Author: admin (Page 12 of 62)

We received a quote from the painter. Boy, was that an eye-opener!

The quote came in at $14,371.00 including tax. (Tax was $940.00) And that was not for the entire house; we exempted some parts of the east side that need repairs to the siding.

Paint was quoted at $50.00 per gallon. ($40.00 per gallon for 5 gallons of primer.) Our regular paint costs about $20.00 per gallon. (Behr #25 Barn Red.) The painter had assured us he could come close to our per-gallon price but he didn’t. He would not use Behr; all painters seem to have a particular brand they prefer and try to “color match” to other brands. Total material came in at $2,800.00.

200 hours of labor, at $35.00 per hour, added $7,000.00. Other charges included the use of a boom truck at $2,400.00. Miscellaneous items such as tape, masking paper, sanding supplies, airless paint sprayer, and pressure washing added another $1,230.00 to the total.

Pressure washing came in at more than the price of a new home-owner type washer, $480.00. (New washers start at around $300.00.) The painter’s outfit is a trailer-mounted rig capable of cleaning all types of surfaces at very high pressures. We were concerned his rig would damage the somewhat fragile old siding on the house.

We can’t afford to go with his quote. On to Plan-B, which is doing more work ourselves. Plan-B will include renting a boom lift for weekend use, purchasing a used pressure washer, and continuing to paint by hand. A summer of hard work looms along with a late summer completion date but that is the way it will have to be.

Another house project took a step forward as we took delivery of two new windows to be installed in the upstairs guest bedroom. Replacement is a warm weather task but we had ordered the windows early as delivery times were very long and prices were going up. As it is, this pair cost us almost $300.00 more than the same pair we had installed in The Snug in 2020. We had determined the guest room windows are the worst in the house and replacement is required for comfort and energy efficientcy.

The owners of Busti Lumber, here in Elma, sold the company and retired as of April 1st. Busti (pronounced boost-e) is where we ordered windows, purchased siding and paint, and picked up incidental lumber and hardware over the last couple years. Dale and Tina were of great help to us and we will miss interacting with them. I have not yet met the new owner(s) but probably will over the summer.

In-house projects moved ahead. Pam has started a new sewing project. Becky finished an embroidery panel she was creating for her daughter, Caitlin, as a birthday gift. I digitized several more VHS tapes and it was fun to revisit events such as Felicity learning to walk back in 1984. I just wish conversion did not take so long!

The weather was dismal for most of the week. We had snow flakes in the air on Thursday and a thin layer of new snow on the ground by Friday morning. The snow did not stay long, but it was the third week in a row where we had more of the white stuff. The next few days look better but the 10-day forecast has more below-freezing nights and daytime high temperatures in the low-to-mid 40s. Normal highs are in the low 50s and above freezing at night.

We had planned to phase out the bird feeder and suet feeders by mid-April, but colder conditions have kept birds at the feeders in large numbers. I bought another bag of bird seed for the main feeder and refilled the suet feeder. We are still enjoying watching the action and have spotted a few new birds in the mix.

I started a “garage” project; resurrecting my 1987 portable generator. Built by Kawasaki, I used it on camping trips during the late 80’s and 90’s, and we used at The Lot for a few years. The engine was not running well when I retired it. I am going to have to clean / rebuild the carburetor and get all the old gas and varnish out of the fuel tank. The generator is not large (900 watts continuous, 1,100 watts surge) but would power the refrigerator in an extend power outage.

Outside work was limited due to the variable weather, but we did get a climbing frame for the wisteria plant. Runners should be able to wind around the frame for the next few years and display flowers as they bloom. Wisteria is an old-fashioned plant and Pam though it appropriate to have some around our Victorian homestead.

The week was not one of our best but we tried to move forward with projects. There are always things to do. I’ve sold a couple items on eBay and keep a few listings active, for example. Still, the painting quote set us a-back; we now have a new path forward. Such is life!

Photo Archive

North Rim of the Grand Canyon motorcycle camping trip from 2002

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

Pam’s Penny

Still waiting for spring…

Happy Trails.

The past week was interesting from both an activity and weather perspective. We had snow, a visit from a painter, and a set-back on the VHS project. All the details are below!

Thursday morning we were greeted with a layer of fresh new snow. More arrived Saturday morning, heavy, wet, and soon to melt (I hope.)

The snow brought birds back to the feeder. During the warmer days they had been somewhat absent.

Hopefully the snow will melt over the next couple days as high temperatures are expected to be in the mid to upper 40s.

Thursday was also a good day as we had a visit from a painter we had contacted. A young man, named Dalton, had responded to Pam’s request for a quote to finish painting the house, or at least the portions that don’t need additional repairs. The prime goal is to get the areas under the peaks (the ginger breading) painted along with the north and west walls. (Areas above the east porch and near the tower need repair work and would not be included.) Part of the east wall, above the bay window, would be painted as well. Here is photo of the west wall as it now stands.

Note the ginger breading Pam had painted last fall above the laundry room window at right.

Dalton arrived and took a guided tour around the outside of the house and viewed the work to be done. He was aided by photos of the house to which Pam had added circles, arrows, and text explaining what work was to be done. We asked Dalton to replicate the laundry room peak’s pattern in the other peaks. This involves hand painting which will add to the cost of the job. Dalton made notes as he went along. He indicated he would get us a quote sometime next week, and if accepted, work would commence this August. Yes, he is already booked out that far but that is still better than the 2023 date given to us by the first painter we had contacted. Now we are waiting for the quote and will decide if we can afford it.

On Tuesday Becky and I took a road trip to view some properties Becky had seen on-line. We visited several towns along the Mississippi River, including Gutenberg, MacGregor, and Elkader. Becky and her brother Larry are looking for a home with a minimum of two bedrooms and two bathrooms so each can have some space of their own. A river or water view is highly desired. One place of interest, in Elkader, had a view of the Turkey River but one wonders if there would be a view in summer when the trees are in full foliage. It was an interesting trip and I enjoyed getting out and about a bit.

Pam has completed the painting in the downstairs bathroom and I re-mounted the towel racks. The walls look quite good now; Pam plans to replace the flooring as the next phase of this project.

One of my projects took a major hit; the hard drive where I had stored all my digitized VHS tapes and related files malfunctioned and erased everything. I was bummed out, but luckily the original edited files were still on my iMovie program. I was able to re-save them in PC-friendly .MP4 formats, but the related files (HTML pages and poster photos) had to be recreated. I lost hours of work due to this hardware failure, but am now caught up to where I was about a week ago. It may be time for a new external hard drive as mine are several years old at this point and are of limited capacity. (Video files are quite large.)

It was quite a week. A road trip, two snowfalls, painter visit, and VHS re-work were all on the docket in addition to normal activities. As a comedian recently said “I don’t want to brag about expensive trips, but I just returned from the grocery store and gas station.” Life goes on as we hope for better weather to arrive.

Photo Archive

Kind of a mix this time.

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

Pam’s Penny

Spring, where are you?

Happy Trails.

Temperatures were up and down last week, but we managed to get some outside work done. Inside projects moved along, including VHS digital conversion and more painting in the downstairs bathroom. Lets see the details!

Pam ordered a new project: a birdhouse. Small birds (sparrows, mostly) are trying to nest around the house. While we have leaf filters on the gutters, there are gaps at the ends of the gutters. Birds are trying to fly into these gaps to build nests. The theory is a new birdhouse would provide a convenient nesting place, effectively re-locating the birds. We’ll know in a few weeks if this works!

Pam had to paint the new bird dwelling and I added the perch, as the house had not come with one and we felt it was needed. Below is a photo of the house, now mounted on the east side of the front porch. (The level says the birdhouse is level, the eyeball says it is not.)

We will observe the housing location and see if birds actually choose to use it. Time will tell.

A few other outside projects were undertaken. Major parts of the lawn were raked and I fired up the lawn vac to clean up the debris. For a few days we had the best looking spring lawn in town, but windy days have blown more leaves into the yard. The clean-up never seems to end…

Pam erected a protective fence around the iris bed, which is next to the back steps. She is trying to keep free-roaming cats off the budding plants. Last year the iris produced foliage but did not flower, being the first year they were relocated to this spot. I hope they bloom this year; if not, Pam wants them relocated to the garden where they’ll get full (not filtered) sun.

While we were working outside one day last week, with temperatures approaching 70 degrees, the animals kept track of us.

Later in the week temperatures plunged, with a light coating of snow greeting us on Thursday morning. The upcoming week will see high temperatures barely above freezing – or into the very low forties – and low temps down into the teens and low twenties. The calendar says spring but it’s early days yet, even though the grass is starting to turn green in some areas on the lawn.

Pam added more art deco painting to the bathroom. Due to the uneven wall (and a well-used stencil), every line’s edge has to be hand-painted to “clean up” the borders. It is a time consuming task, but the results look very good.

I added to the inside decor by hanging two more 16 x 20 canvas prints to the stairwell. These are from photos I took in Colorado.

Top-left columbine is Colorado’s state flower. Photo on right is of the Sheep Mountain Mill, AKA Deadhorse Mill, near Marble, Colorado. This is probably the most-photographed structure in Colorado. It was an electrical generating plant that supplied power to area mines.

Based on our grocery list, supply chain issues are improving but a few gaps still remain. I was able to get all but one item we wanted on my last outing. Of all the items on the list this time, the store was out of El Monterey frozen enchiladas. It’s the first time this has happened.

I spent many hours digitizing VHS tapes. Knowing each tape would take time to copy from VHS to a digital format, editing and adding titles, then saving to PC-friendly formats, I was not surprised at the time it takes to do each tape. However, a few nice surprises have turned up so far. I was reminded Toby’s baptism was on a Super Bowl Sunday. I have footage of a trip to Telluride, Colorado, which included a trip to the Alpine Tunnel. And there is video of Felicity’s grandparent and relatives singing songs for her. Keep in mind these tapes have not been viewed for more than 30 years! I have about three dozen tapes to go so this will be a long-term project. When completed, I will put the converted files in order by date and make HTML front pages so they can be played on various PC operating systems.

The down side is that the tapes are already beginning to deteriorate. I have had to repair two so far as the “leader” portion of the tapes had broken at the spool. Some color shifts have been observed and the “tracking” is not always good, resulting in lines at the top, sides, or bottom of the images. I have tried to adjust the track settings but that did not seem to help. The tapes themselves are on the way out. Not surprising as the oldest dates to 1985 or so, and others date to the late ’80s and early ’90s. VHS was never meant to be “archive” quality so it is probably a good thing I’ve decided to convert them before they deteriorate past use.

I’ve sold a couple small items on eBay, the latest this morning. I would like to move along items longer I no longer need or am interested in. Listing, packing, and shipping all take some time and pay little in the end but items are going out the door, even if at a slow pace.

Photo Archive

Flowers, leaves, and “color” make up this week’s archive

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

Pam’s Penny

After fixing the tacked border along the stairwell yet again, I decided to start putting Elmo in a pen overnight (night is when he methodically completes his destruction). The cat has earned this incarceration; my patience has limits.

Happy Trails.

It has been just over two years since I retired, and what a span it has been! I’ll review the last two years in brief, then move on to activities of the last week.

I retired in Colorado during February of 2020, then joined Pam in Iowa. In the intervening two years, much has happened. Pam had her gallbladder removed, COVID-19 hit, much work was done on Heart House, and I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The garage addition was built, we acquired Elmo the Cat, and Pam’s sister Becky moved in with us during her house hunt. My mother passed away. And those were just the major events!

I must say retirement is not what I expected it to be. While I anticipated the work on Heart House, I also expected we would be traveling more to visit family, friends, and take in local events. I envisioned concerts in the park and trips to antique stores. Instead I got vaccination cards and KN95 face masks. Yes, this retirement is not what I expected when I was making my plans more than two years ago. I can only hope it gets better as COVID-19 and its variants decline from this point forward.

Moving on, this past week saw well above-average temperatures that led us to begin outside activities, such as lawn clean-up and removing mulch from flower beds. It is not full spring yet; it was below freezing this morning and there is a good chance of accumulating snow one day next week. It was very satisfying, though, to sit on the porch in the sunshine wearing only a light coat this past Wednesday.

Pam had mentioned to her Florida friend, Julie, that tulips are beginning to pop up in the Mary Lynn Memorial flower bed. Julie requested a photo of the spring growth, so here it is:

Pam has not removed all the mulch; she knows from experience below-freezing temps are still a pretty good possibility. Once NE Iowa is safely above freezing weather, the remaining mulch will be removed. While snow is gone from the yard, a few stubborn ice patches remain in shady areas near the dog run and north side of the house.

Pam moved ahead on the bathroom project, doing more stencil painting and putting up a few “whimsey” items (such as this sign over the shower):

Another sign was added to the laundry room, referencing our dogs and cats:

Speaking of cats, I have not included an update on our youngest troublemaker, Elmo, for a while. Here he is during a nap on a seat cushion.

Elmo has more energy – and curiosity – than the other cats (combined!) and continues to find ways of getting into trouble. Most recently he has decided to remove the decorative tacks that Pam added to secure the stairwell ribbon. Possessed of endless patience, he will work on a ‘project’ until it is completed to his satisfaction. This feline project activity usually occurs at night, when “correction” is not an issue for him.

I spent quite a few hours working on my newest project, converting VHS tapes into a digital format. While the work is not difficult, it is time consuming. Here are the steps involved:

1. Digitize the VHS tape using “Video Capture” from a company called Roxio.
2. Edit the tape using iMovie on my Mac. (Mostly this is adding transitions and a titles.)
3. By default, the edited tape is in Apple’s .mov format. I have to convert this to formats of .mp4 and .webM so the video can be viewed on other operating systems. The conversion can take hours as the converting program, called Prism, is pretty slow. It can take over an hour to convert 10 minutes of video into the .webM format, less time to create the .mp4 version.
4. Create an HTML page that will play the videos and includes background information. Web browsers all read HTML code making the videos playable on almost all common operating systems. These pages are patterned after my gallery web pages so I don’t have to build the new pages from scratch, but it still takes some time.

Below is a photo of my set-up. The TV (at right) is not required but is useful for previewing the tapes. Center screen is running the Video Capture program while the screen at the left is running the Prism conversion software. On the table in the right foreground is the VHS deck.

I have converted a few tapes so far which include Felicity’s 4th birthday party, Toby’s baptism, and a 1987 Halloween party. It is a real trip back in time to view these tapes again! I don’t plan to put these up on my web site; I will put them on thumb (flash) drives and send them to the kids. They may (or may not) view the videos but at least I will have converted the now-obsolete VHS footage into a more modern format. I have another 25+ “family” tapes yet to convert and will be kept busy for many weeks (years?) before I’m finished.

Photo Archive

Waterfalls and mountain scenes make up this week’s archive.

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

Pam’s Penny

Tulips! Robins! (Daffodils still underground.)

Himself contacted a Charles City painter re: exterior house completion. Painter is already scheduled into 2023. Crap. The couple running the local Elma building materials center are retiring April 1. New management taking over. Ga-a-a-a! Then, of course, Bob the Builder is still recovering from heart surgery.

To date, the Universe is not cooperating re: Heart House projects for the year.

Happy Trails.

As the title suggests, last week’s weather was another up-and-down spring week. We had temperatures ranging from 50 to zero. Along the way we worked on a few more projects and the updates are below.

Pam continued to move ahead with the bathroom upgrade. The new mirror was hung as was the new storage unit.

There is more to the mirror than meets the eye. Originally a green tint, Pam repainted to get a bluish color, then used sandpaper to give the frame a slightly “distressed” look. The process took a few hours to complete over the space of a couple days. However, Pam is satisfied with the result. The size and location of the new mirror is a big improvement over the previous rectangle. The newly-installed wall mount soap dish declutters the pedestal sink, as well.

The bathroom storage unit project was more straightforward. A shelf was installed first, to distribute the weight of the unit along the wall and (more importantly) into secure points behind the sheetrock. Screws in the keyhole back of the unit keep it from tipping forward. Pam likes the additional storage as supplies are now clearly visible and not hidden behind other items.

Between the new mirror and this unit the bathroom upgrade progresses. More painting is on the docket — as are new floor tiles — so this is still a work-in-progress.

I began listing a few small items for sale on eBay, including some 1990’s era “Thomas The Tank Engine” VHS tapes. The first one sold and was shipped this morning. There is not much money in these but it gives me another project to work on and will lead to clearing out some of the stuff we no longer want or need.

Becky’s search for a new home took a step forward this week when she and her brother Larry viewed a couple homes in and near Fountain City, Wisconsin. While the visit did not yield a suitable place, the outing was informative and a rapport was established with a local realtor.

In conclusion, projects moved ahead on several fronts. The upcoming week promises to be warmer and I may be able to begin some spring clean-up of the yard. There are plenty of small branches that dropped during the winter and some leaves were built up along fence lines that need to be cleaned out. As for new projects, I ordered a VHS-to-DVD converter and that should arrive shortly; I will begin the task of converting our old family VHS tapes into a digitalized form that can be turned into DVDs or just viewed on a computer. That should be a learning experience.

Photo Archive

Various critters make up this week’s archive.

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

Pam’s Penny

Time for all the sleeping schedules and dog feeding routines to be screwed up tomorrow, due to Daylight Savings Time. Why do we go through this twice a year anyway…

Happy Trails.

The past week’s weather has been a roller-coaster experience. While we had no below-zero temperatures, highs and lows ranged from single digits to the low 50 degree range. It is warm today, windy, with thunderstorms expected, however, the forecast for tomorrow morning (Sunday) is for snow flurries as we get the “back side” of the storm system now passing through. Much of our snow has melted, leaving puddles all over the place as the still-frozen ground won’t let the water seep in.

Around the house, several projects were completed or moved ahead. Becky finished the 2,000 piece puzzle that has occupied quite a few hours over the last few weeks.

Pam painted more of the downstairs bathroom and moved that project along a bit. She is changing the color of the new mirror frame so it fits in more with the planned decor. Both the mirror and new storage unit should be mounted this coming week. Eventually, new floor tiles will be laid. Nothing is square in that bathroom, so Pam will need to do some custom fitting to make everything fit and look aligned.

I did some work on the faucet destined for the job sink in the laundry room, as we changed ideas on how to wall-mount it. Originally we had planned to use a couple of cast-iron brackets but decided to use those to mount a shelf elsewhere instead. The faucet backing is now equipped with a “cleat” that will mount it to the wall, similar to the system used to mount kitchen cabinets.

If you recall, the job sink project started last October. I stopped in at the plumbing shop a few weeks ago and found that the parts they needed to order had arrived and that “they were planning installation schedules now” and “we would be called a day in advance” to get the job finished. No sign of them yet. It gets old. We really need to get that job sink into action.

I will take a moment to comment on the Ukraine situation:

The number of birds at the feeders and squirrels at the corn cob feeder have been greatly reduced these past few days. With more open fields and grassy areas I suspect they are finding food elsewhere now. I will probably take the feeders down by the end of March, unless the weather changes again and they return to feed.

I ordered a new set of Salomom Quest 4 hiking boots ($230.00 plus tax) to replace my old Danners. I need traction when working on the hillsides of The Lot and the old boots are worn smooth and into the soles at some places. They served me well, but Danner no longer makes the model I have. Not surprising since they are about a decade old. I think the price is high and had trouble placing the order and hope these new boots last a decade or so. I don’t buy shoes often.

Photo Archive

Some family photos from the 1990s.

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

Pam’s Penny

I perked up to hear a welcome sound the other morning; it was V’s of geese honking while flying north for the season. And in the twilight some evenings, owls now hoot to each other across the neighborhood. Soon the cardinals will begin their distinctive mating call: “wheet-who, wheet-who, who-weet, who-weet, who-weet.” Spring and bird song just seems to go together. When the first robin arrives, it will probably be the distinctive “chirrup” I hear first, before I see the bird.

But I did need to have a “discussion” with the bulbs slumbering in the Mary Lynn bed, as well the bulbs planted around the light post. “Too early, don’t start poking sprouts up just yet.” Much as I am looking forward to the Spring tulip and daffodil display…

Still — can the first visit to the Mennonite greenhouse be too far away? I think not.

Happy Trails.

This week saw a bit of everything going on, including the puzzle, weather, painting, a trip to the Mayo Clinic, etc. None were major but in combination the week was more interesting than some recently.

Becky took a break from puzzling to do some sewing. We now have a new and unique clothespin holder for the laundry room. Becky reports this project included learning some new techniques of stitching and working with ribbon. I think the bag turned out great.

Pam began adding details to the downstairs bath by painting stencils and hearts above the door. While the project is still in infancy, details like this give a hint as to what the final product will look like.

Pam completed another decorating task by adding a banner over the entry to the library — it ties in with the library theme.

I contributed a bit to Heart House decor by putting up one of my “aspen tree” photos in the stairwell. This 16″ x 20″ is printed on canvas. The tree photo was taken at the end of Handcart Gulch near Breckenridge, Colorado.

All of us continued to work on the 2,000 piece puzzle. Pam and Becky most of all; I add only a piece or two now and then. Here is the puzzle as it currently stands.

We finished our taxes, both Federal and Iowa, and mailed in the forms. Finishing taxes is always a great relief for us. We had to pay Iowa, as we expected, but chose to put our Federal refund toward next year’s total so we will not get any cash back this year.

My Mayo excursion on Thursday, a six month checkup, included three appointments and took most of the day. First was a blood draw, followed by a doctor consult, followed by my hormone infusion. The first was at 11:00 AM and the last at 3:45 PM. Adding in the 90 minute commute each way, it made for a full day. The evening commute was accomplished in a light snowstorm.

Between the first and second appointments I visited a Walmart store to pick up a few supplies and groceries. While I found almost everything on my list, it looks like supply chain issues still have a way to go before shopping returns to normal.

A couple of our favorite noodle brands are “No Yolk” and “Barilla” and both were almost non-existent on the shelves. Here is a photo of the Walmart pasta aisle:

I left without finding the spaghetti and broad noodles on the shopping list. Other shelves also had bare spots.

The Mayo appointments themselves were pretty routine. My PSA level is still undetectable; this is what the doctor wanted. My blood sugar levels are high, which I expected, which tells me I do need to get more waking/exercise done. With better weather I will begin my longer routine walks again, which will help with my ongoing diabetes.

Back in Elma, there were chores to get done on Friday. After a light snow had fallen, I took out the John Deere LX176 and blade to clear the sidewalks.

One item I had purchased at Wal-World was a pair of short LED lights that I plan to mount over my garage work spaces. Here is one of them mounted near my drill press and vise.

The weather is gradually improving but we still had a couple below-zero nights last week. None are in the 10-day forecast so we hope we are over the worst of the winter weather. The local weatherman mentioned that we are about 12 inches below normal for snow for the season but there are several weeks of winter to go.

You might think small town Iowa is immune from police activity. Apparently not. One of our neighbors is in trouble with the law. We witnessed several county sheriff’s cars at the house to our immediate south on 7th street, across the alley from us. A one-car garage was opened and the vehicle inside was trucked away. The Mr. was taken away in handcuffs. I did not recognize the car’s brand but it appeared to be a foreign vehicle. With no idea of what circumstances triggered this action, I assume the car is either 1. Evidence. 2. Stolen or 3. Repossessed. I doubt if they would have arrested the guy if the action was a repossession. Anyway, I’ll continue to watch from afar to see if there are any new developments. Maybe they’ll have some info at the local lumber yard…

Projects were begun and completed, others continue. Life goes on.

Photo Archive

I have several “artsy” shots to showcase this week.

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

Pam’s Penny

The winter storm this past week featured thunder snow, lighting, and ice pellets. Wow. Glare ice was so intense I had to rig up some fabric on the catio ramp so the cats could climb up and down for access. A person almost needed a spotter to walk on the sidewalks. Not a fan.

Happy Trails.

The past week saw us tackling a few projects: rug cleaning and continued work on the 2,000 piece puzzle. Becky has been the prime worker on the 2,000 piece puzzle I mentioned in my last post. Pam has put in a few hours and I have contributed a minimal amount of time. Right now the puzzle is about 60 percent done. Here is a photo, taken by Becky, of Pam and I working the puzzle in its initial stage:

It will be another week (or more) before the job is completed. I’ll include a photo of the finished work (or work-in-progress) in my next blog post.

Another activity that took up several hours was the rental of a rug cleaner and cleaning a couple rooms — the parlor and the media room. Both room cleanings required the removal or re-arranging of furniture and “decoration stuff.” The first photo is of what came out of the parlor bedroom and found a temporary resting place in the library.

Becky piloted the cleaning machine around the parlor and I did the upstairs media room.

The cleaning machine came from the Ace Hardware store in New Hampton. We had been in town to drop JoJo at the groomers and rented the machine after dropping JoJo off. We returned the machine on the trip, later in the day, to pick up JoJo.

Seeing as we would be in New Hampton already, we took the travel opportunity to order take-out from the Chinese restaurant in town. The restaurant is named “The Lucky Bamboo” and the food turned out to be very tasty. It has been a long time since we’ve enjoyed Chinese. The restaurant is take-out only, so we waited outside until the order was filled. It was hard to drive all the way home with the smell of hot food in the car! (The dogs thought so too.) We will be ordering from The Lucky Bamboo again.

That was one busy day for retired people!

The following day, it was time to drive Bru and Blondie to the vet for their checkups. The examinations went pretty well for dogs of 12 and 13 years of age. Turns out only Blondie has a current issue – a mild infection/irritation in one ear requiring drops for treatment.

The rest of the week, I worked on making a DVD on a flash drive, and my trial effort seems to work OK. (I used some existing clips to make the DVD.) The next step is to buy the VHS to digital movie software and hardware and start converting our old family VHS tapes.

I continue to scan slides from my collection. I had made a mistake, though, in not marking the early slides once I had scanned them. Now I put a small “s” in a corner of the slides I have processed to indicate they have been scanned. To date I have scanned about 320 slides. The other thing I need to do is sort through the slides in a big way as I have images of the same topic taken at different times. One sample of this is the Lead King Basin and town of Marble. I visited this area several times and images from the trips are scattered through different 3-ring binders where I keep them. That, however, would be a major project and require a lot of room to spread out sheets of slide holders. Not sure when I will take that on. At least once I have them scanned I can put related photos in their own folder.

The upcoming week holds a few tasks to be completed. We will be going through both our tax forms to finalize them. Federal will be filed first, as it appears we are due a small refund. Iowa taxes won’t be filed until near the deadline, as we will own them a few hundred dollars. It’s always excellent to get that task finished and out the door.

For me, the big event will be another trip to the Mayo Clinic for my 6-month check up and my second-to-last hormone injection. I hope there are no surprises and the treatment is progressing normally. Critical will be my PSA level, which was undetectable at my last visit, a condition that I hope continues.

“Significant snow” is in the forecast for the upcoming week. So far the weather forecasters have not put a number on how many inches NE Iowa could get, but it appears several inches is possible over a couple of days. It looks to be a slow moving cold air mass interacting with moisture coming up from the Gulf of Mexico, so there is potential for a good-sized snowfall. We’ll follow the usual “wait and see” forecast cycle.

Photo Archive

Family photos from the early 2000s:

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

Pam’s Penny

I’m trying to work up the enthusiasm to continue painting in the downstairs bathroom. It’s more entertaining to watch the Olympics, although my attention span for ski events is pretty short.

We’re surviving February. I’m pretty well “over” winter myself.

Happy Trails.

I spent a great deal of the week fighting a head cold, but Pam moved ahead with the bathroom update and that is the story of the week. We also started preparing taxes, always a pain in the neck, and cracked open a 2,000 piece jigsaw puzzle.

Pam put a 2nd coat of [white] paint on several of the bathroom walls and ordered a few upgrade items. These included a replacement mirror with an interesting shape and a wall-hanging storage unit.

So, the bathroom project continues. One wall is waiting for new paint but most of the “fussy” walls are done. Once painting is completed we can hang the new mirror and storage unit.

Since we have been doing jigsaw puzzles this winter (mostly 1,000 pieces each) I thought we would move up to a larger puzzle– a 2,000 piece challenge. It was unboxed this week.

This one may take a while to finish and it spreads out onto quite a large surface, but it’s a good way to spend several cold winter’s days. IF we can keep the puzzle pieces away from Elmo…

Tax prep has made it onto the radar. Our taxes this year are not as complex as last year (since we don’t have a two-state income and moving expenses to deal with). Still, both Federal and state forms have their challenges. I really dislike going down the forms and discovering a new schedule needs to be viewed or completed before one can move forward. Per our initial numbers, we should get a refund from the Feds but will have to pay the State of Iowa. We expected this given the withholdings (or lack thereof) on our retirement income. Still, preparing taxes is an exercise in frustration.

Pam is really looking forward to spring this year; she ordered this lamb statue (named Gretel) to be placed in in the Mary Lynn Memorial Garden after the snow is gone. (Mary and Jeff raised sheep for a while on their farm – Gretel was one of Mary’s favorite sheep.) A list of seeds and plantings for the upcoming year has been compiled as well and will be ordered a bit later this month.

I am debating about moving away from scanning slides to converting a bunch of old VHS tapes, taken when the kids were young, to a more modern format including DVD. Pam pointed out the kids have a good selection of photos in scrapbooks she kept for them over the years. And while it is true they have not seen many of the slides I have scanned, these may not substantially change their memories.

The VHS tapes may be a different story. There were no photos made from these and it’s always fun to see things in motion. I began looking into how to create DVDs and the hardware / software needed to convert the tapes into a digital format. Good thing we still own a VHS player! I have not yet purchased the items I will need to take this on but will probably do so in the next month or so. I do plan to keep scanning some of my slides for the Photo Archive but my focus will change. Besides, it’s always fun to learn how to do new things.

Tomorrow is the Super Bowl and it will take place in near-record heat – THERE. But HERE in NE Iowa it was -2 degrees last night and will be colder than that tonight, down to about -4 degrees. Below zero temps are forecast for a few nights next week in the 10-day forecast. I know I’ve had my fill of sub-zero days for the winter.

Photo Archive

A few more mine sites from the Savage Basin Road near Telluride, Colorado.

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

Pam’s Penny

I know folks out there are saying, “They still do their own taxes?” It’s a matter of principle. We have simple retirement income. No investment income. No itemization, a very straightforward 1040. If we can’t do our own taxes, who can? And yet, preparing tax forms is NOT an easy exercise and — let’s just say — does not enhance marital quality.

The bathroom re-do is not actually very far along. The white base coat is only step one. I plan to re-use the Art Deco fan stencil [from the library] in the bathroom. Stenciling is always a fussy decorative painting project. Plus tiles will be installed on the floor, then wall edges and floor transitions need wood molding. A lo-o-o-ong way to go. (Luckily I only need to use a two-step ladder to reach the ceiling. I don’t think there’s enough space in that bathroom for a full stepladder.)

Himself is correct, milder spring-like weather cannot arrive soon enough. Bless the variety of birds (even the squirrels) plus puzzles for keeping us occupied during these cold and nasty winter days.

Happy Trails.

Life goes on at a slow pace this time of year. However, we did have three (!) trips taken during the week. Here are the details.

On Tuesday Pam and I went to the dentist. For Pam this was an annual routine check-up and cleaning, but for me it was a “first visit” to a new dentist. Although I had the earlier appointment, Pam was done long before me. I had the full range of X-rays taken and records to fill out before getting my teeth cleaned.

During my exam a small cavity was discovered near the base of one of my crowns. This led to trip #2 on Wednesday to have this cavity filled. On the way home I picked up a menu for a Chinese carry out place. While a bit far from home (25 – 30 minutes) we may give it a try in the near future as we have not had Chinese cooking since we moved to Iowa. It would be an interesting change from pork…

The third trip took place on Thursday; a visit to the nearest Wal-world was in order as I had to pick up a refill of my Type-2 diabetes medication. Walmart (in Decorah) is now kind of a “Big Deal” as Walmart offers [many] items we cannot buy locally. Some of these items include McVitie’s biscuits, large boxes of Twinings’s English Breakfast Tea, Tetley tea, flounder and haddock frozen fish, and numerous other small items. We keep an ongoing list of Wal-world items to look for on the next monthly visit, and it was a pretty long list this time.

Given that the nearest Wal-world is about an hour away, a trip becomes almost an all-day event, figuring in the commute. Upon arriving home there are bags to empty and overstock to find room for. (Three boxes of McVitties, for example when only one fits on the shelf.) Below is a photo of three of the many items we get on such trips: Mrs. Myers Clean Day in Honeysuckle, Madhava agave in a 64 oz container, McVitie’s Digestive Biscuits.

In other project news, Pam has begun painting the downstairs bathroom as the first step in the upgrade. Valspar “standard white” is covering the medium-yellow existing paint. This change makes the room brighter and sets the background for further work. (I have had a small part in this, removing towel holders and miscellaneous other brackets and re-installing them when the painting has been completed.) To complicate matters, this is the main bathroom with the only shower; it has to be kept functional during the upgrade.

The other day I got ambitious and dug the F-150 out from snow along the garage. I had not had to run the truck for quite a while – so – I plugged it in. After the warm up, I drove around town a bit just to keep the truck’s systems in good shape.

Weather has been up and down again, with a few milder days punctuated by sub-zero days. Doing some research, I found this part of Iowa has, on average, about 30 days that record below-zero temperatures. We are now over twenty for the season. (What I could not find was exactly how many degrees below-zero the recorded days measured.) Average low for this time of year is around 6 degrees above zero.

I have been keeping my garage kerosene heater going in hopes of keeping the garage items above zero. So far this has worked and the garage stays about 20 – 30 degrees above the outside temps, depending on wind conditions. I had installed a new wick last year and the heater is performing well. While the garage is still below freezing, you can really tell the difference as soon as you walk through the door.

We continue to enjoy watching the birds and squirrels that come to the feeders. One surprise is that the squirrels also appear to like suet, or at least the grains molded into it. They can get into the darnedest positions trying to get at the feeder, which is suspended a few inches away from the tree trunk.

That’s about it. Nothing exciting! We fill the time with doing jigsaw puzzles, working on indoor projects, watching the birds, and catching some of the opening Olympic venues. That’s our “retired” life this winter.

Photo Archive

Family photos from 1989 and 1990

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

Pam’s Penny

One of the seed catalogs arrived in the mail this week. Gurney’s. I had a spring moment. It was lovely.

January and February in NE Iowa are to be survived. Rarely enjoyed. But there were a dozen cardinals at the bird feeder yesterday – a moment of rare enjoyment.

Happy Trails.