Category: General (Page 21 of 60)

I was on the road for 12 days, attending a motorcycle rally and working on our Colorado recreational property. I have a lot of ground to cover and many photos to share. Here, in more or less chronological order, is how I spent those 12 days.

Driving the F-150 and pulling the motorcycle behind on a trailer, I left on a Monday morning and arrived at The Lot Tuesday evening. On arrival, there were the usual “opening” chores: getting water, starting the refrigerator, making the bed, unpacking food and linens. And, this year, eradicating moths (living and dead).

I planned to work on The Lot for a day and a half, then move on to a motorcycle rally that was being held in Westcliffe, Colorado, over the weekend. A return to The Lot after the rally would give me a few more days to work before heading home.

The main goal for The Lot was to clean up the trees that did not survive the winter. Aspen are short-lived trees and there have always been some dead, or near-dead, trees that need to be removed from areas already cleaned. Usually these are smaller trees but some larger ones have also been known to die off.

Unfortunately, a walk-about revealed a large pine tree had been uprooted. We hate to loose any conifers on The Lot; the uprooting and other damage indicated a strong wind must have blown through this past winter or spring.

Wednesday was a day of various chores. I made a couple of “water runs,” where I take water containers to the community hand pump and fill them. Upon returning to The Box, I use a transfer pump to get the water into The Box’s storage tank. I had also brought along the string trimmer and used it to cut the grasses and fresh aspen that had grown in and along the driveway. A trip into town yielded fresh fruit, dairy products, lunch meat, and other supplies. To relax, I walked around The Lot and began identifying dead trees that would need to be removed. I kept busy!

Thursday morning I began cutting trees and stacking them up near the chipper. There was more work to be done than I had expected, but I made progress.

Thursday afternoon I headed for Westcliffe, about a 3-hour drive from The Lot, to meet with other members of the motorcycle club who were arriving that day. Our base of operations was a member’s vacation cabin near Westcliffe.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning featured group rides to various locations around SW Colorado. I won’t go into day-by-day details, but one section was of note: Cottonwood Pass is now paved on the west side for the first time ever. Pam and I have been over it, by car, so I was familiar with the area but had never ridden my motorcycle there.

The other comment I will make is that the evenings were cool, generally in the upper 40 degree range. I was glad to have my down sleeping bag!

Sunday night I returned to The Lot. Monday I began the clean up in earnest and continued through to Wednesday. During this time I was able to get the tractor and chipper started (I brought the batteries with me from Iowa). The tractor assisted in maneuvering the trailer to various piles of brush and salvage wood, then to move the wood closer to the chipper.

I chipped a pile of brush, then put covers on the tractor and chipper. Next was to get into the upper reaches of The Nook where the tractor could not go. I cut several small and large trees and made small piles of wood here and there. On my next CO trip later this summer, tasks will include hauling – by hand – all this stuff to the chipper location for processing.

Thursday morning I began the drive back to Iowa and arrived home Friday night. In my absence two major projects received attention: prep work for the garage addition was begun and Pam worked her magic in the stairwell.

Pam had painted the stairwell to wainscot height a few weeks ago. While I was gone, she purchased new tread pads, painted the front “noses” of the steps (step areas with the most damage), added wallpaper border, and adhered decals to the risers. The result is exceptional. I could not get everything in a single photo so here are a few that show the details.

Pam spent a lot of time on this project and the result is terrific. As she says, the stairwell was long overdue for a little love and attention.

The other project, the garage addition, was originally scheduled for later in the month but Bob the Builder finished another job early and moved up the schedule. Surprise! No need to worry about the details in my absence; Bob and the cement guy Marv worked off hand-drawn sketches made during an initial walkthrough of the project this past spring.

Preliminary to building, the cement pad needed to be poured. Forms were put in place, some fill sand was hauled in, and finally the concrete was poured.

Construction will hopefully commence tomorrow, Monday. More photos will follow in future posts.

I have a few miscellaneous photos as well. One of our “mystery” plants has been identified as phlox:

Here is a sunset over South Park from Pavilion Paint on the Colorado lot:

Bru, our youngest dog, has taken to sleeping on the bolster on the back of the dog couch:

Pam has a new rug in the parlor bedroom:

Photo Archive

From July 1991: Grandpa George with Felicity and Toby

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

Pam’s Two Cents

I worked fairly diligently to accomplish as much as possible in the stairwell during Himself’s absence. Trying to establish a work zone when egress is needed through the work area is truly frustrating; having the stairwell to myself (except for cat races) moved this project along. I almost accomplished the ambitious amount of work I had planned.

As with most of the projects here at Heart House, implementation of any “design” comes in layers. First the actual use of the space is established, then the painting, deciding on the borders, starting to add the decorative elements, addressing the floors. There are still decorative items to add in the two-story stairwell; sadly most require a very tall ladder and Flying Wallenda skills.

In between stairwell projects I undertook some limited lawn mowing. Iowa “enjoyed” about four severe storm warnings during Himself’s trip, and the resulting wet grass basically just clogged the mower. I tried out my new head bug netting during mowing — works great at keeping the skeeters and gnats away from my face and ears. Add some DEET to the ankles and arms, and I’m ready to go.

Happy Trails.

Work continues around the Heart House. Pam has been painting doors and I have been working at various other projects. Flowers around the yard are in bloom, including a new “mystery” flower. Let’s get to it!

Pam took it on herself to paint the back doors. I think they turned out very well! Here is the back inner or main door:

Then she painted the screen door and insert:

Pam is now working on the east side doors and I will have photos when they are completed.

Working on the doors is a time consuming task due to all the layers of old paint and lack of really straight lines. The addition of the hearts sets off the paint job which will compliment the house painting when we get to that project.

Pam baked our first rhubarb pie of the year. This one featured our own home-grown rhubarb, a goal Pam had in mind from the time we decided to buy the place. I hope this is the first of many pies!

My main project for the past week was working on the east (and a bit on the north) decks. Some of the boards needed to be replaced due to rot. The decks have a “spongy” feel in a few areas. This work will continue on for some time before completed. Also time consuming as the railings and downspouts have to be removed then reinstalled as part of the project.

The porch railings have been repaired to some extent; the bottom rails should be replaced due to rot in some spots. However, finding replacement wood and balusters has proven to be difficult. So, for the time being, I replaced 5 rotted balusters from some taken from the step railings. The porch balusters are 24 inches tall and the step balusters were 28 inches. I was able to cut off equal parts of the tops and bottoms of the 28 inchers, ends that were rotted, and use them as replacements for the porch balusters. As you can see, painting needs to be completed but at least the rotten wood is gone.

The front porch is not as bad, but someone in the past decided to save some money and not use full-length boards in some areas. This led to a lot of seams in the decking that I do not care for, both for aesthetic reasons and because rot has begun to take hold in these locations.

After talking it over, Pam and I decided we will replace more decking than originally planned and eliminate these problem areas. The removed decking will be re-used; I plan to use it on the back porch. (Currently the back porch decking is 2″ x 6″ planks.) Using the salvaged decking will result in a consistent look to all three porches.

The decking material, called car siding or box-car siding, is readily available in a number of different lengths. I bought the first of it from the in-town lumber yard. The wood uses a tongue-and-grove system to interlock each board to its neighbor. This is not a bad system but replacement of one board usually means replacing, or at least removing, boards on either side as well. The job just takes longer.

The largest amount of work is getting all the old securing screws out. Over the years the wood has swelled up and over the screw heads and paint has filled in the screwdriver slots. I have to locate, clean, and then remove each screw. This process that can takes several minutes for each one, so just getting that part of the removal done will take hours.

Another project completed was to move all my photo gear, including all my old slides and negatives, out of the garage attic and into the basement. The garage is not insulated and the attic gets very hot. (Same situation was present in De Beque.) The basement, now cleaned and with a dehumidifier running, seems like a good place to store old film.

The move took several trips up and down the garage attic ladder and up and down the basement steps, but I did get the stuff moved. During the process I opened every box, consolidated items, and was able to recycle several boxes and a lot of packing. In addition, I put a couple chairs and a storage bin in the basement; Pam wants to keep a few emergency supplies down there in the event we have a severe storm or tornado come through and we need to retreat to the basement for shelter.

I am planning a trip to Colorado next week. Two purposes: The first is to visit The Lot, the second is to attend a motorcycle rally.

Work at The Lot will be minimal, consisting of painting the storage shed and cleaning up after the winter. I don’t know how I will react to the 9,500 foot elevation after being gone from Colorado for months now, so work plans are fairly modest.

The motorcycle rally will be in Westcliffe, west of Pueblo. The organizer has asked us to wear masks and social distance. We will have to see if this works out! I am looking forward to seeing friends I have made over the years through these get-togethers. As a result of this planned road trip there will be a gap in blog posts. When I return I should have quite a few photos to share.

Around the yard, day lilies are in full bloom. Pumpkin plants have flowers on them, as does one very small hollyhock stem. Hostas are blooming. We also have another “mystery plant” blooming; does anyone recognize this one?

Photo Archive

This group reflects our kids, Felicity and Toby, taken over a few years in the early ’90s.

And then there is the large towel we owned for several years:

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

Pam’s Penny

I paint screen doors inside, in the AC. I see no point standing outside painting (in the freakin’ heat and humidity) when there is a perfectly comfortable inside area to paint. This requires Himself to take the doors off the hinges, one by one, and bring each indoors. A small inconvenience. The main security doors are super heavy to move around in this way, though. So-o-o-o, the red and white security door may be the only one painted this cycle.

“Away time” for Himself is certainly due, now he’s been retired four months. The initial retirement period – plus sheltering in place – resulted in a bit much togetherness.

Happy Trails.

As noted in previous posts, I had begun working on installing the permanent dog run to replace the temporary run set up last fall as we moved in. This week the new pen was completed, at least for now. Now all we have to do is open the back door and the dogs are in their run, no more escorting them in-and-out of the old gate!

We may add some decorative elements to the enclosure over time, probably decorative boards on the front of the wooden posts to hide the screw heads. We have seen solar-powered lights that are designed to fit on 4-inch square posts and may add a few of those to dress up the post tops.

Pam did all the painting, including the blue corner triangles in all 3 gates. The run consists of 12 wood posts set in cement, (8 bags of QuickCrete at 60 pounds per bag) along with 13 steel posts and 3 custom-built gates. The outside of the enclosure measures just under 142 feet and required 2 rolls of 1″ x 2″ x 48″ inch mesh fencing. (This fence design only comes in 100 foot rolls locally, so we have some left over.)

Sharp eyes may note the new tree shown in the North side and West side photos above. The local farm supply place, Theisen’s, had plant stock at 50 percent off so we picked up this Amur Maple. I hope it does well in its new home and lives up to its fall color reputation as shown in this internet image:

Now it is on to more projects. Next up will be the repair of the east porch, which needs some new flooring to replace a corner of deteriorating wood. After that, painting the repaired porch will be in order.

I am also planning a trip to Colorado in mid-July to visit The Lot and take part in a motorcycle rally. I’m looking forward to that.

Around the house, more flowers are in bloom. The day lilies, very common in this area, grow like weeds and have a bunch of blossoms. Other lilies, such as those shown below, add their color to the mix.

In other respects, the week was routine. Grocery shopping, lawn mowing, laundry, taking care of the cats and dogs, running out for paint and supplies. We did get out on Thursday for a driving trip to our favorite antique store located in Elkader, Iowa. Lunch was at an Irish pub in Elkader, followed by Dairy Queen cones on the way home. We wore our masks, as required in the antique store, and practiced social distancing at the pub. Even with COVID restrictions, it was a good outing.

Photo Archive

The Weiner Mobile came to town in the fall of 1990 (?) so we had to get a family photo with it!

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

Pam’s Penny

I’ll be subdividing hostas and adding them to the north [lawn] side of the dog run. The existing hosta plants at 702 are huge – some easily 4 feet across – and have grown too big in scale for the planting beds in which they reside. One hosta has already been transplanted next to the newly-installed north gate; you can spot it far to the left in the North side photo shown above .

Happy Trails.

First, a milestone of sorts: I applied for Social Security benefits this week. (I must be getting old.) I hope to begin getting income in August but it remains to be seen how quickly the SSA can put the system in gear. I’ve been told processing could take up to three months so now is the time to get started.

Saturday was the Summer Solstice. Summer is officially here. In some ways I don’t like to see this as it means the sun will now start setting earlier, cutting our work day a bit shorter — we do a lot in the evening hours as the days cool off.

This past week was relatively quiet. The main project was working on the dog run fence; I completed the north and west sides and started on the south side. Yet to do is the rest of the south side and east side.

I have a shopping list of parts that I will need to complete the job which includes a few more wood posts, lumber to build the two remaining gates, and a few other odds and ends. I hope to wrap up by the middle of next week.

All of the wood posts are set in concrete so they can handle the weight of the gates and stress of the corners where the fencing sides meet. Hauling and mixing the QuickCrete takes a bit of time for each post but it should be worth the effort in the long haul.

In spite of a couple rainy days, Pam has been trying out paint combinations on the east end of the catio shed. The appropriate combination will be the eventual house colors, but finding them takes a bit of time and experimentation. For example, she tried at least three different “barn red” paints before deciding on the Behr brand featured below.

While she was at it, Pam painted some other parts of the catio including the cat ramp and some supports. The rest will be painted at a future date.

Filling in the time are other projects. Indoors, Pam painted a wainscot-height wall section, from front entry up the staircase. She found this more than a bit frustrating due to the roughness of the old plaster. It’s extremely difficult to maintain a straight line, particularly where the plaster meets wood.

The dehumidifier arrived and I set it up in the basement. The first few days I emptied the built-in bucket to see how much water would be removed. (Turns out to be a little more than two gallons over a 12 hour period.) After that I installed the automatic drain system and let the dehumidifier run. So far the basement humidity level has dropped from over 90 percent to just under 70 percent. Target level is 50 percent so there is a ways to go.

Dirt removed from digging holes for the dog run posts has been used to fill a few low spots in the yard. New grass from seed is starting to populate these bare spots and eventually they will integrate into the rest of the lawn, making it look better and making mowing less of a jarring task.

I dug out my pole saw and cut a few dead branches, those I could reach from the ground, from our oak trees. Every windy day results in dead twigs, and some green leaves, falling on the lawn. Eventually I will need to get a ladder or lift of some sort and work my way higher into the trees. Not that there are a lot of them, but I would like to cut those branches that I can.

There was one major frustration having to do with ordering porch rail parts, to repair the east/side porch. I had taken a sample of the old rails and spindles to a lumber yard, picked out replacements (which had to be ordered) and had been waiting for them to come in. The yard called and said they could not supply the components in treated wood. I never mentioned wanting treated wood. I don’t know where that came from. This sets back that project by a couple weeks. Now I have to go in again and specify untreated wood.

We also looked at using vinyl components for railings but the cost is almost twice that of wood. Besides, at our age, wood railings will outlast us anyway.

And we are still waiting for our federal tax refund check. Having received our “stimulus check” several weeks ago we know the government has our correct address, but there has been no sign of the refund. We could use it.

All three dogs went to the vet for nail trims/anal expressions and JoJo additionally received a grooming. Pam and I waited in the car while a vet assistant came out and got the dogs one by one. At the final trip the assistant took the credit card, went in and ran a receipt, and brought the last dog, card, and receipt out to us. Thanks, COVID-19!

Photo Archive

This family photo was taken on a trip to Wisconsin in the summer of 1991. We were attending a family reunion, Pam’s side. Merrill, Wisconsin city park is the location, I believe.

The same trip and event yielded this photo of Pam getting a hug from her mother, Lorraine.

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

Pam’s Two Cents

So, house paint colors. You may recall I was monitoring two shades of green on the catio shed wall through the winter. Well, the house “told” me it did not want to be green again. We’ve found several renditions of green paint layers as we repair the exterior, from dark forest green to the minty blue-green currently on the place. No more green.

We had repainted the mobile in Colorado, during our dozen years there, with a really vibrant shade of red barn paint made by Behr. That red held up extremely well in the hot Colorado sun, and was cheerful to boot. I decided in the conservative Midwest, in a small town on Main Street, a patriotic combination of red, white and blue would probably be a good choice.

Finding the correct shades of each color has been the challenge. The “red” settled upon is more of a brick red barn paint (without the slightly-orange base tint I was finding in some of the barn paints). “White” is true white exterior paint; there is a lot of trim so there will be a lot of white. The “blue” was tricky. On the sample wall, I used a color called Storm’s End on the bottom and it’s sister color Cornflower above [Cornflower on either side of the gray-blue strip]. The gray-blue strip is actually a color left over from a previous owner (dated 2016 on the paint lid) and is planned for use around the base of the porch steps (if the local lumber store can still duplicate the mix). One additional color – medium gray porch and deck paint – is still to be ordered.

I settled on crisp/clean colors that hold their own weight, slightly updated from the traditional flag colors. Overall I guess the effect will be somewhat more traditional than I was originally thinking for a Victorian. However, with the amount of gingerbreading, trim and corbels here at 702 there will be quite a bit of detail to provide interest.

Exterior painting this year will likely be limited to porches and perhaps the first floor on the south and west sides of the house. So I’ll have some time to view the catio sample wall at different times of day and in varying light conditions. And, at that, large scale painting is more likely to occur in the fall rather than during hot, muggy summer days. Several days this week, with the rain and high humidity levels, I wasn’t even sure if the paint on the catio sample wall was going to stick and dry properly. Hopefully we can find a contractor to bid on the remainder of the house paint job next year, depending on if we can complete some needed siding repairs in the meantime.

Happy Trails.

We received word that our building permit has been approved. Turns out one is not needed for putting up fencing but one is needed for the garage addition.

Bob from Bob’s Building Service stopped by and gave us a formal quote on the garage addition, including cement work, and it came in just a bit less than we expected. The disappointing part is that construction won’t begin until late July or early August due to Bob’s building schedule. (The permit is good for a year so that is not an issue.) I just hope to have it done before fall chores begin to pop up.

We did start on a fencing project. Modified, we decided to go with a non-privacy fence due to lack of availability of the vinyl fencing we originally ordered, as well as the cost. For now we will use [mostly existing] wire fencing and a mix of 4×4 wood posts and steel fence posts.

I borrowed a post hole digger from the local lumber yard and started setting the wooden posts and building one of three gates that will be needed. Here is Pam staining some of the posts:

Building the fence will be a lengthy process and will get mention in my next few posts, I’m sure.

Other projects were completed. Pam had ordered some garden fencing to separate her garden area from the rest of the lawn. The fencing was installed the same day it arrived.

(I have begun to open some old paint cans and set them in the sun to dry up. That’s the only way we can dispose of them. Old paint is everywhere in this house – the basement, lined up along the basement stairwell, in some of the rooms.)

Pam planted some dark purple morning glories (Grandpa Ott variety) at the west end of the back porch. They should germinate in a couple weeks or sooner, and have been provided a wire grid to stretch their tendrils on. Hoping to see these by mid-summer.

So far the back yard garden has pumpkins, watermelons, morning glories, hollyhocks, rhubarb, and sunflowers growing in it. That will be it for this year; Pam wants to keep the garden area small and manageable.

Day lilies (and other flowers left by previous residents) have begun to bloom around the yard. This batch is in the bed surrounding two large trees just south of the house. It is nice to be able to look out the kitchen and upstairs bathroom windows and see this color.

And we have more examples of small-town living. As we were working on the fencing, a neighbor drove by, stopped, chatted, and offered us some fence posts and panels he was taking down. I told him I would stop by later this week and take a look at what he had. I will need some extra posts, at the least.

One day Pam told me to look out the window as I would see an unusual sight walking down Main Street in front of the house – two people in costume.

These may be the same people we saw walking the street last fall dressed in dinosaur costumes. No idea what this walk was all about! The two are headed in the direction of the assisted living center at the other end of Main Street.

Photo Archive

I have a couple of photos to post this week. The date of this first one is unknown and features my father, George, along with my Uncle Emil and another uncle in the background, Uncle Julius, I think.

This next guy is Pam’s Uncle Al (King). The image is probably from a family reunion held in the early 1990s.

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

Pam’s Penny

Multiple renovation projects, requiring simultaneous planning, make life complex. Indoor, outdoor, this month, this summer, this fall, next year — many scenarios and time frames are currently in play.

Summer Solstice will soon be upon us. When the daylight begins to diminish again, I will seriously miss the long, cool twilight. In last night’s twilight, I saw fireflies for the first time since…I can’t remember when.

Happy Trails.

Jake the Electrician finished his work this week. We can now claim the home’s wiring has been checked, upgraded, and added to by a master electrician.

It is a pleasure to now have outlets in the bathroom along with a ground fault interruptor for safety. Other rooms received a few more outlets and a couple were converted to 4-outlet plugs instead of the traditional 2-outlet style.

One additional outside outlet was added and the other three repaired. Now we will have a place to plug in outdoor Christmas decorations when the time comes. (These are also handy for my use with the electric edger.)

The wiring in the basement has been cleaned up and additional lights added. I can now see down there!

The garage received a three-wire cable, enabling the neutral and ground wires to be on separate busses, which brings that wiring up to code. This was a safety issue identified in the home inspection report [we had done before we bought the place]. I’m pleased to have it resolved.

Speaking of the garage, I reorganized it a bit, bringing my motorcycle and ATV out of storage and parking them in the second garage bay. The Honda is now in the storage unit.

This not only allows me to get out and ride my motorcycle more often but having the John Deere rider in that bay means I don’t have to move a car to get it out of the garage when I need it. That’s very handy, since I seem to be mowing every third day.

We haven’t been using the Honda much, instead relying on the Toyota RAV4 to most of our (limited) errands that require a vehicle. The F-150 is nearby, parked along side the garage, and gets used periodically when I need the extra hauling or towing capacity.

This brings the major projects completed to three; foundation sealed, central air installed, and electrical upgraded. Still left are fencing and the garage addition. We hope to receive word that our permit for the last two projects was approved by the town council at their June meeting.

Other work in progress: Pam and I are both painting smaller items. I did the kitchen window and Pam is working on the front door screen insert. All the front porch spindles have been painted. As mentioned before, everything we do is an improvement but – oh – there is a lot to do!

Outside, two more spirea bushes have joined the original we purchased a few weeks ago. A flat of petunias now graces the east-side flower bed. Work has begun to repair the east porch railing.

Here are several photos taken around the house in the last few days:

Note the hummingbird feeder. We do have some hummers around; sometimes they just hover but occasionally they sit on the attached perches and take a long drink.

And, as nature takes its course, the first peony and day lily blossoms have appeared. Other plants appear to be getting ready to flower in the next few weeks.

As always, projects continue. Every day brings something to finish or something to start. This morning, for example, I took the shop vac and cleaned the two basement levels. Pam is painting the entrance hallway, going up the east wall along the steps. This afternoon we will be doing some yard work. Pam has ordered some “garden fencing” that will arrive next week and will need to be installed. The list goes on!

Photo Archive

This week’s archive photo is of Felicity (far left) and Toby (middle) riding an elephant. Summer (June?) 1990

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

Pam’s Two Cents

Thanks to those who commented positively on the painted flower pots. Keeping the potted florals watered – while certainly less time consuming than in drought-level Colorado – is still an ongoing concern.

I’m delighted Himself continues to clean the basement. We have already seen two tornado watches, and inevitably there will be a “seek shelter in basement” weather system before too long. I don’t want the dogs to have too much to get into when that happens. We are identifying items needed to be placed in the basement shelter area. And hoping we don’t have to use them.

Happy Trails.

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.