Ester & Joan Sample Brenda's Burgers

 
Remember the item from my list to eat at Brenda's Burgers in Scottville? Score one! Ester's here for a few days, and we checked it out.



I got to be both naughty and nice, while Ester was stuck with a fat old man.



She ordered the Kahuna Burger with pineapple and sweet & sour sauce, which she said was really, really good (and Brenda says is her personal favorite). I had the Black and Blue Burger. The burger was excellent and the blue cheese was really flavorful. Ester also ordered Jalapeno poppers that she snarfed down. Me... I don't even get close to stuff like that!



I just don't eat out much, so my support for the place isn't going to make much difference, but I really wish them success. It's the fourth restaurant in that building. Reasonable prices, two sizes of burger. Other stuff too!

Brenda's husband and I used to work together.

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What Would Eat a Gas Can?

 
Today's post is a mixture of accomplishments and the inexplicable.

I just plain got lucky that we haven't had enough snow yet to be a problem. A few inches, but Om and I both could make it up the driveway. However, I knew that this afternoon was quite likely to be my last chance to get the snowblower ready to roll, in any sort of comfortable weather conditions.

So... I went to get the gas can and take it to be filled with hi-test. This blower runs very well, but only if you feed it the good stuff.

Imagine my surprise to find that something has chewed through the top of the can. What???!!! A rabbit? Something else? Why? The marks are too big for mice (although they will eat almost anything, I'm convinced).



Therefore, the next step was to go to the store to get a new gas can. I've hated this can from the beginning because it meets the new EPA regulations that supposedly keep it from allowing gas vapors to escape to the environment. But it's impossible to pour from without spilling some, so I've always thought the net effect on the environment was not to the good. Anyway.

The new gas can is worse. It will be altered with a knife to even make it possible to pour from. So much for the EPA.

Back to the task at hand. I did get the snowblower started. I did get the tires inflated to the correct pressure. I did get the chute gear greased. I did run up and down the drive once to take down the center hump (although it's supposed to start raining tomorrow which should fix that, but I didn't want it to turn to ice).

So that is my big accomplishment.



In other news, I thought, after seeing my clean fingernails the other day, you might like to see why I don't have them very often. This is right after my shift at the paper, before I washed. But even washing with the commercial stuff they provide, clean isn't really an option

	See Encore
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Fieldstone Wall

 
Here in Michigan stone available for building is so different from where I grew up in the East. Michigan is sand, sand, sand, with millions of large and small glacially deposited, rolled rocks.

Dry stone walls don't happen much with round rocks. That didn't stop people from using what they had. Here's the foundation wall for a barn, cow shed, or some such thing, probably 150-ish years old.



The upper, wooden structural part is long gone. A tree has even grown in the door. You could write a fairy tale about this place!




Sure looks like dry stones, doesn't it?




However, since only two walls remain, the end shows us its secret. Heavy mortar in the center. I think careful rock placement would also be important. But the integrity of the wall demonstrates that it sure worked.




And a blue sky brightened the day a whole lot, too!

	See Leonidas School
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How to Make Cleaning Less Distasteful

 
In preparation for painting and (perhaps) other sprucing up, several of us were asked if we would like some extra work deep cleaning the bathrooms at work.

Here is a solid truth- The downside of cleaning even really grubby things is ameliorated considerably by being paid for it! And in Michigan, the minimum wage went up to $8.50 by law on Jan 1. I'm up to making 2/3 of what my hourly wage was 25 years ago. Tell me the economy is doing well. Right. (sorry for the diversion)

And working with friends is a big plus, too.



Let me reassure you. These rooms are cleaned regularly by the custodian. It's just that the ink from everyone's hand, clothes, and shoes also permeates the air and settles into everything.

Alicia demonstrates what we were able to get up off of a clean tile floor with heavy-duty cleaner and a scrub brush. Notice that there is no black line along the top or lower edge of the baseboard now.



Four of us worked for three and a half hours and got the rooms really clean. We washed the walls, and scrubbed the floors twice. Even after we thought we had the tile clean, going over it again released even more of the black grime.

Here's some more good news. For the first time in months, there is no residual newspaper ink under my nails!



"It was kind of fun," Alicia said. I have to agree.

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Spirit of the Woods Hike- January 2016

 
A perfectly lovely day! We had ten people from age 11 to ?? (upwards of that). Two of them were on skis and were moving too fast to capture.



The sky cleared, which is somewhat miraculous in January, and most of us got too warm before we were done. But no one is complaining.



There was a little more snow here than at my house, as I suspected, but not really enough to NEED snowshoes. Nevertheless, four of us used them, and four just hiked.



The young girl and her parents hiked the John Muir trail this summer. We're trying to get them to share some sort of program with us about their adventure.

In 2016, the North Country Trail Association and the Forest Service are sponsoring a Hike 100 Challenge to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the Forest Service. The goal is to hike 100 miles on the NCT this year.

All of us are four miles to the good, as of today.

Did we have a good time?



If you are near the NCT somewhere and want to participate, just go to the NCTA web site for more info.

Bowman Lake trailhead south, out and back, Lake County, MI

	See Spirit of the Woods Hike- December 2015
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