The major story of the week was my mother’s funeral but progress was made on several renovation projects as well. Result: The week was a real mixed bag of “stuff,” so let’s get to it.
Mom’s Funeral
My mother’s funeral was held near Withee, Wisconsin, at Riverside Cemetery, on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon I drove up to Abbotsford, near Withee, to meet with some family and friends. That evening proved to be a delight as I had the chance to talk to both of my sisters, a niece I had not seen in years, and some friends who had driven in for the funeral.
We had arranged to stay at the same motel and ended up pulling some chairs (and a bench to set food and drinks on) under a pine tree on the grassy front lawn and having a picnic dinner of sorts. Sub sandwiches and other foods were procured from a nearby grocery store by my sister Kitt. Several people brought adult beverages. It was a good time for all who were there.
Thursday was the funeral. My cousin, Kurt Rohland, an ordained minister, performed the service. Several people spoke about memories they had of Mom and Dad, including Mom’s best friend, Mrs. Goeke. (Gay-Key) As the temperature was rather hot most of us stayed in the shade of the surrounding trees for the duration of the service. Most attendees wore masks, as did I.
After the grave side service we adjourned to an event center, Munson Bridge Winery, for a lunch and more socializing.
After several hours of mingling with friends and family, getting lunch, and getting re-acquainted with people I had not seen in decades, I called it a day and started the 5 hour trip back to Elma. Most people had left before me but a few remained to keep the gathering going a bit longer.
The above story is a bit out of sequence for the week, beginning as it does on a Wednesday. In fact, other projects had seen attention earlier in the week.
Garage Addition
Bob the Builder came by and started the process of installing the garage windows. He and his helper needed to determine where the windows would be placed, remove the outside siding, and prepare to cut the window openings.
This meant I had to take down all the hangers and racks I had on the impacted walls. Most of the stuff ended up in the back of the truck but some equipment, such as the snow blower and leaf muncher, had to be moved and parked elsewhere.
Before and after photos:
The north wall received one window. Having the windows makes the building look like a garage and I already appreciate the extra light and ventilation the windows provide!
The main overhead garage door is supposed to be installed this coming Monday. I hope that comes to pass – but – other deadlines have come and gone so we shall see.
Outside Projects
Something else arrived this week…my porch and step railing spindles. This allowed me to get one side of the east porch step rail replaced. (The rest of the east porch rails will follow.)
The new spindles are slightly different than the originals. The width is 1 1/2 inches versus the original’s 1 5/8. The tapered part of the originals is larger than the new ones but since I am replacing the spindles as sets I don’t think the differences will be that noticeable.
As you can see, the step handrail spindles need to be cut at an angle. I had cut the top and bottom rails last week so only had to cut the spindles, install them into the rails, and paint the finished product. Sounds easy, but nothing is easy the first time you ever do a project like this. Call it a learning experience.
Of course, the new paint just shows how much we need to get the rest of the painting done! I’ll be working on the other side of the step rail and the rest of the porch rails this coming week but it is already a pleasure to have the old rail replaced. We went a couple of months without a rail at all, which was inconvenient, but the old rail was in such poor condition we deemed it a safety hazard and had removed it.
For the record, since this blog is also part diary, the spindles are 28 inches long, cut down from 30 inches, and each end is cut at a 30 degree angle as are the 48 inch long top and bottom rails. The spindles, with shipping, cost $3.75 each (on clearance) from Mr Spindle. The rails were produced by a local wood working shop at a cost of about $85.00 for 32 feet.
Yard Work
Although we didn’t transplant any flowers this week, it was time to cut back a bunch of day lilies; there were quite a load of those. Also grass clippings and yard waste was taken to the dump. At last count, 13 of the giant sunflowers are blooming and there are a couple small but ripe watermelons in the garden. The summer cycle is beginning to close.
A few days were deemed too hot to work outside. Temps went into the 90 degree range and the humidity was high, making for very uncomfortable working conditions. Pam continued an embroidery project and I built shelves in the garage and scanned a few more old 35mm slides during these times. Some down time is a good thing!
Photo Archive
This first photo is from a trip to Vancouver, British Columbia, in the early ’80s. We are visiting Buchart Gardens.
Here are Pam and Toby plus one of our cats, circa 1988 (?)
That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!
Pam’s Two Cents
My embroidery project was making a patchwork top for an ottoman. After five weeks of working on this in the evenings, I “built” the rest of the ottoman cover around the embroidered top. Then, a skirt seemed like an inspired idea. Then, the addition of bows. And all of a sudden I had produced a “tuffet.” Wow, that got out of hand quickly. Fortunately, a tuffet looks appropriate in the parlor bedroom.
You might be from the Midwest if your orthopedic doctor advertises one of his specialties in the local shopper – fixing trigger fingers. That was a first for me. What happened to tennis elbow or rotator cuff?
Happy Trails.
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