Author: admin (Page 15 of 62)

My sister Kitt (AKA Carol/Carolyn) and her partner Matt visited us last weekend. It was our first face-to-face since Thanksgiving of 2019 — just after Pam had moved to Heart House but before I had retired. Our move was still in progress then, and I was driving back and forth from Colorado with loads of stuff.

In 2019, Kitt and Matt had helped us move some boxes and assemble the queen bed frame upstairs. They had brought with them a Thanksgiving Dinner which, in addition to being very tasty, was very much appreciated by Pam and myself.

Not many people saw the house in 2019 — there have been plenty of updates, repairs, and lawn work since then to observe and discuss this visit.

Kitt and I had a good time talking about childhood memories. Kitt is older than me, so I had memories that differed from hers a bit. It was interesting to note the differences in point-of-view that a few years makes!

While some meals were eaten in Elma, Kitt and Matt treated us to a night out at a pub in Charles City and the Sunday Brunch at Klunder’s. Both places were new to us and the food was very good. Thank you, Kitt and Matt, for this courtesy.

Of course, there was much to discuss about the house repairs, updates, and yard work that had been accomplished since the fall of 2019. The garage addition, a major piece of work, did not occur until the summer of 2020, for example. Pam’s work in the Library and the Snug, as well as in the front parlor, became a focal point of many discussions. Kitt and Matt mentioned they departed in 2019 thinking how much had to be done, and commented we had moved along very well in all of our projects to date.

The one disappointment was the weather. Elma and the surrounding area received over a foot of rain over that weekend. One local said she had reports of as much as 16 inches of rain in some places. While our basement stayed dry, we heard of several homes getting flooded basements and damaged water heaters and furnaces. One place, about two blocks up the street, looks to have suffered major foundation damage. It is now being rebuilt.

Several side roads flooded but we didn’t have problems getting to and from the pub and restaurant. I did snap a couple of photos of flooded areas near one of our routes.

By this weekend the flooding had subsided and some of the road damage has been repaired. A Rochester-based TV company had broadcast from Elma with interviews of yard and home flooding in town. Click on Elma Flooding to see that report. We had small ponds in low places in our yard but had no water in our basement. I guess we were lucky!

Before and after the visit (and rain), Pam and I continued to scape and paint the house and work on other projects. This is slow going as we try to remove as much old paint as possible before putting on the new coats in either red or white. Pam took some time to add blue detail work to most of the porch posts.

Another project undertaken concerns the job sink we plan to install in the laundry room. (This is part of a project that will relocate the clothes washer and re-route water lines to the upstairs bathroom.) We received our quote from O’Brien Plumbing & Heating to do the work and wrote them a check for half the cost as a deposit. This will get us on their work calendar but we don’t know when. We suspect they are booked up as much as a month in advance (due to damage caused by the recent rain) so our project will not be completed for some time. However, there is some work I could do beforehand.

The job sink will be a galvanized tub sitting on a stand. I need to build a platform that will hold the faucet and spray attachment and equip the platform with a backsplash.

Not ever having done this before, I decided I needed to “prototype” the faucet platform using some old wood I had in the garage. This worked out OK and I can now move on to buying the good lumber, building the platform, and covering the assembly with polyurethane to make it water proof. Below is a photo of me building the prototype.

Out in the yard, the garden is making some news. I now have a couple pumpkins and watermelons developing although they are still very small. Pam continues to get a few blackberries off the plants we put in last spring. The sunflowers are probably at their peak.

With cooler and drier weather on the horizon we hope to get more scraping and painting done on the house. It seems clear we will miss our goal of getting the entire first floor painted this year, as the work is going slower than anticipated, but we will persist until cold weather sets in. Any work we get done improves the appearance of the house and adds protection to the wood and trim over the upcoming winter.

Photo Archive

These photos are from 2013 when we drove to Boise, Idaho to hear Felicity sing with her vocal group “Northwest Harmony,” part of the Sweet Adeline organization.

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

Pam’s Penny

September 16 marks two years since we purchased 702 Main in Elma. Much has been done, much remains to be done. All in all, old house renovation has turned out to be the “retirement transition project” we thought it would be. (The COVID pandemic having been something of a bump in the road in this regard.)

Hours of daylight decrease and winter looms. Pace and possibilities in projects take both into consideration.

Happy Trails.

There has been more activity around the Heart House in the last week or so. We attended a local sweet corn festival, my sister Kitt and her partner Matt arrived for a visit, a new water heater was installed, and more of the house was scraped and painted. Details are next.

The nearby town of Lime Springs held a sweet corn festival that featured a parade and car show along with some vendor tents. Free sweet corn and watermelon (while supplies lasted) were incentives to come to the event.

We started off with the car show, and there were some very nice vehicles present. A walk down the avenue brought us to the heart of Lime Springs and we were able to snag some free watermelon. It was quite good.

The parade was typical for a small town, including only one marching band. Parade entries included floats from local vendors and service providers, some restored older tractors, and even a family float advertising their upcoming reunion. That was a new one for me.

After the parade we returned home and continued working on scraping and painting the east side of the house. The front porch walls were completed and prep work started around the east side bay window. Scraping the multiple layers of old paint is slow going, and many of the boards have to be re-calked and repaired, slowing the process. We move along as well as we can.

Here are a couple photos of the east side front porch and work underway below the bay window.

A few posts ago I mentioned we had to replace the failing hot water heater. O’Brien Plumbing and Heating, from Elma, showed up to do the work this last Thursday afternoon. The work took about 90 minutes and we now have our hot water back. Below are a few photos of the replacement process.

We are currently experiencing a deluge of rain after having been drier than average this summer. In comparison, I came across this graphic about extreme weather during 2020 on the internet.

Other than heavy rain and some wind which brought clumps of leaves and small branches down on the lawn we have not suffered any damage. The dogs, however, were unsettled by the thunder and lightning and were constantly seeking reassurance from us (mostly Pam) as the storms continued. The forecast for the upcoming week includes a high probability of more rain. This will cut into our outdoor work time but we can use the break to work on indoor projects.

The highlight of the recent days, ongoing as I write this, is a visit from my sister Kitt and her partner, Matt. Kitt and Matt had last been here in 2019 as we were moving and before I had retired. They had helped assemble my bed frame and moved a few boxes for us. Kitt and Matt had brought along a full Thanksgiving meal for us on their 2019 visit.

This time around Kitt and Matt were given a tour of the house and yard and a summary of all the changes that have occurred since 2019. We spent quite a bit of time in conversation and eating meals. The bad weather limited outside activities, such as sitting on the porch, but the time passed quickly just the same.

Fall is approaching and we hope to get back to scraping and painting more of the house. In addition, we have contacted Bob the Builder and arranged to rent some scaffolding from him for use over the Labor Day weekend. Pam intends to use the time to paint the ginger breading on the west side of the laundry room, experimenting with widths of the different colors she plans to use in all the the home’s peaks. Fall will be a busy time for us!

In a previous post I said I would be creating a new gallery consisting of photos taken on my recent trip to the Alpine Tunnel, located in western Colorado. I have created that gallery and uploaded it to my host server. If interested you can access the Alpine Tunnel gallery from my Galleries page or go directly to the Tunnel’s home page. On the Galleries page you will need to scroll down and find the section titled “ATV and Off-Road Trips” then click on the “Alpine Tunnel” thumbnail image.

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

Pam’s Penny

Mother Nature seems intent on deleting a 7″-8″ rainfall deficit in a single three-day stretch this weekend. The lawn is a giant wading pool at times. Yikes.

Happy Trails.

It has been a couple weeks since my last post. (I was on vacation in Colorado.) Much has happened since I last wrote including house updates and a report of my vacation time. Lets get to it!

Because I have so much ground to cover I am going to mention just a few of the more important details for each general topic. Home news is up first.

A bit more painting has been done on the front porch but it is not yet completed. Here is the front porch east wall getting a first coat of paint.

While I was gone Pam added a second coat of paint to the porch and began painting the west wall off the laundry room.

Pan did as far up as she could reach from our aluminum ladder. We hope to rent some scaffolding from Bob the Builder and finish the wall and paint the detail work up to the top of the peak over Labor Day weekend.

More flowers are blooming, keeping us supplied with “color” around the yard.

Not shown is detail painting Pam has done on some of the north and east porch posts. I will have more on that in my next post. Work goes on but at a slower rate due to high humidity and temperatures levels that limit time outdoors.

The next topic covers my time in Colorado in early August. There are three general divisions to discuss: Work on The Lot, ATV rides, and a special guided tour.

Given my decreased energy levels I decided to concentrate on cleaning up areas where Pam and I had previously worked. Aspen trees are not long-lived and there are always some dead trees to remove and brush to cut. On my June trip I made a few brush piles that I wanted to chip this time, and I was able to get that done. Going through the Aspen Grove and Bird House Ridge I removed several more trees, mostly small but a couple were big enough to salvage for firewood. Some of these were chipped but a few remain for my next outing.

While I spent quite a bit of time working and walking on The Lot, I had also planned a return to the Alpine Tunnel, the first railroad tunnel to go under the continental divide. Pam and I had visited the tunnel 40 years ago and I wanted to make a return visit to see what has changed since then. This was an all-day event. Suffice to say I took a lot of photos that only a railroad history buff would find interesting, so here are just a few of the many views I took along the way.

The first surprise is that the area is now a National Historic District with much signage along the route. I was pleased to see this historic bit of railroad is now recognized as something to preserve.

The railroad is most famous for the rock work required to build a shelf road along some towering cliffs. Known as “The Palisades” the work was done beginning in 1880. The railroad ran until 1910 and the rock work survives to this day with only minor degradation.

You really need to click on the above photo to blow it up to a larger size to appreciate it. As you can see, weather was just about perfect.

I will have a full gallery featuring photos from this trip shortly and will add it to my Galleries page. I will let you know when the gallery is completed but it may take some time due to the amount of material I wish to include. Watch for it.

Another high post of my vacation occurred when I went to visit the top of Boreas Pass. (Readers may remember that Pam’s mother’s ashes were spread at the top of the pass as she had requested.) We try to make the trip each year we visit Colorado.

The route to the pass goes through the town of Como where the railroad had a roundhouse in use from the late 1800s into the mind-1930s. Over the years we had observed the roundhouse undergoing repair and reconstruction work. On this trip the yard seemed to be unusually busy so I stopped to see what the excitement was about.

The owners of the old roundhouse are in the process of building a replica water tank. Another couple had stopped to look over the work and I joined them.

During the talk I asked if the roundhouse was ever open to the public. (It is one weekend of the year.) I said I would not be around for that event, and before you knew it, I, and the other couple, were invited on a personal tour of the roundhouse!

My camera’s battery had gone dead and was recharging so I reached back for my old Canon but it has no flash so most of my inside photos did not turn out well. Still, I enjoyed the tour and learned more about the history of the Denver, South Park, and Pacific Rail Road. I had known some of the history as this is the rail road that created the Alpine Tunnel but the guide had even more information at hand. I was delighted at this turn of events.

A few roundhouse photos will be included in my Alpine Tunnel gallery as both the tunnel and the roundhouse were part of the same railroad line.

After the guided tour I continued my trip to the top of Boreas Pass, where little has changed over the last several years. However, the public outhouses are now locked.

One thing that I will mention is that a smokey haze was present throughout most of my vacation, a by-product of all the fires in the western states. The haze was particularly noticeable from the Boreas Pass Road.

I also ran my ATV on some forest service trails including LaSalle Pass but those photos will have to wait for an upcoming post.

Finally, just a couple miscellaneous photos taken during the trip.

No Photo Archive this week.

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

Pam’s Penny

While Himself was in Colorado, oldest cat London (17+ years) went into his final decline; he died in my arms in the middle of a stormy night. London came into my life as a kitten, when I was working for a Colorado animal shelter and had just started investigating rescue. His life spanned an intense kitten-fostering period in our Colorado years – 33 kitten litters fostered in a decade. London’s passing is a bittersweet goodbye to those Crazy Cat Lady days.

Happy Trails.

The main story of the week was the hot and humid weather we experienced. With the “feels like” temps exceeding 100 degrees due to a combination of temperature and humidity, most outside activities were abandoned. Still, there were a few noteworthy events and happenings.

On Sunday we drove to Greene, Iowa (about 40 miles) to look over their outdoor plant and craft sale. (This is an annual event but was not held last year due to COVID-19.) The sale was held in one of Greene’s riverside parks which proved to be a beautiful spot along the Shell Rock River.

We bought a couple of white phlox plants to go along our two shades of red plants. We hope this gives us a colorful display next year. The existing phlox are doing great, with two lighter red plants flanking the deeper red plant that Pam bought last year. A pot of daisy plants and half a dozen ears of fresh sweet corn came home with us as well.

Here is a photo of one of the vendors set up for the event:

Pam’s sister Becky accompanied us and she returned home with a plant to take back home with her. Becky departed Elma for her return trip to Rice Lake on Monday. We were sad to see her go as we had enjoyed her company and appreciated the work she did on Heart House. Thank you.

The night of the 27th we had quite a lightning storm which was followed by some high winds and rain. I took some video of this event which has been posted on my Videos tab under the title “Lightning.” The 3:13 minute long video is grainy as the low light and flashes of lightning raised havoc with the camera’s auto focus function. Still, it was quite a show.

Speaking of videos, I added the Elma Trail Days Parade to my Videos page. There is nothing exciting about this clip but it does show how small-town America celebrates a local event. Narration is provided by Pam, Becky, Larry, and myself. With a run time of nearly 26 minutes it is a long clip; view it at your leisure!

New grass seed was planted near the garage in a bare spot that had never filled in naturally. I am pleased to report the new grass is coming up. I hope it covers well and eliminates the bald spot that has been the source of mud in rainy weather.

Given that outside time was limited by the heat and humidity, Pam and I turned to inside projects. Pam stained her new birdhouse and one of the wood crates we had picked up earlier this summer. New valances were hung over the library windows. Zack from O’Brien Plumbing and Heating arrived to begin working up a quote for some plumbing we need done. I made a trip to Menard’s home improvement store in Rochester and came home with a new water heater, garbage disposal, toilet for the upstairs bathroom, and a faucet set for the job sink we plan to have installed in the laundry room. The job sink will be made out of a galvanized wash tub on a stand, which is on the way from the manufacturer.

Some of my inside time was taken up with updating my web pages. I needed to bring some of the code up to more modern “best practices” as many of the pages now date back a decade or more and coding techniques have changed a great deal over time. Most of these changes are invisible but a few are not; you may notice drop shadow boxes around many of the photos used throughout the pages. The site is now more portable-device friendly should you want to view it on a smart phone or other hand-held device such as an iPad.

A fan repair was accomplished after one of our fans began having a hard time turning properly. For some reason the fan’s manufacturer used security screws in two places. Security screws have a ‘pin’ in the middle of the screw head and you need a special type of bit to remove them. I have a set of these special bits as similar screws are often used on computer gear to discourage folks from taking things apart. Why industry goes to this trouble for an inexpensive fan is a mystery to me.

Small projects, a couple trips, saying good-by to Becky…the week passed with us doing a mixture of routine living tasks and chores. With the coming of cooler weather we hope to get back to doing things that improve the looks and functionality of the house.

One small note: We received our annual propane usage report from our local supplier. Last year we used 836 gallons of propane. The previous owners, for the same time period, had used almost 1,700 gallons. We keep the house a bit cooler than the previous occupants, but I suspect a lot of the savings is due to the foundation sealing, a few new windows, and other energy savings projects we took on last year. This year has seen us replace the kitchen window and broken siding on the south side of the house, complete with a layer of Tyvek underneath, and caulking of quite a few joints as we scrape and repaint portions of the outside walls. All these upgrades help make the home more energy efficient. With propane going up over 30 percent this heating season, all the upgrades will pay off in real dollars.

Photo Archive

Zion National Park in 2014

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

Pam’s Penny

I guess everything is on a domino-effect cycle around here. Purchase a new dishwasher and the resulting hot water load kills the water heater. Lukewarm showers may be somewhat refreshing this time of year, but that won’t last for long. Money spent on house maintenance/appliances seems endless.

Happy trails.

It’s been two very busy weeks since my last post. Which means I have a LOT of photos and ground to cover so let’s get started.

Last week we organized a road trip to Tulsa to visit daughter Felicity and her boyfriend Peter. The trip was possible due to Becky, Pam’s sister, staying on in Elma to watch the critters. We thank her for that! Becky had brought down some earrings that Lorraine (Pam and Becky’s mother) had in her estate when she passed. These were given to Felicity, who was delighted to get them.

Peter is quite the cook and made us dinner on Friday and breakfast on Saturday morning. Notice the food and plate composition in color, shape, and texture. Taste was excellent too.

We had a conversational visit that touched on many, many topics. We also visited the Tulsa River Walk (Arkansas River) which is within two blocks of Felicity’s and Peter’s rental home.

All too soon it was time for us to head home.

Yes, Peter’s face is partially hidden but this is the best photo I have of the four of us. Better luck next time.

On the way home the main road was under construction so Pam grabbed a Kansas map and we headed out cross-country. One of the places we passed was the small hamlet of Beagle. Pam was “taken” with the name (since we have beagle-mix hounds at home) so we had to stop and get a photo.

The round trip came in at about 1,300 miles and took us three days. Another long, driving visit accomplished!

Along those same lines, my college roommate, Jon, and his wife Joan were heading west on vacation and we arranged to meet them in Austin, MN, at a Perkins restaurant. The evening went by quickly. It has been some years since we’ve seen Jon and Joan face-to-face; it was time to catch up on all the news/events in their lives.

Jon and Joan are tall people and are members of Tall Clubs International. (Jon is 6′ 8″ and Joan is 5′ 11″) They met at a club meeting and will shortly be celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Joan has some medical issues and gets around now with the aid of a mobility device. Here we are outside the restaurant.

Our social life is getting more active, it seems. My sister Kitt (and significant other Matt) will drive from Illinois and visit Heart House in late August. This kind of interaction is what we missed last year due to COVID-19 and I’m pleased we can now expand our social contacts.

Meanwhile, back at the house…

Painting, sanding, and scraping were all on the agenda. Becky contributed a major assist with sanding and scraping, getting large areas ready for follow-on paint. She also sanded the top of the table we use in the kitchen, preparing it for the coat of oil that Pam would apply later.

Pam sanded the top of our dinner table and added a coat of oil to it. She does this once a year or so to renew the table’s surface.

Another project was spray painting the catio door, giving it a new coat of white. It had always been a bit of an off-white that did not match the house and trim – it was time for the upgrade.

The front (north) side of the front porch received a coat of barn red paint, moving that project along.

A big visual change was made in the library. The old carpet was removed, revealing the wood floor beneath. The floor is in good physical shape but does have paint stains on it. Apparently a previous owner had painted boards on the floor without using a drop cloth. Floor refinishing is not on Pam’s list of projects (and may never be). For now Pam will order individual rugs to cover traffic pattern areas in the space.

Along with the routine yard work – plus caulking, sanding, scraping, and painting – it was a busy week at Heart House. Outside time was a bit limited due to the heat and humidity. Even the dogs felt it. Here is Bru cooling off in front of a fan after an outside walk:

Given the number of photos in this post there will be no Photo Archive this week.

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

Pam’s Penny

It has been quite excellent teaming with my “see-eester” to accomplish a myriad of Heart House projects – small and large – some of which have been on “the list” for quite some time. Although my timetable for exterior painting is wa-a-a-ay behind (the humidity has been extraordinary lately), the indoor project list is now greatly reduced. Very satisfying.

Happy Trails.

A diverse week; that is what we enjoyed over the past several days. 4th of July, Elma Trail Days, visits from relatives, and a plug for a new project all are covered in this post.

First, a plug for the proposed project, something rare for this blog. The old I-80 bridge over the Mississippi River from Iowa to Illinois near the Quad Cities (actually 5 cities, including Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Illinois, Davenport, and Bettendorf, Iowa) is going to be replaced with a new bridge. A proposal to retain the old bridge and turn it into a wildlife land bridge crossing – housing a small yard of bison – has been proposed. We think this is a neat idea! Here is a link to the Bison Project: https://bisonbridge.org. The site loads a video which takes a bit of time so have patience; the video is worth the view.

The 4th of July was quiet here in Elma because the town’s annual summer event, Elma Trail Days, was this weekend and not on the 4th. Trail Days is so named due to the bicycle trail that is built on the old railroad line. The trail begins in downtown Elma and passes the old railroad roundhouse (only the foundation remains) and will eventually connect to a wider series of trails in the area. The town sponsors a series of events that include fireworks, live music in the park, pancake breakfasts, a small car show, a parade, and other activities from Friday night through Sunday afternoon.

Friday, it rained heavily and continuously. The fireworks were supposed to be held on Friday night but were rain delay rescheduled for Saturday evening. Still, the Saturday a.m. parade went on as scheduled under overcast skies. We watched the Saturday parade [down Main Street] from our front porch and enjoyed the turn out. I’ve never seen so many people in this small town!

I did film video of the parade but it will take me some time to edit it down to a final product ready to post. Maybe next time I’ll have it done. It was not exciting by any means but it was nice to see a few familiar faces (contractors mostly) and watch the entries go by.

The biggest event of the week was the arrival of Pam’s sister, Becky, and the older of her two brothers, Larry. They arrived Thursday with plans to stay a few days. Larry rode down from Onalaska, Wisconsin, with Becky who drove down from Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Becky will stay with us for awhile into July, but we took Larry back to Onalaska on Saturday after the afore-mentioned parade.

We had reasons for making this arrangement as Pam wanted to see a friend from childhood who lives south of Larry in LaCrosse, Janean, and meet her husband, Mike. We also [finally] stopped for a photo of Onalaska’s signature entry sign – a sunfish – as the town bills itself the Sunfish Capitol of the World. (Note: Pam graduated from Onalaska High School.)

Pam and Janean have been friends since Pam was about 4 years old. Later Janean moved away from Onalaska but the two kept in touch over the years and remained friends. COVID-19 prevented us from visiting them last year so this year we arranged to take Larry back to Onalaska, then visit Janean’s and Mike’s home south of LaCrosse. Later we would continue down the river road, along the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River, to Prairie du Chien and then back to Elma.

We had a very enjoyable visit with Janean and Mike and received a tour of their custom-built house. It is quite the place, built into one of the many small coulees that are common in the LaCrosse area. A doe was feeding near the edge of the back yard, a common occurrence according to the couple. Mike is a carpenter and gave us a tour of his shop, which I enjoyed. We hope to have more visits with them in the coming years.

One of the reasons Becky had come down to visit us was to go have Pam and Larry go through some family history items, including photos, cards, and a couple old newspapers that had been part of Pam’s mother’s estate. That provided us with several hours of reminiscing and story telling as well as keeping a few items for our own files. One such item was an April, 1965 issue of a local newspaper that had published one of Pam’s 6th-grade poems.

The same paper had this add, aimed at the young ladies in town.

Having visitors and traveling was a good way to end the week. This type of activity is what we expected when we were planning the relocation to the Midwest, and after a year of COVID it has finally started to happen. It feels good to be able to resume activities this year.

As part of the preparations for Becky and Larry’s visit we re-arranged the storage room to create space for a roll-a-way bed. Elmo the cat had to help us out.

Out in the yard, the hostas and phlox are beginning their blooming season so we have some new color around the house.

It was a good week. Family, friends, some much-needed rain, and cooler weather made the week an outstanding one. Fireworks and a parade helped provide entertainment as well. Hopefully there will be similar weeks in the months to come.

Photo Archive

Only one photo this week. It is of the Boreas Pass roadhouse and cabin before both structures were rebuilt by the Forest Service. Photo dates from the late 1970s when we first moved to Colorado.

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

Pam’s Penny

Family, friends, memories. Quite a weekend. Activities were pretty much mask free, as my sister and brother are vaccinated and we only observed outdoor events (avoiding crowds) during the Elma celebrations.

Happy Trails.

Normally I write my blog on Saturday mornings, but this one is different; I am writing Saturday night after we returned from an outing. We had a busy week preparing for the 4th of July weekend. Some preparations improved the looks of the outside of the house, other upgrades took place inside. I have a lot of photos to get through, so take a look at the captions for more of the details.

Pam had ordered another bookshelf — “some assembly required.”

Positioning the new shelves required the removal of some of the old carpeting. We had planned to take on this task this summer and it seemed like a good time to get started. We knew there was a strip of carpeting below the bay and side windows that could come out. The strip was held down with a very tough double-sided carpet tape, but I was a able to remove it with a putty knife and lots of pulling.

The smaller shelves we had purchased not long ago were repositioned in the library and filled with paperback books. The library is starting to live up to that title and looks good. Plus, we were able to got several boxes out of the storage room and free up some space. Best off all, we can now get reacquainted with some of our favorite titles.

This afternoon we drove over to New Hampton to look over an outside antique and craft fair. It was a delightful experience, and we even bought a few things.

A table full of bird houses caught Pam’s eye as she has a collection of houses and is always on the lookout for another.

One of the larger units was purchased and now resides in the snug.

A pair of wooden boxes now keeps the glider in the library company.

The largest purchase of the day was a storage unit built from old barn wood. We agreed this would fit in the kitchen and provide a place for critter supplies, replacing a metal stand we had been using. Problem was we were driving the RAV-4 and the unit is 6 feet tall.

We squeezed the unit to one side and held the rear door closed with a bungee cord. Needless to say the trip home was pretty slow but we made it! The new unit is now in the kitchen, christened the pet pantry.

We enjoyed getting out to this show and had a good time picking up the crates, birdhouse, and storage unit. The show will be repeated late this fall and we plan to visit it again.

And, it seems to never fail. We were talking to a vendor and mentioned we were from Elma and fixing up an old Victorian. The lady said, “I know that house. It’s green. I was looking for a house and saw it on Zillow.” She will be visiting a relative in Elma next week and we invited her to swing by the house. Will be interesting to see if she takes us up on the offer.

The house is looking its best for the weekend. The lawn has been trimmed and mowed, weeding has been done, and we put up Pam’s bunting. Part of the front porch has been painted. One can notice cars slowing down to look at the house as they drive past.

While other towns may have their holiday events, Elma had a tractor pull, which I visited for a time this morning. Things sure have changed since I last attended a pull. Here is how I spent a couple hours today and some background on how tractor pulls operate.

Tractors are grouped by weight with, generally, 1,000 pounds between classes. The facility had a portable scale on hand to confirm the weight of each tractor. Each class has a speed limit as well. There are prizes for the top three finishers in each class.

Tractors are hooked to a “boat” that consists of a truck with steel plates underneath it. Some of the plates are fitted with teeth. The plates are lowered by hydraulics as the “boat” moves forward simulating more and more weight. Eventually the tractor will stall out, the distance measured, and the truck lifts the plates and backs down to the starting line for the next pull.

It turns out that “Builder Bob”, the contractor that built the garage addition last year and installed the new siding this year, is a big tractor pull enthusiast and helps organize and run these events. Here’s Bob getting ready for a pull.

Quite a few tractors in various classes were present and several hundred people turned out for the event. Considering the population of Elma numbers less than 300 souls the attendance was remarkable.

I did enjoy my time at the pull. Many of the tractors I recognize from time spend on my uncle’s farms when I was much younger. Oliver, Allis-Chalmers, Farmall M and Super M, and Fords were all familiar to me. It was a blast from the past to see them all again.

If you would like to see a 1:21 video clip of an old John Deere pulling the boat please click on this link.

Given the number of photos I have already included there is no Photo Archive this time around.

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

Pam’s Penny

Mr. Haney’s Antiques and Craft Show – New Hampton. Just the sort of outdoor bargain hunt I was anticipating when we moved to the Midwest (and held on the lawns of two historic houses). COVID delayed participation in this type of event last year. It was an adventure. One for the positive list, Iowa.

I’ll be spending the 4th of July consoling quaking dogs while fireworks are booming away. Hopefully your holiday will be somewhat more pleasant.

Happy Trails.

The highlight of the last week was a visit from Jeff Hayes, a friend of Pam’s since childhood. A few other chores occupied us as well.

Jeff Hayes, his late wife Mary, and Pam had been friends since childhood. Jeff and Pam attended the same church and all three were in the same grade through school. Pam and Mary had traveled together in Europe before either married. Mary passed away about four years ago due to pancreatic cancer, a great loss to all of her friends. Pam established the Mary Lynn’s Memorial Garden in her memory. I have featured photos of the garden in previous posts; the name came from Mary Hayes.

Jeff lives in Florida but is considering a move back to Wisconsin. He was on a visit to friends and relatives who live near LaCrosse and was able to arrange a stop in NE Iowa on his way home. We were very glad to be able to meet with him and have a several hour conversation.

Topics discussed included the kids, our work on the house, friends Pam and Jeff have in common, and future plans. The weather cooperated with mild temperatures and no rain so we spent quite a bit of time outdoors in the shade. It was a very satisfying visit and we really appreciated Jeff’s effort to go out of his way to stop at 702 Main.

Other projects have been started; we started scraping paint on the front porch. Pam would like to have the porch painted by the 4th of July but much depends on the weather, which has been very hot and humid lately. (Much needed rain arrived on Friday and again as I write this on Saturday morning.) Scraping and painting will be the prime project for the upcoming week.

As with many projects, unanticipated sub-projects emerged. In this case I began removing a bunch of old phone land-line wire and cable TV cables from the outside of the house. These cables, some of them cut by previous owners and none in service, were attached to the outside of the house by stapes and cable clamps. A pair had been run up to the media room via the end of the porch. No use in trying to paint over or around them; just better to remove them now. There are more wires to remove on the west side of the house but that will wait for another day.

The heat limited our outside activities for much of the week but it did not seem to affect the flowering plants. This year’s star, so far, have been the hollyhocks Pam planted last fall. I had a photo of these in my last post but since then more blossoms have appeared and the hollyhocks look particularly attractive.

Each plant blossomed with a different hue. The shortest plant, with the deepest red flowers, came from seeds we harvested from a flower bed in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. We hope these plants will self-seed and expand the flower bed over time.

Potted pansies on the front flower bed are also doing well this year. Visible from Main Street, this pot and other flowers in the bed add color to that side of the yard. Many of the hosta plants are getting ready to flower; photos of those will be in my next post.

Photo Archive

This weeks archive photos have a definite mechanical theme. They are from an antique tractor show I visited. Location was Janesville, Wisconsin and date was in the late 90’s.

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

Pam’s Penny

Happy to see the rain.

Happy Trails.

It’s Father’s Day and the Summer Solstice combined. What has the Fields’ household been up to, you may ask? Here is the answer.

It has been pretty quiet since my last post. The week’s activities were a combination of routine tasks (mowing lawn, for example) and small projects. Pam painted the inside sill of the new kitchen window; next up is detail painting the brown trim around the window, then re-hanging the curtains. This will require relocation of the curtain brackets as Bob the Builder installed the original trim upside-down. Oh well.

I worked on the trailer’s lights as a few of them were inoperative. Three lights were replaced and some work had to be done on the truck end as one of the 4-wire plugs was dead. This left me with no right-hand turn lights. All issues have been taken care of now so the trailer is safe and legal for road use.

Along those same lines the power mirrors on the truck had quit working. Fuse checked out OK and power to the switch was verified. A new switch is on order to cure that particular problem.

Pam and I did go bumming a bit yesterday, visiting a couple of area antique shops. We didn’t buy much but Pam did find a piece of crochet work that she thinks may work in the parlor. We enjoyed getting out and even had lunch at Culver’s, a special treat for us.

The hot weather seems to have broken a bit as we are getting some light rain today and temperatures will top out in the low 80s. According to the local TV station, we are in a moderate drought, 6+ inches below the average rainfall to date. Lawns are already drying and developing brown spots. In spite of that, various flowers are blooming around the yard. Photos of these make up the bulk of of the images in this post.

All in all it was a quiet week since my last post, and it will probably be that way for the next few weeks.

Photo Archive

More from our 25th anniversary trip to England in 1999.

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

Pam’s Penny

Summer Solstice has arrived! How wonderful it is to have twilight until 9:00 p.m. And how bittersweet it is to know the progression toward darkness at 5:00 p.m. has begun. Maybe it takes getting older to appreciate the light.

Not much progress re: exterior painting here at 702 Main. A little less heat and humidity, please.

I ordered a few bookshelves for the library; our books need somewhere to live. With so many interesting angles provided by the bay window in that room, finding shelving to fit has been something of a challenge. The jury is still out on the bookshelves just received, as I haven’t started sorting through the book collection quite yet. Hopefully I’ll be satisfied with the look and utility.

Happy Trails.

Two main events have transpired since my last post. The first is installation of the new siding on the south end of the house. The second involves my recent trip to The Lot in Park County, Colorado, which involved a few ATV rides. I have plenty of photos that document both events.

I’ll begin with the siding project. Pam and I had been painting the new siding at a workstation I had set up in the garage. All the long boards had been painted and Pam had worked on painting a few short boards that were left after the garage addition was completed. We were in pretty good shape when Bob the Builder and his helper arrived to remove the old siding, install a new kitchen window, and put up the new siding. Here are photos:

I was in Colorado during this process so Pam handled all the on-site organization and inspection. There are a few touch-up spots that need to be addressed but overall the new siding is a huge improvement over the old! Plus, the new window works much better than the old one and the Tyvek and caulking will help make the home more energy efficient. One more item off the home project list.

While the siding project was going on I was in Colorado visiting The Lot and opening The Box for the summer. My goal was pretty minimal given my medical circumstances and the fact that I am no longer acclimatized to The Lot’s higher elevation. (9,750 feet.)

The largest single job was to remove a large pine tree that had fallen across my west access trail. The tree had been partially down last fall, leaning against another pine, but over the winter it hit the ground. I really hate to loose a pine like this.

Using my ATV’s winch I moved the trunk sections off to the side of the trail near one of the piles of branches. Chipping the limbs is on the agenda for the next trip.

Doing this work revealed how little stamina I have at this point. It was cut a few branches, rest, pile up the branches, rest, cut a few more branches, rest, and so on. Clearing the tree took me most of a morning.

I did manage to clean up a few smaller trees that had not survived the winter. A small pile of these were chipped but I have not yet dispersed the chips. (No problems starting the chipper as I had brought the battery home with me last fall and kept it on a ‘maintenance’ charger all winter.) There were no major changes around The Lot but there was a bit of garbage to pick up here and there. This is normal but the volume has picked up since the neighbors moved a large RV trailer onto their lot and have been spending more time there.

One of my goals for the trip was to get some riding time on the ATV. There is a trailhead about 8 miles from The Lot that gives access to several miles of forest service roads. I had explored part of this system last year but wanted to do more riding in the area. I had picked up a map and photographed the area I would be riding in.

I enter the area from trail 146 located in the upper-left corner of the photo. These trails are not difficult. I would describe them as pleasant but they are forest service trails — none goes to an old mine, ghost town, or scenic overlook. A person does ride through a variety of landscapes that include grasslands, pine forests, and aspen groves.

My ATV (Yamaha Grizzly 550) is equipped with electronic power steering so I did not find the riding took a toll on my stamina. I enjoyed getting out on the trails and spent several hours over a couple of days riding the area. These outings were the highlight of the trip for me.

The road part of the trip was uneventful. I paid a high of $3.25 per gallon of regular gas in Denver and a low of $2.55 in Ogallala, Nebraska. Two nights were spent in hotels and summer rates are in effect so prices were a bit higher than I expected, near $100.00 for the first night (Days Inn) and about $78.00 (Motel 6) for the second. Distance from NE Iowa to the lot came in at 926 miles and took around 18 hours of driving time.

The only disappointment came in the form of a failing chain saw. The more I ran it the worse it ran. I finally had to quit using it. On return home I took the saw into a local shop and they will clean the carburetor and get the saw running as it should. Estimate for this service is $40.00. But…the failure put a cramp in my planned activities for the last day or so of my trip. I walked The Lot and located all the corner stakes and rode my ATV around the development.

I really enjoyed the visit to The Lot and being in the mountains again. Getting out on the ATV and riding new trails was a real hoot. I did get some work done on The Lot and found the The Box and the power equipment survived the winter OK. Temperatures were in the upper 70s during the day and upper 40s at night. There was no rain but it did get windy at times. (Back in NE Iowa during the same time period it was in the 90s and heavy on the humidity.) I am looking forward to a return trip (or two) later this summer.

Photo Archive

Not much this time. The first is a photo of the cabin we owned near Nederland, Colorado.

The baby cradles were made for us by our good Colorado friends Hank and Elinor. (Felicity’s and Toby’s middle names came from this couple.)

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

Pam’s Penny

Due to excessive heat and humidity for this time of year, I confined myself to mainly small inside projects during Himself’s absence. I did mow sections of lawn on a rotational basis.

While I’m pleased to see the south end of the house’s siding now tidy and painted, the mint green conduit running up it’s height is going to drive me crazy. It stands out as a focal point on the red paint, and it is not meant to be a focal point.

Happy Trails.