Como Park

We loaded up the kids and hit Como Park for a bit of exploring. The zoo brought back memories of dragging the boys through the Milwaukee Zoo 20 years ago. It was nice being able to walk around without a stroller or wagon.

The poinsiettas are still out in the conservatory.

 

Frosty Ice Shards

The lake is still not frozen over on Dec. 30. Overnight we had a heavy frost and a steady breeze that pushed ice ashore as it froze. The result was a mass of frost-covered ice shards piled up along the beach. 

Each time the wind shifted, it piled the shards in a different direction which made it look as if the shards had been flowing in currents.

 

Helladazzle @ Hell's Kitchen

AK celebrated her b-day at Hell's Kitchen for brunch. It was a weekday, so there was no live music, but we had a good time chating with everyone. Minneapolis canceled Holidazzle this year, but Hell's Kitchen made up for it with their own Helladazzle vibe.

 

Zakk Sabbath

We took advantage of some cheap tickets to go see Zakk Sabbath at First Avenue. They play nothing but Black Sabbath songs from the early 70s. It was our first time at First Avenue and it was a nice intro to such a famous venue.

The opening band was The Native Howl. They are a "thrashgrass" band that plays a mix of thrash metal and bluegrass. I have never seen a metal band with a banjo player! They were entertaining, to say the least, and I would see them again.

 

Swedish American Institute

JP and the boys hit the Swedish American Institute for a tour.

We've been here for four years already and there are still a bazillion places to see and things to do within five miles.

 

Christmas Fox

A cold and tired little fox stopped by Nana's birdbath for a sip of fresh water. 

 

Christmas 2023

We spent Christmas with Nana in IL. It was the first time ever that it did not snow while we were driving there or home. It was a green grass Christmas.

S wore himself out running around on carpeting with his new toys.

 

Bingo!

The Ks invited us to experience Bingo Night at Sandy's, a local watering hole that has the best burgers in town. Out of nine of us and six games, two won. The proceeds for the night went to the Firefighter's Burn Institute.

 

Keep Off the Ice

Here we are at the end of December and the lake is still open. There is some ice along the shore, but not much. No snow, either. How are we going to have the Art Shanty project in January?!? What about the dog sled race in February? The Polar Bear Bathing group is even struggling.

 

Carved Guitars (AI Generated)

Moving up on my list of things to learn is woodcarving. Thru the pseudomagik of AI, coming up with designs is now the easy part. In only a few minutes, it was able to generate designs for forty cool looking guitars. It struggled with generating a flat layout, but these photos are good enough for now.

See the other designs in this photo album.

The interesting thing about AI generated pictures is that at first glance, they look pretty amazing. Your brain instantly recognizes the subject. Then if you start looking at the details, you notice things like the pickups are wonky, or the bridge has too many strings, or the fret markers are all wrong.

Tinto --> Nico

Last weekend this popped up at Tinto Kitchen. Our beloved corner Mexican restaraunt is no more. The owners sold it and moved to France to be with his parents. We, and all our friends and family, LOVED Tinto! We will miss it.

The bright side is that it's being replaced with Nico's Tacos. The word is that the full Tinto staff will come back and run Nico's. It's supposed to open in January once some remodeling is done. Nico's currently has two locations in the cities and they look pretty good.

 

Replacements Tribute Night

Went with DK and his friends to see a Replacements tribute night at the Turf Club in St. Paul. There were 20+ singers with at least four bands all performing their favorite Replacements songs. The Replacements were a local Minneapolis band that everyone here knows well.

The Turf Club only holds 350 people, and between two floors and two stages, it has a really good vibe.

 

Canine Sundial

Our sundial is pretty good at telling time. Twice a day, he lets you know that it's time to eat.

 

Dogsitting

CK stayed with us over Thanksgiving. He gets along with the dog & cat and makes himself at home.

 

Reading to the Animals

The cat really likes it when you sit motionless to read. She has a captive audience that is there only for her.

 

Dry November

November was the second driest ever: only 0.04 inches of precipitation for the entire month. It just doesn't feel right that we have no snow. The creek is iced up, and the ice in the lake goes out a little further every day.

 

Cut the Cable

We got fed up with cable and its ludicrous cost. We cut the cord and went back to a TV antenna. It works pretty well, but now and then it's back to the old game of someone moving the antenna and the other giving directions on which way to move it. When the planes are coming in over the lake, it gets intermittent as each one passes. 

 

Bus Stop Walk

I try to take the bus home a couple times a week. It's absolutely relaxing; 20 minutes of free time to read the paper and not give a thought to traffic. The best part is the walk home. It's 1.25 miles and goes thru a beautiful 100 year old neighborhood and along the lakefront. 

 

Holiday Decor

Our new MN ritual is to hit the Boy Scout X-Mas tree sale down at the church. This year we didn't even try lugging it back up the hill on foot. 

JP added a Warhammer 40K theme to her Christmas village.

 

Choo Choo

We needed to get the train set fixed up and running around the tree. It's 30+ years old and has been thru two boys.

All it took was $100 at the hobby shop and three hours to get everything running.

 

Dual Purpose Table

The dining roopm table works well for family dinners. It works equally well for the boys' games. In this case, it's Warhammer 40,000.

 

Holiday Photo 2023

Happy Holidays!!!

 

Drilling for Oil

The street has been flagged for the past month with the rainbow of colors that indicate where all the underground utilties lay. A drilling company came and drilled a bunch of soil samples. Not surpising, every one of them turned up only sand. The entire neighborhood is nothing but sand. Before the ice age, the Mississippi River ran thru here. Now it's 200 feet of sand that filled in the old river channel.

The thinking is that hopefully the storm sewer in the alley will be re-routed so that it doesn't free up in the winter. As it is, it's not deep enough and it freezes up. Any snowmelt then pools and freezes into a rutted iceberg. Fingers crossed that there won't be a $20k assessment for everyone on the alley.

 

Gambrinus - the King of Beer

We took the long way home from Nana's to see the World's Largest Six-pack in LaCrosse

We also got to see the actual King of Beer. He's not from St. Louis.