Horse Manure Park

It's been two weeks since I updated things around here.  It seems blogging just creeps further down the priority list, but the kids are tucked in bed and sleeping (for now), so I'll take advantage of it. Disposal Blues Let's see, back on the 19th, the Wednesday we were set to leave for Farm Fest, we had a plumber here snaking things out and accessing pipes I didn't know existed in my house.  I had a bad experience with the food disposal - hey, I've never had one before, it's a learning process.  (When I was kid, the food disposal was called "Pepper," my dalmatian/black lab mix).  Anyway, long story short, I learned my lesson about putting too much down the disposal and I plugged things up good and proper (if you're going to screw things up, you might as well kick ass, right?).  The plumber came out and 3.5 hours and $300 later it was fixed.  Ouch. Farm Fest Another Farm Fest is now in the books.  A good time was had and for the first time in ...

Jani Lane, 1964-2011 I was sad to hear about the passing of Jani Lane, founder and front man of the 80's hair band, Warrant.  Lane was not only the lead singer and a multi-instrumentalist, he also wrote the band's music and lyrics.  I always regarded him as one of the best songwriters of the era. I saw Lane and his band in concert back in 1989 at the old Met Center in Bloomington.  Even though they were the opening act, they put on a great show and Lane was as good a front man as there was.  Warrant quickly became one of my favorite bands.  In fact, I still have a vintage Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich t-shirt in my closet! Warrant's debut album, "Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich" Jani rapidly earned a reputation as a first-rate songwriter.  He was responsible for penning great hair metal anthems such as "Downs Boys," "Sometimes She Cries," "Big Talk," and the massive hits "Heaven," and "Cherry Pie....

Gull Lake Campground, Part 2 or The Weekend When Everything Went Wrong Okay, note to self: three consecutive weekends camping is too much for my children, at least for the two year old.  It did not go well this past weekend. Part of the problem was that both kids, especially Neil, had colds this past week (if you remember my last entry, I complained I wasn't feeling well - I managed to spread the love to the rest of the family).  The good news is we are all getting back to good health now, but this weekend did not go well. It was one of those "looked great on paper" weekends.  The Kampen and Stokes families were both going to be at the campground and we hadn't seen either in a long, long time.  It promised to be a weekend of fun, friends and a lot of catching up. It started out badly when I mowed the farm on Friday and it took far longer than usual (because I let the grass it get longer than I should have - my fault).  By the time I got home on Friday i...

Grandma and Grandpa's Place We spent 4 1/2 days at the Dau's - July 27 through July 31 - and the best way to describe it was hot and damp.  Moist sleeping bags, condensation inside the camper due to excessively high humidity, and a nice summer time cold to boot.  I've been coughing, sneezing, hacking and wheezing as if it were January.  In all honesty, I feel like crap right now. I guess this sounds like I didn't have a good time, but that's not true at all.  There was lots of good food and cold drink.  We went golfing on Thursday and I parred a hole for the first time.  My father-in-law, sister-in-law and brother-in-law were all witnesses to this accomplishment, but I had to take a picture of my first shot anyway.  I missed the putt for a birdie, but let's not spoil the moment! My first shot on the 10th hole at Pine Ridge Golf Course near Motley, MN.  I absolutely sucked the rest of the day, but one good shot is worth a thousand bad ones....