Month: May 2020

As predicted, temperatures reached into the low 80 degree range and we ran the central air “for real” for a few days last week. What a relief to walk into the house and feel the cool (and drier) air!

Temperatures are forecast to get into the 90 degree range on Tuesday, followed by a string of upper 80 degree days. The AC will get plenty of use in these conditions. We are very pleased to have had it installed.

Being an old house, the heating and cooling ductwork does not really extend to the upper floor. There is a vent in the media room and in the bathroom, but cool air circulation, as well as warm air in winter, is on the anemic side. The main upstairs bedroom does not have a vent, so winter warmth is provided by an oil-filled heater and summer cool air is provided by a window AC unit.

Getting the second floor window unit installed was a bit tricky. The windows in this house do not have self-storing screens or glass; they are old “double-hung” style and feature full-size storm windows accessible only from outside the house.

I had to climb up a ladder to the porch roof, remove the storm window, slide the lower portion of the double-hung window to the up position, pull the storm window into the house through the open window, install the AC unit, then – gently – lower the upper window down on the cooler. Pam held the upper window in place during the install (then found curtains that fit without blocking the cooler). I am pleased there will be a cool bedroom to sleep in going into summer.

With the A/C working, other projects received attention. One of these was cleaning the basement.

Several old storm windows, plus a door, had been found in the basement. My job was to get them out of there and clean up the place. I removed 10 windows and 1 door, hauled them up the confined basement steps, stood them up along a tree in the yard, washed them down, and put them up in the garage attic for storage.

The basement contained some rocks, old wood, broken glass, a couple of old hoses, some plumbing bits and pieces, and other garbage that had accumulated over the decades. While the space is not suitable for much, it is now much cleaner than it has been in quite a while. I have ordered a dehumidifier to help keep the space dry and I’ll be curious to see how much water gets wrung out of the air down there.

The many other projects seem to blend into each other. Pam stained an old child-size wooden bed frame that became a flower planter in the yard.

As you might guess, Pam likes to inject a little whimsy now and then. The parlor bedroom bed now wears spats to hide the legs:

I have started painting the spindles and railings on the front porch.

Exterior painting will become a recurring theme in my posts for the next several months. There is a lot to do; much of the existing paint is in poor condition and some wood repairs need to be addressed as well. The good part is that every improvement stands out and upgrades the looks of the place.

The lawn is generally looking good. Two of our “mystery shrubs” have begun to bloom. If you recognize these please let us know what they are!

Lawn care takes several hours a week. The lawn should be mowed every 3 days or so at this point in the season. I first take the Toro push mower and clean up under the shrubs, arborvitae, and other plantings in the yard. After that is done the John Deere rider can be used to mow the rest of the lawn. Every couple of weeks I use the string trimmer (AKA weed-wacker) and trim around the 3 power poles, garage foundation, planters, and other places where neither mower can get to. About once a month I take the trimmer and go up and down the sidewalks, trying to cut the grass that grows up in the cracks.

A “normal” mowing, using the two mowers, takes from 2 to 3 hours. (Firing up the weed-wacker adds another 30 – 45 minutes to the total.) Both mowers have grass catchers and I empty these into the trailer. The time mentioned includes the trip to the dump to dispose of the grass clippings.

Oh yes…I submitted our building permit application for putting up the exterior fencing and garage addition. It has to be voted on by the Town Council at their monthly meeting; the next meeting is June 6th.

Other projects are continuing as well. I brought my last workbench from the storage area and put it in the garage. Pam has started to paint the main entrance hallway. Some projects finish, others begin. There is no shortage of work to be done!

Photo Archive

This photo of our son Toby was taken in June of 1990. Oh, the joys of childhood!

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

There’s a fine line between “whimsical” and “quirky.” I think I cross that design line frequently.

Happy Trails.

It is time to catch up an a variety of topics including the latest projects and other goings-on.

Project work included the installation of Pam’s wall mural mentioned in my last post. With the addition of a few more pieces of wall art and some incidental furniture (future antique shop trips?), the parlor bedroom remodel is finished. It has been a long road to get it done.

Melody/”Melly,” our youngest cat, has found that the cut-out figures Pam added to the borders in the parlor bedroom are fun to play with. At least one or two are on the floor every morning. I guess Melly needs the challenge.

Another activity included a return trip from the HVAC guys. They checked the level of refrigerant in the new central air system and fixed a water leak that had been uncovered during the AC project. A corroded pipe had developed a small drip that was affecting one of the heating ducts. The old pipe was pulled out and new plastic pipe was installed. Oh the joys of living in an old house.

A recent shopping trip saw us coming home with another pair of rhubarb plants. These have been added to the original we received a few weeks ago. The new pair appear to be a different variety than the first so it will be interesting to see how the mix works out for the pies Pam is planning to make over the winter months.

Sunflower and morning glory seeds, planted a few weeks ago, have germinated. Watermelon seeds have also started to germinate but the pumpkin seeds Pam planted have not sprouted. She bought a new packet of seeds and has re-planted pumpkins, hoping for pumpkins by this fall.

Cruising around the rest of the yard is a voyage of discovery. Previous owners of the property had planted various plant species over the years and we don’t recognize many of them. Our plan is to let everything bloom, try to identify what each is, and then decide if the plants should be relocated or left as is.

For example, this week we discovered a fern plant in the front flower bed. Pam loves ferns so we were pleased to see this one beginning to unfurl. A large plant – likely a peony – has begun to develop flower buds. A shrub near the sidewalk intersection has very small buds beginning to appear; we don’t have a clue yet as to what it will look like when fully flowered out.

Three plants look like a type of lily, and there may be just a pair of iris stalks beginning to raise out of a day lily bed. An allium (we think) is beginning to bloom in the east flower bed. We have never had any allium in any place we have lived before. The grape hyacinth plants have been dug up and I learned they are a bulb plant. These will go into the east flower bed this fall (joining the tulips).

Pam is already beginning to develop ideas for fall planting. Next year we would like daisies, for example, and possibly some hollyhocks. Another tree or two could be planted to good advantage. Pam is trying to nurse some blue flax, brought from Colorado during our move, and see if they could be added to one of the beds – if they make it.

We really need to get some painting and porch rail repairs underway. While painting the entire house will have to wait for a while, we hope to get going on the front, east, and south porches in the next few weeks.

Here is how the house looked as of Sunday, May 24th:

My slide scanning project continues, as it will for the next several months or more. I have created a new Gallery titled “Family Album” to showcase these scans. Right now it is a pretty basic collection and I need to add more detail, such as dates and places, to the captions. If you view this album, check back from time to time as there will be quite a few additions and changes as I go along. (You can also view the new collection from my Galleries page.)

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Two Cents

As it is Memorial Day weekend, this might be the appropriate time to discuss what I’ve discovered about previous (early) owners of 702 Main Street in Elma, IA. One past resident was a WW II vet.

According to the Howard County Abstract Office, Edward D. Kelly purchased our property in 1894, and the first tax year recorded with a residence ($1,500 mortgage) was 1895. Mr. Kelly sold the property to Hannah Tierney in 1903; Hannah owned the house until 1940.

Hannah has an interesting story, what I know of it. Hannah and her husband Denis lived outside of Elma initially, on a farm, with their two daughters Gertrude and Evelyn. Hannah purchased 702 Main Street in 1903 for $2,500. Denis died (unknown cause) in 1904. It’s not clear why Hannah is listed in county records as purchaser of 702 Main in 1903, rather than Denis; that part of the story is currently missing. Both daughters attended college in Dubuque. Evelyn became a teacher and led an interesting life away from Elma (first Idaho, then east coast).

Gertrude married local dentist Frederick Stute in 1907, and Fred moved into 702 Main with his new bride. Fred lived with Gert and his mother-in-law and the two raised their family, in Hannah’s home, until Hannah died in 1940. The home then passed to the daughters equally; Gertrude bought out Evelyn and kept the home titled in her name thereafter. Fred died in 1949; Gert lived at 702 Main until the home was sold in 1970 (Gert had been moved to the Kahl Home for the Aged in Davenport).

From the 100-year history book of the Town of Elma, I learned that Fred and Gert had four children, three of whom survived into childhood: Frederick Wallace (the WW II vet), Lorraine, and Francis. These are the kiddos who grew up at 702 Main Street. F. Wallace and Lorraine are buried in the Calvary (Catholic) cemetery in Elma, near their parents and grandparents. (Francis became a research chemist for Kimberly Clark and lived in Neenah, WI [where I’m guessing he is likely buried].)

Elma locals still refer to 702 Main Street as the Stute house, and the assumption around town is that Fred owned the house. The 100-year Town of Elma history book mistakenly reports Fred Stute purchased the home upon the death of his mother-in-law, when in fact it was titled to his wife all along. I would think female home ownership from 1903-1970, transferred from mother to daughter, was somewhat unusual.

The house has stories – I imagine moving in with one’s mother-in-law and raising kids in a multigenerational home had some “interesting” moments. I sure wish a journal had been written to record some of the activities from 1903-1970. Particularly what the house looked like originally and some record of home renovations over the years – wouldn’t that be nice?

Kiddo F. Wallace, the WW II vet, is remembered this Memorial Day at Elma’s Calvary Cemetery.

Happy Trails.

Generally my posts cover projects and tasks that Pam and I have worked on since the last post. This one will be a bit different; I have accumulated quite a few photos of the results of some of those projects that I wish to share.

Flowers

Parlor Bedroom

Pam’s mural arrived and has been added to the west wall of the parlor bedroom.

Garage Projects

I finally set up my garage stereo system. Speakers still need to be mounted on the walls in opposite corners but the system is functional.

Memorial Day

Photo Archive

This does take an explanation. I own an old (2000) Minolta film scanner. It can scan 35mm slide (transparency) and 35mm roll film, color or black and white. Factory support for this device is long gone but a software company, named VueScan, still makes software that allows the scanner to function with my Macintosh computer.

I purchased the software and have begun scanning some old slides. Unless I do so, it is probable that my children will never see these photos. Few people still have slide projectors, and even fewer have “show parties” where the screens and equipment are pulled out and used.

With the scanner I can convert these old slides and negatives into electronic versions that can be printed, e-mailed, or posted. I can burn them to CDs or put them on flash (thumb) drives and send them to my kids. Who knows, the kids might even look at them!

The scanner was not top-of-the-line when it was new so the image quality is not 100%. I do open the files with an editor, Photo Shop Elements, and attempt to fix some issues as best as I can.

Some of the dates may be suspect as I didn’t date a lot of these. Many were stamped with the month and year at the time of processing but not all. If you see a question mark (?) in the caption it means the date is not certain but is the best Pam and I can remember. They should be fairly close.

I hope you enjoy seeing some of these classic moments captured on film.

From left to right: Me, Pam, Pam’s mom Lorraine, Pam’s Uncle Bud, and Pam’s dad Myron. We had visited Rocky Mountain National Park. Pam and I were living in Colorado at the time.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

Lovely to discover the “grandma flowers” on the 702 Main property as they start to flower. The Lily of the Valley was a surprise.

Happy Trails.

It has been another busy week at 702 Main. Here are the highlights of last week’s activities.

The installation of the central air unit was completed. This next week’s forecast indicate temperatures will be in the low 80 degree range so we may want to give the central air a try.

Jake the Electrician put in another day’s work. He is making headway in removing old circuits, tracking un-named wiring to find where it goes, and cleaning up the (several) previous “upgrades” to the electrical systems that had been haphazardly done over the years. Below is a shot of the work in progress:

With the warm weather approaching I decided to locate, repair, and install screens for our three doors and a couple windows. Two of the door screens had to have the mesh fabric replaced but the third was in OK shape. Window screens were installed, but the window frames themselves are not in great shape. The result is better than having a closed house but far from perfect. Still, it was pleasant to have the doors open (temps in the 70s) and fresh air coming in.

Saturday we decided to get some flowers that would end up in Pam’s various hanging and in-ground pots. The list included three more arborvitae, enough to finish the “windbreak corner” where Pam wanted them.

These decorated pots, which Pam completed over the last few weeks, look great. Pam will be working on hanging baskets next.

I did get the three new arborvitae planted on Saturday, knowing rain for the night and Sunday morning was in the forecast. The three plants to the right are the new ones (and join the others I had planted during the week leading up to Mother’s Day).

Another project, this one indoors, was completed on Sunday. The hardware had arrived for the two “antique re-creation” doors I mentioned in my last post. Here are a few photos:

Pam was glad to get these doors installed, one more step in the parlor bedroom re-do.

And there were other small projects done: The humming bird feeder was located, unpacked, and set up. I found my welding helmet and wire-fed welder and did minor repairs on a floor lamp and a shepherd’s hook. More Scott’s Weed and Feed was spread on previously untreated areas of the lawn. We ordered the components for the privacy fence and are waiting for them to arrive. Up in the Media Room, I finished modifying the LP record rack, adding end supports so the records don’t fall out as you flip through them. A trip to the dump disposed of the grass clippings and other yard waste that had been accumulating for the past few weeks. Pam, in addition to working on the flower pots, continues to put up decorations in the parlor bedroom. There is no shortage of projects to keep us busy!

Photo Archive

Pam (left) with friends Kathy (center) and Patti (right) as we were cleaning up a fallen tree in Patti’s yard. August of 2009.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny

Somehow, over the years, I have become the conservator of a dozen unboxed Barbie/Ken/Midge dolls. (Several more collector editions remain in boxes.) My three dolls date back to the 1960s. Felicity’s dolls (plus French poodle) are from the 1980s. My goal, as previously stated, is to get “stuff” out of boxes and enjoy what’s been collected. (Another couple of boxes emptied from the storage room is an added bonus.)

A lesson from this week: Visiting Mennonite greenhouses (four in two days) can be addictive.

Happy Trails.

This week’s post is going to cover a potpourri of projects, past and current, that have been happening.

Current projects have two major goals: Electrical upgrades and the installation of central air.

Jake the Electrician was here last week to get started on the wiring clean-up and modernization. Our top priority, as he would be here for one day only this first time, was to get the electrical service required for the central air unit installed. Until this was done we could not get on the AC install schedule. Jake was able to clean up some of the old wiring and install the AC service.

Jake also helped me remove the (large) 240-volt window air unit from it’s place in one of the downstairs windows. (For those who have been here, I’m referencing the room off the living room directly adjacent to the downstairs bathroom.) I did not take pictures of this process but it could not have been done without Jake’s help.

Two of the side benefits of this removal are more light in the room and a great decrease in the cold air that had been seeping in around the unit. Both are appreciated.

The house had been equipped with electric wall-mounted heaters, a very expensive (and dangerous!) heat source and one we had never used. The 240 volt heaters and their wiring back to the circuit breaker panel were removed. The grills are still in place, covering the cavities left behind, until we can patch and repair the walls.

So…two of our major upgrade projects are in process. We don’t have an end date for the electrical but now the second project, installation of central air, is going forward.

The HVAC guys showed up this morning, after calling us yesterday to let us know they had a day open and could be here early. (These days, 8:00 AM is early for us.) We jumped at the chance as the forecast for this weekend shows a heating trend with temps getting into the 80’s and would be a good trial run for the system. Installation should be done by tonight.

We just found out that our furnace heat exchanger is rusted and needs to be replaced. While the exchanger is covered under warranty, the installation of the new unit is not. This will increase our cost by several hundred dollars but, along with the new burners installed last fall, should ensure the furnace is good to go for many years to come as well as increasing its efficiency. The AC install can still go forward but the guys will have to make a return trip to replace the exchanger after it arrives in Elma.

Cold weather this week, with at or below freezing for the past 4 out of 5 nights, put a damper on outside activities so we took it easy and worked on inside projects. I took one day off and just read, a real treat for me. Pam worked on decorating flower pots; some will hang from the porches and some will be partially buried near the house.

Becky had mentioned, in a comment on my last post, that I should show a picture of my garage organization, a project I work on from time to time. Here are a couple current photos:

For once, I have the garage wall fairly well organized with like items together, all nails in one space, bolts, nuts, spray paint, and lubricants all organized. It is nice to be able to find things when I need them. More unpacking to come, though, as there are still boxes of “stuff” in the garage attic that I need to go through.

Becky had also asked about how we dispose of yard waste. Unfortunately, Elma has no compost site or sanitary landfill. Up to this point I have been borrowing the key to the old town dump from the city manager. The dump can be used to dispose of yard clippings, tree branches, and other organic material but is not “open” to the public. Most Elma residents appear to burn wood and leaves in their burning barrels, which is not good for the environment. Below is my trailer, partially loaded for the next trip to the dump:

I have spoken to one of the city council members about having volunteers monitor the old dump for a few hours per week (to check incoming loads to make sure they don’t contain garbage) and thus give city residents a place to take fall leaves and other yard waste. The councilman said he would bring it up at the next town meeting.

On to other things. The plantings we did last week seem to be doing OK. Cooler weather and some rain helped them settle in, I think. Other plants are doing OK; many had to be covered several times last week but survived the near-record low temps. Among the flowers we covered were several Bleeding Hearts.

Bleeding Hearts have intrigued me since I first saw them as a young child at my grandmother’s house. Hers were planted near the edge of her side porch and I always looked for them when we went to visit. These pictured were not planted by us but came up in a couple of the old flower beds scattered around the garage and yard. We may have to relocate some of them to make way for the garage addition when that project kicks off but that should be at the end of their blooming season.

Another project, on hold while waiting for hardware, is the installation of two more doors in the house. These doors will separate the front parlor bedroom from the living room, creating a French doors effect. Ordered through an Elkader shop, these “antique re-creations” mirror the single door we installed last year (the previously-purchased door separates the main entrance hallway from the parlor).

The hinges and latches were ordered on-line and delivery has been pushed back a couple of times. The hardware will look “period” to the house (brass plated) and are not items carried by your local Ace or Tru-Value stores.

With two major projects now moving forward, we have turned our attention to another major project, fencing.

Two types of white vinyl fencing will be involved. A solid privacy fence is envisioned for the west side of the lot, acting as a windbreak plus creating the west boundary of the dog enclosure. The remainder will be a picket fence on the east side of the yard, ending at the (future) garage extension. When fencing is finished, the dogs will have quite a large space to exercise and spend time outside. Another advantage: Exiting from the back door will put the dogs immediately in the fenced yard. Currently they need to be “escorted” from the door to the dog run.

We have pretty much completed our materials list for both types of fencing preliminary to online ordering. Big Box store pickup locations appear to be in Rochester, MN. I will now be asking around to see if there is anyone locally who might handle the fence install. I could do it myself, but I’m looking at around 190 linear feet of fencing, nearly 30 posts, and four gates in total. I would rather not take this on if we can pay someone to do it. We shall have to see what work crew(s) are available during planting season.

Photo Archive

This week’s photo archive features Pam when she was working in the Whitewater School District in the late 90’s. The event was Civil War Day, and Pam is wearing a hoop skirt and posing with a pair of “soldiers”:

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

Busy! Preparing to visit local greenhouse(s) to fill painted pots with annuals. About a dozen pots to start with, going around and hanging from the front porch.

Happy Trails.

There is more than normal to report on this week. The warmer weather has allowed us to get quite a lot done on both inside and outside projects.

The first topic concerns furniture. Several months back we had taken three items to a local Mennonite woodworking shop for repair: Pam’s fretwork, a table, and a plant stand.

The table, a gift from my Aunt Gina several decades ago, was a bit wobbly. The shop rebuilt the corners where the legs attach to the top and converted the mounting from a singe bolt in each leg to a pair of bolts in each leg. The table is now quite steady and is serving as our main dining room table.

The plant stand was originally purchased in Leadville, Colorado, in the 1970’s. Supposedly it had come out of an old church. The top was in bad shape so the local shop replaced the old wood with a new platform and covered it with a dark formica. It now looks quite good and is in our living room.

The prize item, Pam’s fretwork, was purchased last Fall and had two problems: one end had been cut narrower than the other, plus there was a split in one of the curved elements. The shop replaced both ends so they match and even added a decorative cut at the bottom of each end, a nice touch. The split was repaired and you would never know it had been there.

Pam was delighted with the quality of the repairs on all three items, and the cost was only $70.00 total.

Here is Pam staining the fretwork in preparation for hanging it in the parlor bedroom:

After the stain dried we hung the piece in the bedroom:

Here is a wider “room view” of the finished wall. (Note that the right side was the corner Pam was painting in my last post.)

A few stuffed animals have been added to the shelving:

The bedroom remodel is nearly complete. Pam wants to add a mural and more photos to the west wall (which is the right-hand wall in the room view photo above). This work be covered in a future post, when backordered items arrive and further craft projects are completed.

Warm weather allowed us to kick off a number of outside projects. Last Thursday we headed out to a couple of greenhouses to pick out plantings for the yard. We came home with:

1. A Honeylocust tree,
2. Three Lilacs – one each white, dark purple, and medium lavender;
3. Ten Arborvitae starts (these will eventually serve as a windbreak),
4. A Spirea shrub,
5. Two raised planting bed frames.

Which meant that Friday was a “digging” day as we set out the materials where Pam wanted them planted, then it was up to me to dig the holes and get planting.

Here are a few of the results:

The raised bed frames will eventually hold two types of plants, pumpkins in one frame and watermelon in the other.

One of the gift stores had this appropriate (for us) sign:

I have been digging dandelions out of the lawn but the sheer numbers forced me to buy some Scotts Weed and Feed that should kill the yellow buggers. I’ve been waiting for a rainy day, as the directions indicate application should be when the lawn is wet. Today it’s raining!

Pam took on another outdoor project, defining the flower bed around a pair of our oak trees.

There are a lot of plantings coming up around the house and in the yard. We will have to wait to see what these turn out to be; many look like Hostas but some are not familiar to us. We did identify these Grape Hyacinths that I discovered in the middle of what used to be a garden patch:

These have been marked with small flags for eventual relocation to a more appropriate spot. The same will have to be done with other plants as they can be identified. For instance, bleeding hearts have started to bloom in a flowerbed of weeds and dandelions next to the garage!

Pam had transplanted the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden tulips last fall and they have begun to bloom.

We were pleased these survived the foundation sealing project and hope they look better next year!

The dogs have been spending more time outside, and Blondie took advantage of the recent warm temps to catch some z-z-z-z’s:

I was able to clean out a corner of the garage and get one of my workbenches out of storage. The extra drawer space provided by the workbench is welcome and I can unpack more of my tools and accessories.

All told it was a busy week with work done on both inside and outside projects.

Photo archive

This week’s archive photo is from a past December and features our children Felicity and Toby visiting with their grandfather, George.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!

Pam’s Penny:

Our latest pest invasion in the house is bumblebees. Add that to the wasps occasionally coming up through the floor vents. (How many pests overwintered in the basement anyway?) No sign of mice at present, and always on the lookout for bats, of course.

Happy Trails.