Work Week of Whirlwind Wisconsin Winter

I am sooo sorry I have not posted on my blog in over a week!   All I can say is "life has been crazy"!!!!

I last left off in my last blog about the pantry cabinets being yanked out and sold.  (yes, they sold right away on Craigslist).  We were fortunate to get a remnant piece of vinyl flooring that matched what we put in the kitchen.  This week we did get the flooring laid, and the dryer vent hole drilled through the wall to the outside. 

    (ignore the back wall in these photos... 

we are still restoring the window frame and will cover that wall with the textured wall board next) 

As we drilled out the hole for the dryer vent, it was interesting to see the wall composition---

• First was the plaster and thick lathe material on the inside wall.  The lathe material in this house is about a half an inch thick.  
• Then there was an insulation layer about 3 inches deep. 
• Then the outside wall of the house was 1 1/4"  thick wooden boards nailed on crossways.
• Then there was a layer where the old clap board siding would have been. That siding had been taken off years ago and replaced with an inch thick foam layer with foil on each side.. 
• then the layer of vinyl siding.   

No wonder this house has been very easy to heat with all those layers!   This week we will work on the washer and dryer hookups, as well as mounting the big laundry sink and faucets too.

Speaking of heating (and cold weather)  our crazy Wisconsin Winter just won't let us out of it's chilling grasp.  We had severe ice storms which coated everything in a thick layer of ice.  Trees came down all around us in town, but fortunately we only lost 1/3 of a gnarly old lilac bush.

All the tree branches were covered with ice like glass tubes around each twig.  Ice clung sideways onto all surfaces because of the pelting winds and sleet.  Even our windows on the porch were coated in a sheet of ice where it looked like frosted textured glass.

After the winds died down, we could hear chain saws all over town clearing up the messes.  Many towns around us had power outages that lasted into the next day.  Ours flickered a few times, but stayed on.

That was during the week---- but I forgot to post about last weekend!

Last weekend started out very busy with attending the littlest grandtot Clayton's first birthday party!  We had such a good time watching all five of the cousins together at the party.  Erin and Mark made up a whole taco bar to let us all make our own lunch the way we wanted our tacos.  What fun!

The wrapping paper came flying off the toys and clothes, cake was eaten and the kids played and played and played.  All the kiddos got construction hats, and sand pails full of goodies as party favors!

 The little birthday boy got his own special cake to demolish....

Boy oh boy, he sure did demolish it!  It was the first time he really had any type of sugar....

I took Chelsea and Clayton home after the party to our house.  Then mommy and daddy could have a quiet evening to kick back and relax.  After a nice bath to get the frosting out of his hair and ears, we snuggled up in the Grandtot Bedroom to read a story before bed.  The little birthday boy was out like a light... we didn't even get halfway through his favorite book "Brown Bear Brown Bear"  and he was zonked. 

What fun in the morning to have some grandtots jumping around in our bed! 

Chelsea wakes up and toddles on into our room on her own... 

Clayton shouts from the other room to come and let him outta the portacrib.

We kept them busy all day with playing, walked to the store, and even baking some brownies!

It was good to have them come over and spend some time.  

That was it for last weekend... but ...

This weekend we also did a grandtot-sitting stint.  

A busy weekend started with a bridal shower for Steve's niece Faith.  I brought chips, salsa and some homemade guacamole. We did all the girly stuff and had a wonderful afternoon, while Steve stayed home to work on the laundry room.  Afterwards, when I got home, I made up some more guacamole and more chips and salsa to head out to the next party.  We had to bring treats up to our son Dan's house.  

He carefully planned a surprise party for his wife, Heather.  She had NO idea about it, and came in to a house full of 30 people----  for her 30th birthday.   He pulled it off without her knowing, with the help of her family and friends.   

He even pre-packed two suitcases for the wee ones and hid them in their closets.  About 9 p.m. we stole little Allegra and Mason.. taking them home overnight with us.  That way the grown-ups could party late into the night, and sleep in the next morning!

We didn't get to sleep in, because two roly poly little grandtots were bouncing around in our bed by 7 a.m. !  Hahahaha  the joys of being a grandparent!

It was a horribly snowing icky rainy morning--- so we had to keep busy with inside projects and toys and playtime.  Granfaddah kept Mason busy while Allegra and I baked chocolate chip cookies.

Later as Mason napped, little Allegra and Granfaddah took a walk up to the hardware store where they have a live pet department.  She got to see the hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, birds and fish.  She also talked him into buying her a big pink bouncy ball and then a bat and ball for her little brother.  He is such a softy!

Later in the morning, Allegra decided to give her Granfaddah some weaving lessons.  She told him where to put his feet on the treadles, where to put his hands on the beater handle and how to beat beat beat to make a rug!     Little Mason was busy exploring the cool wooden tractor I recently added to the toy box.  I found the tractor and a trailer at a rummage sale last weekend.  Just love those old toys!

Daddy and Mommy came about noon to get the kids... and hung around for a while.  The kids were getting sleepy and ready for naptime on the long ride home.  (about 30 miles)  

Once they left, we looked at each other, and said "Grandparent Naptime" as we went up to bed for a long nap ourselves!

Cabinets Going Going Gone!

Steve only worked till noon today (so he can work on Saturday without acquiring overtime hours)  so he was raring to go when he got home.  He had a project in his mind, and was impatiently waiting for me to finish up what I was doing so I could go help him.  It was a Two Person Project!

But I was busy removing dead leaves from last fall from the tulip beds along the south side of the house.  Although we have a foot of snow in the yard, the edges and around the house are melted down to the ground.  My tulips and crocus are up about 3-4 inches!   So I unburied them from "Nature's Mulch" of the neglected leaves from last fall.  LOL     I had to take the dead leaves off carefully by hand to not disturb the newly emerging stalks and leaves of the tulips and dainty crocus blossoms.  By the time I was done, I had filled two large lawn bags of leaves from just along that side of the house.   It will be exciting to see what all comes up in flowers and bushes this spring.  When we looked at the house, it was mid-November so most blooming or green things were dead and done for the winter.  I have seen photos of the house from the realtor's pics in the spring and knew there is a long row of tulips by the south side of the house.  A big clematis vine was growing on the trellis by the front porch and some beds of tiger lillies and hostas out in the back.  The rest will be a big surprise as it all comes to bloom this Spring!


So Steve cooled his jets a bit until I was done with my project.... and then we hit the demolition of the pantry!  This is what we were starting with in the pantry area:

We removed the base cabinets and counter top and sink....  in preparation to make it into a first floor laundry!   We kept the upper cabinets and light fixture in place as they will go nicely over the washer and dryer and laundry sink.

Steve had to cut apart a few of the shimming strips but mostly we were able to remove the cabinets without any damage to them.  He removed the countertop and sink so they could be reused again too.

We carried all of the cabinets out into the garage and stacked them to one side in the work area.  Good thing we have a large garage, because we have things staged in order of what projects we are working on next.  The garage is filling up.  Steve has also recently acquired a good used riding lawnmower (with leaf bagger) and has room by the snowblower to park that in the garage too.

Then he also bought me FOUR gifts last night and put them in the garage... telling me to go out and look after I got home from my fiber guild meeting.  Ahem... it was a hoe, a rake, and two shovels!  --- one square end and one pointed end.  What a guy, eh?


Anyhow... after we got the water turned off, and the plumbing cut back to the basement level.  Then we pulled the cabinets out this afternoon .... this is our "blank slate" to work with to make into our first floor laundry room.

We have some more of the original white vinyl flooring to piece in where the washer and dryer are going to be located and a piece for along the far wall under the window too.  I think it will seam up close and then I can use a rag rug to cover it up.  The walls will get a layer of white "milk house board"  - a type of white formica clad paneling to cover the walls before we put the washer, dryer and laundry sink into place. The window sill will get a piece of wood from some matching scraps we found in the garage.


Once the cabinets were carried out to the garage, I placed an ad on Craigslist to sell them... they were solid oak, no fiber board, and perfect for someone's cottage or remodel job.   We included the sink and faucets too. A package deal!  I had two calls on them within an hour, and a guy came from Appleton with truck and trailer to get them!   Easy Peasy---  sold and out of our way!

I also put another ad on Craigslist...  this old cabinet that had been in our kitchen, before we installed the nice ones I refinished.  I decided we didn't need this original cabinet so we placed it on Craigslist too.  We got three calls on it, and the first gal is still arranging her work schedule and her hubby's work schedule to get here by Sunday...  They could come Saturday but Steve has to work and I will be at Clayton's first birthday party.  So I put a "HOLD" on our Craigslist ad.

 (just in case she don't show, I can then put them back as "AVAILABLE")   If she don't take them, I have phone numbers of two others who will.  But she sounded so excited and asked me to firmly hold them for her, I complied.    They are 99 years old and exactly what she is looking for.  I know the feeling.....  So Kate, here is your cabinet, waiting for you!

Okay.. that is enough of This Old House... now for some Fiber things for my Fiber and Weaving blog readers.

Spring is really working hard to come around to Wisconsin... and we are enjoying the sunshine, even if the temps are wayyy below normal for this time of year.  I don't think it even got above 40 today!

This morning I was threading up the supplemental warp color stripes on my towels and started weaving ... it was so pleasant to sit in the sunshine in my loom room and work away the morning.

This is my Tools of the Trade 32" 8 harness table loom.

I am weaving up some cotton towels in a southwestern theme of variegated cotton twill borders and stripes going longwise every inch and a half... then some crosswise stripes every five inches.  

Right now on the loom they are loosley woven.  Once cut off, they are washed to shrink them up tightly to make a nice lofty thirsty cotton towel.  They look like this when finished....

I like doing this particular pattern and have done a lot of them over the years.  Kinda like my signature trademark.  I think I have enough warp on the loom to do about 30 of them.  Paula wants two, so that is 28 more to go?  LOL

And to finish off now with a bit of something for my RV readers ....  Steve decided the leaking piston on the pac brake on our motorhome was not holding after his little repair job.  So he searched the internet and found one and ordered it.   It came today....  I was surprised we didn't run out and do this repair on the motorhome after supper!

https://www.dieselpowerproducts.com/p-6736-pacbrake-prxb-exhaust-brake-gmc-c650075008500-cat-3116e3126.aspx?gclid=Cj0KCQjw0dHdBRDEARIsAHjZYYBNB0JzGOOeol1YbPupizOsF1c-nKlY7QqSioTaOosnm8Vmo3vIalYaAmf0EALw_wcB

Here are some pics for you RV Cat Engine guys to oogle at .....

I am sure the replacement will go quickly, because we have had the other one out twice.  He thinks the actual flange is hanging up because the round chamber is warped from the heat... and also the piston device is not working properly as it was leaking and he did an epoxy glue job on that might not be holding.  We know on the last portion of our trip, it was working erratically.  Instead of fighting with it, he decided we should just invest in a new one.

For those who don't know what this part is.... it goes on the exhaust pipe by the engine and helps as an extra "brake" by shutting down that inside flapper dealie and retards the pressure to make the engine work as a brake.... to slow down the whole motorhome instead of just relying on the brakes pads on each wheel.

There.   I think that I covered something for all my blog readers tonight?  Stay tuned to more projects on the laundry, the flower beds, the motorhome, the weaving, and whatever else happens to happen in our little corner of the world!

Busy Weekend full of GRANDTOTS and Family Easter Gathering

We had a wonderful weekend full of grandtot hugs and visiting with Steve's family for our Pfundtner Easter Gathering.

Saturday started with our fourth grandtot, Mason, to have his birthday party.  He turned ONE year old!  Thoroughly enjoying his birthday cake, this little guy is really experiencing the celebration.

Oh my how the time has flown...  and the grandtots all grew like weeds since we had been gone for so long on vacation. Not seeing them for a while really had our arms ACHING for some Grandtot Hugs! Both Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun got their fill of the grandtots----

Silly Erin brought a present for Heather's birthday which included this "stasch" on a pen to continue a joke from back during their cousin Christopher and Lyndsay's wedding.  Well.... Heather looks like a natural, but also grandtots Clayton and Allegra had to try it out too!

The little guy ripped through his presents and all of them played with the wrapping paper, bows and tissue paper.   I think they enjoyed it more than the toys!   We had a fun picnic lunch of hot dogs and all the fixens for a great one year old birthday party.



On Sunday, we had to prepare for the Pfundtner Easter Gathering.  Steve and I headed out early to get the fire going... why?  Because we rented the pavilion at High Cliff State Park!   It's not normally heated unless someone rents it out ---- so we got in at 8am and lit a campfire in the big fireplace.

What a great place for a "camping family" to gather!   

This is one of the buildings that Steve maintains in High Cliff State Park where he works.  

Soon the fire was warming us up, and the room was heating to a comfortable level.  

When we first got there, it was so cold we could see our breaths as we spoke.  Brrrrrr

We added some spring decorations, and covered up the picnic tables with easter cloths. There are also outdoor tables overlooking the edge of the cliff...  but it was much too cold and snowy out there to enjoy any of that part of the pavilion grounds.  

The park is built on the Niagara Escarpment with a long cliff extending around the NE top corner of Lake Winnebago.  If you look close in the outdoor pic, you can see the frozen lake along the horizon.

We got the hams roasting up early to have them done in time for the meal at 1 pm.  

and I had along the large crockpot of calico beans to warm through too. 

They always taste better the second day

Everyone brought a dish to pass, brotherinlaw Pete brought us flowers, 

and daughter Erin and Mark brought us an Easter Lily.

We have so many March and April birthday's now that we had a cake made up for

 "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO EVERYONE"  to celebrate.  

Also, it carries on the tradition that my mother-in-law Maryann Pfundtner 

would do each year for her sons, Steve and Mark.  

Family gathered together in prayer for the holiday meal, and we were laughing and eating and sharing stories with those around us. Food, Family and Festive Fun is a great combination.

Soon it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt!   

I took the kids outside for a trip around the building, 

looking for that elusive Easter Bunny....

they almost saw him, they even looked in the bathrooms!  

Nope, he managed to hide all the eggs and disappear! 

JAMESON                                          ALLEGRA

CHELSEA                                           MASON (and daddy Dan)

even littlest Clayton found eggs! 

CLAYTON

Once that was all done, now it was time for this Granfaddah and Granmuddah to hand out souvenirs!  Seeing as we had been to Texas, we figured our little grandtots would become COWBOYS & COWGIRLS!    (thanks to cousin Tim and Karen Hennum for pointing us to a good western wear shop near Dallas to get childs' size cowboy hats and bandanas)

What a bunch of buckaroos! 

Of course, the girls got pink hats, which they adored.  The boys were all the "bad guys" in black hats, mainly because I figured white would get dirty fast.  They all got matching bandanas to wear around their necks.  Little Mason kept taking his hat off, and little Clayton was having a hard time keeping his on.  The SMALL size ones were as small as we could get.... but we think the two 1 year olds will have to grow into theirs a bit.  LOL

Jameson wanted to a "Cowboy Robber" with his bandana over his face

and little Clayton just kept trying to keep his hat on and play with his easter toys.  

We brought the daughters and daughterinlaws all a tiny cactus from the desert, which can be stuck way high up out of the way of the children.  Each little clay pot had a magnet to stick it up on the fridge out of the way.  Then each of them got a big colorful pottery bowl from SJ pottery in Bethel Mo.   Then for our son and each son-in-law we brought 6 packs of Budweiser grilling sauces and bbq sauces from when we toured the brewery in St. Louis. 

After everyone pitched in the clean up, we carvanned down to our house in Chilton.  Many of the family had not seen our new-to-us house so we gave the Nickel Tours to anyone who wanted to come and see it.  The house was filled with the joyous shouts of the grandtots as they pulled out the toy box from the Munchkin Closet!  I just love to fill the house with the noise of the grandtots and the family coming to visit.  The giggling girls found the telephones that used to hang on the walls here.  How natural! 

 The grandsons found lots of fun toys, and Clayton discovered Grandfaddah's cell phone!

We cracked open a bottle of wine for us grown up gals to enjoy.  Some gathered out on the front porch, as it was finally warm enough to set out there a bit.  We are going to enjoy this porch more and more as winter goes away.  It's so light and bright facing the east with windows all around.  The kids ran around  in and out of the porch.  Up and down both staircases, around and around through the rooms.... We were very happy to have a home to have them come and visit.

After everyone left, just Pete and his girlfriend Cindy stayed for a longer visit.  We cracked open another bottle of wine to finish off the day. Things were now peaceful, but strangely quiet without all of the little ones bounding about.  We let up the dogs from the basement so they could run around and look for crumbs dropped by the kids.

After Pete and Cindy left, we still had to unload all the boxes, roaster, crock pot, and food from the car.    After sorting, condensing, and packed into containers into the fridge....

we finally collapsed into bed.... 

ahhhhhh  Another Pfundtner Easter Gathering under our belts.

Back into Routines

Well, we are getting settled into routines and enjoying our house.  The dishwasher is now in place, and Steve's idea won out on the island choices (see last blog post) .  Wonder what is next?

The gas log fireplace?  

The first floor laundry room?  

Gutting and redoing the bathroom upstairs?  

Stay tuned to find out what we are doing next on This Old House! 

   

In the meantime..... this week:

We are gearing up to attend both of our grandson's FIRST birthday parties!

Mason Paul Pfundtner turned one year old today!  

We are going to his party tomorrow and I am working on a crock pot of calico beans to take along.

Then on Sunday, we are hostessing the Pfundtner Family Easter Gathering.  We rented the pavilion at High Cliff State Park to hold the event.  So far we are at 27 and counting.  I am making up three hams, 3 dozen deviled eggs, and another crock pot of calico beans.  Everyone else is bringing the side dishes and desserts, so we should not go hungry... LOL


Next Saturday is the other grandson's birthday party to attend.... wonder if I can bring leftover beans?

Clayton Timothy Lock turns one year old next Friday!

The other exciting thing that happened to me was yesterday afternoon.  It was warming up, about 50 degrees.... so I decided to hang out our comforter to get some fresh air.  The clotheslines out in the back yard are still surrounded by snow, so I decided to use the single line that is suspended from two posts on our upstairs shaker porch.


I hoisted the comforter in my arms and went out on the shaker porch  ... and the door LOCKED behind me!   This porch is flat black rubber roof, with a pile of snow on the middle of it.  I can only walk around edges in my stocking feet....  till all of the snow melts.   I tried and tried to pull on the door knob from the left and the right without stepping in the snow.  Nope...  I was trapped!

Then I gave up trying to keep my socks dry, and stood right in front of the door in the snow and yanked harder and harder, for more leverage?  Nope.  I was locked out!


Well..... I stood there for a while, wondering what to do.   Aha!  I will just crane my neck around the edge of the house and wait for someone to walk down the street.  I can call out to them to help me?  Right, invite a complete stranger to come into my house, to come up the stairs and open the door?    It is a small town, I should be fine.  But.....   nobody walked by.  About half an hour later-- I gave up craning my neck around the corner and decided on Plan B.

I looked around at my predicament.  

Well, I could jump over onto the garage roof, 

shimmey down the slope of the roof

and drop into the snow bank?  

(see pic from last autumn, so you can see how close it is)   

But then I was thinking:
Do I want to risk a broken leg or something right before two grandsons' first birthday parties and hostessing 27 people for Easter dinner on Sunday?

So I gave up on that idea too.

Plan C?    I was thinking I could start to hollar and hope the neighbors might hear me through their closed doors and windows?   I tried a bit, but both dogs were out on their tie-out ropes below me and kept barking each time, so it just sounded like annoying barking dogs.  Who is gonna look at that?

So, I gave up on that idea, fast.   I had now been out on the porch for an hour or more.  Good thing it was facing west and the sun was shining and it was in the 50's.  It could be a normal Wisconsin winter day and I would be freezing up there!

While thinking of a Plan D.... I heard a door open!

It was from the back door of two houses over (we never met them yet) and they were getting into their car!  I hollared and shouted and waved my arms!!!  (like a nut case)   and they saw me!

Now I was able to have the pleasure of meeting my neighbors Jen and Ryan!   I sheepishly explained my predicatment and she came in my house, up the stairs and she discovered the door wasn't really locked...   It was the door jam seal has slid over and blocked the entire door at the frame edge from opening!    I said KICK IT and she did, and it popped open!    In I came, wet socks, and dragging my comforter behind me.

I thanked them over and over and we made sure to meet again under more pleasant circumstances.

Steve has now fixed it and it won't be doing THAT to me again! 

(p.s.  perhaps next time I should carry my cell phone in my pocket?)