Weekend!
As you know, Bob — wait, no, that’s not it.
As some of you may recall, Jaybird is in Michigan visiting relatives, mostly the very elderly type. He took about 12 pictures like the one below the other day and asked me to share this one with you all:
Y’all may be appalled, impressed, reminiscent, or whatever comes to mind…. as for me, I’ve been craving venison ever since. (For the uninitiated, all those dead deer are getting weighed.)
Aside from the game cravings, I haven’t been very hungry lately; I’ve got one of those really stupid upper respiratory things that don’t keep you from accomplishing anything but do keep you from wanting to. Luckily the non-emergency, important, don’t really want to discuss it, medical stuff I’ve just gone on leave for until the Monday after Thanksgiving is being treated outpatient, and doesn’t require me to be germ-free to work. So I’ll just take the germs as a sign that sleeping in is also an important part of getting better, and run with that.
Other than Jay’s trip and my medical thing, the weekend will be spent doing the usual chores and laundry. In our fuzzy pajamas. Possibly with some quality hanging out together by sitting in adjacent rooms and occasionally saying something to the other person. And I’ve got a stack of books to wallow in that would probably do for 3 or 4 medical leaves, a ton of podcasts to listen to, and some promising TV to watch. Also lots of tea, and purring cats.
Definitely shaping up to be one of those “things could be a lot worse” kind of weekends. (‘Scuse me while I go find some wood to knock on.)
So………. what’s on your docket?
Reminds me of the days working in the butcher shop, when we’d get a score of deer a day to process into steaks and summer sausage.
I’d eat soOoOoOo much summer sausage…Report
Oh, deer sausage. I was never a fan of venison all that much but I LOVED the summer sausage one of my cousins used to get part of his deer made into.Report
Venison is a delight.Report
Reminds me that I need casings; that used to be a little bit of a chore. But sonofabitch if the internet hasn’t made it a snap. Should have enough for 50 lbs on my doorstep tomorrow.
Oh, and my neighbor informs me that he’s got a spare pig that he fattened on an absolute bumper crop of acorns… so we’ll be butchering that this weekend too. This time of year our two giant stand-up freezers are groaning with meat… lamb, goat, venison, pork… all the bounty of the valley.Report
Speaking of elderly-type relatives, my Mom’s 90th birthday party last weekend went well. About 80 people in total came through to visit. Mom recognized them all and remembered details. She’s doing quite well. While she uses a walker (one with wheels and handbrakes, tempted me to ask “Is this the racing version?”) outside her apartment at the home, it doesn’t slow her down. She and the four-year-old great-granddaughter were usually far out in front of the rest of the family when going between places.Report
My grandfather passed away last night. A Navy vet who fought in the Korean War.
While my grandmother and my aunts are in my thoughts today, I don’t feel much for my grandfather. Despite him living only a few miles away from me growing up, I have very few positive memories of him (no serious negative ones either). My grandmother was always a loving influence, but my grandfather seemed wholly uninterested in my sister and I. The only reason I can think of is that he was my mother’s stepfather, and he always had a very rocky relationship with my mother, while his relationships with her sisters (his daughters) was much more positive. Somehow that difficulty impacted how he wanted to interact with his eldest grandchildren.
After I joined the Navy, we talked a bit more often, but it was always very strained. I’ve always been a bit jealous of people who had strong relationships with their grandparents, because I never did, on either side of the family.Report
@oscar-gordon
Sorry to hear about your loss, even if it’s more for your family than for you. I also have a stepdaughter who things can be…difficult…with. I really worry that I will not be able to be as close to her kids as my own daughter’s. Hopefully I will do a good job there. My extended family has several step-grandkids and the adults have always treated them just like the rest of the kids.
And I was very fortunate to have at least two grandparents that were awesome in every way. I feel very fortunate for the experience.Report
Sorry. I was lucky to have good relationships with my grandparents on my mother’s side. My dad’s dad was a nonentity. They had a feud and then reconciled, but he never wanted the role of a grandfather (he wasn’t really a father to my dad and his siblings, either). I didn’t feel much of anything when he died. My mom’s dad, Gramps–I still miss him.
@mike-dwyer Good luck with your step-daughter. If nothing else, things may improve with adulthood. As I got older, I know that I came to a better appreciation for my parents’ strengths and weaknesses.Report
Kindest regardsReport
Sorry for your loss, on whatever level the memories are.
I never knew one of my grandfathers and I barely remember the other. My family is demographically weird; my paternal grandfather (the one I knew slightly) was an experimental aviator in WWI…and now I wish I’d listened more to what stories he told (not many). One of my uncles is supposedly editing his diaries to be shared at some point with the family…Report
My condolences to you and your family for your loss.Report
@oscar-gordon
My condolences for your loss.Report
That sounds emotionally complicated.
The feeling where you feel you should be feeling something else.
Good luck over the coming weeks.Report
Sometimes its just that sort of relationship, distant and strained, that we grieve for.
Mostly grieving for what could have been instead of what was.Report
Thanks everyone for the condolences.
And yeah, part of it is wishing for a relationship that never existed. My paternal grandfather was awesome, but he died when I was 10 (lung cancer; smoking Camel filter-less for 50 years will do that too you).
But it is what it is.Report
Junior turns 8! His party is Saturday. Instead of slaving away making food and feeling underappreciated this year, I’m planning to order a bunch of cheap pizza and sitting back with a glass of wine to watch the party happen. Tradition dictates I make his cake, of course, but other than that, it’s the easy way out for me. Unfortunately it looks like my ex in-laws are coming, but other then that, it should be a good time.
Sunday I’m doing a purge of my deep freezer to get rid of even more breast milk. It looks like it’s a weekly thing now and will likely last at least through February.Report
First weekend of deer season was interesting for me. I had plenty of deer come through but only had a shot on a doe. Which would have been fine, except she had two yearlings with her and my heart said to let her go. A friend who has a degree in wildlife management told me that fawn mortality is not really any different for orphaned fawns or fawns with the mother, but my personal code said to let them walk.
So…back at it again this weekend. I’m going to take a book this time, since there was a lot of downtime, but having a covered blind for the first time this year made the day pretty enjoyable.Report
Yup–even when a hunt isn’t successful, it’s always great to get out in woods.Report
That’s kind of how I feel about fishing – getting out in a boat is great, I don’t much mind if I catch any fish or not.
I knew someone who would sometimes set up a fishing rod without a hook on the line in their canoe – if they were just sitting in the canoe in the middle of the lake, people would keep coming out in to see if they were alright, had lost their paddles, etc. but if they saw a fishing rod they’d have an explanation for why they weren’t paddling around. They really just liked sitting out on the lake.Report
I just got back from visiting my dad’s elder brother and his wife at their favorite local Diner where they eat breakfast every day and it was good to see them.
It feels like I’m seeing a lot of these people for the last time.Report
Will be a chilly 87 degrees this weekend. Looks like a good time to install the fuel tank and carburetor on the cycle.Report
87 Kelvin? Yikes, that is chilly!
This morning it was -14 C, so 7 F, and not windy. Nice comfortable weather for the bike ride to work, and the city got the bike trails cleared of snow overnight too. (the winter trail maintenance is a new thing).Report
Dang, 7 F is a brisk bike ride, I would have to put on more than shorts an sandals.Report
A bit more than shorts and sandals, yeah :). Regular office clothes, over which boots, flannel jacket, windbreaker, way oversize mitts (not really needed but it’s just a bit too cold for the thin leather gloves that are the other option), and thin toque.
But it’s still easy to dress comfortably by just grabbing ordinary warm clothes from the hall closet on the way out the door. No numb toes, no need for a scarf or extra thick socks or wind-shell pants, no need to be quick about getting the shed unlocked so you can get your mitts back on.Report
Sympathy on the URI. I have had a v. similar upper respiratory thing this week. Cannot tell if it’s a bad cold or a very light case of the flu (I get the vaccine, but there are strains the vaccine missed). Had a mild fever and some pretty wicked muscle aches, which is what makes me wonder “flu?” Right now it’s turned into mostly a dry cough, fatigue, and hives (unpleasant but not alarming: I am prone to hives and get them with many viruses I contract, and my doctor is supremely unworried about it, so I won’t be).
I’ve had the similar feeling of being supremely unmotivated (I went to bed at 7 pm on Monday, the first day of really being sick, and slept for just under 11 hours) and not having an appetite. (In my case, that’s not bad: I can’t exercise right now with the cough, and I could afford to miss a few meals)
This weekend is going to be spend recovering, in preparation for the trip to visit family next week. My brother and sister in law are coming with their five year old child, their dog, and their two cats. It’s gonna be chaos, and I am not used to being around small children, so I expect this trip to be anything but restful.
I also probably better write the exams I’m giving the week I get back in case I’m too wiped to work on them AFTER Thanksgiving.Report
I hope to finish the plumbing issues tomorrow, then moving to the rest of the kitchen bits (vent fan being biggest) so I can knock that room off the list. Then to finish the electrical for much of the house (be using a few floor lamps to keep thing lit upstairs) But Sat is the last swap meet of the season, so bargain and junk hunting galore!Report
Given that Jay’s out of town and I have a long week of dealing with things ahead, I splurged and went by the takeout handmade pasta/Italian deli place near the pharmacy.
One huge dish of saffron fusilli with ragu (I think I will get 2-3 servings out of it).
One delightful pasta/meatball combo meal with a side of home-preserved pinto beans. (At least 1 meal, maybe two.)
And for supper tonight, a simple salad with house dressing (delightfully wilted by the drive home next to the hot stuff) and a porcetta sandwich on in-house-baked hearty white grilled white bread. Which I threw some feta crumbles into both of those because why not?
My stomach heartily approves of this decision. I feel very much the king of my castle at the moment.Report
PS I will go to my grave without EVER telling the Italian-immigrant owner of the pasta place that I added feta to his food. 😀Report
Desert Bus for Hope starts tomorrow, so I will be spending much of the weekend watching that. I’ll also be preparing to MC the New Zealand Sceptics Conference next weekend.Report
Youth and cadet fencing tournament in Denver this weekend (all of the official age categories <18 years old). Just over 900 fencers preregistered and paid up. There will be 24 strips in simultaneous use on Saturday, Sunday, and most of Monday. Spent most of today (Friday) setting up: a combination of moving heavy things, taping large amounts of stuff to the floor in the right places*, and basic electrical testing. My knees, ankles, and feet are already telling me that standing up from the bed in the morning will be unpleasant.
* Some years back, parents started complaining about things like “My kid had to fence their final on strip 7, which is crooked.” God bless cheap laser rangefinders, which make it easy to check that stuff is laid out true to within about a half-inch over 50 feet.Report
I got more information about the Buck Pole!
It’s something that the Michigan Dept. of Interior (or Michigan Parks and Rec or something like that) does in order to collect information about the deer population and related stats.
They went with something like “gamification” and, instead of begging for information from hunters, got hunters to stand in line in order to give the info.
Absolutely brilliant.
(I also got to hear one of the behind-the-scenes stories of a 2nd cousin’s birth… as I was told it, the mama (my 1st cousin) was in labor and the uncle (her brother, also my 1st cousin) was frustrated that she was in labor on opening day. She told him “FINE! GO OUT AND HUNT!” and he said “FINE! I WILL!” and he went out and was miserable for an hour or so and came back and she was still in labor. So he was there to say hello to his nephew despite it being opening day. And it made for a good dysfunctional family story instead of a bad dysfunctional family story.)Report
After finishing a side project which occupied the past couple months I will finally be able to paint again this weekend.Report