Christmas Time

Happy New Year!

Since I am coming down with a cold and so is His Madness, Burt will be doing all the celebrating this New Year's Eve. He is the one with the bells on.

The Skeleton Crew has been running behind all year long and they got even further behind during the holiday season. (Ivy is STILL working on the decorations.) So they wanted to get a jump on saying Happy New Year since they missed out on wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! 

We actually had snow on Christmas in our area this year and the winter wonderland was beautiful, while it lasted. 

Then it all melted and produced a dense fog that lasted for two days and grounded all the flights into our neck of the woods. That left our son Andy and his wife Kristin stranded in Chicago. Let's just say after a bus trip to Milwaukee and an even longer drive on a foggy interstate, we were all glad to get home, snow or no snow. 

Of course we couldn't let the weather get us down for long. Since there weren't any hats around for His Madness to model while we were out doing our last minute Christmas shopping, he opted for a red bow tie instead.

Finding things to do with visiting family members over the holidays can be a challenge in a small town. During lunch one day, we got into a discussion about the other candy maker doing business here. The Hughes family have been making and selling chocolates out of their basement since the 1940's. Since none of us had ever paid them a visit, we decided there was no time like the present. You have to admit, the whole premise sounds kind of surreal and could we even find it?

Sure enough, after a Google search we did locate Hughes' Home Maid Chocolates and it is indeed operated out of the basement of a modest house situated in a residential neighborhood. Judging by the serial number on the non-working furnace, the home probably dates from the 1920's. That's totally irrelevant but it makes you wonder if the Great Depression inspired them to start up their own business and how do they get on with their neighbors,

It turns out that the maximum capacity for customers is about six, so there's no lingering around or time for indecision. Andy managed the transaction while the rest of us earned a withering look from an entering customer for being an unnecessary waste of space. Apparently, sometimes a line will form that stretches down the block. Aren't small towns just full of character?   

Are these chocolates that different from each other? Yes, totally. When we mixed them together, it was pretty easy to tell them apart. There are both excellent in their own way. The other candy maker, Oaks Chocolates, was founded fifty years earlier and they still use their original 19th century German chocolate molds and hand-dip each piece. Maybe, the key to flourishing business is to keep your company in the family, stick to your original recipes and use the best ingredients available.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years Eve. We will be home, probably having an early night after eating too much chocolate.

A belated Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and best wishes for 2025!

See you soon, thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year!

The End of November

In theory, here at Chez Madness, Thanksgiving is celebrated with a special meal after which life goes back to normal. In reality, it's actually a long weekend of non-stop eating and online shopping. We turned into one of those FaceTime/texting families during holidays a long time ago. It's okay, I dread to think of the how the dinner conversation would've gone this year. Although I do love a good food fight, they're not worth the messy clean up afterwards.

Our celebration is obviously a very pared down version of the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. No marshmallows on yams or green beans with onion ring topping. It's just the basics. One year we tried to skip it altogether but found it was too disorienting not to have leftovers to heat up when we got home from Christmas shopping .

Pumpkin pie is never optional.

While looking for spices to add to the stuffing, I noticed this on the back of a spice packet. As horrible as the election turned out to be, it's nice to know that Penzey's agrees with us.

It's tough to say goodbye to the Halloween decor but Ivy cheered up the empty spots on the mantle with an assortment of odd stuff that came up in the garden. She thinks it looks gourd-ulous.

I've noticed that lately, without frequent family get-togethers, things like dusting, tend to get overlooked. It doesn't help that the living room only gets used a couple time a year either. So, how long have invisible spiders been creating this perfect roof of webbing on the lampshade? It's so impressive I can't bring myself to destroy all their hard work. (A bad decision that will undoubtedly become an embarrassment.)

While Ivy worked on the mantle Burt was comfortably settled by the fire with his book, believing he was enjoying the aroma of the pumpkin pie being baked. Although the fragrance was very pleasant, the pie had been prepared the day before. Luckily, the source of all his enjoyment was relocated to a cooler spot in the kitchen before it turned into mush.

Wouldn't it have been wonderful to raise a glass to toast our first woman president this Thanksgiving? Like everyone I know, I'm trying not to lose my faith in humanity over the results of the election, but hopefully some day the 52% of white women who voted for a convicted felon and sex offender, will realize they really screwed themselves and all women over could have made a better choice.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope everyone is having a great weekend.

See you soon!

Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate.

Halloween Was Fun but Now It's Time to Vote!

Before we get to the recap of Halloween and other spooky stuff, Burt and Ivy have an important public service message. It's Election Day and we have the opportunity to elect an intelligent woman who is more than capable of being the next President of the United States. If you live in Wisconsin, Tammy Baldwin needs your support too. Thanks for your time, now please vote!

It's been a hot and dry autumn in these parts, although the leaves were really colorful it just hasn't seemed like fall. Where have all those cold, dark and gloomy days gone?

The Crew harvested four pumpkins from the garden but they were a little too small for their standards, so they went shopping for a few extras.

After this spooky season became so hectic, Burt and Ivy decided to start planning for next year right away. They do not want to miss out on being the stars of their daily blog again!

  

Earlier in the week it was sunny and 80 degrees so naturally around Trick or Treat time it dropped to half that with the wind gusting up to 45 mph. Finally, some appropriate weather!  

Following a brief discussion about using duct tape to hold down the plastic jack-'o-lanterns to the porch floor, the conclusion was to just go with the four real ones.   

Which was a good choice since large, inflated costumes were very popular.

Especially, the ones with the long tails.

After a couple hours of trying not to be blown away while answering the door and, with only thirteen candy bars left, Burt and Ivy went back to planning for next year's Halloween and trying not to worry about the election.  

Just one last reminder.

I hope everyone had a very Happy Halloween!

 Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

Four Pumpkins and a Squirrel

The Skeleton Crew is still putting the finishing touches on their spooky season decorating. Meanwhile, our weather remains firmly in summertime mode, which is completely ruining the whole vibe.

Still, there have been a few hints that fall is on the way.

Like our new visitor, who has been very busy emptying all the bird feeders in the neighborhood.

Then burying whatever he doesn't eat in our flower pots and window boxes. To be fair, the little guy is just preparing for winter and the plants aren't going to last that much longer anyway.

However, we suspect this is the same critter who's been chewing holes in all the pumpkins.

In spite of all the gnawed up bits, Burt and Ivy are harvesting their best pumpkin crop ever!

They are thrilled to have grown four, sort of large-ish pumpkins. 

Now, if they could only remember what they did differently this year.

What was behind this unusual outcome? Could it be due to the abundant rainfall, an ultra rich layer of compost, some overhyped organic fertilizer or maybe it was just dumb luck? 

Will we ever discover the secret or will it remain a mystery forever?

Meanwhile, the squirrel remains vigilant, plotting his next move.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

Catching Up

The aurora was pretty spectacular here . . . if you looked at it through your phone, took a picture, increased the contrast and maxed out the saturation. Isn't technology great?

Otherwise, it looked mostly like this, which still wasn't too shabby.

At first I thought the white spots were dust on my laptop screen and then I realized they're stars!

I took these photos a little after nine o'clock last night near the rugby field in the Winnebago County Park. If you missed the aurora this time around don't fret, the sun is still active and there might be another chance to see it soon.

Earlier in the day, Ivy got finally got around to decorating for Halloween. This is not an endorsement for Target but they did just bring back some of the creepy John Derian Halloween designs from a couple years ago. Last time they sold out immediately so there was no hesitation from The Crew this time around. Definitely not everything returned, but a lot of the same stuff. Looks like someone may have ordered a few more items than necessary.

Apparently, the plan is to scatter the pillows all around the house, in different rooms. That way, maybe no one will notice that there are too many of them.

So, what's in that big box?

Who else? Well, isn't being scary a big part of Halloween?

Along with creepy pillows, of course.

Then, it was time to get the decorations up.

Ivy decided on a traditional orange and black color scheme for the patio this year with lots of plastic jack-'o-lanterns. She just got the misting one working and discovered it will also water the plants and everything else at the same time. How convenient. Good thing it's an outdoor decoration.

Then Burt decided to add some lights because why not mix electricity and water, what could go wrong?

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon!