Riverbend Journal

Life would be a lot simpler if I lived on an area with a flat lawn but you can't get everything it seems. And so I spent a lot of time filling in the forms so that any concrete I pour into them doesn't end up at the bottom of the hill and pounding a lot of stakes and bracing to keep the forms in place when the immense weight of the concrete is poured into the form.  Initially when I started this project, I had hoped that the dirt from the rat barrier would be enough to fill up much of the inside so that things were level but after digging one side of it, I canned that idea. A rat barrier is a narrow trench that get dugs in around the inside perimeter of the future concrete slab to prevent rodents and such from digging up underneath the concrete and making it a deluxe apartment. I also think it probably helps keep the structure rooted in place. The dirt from digging the rat barrier is dried out clay and it would take a lot of moisture and effort to pack it down dense enough that...

  On our second day, we stopped at another garden to stretch our legs between meals and kids activities.  There was an old fashioned sundial and I put my own watch on it for reference to show that someone had forgotten to adjust the sundial for daylight savings time.  Another Monet shot of lilipads. We also went to Madison's farmer's market which is well known for its size and variety. While we were sitting later eating some of our purchases, I noticed this mural painted on a building and thought it snap worthy. Some of our purchases. We used these for breakfasts to avoid the motel breakfast and also snacks in our car on the longer drive times. Another scene I just sort of stumbled upon and thought it snap worthy. Looking to get out of the heat for awhile, we stepped into the state capital for a looksee. Like most state capitals, I spent a lot of time looking up. In any other capital one might see a majestic eagle adorning such a scene but not in Wisconsin. I presume this...

One of our first stops was to a small museum in a university building dedicated to physics experiments. Unfortunately, this picture through the very clean door glass was as close as we got as it was closed probably due to Covid. There was no sign explaining why it wasn't open. So we took the long way back to our vehicle by walking through a garden in front of another one of the college campus buildings. This one even had grapes growing on a garden arbor and there may or may not be a few of them missing when they go to harvest them. Trying to capture a bee busy at work harvesting pollen. We continued on to Olbrich Gardens which we had stopped once before but in late fall when it was cold and most of the displays were heading towards dormancy. This time everything was green and lush. I couldn't help but let my inner Monet take a picture of the lily pads. Underwater rock garden and fountain. Japanese style pagoda being worked on. Sleeping lion  I'm not sure what the things in ...

About a week ago you may or may not have noticed my absence for a few days. We took one last small minivacation before school started by driving to Madison, Wisconsin, a town we have visited a few times over the years. This vacation has a few goals. It was meant to let the kids burn off some coped up Covid steam, to allow us to try some new to us foods and restaurants, and just to spend some time walking and relaxing.  This post is all about the food and our first meal was at Dotty's Dumplings which is known not for their dumplings (aren't even on the menu) but for their burgers. Above was my burger which besides the cheese had all the fixings and a garlic mayo sauce. It was quite delicious.  Old readers will know that we like to hit up farm to table restaurants where ever we go and do we made a stop at the Heritage Tavern which is a well known one in the area. Above was the appetizer of deviled eggs three ways. My entrée was heritage pork snitzel from the pigs the owner of th...

With it being so hot, I do have some time, quite a bit actually, during late mornings and afternoons to do other things so I touched up my framing plans for this project. Nothing earth shattering but should help me get a lumber count so I can just pay for delivery once. I don't think I will try to haul all this in the minivan over countless trips. I'm still deciding how I want the doors for the storage side of the building. Ideally I would like to make it rodent proof while still having a 72 inch wide opening. Not sure if I can do that with home built doors. So more thought and research is needed.