One man's chore

is another man's entertainment : )

I have waited for and wanted this!  Isn't this great?  We had it delivered this past Wednesday and I had washed 3 loads in it before we left early Saturday morning.  The washer will save us carrying sheets/towels/rugs/clothes back and forth.  We have a dryer too but will have to wait until we get our electrical system updated but that's okay!  Right now, I love using the clothes line!  And I have an old fashioned drying rack upstairs in the big cabin for when it rains or for "dainties" that I don't what the world to see.  And I will hang shirts on hangers so as to avoid wrinkles.

The dryer will stack on top of the washer. 

And I'm living high on the hog! 

(PS:  it looks like I'm growing whiskers on my chin in this pic -- but I'm not!  There's a fan sitting beyond me and the controls of the fan appear to be growing on my chinny chin chin.  And let that be a lesson -- do not believe everything you see!  )



new room; bedroom

Himself and I spent a week at Too. We went down on a Saturday and stayed until the next Saturday morning.  That is the longest we have ever stayed there. The weather was good, it warmed up nice during the days and cooled off for good sleeping at night.  The Lake is still low, the area still needs rain but we had a couple of rains and the grass greened up and we even had to mow.

Good thing we had plenty of work to do!  It kept us moving and pretty much out of trouble.

We worked on the cabin a little, put together a closet unit for our bedroom, trimmed the "to-be" tree house tree, mowed, planted perennial flowers, cleaned and ate and slept!  We got in a couple of golfcart rides and even a walk or two.  I witnessed a spectacular sunshine one evening -- the sky tinted pink and as I watched intensified in color to darker pink, rose and finally deep bright red orange.  It was glorious! 

I love Hollyhock green.  What do you think?  our little bedroom will be sunny with two big windows but will look warm and cozy decked out in hollyhock green. 

Down to the big box store, we stumbled upon a closet organization kit.  We thought (and both agreed!) that we would like it for our bedroom closet -- rather than a real closet.  Of course, admiring an assembled display piece and taking home a 2X4X3' box and dumping out a couple of hundred pieces on the floor are two entirely different things.  We lay out all the pieces and instructions, looked at each other and asked "what the heck are we doing"?

Two days later and lots of muttering, mumbling and brow beating later, we were making progress.  (We are standing at the north end of the bedroom looking out the door at the stairway.  

Due to the nature of our installation and the amount of room we had, we had to make some mighty major adjustments but our persistance (and our frugality) paid off and we will end up with a unique storage unit for our new cabin.  





a projected weekend . . .

Himself and I had a long Labor Day weekend in Mo.  We went with intent and purposes and some of the intentions got done and some of the purposes completed.  (PS:  I wrote a post last evening only to have Blogger hiccup or my internet connection burped . . . but I lost the just completed entry in one fell swoop.  Now here I am, again, getting a warning that my entry has not been auto saved.  ????)

We went down Friday evening after work and got up bright and chipper Saturday morning.  The day started in our, now, familiar routine.  Himself went to work texturing and painting and I went to town.  This time I drove over to Bethany to Eckards, the flooring store.  We wanted carpet tiles and they assured me, over the phone, that they had them.  I like Bethany and hadn't been to shop since the days of III so in I jump into the Flintmobile and off I went. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our bedroom was taking shape.  I love the shade of green.  I do.  I like the ceiling fan and once we get the carpet smoothed down, I'm going to like it too.  At Eckards, I found only commercial grade, flat napped carpet and we wanted something a little more plush so Eckwards presented this old roll of foam backed carpet and I scooped it up and ran. 

We stained some pine to trim our windows and now just need window trim and baseboard.  I have my curtains, I think.  We'll need a new bed and bedspread and one room will be done! 

Himself's next self-assigned duty is to tape and mud the ceiling in the livingroom.  We have a whole week planned, coming up, so hope to make a lot of progress in that time. 

Meanwhile, when I wasn't able to help Himself, I was cleaning out corners of the little cabin and dragged out this 3/4 finished chair.  I had started it back before III came and went.  I had been dissatisfied with my work; didn't like the pattern; but after dusting it off and finding that I had the cane I needed to finish it, I plopped down on the front porch in the shade and finished it up.  It certainly isn't professional and I don't like it as well as the first seat I ever caned (this is the second) but it'll do. 

I am either going to paint the whole chair antique blue, seat and all, or just darken the wood and stain the seat to make it look older than it is. 

I dragged out more bits and pieces.  That long board in the photo above used to be the top back of that old blue buffet that was in this house when we bought it and which was used upstairs for years for storage.  Did you recognize it?  That and some gingerbread pieces got a coat of black spray paint, then I fastened them on to our old screen door to dress it up.  I like the looks of the door and it gives little hands a place to push other than on the screen.  Wish I had taken a picture of the finished product. 

Now, this old chair is probably 150 years old and hold the first seat I ever caned.  I have moved this chair from here to there and back again . . . and with the #9 wire holding it together, it did hold together.  Then some time in the building of the big cabin, this antique got broken.  I don't know if I'll "githerdone" but my intent is to glue and wire and shore up this old chair.  I want to put it back together.  It still has some bits and pieces of old white paint on it and the top back rail is worn smooth as silk from all the hands that picked it up and carried it and pulled it out and pushed it under the table or desk.  I hope I can at least get it to hold together "for decoration".  I know it will never be a functional chair again. 

So some of the "projected" is done, some not but the fun is in the doing and planning;  and the success or failure, keeps us moving on.  Thanks for stopping in.

Gittinherdone

Oh Yes!  dancing a jig.  Oh Yes!  jumping up and down.  Hubba Hubba! 

We are gettinher done!  Making progress.  Gonna have a finished bathroom  and finally have a washer and a dryer before long! 

Himself has finished all but one wall of the bathroom and he's honing in on the bedroom walls.  He is so close to being done in there, in fact, that Craig "cut in" the paint 'tween the ceiling and the walls last weekend.  thank you, Son!  Himself says he needs another coat of texture below but there's a hint of color on the walls and ceiling and I think I'm going to love it!  I think it will be warm and cozy. 

Now, back to the bathroom, we have a little classic and we have a little whimsey.  I'm calling it the Cottage look.  I love the old fashioned beadboard look and I wanted it laying sideways, not up and down -- tho either is appropriate for cottages.  (Sometimes in the old vacation cottages you found it painted institutional green or medium blue.  Sometimes white too.)  We chose white.  We sort have got a black and white scheme going.  I'm liking it a lot! 

And then the whimsey . . .

A year ago on vacation in Colorado, we found these. 

We found these right outside the Royal Gorge park.  (Thank goodness we stopped at that souvenir shop because the Royal Gorge, west entrance, was closed for the season.  Locked up TIGHT.  We tried to sneak in to no avail -- you ever try to drive across the Royal Gorge?  lol  Ended up, we had to go all the way around to the East entrance to get in . . .  for heaven sakes.  Anyway . . .

OMgosh.  I hope it is the angle of the photo . . . but if it isn't, that picture is not centered over the toilet tank . . . yikes.

Anyway . . . go on reading while I move that picture --

we met the Little Bear towel and TP holders . . . and we were charmed.  It was a bit of a rigamorole to get them bought (something about "last year's prices" lol) but buy them we did -- and then remembered that we had them!  That's pretty remarkable too!  lol

Anyway, progress is being made and we hope to really move ahead the week of September 9.  We have a week of vacation and plan on spending most of it at

Too at Twin Lakes

Milestones

Himself came down Thursday after I left for work.  He has worked in the new cabin for two days, mudding and sanding and sealing and texturing.  He has made great strides!  He has light fixtures and a ceiling fan mounted.  He has switch plates on.  We (or sorry, HE is getting ready to put on finishing touches!)  We are going to have two finished rooms!  Wow!  it will be soooo good!  and once the bathroom is finished, I'll get my washer.  If I don't get a dryer right away, it won't matter.  I have a clothes line and a drying rack : )  I just really need the washer.  It will cut out hauling dirty clothes home.

Also, once the bedroom is done, we are going to put in a  closet unit and we'll be able to leave clothes and swim suits here.  I can't wait!

Thank you, Mister!  for coming down and working so hard and consistently!!

Progress

Himself has had a couple of chances to work on the cabin this past month.  This past weekend, three days, we kept out of his way and let him at it.  The weather was cooler but the lake waters still warm from the 100+ degree stretch of weather so it was perfect on the beach and I and four children took advantage of the ideal conditions and hit it.  Himself took advantage of the freedom to work.  And work he did!

He is almost ready to start the finishing touches in the bathroom and bedroom.  He had mudded and sanded and mudded and sanded to his heart's (and his perfectionism's) content.  He is thinking he will go down today and leave me home to work so that he'll have a couple of uninterrupted days to finish the mudding and the sanding.   

I'll go down after work on Friday and see what I can do to help.  Okay . . . or  Not!  but I'll be there to cheer him on! 

I absolutely have not helped with the dry wall, mudding and sanding.  I am not inclined towards drywall.  I can't get interested.  I love boards and wood, rocks and bricks . . . but dry wall makes me want to turn and walk away.  Well, it does! I do turn and walk away! 

So thank goodness for Himself!  Thank goodness for his determination and sticktoitness.  Himself is a finisher . . . and a good thing!  If left to me we'd be living with 2X4 studs with maybe some insulation stuffed between or some paneling nailed up. 

Stay tuned! 

Lazy Days of Summer

I have been lazy this summer, writing.  I have not had the motivation but today I have determined to force myself through this block and get back to this on a weekly basis.  There's no reason not to write.  Well one and I'm going to wean myself away from FaceBook.  When it is all said and done, I would be far to say "I wrote every day in my blog" and not "I wrote every day in Face Book.  I have tried to write some historical/genealogical in Face Book but it gets swallowed up and lost.  It soon is buried in the wasteland of Face Book and unretreivable.  So, I will make this my priority! 

Besides, the more I write, the more I remember.

Ten Years Worth

January 2000

 I have this one labeled January 2001

but this isn't looking like January in Missouri. 

Wow!  Spring!

I can hardly wait!
Emerald City ?

The good ol' days.

June 2003
I loved that boat. 

No, he's not fishing.

He's got a boat out there.

A remote boat!  2004

2005.

This is the one and only photo

I found for this year.

Was I in a coma?

I know I had a digital camera. 

This must have been the year of my discontent. 

Really, I have no idea. 

Fishing buddies.

2006

This was one of our favorite spots.

Mid summer.  2007

Icy Day

2008

My kind of day

Fall 2009

Grandkids and their interest in a

Dead muskrat in the water.

wa hoo!  yes!

Wintery Day

Early 2010

I think this was the only time we spent at Too

where the road was snowed over.

There will be more days like this.

Promise to
Himself.
Happy Father's Day.
Love, the other side : )

new projects, some started. some finished.

Seems like Himself and I are never just happy to sit.  Or to sit and fish.  Or to sit and ponder.  Wonder why we don't take up fishing?  or sailing?  or hiking?  But oh no no . . .  our hobby has to be, seems to be --  working! 

Okay, I can qualify my projects by calling it gardening.  Gardening is a hobby.  hmmm.  I think.  A hobby that involves a lot of hard work. 

We'll explore Himself's projects later and see what we figure out there . . .  

Project 1

At Too, we have an abundance of shade.  It is hard to find a "full sun" spot.  Our lawn is mostly "full shade" or "partial shade".  For a vegetable garden, a person would want full sun.  For a lot of flowers, a sane person would want full sun.  Since we have abundance of shade here at home in Creston, we have an abundance of plants that like "full shade" and "partial shade" and as our gardens fill up at home, we want to move some of our favorite plants to Too.  So, we have plants, we just need some soil to put them.  It is hard to find soil in this lawn.  We will find clay.  We will find rocks.  We will find a small pocket of dirt but soil?  never.  Unless Himself or I have put it there. 

At Too, we also need to eliminate some of our mowing time so my newest project was an attempt to accomplish those two things -- more soil!  more garden space and less mowing area. 

I got some landscaping timbers a while back.  For a month, I studied angles and ideas.  I finally came up with a plan and found the time but it took me the good part of Sunday to kick start it all.  After all of this, I have the first of four or five parts of a "shade to sun" garden started.  The good thing about that is I have some of the kinks worked out of the plan.  What to use, what tools are needed -- the how tos!  The rest of it will go quicker. 

Project 2

My prized possession, the Harley cart, has been out of commission for the last month.  The front tire blew.  As we were loading it up onto the trailer to haul it to our favorite tire guy, we found the back tire was flat too!  OMgosh.  So, off it went to Mercer to the tire doctor.  Harely cart boarded out almost two weeks and when we went to pick it up, Dr. Tire said "$30.00".  holy cow, he must not have charged us any labor!  He must have been honored to park it in front of his shop for 2 weeks.  who wouldn't be?  Anyway I tipped him a little extra but probably not enough. 

We hauled the cart home and wouldn't you know it, within minutes of rolling her off the trailer,  Himself diagnosed a leaky fuel filter.  So off to Napa at Lineville for a new  fuel filter and some new fuel line.  And here, in the photo above, is Himself making the repairs.  

The Harley is all new again!  well practically.  It is alive and tottering around the roads of Twin Lake again. 

 Project 3

We have steep banks at Too.   Plenty of them.  Himself, the mower that he is can whip them all out in 5 or 6 hand mower hours.  That's a lot of time that could be used for porch sitting so we are trying to find some plants and flowers that will take over some of the banks.  If the plants run rampant and are thick and lush, they will kill out the grass and weeds that Himself now has to mow off. 

So, in this corner  . . .

We have some Goose Neck started several years ago and doing well.  A month ago we planted 40 lilies.  This past weekend we planted 30 Iris and a few more day lilies. 

We have turned noxious flowers loose.  Put them out to pasture.  Gave them permission to run, to be prolific and take over! 

Project 4

The last project of the weekend was this big one.  After almost 40 years, this lineolum is coming up.  Well most of it did.  Part of it.  I hadn't been working on this too long before I discovered the edges and the seams were glued down!  And there ain't nothing going to take that adhesive up. 

It was easy enough, to start.  I grabbed an edge where it was curled up for years and pulled.  Then I hit the seams.  I ripped that flooring up to the piece in front of the door and came to a screeching halt.  OMgosh!  I never thought Gramps would glue vinyl flooring down!   a) guess he had to and b) he knew it wouldn't be him pulling that floor up! 

                                       Some day there's going to be a door

                                        Right where that kitchen window is! 

 

 But wait! It gets better! No, I mean worse -- I thought the Orange lineoleum was hard to get up but I hadn't seen anything yet! 

 

Himself, Sir.  Attention!  Where is the dynamite?  OMgosh!  there's no peeling that chemically inert and space age compositionally strong lineoleum off that kitchen subfloor.  We are just going to have to blow it up .  Or cover it up!  Yes!  Projects almost accomplished! 

 

Guess what?  I think I have Craig thinking about a tree house . . . 



Memorial Day weekend

Fishing tournaments

Freight hauling



Fun in the Sun

Food in the Shade



Fellowship

Full house crew

Fishing dock wars

Fender to Fender full

Finale swim

You kids get out of the water now! 

THE DRYWALL IS GOING UP-(no one fired)

After working on the cabin on weekends with just Herself and I, it was a pleasure to have a "work crew" this Memorial Day weekend of 2012. In the above picture are three "workers" and one "supervisor". Herself and I had done the hanging of the drywall in the upstairs and were not looking forward to doing the downstairs. Thank goodness, a family workday was declared and work started about 10:30 in the morning.  Present were Himself, Dana, Chad, Craig, and of course the "supervisor"

In the above picture Craig and Himself carrying drywall into the cabin for installation. Notice Himself is not quite as slim as the son.

Here the toughest piece of drywall goes up around the stair area. And, by golly, there is another "supervisor" checking our work.

We are just about finished at this point, only 2 sheets of drywall to go. So in approx 4 hours, we did 95% of the downstairs. The guys all worked hard and it sure looks good!!! I figured at Herself's and my speed, it would have taken the two of us several more weekends to have completed this phase.

                           Here "himself" trying to instruct the "rookie" where to put the screw

Too Weekend, full steam ahead!

Himself and I spent the weekend at Too.  It was a working weekend but we didn't work that long and we had visitors.  We may have worked hard tho!

Himself's plan was to get the rest of the insulation up so Saturday morning I bought three bales from Girdner's, our favorite, local lumber yard and hauled it all home in the Jeep -- along with our breakfast picked up at the local cafe.  

After eating, he and I set to work and as we were insulating the space between the upstairs floor and the downstairs ceiling, there was a lot of climbing up ladders, climbing down ladders and moving ladders.  We love our ladders but they are sturdily built.  They are heavy!   They are utilarian and handy.  Just plain, right down handy.  I should give one of these great ladders away in a raffle, a la Pioneer Woman, and my blog readership might soar to 40,000 comments on a "give-a-way" weekend.  lol

Anyway, we worked and we rested and we had a couple of welcome visitors.  Traci and Bella came along.  Gabby had a ballgame in Bondurant and Craig and Joey were there to cheer her on.  Traci was down to mow and weed eat and anything else she wanted to do.  That's the nice part of Mo for me.  Himself does what he wants.  I do what I want.  Sometimes we have to work together for the good of us all . . .  but this method works relatively well for us and I hope it works for Craig and Traci. 

Any Way!  This weekend, WE put up insulation.

This weekend, HE carried and sorted and puttered and put away and got rid of. 

This weekend, HE prepared for a dry walling sortee.

This weekend, WE put up insulation.

This weekend, I planted phlox, gourds, cosmos and painted wooden door brackets and rearranged my little cabin. 

This weekend I vacuumed and dusted and got rid of spider webs in preparation for visitors and the Memorial Day Weekend. 

It was a very good weekend . . . and we look forward to the next very good weekend!  You'all come down! 

The Drywall is going up!! and: YOU ARE FIRED!!!

Lanny:  The loft is finally taking shape. The first picture is before we drywalled. The rest of the pictures are during the drywall process. I had purchased a drywall lift. I didn't want to, but after seeing first hand how much trouble it was for us to lift and maneauver the drywall sheets, I decided it would be a good investment.

Nancy:  the drywall lift was a great investment.  We couldn't have handled those big sheets.  No way.  No how.  We would have injured ourselves.

Nancy:  The drywall going up has made the room smaller but it is a cute room.  It will make a great bunk room for the grandchildren and I hope to carve out a sewing/craft corner for me . . . for my retirement years. 

Nancy's view:

Himself and I were upstairs trying to drywall. We were on the ceiling, having to cut pieces and figure angles. He proposed a solution to our current situation and I disagreed. I said, no, let’s do it this way.

Suddenly, there was shimmering, the heavens dimmed and the earth shook -- and instead of Himself, there was Donald Trump standing tall, holding his arm out, pointing his finger at me yelling “You are fired!” “Get out!”

So I got out.

Craig and Traci were at the cabin that weekend and just happened to outside as I left the cabin. I said “I’ve been fired. Told to leave.” I said, “don’t worry, it has happened before and it will happen again.”

So I left “Donald” to cool down and went about my own business for a bit before going back, humbly apologizing to Himself (thank goodness, Donald had gone!) and promising from that day forward I would only do his bidding and not have any ideas of my own . . . And I did and I didn’t . . . for, oh well, for about 2 hours.

And that is the ebb and the flow of Himself and Nana working together!

Look at all those angles!  No wonder we bickered a little! 

At least I came back to help clean up.

In case you don't know, this is Himself's bedroom.  He sleeps here and has turned over the bed in the little cabin to me.  He is a room and half away (with space between the cabin's) and sleeps very well here -- he can't hear me snore.  I hate knowing that I snore like that, that loud, but anytime I mention going to a sleep clinic and checking into my snoring, it is like "oh now, you don't snore that bad".  Yeah, right . . .

I will be so glad when we get this done -- and the downstairs. 

It will be so nice when it is finished!