Happy Economic Blackout Day!

February has been nothing but bad news all month long. I even tried to delete the press coverage from my phone just to get a break from all the terrible things that the orange felon and his billionaire minion were inflicting upon already disadvantaged people. Not to mention all the stupid stuff like renaming the Gulf of Mexico and picking a fight with Canada. Unfortunately, all the outrageous acts by the current administration were back the next day. Thanks a lot, Apple.

I keep hoping the current situation will be like Conversation Hearts. They're stupid and you definitely don't like them but somehow you end up with a bag anyway. They show up in late January, uselessly sit around until they get tossed out around Easter. If that could only happen with real life! 

Speaking of Valentine's Day, I nearly ruined it this year when I accidentally put the red and white flowers His Madness got at the grocery store, in a blue vase! Ugh, nobody wanted to look at that! The white carnations moved to a vase of their own, in another room.

Then, to make matters worse, I made crepes for breakfast topped with strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream. Luckily, there were blackberries and mint in the fridge to break up another accidental, "patriotic" color scheme. Guess I didn't think that plate though either.

   

Luckily, flowers and crepes don't last forever and the next time HM went to the store he found some magenta ones. I arranged them in a white vase. Am I over reacting to the atrocities visited upon so many people by the current administration? No, and it's been very frustrating to not be able to do anything about it - until today.

It's Economic Blackout Day!

Yay! Finally, a way to fight back! Can I avoid shopping with giant retailers today? Absolutely. In fact, after being a life-long Target shopper, I plan to boycott them for as long as possible - along with all the other retailers who gave up their DEI programs as soon as the orange menace took office. Now, disentangling ourselves from Amazon is going to be a sacrifice. It won't be easy giving up next day deliveries and all the other stuff, but it will be worth it. 

Remember last Halloween? That wonderful time not so long ago, one filled with hope and optimism for the future? I saw a meme today that said "let's pretend it's October" and it was a good reminder that life was good once, and it was just last month! This is a terrible time for so many people. Those of us who can speak up have to speak up. Nothing will change if we don't work for it. HM and I found out about the 50501 Protest too late to join in and felt bad about missing it but there's another day of action on March 4. If we all do something, no matter what it is, things will change.

Sorry about the politics but everyone should have a voice.

We can all live together, it's not that hard.

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon! 

January 31st

Does anyone else spend the winter wondering what to do with their leftover pumpkins?

Since there are thirty-one days in January (like October), Burt and Kib rationalized that carving a pumpkin today, in honor of it being the 31st of the month, was an excellent idea. Plus, there would be one less pumpkin to shuffle around under the kitchen table. 

 

Ivy decided this was an excellent time to leave (and let them clean up their own mess). 

Actually, she decided to go shopping for Valoween decor in order to put off packing up the Christmas decorations for one more day. Also, she just wanted to get out of the house and didn't care whether she found anything or not.

After perusing the selection at Home Goods, she found the prospect of facing a holiday without any decorations to be not as bad as she had imagined. In fact, she was looking forward to it.

Still, she kept looking. You have to give Target points for trying a different angle, or is this a combo Valentine/Spring display? Were there chocolate bunnies on the lower shelves?

Eventually, she found something to bring home.  

The grocery store was the winner, supplying a bunch of semi-spooky striped roses and a bottle of wine. Neither of which will have to be packed up when the holiday is over. Not that they will even make it to Valentine's Day.

Happy January 31th everyone!

Thanks for stopping by, see you soon.

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.