Toys?? In the attic.....

We leave our thermostat set at 78 in the winter and the summer.  In the summer when it's 90 degrees or more, the air conditioner runs well into the late night hours until the attic temperatures go down.  I crawled up there a while back and was surprised to see about 6 inches of insulation up there.  

I called around and folks told me I should have a minimum of 10 to 12 inches which meets the minimum code for a R-38 insulation value.   

I had Krieser Insulation blow in what looks to be nearly two feet more in to my attic this morning.  If I remember correctly what the owner said on the phone, I should now have an R value of 50.  Two of my neighbors have done this too and one say's he's saving $1200 a year on gas and electricity.  WOW!  

I have the house opened up today and will be watching the thermostat closely!  

The Krieser guys were right on time and did the work fast with minimal mess.  Thanks Krieser Insulation! 

Aku Tiki Room

Friday, the postman delivered some new tiki art to the West A house.  I had Robert make this piece for me, with some of my favorite elements of the tiki style.  Gruesome carved tiki idol, fish float lamps lit by a huge moon, a sliver of light emanating from a distant A Frame thatched hut.  You can almost here the waves crashing the cliffs below. Perfect!  

I have been working on an area in my basement for about three years now.  I keep trying to add layers upon layers of things to feast your eyes on.  I have some matting not put up yet and my stock of bamboo is getting pretty good.  I call my space the "Aku Tiki Room" in a nod to the only tiki bar/lounge ever here in Lincoln.  I know it's not a very creative name but it's tribute to the past and I like it.  

The lilies are looking good

My wife loves lilies, I like the Tiger and Asiatic best.  Nirak, I am marking my calendar for this fall so I can ask you for real this time if you'd like to come and get some.

I hope everyone had a good Monday, the Missus and I had the day off. Did more yard work, exterior house work and had lunch at The Oven. We hit Leon's afterwards got a bunch of goodies we never see at Russ's.  

Have you seen my ducky?

Lilly will be one year old soon.  She is something else, what that is I don't know.  Today she attacked the broom I was using to clean off the slab we put our pool on.  She absolutely hates the gas trimmer/edger and tries to bite the end while it's spinning.  Crazy dog!

She has the most expressive face.  Her ears are always moving and she wrinkles her forehead like no other boxer we've ever had.  I'm looking forward to many many years with little Lilly Pad.  

It should come as no surprise...

Here I am, I haven't forgotten what I started for no reason other than to be like so many others.  But I experienced a massive case of burnout.  I just didn't have the gumption to sit down, think about what I should say, take pictures of what I wanted to show you, edit the photos, and then plop it all down here.  

The main reason is that my Father in law was really sick the last two years and he lost his fight with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on September 21st.  Having no father figure in my life nor Grandfather for my son is something I'm having a hard time adjusting to.  Father's Day is coming up and it's another one of those "Firsts" that our family has to get past to get back to some attempt at normalcy.  

We knew how the leukemia would turn out but coupled with both of our dogs dying in late 2010, I was shell shocked to say the least in 2011.  Hell, we all were.  

The West A house trudged along and we're keeping our chins up.  It's all you can do when life kicks you where the sun doesn't shine! 

We did get a new boxer pup, Lilly six months ago.  She has brought laughter and joy back while still being a handful; as all Boxers are.  Today she escaped the backyard and I don't know how yet.  Thankfully I was in the front yard and she just wanted to be with me.    

I am sorry to those of you who may have enjoyed seeing what I was doing and then I left you hanging.  I am back and I will post.  Here and on that tumblr thingy. 

Have a great weekend! 

Hello Friends!

Hey how are you?  We're doing well here at the West A house.  Spring feels like it's here and we've been busy!  Yard cleanup is in full swing and we've taken advantage of some recent good weather to do some hiking/walking/bike riding.  

We recently visited Omaha and enjoyed a trip to the Durham Museum.  I'm a bit of a train fan so I was very glad to have finally visited.  The structure is amazing.  I tried to imagine it was 1942 and the place was busy with many people coming and going or waiting for their train.  Taxis and busses dropping off and picking up folks who may have come from New York or were going to Denver. 

Alex of course liked the model trains and the ability to go inside some of the rail cars down at track level.  Lincoln used to have a trolley system, as did Omaha.  Too bad Lincoln couldn't have kept it.

Staying on the train theme, last Sunday we hiked south on the abandoned Union Pacific line to the point where the Rock Island line crossed over.  If you go southwest on the Rock Island line there's a bridge that crosses Salt Creek, we plan on hiking to that the next time.

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Boozed up hot tub of love......

Well now that I have your attention, let me just say that I've read a lot of food related posts the last couple of years but that sentence about takes the cake!  Steve makes food I wish I could eat. Guess I'm going to have to try making that in the near future. 

Did you enjoy the weekend?  What a great couple of days!  My wonderful in-laws took "The Boy" Friday night so the Missus and I had some time to go out and let someone else serve us. And we both slept in Saturday and today, that is always a treat!

We ventured out to 56th & Hwy 2 Saturday night and had Indian food at Taj Mahal.  The place was very busy but the wait was worth it.  After the meal I was invited into the kitchen to see what Chef Raghani was preparing, he had a huge pot of base sauce going and he was pureeing it with the biggest stick blender I've ever seen!  We talked a bit about paneer cheese and after showing me his, told me to air dry my next batch in the fridge for two days to firm it up.  I was thrilled to be invited into a working Indian kitchen!

I prepared a pecan smoked honey-rosemary pork loin this evening and sauteed some zucchini and green peppers along with the pork.  This week looks to be fantastic weather wise so the grill will be hot at this house! 

I hope you're all doing well and I'll see you soon!