Winter approaches

We've enjoyed over a week of sunny days in the 70s. Cold and rain approach.
I took a walk over by the Fox River today and snapped a few photos. It was a beautiful morning.

I also learned something. Trout Park was an amusement park 100 years ago. Situated along the river, it had a rail line that took it from downtown Elgin to the park. It closed in 1919.

http://elginpostcards.tripod.com/trout_part_amusement.htm

Outstanding in our field

Web watching

Through the magic of Google Analytics, I am watching the traffic of viewers to my pen collection website.
Check out the map:It's kinda fun, don't you think?

Baked bacon

You know how cooking bacon can be. It spatters and you have to drain the grease.

I've tried that microwave rack "As Seen on TV" but you spent 20 minutes wiping down the inside of the microwave.

So, I saw where you can bake bacon in the oven. And it turned out great. And the smoke alarm didn't go off. And there wasn't a mess on the ceiling of the oven. And there wasn't much grease.

It is really simple. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Then remove the foil and crinkle it up. (Don't get too vigorous or it'll take you 10 minutes to un-crinkle it.)

Then put the foil back on the cookie sheet and bend up the edges a bit to create a little wall around it all.

Then lay the bacon strips on the foil. I cut the strips in half because I was making BLTs.

Don't let the strips touch each other.

Throw them in the oven and then turn it on to 400 degrees. (No pre-heating needed.)

Check it after 17 minutes. That should be about right. No more than 20.

Place the strips on a paper towel with a plate under it.

The bacon looked like it shrunk a little more than usual, but that could be the bacon itself.

Clean up was very easy. You just wait for it to cool, then roll up the foil and toss it out. A quick wipe-down of the cookie sheet with a paper towel and it's ready to wash.

She must be famous

DONE!

They set up the electric cement mixer after lunch. One worker cut the tops off the bags of cement with a finishing saw. They mixed cement and sand in the mixer. (The gravel is already in the trench.) Then they poured it in the hole (an open window in the basement) into a wheelbarrow stationed below.Then they dumped it in the trench and smoothed it over.
The workers were swept up and done by 2:30. They did a decent job cleaning up after themselves.
And off they go...

And on the third day...

Here's the vinyl liner in the crawl space. It mostly diverts any water in to the sump well rather than soaking into the dirt.Here's what the trim looks like installed. Only about 2" of it will show against the wall once the cement is poured over the trench.
This is a finished window well with gravel and a drain. Covers will keep out the leaves and the critters.
This is the trench dug in the back yard. It handles any water discharged from the sump.
This is what the discharge outlet looks like where it comes outside.
And here's the sump well, complete with two battery-back-up pumps. They take turns pumping.
So, they are getting ready to pour the cement today and that's the project.Then I get to install a new sink and plumbing, put up some new shelves...and put everything away (argh!).