Coolin’ down . . . . .

The temperatures sure have plummeted.   It was 58º upstairs this morning.  Too chilly for me.  I put the heat on, but just a little bit.  ■   It looks/feels like fall is finally in progress . . . leaves are falling, temps are going down, and it keeps getting darker earlier.  Even though we didn’t have much of a summer, I still miss the warm weather as well as the number of hours of daylight.   ■  I’ve been thinking that maybe we need to publish a Chili Fest cookbook.  Everyone brings such fabulous food and people as for the recipes  . . . . it would be a logical extension.  What do you think?  ■ 

Sunday night . . . I’m tired . . . . .

It was a good day today.  I gave my across the street neighbor, John, a hand and helped cut his grass.  He never would have made it inside in time for the Bears game without a little assistance from the John Deere.  ■  And Holly and I had an old friend over for the Bears game and dinner.  I cooked chicken and steaks on the grill.  Delicious – and nutritious.  ■  It’s late and time for bed.  ‘Night.  ■

Fire’s on!

The fireplace is on.  Must be the start of the season.  It’s 51º out, so I guess it’s about time.  ■  I’ve had a headache for the past few days – almost a week.  I just can’t get rid of it.  And here I thought I was done with headaches.  Maybe the meds just aren’t working anymore.  ■  Holly did a whole chicken in the oven tonight accompanied by mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus.  It was delicious.  Especially the asparagus.  Best asparagus I’ve ever had.  Hands down.  ■  Got the grass cut today – finally.  I just haven’t had the time and I needed to get some more gas for the mower.  ■  Holly and I also went out and looked at stoves today.  We’ve needed a new stove for years.  At any rate we decided on one and it will be delivered and installed in October.  About time.  ■ 

An open freezer?

Hmmm . . . . . .

It was a great Chili Fest . . . . .

The weather was perfect – we couldn’t have asked for better weather.  And the food was, as usual, plentiful and great tasting.  The music was great too.  Two of the blues ensembles played and did a fantastic job.  ■  I cleaned up the garage yesterday, but a lot of the equipment didn’t make it back down the basement yet – it’s sitting in the family room.  I’m sore from moving it that far!  ■ 

Gettin’ ready for Chili Fest . . . . .

As you can see in the picture The bear has been getting dressed for Chili Fest.  He’s got his cooking apron on and just needs a guitar to go with it.  ■  I’ve got to get moving here and get the garage ready for music.  ■  More posts later on today . . . . .

Chili & chilly tomorrow . . . . .

Took this pictures with my iphone as I was leaving for work today.  I thought it strange to have an unknown vehicle (pickup truck) parked where it was.  I thought if something was wrong in the neighborhood at least I’d have a picture of an out-of-place vehicle and its license plate.  ■  Libby and Jay are on their way up from Louisville.  They should be here in another hour, or so.  It’ll be good to see them.  ■  And Chili Fest – yes, I think it’ll be chilly this year.  It’s almost 9:00 pm here and the temp is at 63 degrees.  Burrrr.  Makes one wish they lived in Florida.  ■ 

An interesting panorama shot(s) . . . . .

This photo is actually three separate photos stitched together.  I used some software that came with one of our Canon digital cameras to do the “stitching.”  What’s interesting about this composite photo is that the boy in the blue football jersey moved from the time I took the first photo until I took the third one.  Very interesting and it gives me some ideas for other photos.  ■ 

Chili’s coming along . . . . . .

There was a lot of meat to cook – which meant a ton of cutting.  I’m glad (knock on wood) to see that I didn’t cut myself.  I’m getting a little anxious every time I have to cut something with a knife.  ■  The chili (2 pots worth) have been on the stove simmering this morning.  I turned them off and will let them sit.  Later on tonight I’ll heat them up again and make spice adjustments to each batch.  ■ 

Smokin’ and cookin’ . . . . . . . . .

Smoked 10 lbs of pork and 5 lbs of brisket this afternoon/tonight.  Boy did the kitchen ever smell gooooood!  Tomorrow I’ll actually put it all together in 2 cast iron pots – my chili pots.  They’ve been with me quite a few years.  You just need a good cast iron pot for chili.  ■  I’ll see if I can’t remember to post some pictures of the process tomorrow.  ■ 

Pictures from the gig . . .

Holly took this picture of the band at the gig.  Lots of people and a load of fun.  The second picture is of my “new” guitar – now finally finished.  ■  We’ve got Chili Fest coming up this Saturday and I’ve got to get started smoking the meat.  ■  Off to the store I go.

Done!!! Yeah, I think so!!!

My  telecaster guitar which I “reliced.”  Is “reliced” an official word?  I’m not sure.  But I took a new telecaster and I “aged” it.  It’s hard to tell from this picture (I’ll post more later), but it came out pretty well.  The pickups I picked to put in really sound great.  I can’t wait to play it tomorrow night (ok – tonight ‘cause it’s really tomorrow.)  ■  Much thanks to John Monti who used his expertise to do the actual pickup installation and to set it up properly.  Thanks, John.  ■  And many thanks to my boss, Buddy Wiegelman, who made this whole thing possible.  Thank, Bud.  ■  Now – tomorrow night I’ll play it at our gig.  Pictures to follow . . . . . . .. .  . .. ..  .. . . . 

Telecaster . . . . . .

It’s coming together – finally!  This is the telecaster guitar that I worked on relicing.  Pickups are going in in this picture.  Still a couple of wires left to solder.  We should finish it tomorrow . . . I hope.  I want to play it this weekend at Bullfrog’s gig on Saturday.  Cross your fingers.  ■  More pictures to come.  And better pictures.  ■ 

Whoa . . . I never thought it would do that!

The pictures at the left were taken using my iphone.  I was sitting in a chair on our patio when I took them.  I never moved, but used a photo app that lets the iphone zoom in on things.  I bought a Kodak camera a few months ago for taking pictures of homes, etc., but with this app I’m not sure I need it any more.  I always have my cell phone with me, but not my Kodak camera.  ■  Hopefully I’ll get my Tele put together tomorrow.  Crossing my fingers on that.  ■  Did chicken on the grill tonight.  Used a mango sauce on it.  It was pretty good.  ■  Time for bed.  Night . . . . . . . .

Five grills of ribs . . . . . and delicious . . . . . .

I cooked/grilled/smoked 5 loads(?) of ribs along with some chicken.  And, may I use the descriptive work again - “delicous.”  ■  Ribs, chicken, some brews and some good friends – to celebrate Jack’s life.  I’d say it was a success.  ■  The flowers?  They looked very pretty today.  And Zoe?  Ok, she looked pretty too!  ■  Tomorrow is another day.  Time for bed. ■  

Another Pen and Ink, cooking, cutting . . . . .

The drawing on the right is of one of my brothers-in-law’s home.  It’s a Christmas gift, so he won’t see it for awhile.  ■  Holly and I made fajitas tonight.  Skirt steak, green peppers, onions along with a ginger-mango sauce.  Delicious.  ■  Our next-door-neighbors are having a party tomorrow to celebrate the life of their cousin Jack that passed away a couple of months ago.  I’m doing the cooking of the ribs and chicken.  I’ve got, I think, 9 slabs of ribs and a bunch of boneless chicken breasts to cook.  I’ll be using two Webers to get is all done.  ■  And the pickups for my Telecaster project came in.  Now I can put the guitar together and play it.  I’ll take some pics.  ■  And the cutting – I cut my right index finger washing knives tonight.  Not a bad cut, but it’s not good for an artist and musician to cut their fingers.  ■

Green Bay – Bay Perch – fish fry . . . . . .

Talk about yummy . . . . Holly brought back several pounds of Bay Perch – perch caught out of Green Bay.  Delicious.  We cooked/fried several fillets in the pan you see in the picture.  Is it a big pan?  Yes it is.  When I brought it home to season it, I found that it would not fit in our oven – and I didn’t have the handle on yet.  It’s that big.  The only way I could season it was to put in on our grill.  As you can see it really just fits on our grill.  At any rate, the fish was delicious.  ■  We watched the Cubs game tonight with Jac out across-the-street-neighbor.  Cubs lost.  Then we watched some of the Rambo movies.  ■  I did talk with our son tonight.  Everything is fine with him.  I wish he were back home, but he’s liked the Navy and that’s good.  ■  Time for bed – yet again. 

Drawing . . . cooking . . . . . .

I finished this yesterday.  It’s a drawing of my mother-in-law’s next-door-neighbor’s home.  They’ve been so good to her over the years that I wanted to do something for them.  ■  The gout attack on my right foot is in full swing.  I’ve just taken the med for it and hopefully by tomorrow morning it will have quieted down. As it is right now it’s hard for me to walk without a cane.  ■  It should be a quiet weekend.  I think we’re doing a perch fish fry tomorrow night.  I think Holly really wants me to dig out the large frying pan and do the fish on the grill.  This large frying pan just fits on my Weber grill.  If I do use it I’ll take pictures.  ■  Sunday our next-door-neighbors are having a memorial for their cousin Jack that passed away recently.  I’m doing the cooking for that – ribs on the grill.  ■  Monday the store is closed.  So, it’s a long, long weekend for me.  I’ve got lots to do.  ■ 

X-Rays, gout, stools, and video . . . . . .

Went to the hospital and got an x-ray of my right shoulder.  It’s been giving me some minor pain for the last few months.  Nothing debilitating – just irritating.  The doc thinks it’s probably impingement.  From a medical website:  “Impingement syndrome is a common shoulder condition seen in aging adults.”  That probably nails it – aging adults.  ■  Gout:  Just when it seems that my bout with gout is about over – it seems to be inching back.  Lovely.  ■  Stools:  that’s a snapshot of the 2 stools I bought.  They’re nice and sturdy and should last a long, long time.  ■  Video:  I discovered a video creation website that looks promising.  I need some time to check it out and experiment.  Then maybe I can post a video on this blog.  ■ 

Tuesday . . . lots of stuff . . . . .

Who would think that Tuesday would be busy?  Had a doctor’s appointment – I’m still kickin’, but my foot still hurts a little bit.  ■  I now have to get an x-ray of my right shoulder.  I have something that’s causing it a little pain when I move it a certain way.  Lovely.  ■  I started on a drawing of the home next to my mother-in-law’s home.  They’ve done so much for her over the years that I want to give them a pen and ink of their home.  I’ll post a scan of it tomorrow.  ■  And, yes, it’s time for bed!