The Big Blow

While Leo, Keri, her sister Lori and Butch and I were in the basement wild things were happening outside. There were two big blows and this one probably happened on the second one. Big mess! Good thing Leo likes landscaping, huh?
By the way, forgot to mention that Lori, Keri's sister was in on the cooking done this weekend of which we were the grateful recipients. Lori was visiting from eastern Iowa.

These two were at our place. We got off easy.

Lexi wonders what Leo is up to.

Two major trees were affected.

Patio furniture blown askew.

Big Storm

We had a big storm last night. The first we have been involved with for several years. We have branches to pick up in the yard. Leo called to tell us his yard is a war zone. Will go out and take pictures. The tornado siren went off and we went out to Leo and Keri's to get in the basement. High winds and heavy rain. It did not go into its twirly pattern. Thank God! But then we returned home and there were winds on the back side of this storm stronger than the first ones. I do not think it settled down until about 1:00 AM.
We used to take these type of storms in stride. After all we lived in the Midwest. But after you have had peaceful weather for about ten years it takes some getting used to all over again.
Pictures later...

Sea Salt? What is the big deal?

I wondered about it. Have you? This is from a friend.

 Salt of the Sea

FRIDAY FOOD THING

To most folks brought up in my generation and beyond, when it rains, it pours: Morton’s“iodized” table salt is the tableside norm. Years ago, someone decided many humans weren’t getting enough iodine in their diet, so that same someone convinced the government to add it to everyday table salt — kinda like that questionable someone who did the same thing with fluoride in toothpaste. An added benefit of adding iodine to salt is a more free-flowing (and marketable) salt product. Hence Morton’s advertising slogan, “when it rains it pours”. Very clever.

One day — in my ongoing search for culinary curiosities — I tried Kosher salt, which excludes iodine from its formulation. What a difference. No more Band-Aid aftertaste. On yet another day, I experimented with sea salt, and — I gotta tell you — what an amazing BIGGER difference! I will never go back.

Sea salt is as varied as the seas around the world from which it is produced, and the taste and color and texture vary wildly. If you need proof about how much better sea salt tastes than the iodized variety, buy some at your supermarket and perform your own taste test, side by side. Your taste-buds will know the difference.

It’s only fair to point out that Morton has kept up with the times and has seriously increased their product line accordingly with many sea salt offerings. However, to truly understand the available differences in taste, I highly recommend expanding your culinary curiosity to include the virtual smorgasbord of imported varieties readily available on the Internet.

And then...

Yesterday- Saturday- Butch and I went back to work on the house. He to a greater degree than I. I did my best to go at it in a very conservative manner. I was successful. I removed the sidewall insulation in the kitchen. Not a hard job really as there isn't much of it and it is somewhat enclosed in black paper. Has a seal on it that says balsam/wool. It bags up fairly easy.
Butch took out some inner walls. His job was much more strenuous.

Our RV refrigerator quit. And of course it was on a Friday night. Butch went to talk to the RV dealers in town but nothing will happen till Monday. We have an extended warranty and thank goodness for it because RV refrigerators are very costly. Much higher than home refrigerators. We will see what can be done about it tomorrow. In the meantime we have the little refrigerator that was in the house. It works just fine. It just means we have to run to the house every time we want something out of it. One of the petty inconveniences of life, they happen to all of us now and then.
Keri helped me out by bringing us a wonderful breakfast casserole and muffins this morning. Saved me several trips to the house.
Finally went for a walk this morning. The first 3 blocks had me wondering but soon all the kinks were walked out. We walked downtown to the post office and back. About an 18 block walk all told. Felt much better after we returned home. I needed to get out and moving.

I never stop seeing things worthy of a picture...the latest.

A Civilized Cat

I could not decide which was a better picture. The sunlight illuminating the squirrels tail intrigued me.

Feeling Good

I would say I am feeling A-1 Okay today. Of course I haven't attempted anything as yet. I am still in my P J's . But I feel as if pulling a few nails or going for a walk would be something I could do and feel good about it.

Yesterday our Georgia son Rich and his wife Donna came for a visit. We spent the day together. Took a tour of the town. Ate at the Chinese restaurant. It was a very good day.

Below are pictures of Nina Grace who is Rich and Donna's granddaughter and the light of their life. I snipped these from Facebook.

And here are house pictures. There has been progress since these were taken. I am a little behind. These pictures show all the bagged sacks of loose insulation. They are all gone now plus further progress on the walls and ceiling.

Butch had a conference with Russ Cosens a local contractor and longtime friend. Now that we have the bones of the house exposed we wanted to know form an expert, and we consider Russ an expert, what we could safely remove and what may need reinforcement etc. We were very pleased with what he told us. He pretty much told us it was safe to do most anything we wanted to do. Butch does plan to reinforce the roof in the living room/ kitchen area but the remainder of the house is firmly supported and needs no further bracing. We are good to go!

So now I need to get dressed and on with the remainder of what looks like a beautiful day.

From Papa Gary -Elise at Taco Bell

Papa playing with his new father's day toy.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYLNSyUY5oc

From Mom Barb: Ya'all did notice she says HIGH FIVE  a couple of times near the end? Tell me you noticed?!

 

Behind me

The surgery is over and they tell me successful. Yesterday was a long day even with sleeping through most of it. I was home by 10:30 AM today and have slept a fair amount today as well. The surgeon says I can do as much as a I feel like doing but really that is a trick answer. I assume I will heal quickly and be back to normal activity quite soon. But today is not the day.  Normal is a ways off yet.
Till next time...

Gertie

 I found a garter snake in my flower bed. Needless to say the weeds are still there. But my mother in law would never let anyone kill a garter snake because they eat bugs and rodents. We have found NO mouse droppings in our renovation so I think she may be right. The garter snake is staying. We named her Gertie.

From Grandpa Gary

I bought a Sharper Image "Flip camera wannabe" for father's day. The quality is not as good as the old sony 8mm but it sure is easier to use and upload. Old one I had to record into a TV card in my computer and convert it. Now I just plug in the SD memory card and go.

 

My first 2 videos are from Friday when Elise came to our house and we visited a brand new park that city built that is a mile west of us. Later that day she went swimming at the pool. Elise loves the outdoors and she loves water so I think she had a real fun day.

 

First one I think we should have a counting contest. Who can get the right number of eeh's and (da\That)'s?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTOSalY-lu8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpd64K9MsTs

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Went to the doctor Tuesday and now have surgery scheduled for Tuesday the 21st. It is to repair my lady parts that have become misplaced due to childbirth. 'nuff said. Will be in the hospital (Jefferson) overnight. Women I have talked to who have had this surgery tell me it is not too bad. I can be back to remodeling and construction in no time. Won't be able to lift much but that was true before the surgery. 
Wednesday we decided to get as much done as possible before next Tuesday so we have been working a little longer and harder than before. We made great strides in removal of insulation and drywall. This is one part we will be very glad to have on our done list...and that could happen today!
We have living room and bathroom ceilings to get down and then bag up the insulation from those two rooms and that is on our agenda today. Butch got an invitation to play golf yesterday but we got lots done when he got back. I pulled nails while he was gone. We burned up some wood scraps and cleaned our work area getting ready for today.
I talked to a new Kindle owner (Susan Van Houweling) and found out something new. With my Kindle I do not need an Internet connection to use it. It is completely independent from my computer. The new $114 ones are not. You need a wireless connection to use them. I would not want one like that. To have the features I have on mine you need the next step up. I think it is $149. I was about to buy Butch his own so this info was very good to know. It kept me from making a mistake. Susan is sending hers back and getting the next one up  
the line. You will love it Susan! Those two websites for free Kindle books are http://www.pixelofink.com/ and
http://ereadernewstoday.com/. And I am still reading " Bubba and the Dead Woman"

Another Kaleidoscope

This time you make your own...when you have nothing to do-Right?

Link of the Day:

Kaleidoscopes are such fun, creating symmetrical shapes anywhere you
point them and this one is part of the 'brain training games.'

It is a digital kaleidoscope where you can draw the image the
kaleidoscopes sees. After selecting your brush type, thickness and
color, begin drawing in the left-hand window. The rotate wedge
shows you where the kaleidoscope is looking.

http://www.zefrank.com/dtoy_vs_byokal/

Mapping the 2010 US Census

I know you have all been waiting with baited breath to know how the 2010 census turned out. Really I did find it very interesting and thought you might too.
Just click on the link below

- NYTimes.com

Bell Tower Parade

Butch was the photographer for this album. He took the last picture so you would have no doubt about that.

Class Reunion weekend

yesterday

Butch and I were back to work yesterday. Drywall and insulation are now removed from the bedroom ceiling. As I write Butch is working on the side walls in the bedroom removing dry wall. With insulation removal I would say we are about half done. Our age is dictating the speed at which we progress. I was almost certain it would. We overdo a bit and then we must pause and heal up. Overdo- pause- heal. It is a cycle we have established. So it will most likely take us at least twice as long as someone younger. But for the most part we are enjoying the process.

Doreen Wilber-Jefferson IA's Olympic Gold Medal Winner

Doreen is shooting at a target placed across the street. I thought that was a clever idea.

Big Weekend for the Class of '61.

With lots of things done. My 50th class reunion was this weekend. Started off with a gathering on Friday night at John and Alice Hamilton's place. Rozetta Renner Fiscus has plans for a signature quilt so Mickey Sanders Starr is giving Rozetta a signature.

Bonnie Strunk Campbell visits with Donna Kafer Lawson.

Saturday Morning we were riding a Class of '61 float in the Bell Tower Festival Parade. (Pictures provided by Joan Conroy)

Saturday night we were hosted by Keith and Joan Conroy and the event was catered by a caterer from Lidderdale and the food was excellent. And the stories told by and on classmates were worth the trip. It was a fun, fun time.

Sunday we enjoyed brunch and much conversation at the boyhood Jim Hanson home. Pictured here are some of the male classmates in attendance. L to R, Keith Conroy, Jim Hanson, James Willmore, Steve Melson, John Hamilton. Tom Clause and Mike Vincent in front.

It was a great reunion and I came away feeling like I knew many of my classmates much better.

Butch's Birthday Party

Leo and Keri made a big deal out of Butch's birthday yesterday. We ate at The Howling Coyote in Panora. Very good food by the way. This was followed by birthday cake and it was wonderful too. There were gifts and cards and a suitable notation of Butch's 70th. That is hard for either of us to fathom. That number has always seemed far, far away. And now it is here. Thank God it is only a number.
I forgot my camera but I tried a couple of shots with my phone. I have never mastered getting good shots with it so they are okay but I am far from proud. While getting the pictures from the phone to the computer I notice a couple taken last winter in Magnolia park. One is Butch trying to figure out what was wrong with Pecan Bills golf cart and the other is Pecan Bill and Kay's geraniums

Keri, Butch, Leo and Norma

With my Verizon connection I have noticed every day at the same time my connection gets cranky. It grinds away, taking forever to connect and gets quite annoying. So we have learned to leave it alone when it is cranky and it seems to work itself out and be okay again. We are in a cranky period as I am writing this so I may have to wait to upload pictures.
I endured my annual checkup yesterday and all my numbers were good except the weight of course. So that little visit is over for another year. Butch's were okay too when he went on Tuesday.

Been doing same ol' stuff

And getting caught up on details. Sometimes the details of life pile up and they need attention. The annual check ups, mailing in rebates,running out of band aids, getting address changes made, cleaning house, doing laundry etc. And those are the things we have dealt with so far this week. Butch has continued demo on the house in between these details. So progress is being made and it is satisfying to see things move along. I would guess you could say demo is 1/3 done.
We are settling in. Just like we do in any new location. It takes awhile but pretty soon a routine becomes discernible and you find you are doing the same things on the same days and thus the routine in established. We are creatures of habit and that is a good thing. Some order in life is necessary and welcome. It has a calming effect. So we are calm and settled and we hope you are as well.

Boat ride plus

Sunday while Butch was playing golf with Jason, Tallman's called to ask if we would like to come to Lake Panorama for a boat ride followed by sandwiches and then play some cards. We jumped at the chance to shake off the insulation and have a different kind of fun. Here are some pictures from our ride on the lake. We used to live on Lake Panorama from 1979 to 1988 so it was interesting to see our old house and many other changes.

Used to be ours

Cannot see it well for all the trees-north side

Lowest level

Relaxing on the lake- Jan Tallman, Marvin Smith and Judi Smith.

Goslings out for a practice run

Fancy recirculating pool at a fancy lake house

Curly likes to bring you gifts. He brought Butch a towel. He doesn't like to give them up however. Some dogs are above the rest in endearing ways and Curly is one of those.

Granddaughter Ann and her daughter Nina Grace

Ann

and Nina Grace...both blessed with beauty.

Snipped from Facebook

Try again for the kaleidoscope...

Some of you have told me you cannot get to the kaleidoscope from the link in the blog so I am trying to post it again. Maybe the link got broken. So try again!
http://inoyan.narod.ru/kaleidoskop.swf

For my Kindle friends

There are 2 websites where you can sign up to have a newsletter delivered with lists of free & low cost books. They are: Pixelofink.com and Ereadernewstoday.com
They will send you a newsletter with a description of the books and links to Amazon. I know many people who if they had known they could get so many free and low cost books they would have bought a kindle much sooner. Hope you’re enjoying your kindle as much as we do.

And Now...

Butch is off golfing with Jason and I just finished a short bike ride.( 4 miles) I went on the trail but didn't stop to take pictures. The trail gets a lot of use on weekends so thought it best to stay on the move.
We cleaned up the house the past few days-burning some stuff-putting some things in the dumpster and bagging up insulation. We now have 10 bags of loose insulation. Sure wish we knew of someone who could use it. We hate to fill the dumpster up with it but that may be what we have to do in the end. So things are coming along. It encourages us to stop demo and clean things up a bit now and then.
One of the bedrooms, soon to be bathroom is now free of old drywall and all the ceiling insulation is bagged up .

Now up to 10 bags of loose insulation.

Kaleidoscope

This is so cool...had to share

Click here: for a beautiful kaleidoscope to watch

 

http://inoyan.narod.ru/kaleidoskop.swf

I FORGOT ETHAN!

I cannot believe I did that. He is such a special little guy and our only great grand SON. I guess when you get old you can't count to four anymore. Here is Ethan brushing his teeth. Since he has moved to Newton his grandparents do not see him enough and we see even less.

I am so bummed that I forgot Ethan. At least I didn't lose him in a grocery store.

Surprises

I don't do facebook much but the other day my granddaughter Ann's name caught my eye so I requested to be her "Friend" and she accepted. In so doing I found out she is pregnant with a girl, plans to name her Scarlet and is due around August 16th. This would be our 3rd great grand-all girls.
I also found out that Butch's grand niece Jennifer is also pregnant. I guess if you are not on Facebook- you know nothing!! And even then you have to be a detective to get it all figured out.
Yesterday Butch and I purchased some 16 inch square blocks to make a path to the moho from the house so we would not track mud. We are also making a landing at both moho and house. This is the kind of work that kills my back but Butch's back is already hurting so I started in. I was able to get the landing outside the moho done but it has taken a toll so I will have to rest up before going at it again.
 Butch decided to get down and dirty today so he started tearing down drywall in one of the bedrooms so we could bag up insulation. Last I knew we were up to 10 bags. I helped this morning but so far I haven't made it back out after lunch.
We are getting beautiful weather but no rain. I was afraid my rain barrel may be lacking and the forecast isn't good for filling it up unless we get one of those isolated T's they keep warning us about. I say beautiful weather but it is hot and we do have the AC running in the moho. Everyone's definition of beautiful weather is just a bit different.

Compare to picture in the header and note new color on the steps and the garage door. We obtained our dumpster this morning and filled it with the accumulated debris. They are scheduled to empty it tomorrow so we should be free to do more demo now as we will have somewhere to put more debris. We also got a burn barrel so we can start burning some stuff. Leo was a big help in obtaining the barrel at a very good price-Free. Things are coming right along.

Big Day

I put the topcoat on the garage door. I am really loving it and it looks almost like a new door. Bill and Jo Brooker came to help us with furnace and AC issues. Jo and I visited while Butch and Bill worked. We had lunch here. Keri baked bars that were scrumptious and I ate way too many...but thanks, Keri. Later Leo stopped by to help us get some dirt moved. Butch's back has been hurting so this was a BIG help too
I had made carrot burgers so we went to Leo and Keri's where Butch grilled the burgers. Keri and I both had made sides to go with the meat and it all was delicious. I tried my oven that is in the garage that came with the house. The lady who lived here before going to the nursing home (Bessie Murphy) was known as a really good cook. She was a cook in several restaurants around town in her younger years. I am telling you her oven has not lost its touch. I made a broccoli casserole (Thanks Kay) and it turned out all brown and bubbly on top. It looked as good as it tasted. I am going to like that oven in the garage. It will be a big help to my culinary skills. I am sure Bessie had to put her special touch on her stove.
It was a very good day despite the wind.
Last year at this time we had just arrived in Michigan. We will always treasure that summer at Thunder Bay Golf and RV resort. It will forever remain special as will the 3 we spent prior to that at Snow Mountain Ranch YMCA of the Rockies. We made alot of friends in both places. Treasures all.

Next day

Butch continued to whittle away at drywall and I tackled putting primer on the garage door. When we first purchased the place, our plan was to replace the garage door but then Butch was able to get it functioning mechanically without much trouble and I decided a coat of paint could do wonders for it. It is a fiberglass door and it is almost more fibers than glass but the primer is welding it all together in fairly fine fashion. I am anxious to see it with its topcoat but today is a rainy one so it will have to wait. It will definitely be an improvement over the ugly brown that it was yesterday.
Jefferson's school colors are black and red. I have a class reunion coming up so decided to make a bracelet for a door prize. Finished it last night.

Here is the new location of the rain barrel and with the rain we got last night and today it should have some rain in it.

I think it is the perfect spot for it now. Certain people are encouraging us to take down the evergreen but we both like it and now it has a new job.

It is a good day for napping so think we will do that.