Jigs at Gortz Haus in Grimes Iowa

Gortz Haus Gallery and J.I.G.S.

We all look so serious! From left: Janet Smith, Donna Kafer Lawson,Pat Limburg Rusnak, Rozetta Renner Fiscus.

From left: Mickey Sanders Starr, Jayne Owen Tomes, Patti Miller, Andi Siegenthaler Blume

One busy week...

We started painting last Sunday. That went well. Then on Monday I was supposed to attend Garden Club but passed to get more painting done. That went well. Continued painting on Tuesday and in fact completed painting all the walls. But after three days of concentrated effort in one direction I became behind in everything else. And Wednesday was JIGS. That went well...sort of. But back to getting caught up. I have downloaded pictures I have taken the past couple of weeks so we will get them on here and I will attempt to describe what you are seeing.

Breezeway- after drywall-before paint

 

Main room- after drywall-before paint

door on left is bathroom

Below is main room-before paint

Bathroom

Closet

Bedroom

Bedroom

Door to future 3 season room

Below is front door.

All  views above are before paint...

Exterior of home is 99.9% completed

All views of house below are after paint. When we finished and Butch started putting up the ivory switch plates I stated that I did not know I could have taken a switchplate to match up the paint. It isn't exactly that color but not too far away from it.

A little break here for pictures taken on the bike trail one sunny morning.

I see this one was taken before the paint was completed.

This is kitchen area

Front door

Bedroom

Butch was in a hurry to get started on the electrical. Paint was barely dry

Kitchen area

Bedroom

Bath

Door on left is to the breezeway

Breezeway-looking east- Go back and look at first picture for the before view

Elise!

Saw this on Facebook this morning and had to share!

Her mother Amanda says: Hat day...lucky for you, you missed the drama that came with finding a hat to wear this morning!!!

This was yesterdays, Hair day. I snipped it from Facebook too but not as much drama yesterday. Her hair is crazy every day so I do not know what her mom did to enhance it.

Paint

Started painting Sunday- Took all day but we painted almost all of the ceilings-hate ceilings. Actually I ran out of ceiling paint and we still needed to do the breezeway. Butch spelled me for a bit on the main room and he is more generous with paint than I. Maybe that was the reason but maybe my calculations were off. Who knows. So off to the store first thing Monday -purchased more ceiling paint and finished the ceiling in the breezeway. Friend Colleen has been helping us. Her talent is 'cutting in', the tedious business of going around the edges in a straight line. She is very good at it.  At this writing the cutting in is finished- the bathroom and the breezeway are painted and we have high hopes of finishing today....maybe.
Keri, bless her heart, has been preparing delicious and greatly appreciated meals. It is so wonderful to have a meal all prepared when you are so stiff, sore and tired every movement is an effort. I have not worked this hard since detasseling corn with my sister Jayne when I was in my forties. Really? Maybe I should do it more often than every 20 plus years!
I have the time to write this morning because we skipped our morning walk. We did so because it is COLD. 40 degrees. My muscles are already in a state without adding cold to the mix. My plan was to post a headline that said "Gone Painting" and skip writing and if you see that tomorrow you will know we are not  done.
It is looking good! Pictures soon, I promise!

Gathering up stuff...

Yesterday Butch and I went to Ames first, to pick up the shower. And then we went to Fort Dodge to pick up the flooring and the paint. That pretty well shot the day.
Last Wednesday I was invited to a girls only birthday party. We had a real good time. The boys decided to go on a road trip since they were being excluded and they went to Otho, a tiny town south of Fort Dodge to a restaurant that one of them Jack H. had went to previously and liked. Crammed a bunch into that sentence.  
Their specialty is loaded hashbrowns. They are loaded with onions, green peppers and cheese and they give you enough for several meals!
The point of all this is when we picked up the flooring we stopped their on the way home for lunch...at 2:00 pm...We enjoyed cheeseburgers, no hashbrowns, and they were good as well. So I am giving a plug to the Otho Pub, a tiny town bar with good food.

Today the painting starts. The drywall is dry and looking fantastic. I have photos but need more time to sit in front of my computer when I am not pooped....so that may be awhile.
Till next time...

A different side of Gary

Yes, I have other sons but Gary is the one who sends me things.
From Gary:

My picture (looking kind of goofy in my opinion) made it in the Drexel paper http://www.drexelstar.com/ There are several other articles about the school besides mine. They had almost as many grandparents come to the school for grandparents day as there are kids in the entire school.

PS: To me Gary doesn't look any goofier than the boy carrying the log.Hehe

And the beat goes on...

We were blessed with a 2 inch rain last night. It was a steady, even rain giving us maximum benefit. We have not had that much of a rain since we arrived here last April. Too early to say the drought is over but a step in the right direction to be sure.
The primer on the drywall was applied this morning. The texture will be applied tomorrow and then I will be released to paint come Saturday. The only problem with that is I do not have the paint yet. A trip to Fort Dodge to get the flooring and then another to Ames for the shower parts is in the plan for Saturday. I plan to get the paint at Menards in Fort Dodge as they have the best price right now. So then I will be ready to start painting on Sunday. The sequence of events can get a bit tricky at times.
The cooler weather has, of course, prompted thoughts of heading south to Texas. Our plans are to leave here mid-October, stopping in Missouri to catch one of Gary's football games and see our Missouri kids and kidlets before wending our way to the Rio Grande Valley. That is only a month away. We do plan to get as much as possible done on the house before then but with the usual delays that naturally happen that will not be everything. We are into the fun part now so when we return next Spring it should not take all that long to finish it up. So after two summers of house obsession it should be a different, kinder, gentler summer in 2013.
Oh and by the way, the job thus far on the drywall application looks super! The young man doing the work will get a well earned recommendation from us.

Not Much

Not much happening these days...waiting for drywall to dry. Today Susan and Myron Van Houweling and Leroy and Elaine Misfeldt stopped by for a visit on their way to the Clay County Fair in Spencer Iowa. Bo(the dog) was with them. Bo and Butch were very happy to see each other. Bo will be meeting up with another one of his greatest Magnolia Park friends, Art Wildeman, when he gets up north. It was fun to visit with our friends we spend the winter with in Sunny South Texas. They wanted to see first hand what we have been doing on the house. Right now it is looking much like a blank slate.

Our weekend

There was another auction this weekend and we checked it out. Decided to wait until we have a spot to move it to before buying anything. Also the stuff didn't much suit our taste.
We replaced the wrought iron posts on the front porch with wood posts. I am still trying to decide if they should stay or get chunkier ones. These will do for now. Probably for evermore.
Friend Colleen received her new computer so spent an afternoon helping her set it up. You'all know I do not mind doing that and it is still true. I like to help people get off on the right foot. She in turn treated us to a Beef Stroganoff supper and it was delicious.
There is an occasional nip in the air reminding us that fall will happen. I do not expect the leaf color to be very spectacular this fall. The leaves are drying up and falling, a dried green in color.
We have been doing some tentative planning for our trip south. It will be here in a very short bit. We plan to leave Mid-October. This summer has gone by so fast and I am sure much of it has to do with being so busy on the house.

JOHN15VINEYARD - TREEHOUSE -North of Scranton Iowa

JOHN15VINEYARD - TREEHOUSE - YouTube

Drywall update...

It is coming right along. The taping is done and they told us I should be able to paint by the end of next week. So far these guys are doing an excellent job.
Yesterday Butch and I took a tour of the county. We drove through every town in the county except Cooper. Dana almost isn't anymore and Paton looks to be doing very well despite its size. It was an interesting trip. Back in Jefferson we toured the newest housing development on the west side of town. Not many homes as yet but they do have an 8 acre lake out there and it is a pretty one.

Drywall-in process

Butch is standing in the bedroom watching them work in the main room.

Photo taken from breezeway door. Of the two doorways  the left is bedroom and the right is bath

Door on the left is out to the back yard

This is the bedroom- taken from bedroom doorway in the main room

Taken from the front door looking into main room

Looking at front door and future kitchen area

Doors from left: Bedroom,bathroom and front door.

Looking at the breezeway door while standing near the front door.

Standing in the closet looking through the bedroom to the main room.

Standing in the closet looking through the bathroom to the main room

Standing in east end of closet looking toward west end. Door in pic is the bedroom

Standing in west end of closet looking east. Door in pic is bathroom

Butch decided he needed to check shower plumbing for leaks before they drywall. No more to say from here about that. So yesterday he put most of it together in the garage and then when the drywall guys left for the day we plumbed it so we could check for leaks. I said a little prayer for a leak free outcome and my prayers were answered. I was more than a little grateful and I know Butch was as well. Since he had so much of it done ahead it really did not take all that long. Leo and Keri stopped by just as we finished.

They should finish the hanging of drywall and start on the taping and mudding today.

It is coming along and looking very different. This is the day we would have been heading for the Clay County Fair but the gang will have all the fun without us this year. I do have 5 pictures entered so if you are up in the area during the fair have a look see for me.

Drywall application has Begun

The crew showed up bright and early this morning and started right in applying drywall. It is looking quite different in our little house tonight. I will wait for pictures until they are finished. That may not be for a week or so although they certainly came a long way in one day. The next step will be paint. That is when I get super busy in the house....Butch will be in charge of supper. Hmmm

Brady is tired!

Still taking after Grandpa Leo!

Elise videos

Papa Gary sent some Elise videos.

http://youtu.be/wdulQyXvwqE

Playing with Doctor's kit:
http://youtu.be/2-FpmIPyLl8

Elise singing songs. She usually is more clear with the words but she's in a silly mood:
http://youtu.be/TEu3r5DiPG0

Elise singing and dancing

http://youtu.be/7XMQtT2-Wzk

Gary has very little time these days. He is teaching math and coaching football. Here is a picture of the football team. He is the farthest coach on the right.

I know he would rather be watching his granddaughter grow.

Another Roadtrip

We borrowed Leo's pickup, which he felt the need to clean and fill with fuel before loaning it to us. Silly Boy! And made our way back to the Habitat Restore to pick up the doors. That place is a zoo on Saturday's. I love the place. Butch not so much. Butch planned to go back to Jefferson through Ames until I reminded him of the football game and that sealed it. We made another stop at the Clive Menard's where the naughty boys work. I think they need new and tougher management in that store. Their personnel do not act like they want you interrupting their day,thus I call them the naughty boys. We stopped at Adel for lunch. The plan was to eat at Patrick's but they were closed for the holiday so we chose the 169 Burger Barn. It was an excellent choice. We ordered a quesadilla and it was excellente and large enough to fill us both. Matter of fact it was a bit too much. We would eat there again without question.
When we returned home we swapped back to our vehicle stopping at Colleen's to see how she was since she had passed on walking due to a painful lower back caused by weeding. She was doing a bit better. We visited briefly stopping at the DQ on the way home.
And that pretty much took care of our Saturday.
In a few minutes here I plan to paint doors so Butch can get the hardware on them and finish the install of the pocket doors. I will take a few detail pics for those contemplating adding them to their home. The best and about only place we have found hardware for pocket doors is www.johnsonhardware.com  .

WooHoo!!

It seems if you have enough spare time to just sit and contemplate the next event to take place in the house all sorts of things come to mind. We had forgotten about wiring to TV's and Heaven's to Betsy I do not want wires hanging all over the place when they can be hidden in the walls. Butch did have the forethought to put the electrical boxes in the vicinity of where the TV's will be mounted. The TV's, as many of you know are much more important to one of us.
Yesterday I did get out my tape measure and tape to mark out the footprint of the kitchen cupboards and appliances. This aided Butch in knowing that we were going to have a plug-in hidden behind an exhaust fan so that needed changed and so done.
This afternoon we were sitting in the house and both of us had left our phones in the the other house, otherwise known as the MoHo. Butch came out to get them and had a message from Chad the dry wall installer  that he plans to be here next Tuesday. And that is what the WooHoo!! is all about.

Roadtrip

We decided to venture into the big city (Des Moines) on a fact finding mission. And we did indeed find some facts. Fact number one. We spend too much time in Lowes. One of the funny things that happened is the guy who sold us our shower called us from Lowes while were in Lowes. He called to tell us it should be here next week. This Lowes was in Ames so we ate lunch at Hickory Park...again and then headed south to the big city. We needed a new air filter for the motorhome so we made our way to Freightliner where the air filters are $30 cheaper than the Freightliner in Sunny South Texas. Prairie Meadows Casino is near Freightliner so of course we had to stop by there. I made $.51. Butch would not mention what happened to him. Fact number two. Casinos take your money and very quickly too. Then we passed by a Menards and they have vinyl plank flooring on sale so we stopped to check it out and see how it compared to Armstrong at Lowes. It is $.50 cheaper per square foot and the quality seemed to be comparable. The sale goes through Labor Day and it would take a week to get it so we decided to come home and order it online and then perhaps the timing would be better. The space to put things is at a premium and 40 boxes of flooring is going to take up some space. Our next stop was the Habitat for Humanity ReStore found at I-235 and Euclid. I have long been a fan and receive their email regularly. We found our pocket doors for $10 a piece! They are not an expensive item costing in the neighborhood of $30 each but still that is a savings of $80 since we need 4 of them. Paint is dirt cheap too ( $5 a gal) and the color choices are on the lids. Butch found a couple of parts that were $15 at Lowes and we paid 25 cents. That is right folks. 25 cents! And I purchased all our paint tool supplies for less than $10. Fact number three. It pays big to shop at the ReStore. Very cool store.
By this time we were late in the day and fighting the going home traffic to get out of town. Did a fast Wal-Mart stop in Grimes and then came back to Jefferson stopping at a local restaurant for supper. It is a restaurant we do not usually patronize but I was hungry for chicken and Butch was liking pizza. They had soup which I decided to taste and I liked it. I did not eat much of it because there were so many other things to eat that I liked better. I noticed it wasn't very hot but for me it was hot enough. Little did I know that 4 hours later I was going to wish I had never seen the soup. How do I know it was the soup? I really do not know but it was the only thing I ate that Butch did not so that narrows it down. It was a violent bathroom experience of the upper variety. I have not yet graced my tummy with any type of sustenance this morning although I am feeling a bit hungry. May try some toast. Fact number four. There is a restaurant in Jefferson I am not going to be anxious to patronize again.
So you can see it was indeed a fact finding day.
PS: I will tell you privately the name of the restaurant if you have a desire to know and have not already figured it out.

Trim job

Yesterday we managed to get our place trimmed up, mowed and weeded. It was easy to let it go most of the summer because it did not grow much. But now that we have done it, it looks so much better.
Today we are going on a shopping run. Notice I said shopping and not buying. Best to do it that way. Life has taught me it never hurts to mull over potential purchases for a few days or even weeks . We have a long list of things to look at today. We may not get through all of them. As we add up the years it also adds up the time it takes us to do things.
If I have the energy I will check in later about our shopping trip. No post will equal no energy.

Drywall Delay

We are ready for the drywall installer but he is not ready for us. Current job is taking longer than expected. I suspect ours will as well. He might be able to make it next week. So we find us once again in a hurry up and wait situation. The hurry up part is done.
We could go buy things we will need next but we have no place to put it till the drywall is installed. hmmm Catch 22.
I do have a list of things we can get finished in the meantime. So that is what we will be working on. The motorhome needs a good cleaning. A trip to the landfill is on the agenda and that should give us a little extra room and various other odds and ends.
We may even work in a bike ride.

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