAID IT WAS AN EXCITING 20 MINUTES.