Sunday Afternoon Cigar

Sunday, June 28, 2026

This is supposed to be the last nice day before we're blasted with heat and humidity starting tomorrow and lasting for most of the rest of the week. 

Great day for a cigar. 

Here's me posing in front of the rhubarb. In all the years we have been in this house I haven't done a good job of utilizing the rhubarb we've got growing by the garage. 

It's been years since my former collegue, Carol M., gave me the recipe for her rhubarb crisp. I've probably made it 3 or 4 times over the years. I haven't made it much due to my never getting serious about making it until it's a little to late in the season. I've heard it starts getting kind of reedy after the 4th of July but I'm never sure if that's really accurate. Another reason that's kept me from making it is all those summers Dale was up on Madeleine Island. The recipe makes a lot and it's too much for me and even some guest to handle without having to waste some of it. 

Anyway, I'm hoping to actually make it this year. Maybe for the 4th of July.

Dale set out this bowl this morning to measure the rain. It absolutely poured around 10 am today. It's hard to tell but the bowl is actually pretty full. You can see it more on the left side near the rim.

                       

Was surprised to see the sun out this afternoon. Wasn't expecting that. 

The Yard Today

 Sunday, May 17, 2026

Rhubarb

Our backyard pine. Dale says this is a red pine tree (also known as a Norway pine in Minnesota). 

Fern garden. 

Leo

Oak tree of the neighbors across the alley. 

I've really enjoyed sitting in the back yard this spring and have been doing it much more so than in other years due to not having to work. 

Rhubarb

Yard Work

Before

After

9-14-14

Worked hard in the yard this weekend. A heap of branches, some of them quite sizable, had been piling up behind the rhubarb. Yesterday I broke them down and for some I needed the saw and the ax.  My first ax chop caused me to fall down, but thankfully I was on soft grass and it was the kind of fall that was easy to roll into. Some well rooted saplings were growing up through the branches and took some doing to dig up. It's hard to see how many branches there were as the saplings covered them up (see top photo). The project took just over an hour.

Rhubarb

The rhubarb is seeding itself.

Chives and Rhubard

The chives are starting to flower and the rhubarb is starting to seed.

Rhubarb

The rhubarb is coming along too...

Total Daylight: 14 Hours and 00 Minutes

The shorter days are becoming more and more obvious - especially so (to me, at least) in the evening. I'm up so much later than Dale is so I'll have to ask him if he's noticing a difference in the morning. The photo shows a pot of impatiens in the foreground and the pot of coleus in the background. Both are located by the rhubarb garden by the garage.

July 4, 2011

I made rhubarb crunch from the rhubarb that grows in the back yard. Dale loved it and so did I!

Rhubarb Seed Stalk

The rhubarb plants send these stalks up every year. I always end up cutting them back eventually but make sure the seeds fall to the ground. Also, mowed the lawn for the first time this season (Dale's done it once or twice so far).

Rhubarb Garden

Quite a change from the last time I posted about the rhubarb garden. Also, windy day today.

Rhubarb

Finished clearing out the sticks by the garage today and uncovered the rhubarb plants. They are coming along nicely.

Pick Up Sticks

Did some yard work yesterday. I'm so much farther behind where I was at this time last year. It's been wet and so much more cold that the idea of working outside hasn't been appealing. Yesterday afternoon was quite lovely. The pile of sticks you see in the photograph is about half as high as when I started. It felt good to get a little bit done. You can see the rhubarb getting started...